ã€ŠEscape the Infinite Chambersã€‹


 Chapter 1: Awaken

    Chapter 1: Awaken

    Luo Jian had that dream again, he often dreamed about it. There was always this person who would talk to him in his dream, but he could never see their face. Luo Jian struggled to open his eyes wide in order to see the other person¡¯s face, he also concentrated deeply in order to hear the other person¡¯s words, but all of this was in vain.

    Imagine having the same dream so many times, having doubts exist within your heart, urgently wanting to obtain the answers, eagerly desiring to reach out with both hands, only for both hands to be left empty, only to realize you¡¯ve grasped at nothing.

    Luo Jian then woke up. Just as every morning, he would open his eyes at his bed, feeling at a bit of a loss. His mind was nk for the first few seconds, but immediately after, he realized that something was amiss.

    This wasn¡¯t his own bed, and this room wasn¡¯t his own room.

    Consequently, Luo Jian instantly and swiftly got up from the bed, puzzled and vigntly observing his surroundings. He found himself in a small, dpidated room that was less than twenty square meters, it was evidently one of those old houses from the 1980s. There was a window and a door at least. The dim lights from the chandelier overhead shined down from the ceiling lighting the surrounding area. He nced around and saw that this room only contained a single bed and a writing desk.

    A simple and monotonous arrangement. Apart from that bed and desk, there were no other decorations. It was just that this room appeared to be rather incongruous, but it seemed as though Luo Jian couldn¡¯t detect where exactly this sense of incongruity came from. And so, Luo Jian just sat on the bed, somewhat dumbfounded. Then he thought of the key issue¡ªwhere was he?

    Thest memory he had was that he came home from work as usual, took a bath after dinner, wrote documents for work the next day, and then went to bed on time. He was like a robot; there was not a day in a decade where his daily routine changed. But then why was it that when he woke up, he appeared in this strange room?

    Luo Jian¡¯s head began aching and he simply couldn¡¯t think anymore. He only felt that the room was exceedingly small, small enough to make him feel a little suffocated. He got up and walked towards the single door in the room, a door made of deep crimson wood. This door appeared to be very old and had an iron handle. Luo Jian extended his hand to grab the door handle and gave it a strong twist. However, the door didn¡¯t budge.

    What¡¯s going on? Am I locked in?

    Luo Jian harshly pulled on the door handle. Whether he pushed forward, pulled back, or even moved left and right, the door didn¡¯t move one bit, it was as if it were permanently set into the wall with molten iron. Luo Jian once again nked out, he forcefully pounded on the door. He felt that there was someone outside, so he shouted out loud:

    ¡°Hey? Is anyone outside?! Why am I here?!¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any response. The room was deathly silent. Luo Jian leaned his ear against the door, trying to hear any sound outside. Ages passed, but he still couldn¡¯t hear a thing, not even the sound of the wind blowing.

    Luo Jian felt rather rmed, his back was covered in chills and cold sweat ran down his forehead. He asked himself, how did this happen? Who knocked me unconscious and sent me here? But if I really am kidnapped, then shouldn¡¯t ransom be demanded? Ask for the phone number of one¡¯s closest person, wasn¡¯t this how ckmailing went?1

    But nothing. No one came. There was no sound.

    Luo Jian took a deep breath, he felt that he should calm down. Perhaps the people outside were still discussing how much ransom they should demand for him; therefore, they shouldn¡¯te in for him for a while. He must have panicked too much, he just needed to wait.

    So, Luo Jian tried to calm himself down. He went and stood in front of the only window in the room and drew open the grey curtains. Sure enough, the windows were barred and the ss remained intact. But the exterior of the window was covered with a hard tinte,pletely obscuring the scenery outside. There was only a twinkling luster from the metal te.

    Luo Jian unconsciously sighed, he once again drew the curtains. He understood, at this moment, he was entirely in an imprable chamber. It blocked all contact from the outside world, like the cage of a small animal, perhaps it couldn¡¯t evenpare to the cages of small animals.

    Luo Jian took a step back and withdrew from the edge of the window, but almost immediately, he turned his body once again. He discovered something at an extremely conspicuous location. It was tacked onto the wall near the window and was directly at his eye-level¡ªa piece of paper.

    It was a note with purple patterns on the lower right-hand corner.

    At the top, a set of densely packed words were beautifully written with a fountain pen; it was clearly left aside for the sole living being in this locked chamber, a message specifically for Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian immediately leaned forward; he didn¡¯t pull the pin out, but instead, directly tore the note off the pin in the wall. The beautifully and neatly written cursive words caught his eyes, and he read the writing at the beginning:

    ¡¾Our dearest selected candidate, Mr. Luo Jian.¡¿

    The first line simply confused Luo Jian. What selected candidate? And the other side obviously knew his name and his identity, but he had no more time to think on that, he had to move on:

    ¡¾You must be puzzled about your current situation, but I regret to inform you that I cannot tell you any more. The most important thing you need to do at present time is find a way to leave this chamber within one hour. Otherwise, you will be eliminated.¡¿

    ¡°What does that mean? What will be eliminated?¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t fathom this inexplicable thing, he was baffled. But the words regarding elimination and the shocking content made him bite the bullet and continue reading:

    ¡¾In order not to create a new homicide case in this chamber, I shall give you a couple of hints:¡¿

    ¡¾First: ¡®Within an hour¡¯ started from the moment you opened your eyes and woke up. There is an rm clock on the writing desk; you can use all the time from the twelve o¡¯clock mark to the one o¡¯clock mark.¡¿

    ¡¾Second: The door is the only way you¡¯ll be able to leave this chamber. Don¡¯t count on the window, unless you wish to die.¡¿

    ¡¾Third: This is not a joke.¡¿

    ¡¾The aforementioned hints are over. I wish you the best of luck! ¡¿

    There was only so much content on the note, it was such a light piece of paper, but Luo Jian felt that it weighed a thousand pounds1. He took the note to the single writing desk in the room. There was indeed a small, round rm clock, the hour hand pointed in the 12 o¡¯clock direction, and the minute hand was pointing in the direction of the number 8, which signified that eight minutes had passed since he woke up.

    Leave this room within an hour; otherwise, be eliminated.

    ¡°This is clearly a joke!¡± Luo Jian simply thought this was ridiculous, but the word ¡®eliminated¡¯ on the note made him feel uneasy. He ced the note down and walked back to the door. He pushed on the door again, but it still wouldn¡¯t budge. Luo Jian was getting flustered. Regardless of whether the words on this note were true or false, escaping within an hour wasn¡¯t that much of a bad idea either; he really didn¡¯t like being confined in such a tight, small space. It was just too stifling.

    Luo Jian then lowered his head, and once again, he looked back at the door. The door handle had a keyhole, indicating that it could be unlocked with a key. He reckoned the possibility that someone locked the door from the outside. If there was a key hidden somewhere in this room, then good. If not, then Luo Jian must think of another way to open this door.

    Luo Jian returned to the desk; except for the small, round rm clock sitting on top of the table, there were only a handful of books randomly piled on top of one another. The book covers were very thick, but it was awfully strange that the books were written in a foreignnguage. He was unable to make any sense out of the densely packed words that resembled tadpoles. He casually flipped through them, and finding nothing worth mentioning, conveniently ced it in the corner.

    The writing desk had four drawers, and the top most had a keyhole. Luo Jian tugged it a bit and found it to be locked, so he gave up and immediately opened the second. Inside was a notebook with a ck jacket. Luo Jian sorted through it and noticed that only the first few pages had words written on them, followed by arge nk space. He felt that it wouldn¡¯t take much time, so he decided to skim it.

    The first page read: ¡°My left side is a crooked reflection of the dead2.¡± Luo Jian automatically read it out loud, while reading the words on this page, he subconsciously looked to his left. There were only walls of white, but some of the white paint chipped off, revealing traces of crimson brick.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt his blood run cold, then he opened up the next page, continuing to read, ¡°The murderer buried himself with his weapon.¡±

    Utterly confusing! Luo Jian shook his head, and opened up the third page; he proceeded to read the next words aloud, ¡°God! God will never forgive me for what I¡¯ve done¡­what is the meaning of this?¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯tprehend it much. However, the third page had two lines, and the second line was written at the very bottom of the page. Three shocking words were written in red: ¡°I killed him!¡±

    Luo Jian frowned, he turned to the fourth page. It was nk. The fifth page. nk. The sixth page. nk. ¡­He kept turning the pages until he eventually reached thest page, and he finally saw some writing, it was a distorted sentence: ¡°Do you want to leave?¡± Then there was nothing left.

    ¡°What kind of dog shit is this?!¡± Luo Jian was unbelievably confounded; these few sentences made him feel extremely vexed. He threw the notebook onto the floor, and opened up the third drawer. Inside were a pair of scissors, a wire, and a ballpoint pen. Not bad. If he were a thief who aced at lock-picking, he could¡¯ve opened the door. But unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t.

    Afterwards, Luo Jian opened the final drawer. Inside, there was an awl and¡­a gun. Luo Jian¡¯s soul flew out of his body and he stood lifeless for a moment, before reaching out with his hand to bring out the gun. It was quite heavy in the palm of his hand, and from the quality of its structure, it was obviously not a fake or a model. This was the first time Luo Jian ever held a real gun. His hand that gripped the gun trembled ever so slightly. Luo Jian studied the gun for a while, he dawdled a bit and then unloaded the magazine, only to pause. He only found one bullet inside.

    Why is there a gun here? Luo Jian quickly thought of this issue. The domestic control of firearms was heavily strict. Unless you were a police officer or an armed licensed bodyguard, you still needed permission to shoot even if you had a gun permit. A firearm in this country was rarely seen around, and at this moment, Luo Jian was holding a gun right before his eyes. ck in color, unrecognizable in model, and very much real.

 Chapter 2: Homicide

    Chapter 2: Homicide

    Luo Jian studied the gun without too much consideration because, in the end, he refused to use it. He was afraid of such a weapon, so he solemnly and carefully ced the gun back on the desk, and soon after, he picked up another item from the drawer, the awl.

    An awl was normally used to repair shoes. It could drill holes, and in all, it was a very sharp instrument. Luo Jian held it in his hand, examining it from all sides, then he ced it on top of the desk as well. He ced everything he found inside the drawers on top of the desk, but none of these items seemed to be of any use. Perhaps he could use the gun to shoot directly at the door handle, but doing so was somewhat dangerous, as he¡¯d never used a gun before; besides, he still held some reservations regarding his own uracy. In particr, there was only one bullet in the gun. If Luo Jian were to be slightly careless, he would never get a second chance.

    Which is why he had to think of other ways to open the door.

    Maybe I should see if there¡¯s anything inside this locked drawer? Luo Jian narrowed in on the very top drawer of the four drawers.

    He had tried opening it before, but it was locked. However, this lock seems much easier to pry open than that imprable door.

    But reality proved that Luo Jian was no lock-picking genius. He used an awl, a wire, some scissors, he used everything he could find, but he still couldn¡¯t open the damned lock! Luo Jian was furious, he simply stopped tinkering with the locked drawer, and instead, directly went to pry open the locked door. But doing that wasn¡¯t any better. The keyhole was surely trying to oppose him and pick a fight with him; it was just the worst!

    Nevertheless, Luo Jian also discovered that the keyhole to this door was not quite simr to ordinary ones. The dark, round keyhole was ratherrge, meaning that the corresponding key capable of opening this door should also be just asrge.

    Luo Jian half-knelt on the floor and looked through the inside of the huge keyhole. As expected, he couldn¡¯t see anything, but the dark hole gave Luo Jian the creeps. He stood up and took a step back, carefully scrutinizing the door once again. The crimson painted door looked rather odd in this cramped room. The iron door handle was rusted and tarnished, as if someone had used this door for a long time.

    Luo Jian¡¯s first impression about this door was that it was old, but the wooden door had no marks on it; it was smooth and wless. So, he thought about it for a moment; he took up the awl in his hands and began to scratch at the door, trying to create marks on it. But something unexpected happened to Luo Jian; no matter how hard the sharp awl in his hand scraped at the door, it wasn¡¯t able to leave a single mark on it, not even a tiny scratch.

    What kind of strange magic has been put on this damned door? Was there any kind of special material Luo Jian hasn¡¯t heard of?

    Luo Jian bit his lip and flung the awl in his hand far away. That tool couldn¡¯t do anything for him, so he stepped back, directly lifted his foot up, and aggressively kicked at the door in front! He didn¡¯t pause for one moment; instead, he kept alternating his legs and continued attacking the door, constantly generating a loud noise from the impact.

    However, the door remained untouched. Luo Jian felt that his feet were numb.

    ¡°Fuck! Fuck this!1¡± Luo Jian finally couldn¡¯t resist using profanity. What exactly is this fucking thing that¡¯s so strong? He repeatedly hit it for such a long time, but it didn¡¯t even have any cracks; is it even made of wood?!

    Luo Jian suddenly became excited! No! Maybe he suddenly became terrified! The narrow, locked room was so quiet, he could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat. The fear in his heart was like a serpent that finally woke up after being dormant for so long; its cold, boneless body slowly glided across the apex of Luo Jian¡¯s heart, stimting the trembling of his teeth.

    This sudden rise in terror made Luo Jian feel afraid, but it also made him feel bold. He directly took the gun on the desk, and copying what he learned from those police officers holding guns on television, he aimed the muzzle at the crimson wooden door. But soon after, Luo Jian abandoned this mindless and dangerous action.

    There was only one reason for his giving up. If the door was so sturdy to the point that bullets couldn¡¯t even prate it, there¡¯s a high probability that the bullet would ricochet in this small room, and then the bullet would most likely bounce back and create arge hole in Luo Jian¡¯s body, which would make him die for a ridiculous reason, and Luo Jian didn¡¯t want that kind of thing to happen.

    Luo Jian gripped his gun and sat down on the ground. He paused for a moment, then all of a sudden, he subconsciously looked at the rm clock on the writing desk. The hour and minute hands visibly marked 12:22.

    The note with the purple flower pattern explicitly gave him a time limit of one hour, and so far, Luo Jian did not know whether someone was simply ying a prank on him. But if it really was a joke, it was going too far. Luo Jian weighed the gun in his hand. This was definitely genuine.

    Although Luo Jian had never used a firearm, a munitions enthusiast that Luo Jian knew had eagerly introduced him to many collectibles. They were all either models or simtion guns, moreover, Luo Jian also did not listen carefully to the munitions fan; nevertheless, he still learned how to distinguish between a genuine and a fake. There were distinct differences between the loading and unloading of magazines, the quality, and the mass and weight.

    Luo Jian was troubled for a moment. He glumly put the pistol back on the desk, then squatted down to search for the note with the purple flower pattern, the note that he threw down on the ground after reading. Very soon, he found it near the foot of the bed; he picked it up and re-read the beautifully written cursive words. There weren¡¯t any peculiarities. He carefully scrutinized the purple flower marked on the lower right-hand corner of the note. The flower pattern resembled an Equinox Flower, namely the Manjusaka2, the legendary Flower of Hell.

    The bright red color was the symbol of the Red Spider Lily, indicating an ominous separation of blood and death. But on this note, the red Hell Flower became purple.

    The Equinox Lily3.

    It blossomed for a thousand years, it withered for a thousand years, the flowers and leaves would never meet for all eternity.4

    The sentiments were not preordained, but its fate was forever destined for life or death.

    The meaning of this flower left Luo Jian¡¯s hair standing on its end. He flipped over the note to see its back in order to check whether there was anything written behind it. Because this closed room was so depressing, he had even forgotten this crucial detail.

    Sure enough, there was something written on the back of the note:

    ¡¾In 1989, a homicide urred in this chamber. The murderer killed a man in the small apartment he rented. Traces of blood remained, and the window and doors were locked. But the corpse, the weapon, and the killer himself were missing.¡¿

    It was short and simple, but Luo Jian knew that these were some so-called clues. He looked up and carefully continued to observe the narrow room he was in. This room was obviously a couple of years old. Many ces on the white walls were off-colored,rge areas were cracking, exposing red brick underneath, the window was old and painted yellow, the ss was cracked, the corner and the edges were missing a few pieces, but the metal te outside looked brand-new, tightly sealing the window.

    The dark curtains hung on something, dangling down and appearing to fall at any given time. Luo Jian repeatedly yanked at the curtains, then sneezed; the dust was heavy. He squatted down and took a look under the bed; it was also covered inyers of dust. The bed he was justying down on was clean. The sheets seemed to be newly changed, for they shined a pure white. It felt like one of those monotone beds in the hospital wards.

    Luo Jian checked the bedforters and the pillows for anything, but he found nothing.

    The feeling of having gained nothing was truly hard to swallow. He once again focused back on the things he had already shuffled through. He attentively examined the desk; unlike the door, he could easily damage the desk with various tools. Luo Jian nced at the locked drawer. Since he couldn¡¯t treat that wretched door with violence, then it was always possible to treat the drawer with violence, no?

    Thereupon, Luo Jian picked up the scissors and the awl, and he even picked up a ball-point pen; he was that desperate to destroy the lock on the drawer. This lock and the lock on the door were not quite the same, since this one seemed more fragile. Luo Jian almost pulled open the lock from the drawer. At one point, he used the scissors and awl to pick at it, and at another point, he used his feet to kick at it. Hepletely overturned the writing desk, when atst, he finally opened the damned lock on the drawer!

    However, the contents inside the drawer came as a surprise to Luo Jian.

    ¡°A hammer?¡± Luo Jian picked up therge hammer from the drawer. The hammer looked very durable. He weighed it is his hand, it was quite heavy, he could probably break down that wretched door.

    Pondering about it, Luo Jian took up the hammer, promptly made a decision, and smashed the hammer on the red door! But the result was still surprising! The power of the hammer nearly made Luo Jian¡¯s hand fly off, but the door still didn¡¯t budge; it was quietly existing there, separating Luo Jian from the outside world.

    The corners of Luo Jian¡¯s mouth twitched as he looked back at the door that was safe and sound; maybe he should smash it a few more times.

    Yet, after he repeatedly hit it more than a dozen times, Luo Jian just wanted to rage! Even doors that were reinforced with metal tes would most likely leave behind some marks, wouldn¡¯t they?!

    Then, Luo Jian took a nce at the tattered window. Although the note stated that he shouldn¡¯t try to escape the ce through the window, he couldn¡¯t help but think of this idea. How about trying it? Perhaps the message on the note waspletely misleading, deliberately making people avoid the window?

    Luo Jian walked over and opened the window. He touched the iron sheet sealing the window from outside, only to find there wasn¡¯t any dust on it.

    To be on the safe side, Luo Jian scratched at the iron sheet with the awl, but the result he got was the one he hated the most. The awl didn¡¯t leave any traces or marks on the iron sheet, just like that goddamn door. It was as if it were informing Luo Jian of some facts¡ªthat any sort of violence against it was ineffective.

    Luo Jian felt goosebumps all over his body; the dim, gloomy light in the room seemed to indicate how he felt. All of a sudden, there was a glinting light; it made the narrow room sh dark then bright, and it made Luo Jian¡¯s back tense with cold sweat.

    ¡°Calm down! I need to calm down! What other clues are there? Maybe there¡¯s a key hidden somewhere in this room? If the door isn¡¯t able to be destroyed, then the only way to open it must be with a key. Right! It¡¯s just like a strategy game, there¡¯s only one correct path, I just have to find the clues!¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s face was pale. Biting anxiously on his lip, he began to think aloud.

    ¡°I searched every corner of this room, but I didn¡¯t see a key. Where could the key be? Where are keys generally hidden? In the owner¡¯s pocket? Yeah, that¡¯s a good start. So, who¡¯s the owner of this room?¡±

    Luo Jian looked down at the note, his line of sight was fixed on thest line: The corpse, the weapons, and the killer himself were missing.

    ¡°The murderer¡¯s room, the key is naturally in the murderer¡¯s hands.¡± Luo Jianughed hysterically. He knew that his mental state wasn¡¯t normal, but in this damned narrow and confined environment, being normal wasn¡¯t any easier than going anywhere!

    ¡°As long as I unravel the mystery of this secret room, I can naturally find the key to leave.¡± Luo Jian nced at the note, a chilling smile floated on to his lips, ¡°You wanted to convey something to me, is that right?¡±

    Then, the most bizarre thing happened!

    The very moment Luo Jian finished his sentence, a sentence slowly emerged on a nk space on the note:

    ¡¾Indeed, that is the case. Well, I still wish you good luck.¡¿

    As if he were electrocuted, Luo Jian threw down the piece of paper in his hand; his face was a white as a ghost, and he didn¡¯t even dare breathe in any air.

    Just now, there was no mistake!

    This sentence definitely appeared out of nowhere! If felt like a marvelous miracle created from a magician¡¯s hand! Turning something absolutely unimaginable into reality, but everyone stillughed because they knew that magic was only a distraction, that it was merely an unpredictable trick that took advantage of one¡¯s blind spots.

    But in this narrow! Locked! Dark! Panic-inducing room!

    Who would perform a magic trick for Luo Jian?!

    Luo Jian¡¯s teeth were trembling, he didn¡¯t dare look at the note again, but he couldn¡¯t help but nce at the rm clock on the desk. The time was now 12:40.

    There¡¯s no time!

    If he didn¡¯t find a way out, Luo Jian was really likely to be stuck in here forever!

    Luo Jian was one edge. He picked up the hammer again, and forced himself to calm down while thinking about the murderer in this room. The clues hinted that the murderer killed a man in here. Luo Jian looked around for a moment, but he did not find any blood. If this room really was the scene of a homicide, then most likely, this room wasn¡¯t a chamber yet. So when the murderer killed his victim, he must have opened the doors to get water, a mop, and all other cleaning equipment, in order to clean any traces of blood indicating a murder urred.

    Then, once he threw away his cleaning equipment, the room became a chamber. The murderer and victim were still here, but they just vanished into thin air.

    ¡°No, they didn¡¯t disappear. They¡¯re still here.¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly muttered. He remembered what he saw in the murderer¡¯s notebook, the first line of the first page:

    ¡¾My left side is a crooked reflection of the dead.¡¿

 Chapter 3: Fatal

    Chapter 3: Fatal

    Luo Jian shifted his eyes to the wall on the left. In actuality, there wasn¡¯t a precise concept of what the left-side was referring to, but it should most likely be the left side of the writing desk. There were traces of aging on the walls, the white paint peeled off almost everywhere, leaving behind only red brick. A house built in 1989, even if it was still a house in the countryside, it was impossible for it to be any more robust.

    ¡°Let¡¯s smash it.¡± Luo Jian instantly straightened his back, raised the hammer, and immediately smashed at the wall. Unlike the door or window, this wall wasn¡¯t entirely indestructible, or perhaps it was simply fragile. One smash created arge crack, then another smash created a hole; the inside was dark. It was only natural that Luo Jian¡¯s strength was also great; after all, he was nearly driven insane by this narrow, enclosed chamber; even if he didn¡¯t have ustrophobia, he already felt as if he was being forced to develop it because of this room!

    Fueled by madness, Luo Jian quickly smashed the wall and created a massive opening that would allow a person to pass through. A faint glow shined onto the hole; the inside of the hole was dark, and there seemed to be a small space that could be considered spacious enough.

    Panting deeply, Luo Jian looked at the wall he destroyed, then he thought of a horrifying notion.

    This room was actually bigger, as least much bigger than it was now. The murderer killed someone here, he dragged the corpse to the corner of the wall, cleaned up all traces of blood indicating a murder, and then, using red brick and cement, he rebuilt a wall at about one-third of the region of the room! Then, he sealed himself and the victim in that one-third region! He just had to paint a little over the red brick and adjust a couple more things in advance, then once the paint dried up, the wall would look as old as its surrounding. Thus, the murderer and the victim were able to disappear from this room without a trace!

    It¡¯s no wonder that when Luo Jian opened his eyes and firstid sight on this room, he always felt that there was this sense of incongruity; it may have been because the bricks and stones building the wall were a bit nted, evoking an odd feeling of crookedness.

    His bold imagination was quite outrageous, but the possibility was also very likely. Luo Jian was not a detective so he couldn¡¯te up with a logical conclusion, but he just knew that there was indeed a space behind the wall. And there may also be two bodies, the murderer¡¯s and the victim¡¯s, meaning the key must be with one of them! Luo Jian felt his hands tremble in anticipation; he would soon be able to leave this ce!

    Luo Jian continued to smash the wall, creating an even bigger hole and roughly exposing the space behind the wall. The dust flew everywhere, making him cough, and when the dust finally settled, everything behind the wall was revealed atst.

    Luo Jian guessed correctly.

    Behind the walls was a smaller, narrower, rectangr space with adder; there were also some remaining materials, bricks, dried cement, as well as¡­two corpses.

    Luo Jian set aside the crushed pile of bricks and tiles, then he squatted beside the two bodies. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t stop coughing because of the rising dust, and the following rancid smell made Luo Jian feel an urge to vomit. He carefully observed the two bodies, only to discover something strange.

    One of the corpses was dposing, maggots were even growing and appearing everywhere. Luo Jian felt extremely disgusted from finding bugs still wriggling in the body¡¯s mouth; the eyes had no eyeballs, and the sleeves exposed the hands, revealing ghostly white bones. The body was sitting in the corner of the wall; it was dressed in grey clothes covered in dust, and a knife was stuck in its chest, imposingly and seemingly about to fall off at any moment. Apparently, this was the victim.

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t bear to give it another nce. He covered his mouth and turned his pale face towards the other body.

    It was also just a quick glimpse, but Luo Jian nearly screamed his head off.

    It wasn¡¯t that the degree of rotting in the body was terrifying; if that were the case, Luo Jian wouldn¡¯t be scared of a dead man. But he was afraid of this body¡­it wasn¡¯t like a corpse at all, but a living person instead!

    It was a young man. He had ck hair and an absolutely stunning face. Based on his handsome facial features, he was about twenty years old. The entire body, from top to bottom, wasn¡¯t decayed at all. He was wearing a ckbat uniform, the kind of protective uniforms that military special forces wore, long boots, and tactical gloves. His hand still gripped at a military knife. It was as if he still hadn¡¯t departed from the battlefield, like he still wasn¡¯t able to rx his guard.

    Luo Jian held his breath as he stared at the man. Just now, he hit the wall with a lot of force, and the debris from the bricks and tiles fell on the man¡¯s body, but it didn¡¯t wake the other up¡­perhaps he really was dead? Butpared to the decayed corpse nearby, Luo Jian sensed that the other was alive; although his bare skin was rather pale, it was definitely the skin color of a living person.

    Luo Jian hesitated for a second, but his desire to escape made him act. He slowly reached out and touched the man¡¯s neck, it was certainly ice-cold, and there was no pulse. This made Luo Jian subconsciously sigh in relief. He absolutely didn¡¯t want the other person to be alive; ording to the hints, this man was the so-called killer, the savage murderer. If he were still alive, he might immediately stab Luo Jian with his knife too.

    Luo Jian persisted through his fears and started groping the man. He quickly pulled out a key from the other¡¯s coat pocket, and from the shape and size of it, it was undoubtedly the key to the door of the room!

    Luo Jian was beyond ecstatic. He turned around and looked at the rm clock on the desk: 12:54. It didn¡¯t take much time to smash the wall. Since the wall was built hastily, and it also wasn¡¯t built by professional construction workers, destroying it was easy. So, i was only natural that it didn¡¯t take much time. Luo Jian was so happy that he was finally able to leave before the time ran out.

    Unable to hold himself back, he rushed to the door and inserted the key; just as he wished, the key and the lock were a perfect match. He twisted it slightly and heard the sound of a click. The lock had been opened. As long as he turned the handle and pushed open the door, he would be able to get out!

    Can get out!

    Luo Jian was just about to turn the handle, but in the very next second, he fell into the dark abyss.

    Because someone from behind suddenly used an arm to hold Luo Jian back, and with a military knife in hand, stabbed directly into Luo Jian¡¯s abdomen. Luo Jian immediately saw stars from the pain, but his will to survive was too strong; he instinctively used his elbow to deal a heavy blow to the person behind him, forcing the other too loosen the grip on his body.

    But afterwards, Luo Jian was unable to bear it, and he coughed a mouthful of blood, it flowed down the corners of his mouth and onto his neck. He leaned against the door, but was unable to open the door. The pain drained his strength, he slid down to sit on the ground, and then he looked up at the man who attacked him.

    It was the murderer! The man who had no pulse, who he thought was dead, was standing right before Luo Jian, looking down at him from above.

    This man was unconditionally the handsome type, with short ck hair and messy bangs; to add, the corners of his lips curled up, making him appear to have a malicious and cold expression, but his eyes weren¡¯t the normal ck color that Asians had. Shockingly, his eyes were scarlet; without a doubt, these were not the eyes of a human being!

    Luo Jian was vaguely aware at this point; this strange room and the odd piece of paper made Luo Jian realize that the ce he entered was undoubtedly not a normal world. And the man in front of him was more proof of this; his entire body exuded a terrifying, cold aura. Luo Jian had a keen sense, it was so sharp that he could easily avoid idents, such as a car crashing into him or empty wine bottles falling from upstairs. In short, predicting danger was Luo Jian¡¯s forte.

    I can¡¯t go against him.

    And at this point, Luo Jian¡¯s indistinct yet urate intuition seemed to be telling him that.

    The knife inserted in his abdomen was agonizing, Luo Jian felt himself convulsing because of the pain. He wanted to stand up, but the strength in his hands and feet seemed to have been torn away from his body away due to the pain and suffering. He was barely able to flip his body over, but he fell sideways to the ground, and watched on as the man approached him.

    He crouched down, stared at Luo Jian¡¯s face, and then grinned.

    Really hateful. Luo Jian looked at the other through his blurring vision; this man was truly born with an exceptional appearance, even with that twisted grin, Luo Jian still thought he was good-looking, the type that he liked.

    I¡¯m dying. Luo Jian was left in a daze; he never did anything bad in his life, he worked for a smallpany, he only knew some entric friends with strange hobbies, such as the military fanatic, but Luo Jian felt that he himself was a good person, he always directed a gentle smile at everyone, he would try his best to help anyone who needed help; the only bad thing he did in his life was probablying out of the closet to his parents and confessing that he loved men.

    Why am I going to die here?

    Luo Jian suddenly felt resentful, he also wanted to go home on New Year¡¯s Day to see his parents, even if they didn¡¯t forgive him, he also wanted to look them, to say anything to them. He also borrowed an entire set of his favorite discs from Ah Lan1, which he did not return. To add, there were somepany reports that haven¡¯t been handled. He didn¡¯t exactly make contact with people, and the people he liked were often straight; it was awfully pathetic, but he was a true virgin.

    He was not willing. The door was clearly behind him, he just had to push it open and he could get out.

    Luo Jian simply wanted to cry, and as a matter of fact, he really began to cry. Tears blurred his vision, and through his haziness, he could see the murderer¡¯s beautiful grin. Luo Jian exhausted all of his strength, he reached out and grabbed the other¡¯s cor; this action obviously made the murderer pause for a moment, but he didn¡¯t react. Luo Jian pulled the other¡¯s head downwards towards him, propped himself on his elbows to lift his body, and bit the other person¡¯s lips!

    It was a ferocious and strong bite!

    Kissed by the man whom he killed, or perhaps to kiss a man who wants to kill him, this was such an exciting thing, but the thought hardly urred to Luo Jian. He merely wanted to go crazy for once, he couldn¡¯t ept that he wasn¡¯t able to go against him, he wasn¡¯t willing to die; so even if he did die, he also wanted the other person to firmly remember him in his mind!

    Then, Luo Jian¡¯s lungs convulsed, a mouthful of blood surged up, and he poured it all into the man¡¯s mouth.

    The man did not push him away; to be precise, the other person even reached out with his arms to hold him, he embraced Luo Jian¡¯s waist and supported his weight, allowing Luo Jian¡¯s entire body to stand up slowly. Their lips remained in a state of union; the man drew Luo Jian closer and sat down on the bed behind him.

    Blood flowed down all over Luo Jian¡¯s body; this massive blood loss made everything in his view cken. He squinted his eyes as leaned on the man¡¯s shoulder, he actually wasn¡¯t conscious of what he was doing. The man released Luo Jian¡¯s lips and seemed to thoughtfully watch Luo Jian. This human¡¯s face showed that he was absent-minded as he leaned on him; his expression was stiff, and his pupils were dted, this was, of course, an indication of excessive blood loss. Moreover, the man was clearly aware that his knife stabbed a fatal point, it was impossible for this human to survive.

    Suddenly, the man looked up at the rm clock on the desk, 12:59. It was thest minute.

    The man unexpectedlyughed. He leaned forward, licking the blood off of Luo Jian¡¯s lips, and a gentle bite to his neck followed after. A purple mark appeared where he was bitten, it resembled a circr tattoo of a snake biting its tail. Then, rounding his arm around Luo Jian¡¯s waist, he semi-dragged, semi-carried him to the front of the door. The man single-handedly opened the front door, and the door creaked as it opened halfway.

    There was nothing outside the door.

    Absolutely nothing, it was pitch-ck; the feeling it gave was simr to if the door suddenly opened to a dark, chaotic empty space. The man gathered Luo Jian into his arms and stood inside the doorway. He looked down at Luo Jian who had lost consciousness, and once the hand of the rm clock pointed to the veryst second, he pushed him out the door, into the chaotic darkness.

    1°¢á°¨C Ah Lan/A-Lan/n.

 Chapter 4: Return

    Chapter 4: Return

    It took Luo Jian a long while to wake up from his confusion. He was lying stiffly on his bed, dazed for a moment, then he sat upright. He carefully observed his surroundings and found himself back in his room.

    Outside the window, the sky was bright. The digital clock on the nightstand marked 6:45 AM; it was early in the morning.

    Luo Jian paused, then he suddenly bowed his head and touched his abdomen. There was absolutely no wound, no blood, and no pain. Luo Jian felt that his chaotic mind was in shambles. He stumbled trying to get out of his bed, then ran to the edge of the window and opened it. The cool breeze blew onto his face. Outside on the street, there were several elderly people taking walks early in the morning. It was no different from usual.

    It wasn¡¯t a narrow, enclosed chamber, but his very own home.

    ¡°Was I dreaming?¡± Luo Jian thought aloud; he couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief a couple of times. If it really was just a dream, that would be great. Although this terrible dream left him breaking out in cold sweat, it also allowed him to truly understand what experiencing death was like. After all, in his dream, Luo Jian nearly touched the chilling hands of Death himself.

    But fortunately, it was only a dream. Luo Jianforted himself, he couldn¡¯t help but grasp at his own chest. It was only for a moment, but when he woke up from his dream, he honestly thought he was dead. It was all too realistic. Luo Jian was able to recall every single detail clearly, as though he has just re-experienced it.

    Luo Jian left his bedroom and went to the living room. As a single man, Luo Jian¡¯s house wasn¡¯t particrly tidy, but luckily, he was somewhat ¡®organized and neat¡¯ in his daily lifestyle, so he never made a great mess of his own home.

    The miniature buns that he bought from the patisseriest night were stacked on top of the table, along with a kettle, a cup, and a bowl of instant noodles. Everything remained in its original ce, there wasn¡¯t any sign of movements.

    Luo Jian instinctively found his mobile phone recharging on the sofa. Once again, he looked at the time and date. Indeed, it was the correct date; it really was today. He didn¡¯t appear to wake up only to find himself sleeping for two or three days, possibly a week or a month, or maybe even longer.

    I¡¯m too stressed. Luo Jian stated in his mind. It¡¯s all in the past, it was just a dream. Forget about it, Luo Jian!

    He took a deep breath, and then he walked over to the kitchen, nning to check the refrigerator. He remembered that he had prepared plenty of ingredients; he could probably make some egg fried rice or something else to eat. He woke up this morning feeling extremely hungry, as if he had been starving for a couple of days.

    However, his hand just reached out to touch the handle of the refrigerator, before he froze in shock.

    There was something that shouldn¡¯t have appeared on the door of the refrigerator. He didn¡¯t know who posted a note on the refrigerator¡¯s door, but it was posted it in a very conspicuous location, directly at Luo Jian¡¯s eye-level. He immediately caught sight of it when he looked up from the ground.

    It was a piece of paper with the mark of a purple flower printed on the lower right-hand corner.

    Luo Jian¡¯s face paled almost instantly, he felt his fingertips tremble. It was like his entire body was under a curse, it was so stiff to the point that he was paralyzed. It took a very long time before he was able to break free from this awful state; he forced himself to calm down. Afterwards, he extended his arm and tore the note from the door of the fridge. Then, he looked down at it. As before, the cursive words were beautifully written:

    ¡¾Dear Mr. Luo Jian¡¿

    ¡¾Congrattions, you have sessfully passed the first level!¡¿

    ¡¾Between your outstanding performances, we will present a prize to you. This reward is certainly not thest one, as we will be presenting you with different rewards every time you sessfully escape a chamber ande back to reality. Or course, whether you wish to give up the reward is your own choice. But in giving up these rewards, which may be your tickets to survival, you may not be able to pass the next level as easily. It is worth considering all of your options carefully.¡¿

    ¡¾P.S. The prize is in the drawer of your desk.¡¿

    ¡¾The next rendezvous shall be ten days from now. Please stay healthy and sleep well.1 I wish you the best of luck!¡¿

    After wordlessly reading this note, Luo Jian turned silent for a moment. He flipped the note in order to see if anything was written on its back, but nothing was written; it was pure white.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a dream.¡±

    With a sneer, Luo Jian ripped the note into pieces and threw it in the trashcan. He went back to the desk in his room, and he opened the drawer. There were a few books and documents, and in addition to those, it was as the note stated, there was a small gift.

    A knife.

    ¡°I thought it¡¯d be a gun.¡± Luo Jian took out the knife from the drawer. To be more urate, it should be abat knife; it was about 20 centimeters long, the handle was ck, and the de was also ck. He didn¡¯t know what material was used, but it didn¡¯t reflect any light; to add, there was no hand guard. With this leather knife sheath, it could be tied at his waist, but the sheath had no clips or straps to hold the actual knife in ce. In other words, as long as Luo Jian had some skills, he could swiftly draw his knife from its sheath and attack or defend against an enemy at an unimaginable speed, somethingmonly seen with tactical assault knives.

    On another note, this knife looked identical to the one the murderer held.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt a dull ache in his abdomen, where he was stabbed, but when he ced his hand above the area, there weren¡¯t any wounds. And yet, Luo Jian¡¯s palms were covered in cold sweat, he was stunned out of his mind. Once again, he raised the military knife to observe it. The de of the knife was unusually sharp; merely staring at it gave Luo Jian the impression that it had already cut him. Luo Jian carefully examined the knife, and he found apact design on the handle¡­like the pattern on the note, there was an engraving of the Hell Flower.

    ¡°Such an ominous thing.¡± Luo Jian frowned in disgust. He put the knife in its sheath, closed his drawer, then went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up. He still had to go to work regardless the events that went down. It didn¡¯t matter how exhausted he was feeling; in order to live as a normal person, he had to maintain his ordinary daily routine.

    Live an ordinary life. Luo Jian calmly dered in his heart. He held onto a towel and washed his face in front of the mirror, but once again, he soon discovered something wrong. There was something on his body that shouldn¡¯t have existed.

    On the side of his neck, near the ce behind his ear that was covered by his hair, there was a small, purple tattoo, a round ouroboros3 tattoo.

    Surprisingly, Luo Jian did not freak out at the sight of this. Although he didn¡¯t know when a tattoo appeared on his neck, at least it was able to be hidden with his hair; not to mention, it was rather insignificant4, which is why Luo Jian wasn¡¯t too concerned about it.

    But even if he did care, what could he do about it? Luo Jian clearly understood this. That note, that chamber, that murderer, that knife that appeared so suddenly in the drawer of his desk, and this tattoo on his neck, all of these proved one thing, and that was whatever Luo Jian had encountered was unnatural, it was something human beings couldn¡¯t oppose!

    So, Luo Jianposed himself and decided to go to work as usual instead of yelling like a lunatic and running off to the police only to be sent to the psychiatric hospital. Luo Jian knew that nobody would believe in what he had experienced; he himself didn¡¯t even have the confidence to believe in what happened to him.

    The arranged time is ten dayster? Luo Jian got some things ready as he prepared to leave, and all the while, he thought about the contents of that piece of paper. That note evidently revealed two things: One, this ¡®escape the chamber¡¯ game seemed to happen more than once. And two, ten dayster, he will be dragged into that strange, enclosed space once again.

    Although figuring this out made Luo Jian feel very much dissatisfied, he had to admit that he couldn¡¯t go against it.

    For the whole morning, he was busy at thepany, and at noon, Luo Jian was being harassed on the phone; a friend he hadn¡¯t seen in a long time was asking him out to eat dinner.

    ¡°Dinner? Someone like you would be so kind to treat me to dinner?¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t believe he was listening to the voice of Feng Yu Lan, that crazy fellow who was a cheapskate, who¡¯d never once thought about even pulling half of a hair strand. Today was the very first time he said he¡¯d treat Luo Jian to dinner; surely, the sun was rising from the west.

    ¡°What do you mean? This is how much you don¡¯t trust me! It¡¯s rare for me to be in a good mood! Fine then, Don¡¯te if you don¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯lle! If I don¡¯t butcher you cruelly4, I¡¯ll change my surname to yours!¡± Luo Jian immediately corrected himself. He put everything in order then left through thepany¡¯s entrance doors; Feng Yu Lan grumbled on the other end of the phone:

    ¡°12 o¡¯clock sharp. We¡¯ll meet at our usual ce.¡±

    The usual ce was actually a restaurant near Luo Jian¡¯s house; it was very close by. Luo Jian looked at his cell phone and saw that he still had some time to return home for a change of clothes. Luo Jian didn¡¯t know whether he wasing down with a fever, but he felt unusually hot. He was sitting in an air-conditioned office all morning, and yet he had still been sweating like a dog; he felt sticky and ufortable.

    So, Luo Jian quickly went back home to change his clothes. As he was rummaging through his wardrobe for some clothes, something strange happened. It was as if the gods and demons were at work5; when he opened the drawer of his desk, he saw the military knife inside it.

    It truly was the work of gods and demons; otherwise, why else would he spontaneously pick up the knife and strap it to his waist? The leather sheath was fastened horizontally across his back; as long as Luo Jian used his right hand and reached for the knife behind him, he could easily draw it from its sheath. His jacket was long enough to thoroughly conceal the knife; there wasn¡¯t a single hair out of ce.

    When he was ready, Luo Jian left his house with his knife; his heart felt a bitplicated. He never thought that he would actually carry his knife on the street, but when he returned home, a vague, inexplicable feeling kept haunting the back of his mind, and itpelled him to take his weapon. Luo Jian¡¯s keen intuition told him he should be more cautious, and so he left with his military knife on his body.

    He only took one step outside his house, when a sudden burst of dizziness struck him. Luo Jian lifted his head and faced the skies above him. The sun was ringly bright, causing him to narrow his eyes as he looked upwards.

    It¡¯s not over yet. Luo Jian had this faint feeling, as if¡­yes, it was just like that, it was as if he was still trapped in that narrow, enclosed, oppressive chamber. He felt like that trapped victim who was murdered in the chamber. From beginning to end, there was no escape.

    Eternally struggling in the dark world.

    Luo Jian lowered his head, avoiding the re of the sunlight. He then subconsciously touched the small tattoo on his neck. Luo Jian felt that he really had a fever, the temperature of his entire body was abnormally high. However, the only ce that was still cool was his neck, where the tattoo was.

 Chapter 5: Instinct

    Chapter 5: Instinct

    In the end, Luo Jian did not see Feng Yu Lan at the usual ce because halfway through the walk, Luo Jian chose to take a shortcut, rounding the corner to an alley. For some reason, although the day was bright, the alley was eerily dark and vacant; the humid air was filled with the scent of iron, the smell of blood.

    Luo Jian felt shivers run up his spine; he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. He subconsciously quickened his pace; his fever seemed to be getting worse and worse by the second. His newly changed clothes were immediately soaked by his sweat. It was sweltering and unbearable, he couldn¡¯t help but cover the cold area on his neck.

    How strange¡­was this alley always so long?

    After walking for a long time and still not seeing the exit, Luo Jian began to realize something was amiss. Back then, he had only walked through this alley a few times because it was rtively close and it would take him directly to where he wanted. Although the road was narrow and quite remote, there were still people who normally liked to take this shortcut, as it was convenient and fast. Each time he took it, Luo Jian always met one or two passersby.

    But there was no one here today.

    Luo Jian lifted his head once again and looked up at the sky. Because of this cramped alley, the sky also seemed to be just a narrow seam. Several inteced wires hung above Luo Jian¡¯s head, and he didn¡¯t know why, but there was this stifling feeling of restriction bearing down on him. Shortly afterwards, Luo Jian heard footstepsing from afar. The steps were heavy and strong, and each step issued a solid sound. Someone wasing! Luo Jian immediately became alert, his hair stood on its edge, and his right hand reached for his back. His fingers touched the handle of his knife.

    The handle of hisbat knife had a ring on it, so he could easily hook his finger through it. This design allowed Luo Jian to draw his knife even faster; furthermore, it wouldn¡¯t slip out of his hands since the ringed handle gave better retention, a ¡®fixed¡¯ effect.

    The unexpected visitor soon revealed himself before Luo Jian. It was an oddly-dressed man wearing a grey vest and a rather bulky jacket. His hood covered his head, and he even went as far as to wearing a grey mask. He wore a pair of casual, loose-fitting ck trousers and some white running shoes.

    The alley was very dark, so Luo Jian couldn¡¯t make out the other person¡¯s face. And it didn¡¯t help that on a hot day like this, the man not only wore such a thick coat and a hood, but he even wore a mask. It was exceedingly bizarre. Luo Jian carefully observed him and found he was also armed with a weapon. It was actually a hand-held crossbow!

    The small hand crossbow was almost the same size as an ordinary handgun, just slightly bigger. Moreover, there was an arched bowstring near the top, which shot out arrows, not bullets. He¡¯d once seen this weapon from that friend of his who was a military fanatic and an arms collector. That friend treasured it as if it was his most precious baby, and he never let Luo Jian touch it.

    The two sides stopped about five or six meters from each other. While Luo Jian warily sized the other party up, he knew that the stranger on the other side was sizing him up as well. It wasn¡¯t appropriate to rashly start an attack, so Luo Jian decided to quietly wait and see.

    As a matter of fact, Luo Jian didn¡¯t understand why he knew he¡¯d be attacked; he just carried his weapon as a precaution. It was truly an odd presentiment. It was as if there was a voice in his mind telling him what to do and how to act. It was quite the phenomenal feeling, it was indescribable. It was simr to the feeling he had when the writing mysteriously appeared on the note with the purple design.

    ¡°You a rookie?¡± The opposite side spoke first.

    ¡°What? Rookie?¡± Luo Jian had one hand behind his back; he gripped onto his weapon tightly.

    The other party raised his hand, showing his weapon to Luo Jian, ¡°How you got that knife at your back is how I got my crossbow.¡±

    Luo Jian finally understood that man was telling him he experienced the same thing.

    ¡°You¡¯re talking about that damned chamber? Right?¡±

    However, before Luo Jian could receive an answer, the masked man suddenlyunched an attack!

    It was all too unexpected. The masked man raised the crossbow in his hand, aimed it directly at Luo Jian, and pulled the trigger. The piercing sound made by the arrow startled Luo Jian. He hastily struggled then stumbled to the side in panic, cutting an extremely sorry figure when evading that attack. He couldn¡¯t help but peek in the direction where the arrow was shot. The arrow was deeply embedded in the cement ground, revealing only the tip of its tail.

    At this very moment, Luo Jian broke out into a cold sweat. He didn¡¯t doubt that if he had dodged any slower, that arrow would definitely have prated his body!

    The first strike failed, but the masked man was unperturbed; he calmly carried out his second strike. He took out another arrow from god-knows-where, reloaded, winded, and once again, aimed at Luo Jian. The process seemed fairlyplex, but it was actuallypleted within mere seconds.

    This guy¡¯s for real! Luo Jian knew he couldn¡¯t do anything, the enemy¡¯s aura was terrifyingly imposing. With only once nce, Luo Jian could evidently see the other person¡¯s intention to kill. It wasn¡¯t merely an impulse or even an action guided by one¡¯s hot blood, it was cold and calctive; the man was designing his murder!

    ¡°Wait! I don¡¯t want to fight you!¡± Luo Jian was certainly nobat expert. In fact, the amount of fights he¡¯s had since he was a child up until now could be counted with just one hand. This man¡¯s movement showed how skilled he was, and his aura was menacing; he was obviously not a man to be dealt with.

    ¡°Pick up your weapon and fight back! Otherwise, I¡¯ll bust your head open in the next second!¡± The masked man relentlessly threatened. His cold tone and the crossbow in his hand proved to Luo Jian that the man would follow through on his word1.

    If I don¡¯t fight back, I¡¯ll really die!

    Luo Jian pulled out his own knife. At this moment, he remembered the murderer in the chamber, the reality of it, how the god of death himself approached him. Luo Jian didn¡¯t remember how he finally escaped from the chamber, but he knew he should¡¯ve been dead. And yet, he was still alive.

    Since I¡¯m alive, I can¡¯t die here. Luo Jian muttered to himself. He was still extremely afraid, and his hands and legs were trembling violently, but he mustered up all of his courage! Even though the odds of him winning were more than slim, and even though Luo Jian couldn¡¯t see a sliver of hope, he was betting on all of the strength he had left.

    Just as he¡¯s never used a gun before, Luo Jian has never fought with a knife. In normal fights, all he did was wave his fists around, nothing more. But this was the first time he was actually fighting with a dagger. The de in his hand made him feel troubled, but the enemy didn¡¯t give him a chance to think, as he shot another arrow.

    I have to get close to him. Luo Jian thought as he avoided the second arrow. The other person¡¯s movements were swift, and he was very proficient in using his weapon, but for some reason, his aim was poor. It was rtively easy for Luo Jian to dodge.

    This gave Luo Jian a sense of ease, and he rushed towards the enemy with the knife in his hand.

    The masked man seemed to have let out a small chuckle. He then rapidly loaded the arrow into his weapon and shot directly at Luo Jian face. The speed at which the arrow was approaching was too fast, there wasn¡¯t any time to dodge2!

    In that instant, the arrow flew towards Luo Jian. A sh of panic erupted in his mind, his mind was suddenly able to concentrate deeply, and in only 0.01 seconds, the most amazing thing had happened.

    Luo Jian felt himself being manipted by the knife in his hand!

    He felt the hand that was gripping the knife grow hot, hotter than the temperature of his body. His brain had yet to react before his body involuntarily moved, and he shed at the arrow with his knife!

    He wasn¡¯t finished after getting rid of that arrow. Luo Jian felt his feet quickly pick up its pace. Even he was surprised by his own speed as he suddenly rushed over to the masked man. Before the man could shoot the next arrow, Luo Jian plunged hisbat knife in his direction. If Luo Jian didn¡¯t stop himself or if there weren¡¯t any other incidents, he¡¯s was going to stab his knife straight through the man¡¯s heart!

    But at thest minute, Luo Jian stopped.

    His face paled, and he remained in the same attack pose, stiff and motionless. The de stopped only a centimeter away from the masked man¡¯s face. God knows just how much effort he put into stopping himself! Luo Jian¡¯s mind was definitely not ying tricks on him; in that moment, he was definitely controlled by his own knife! Those highly difficult means of attacking and defending were absolutely impossible for a good-for-nothing like Luo Jian!

    I almost killed a person! Luo Jian roared inwardly.

    ¡°What do you think about that weapon in your hand?¡± The masked man wasn¡¯t rmed by Luo Jian¡¯s attack. It was as if hepletely didn¡¯t mind that his body would have a hole in it if Luo Jian was any slower in stopping himself. He slowly put away his crossbow.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Luo Jian was dripping cold sweat and panting heavily. Shaking all over, he proceeded to take back his knife; the tremble of his hands made the knife shake, as well. He couldn¡¯t understand this sort of thing, this feeling of horror. He stared at the knife in his hands as if he was looking at a monster.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to feel surprised, and there¡¯s no need to be afraid.¡± The masked man stated, ¡°The weapon we got from the chamber is selected ording to our physiological and psychological conditions. It is the weapon best suited for us. The moment you hold your weapon, it bes a part of your body. It will only guide you to the right response, maximizing your chance of survival.¡±

    ¡°You mean to say your crossbow will also control you like that?¡± The masked man¡¯s words gave Luo Jian a general idea.

    ¡°The weapon doesn¡¯t control you.¡± The masked man¡¯s eyes were steady, ¡°It will only awaken your instincts.¡±

    ¡°Awaken my instincts? What does that mean?¡±

    The masked man didn¡¯t answer. He turned his back to Luo Jian, motioning for him to keep up, then walked away. Luo Jian slightly hesitated for a while, but he couldn¡¯t bear his own curiosity, and he soon followed him.

    Luo Jian saw this as an opportunity; if he followed the man, he might be able to find out more information about that chamber. This man¡¯s presence indicated to Luo Jian one thing¡ªthat he wasn¡¯t the only one to experience that dreadful room escape game. Perhaps there were hundreds of thousands or even more who were trapped in that ustrophobic cage, unable to escape.

    Luo Jian unhurriedly walked behind him, constantly maintaining a certain distance. The masked man didn¡¯t seem to care that he deliberately distanced himself, he seemed to ignore Luo Jian¡¯s entire existence. The pace grew faster and faster, and they soon crossed the alley and walked several blocks. On the street, Luo Jian saw the masked man ce his hand on his crossbow. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t see how he put that thing away, but the man just fiddled with it for a while, before it disappeared.

    Luo Jian knitted his brows. He rxed the hand that held the knife¡¯s handle, and put the knife back into its sheath.

    It didn¡¯t take too long before the masked man and Luo Jian arrived at the front of a bar in a remote ce. This bar was built in a rather deste area, and the area seemed to be the oldest district in the city. It took seven or eight turns before they stopped in front of this shabby door. Because it was still broad daylight, the bar hadn¡¯t opened yet. The old-fashioned sign marked the bar¡¯s name¡ªThe Red Spider Lily3.

    ¡°Why would you even name it this?¡± When Luo Jian saw the name of this bar, his mind instantly couldn¡¯t help but recall the note with the purple flower, which made him somewhat uneasy.

    ¡°Because you and I are still in hell.¡± It was astonishing. Luo Jian whispered so quietly, but the masked man standing in front actually heard him and even replied back with an unfathomable4 sentence that Luo Jian couldn¡¯t wrap his mind around5.

    Although the bar wasn¡¯t open for business, the door wasn¡¯t locked, it was left opened. The inside was dark, and the lights didn¡¯t appear to be on. The masked man entered first, and Luo Jian sluggishly followed, keeping up with him. Unexpectedly, this bar was quite spacious, and theyout wasn¡¯t bad. There were a few people in the bar, there was bartender cleaning sses, a worker mopping the floor, and a grey-haired elderly man who was sitting on the corner of the sofa. Besides them, there was nobody else.

    Luo Jian and the masked man made noise when they entered, which made the bartender, who had his head bowed and was concentrating on wiping the wine sses, shout, ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re not open right now¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t finish his sentence before he raised his head and spotted the masked man. After pausing for a moment, he smiled and said, ¡°A regr, are you here to see the boss?¡±

    The masked man nodded. He looked down, nced back at Luo Jian, and replied, ¡°I¡¯m here to introduce a neer.¡±

    ¡°Oh~¡± The bartender eyed Luo Jian, giving him the once-over, and then heughed, ¡°That one will definitely be received well.¡±

    Luo Jian frowned. He thought that the bartender looked strange in his eyes, but in the end, he couldn¡¯t exactly pin-point why he thought so. The bartender was average, he couldn¡¯t be called good-looking or ugly, to say the least. His hair was dyed brown, and his smiling eyes were narrowed into slits, resembling a fox.

    ¡°I¡¯m Noah. Wee to Hell, rookie.¡± The bartender chuckled at Luo Jian and beckoned him, indicating that he shoulde over. Thereupon, Luo Jian went over and stood before the bartender. The bartender poured some wine into a ss; Luo Jian thought he would make a toast in his name, but he didn¡¯t expect the bartender to directly drink it himself.

    Luo Jian speechlessly gazed at the heavens. I was thinking too highly of myself and being overly-passionate about this.

    ¡°Noah, drink less. Otherwise, the boss will scold you.¡± The masked man was surprisingly concerned about someone. Afterwards, he shifted his gaze to Luo Jian, passed by him, then turned back around and motioned for him to keep up.

    Luo Jian looked at Noah, but Noah didn¡¯t speak. The other only offered him a mysterious smile.

 Chapter 6: Rules

    Chapter 6: Rules

    A whileter, Feng Yu Lan called, asking Luo Jian where he was since he¡¯d been waiting for half a day. Luo Jian expressionlessly looked ahead and continued to keep up with the masked man. Still feeling a bit unsettled, he perfunctorily teased, ¡°Oh Ah Lan~ I¡¯m kind of busy right now so I can¡¯te, but make sure to eat something by yourself! Don¡¯t think of me too much, dear~¡±

    ¡°Your sister! Like hell I¡¯ll think of you! And what the fuck¡¯s up with that disgusting tone of yours?!¡± Feng Yu Lan was creeped out on the other end of the phone; he was doubting whether Luo Jian was possessed by something strange. Luo Jian didn¡¯t answer and hung up the phone for the second time.

    ¡°Fuck! I, your father, made a fortune and even nned to treat you to a meal, but this is how you pay me back, by making me feel like a pretentious bastard!¡± Feng Yu Lan began to feel indignant, and so he threw down his phone in rage.

    On the other hand, Luo Jian was following the masked man into a private room on the second floor of the bar. Bottles of wine were strewn across the ground, and there were two men sitting down, facing each other while drinking; they appeared to be in the middle of a drinking game. The masked man seemed ustomed to this strange scene. Finally, one of the men called out, ¡°Boss, some people have returned.¡±

    The man known as ¡®Boss¡¯ was just a middle-aged uncle dressed in tattered clothes. His hair was a bird¡¯s nest, he even sported a five o¡¯clock shadow, and his cheeks were also bright red from drinking too much wine. It was hard to imagine that someone with this kind of appearance could still be addressed as ¡®Boss¡¯.

    ¡°Oh, a neer. How rare indeed¡­really rare!¡± This uncle was obviously drunk out of his mind. He clutched a wine bottle in his hand, wobbled as he stood up, and approached Luo Jian to get a better look at him. As soon as the man leaned closer, Luo Jian was able to make out the distinct smell of alcohol on the other man¡¯s body, which made him furrow his brows in distaste.

    Surprisingly, although this uncle was intoxicated and even looked as if he couldn¡¯t figure his right from his left, his senses were nevertheless sharp; he could easily detect Luo Jian¡¯s aversion, how Luo Jian kept his guard up and was distancing himself. But all he did was heugh heartily and sit back down on the couch. Setting aside the bottle, he said to Luo Jian, ¡°Rookie, I¡¯ll give a brief introduction of myself to you. I¡¯m the person in charge here, and I¡¯m also the guide for all neers in this city. Our rule is that we can¡¯t say our real name, and we can only use a codename. Everyone calls me ¡®Boss¡¯¡­or maybe Bosu1? You can also call me like that.¡±

    He didn¡¯t wait for Luo Jian¡¯s reply, instead, this great uncle2 extended his arm, pointed to the masked man standing beside him, and continued, ¡°He¡¯s my partner and assistant, codename 13. He¡¯s naturally a quiet guy, but he¡¯s also the legendary ¡®mensao¡¯3 that everyone talks about.¡±

    The masked man looked like he was touched by this old boss¡¯ description of him, but Luo Jian swears he saw the masked man clench his fists under his sleeves; if not all, the corner of his eye twitched ever so subtly, suggesting how he really felt.

    However, the boss didn¡¯t seem to be concerned about these particr details. This thick-skinned person justughed obnoxiously, then bluntly asked Luo Jian, ¡°What¡¯s your name¡­ Oh! No no no! You can¡¯t say your real name, just give out a codename that you like or maybe even a nickname; an English name is fine also. The simpler is it, the better; it has to be convenient to call out.¡±

    Luo Jian thought about it; he didn¡¯t have a nickname or anything of that sort. Ever since he was a kid and up until he grew older, he¡¯s never received a nickname; except for him, every one of his ssmates would give each other nicknames. Luo Jian thought for ages before answering, ¡°Well then, call me Jean4.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Jean, what do you want to know?¡± The boss exposed a malicious grin.

    ¡°Everything. I want to know everything.¡±

    ¡°Greedy little fellow. Okay, sit down and listen to me slowly.¡± The boss then patted the sofa, motioning for Luo Jian to sit. Luo Jian nodded and obediently sat down, and the masked man next to him soon followed after and seated himself beside the boss. There was another man inside the private room; it was the same man the old boss had a drinking contest with. However, this man didn¡¯t lift his head to look at Luo Jian, rather, he shrank into the corner and continued indulging in his wine.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t pay attention to the man and focused his attention on the Big Boss instead, earnestly listening to him.

    ¡°In any case, although you¡¯re a neer, you¡¯ve already experienced escaping from the chamber. So, you should be aware that the chamber isn¡¯t something that human abilities or existing technologies can produce.¡±

    The boss immediately began, ¡°I do not know who created these ]chambers; it may have been God, possibly the Devil, maybe even demons, ghosts, or perhaps even aliens, in short, it appeared in our lives. So having said that, its existence is reasonable.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to investigate its origins; it¡¯s fine so long as we know what these chambers can bring us.¡± Even in the middle of story-telling, this great uncle didn¡¯t forget to take a sip of his wine. He smacked his lips together, hupped, and then continued on, ¡°These chambers can bring us death, but they can also bring about miracles.

    ¡°In every type of chamber, there will be a note, and the message on the note will give us a time limit; this tells us how long we are able to stay in the chamber. If you haven¡¯t escaped within the time limit, then you¡¯ll die. Don¡¯t doubt what I¡¯m telling you, boy. When I say ¡®die¡¯, I¡¯m taking about real ¡®death¡¯!

    ¡°Completely eliminated; even all of the traces indicating one¡¯s death wouldn¡¯t exist!

    ¡°So, if you don¡¯t want to die, then you have to escape within the specified time period. The note will give us clues, and by solving the riddles, you¡¯ll be able to find the exit. Rookies typically experience the first level of the chambers, and it¡¯s the most basic. As long as you ovee your fears, you can escape from there without much effort¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait! Great teacher5¡­¡± At this point in the lecture, the obediently-listening and well-behaved darling child, Luo Jian, raised his hand and spoke up.

    ¡°Speak!¡± The great teacher was absolutely imposing; he held the bottle of wine in his hand and chugged everything down.

    ¡°You said that the first level all neers have to pass is very easy?¡±

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°Is it really?¡±

    ¡°Why lie to you? Don¡¯t tell me that the first level you had to pass wasn¡¯t that simple?¡±

    Could that be called ¡®simple¡¯? Luo Jian¡¯s face was filled with skepticism as he rubbed his chin. He thought about the murderer who nearly stabbed him to death in the chamber. So, that could be considered a ¡®simple¡¯ level, as well? That murderer obviously killed hundreds of people, his bloodthirsty aura was extraordinarily formidable. Luo Jian was ¡®simply¡¯ not his opponent!

    Or were there perhaps different concepts of the word ¡®simple¡¯? Luo Jian frowned and looked at the elder boss. The poor uncle gave Luo Jian a bloodcurdling stare, then shaking his head, he said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve met with some problems. Tell me, what happened to you in the first level?¡±

    And so, Luo Jian honestly spoke about his own experience in the chamber; besides, it wasn¡¯t like it was anything special. Of course, he did have enoughmon sense to omit the part where he mindlessly kissed the murderer. It was too shameful. It was unconditionally because Luo Jian wasn¡¯t in his right mind; he was delirious, which added to his confusion and foolish actions.

    But Luo Jian didn¡¯t expect that when he finished, the entire room had long turned silent.

    The old boss no longer drank, he furrowed his brows and hung his head down as he contemted something. After a while, he lifted his head and faced Luo Jian, carefully scrutinizing this neer from head to toe. Luo Jian got goosebumps from looking at those small, strange eyes.

    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± He cautiously questioned.

    ¡°Yes, there is! Oh, you pitiful child, it¡¯s a huge problem!¡± The boss finally gazed at Luo Jian with sympathy. Shaking his head once again, he sighed and answered, ¡°It was only the first level and you unexpectedly ran into the ¡®Stalker¡¯. I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t have it so easy next time.¡±

    ¡°Stalker? What¡¯s that?¡± Luo Jian was puzzled after hearing an unfamiliar terme out of the other person¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°The Stalker is the murderer you met in that chamber.¡± The boss exined. ¡°There¡¯s a group of people within these chambers¡­No, I suppose they shouldn¡¯t be called people, but a bunch of monsters instead! These monsters randomly appear in various chambers, and they generally rece any character and their role in the chamber, which could bring great harm to you. That¡¯s what we call these monsters¡ªStalkers.¡±

    ¡°Are Stalkers¡­that awful?¡±

    ¡°Terribly awful. Once a Stalker appears, the probability of death is always one-hundred percent. But the possibility of them appearing is also extremely low; the probability of encountering a Stalker is only eight percent. You¡¯re really unlucky for a rookie. To think that you were unlucky enough to bump into a Stalker when you just experienced your first chamber!¡±

    Wait, no way, I even kissed him! Luo Jian immediately broke out into a cold sweat, he couldn¡¯t help but cover his own mouth. The boss didn¡¯t pay any heed to Luo Jian¡¯s abnormal reaction. As before, he just shook his head and sighed, taking pity on Luo Jian¡¯s tragic fate.

    ¡°But I¡¯m not dead though.¡± Luo Jian reflected on the matter. Then, he began to ask questions like the lovely, curious child he was, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that if I met a Stalker, I would definitely die?¡±

    ¡°Who said that you¡¯d definitely die? I just said that the probability of death is as high as one-hundred percent, but, in fact, there are some who can escape, and those who rely on their own means to escape are exceptionally strong! What I can¡¯t understand, however, is that¡­¡± The boss squinted his eyes, fixing all of his attention on Luo Jian¡¯s face. ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is how you, a mere rookie, a neer who doesn¡¯t know anything, were still able to escape with your life intact? It¡¯s too strange, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±

    ¡°What¡­What¡¯s strange! Maybe it¡¯s because my personality is good!¡± Luo Jian was burdened by a slightly guilty conscience, but he himself struggled to answer this question. In the end, how exactly did he escape? He was clearly unconscious at the time; it couldn¡¯t be that the Stalker kindly let him slip away, pushing him out through the door?

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t realize that he had already found the answer to his question. He still struggled with finding a logical reason to this problem. Yet, being an optimist, he soon forgot about the matter, and jumped back to surrounding the boss with questions, ¡°So, after every sessful escape, we return to reality? And then we rest for ten days before continuing again with trying to escape the room?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Then when does it end? I mean, when will we finally stop going back to that shitty chamber?¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯m also looking for the answers to that question.¡± The boss regretfully stated. ¡°To tell you the truth, I¡¯m no better than you. I¡¯ve only sessfully escaped from five chambers in total, and it was difficult each time, you know. To add, it¡¯s not only an enclosed, small room that can be called a chamber. For instance, an ind where you can¡¯t contact the outside word, a deep cavern that resembles abyrinth from which you can¡¯t escape, or even a jungle that you can¡¯t leave for three days and three nights, any isted and sealed-off environment can be regarded as a chamber!¡±

    Luo Jian was panicking on the inside, and he frightfully inquired, ¡°So each time, I¡¯ll be the experiencing one of those room escape games alone?¡±

    It was terrible to be the sole person existing in a closed environment,pletely isted from the rest of the world.

    ¡°Normally, there would only be one person.¡± The boss spread his palms out wide, and suddenly nced at the masked man beside him, smiling, ¡°But you can also team up with others; the only condition is that the other person must be willing to join you.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes instantly lit up; he asked, ¡°So, what are the rules for teaming up with others?¡±

    ¡°Teams are generally limited to one to three people, which means that you can only invite two other people at most. But the person you invite can¡¯t be an ordinary civilian in the real world; they have to be like you, a yer who has already experienced the escape the room game.¡±

    ¡°yer?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Pitiful people like us, who are agonizingly struggling in the chamber, prefer to call ourselves ¡®yers¡¯. But it¡¯s kind of funny how the game we¡¯re ying is actually a gruesome death game.¡±

    The boss heaved another sigh, then retrieved a slip of paper from his pocket. Luo Jian fixed his sight on it, and he was surprised to find that this piece of paper had a small pattern of a purple Hell Flower; it was simr to the note he found in the chamber. The boss pushed the note to Luo Jian and said, ¡°If you want to invite other yers, write on this note as if it¡¯s an invitation card and put down the name of the yer you want to invite. If the other party agrees, their signature will be on the back of the paper. Then, you will automatically be a team, and the next time you have to escape from a chamber, you¡¯ll be together.

    ¡°However, there¡¯s one thing you have to pay special attention to. When you y the game in ¡®team mode¡¯, the level of difficulty in the chamber will increase. For two people, the difficulty is doubled, and with three people, it¡¯s tripled. The level of difficulty is outrageous, which is why so many yers don¡¯t like teaming up with others and would rather go alone. And¡­there are also some conflicts that arise between yers in the chamber; you might not understand it now, but you¡¯ll understand itter. In short, these conflicts make it difficult for you to find a suitable partner.¡±

    ¡°So, in other words, it¡¯d be better if I solo the game for now?¡±

    The boss nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

 Chapter 7: Companion

    Chapter 7: Companion

    The moment he left The Red Spider Lily bar, the skies turned gloomy, and the dark clouds seemed to obscure the sun¡¯s rays, shrouding all the light. It was a sign that it would rain soon. While walking back, he recalled what the boss had previously mentioned; his feelings wereplex and he felt somewhat anxious.

    He couldn¡¯t arbitrarily team up with anyone; he could only team up with other yers. Not to mention, he could only rely on himself to take care of any problems or dangers he might encounter in the chamber. The boss advised Luo Jian to build upon and improve his strength as quickly as possible. He warned that Stalkers weren¡¯t the only monsters that existed in the chambers; any and every creature that humans could possibly imagine may appear in the chambers.

    ¡°The key to hell resides in the imagination of humans.¡± This one abstruse line the boss threw to Luo Jian back then gave him a vague idea of the chamber. But even if he felt deeply troubled by it, at this stage, no one could help Luo Jian ovee his predicament.

    The boss was the guide for all neers who arrived to the city, and he was apparently given this task by the chamber. His main responsibility was to give all rookies an exnation and some additional information regarding the chambers, and in return, he would receive a few rewards for all the tasks hepleted. But before the boss became a yer in the chambers, he was just an owner of a small bar, The Red Spider Lily. However, the bar was not yet called ¡®The Red Spider Lily¡¯ at the time.

    In the afternoon, Luo Jian went back to thepany and finished up all his work. Then by the evening, the rain started to fall. He remembered that he had left Feng Yu Lan hanging, so he conveniently made a phone call. The beeping noise sounded for a long while; no one answered. Luo Jian hung up the phone with a sigh, but he didn¡¯t expect that just as he hung up, the other side started calling.

    ¡°Hey? Ah Lan!¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any response on the other end of the phone, but Luo Jian clearly heard the sound of heavybored breathing. It sounded quite strange. Listening to this, Luo Jian frowned and asked, ¡°Ah Lan? You there?¡±

    There still wasn¡¯t any response. This abnormal breathingsted for more than a minute, and eventually the phone cut off, returning everything back to its original state of tranquility. Luo Jian perplexedly looked down at his mobile phone¡ªa Chinese knock-off of an Apple product. He shook his head in bewilderment and mumbled, ¡°What the hell¡¯s this kid doing?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan was Luo Jian¡¯s childhood sweetheart1.

    Well, to be more precise, ¡®childhood sweetheart¡¯ was rather ambiguous and could be interpreted many ways. In short, they were extremely close childhood friends who grew up together; they had always yed together ever since they were small. When they were children, their homes were nearby, so they would sometimes go to the neighbor¡¯s house to eat. Over time, the two children got to know each other better, and eventually, they stuck together like glue, never letting the other out of their sight. During their primary school years, they would have to get up every morning to attend ss, and if it wasn¡¯t Feng Yu Lan knocking on Luo Jian¡¯s door, it was Luo Jian rushing to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s bedside, shouting for him to wake up.

    asionally, the adults would not be at home, but the children were always rest assured since they knew where they could find each other; they would always happily y for a whole day without ever being bored. This intimate rtionshipsted from middle school, high school, college, and even up until now.

    For a full twenty years.

    Feng Yu Lan was the first to discover Luo Jian¡¯s sexual orientation. It was around the time when Luo Jian couldn¡¯t understand himself, specifically why he was so different from the other schoolboys. He didn¡¯t like talking about girls like the others did, he had zero interest in girls¡¯ privacy, and he didn¡¯t look at any AVs or porn books; on the contrary, he enjoyed watching boys on the yground, energetically running about and sweating as they y around.

    At that time, Feng Yu Lan, who was sitting directly beside Luo Jian, spouted one sentence to him, ¡°Luo Jian, you¡¯re gay, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Luo Jian wasn¡¯t able to refute him. In fact, he did want to refute; after all, anyone who heard the question, ¡°You¡¯re gay, right?¡± would argue back with words like, ¡°What gay?! You¡¯re the one who¡¯s gay; your whole family is gay! You must be joking with me!? Are your eyes on the back of your head?! Which one of your eyes saw me as gay?!¡±

    But back then, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t utter a single word. Fang Yu Lan¡¯s question was like a wake-up call for him. It easily broke down the thick wall he had built up for many, many years, and it told him the cruel truth.

    All of Luo Jian¡¯s fears were evidently disyed for Feng Yu Lan to see, but the other truly deserved to be called Luo Jian¡¯s good brother. He never ridiculed or alienated Luo Jian, nor did he treat Luo Jian coldly and indifferently. Even in the end, when Luo Jian desperately came out to his parents in order to avoid being forced to undergo a blind date, Feng Yu Lan made an unexpected move that nearly frightened Luo Jian out of his wits; he actually confessed to his parents and Luo Jian¡¯s parents, admitting that he was Luo Jian¡¯s lover.

    Luo Jian was incensed at that moment; he wanted to curse bullshit. He knew that Feng Yu Lan was undoubtedly straight. Furthermore, his girlfriend was petite and cute, but because of this matter, she broke up with him. Luo Jian¡¯s parents couldn¡¯t ept this sort of thing; it was too disturbing, their entire world had turned upside down. Atst, the two people were driven out of their houses at the same time.

    ¡°Was what you did worth it?¡± Luo Jian helplessly looked at his close friend.

    Feng Yu Lan resembled a rogue delinquent, squatting on the ground and smoking on a cigarette; he proudlyughed like an idiot.

    Feng Yu Lan¡¯s temperament and appearance were the same as that of a typical vibrant and optimistic teenager in a television series. He was twenty years old, but his looks did not match with his actual age. He was very small, had a baby-face, and had big and beautiful eyes. In a nutshell, he was a typical shou2.

    And yet, Luo Jian could never forget this person¡¯s smile. That very day, they were kicked out of their homes, the cold weather made them tremble, and there existed Feng Yu Lan, crouching down near the edge of the pole and smiling faintly at Luo Jian. His smile wasn¡¯t at all pretty, it could be said that it was a miserable smile. But for Luo Jian it was unforgettable; that kind of sorrowful emotion was deeply engraved in Luo Jian¡¯s heart, the pain forever etched into his memories.

    Even until now, Feng Yu Lan was still Luo Jian¡¯s close friend, his good brother. Therefore, regardless whatever happens, Luo Jian will never abandon him.

    Luo Jian then made several consecutive phone calls to Feng Yu Lan, but none of them were able to go through. A sense of unease crushed his heart, and so he decided to pay Feng Yu Lan¡¯s family a direct visit. However, halfway on the road, his mobile phone rang once again. This time it was Feng Yu Lan who called. Luo Jian immediately answered his cell, and an unfamiliar voice came from the other end.

    ¡°May I ask whether you¡¯re a family member of this patient? The owner of this phone has just been sent to the hospital¡­¡±

    Luo Jian was shaken; he asked which hospital, then took a taxi there right away. He had no choice but to pay at once and handle various formalities, but soon after, Luo Jian was finally able to see Feng Yu Lan. He was lying down on a white bed, hisplexion was dreadfully pale, resembling the dead. Several doctors and nurses surrounded him, and there was a nurse holding a medical drip bottle filled with red liquid; they then delivered him to the operating room.

    ¡°What the hell¡¯s going on?¡± Luo Jian mind was in chaos. Too many things happened today, so he couldn¡¯t organize his thoughts. How did this happen? At noon, this money-grubber called him, hooting about how he¡¯d treat him to dinner. His voice, as always, was filled with vitality, but how did he be like this in just a blink of an eye?

    ¡°He was stabbed with a knife on the street.¡± Luo Jian wasn¡¯t the only one standing outside the operating room; two police officers dressed in uniform apanied him and briefly exined to Luo Jian, ¡°These days, the streets haven¡¯t been safe. There¡¯s a serial killer who¡¯s been outsidemitting crimes.¡±

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t care any less about these things; he seldom read newspapers and the like. All along, he felt that certain issues weren¡¯t any concern of his, that they had nothing to do with him. But God had always loved pulling jokes on Luo Jian, suddenly making him to realize that he¡¯s homosexual one day and then abruptly sending him into the chamber the next day.

    Seeing the police officers before him, Luo Jian was rather diffident. The tactical knife still hung at his waist, and though his clothes concealed it from others¡¯ view, Luo Jian, nevertheless, instinctively shied away from the police uncles.

    ¡°Did you find the killer?¡± Luo Jian was more so concerned about this. He nced at the bright red lights outside the operating room¡¯s doors. He¡¯d always believed that Feng Yu Lan was one lucky bastard3, which is why he would never die, but Luo Jian was still feeling restless. He couldn¡¯t help but want to distract himself, and so he asked this question to divert his attention.

    The police officer shook his head in remorse, ¡°Did not.¡±

    The police asked Luo Jian a few questions, andter, they left. Before leaving, they gave Luo Jian a phone number, telling him to notify them as soon as Feng Yu Lan woke up. Luo Jian waited outside of the surgery room for several hours. At longst, the operation ended. Now that his being at risk subsided, Luo Jian was finally allowed to go inside and take a look at Feng Yu Lan. His dear Ah Lan¡¯s face looked frail and sick. He reclined on the hospital bed, dozing off; needles were inserted into his body, and he also wore an oxygen mask. Luo Jian¡¯s heart ached, he reached out with his hand and touched the other¡¯s face, caressing it with his hand; it was icy-cold.

    Should I tell his parents? Luo Jian thought. Then, he shook his head and sighed. He didn¡¯t know what would happen when Feng Yu Lan woke up. Both Ah Lan and Luo Jian haven¡¯t contacted their families in years; Luo Jian had to take responsibility with matters like these.

    After that, Feng Yu Lan was unconscious for three days and three night before he woke up. Luo Jian asked for a sick leave from thepany, and he kept watch near the hospital bed. Upon seeing Feng Yu Lan wake up, Luo Jian excitedly hopped up, his face was filled with worry. ¡°You woke up? Are you feeling unwell? You want some water?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan was at a slight loss for a while. Catching sight of Luo Jian, he managed a half-dead grin, ¡°Ahhh! Luo Jian!¡±

    ¡°You smelly little brat, you almost scared me, your elder brother, to death!¡± Luo Jian¡¯s face was haggard. He stayed here for many days and had great difficulty falling asleep. He couldn¡¯t understand why Ah Lan would be attacked. As a result of the many recent and bizarre urrences, Luo Jian subconsciously linked these two events, the chamber and Feng Yu Lan¡¯s attack, together.

    He then went to the bar to find the boss, and the boss mentioned that the chamber would never interfere in the ordinary, daily life of a yer. But some matters, such as whether a yer of the game may be brainwashed by the chamber and be obsessed with wantonly killing people, cannot be guaranteed.

    ¡°Ah Lan, what happened to you? You walked on the street and someone stabbed you with a knife?¡± Luo Jian offered some water for Ah Lan to drink. Seeing that his condition was better, he began to inquire about the situation.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They stabbed me from behind.¡± Feng Yu Lan appeared to be consumed by trepidation4, hisplexion was deathly pale, and he wretchedly continued, ¡°When that happened, I was terrified. It hurt so much, it was so painful, but I reacted very fast. I immediately fell on my legs and dropped to the ground, pretending I was dead. But I actually didn¡¯t pass out at all at the time! Because the street was full of people, the guy just ran away without checking¡­¡±

    Feng Yu Lan professed that he was quite proud of himself back there, and he smiled even more, like an imbecile. Luo Jian saw him this way, and he was particrly stunned speechless. He helplessly shook his head, but still chuckled, ¡°Well, that¡¯s good.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan was in a very good mood. He was nearly stabbed to death with a knife, but this incident didn¡¯t seem to leave behind any psychological shadows. After seeing Luo Jian, he threw himself at him and went on acting like a spoiled child. It didn¡¯t help that Feng Yu Lan had a baby face5 and that he was conspicuously small. Most people couldn¡¯t imagine he was twenty years of age, they only thought he was a young boy. Feng Yu Lan, who was clearly aware of his own advantages, would often shamelessly act cheeky and spoiled before Luo Jian¡¯s face, and Luo Jian, who naturally had a good temper, would indulge him, letting him do whatever he pleased.

    ¡°Your injury isn¡¯t healed; you¡¯re forbidden to cause trouble!¡± Luo Jian pinched Ah Lan¡¯s face. This brat was bing more and more presumptuous by the second, how could he not teach him a lesson? ¡°I¡¯m telling you, if you hadn¡¯t provoked anyone outside, how could you manage to catch their attention?¡±

    ¡°How could I!¡± Feng Yu Lan smacked his lips together, ¡°I usually just eat, work, y games, sleep, sometimes flirt with one or two younger sister students, but how can such things make anyone hate me?¡±

    ¡°Just taking liberties with younger female students would make anyone hate you! Come on, even you can¡¯t deny that!¡± Luo Jian was exasperated by the fact that his good brother couldn¡¯t live up to his expectations, and he unrelentingly pinched Feng Yu Lan¡¯s cheeks.

    Feng Yu Lan pitifully covered his red cheeks with his hands, and then sneezed, snot running down his nose. Upon seeing this, Luo Jian dug through his own pockets and fished out some tissues and a nk piece of paper with a purple pattern on it. Luo Jian took a quick glimpse and discovered it was the piece of paper the boss gave to him, then he casually ced it on top of the bedside cab along with packet of tissues.

    A while after, Feng Yu Lan became hungry. He noisily mored that he wanted to eat KFC, McDonald¡¯s, Pizza Hut, and even French-style cuisine. Luo Jian¡¯s face turned grave. He ruthlessly knocked the top of his head, and finally, Feng Yu Lan lowered his head, showing that he knew his ce; and yet, he pathetically continued, ¡°I want to eat Master Wang¡¯s Century Egg and Lean Meat Congee6.¡±

    Luo Jian nevertheless pampered the patient, and, like the obedient darling he was, he ran off to buy it. He left, and Feng Yu Lan was the only one who remained in the ward. Feeling bored, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s eyes roamed around the ce, he looked here and there, he lifted his quilt wanting to stand up, but he eventually had no other choice but to lie back down because of the intense pain from the wound on his waist. He turned his head around and nced at the table where Luo Jian conveniently ced a packet of tissues; there was also a sheet of paper there¡ªa flower printed note.

    A surge of curiosity took ahold of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heart, so he unconsciously extended his hand to seize the piece of paper. However, he didn¡¯t know that the moment his hand touched the slip of paper, a couple of lines appeared out of thin air on the originally nk note. But of course, Feng Yu Lan wouldn¡¯t know of this; he was lying on the bed, meaning he was incapable of noticing these details from his point of view. So, when he took the note in his hand, what greeted him were these lines:

    ¡¾Dear Feng Yu Lan¡¿

    ¡¾I desperately hope you can join me, and I hope you will be my evesting strength7.¡¿

    ¡¾P.S. If you are willing, please sign your name on the back¡¿

    ¡¾Yours truly, Luo Jian¡¿

    ¡°Whaa? What¡¯s this mean?¡± Feng Yu Lan was utterly baffled, he scratched his head, thinking for a moment. He turned away and searched the cab for some time. He eventually found a pen, flipped the paper over, then confidently and freely signed his formal name on the back of the note.

 Chapter 8: Ghost Ship (I)

    Chapter 8: Ghost Ship (I)

    At the time, Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t know that this one tiny piece of paper would be the turning point in his life. It didn¡¯t matter whether he was losing or gaining something, he would never be able to escape from this endless cycle, struggling for eternity. From start to finish, all that was left for him was grief and despair.

    Luo Jian bought some congee for Feng Yu Lan, then hurriedly ran back to the hospital. He stared on as Ah Lan ate spoonful after spoonful; in the end, he patted the other¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°I still have a bunch of things to do at thepany, but I¡¯lle back and see you again. Also¡­I notified the police, so some police officers will being in a littleter for your statement. If there¡¯s anything else, just give me a call¡­¡±

    Luo Jian rambled on pointlessly, and Feng Yu Lan merely nodded like a chicken pecking at some rice. Soon after, Luo Jian stood up, ready to leave, but he then remembered something and took a nce at the note he ced on the bedside table. Without examining it, he reached with his hand and immediately stuffed it in his pants¡¯ pocket. If not all, Feng Yu Lan was also too preupied with eating, so the words on the note and his writing his signature on the paper had long been forgotten by him, out of sight and out of mind.

    The following days were very peaceful; Ah Lan was no longer subjected to any attacks, and ording to the police, it seemed that the perpetrator, whomitted this violent crime of recklessly killing others, didn¡¯t have any specific target in mind. It was essentially at random. If you were hacked to death, then you were unlucky, and if you survived after being stabbed, then the murderer wouldn¡¯t attack you again.

    During this period of time, tension was rising amongst the people in this small city. The masses relentlessly used the police of corruption and ipetence; a long time had passed, and yet the murderer still hadn¡¯t been brought to justice. But the inte was even worse; spections regarding several consecutive cases of wanton murders and serial killings stirred the pot, causing even more dissent among the people, and soon, many arguments and opinions on ¡®murders¡¯ emerged.

    But none of this had anything to do with Luo Jian. He reckoned the time today was the tenth day, and if nothing went wrong, he would be dragged into that strange chamber tonight.

    This matter was certainly unnerving. Luo Jian immediately returned home after leaving from work early today; he sat down in his room, turned on hisputer, and aimlessly browsed through the web. In reality, he wasn¡¯t conscious of what he was looking at; instead, he carefully recollected the details of his first chamber escape experience.

    ¡°ording to the boss, the first level all rookies have to pass is fairly simple. But in order to prevent idents from happening, the chamber will specially prepare a variety of items and props to increase the yer¡¯s chance of survival. For example, if I was a bit on my guard when running into that murderer, and if I was also holding the gun in my hand, then I could¡¯ve shot at his forehead. Maybe the situation would¡¯ve beenpletely different if that were the case.¡±

    Luo Jian mind was chaotic as he thought aloud. As a matter of fact, he himself was clear on that matter. Even if he was actually holding a gun in his hand, he figured that he¡¯d never be able to pull the trigger and open fire. He simply didn¡¯t have the courage. It didn¡¯t matter if the murderer was dead or alive at the time, he didn¡¯t have the courage to open up Pandora¡¯s Box1.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Luo Jian. You¡¯ll die if you stay a coward.¡± Luo Jian persuaded to himself. His pale face stared at theputer screen in front of him, his hand gripped at the mouse, but he was motionless. He attempted shifting his attention from the chamber and tried thinking about how Feng Yu Lan was recuperating in the hospital, how he went to see that kid today, and how his precious face and appearance was all too heart-breaking.

    The clocked ticked, the time passed by quickly, and soon, the sky outside waspletely shrouded in darkness. Luo Jian gritted his teeth, he went to the bathroom to wash his face, the military knife was tightly secured in his arms, and then he lied down on his bed. The boss mentioned that whatever was found inside the chamber could not be brought back to reality; likewise, items from the real world could not be taken into the chamber (except for the clothes they were wearing; anything else inside the pockets of the clothes didn¡¯t apply). However, thisbat knife was the only exception. It didn¡¯t matter where Luo Jian put it; as long as he entered the chamber, the knife would appear on Luo Jian¡¯s body.

    So, generally speaking, Luo Jian didn¡¯t need to fall asleep with his knife, but Luo Jian was still frightened. He insisted on holding onto something so that he could to calm his nerves. Despite all that, he tossed and turned in his bed, unable to fall asleep. He constantly wondered about when he would be entering the chamber. Then, for some strange reason, a sudden bout of extreme drowsiness rushed over him, and after pondering for a while, he fell asleep.

    It was hazy all around, he seemed to be dreaming.

    Luo Jian often had this dream. There was always this person who would speak to him, but he could never clearly see their face.

    He loathed this dream.

    Luo Jian dazedly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the vast midnight skies; a few twinkling stars scattered across the ck curtains of the night, emanating a mysterious atmosphere. Luo Jian¡¯s whole body felt rather stiff; the damp wind blew on his face, and the salty taste of the ocean apanied it.

    Luo Jian instantly sat up, and he suddenly realized he was on board¡­a ship!

    The ship was very old, like one of thoserge sailing vessels of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There was a wooden deck, many ces were dented and hollowed out at a few corners, and the wooden railings along the edge of the ship were darkened and moldy, lofty and bristling, looking as if they would copse with a single tap.

    Luo Jian found himself leaning against the main mast of the ship. There were no sails on it, only a few scraps of clothes were hung above it, and some decayed ropes were also loosely suspended above it. In view of the foremast was a helm with ancient inscriptions engraved on it. The helm was used to control the rudder, which in turn, controlled the ship¡¯s course.

    The lone ship floated on the surface of the sea. The midnight skies and the dusky sea intertwined, merging into one dark mass; the horizon¡¯s edge was nowhere to be found. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but shiver. The air was dense and humid, if not merely cold, and he wrapped his arms around himself. He was wearing but a summer outfit, and indeed, this didn¡¯t keep him warm.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, the note, the note¡­¡±Luo Jian nked out for a moment, then he quickly climbed up to search for the slip of paper. Soon, he found that familiar printed note attached to the main mast. Luo Jian tore it down. As always, the cursive writings were as elegant as ever:

    ¡¾Dear Mr. Luo Jian¡¿

    ¡¾Wee to this wondrous2 chamber once again. This time, you have one newpanion, but it truly is a pity that your new partner has such tragic luck. He is currently somewhere on this ghost ship, being hidden by the ghosts. You can stay on this ship for six hours; however, you must find your partner within one hour. Otherwise, he dies. ¡¿

    ¡¾Of course, by all means, you can also give up on searching for your partner and use that extra time for yourself to find a way to escape the chamber.¡¿

    ¡¾Believe me, this ship will be drifting on the sea for all eternity. There will be no course and it will never dock. It is a moving chamber, so to speak. So, if you do not want to be one of the ghosts on board, you had better try your hardest in finding a way to leave this ghost ship!¡¿

    ¡¾Naturally, I will give you some hints.¡¿

    ¡¾First: Do not jump into the ocean unless you wish to be dinner for the sea monsters.¡¿

    ¡¾Second: Do not constantly focus on the ocean. The sky is the best shortcut for leaving this chamber.¡¿

    ¡¾Third: In the event that you are unable to take a shortcut, then descend into silence.¡¿

    ¡¾Additional tips: The pocket watch that can show you the time is in the pocket of your trousers.¡¿

    ¡¾The aforementioned hints are over. I wish you the best of luck!.¡¿

    ¡°The fuck3?! What the fuck is this damn thing?!¡± Luo Jian gripped the note hard in his hand as he finished reading. He couldn¡¯t wrap his mind around it for a long time. He touched his pants¡¯ pocket, and sure enough, there was a pocket watch as big as his palm. He opened it to take a look, and it disyed the time: 12:05.

    ¡°In other words, the amount of time I can spend on this ship is from twelve o¡¯clock to five o¡¯clock4.¡± Luo Jian calcted as he put the pocket watch back in this pocket, then he reread the text on the note once more.

    ¡°What partner?¡± Luo Jian was confused, how could he suddenly have a partner? Didn¡¯t the boss say that unless the yer invites someone to the team, he could only y the game solo? But Luo Jian couldn¡¯t recall when he had invited another person.

    ¡°Even worse, if I really have another partner, wouldn¡¯t that mean the difficulty¡¯s been doubled?¡± Luo Jian immediately broke out into a sweat. The ocean¡¯s breeze added to his chills, and he stared trembling from the cold.

    Luo Jian hadn¡¯t experienced how troublesome it was when the difficulty increased, and his limited creativity wasn¡¯t sufficient enough for him to imagine how it could be. But it didn¡¯t matter, one only needed to hear the name of the ship¡ªGhost Ship! Luo Jian already felt that he himself had died so terribly.

    Having no other choice, Luo Jian reluctantly flipped the note over and, as expected, there was a paragraph written on the back of the note:

    ¡¾In the seventeenth century, the maritime industry greatly flourished, hence the rise of pirates! However, the sea was so vast and mysterious, filled with the unknown. Folks couldn¡¯t possibly imagine the treacherous perils that lurked in these seas. After plundering a great deal of treasures, one pirate ship navigated to the Bermuda¡¯s Triangle, but it was soon bedeviled by the tempest¡¯s fierce waves. It was never to be seen again, forever unable to escape from the Devil¡¯s Sea.¡¿

    ¡°The Devil¡¯s region?! Fuck!¡± Luo Jian trembled. The deck was freezing, and he couldn¡¯t stay down here any longer. He turned on his feet and looked at the entrance of the cabin. It was so dark that it gave Luo Jian the creeps from looking at it. This was apparently a ghost ship? So are there real ghosts?

    Luo Jian was scared to death, but he didn¡¯t want to stay on the icy deck until he froze to death. He touched the military knife on his waist, unaware of how it¡¯d gotten there in the first ce, then he bit back the bullet and went towards the direction of the cabin. The ship was extremely old, the deck beneath his feet creaked with every step. He soon reached the cabin¡¯s entrance, but he couldn¡¯t help but take a step back. It was too dark, there weren¡¯t any lights! At least Luo Jian could see the shine from the stars when he stood on the deck, so although it wasn¡¯t overly bright, it wasn¡¯t particrly dark either. But the interior of the cabin was pitch-ck.

    ¡°It¡¯s too dark. If I encounter anything bad, I won¡¯t have any time to react. I¡¯ll just go back.¡± Luo Jian had no choice but to retreat, and he returned to the deck. He walked over and began to overturn the ce, hoping to find something useful, and immediately after, he rummaged through a pile of rubbish.

    A long rotten rope was nearly torn in half. Severalrge barrels had nothing inside. A box was nailed shut. Andstly, there was an oilmp without any oil.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t any difference between this oilmp and having no light.¡± Luo Jian first studied at themp. Themp had been shattered, the ss exterior had already been broken into pieces. There really wasn¡¯t any difference between this and a piece of junk. As for the other objects, Luo Jian looked around; it seemed to him that the only thing worth examining was the wooden box that was nailed shut.

 Chapter 9: Ghost Ship (II)

    Chapter 9: Ghost Ship (II)

    The nailed wooden box was extremelyrge, and from the size of it, Luo Jian believed that a person could fit inside. However, the foundation of the box wasn¡¯t solid due to regrly being exposed to the fluctuating weather. The surface had been worn down and many screws hade loose.Luo Jian poked a few holes in the box using his knife, and he dismantled the rest using his bare hands. Soon, one side of the box waspletely torn apart, and the contents inside were revealed under the faint light of the stars.

    ¡°Oh, fuck me!¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t resist covering his mouth and nose the moment he took a look at the box¡¯s contents. Fate truly happened to bring them together, or else, how was it that he seemed destined to always encounter dead bodies? The box actually contained a curled corpse. Its entire body was rotting, bing a repulsive pile of ck, foul meat. The stench of its putrefaction was unbearable, the bones were showing in some ces, and the clothes covering the corpse made it difficult to determine the body¡¯s original form, but it was most likely a man judging from its skeletal framework.

    When Luo Jian opened the box, that revolting smell permeated his nostrils; at the same time, a strange, nauseating taste filled his mouth.

    Luo Jian stumbled back a few steps then stood on the edge of the ship, breathing in the fresh ocean breeze, but in the very next second, he started retching. The heavy sea breeze reeked of a salty, fishy odor, which made Luo Jian feel unusually queasy; his stomach kept churning.

    After ages of just puking until there was nothing left, he eventually had to crawl back to the wooden box. There weren¡¯t any other options left; it could be said that the body was the only thing Luo Jian found on this deck, and he firmly believed there would be some clues or useful items hidden on the cadaver. Besides, ever since he entered the chamber, Luo Jian vowed that he would never neglect a single detail.

    So, against his better wishes, Luo Jian had to lean against the box¡¯s edge and examine this awfully unsightly carcass. The body wasn¡¯t fully dposed into skeletal remains yet; there were still lots of putrid meat hanging from the bones and some voracious worms crawling in that meat. Luo Jian guessed that the person must have been forcibly stuffed into the box before he died because his posture was contorted, but after observing carefully, Luo Jian discovered cracks in the man¡¯s joints and bones, suggesting that he might have had his limbs broken before he was crammed into the box.

    Luo Jian was quite impressed by his own ability to analyze the cause of death and the dying process of the other just from studying a mere corpse. He wasn¡¯t a forensics medical examiner, so being able to deduce this much was pretty good. With his new heightened ego and his increased narcissism, Luo Jian stood up and turned the box over making the corpse tumble out by itself. He didn¡¯t dare touch the corpse directly with his bare hands, as it was too disgusting.

    Unexpectedly, what dropped from the box wasn¡¯t just a dead body however. There were also other items: a quill pen, a palm-size journal covered in sheepskin, a box of matches, and an ancient holy cross pendant.

    These things must have belonged to the deceased.

    Luo Jian picked up the sheepskin notebook and studied at it. This journal, which fell from the corpse, was filthy. There were several dark splotches of unknown substance, and its appearance per se was repulsive. Luo Jian managed to endure his distress and averseness, and he opened it to read. It was a pity that it was written in English, since Luo Jian¡¯s English was definitely not the best. Although he was able to carry out simple English conversations, it was still too recondite for him toprehend. What¡¯s more was that the contents of the sheepskin journal were all handwritten, narrow and illegible cursive. One nce was enough to see that the text was written by an actual Englishman. Who knows how long Luo Jian struggled with these writings. He simply couldn¡¯t make out any words from those ntedbinations of letters.

    Luo Jian grudgingly flipped through the pages of the notebook and soon decided it was worthless. Just when he was ready to fling it away, a photo fell out of the journal.

    It was a vintage ck and white photograph of a couple, a wedding portrait from the looks of theplicated suit and gown the man and woman were respectively wearing. The people in the photograph were slightly blurred, but that was reasonable given that it seemed rather old. The date the photograph was taken was printed on its back: May 5, 1645, Rowan and Julia.

    Luo Jian tightly grasped the photo in his hand. His face held aplicated look as he nced back at the body lying on the floor.

    The year 1645, roughly during the earlier stages of the 17th century, was the age when colonialism first developed. At the time, China was still under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. But hundreds of years have passed since then; it was now the 21st century.

    Wait a second! That¡¯s strange!

    Luo Jian, who was still holding the photograph, suddenly thought of a major concern.

    Were there even any cameras in the 17th century?

    From what he knew, cameras didn¡¯t appear until around the 19th century. And even then, the most basic camera, which only took extremely blurred, monochrome pictures, had just been invented. In other words, photography was extremely rare at the time! There was already a massive gap of two hundred years between the 17th century and the 19th century, so how could there possibly be a photo like this in 1645?!

    Thinking of that, Luo Jian felt shivers crawl up his spine. He stared at the picture in his hands in horror. The photo was aged, and the couple¡¯s faces were hazy. The woman sat on a chair, and the man stood right behind her. These two individuals, whose faces one couldn¡¯t discern, were positioned near each other, emitting solemnity. And that, coupled with the fact that their attires only reflected a pure ck color because it was a monochrome photograph, made it resemble a memorial service rather than a wedding ceremony. Luo Jian felt that the more he stared at this decrepit photo, the creepier it became, and so he shoved the faded photograph back into the journal and hurled it into the broken box.

    Apart from the journal, there were still a few items left: the quill pen, the cross pendant, and the box of matches. The quill pen couldn¡¯t be used without ink, so Luo Jian unhesitatingly tossed it to the side. The cross pendant, however, appeared somewhat peculiar, so after some thought, Luo Jian picked it up and put it in his pocket.

    The matches seemed to be the most useful. They were still dry and could be lit, and Luo Jian just happened to be in need of some fire. But he couldn¡¯t find any material that he could burn. The wooden box was damp; in fact, most of the wooden items on the ship¡¯s deck were damp.

    After much deliberation, Luo Jian finally eyed the corpse.

    Human bones were able to be burned. A rotting corpse would secrete oils, a mixture of yellow fats and other greasy residues, that made the body easily mmable. The mes would eventually burn the whole body to ashes, but regardless, a human body could still sustain a fire for a very long time.

    Luo Jian wavered for a moment, but he finally shook his head and chided himself, ¡°What are you so afraid of, Luo Jian?! If you don¡¯t make up your mind, then you¡¯ll end up dead like him!¡±

    Thereafter, he crouched down, grit his teeth, took ahold of one of the corpse¡¯s leg, and briskly snapped the femur bone.

    Luo Jian sessfully ignited¡­the leg. Carrying his newly made torch, he made his way towards the door to the lower levels. Under the light of the mes, the ship became much brighter. Luo Jian entered the hold of the ship with the torch in his hand. Unlike the ship¡¯s deck, which was freezing because of the sea breeze, the hold of the ship was warm, but Luo Jian was afraid to put his guard down. He vigntly surveyed the area with wide eyes.

    The hold of the ship referred to a space beneath the deck, which included the aft cabin, the forepeakpartment, the cargo hold, the engine or boiler room, and so on. Furthermore, the hold of this ghost vessel was rtivelyrge. The first room Luo Jian entered was chaotic mess, as if a violent brawl had urred; tables and chairs were scattered across the floor and a thickyer of dust covered the entire ce.

    There wasn¡¯t anything valuable in this room, but Luo Jian searched again, and he eventually found a navigational chart that he couldn¡¯t make sense of it and a log book that was, unfortunately, written in English. An oil painting, which was also covered in dust, hung on the wall. Luo Jian gathered the painting and carefully brushed the dust away. It was a painting of a vessel being engulfed by the raging seas.

    ¡°What kind of person would actually hang a picture like this on the wall? Were they that eager to die at sea?¡± Luo Jian was at a loss. He shook his head in bafflement then left this small room to search through another. But before leaving, he made sure to collect the log book. Although he didn¡¯t know who his partner was, he still intended to find this partner of his, hoping that he or she might be able to understand English.

    The ship¡¯s hold was quiterge, but Luo Jian managed visit some rooms. There were provisions stored in the cargopartment, but most of the food was inedible. In one ce, there were some weapons, gunpowder, and a few explosives, but they were all drenched in water and thus useless. Luo Jian also found a heap of gold and silver treasures in another room, but those things couldn¡¯tpare to a loaf of bread.

    Luo Jian was hungry.

    He went to the ship¡¯s boiler room; the engines were rusted and inoperable. The engine room, the forward cabins, the bow cabins, the aft cabins, the port-side cabins, the starboard-side cabins, practically every cabin andpartment had been overturned by him, but Luo Jian still couldn¡¯t find anything, not even a corpse like the one he found on the deck.

    ¡°What the hell¡¯s up with this ce?! Why¡¯s everything so empty?¡± Luo Jian went around in circles. There were just too many rooms to cover. He was somewhat lost, and he wasn¡¯t sure if there were any cabins he¡¯d identally overlooked. The fire on the torch was slowly dying out, and he soon entered a lively-looking area, seemingly the crew¡¯s lounge. He found some heavy coats and directly put one on, but feeling that one wasn¡¯t quite enough, he decided to wear another. Though the coats were covered in dust, at least he wasn¡¯t cold anymore.

    Soon after, he found an oilmp that actually contained fuel. Luo Jian lit themp, and threw away that human bone torch.

    The inner cabin of the vessel was stifling and dark, the floor swayed under his feet, and he could hear the sound of the roaring waves pping beneath the hull. To say he was scared would be an understatement; he was unarguably terrified to death, but he had to get over it and find his partner. He nced at his pocket watch; it was 12:48. Without knowing, an hour had already passed. If he didn¡¯t find his partner any sooner, that person would probably die.

    After walking through the dark corridor for a long time, Luo Jian suddenly heard a tapping sounding from the room in front of him.

    It sounded like something was fiercely banging against the door.

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart rate increased and his heart violently pounded against his ribs, tuning in sync with the strange knocking noises. He raised hismp as he boldly approached the door of the room from which the sounds came. There was, in fact, something striking at the door; the door rattled non-stop and the noise echoed all around.

    ¡°Is anyone inside?¡± Luo Jian yelled at the door. Surrounded by darkness, he didn¡¯t dare raise his voice. He felt that if he shouted any louder, his voice might attract something bad, which could only result in unpleasant consequences.

    When Luo Jian called out, the impacts from the door being knocked stopped. Time seemed toe to a standstill. There weren¡¯t any sounds or movements for a long time; it was as tranquil as the eye of a hurricane.

    After a while, the poor door began to shake from the reverberating impacts that ensued once again. Luo Jian swallowed hard, drew his tactical knife, put it in his mouth, and bit on the knife¡¯s de, keeping it steady. While one of his hands held themp, the other reached out and gripped the door knob, twisting it slowly¡­

 Chapter 10: Ghost Ship (III)

    Chapter 10: Ghost Ship (III)

    Feng Yu Lan was feeling thirsty, and this feeling of extreme thirst left him with an unbearable dryness in his throat, which eventually woke him up. Thest memory he could recall was his staying overnight at the hospital. Since his condition improved, he no longer needed to remain in the single-upancy room, and so a short, fat physician sent him to the multi-upancy ward. For countless nights, Feng Yu Lan tossed and turned in his own bed because of the thundering snoresing from the slumbering uncle on the adjacent bed.

    But this time, Feng Yu Lan felt himself nodding off, and without notice, he fell into a deep sleep. That older patient¡¯s snores couldn¡¯t stop him from dozing off, and before he knew it, Feng Yu Lan had the most absurd dream. In his dream, there was a colorful clown wearing exaggerated make-up and ridiculous clothes, dancing andughing hysterically. The clown¡¯sughter was horrendous¡­rather, it was so eerie. It was simr to the earsplitting cackles of those evil witches from western mythology, the grinning witches who would shriek withughter while stirring their cauldron. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s bizarre dream was filled with those shrill giggles, and it was terrifying.

    Then, Feng Yu Lan woke up to a dry mouth and parched throat.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he found there was something wrong with his current situation. As a matter of fact, he wasn¡¯t in the hospital. There were no white beds, no snoring patients, no IV infusion pumps, and no get well flowers or gifts. Everything was unusual, gloomy, and rming.

    Feng Yu Lan found himself trapped in a dark, narrow ce! Exactly how cramped was this ce? To put it bluntly, it was as if someone just shoved him in a coffin, or more specifically, a coffin designed exclusively for children! It was only half the size of a grown man, so Feng Yu Lan had to huddle with his knees tucked in, back hunched forward, and head bowed, curling into fetal position.

    Feng Yu Lan immediately thought he was still dreaming after gauging his surroundings. It couldn¡¯t be anything other than a dream inside of a dream, except this dream was even more outrageous than the one with the silly clown. But Feng Yu Lan soon discovered it wasn¡¯t a mere dream. He could clearly feel the stinging pain after pinching his own face.

    ¡°This must be someone ying a joke on me.¡± Feng Yu Lan conjectured. He raised his voice and yelled, ¡°Hey! Whoever¡¯s out there, quickly get me out of here! I¡¯m still a wounded patient!¡±

    There wasn¡¯t a single response outside.

    It was too quiet. Feng Yu Lan closed his mouth and didn¡¯t emit the slightest of sounds. The dead silence was all but oppressive, pressing down on him from all sides. The only things he could hear in theck of deafening noise were the sounds of his ragged breaths and his wildly beating heart.

    Feng Yu Lan realized that panicking wouldn¡¯t help, so he willed himself to take deep, steady breaths in order to regain hisposure; he lowly chanted, ¡°Calm down, Feng Yu Lan. Calm down. This isn¡¯t the worst you¡¯ve been through. This isn¡¯t as bad as being stabbed with a knife. Yeah, this is definitely better than being stabbed. Because when you were stabbed, it hurt like hell, and you also almost died¡­and¡­¡±

    Feng Yu Lan abruptly stopped talking. He paused then awkwardly stretch his hand as much as he could in the confining darkness. With some difficulty, he managed to touch his waist, the ce where the assant stabbed him with a knife from behind, prating his skin and piercing his guts. This injury was the main reason he almost didn¡¯t live to see the light of the next day.

    The wound ached every day, and Feng Yu Lan could only rest leaning on one side or sleep sitting up because the racking agony would constantly torment him. Each time he rxed, the excruciating pain would strike his nerves without a moment¡¯s notice, and his body would instantly twinge.

    But the injury seemed to be gone now!

    Though he couldn¡¯t actually see anything in the darkness, Feng Yu Lan still widened his eyes in incredulity. His fingertips lightly grazed his smooth, undamaged skin. The wound disappeared! Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hand remained at his waist for quite a while. He waspletely dumbfounded. He couldn¡¯t seem to wrap his mind around it, and he puzzled over this for a long time. Just what was going on?

    Even a couple of days healing in the hospital wouldn¡¯t suffice, especially not when it came to a person with an injury of this degree. The doctors had informed him that he would need to stay in the hospital for at least half a month, but right now, the wound was gone, as if it never appeared on his body! There weren¡¯t even any scars left!

    ¡°I must still be dreaming!¡± Feng Yu Lan was convinced by now. After all, something like that was impossible! He shut his eyes and urged himself to wake up, ¡°Wake up! Wake up!¡±

    But he couldn¡¯t wake up from this nightmare. Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t leave this dark, constricting ce, which was so narrow that even slightly turning his head proved difficult.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t died and been put into a coffin, right?¡± Feng Yu Lan was frightened by his own spection, but that soon turned in indignation, and he angrily shouted in vexation, ¡°To think that even in death there¡¯s such thing as stinginess! Look at this! Reduced by half! Even a coffin gave me a 50% discount! It¡¯s so small and cramped, I can¡¯t even rest in peace! This is injustice, I say! Just what has the worlde to! Such a sad loss of morality!1¡±

    Feng Yu Lan was simply amusing himself; the corners of this happy-go-lucky person¡¯s mouth curled in mirth. The only thing was that he was bing quite irritated with this narrow ce. He wiggled around, twisting and turning and repeatedly banging against the nearby boards with his elbows, when he finally felt something underneath him.

    It was too dark to be seen, but Feng Yu Lan used his hands to feel the object. It was a long, thin item, simr to smooth stick, and it seemed flexible. The moment Feng Yu Lan touched the item, an idea shed through his mind, and he briskly cracked the stick. Soon, this dark, narrow space was brightened by a glimmering blue light.

    ¡°A¡­glow stick.¡± Feng Yu Lan looked at the stick in his hand. The glow stick was a bit bigger than most, and the light was also brighter than usual. He held the glow stick up, illuminating his surroundings. Although he didn¡¯t know whether he was truly in a coffin, the ce he was confined in was unquestionably small. It appeared to be some sort of thick wooden box.

    There didn¡¯t seem to be anything else besides the glow stick, but it wasn¡¯t long before Feng Yu Lan ended up discovering something else in this ce.

    A note was nailed to the nk directly in front of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s face. He was easily able to read it once he shined the light from the glow stick at it. It was a slip of paper with a purple pattern, and the following sentences were written in neat cursive:

    ¡¾Dear Mr. Feng Yu Lan¡¿

    ¡¾You are very fortunate to have received my invitation. Wee to the hidden chamber.¡¿

    ¡¾You must be feeling unsettled or perhaps very afraid given the new environment you are in, but I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no time to feel scared. As of the moment, there are more important things waiting for you. Please escape from the small area you are currently confined in within an hour. It is entirely sealed, meaning the oxygen will gradually deplete as you breathe, which means you do not have much oxygen to consume, which also means you might suffocate to death.¡¿

    ¡¾Of course, you can also choose to do nothing at all. Your partner may save you, but there is also the chance that he will note. ¡¿

    ¡¾In order not to create a new homicide in this chamber, I shall give you a couple of hints:¡¿

    ¡¾First: In the absence of tools, human beings tend to use both hands to create miracles.¡¿

    ¡¾Second: Right now, the box you are trapped in is ced at the very bottom of countless boxes.¡¿

    ¡¾Third: This is not a joke.¡¿

    ¡¾The aforementioned hints are over. I wish you the best of luck!¡¿

    After reading the note, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s first reaction was to curse. To be specific, he wanted to unsparingly curse the man who wrote this note¡­him and his ancestors to the eighteenth generation2! But Feng Yu Lan restrained himself from such irrational thoughts. He knew it was meaningless. It didn¡¯t matter who the person was or the reason the person decided to trap him in here. If the words on the note were true, the most important thing he had to do right now was leave the damned box!

    But how could he get out?

    Feng Yu Lan haphazardly felt around the box, searching through any crevice he could reach. s, there was only a glow stick¡­Yes, just that sole glow stick.

    The box was very sturdy. Feng Yu Lan vigorously hammered against the boards, generating weak vibrations. Once again, he thought of the hints on the note. The box he was trapped in was currently ced at the very bottom of numerous boxes. In other words, there were several boxes, either of the same kind or of a different kind, piled on top of this box. He could only imagine the horrid disaster that would fall upon him if he opened it from above, but below him was the floor, so escaping through there was impossible. Thest option he had was to try to find a way to open it from the sides.

    He had to open the box from inside without any tools. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s only solution was to use his own body, that is, to press his back against one side and push his feet against the opposite side, forcing the box to break.

    However, staying in this box was pure torture for Feng Yu Lan. It was a small rectangle, and the boards nked all of his sides, practically leaving no gaps in between. So as Feng Yu Lan remained lying down, he couldn¡¯t shift his body; there was no way he could move well in this tight space. The distance between the board at his feet and the board at his head was exceedingly small, and if not all, the sides were too narrow. He couldn¡¯t properly straighten his legs, and he couldn¡¯t even bend his knees much. That being the case, there wasn¡¯t sufficient room provided to carry out his n. In the end, he didn¡¯t have enough strength or leverage to break the box open.

    ¡°This is the worst!¡± eximed Feng Yu Lan as he painfully struggled in the box.

    In another area, Luo Jian was also caught in a dilemma. The moment he opened the strange door, the thing that kept banging on the other side suddenly threw itself at him! Luo Jian didn¡¯t have enough time to prepare himself, and the dim light in his hand certainly had no time to shine on what that thing was. He just knew the ck shadow was rushing towards him; danger was approaching, and it was approaching him fast!

    Luo Jian¡¯s survival instincts set in. He reflexively lifted his leg and he gave a fierce kick to the thing that wasing at him, flinging it away! The shadow issued a sharp cry in pain, then fled, vanishing into the darkness once again. Luo Jian took a deep breath. He immediately removed the knife that was held between his clenched teeth and warily leaned his back against the wall, carefully retreating. He cautiously raised the oilmp in his hand and vigntly observing his surroundings.

    Luo Jian had a hunch that the thing was still lurking about. He sensed that the creature was silently watching him in the dark. Though it seemed like it wouldn¡¯t make its move yet, it definitely wasn¡¯t going to give up. It was looking for the exact moment when Luo Jian lowered his guard to pounce on him again. Luo Jian honestly didn¡¯t want to think about what kind of creature this was. The Boss had previously mentioned that the types of monsters that appeared in the chamber so far haven¡¯t been all that surprising. So, perhaps it was one of those Resident Evil zombies? A Jiangshi3? Possibly one of those monsters from sci-fi films, the ones with weird shapes? Or maybe even Sadako4?

    ¡°It¡¯d be terrible if Sadako appeared.¡± Luo Jian shook his head, stating, ¡°But well, luckily, there aren¡¯t any televisions here.¡±

    Nevertheless, since this was a ghost ship, ghosts would most likely appear. And if there weren¡¯t any ghosts, then there would certainly be other creatures of darkness, such as a zombies, that would emerge. Luo Jian kept his guard up as he reflected. He was well aware that his hands were trembling and that he couldn¡¯t properly grip the knife in his hand. Luo Jian knew it. There was nothing worse than this in his entire life.

 Chapter 11: Ghost Ship (IV)

    Chapter 11: Ghost Ship (IV)

    The oilmp squeaked as it quivered in his hand. Luo Jian pressed his back against the wall; the ominous premonition encroached upon his heart, growing stronger by the second. I shouldn¡¯t stay in this ce any longer, Luo Jian decided. Holding themp high in the air to observe his surroundings, he cautiously backed away.

    Luo Jian¡¯s retreat alerted the monster; it gave a low, panicked croak and suddenly rushed towards Luo Jian, nning to throw itself on him again. Luo Jian dimly saw a dark shadow sh before his eyes. Then, it was as if time had stopped. In that split second, he clearly saw the monster¡¯s sharp fangs and glowing red eyes in the darkness.

    Luo Jian sucked in a startled breath! He didn¡¯t know when the knife in his hand started burning, but it scorched his palms; that inexplicable sensation of being controlled by the weapon in his hand overcame him once more. His body was in a trance, his grip on the knife automatically tightened, and he stood in ce, facing the enemy head on!

    The enemy was within his reach. Luo Jian finally saw the appearance of the monster!

    Standing on all fours in front of him was a feline creature with sharp ws, ragged teeth, and a long tail. But that wasn¡¯t the worst thing. The terrible part about it was that this monstrous, cat-like creature had no skin. The underlying muscle tissues, organs, and blood vessels were thoroughly exposed for all to see. Many ces on its body began to fester, and there was arge hole right in middle of its abdomen. The snchnic organs were pulled out from inside and they dragged on the floor beneath it. However, the monster paid no heed to any of this; it continued to grin like the Cheshire cat, narrowing its predatory gaze on Luo Jian.

    It didn¡¯t matter how one described this creature or thenguage one described it in, this creature looked so weak.

    Luo Jian furrowed his brows. However, he was still afraid. Very afraid. But despite being terrified to the point of pissing his pants, his face was expressionless. His stomach churned, and the queasy feeling made him want to vomit, but apart from being a bit pale, there weren¡¯t any other indications of his fear. He was stoic, the tremble in his handspletely stopped.

    In short, Luo Jian wasn¡¯t so courageous. The only reason why he was able to remain so calm in the face of this horrendous creature was simply because he was relying on the tactical knife in his hand!

    The first reward given to each yer who sessfully escaped from the chamber was a weapon. Every weapon was specially designed for each yer, the weapon they received was the weapon that suited them best. It directed their survival instincts and stimted their desire to fight, maintaining the rhythm of battle! Instantly transforming a weak noob into war god!

    It was this knife that allowed Luo Jian to be the greatest master of all time. He bnced the knife in his hand and slowly crouched down, cing the oilmp on the ground. Then, he leaned his body forward, poised ready to attack.

    Under the dying me of themp, a monster and a human waged war on one other!

    The battle was short-lived, and only one emerged victorious. Clutching his bleeding arm, Luo Jian mmed his back against the wall, heaving and panting. His pulse gradually slowed, and his shallow breaths grew steady. He ripped a piece of his clothing and tied it tight around his fresh wound. The creature¡¯s dead bodyy at his feet. After dying, its appearance was somewhat awkward. Its body and limbs twisted at unimaginable angles; it looked weird and contorted.

    Killing a monster and killing a person felt so different, but when Luo Jian brought his knife down to stab it, he still couldn¡¯t help but shut his eyes; the thunderous roars of the monster rang in his ears for a long time. Finally, all that remained was silence.

    Luo Jian firmly gripped the knife. The knife in his hand was still burning hot, but even if his searing fingers were red and swollen, Luo Jian didn¡¯t release the knife. He reached into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out the pocket watch. The time showed 12:57.

    What should he do? Should he just give up on that partner of his? There were only a few minutes left; he didn¡¯t have enough time, and he wasn¡¯t sure if he had the abilities to find a person in two short minutes.

    Because of the knife in his hand, Luo Jian¡¯s mind was rtivelyposed and rational; likewise, the expression on his face was cold and cruel. But Luo Jian was not so cold-hearted in reality. He paused for a moment then went back inside the locked room that held the monster.

    The room was quiterge, and it appeared to be a warehouse. Several wooden crates were neatly arranged around the ce. The boxes were rectangr, each one big andpactly situated, stacking high on top of each other. Luo Jian walked over to arge wooden crate and thrusted his knife downwards. He violently tore the box apart, held up his oilmp, and peered inside. Luo Jian¡¯s face immediately scrunched in disgust.

    Another corpse. Simrly to that rotten body found in the wooden box on the deck, this one was a tattered, rotten, and repulsive pile of bones.

    Without thinking, Luo Jian forcibly tore open another wooden crate, and it went without saying, another corpse.

    Were all of these boxes filled with dead bodies? Luo Jian looked up at the heaps of boxes stacked on top of each other. There were dozens of identical boxes, every one of them, intact and sealed.

    ¡°Have all the passengers on this ghost ship been put inside these boxes? Then who put them in there?¡± Luo Jian voiced aloud to himself. There wasn¡¯t much time left, and Luo Jian had given up on searching for his partner. Luo Jian wasn¡¯t a bad person, but he was by no means a saint. He tried his best to find the other, but since the other couldn¡¯t be found, Luo Jian could only reason that his unfortunate partner was too unlucky.

    But just when Luo Jian had already given up, he heard a muffled noise in the soundless room.

    It was so faint, practically inaudible. If he didn¡¯t pay attention, he would¡¯ve missed that feeble drumming, that indistinct pounding sound, but Luo Jian¡¯s ears were highly sensitive at the moment, plus, the room was silent. He immediately cupped his ears, searching for the source of the noise, and he soon squatted near arge pile of boxes.

    The noise came from one of these boxes, but since the sound was too faint and intermittent, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint the exact box. However, now that it came to this point, Luo Jian hesitated. What if the sound was generated by a monster? His arm was still bleeding profusely, and he didn¡¯t have the strength to deal with a second one.

    The tapping sound came again, and this time, Luo Jian heard it loud and clear; it came directly from the box beside him. That box was crushed under several otherrger boxes. Luo Jian thought for a moment, and then held the knife and twirled it, shing at the air a few times. His knife was perfectly sharp. There was nothing that it couldn¡¯t cut, but even so, Luo Jian felt conflicted. The box was thicker and sturdier, if not even more imprable, than the other crates surrounding it. The box was securely nailed shut; Luo Jian probed at it with his knife for a long time, but in the end, he had to pick the nails from the box one by one.

    Eventually, Luo Jian managed to remove all of the nails covering one side of the box; not even a second passed before the person inside tumbled out. Dressed in a clean hospital gown, dark hair scattered across the floor, his deathly pale face stung Luo Jian¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Ah Lan!?¡± Luo Jian rubbed his eyes and shouted in disbelief. He was too stunned for a moment, then he promptly gathered Ah Lan into his arms, drawing him close to his chest. Ah Lan may have been trapped in that box for too long; he appeared to show symptoms of hypoxia. His breaths were shallow and urgent, shuddering with every intake of air. The ship was freezing and uncontroble shivers wracked his body. The boy in front of him had passed outpletely.

    Luo Jian was feeling exceedingly distressed looking at Ah Lan; he took off his coat and wrapped it around him. It seemed that Ah Lan was bing warmer; his teeth stopped chattering and his body wasn¡¯t trembling as much. But he stilled huddled into a ball in Luo Jian¡¯s arms. Luo Jian gently held onto him as he sat on the ground. He didn¡¯t know when it happened; just how could Ah Lan appear here?

    Could it be that he was the partner the note spoke of?

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart instantly clenched, his mind was in shambles. Not too long ago, he mulled over whether he should abandon his partner. He didn¡¯t think that the person was actually going to be¡­ But thank goodness! Luo Jian affectionately cradled the person in his arms, thanking that he found him. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t give up at thest minute! He didn¡¯t kill him! Oh, thank goodness!

    The hands of the pocket watch pointed to 13:01. Anyter, and Feng Yu Lan would have died! Luo Jian heaved a sigh of relief, but he was still on edge. He hugged Feng Yu Lan in his arms, never nning to let go, as he sat in the corner. He felt tired. Perhaps now was the best time to take a break, but resting in a room filled with dead bodies was unpleasant; it was just too creepy.

    Luo Jian nced at the tall stacks of wooden boxes, then he shifted his gaze to the two wooden boxes that were opened. The putrid stench of rotting corpses, the deadly stillness, and the dark environment gave Luo Jian the dreadful feeling that a second body would soon crawl out of one of the boxes.

    Luo Jian shook his head then carefully touched the wound on his arm. The monster had grazed him with its sharp ws, and Luo Jian wasn¡¯t sure if the monster w contained any deadly and deceptive bacteria or viruses, kind of like the T-Virus from Resident Evil. But since he couldn¡¯t imagine anything of the sort, Luo Jian decided not to get too caught up in this matter. He untied the piece of cloth wrapped around his wound and moved his arm back and forth. Although it was sore, it was bearable; he could still use it without any problems.

    So, Luo Jian extended his arms and effortlessly lifted Feng Yu Lan up with his arms, then he gracefully carried Feng Yu Lan out of the room filled with corpses.

    Feng Yu Lan was even lighter than Luo Jian imagined. It might¡¯ve been because he had to stay in the hospital for a long time because of his injury. He couldn¡¯t eat spicy foods or any food he wanted, as most weren¡¯t conducive to recovery, and in just a few weeks, poor little Ah Lan has lost so much meat. Even he, Luo Jian, could pick him up without any trouble.

    Luo Jian¡¯s emotions were all over the ce as he held onto Feng Yu Lan. Luo Jian was a simple person. For him, there was only white and ck, right or wrong. He was the kind of person who could be an attacker or a victim, the type who could assert dominance or be submissive. When it was time to be strong and courageous, he would puff out his chest and take a stand, he¡¯d be powerful and brave. But when the time for obedience and moderation came, he would be very gentle and reserved.

    Feng Yu Lan once made Luo Jian have such a misunderstanding before, and he thought that just maybe they could try to be together. Feng Yu Lan was small and quite childish. They¡¯d always yed together as children. Whenever someone would bully him, he would wail ande running back in tears to Luo Jian, and in return, Luo Jian would wave his fists and retaliate against those who bullied Feng Yu Lan.

    It felt very simr to an endearing younger brother who was also a pain in the butt.

    But in the end, they couldn¡¯t be together. Feng Yu Lan liked girls. He was especially attracted to cute and helpless-looking younger girls. Luo Jian remembered his ex-girlfriend was that type; he would often see her whenever they went on dates. They only looked like two soft, meek and petite animals clinging to each other. That scene¡­ Luo Jian helplessly shook his head.

    Luo Jian carried Feng Yu Lan down the corridor where he and the monster fought. He walked halfway, paused, and then looked down at the ck blood staining the ground. After staring at it for a while, he lifted his head and continued his steps, gradually advancing forward. But he soon stopped again. He frowned; the strange feeling in his mind wouldn¡¯t go away. Once again, he bowed his head and looked at the blood on the floor.

    Strange¡­where¡¯s the monster¡¯s corpse?

    Luo Jian was utterly shocked aftering to this realization! He just now discovered that the dead body lying in the pool of blood on the ground had disappeared!

    It wasn¡¯t dead? Did it just stand up and run away, or did some other creature on this boat drag the body away? Both ways, it didn¡¯t matter; Luo Jian was unwilling to chance upon either of the cases. He bit his lip hard, the wound on his arm ached.

    We can¡¯t stay here, Luo Jian thought. He had to find a safe room without any monsters, without any corpses, without anything out of the ordinary. His first priority was Feng Yu Lan; he had to find a safe ce for the both of them. Somewhere where they could take a short break. Somewhere in this oppressive, enclosed chamber.

 Chapter 12: Ghost Ship (V)

    Chapter 12: Ghost Ship (V)

    Luo Jian stumbled around the hold of the ship, and he eventually went to one of the crew cabins with Feng Yu Lan to find some clothes. There was only one bed, but that was more than enough to let a poor, shivering Feng Yu Lan restfortably. Along the way, Luo Jian didn¡¯t dare take unnecessary steps for he feared that something strange hidden in the dark would suddenly pop out and attack them.

    When he got to the ce, Luo Jian surveyed the area once more. The crew cabin was tiny and quaint; there was a bed, a wardrobe, a small desk, and a chair. After double checking and finding nothing amiss, Luo Jian carried Ah Lan to the bed and gentlyid him down, then he walked back to the door and locked it from inside. The oilmp he held cast a dim light, faintly illuminating the small space. Luo Jian then ced a couple of items on the desk: a logbook, a cross pendant, a note with a purple design, and a silver pocket watch.

    After that, he carefully patted Feng Yu Lan down, meticulously searching every part of his body. The other barely carried items on his body; there seemed to be nothing in his thin, hospital gown. After searching for a long time, Luo Jian finally found a familiar printed slip of paper on him, and he picked it up, looking it over. Both he and Luo Jian entered the chamber at the same time, except this was Feng Yu Lan¡¯s first chamber experience, and he had to escape from the box within an hour. But Feng Yu Lan clearly wasn¡¯t able to seed. In the end, Luo Jian was the one who found him and opened the box for him, allowing him to escape.

    After reading the message on the card, Luo Jian puzzled over the few hints. Determining that the hints were of little value, he flipped the paper over to see what was written on the back. Surprisingly, the passage written on the back of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s note waspletely different to that written on Luo Jian¡¯s note.

    ¡¾The sailing vessel entered the thick, illusory fog; the sailors could no longer find their way out. They endlessly panicked, they futilely struggled, the overwhelming anguish prated their minds. They were forever doomed for despair, to suffer day after day. The captain was the first one to break down under the agonizing pressure. The dark, coercing fog and the despondent ckness of the sea gave rise to the wicked devils in his heart. He instigated a few loyal, deranged crewmates to attack a passenger on the ship. The unfortunate victim had every limb of his broken, and the poor fellow was shoved into a narrow box. A whole month passed, different people disappeared one after another; many passengers on the ship died by the day. The boxes in the storeroom increased; the stacks became taller, higher. It was as if the souls could reach the skies; they could fly to the heavens one by one. But, s, no one ever escaped from this boundless fog.¡¿

    Luo Jian finished reading the passage, and he noted a few things.

    First, he and Feng Yu Lan both had different messages written on their respective slips of paper. The messages changed ording to the condition of the environment, that was to say, their situation.

    Second, several clues were written on the back of their notes, and there was also a direct connection between both passages. The two passages were parts of a whole, and they had to be pieced together in order to obtain the true, full passage.

    Third, if Luo Jian gave up on searching for his partner, and if he failed to rescue Feng Yu Lan in time, he would¡¯ve been left with only one iplete passage. And he most likely would have lost an opportunity to find a faster way to escape from this ce!

    In conclusion, the chambers wouldn¡¯t set up a scenario that was one hundred percent hopeless. Everyone had an opportunity to escape. The chance of two people escaping was infinitely greater than that of a single person. Therefore, having apanion wasn¡¯t merely better, it was vital for survival. In this regard, the chamber seemed to promote teamwork.

    Luo Jian frowned as he contemted. He sat right beside Feng Yu Lan and then, without a second thought, he reached out to feel Feng Yu Lan¡¯s forehead. A slight fever. That wasn¡¯t a good sign. That only meant that their next actions would greatly fall short of what he had nned. If there were any idents, and Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan happened to separate from each other, Feng Yu Lan definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to defend himself against a monster.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about the monsters, concentrate on the riddles,¡± Luo Jian willed himself, and he began to parse the contents on the two sheets of paper.

    Originally, this ghost ship was a pirate vessel. They looted treasures and confiscated anything of value, but noter, they identally sailed through the Bermuda Triangle¡ªalso known as the Devil¡¯s Triangle. Numerous ships and even nes went missing after venturing into this sea, never to be found again. The most perilous sea, a sea filled with mysteries, filled with the unknown, that was, precisely, the Devil¡¯s Triangle.

    Which meant, ording to the clues on Feng Yu Lan¡¯s note, the ship sailed into a dark, vast fog. Then itpletely lost its way. The heavy mist shrouded the sun, devouring its rays and obscuring everything in sight. As time went on, the crewmates grew restless with panic, gued with destion. Chaos soon erupted. The first to cause a disturbance on board was the captain of the ship. The first victim¡ªLuo Jian suddenly thought of the body crammed in the wooden box on the deck.

    There were still a couple of details Luo Jian couldn¡¯tprehend. For instance, that box on the deck and the dead body inside. Why wasn¡¯t it stacked in the storage room like the other boxes and bodies? It was just sitting alone on the deck, fully exposed to the changing weather.

    Furthermore, that eerie photo on the corpse.

    As well as the inexplicable disappearance of that feline creature¡¯s remains.

    Yet, as a matter of fact, these details could be ignored by Luo Jian, as they were irrelevant,pletely unrted to the main clues. For the sake of simplicity, the props may have been deliberately arranged like that to let Luo Jian find the exit with ease. After all, the chamber itself was illogical; therefore, the many irrational circumstances and unreasonable plots no longer appeared to be startling or bizarre.

    Luo Jian sighed. He was feeling drained, both physically and mentally. However, mental tasks obviously consumed more energy than physical activities, he wasn¡¯t even feeling this exhausted when he went up against that creature. And so, he decided toy down next to Feng Yu Lan and silently pulled the thick covers over their bodies.

    Luo Jian was so tired. He just wanted to fall asleep, but he couldn¡¯t. They only had six hours to stay on this ship, and time often flew by fast when people slept. Luo Jian would probably die while dreaming.

    But drowsiness gradually descended upon him. Luo Jian yawned and eventually sumbed to the sleep. Under the flickering light, the hand of the silver pocket watch on the table ticked by. About half an hourter, Luo Jian woke up with a start, dazedly looking around. As he slowly gained awareness, he noticed Feng Yu Lan tossing and turning, groaning while clutching his head.

    ¡°Head is dizzy! Mouth is thirsty!¡± Feng Yu Lan woke up muttering these words. He came to realize that his surroundings seemed to be different. He swiveled around to see Luo Jian beside him, and he was stunned for a moment, but in the very next second, he suddenly flung himself into Luo Jian¡¯s arms, sobbing pathetically, tears streaming down his cheeks, ¡°Ah Jian! I just had a nightmare!¡±

    Luo Jian was rather perplexed, but he still followed up with a question, ¡°What kind of nightmare?¡±

    ¡°I dreamt that you trapped me in a child¡¯s coffin for very long time. I was struggling so much inside but you were just standing outside,ughing like crazy!¡± Feng Yu Lan sniffed and hupped, pitifully sprawling himself on top of Luo Jian¡¯s body, ring at him usingly, ¡°Ah Jian! How could you do this to me! You don¡¯t love me anymore!¡±

    ¡°Look at what this boy is saying! Still dreaming, huh?¡± Luo Jian was beyond gobsmacked when he heard this. He roughly whacked the top of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s head. Feng Yu Lan pawed at his hands, then covered his head and continued to whine miserably, ¡°Don¡¯t hit! Don¡¯t hit! Will be stupid!¡±

    When Feng Yu Lan finally recovered, he noticed that the situation seemed to have changed. He nced around the small locked room then tugged on Luo Jian¡¯s sleeve, trembling and asking, ¡°Ah Jian, where are we?¡±

    ¡°A ghost ship.¡± Luo Jian didn¡¯t know how to exin the situation, so he could only give a brief statement.

    ¡°Ghost ship¡­ ¡­?¡± His voice faltered. The two people suddenly felt the hull beneath them rock violently, as if a massive tidal wave struck. At the same time, Luo Jian vaguely heard the sound of the heavy rain pouring down on the surface of the water. The seas were raging outside, signaling theings of a storm.

    ¡°Are we really on a ship?!¡± Feng Yu Lan incredulously demanded, ¡°What are we even doing on a ship?! It¡¯s so dark!¡±

    There was only an oilmp, which was nearly burnt out, in this room. The depressing glow of the light only added to small room¡¯s dismal mood. Feng Yu Lan looked back at Luo Jian, fear evident in his eyes. Luo Jian got up from the bed. His leather sheath was fastened at his waist, conveniently allowing him to draw his knife and examine it.

    Feng Yu Lan trembled even more witnessing this scene.

    He swallowed his thick saliva, cautiously probing, ¡°Jian, what are you going to do with that knife?¡±

    Luo Jian subconsciously licked his lips and uttered two words, ¡°To kill1!¡±

    Immediately after, Luo Jian exined a bit to Feng Yu Lan about their current predicament, about the circumstances regarding the chamber, andter, he left the crew cabin; a dazed Feng Yu Lan with a bewildered expression on his face followed him from behind. They still needed to find the exit, and not one ce here was entirely safe.

    In order to save time, Luo Jian showed the logbook written in English to Feng Yu Lan as they walked; he remembered that Feng Yu Lan¡¯s English was exceptional. In fact, he majored in English in university, then entered a foreignpany to work, connecting and meeting with a whole bunch of foreigners. Later on, he had no intentions of continuing, so he resigned, and afterwards, he decided to give a try at tranting.

    Putting all his faith on Feng Yu Lan, Luo Jian pushed the logbook to his hands. Ah Lan was feeling rather distraught, but he had no choice. He scrunched his brows and pursed his lips trying to read the illegible and distorted cursive writings in the dim lighting. In the end, he helplesslyined, ¡°It¡¯s too dark¡­and¡­this person¡¯s writing just looks like a whole bunch of scribbles¡­and¡­the log is too old, a lot of the words are blurred!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not important! You can just read out whatever you do understand! There will always be some clues!¡± Luo Jian presence was domineering at this moment. He stood directly in front, leading Feng Yu Lan with one hand and gripping his knife in the other. Since one of his hands was being held by Luo Jian¡¯s, Feng Yu Lan carried the logbook in his other hand and silently bowed his head. He began to read slowly and carefully.

    ¡°The time is¡­um¡­it began on August 6, 1655, the mid-seventeenth century¡­ The captain was the one to write in this logbook, but I can¡¯t see the name because it¡¯s too sloppy to read. Let¡¯s see¡­the first day of fog¡­the wind direction, distance, time, course of action and all the like are all recorded down, and the captain sums everything up in a sentence: Even the fog cannot stop our ambitions.¡±

    ¡°The direction of the wind isn¡¯t important to us. Just say the time and everything else that the captain mentioned at the end, whatever he concluded with.¡± Luo Jian continued holding onto Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hand and advanced cautiously, constantly remaining in vignce and warily ncing in all directions while carefully paying attention to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s words at the same time. Although it was slightly difficult, it was still manageable.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Feng Yu Lan understood what Luo Jian was trying to get at, and he continued on with reading aloud:

    ¡°On August 7th, the navigator stated that the weather would soon clear up. Incidentally, the weather has been nothing but gloomy fog and sted rain all day.¡±

    ¡°On August 8th, a minor skirmish broke out between Jerry and Luke. The rain still hasn¡¯t stopped.¡±

    ¡°On August 10th¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Luo Jian interrupted, a frown marked his face. ¡°August 9th?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The page was ripped off.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s specte then. Maybe that small conflict turned into a huge mess, and then something terrible happened that made the captain feel like he shouldn¡¯t mention it, so the captain decided it had to be erased from the logbook?¡±

    ¡°What could it be? Could someone have died?¡±

    ¡°No no no, even if someone died, the captain wouldn¡¯t intentionally tear the page off. You have to know that this ship was originally a pirate ship. The men on board were all convicts. Perhaps even the deadliest of killers. Not to mention, it was also between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which was the era of chaos. So, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if one or two people died.¡±

    ¡°Since it¡¯s not rted to someone¡¯s death, then what could it be?¡±

    Luo Jian thought about it for a moment, then chuckled, ¡°Well, this ship¡¯s known as the Ghost Ship now. Perhaps it truly has something to do with ghosts.¡±

 Chapter 13: Ghost Ship (VI)

    Chapter 13: Ghost Ship (VI)

    A cold shiver ran down Feng Yu Lan¡¯s spine at Luo Jian¡¯sment about ghosts. He was absolutely terrified; he reached out and clutched Luo Jian¡¯s sleeve, frightfully questioning, ¡°Ah Jian, can we really escape?¡±

    Would we truly be able escape? To be on board a dreadful, vacant ghost ship surrounded by the dark, vast seas that boundlessly extended past the horizons to a ce where the eye couldn¡¯t see, a home to insidious monsters that lurked in the shadows. Feng Yu Lan simply could not understand how he came to wake up in such a strange ce. The only reason he could still be grateful was because Luo Jian was right beside him.

    Luo Jian perceived his fear. After all, he was just as scared as he was when he first entered the chamber. He was struck by sheer panic, pure terror, and insufferable hopelessness. The only difference was that Luo Jian was extremely afraid, but he had no one there to stand at his side. But at this moment, Feng Yu Lan had Luo Jian, he had the opportunity to depend on another person. He could cling onto Luo Jian¡¯s hand and never let go.

    Luo Jian soothingly caressed Feng Yu Lan¡¯s head. He directed a gentle smile at him, trying to reassure Ah Lan, calm his mind. However, Luo Jian didn¡¯t realize there were still traces of dried blood stuck to his face. Regardless whether that blood was his or the monster¡¯s, under the dim light, that blood made Luo Jian¡¯s face appear even more ferocious; it was disturbing. Feng Yu Lan shuddered at the sight.

    Thereafter, Feng Yu Lan tightened his hold on the logbook and proceeded to interpret, ¡°On August 10th, we tried to forget about yesterday¡¯s incident. The heavy rain continued pouring down.¡±

    ¡°August¡­¡±

    The contents of each page in the logbook were somewhat repetitive. There were consistent records of the weather and wind direction; the navigating route as well as the crewmates¡¯ daily lives were also written down. There seemed to be nothing new apart from that report made on August 9th, the page that was torn off. As a matter of fact, there was nothing worth mentioning. But as time passed by, and as the pirate ship remained lost in the dense fog for a full month, the contents began to change.

    The captain scribbled one line at the beginning: Rowan had always mocked me.

    A few dayster, Rowan disappeared. The logbook started disying records all of the different passengers who had disappeared each day. One by one, the captain rearranged the names of those who went missing on a list; his handwriting was illegible, distorted and blurry. Feng Yu Lan could even sense a hint of insanitying from it.

    The veryst log was written on September 18th. At this time, the captain, the navigator, and two additional crewmates were the only people who hadn¡¯t yet vanished from the ship. Contrary to the usual, the captain did not record the weather or wind direction on this day. He wildly scrawled a few sentences down; his cursive was sloppy, disorganized, as if he just hurried back from somece and frantically recorded what he needed to impart:

    ¡°This fear that I¡¯d suppressed in my heart for so long is a savage beast that has now escaped from the cage I set up. It has consumed my mind. It has devoured my very soul! My men would disappear by the day; s, I have finally discovered the truth! All of their bodies were found in the locked storage room. Their limbs were broken; their bodies were wedged into boxes. I haven¡¯t any time to reckon the possibilities of what might¡¯ve urred, for right behind me¡­¡±

    This was all that was written on the log. It was obvious that the captain was unable to finish writing down his sentence. There was also a dark bloodstain on the paper, dried-up and ck. The running blood had coagted and formed a thick scab.

    ¡°It seems that I made one mistake.¡± Luo Jian remarked, frowning as he listened to Feng Yu Lan trante orally. ¡°I had originally believed that the captain was the first one to provoke trouble on the ship, but it appears to have been someone else.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯ll be able to leave as long as we find the original culprit who caused all of that chaos?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily so. But I do know that only the truth can lead us to where the exit is.¡± Luo Jian shook his head then looked back at Ah Lan. ¡°Ah Lan, follow me to the deck. I just remembered that I found another corpse on the deck, and there was also a journal written in English. Maybe it¡¯s another clue.¡±

    The journey from the cabin to the deck wasn¡¯t that long, but walking through such a dark area was, if anything, a test of courage. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s guts were small. He cowered and huddled against Luo Jian¡¯s back, repeatedly ncing over his shoulder with every small step he took. He was afraid that something would attack him from behind, but the more he nced back, the more he afraid he became; the tremors that wracked his body grew stronger. Luo Jian was feeling helpless, so he strongly embraced Feng Yu Lan around the shoulders and drew him into his arms, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±

    Ah Lan gazed at Luo Jian with shining eyes, then, in the next second, he covered his face in shame, ¡°Aiyo! I don¡¯t like this! I already have a girlfriend, stop being so nice to me!¡±

    The veins popped out of Luo Jian¡¯s forehead; he gave Feng Yu Lan a good smack and mercilessly grinded Ah Lan¡¯s head with his knuckles, beating the poor boy. Ah Lan then pitifully covered his head with his small hands and usingly looked up at Luo Jian with tears in his eyes. Luo Jian¡¯s heart melted, and he opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, his heart started beating wildly against his chest!

    Luo Jian¡¯s sixth sense warned him that danger was approaching from up ahead.

    Luo Jian unsheathed his knife in one incredibly swift motion; he abruptly tugged Feng Yu Lan with his other hand and pinned him to the ground. Ah Lan couldn¡¯t make any sense of what was going on right now, and he whined at Luo Jian. And just at that moment, Luo Jian sensed a dark shadow dart before his eyes; it raced straight towards Luo Jian and was nning to pounce on him!

    Can¡¯t retreat. That single thought shed through his mind. Gripping tightly onto his knife, he swept his hand across the air in front of him; the de dragged across flesh, slicing deeply through the body. Luo Jian widened his eyes. The bright oilmp flickered, one moment it was bright, the next second it was dark. At the same time, the sluggish Ah Lan finally noticed something was amiss. He knew not to disturb, and so he peacefully stayed motionless on the ground. He stared up at Luo Jian with big eyes.

    There was a monsterying on the floor before them, and it was exactly the same one Luo Jian had seen before! Luo Jian was positive that it was the same only because those fatal wounds on its neck were caused by Luo Jian. But now, that injury no longer bled. The flesh at the monster¡¯s neck was flipped inside out, exposing its white spine; its hideous face and bulging eyes, which resembledrge copper bells, gave people the creeps.

    Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t dare scream this time. He cautiously withdrew backwards and shrank against the corner, hiding directly behind Luo Jian. Feng Yu Lan was wise. He knew that hecked strength and that he had zero fighting skills, in fact, he was far worse than Luo Jian when it came to that department, so he would only be a hindrance.

    ¡°Ah Lan, stay right here, don¡¯t move.¡± Luo Jian didn¡¯t turn his head as he spoke to Feng Yu Lan. His eyes never left the monster.

    Feng Yu Lan still nodded despite the fact that Luo Jian wouldn¡¯t see it.

    Luo Jian could only handle so much at once. Once again, the military knife in his hand burned, a searing pain prated his palm, his fingers became red and swollen, but Luo Jian didn¡¯t let go. A surge of emotions overwhelmed him!

    Luo Jian was extremely baffled! He was sure that he had definitely killed the monster back then! He shed at the monster¡¯s throat and nearly decapitated it! It waspletely dead; it couldn¡¯t possibly die again! Later, the corpse of this creature disappeared, and although Luo Jian puzzled about this for a while, he could only reason that another monster took the corpse and dragged it away. But he would never have imagined that this thing could actuallye back to life!

    Luo Jian automatically eyed the deepceration on the creature¡¯s neck. Its backbone was severely twisted, the creature¡¯s head hung at an awkward, crooked angle, and its intestines continued dragging on the floor from the gaping hole on its stomach. But even so, this horrendous monster was so agile, and its attack was powerful.

    Just what the hell was this thing?!

    Luo Jian gritted his teeth; he decided to kill it again. This time, Luo Jian was the first to rush up to attack, but Luo Jian received an even greater surprise. He was aware that the monster¡¯s speed had increased, but even its strength had improved! Luo Jian¡¯s weapon raised his sensitivity; therefore, he could easily detect this subtle change.

    The creature¡¯s transformation made it rather difficult for Luo Jian to kill it. And if not all, the monster seemed to have gained some intelligence! It actually took advantage of the moment when Luo Jian inadvertently shifted his attention, to wheel around and charge towards Feng Yu Lan who stood at the corner!

    Nevertheless, Feng Yu Lan also wasn¡¯t a pushover1. Although he was mixed up with this inexplicable and bizarre chamber, in a sense, he was like Luo Jian; he was selected for a reason. If he was just another ordinary civilian, then he would never be able to receive Luo Jian¡¯s invitation letter.

    It was because of this that Feng Yu Lan instinctively reached into his pocket, surprisingly pulled out the thick logbook, and fiercely mmed it against the face of the monster that shot towards him! This action nearly exhausted all of the strength in his body; however, it was clear that the creature didn¡¯t expect such a puny, weak sheep to be capable enough of packing such a powerful punch. In that instance, it was flung across the room by Feng Yu Lan¡¯s logbook, and it soon tumbled to the ground.

    Luo Jian naturally didn¡¯t let go of this opportunity. He stepped up to the monster that dropped to the ground and sharply stabbed through its forehead with his knife. Immediately, the blood sttered all over the ce, even sshing on Luo Jian¡¯s face.

    The creature let out a piercing shriek! Its body convulsed for a long time, but it gradually settled down, and remained lying on the ground, finally still.

    The two people were frozen in shock after the ordeal was over. Luo Jian clutched the tactical knife in his hand; his face was expressionless. On the other hand, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s face was as white as a sheet; he scuffled over to Luo Jian¡¯s side, asionally taking a glimpse at the monster¡¯s corpse at the same time, and asked, ¡°What exactly is this thing?¡±

    ¡°Who knows, but both ways, it¡¯s not anything good.¡± Luo Jian retrieved the knife from the creature¡¯s forehead and pondered for a minute. He thrusted his knife into the monster a few more times. He endured his rising nausea as he poked a few more holes into the creature¡¯s skull. But of course, Luo Jian was still not rest assured. He immediately followed up with several fatal stabs to the monster¡¯s heart, going along with his hand¡¯s systematic movements.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it already dead?¡± Feng Yu Lan paled even more witnessing Luo Jian¡¯s erratic behavior.

    ¡°I thought it was dead back then, too. I almost hacked its head off with the knife. But did it not just appear before us and start attacking us, hmm?¡± Luo Jian coldly hummed. To be on the safe side, he also vehemently stomped on it and gave it a couple of ruthless kicks.

    ¡°You mean to say this thing cane back to life?¡± Feng Yu Lan¡¯s face suddenly turned green at the thought of this atrocious, unknown creature reviving again, and without any objection, Feng Yu Lan quickly joined the ranks of those who pummeled the corpse.

    When Luo Jian finally thought it was more than enough, he pulled on Ah Lan¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Stop wasting time, let¡¯s go.¡± Then they immediately returned to the deck.

    Sure enough, this ship was assailed by the sea¡¯s heavy rains and high winds. The tempestuous waves relentlessly crashed against its sides, and the ghost ship bobbed up and down with the undting ocean. The sky was still dark, the distant waters were just as dark, not even the slightest ray of light could be seen.

    Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were dressed in thick coats, and they covered their heads with their hoods. Luo Jian held up an oilmp and began searching for the broken box and the body on the deck. He prayed that the body wasn¡¯t swept away by the sea¡¯s winds and waves. The ship looked unstable; it seemed as if it would copse at any given second.

    Soon after, they found the body and the box at the edge of the deck. Apparently, the sea breeze was so powerful that the objects were blown away, rolling around until they settled in a corner.

 Chapter 14: Escaping the Ghost Ship (I)

    Chapter 14: Escaping the Ghost Ship (I)

    Fortunately, the English journal was still inside the box, and although many areas were drenched by the rain, at least Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan had arrived before the journal could get any worse.

    ¡°How about it? Can you read it?¡±

    Luo Jian put the soaked notebook into Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hands then led him to the great cabin to shield themselves from the rain. Feng Yu Lan sat in a chair and squinted his eyes as he studied the notebook in his hands. He frowned and remarked, ¡°Luckily, even though most of the writings have been washed away and blurred by the water, the important parts are still there.¡±

    ¡°What was mainly written?¡±

    ¡°The owner of this notebook was Christian.¡± Feng Yu Lan noted, ¡°The first sentence on the first page is a well-known verse in the Holy Bible: ¡®resentment kills a fool, and envy ys the simple.¡¯ ¡®For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy yeth the silly one,¡¯ that is the actual verse in the King James Bible.¡±1

    ¡°How do you know so much about this?¡±

    ¡°I used to work at a foreignpany and I met a Christian American. He always carried a bible, and I asionally took a peek. Not to mention, I also did some online research for work purposes.¡± Feng Yu Lan winked and chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s quite strange though. Isn¡¯t this a pirate ship? How can there possibly be someone who believes in Christ on board?¡±

    ¡°God loves the world2. Perhaps this believer thought he could influence a group of pirates, lead them to the path of redemption.¡± Luo Jian conjectured, tapping his chin.

    ¡°But he was the first one to be killed.¡± Feng Yu Lan looked at the journal, then shook his head in regret. ¡°Whatever¡¯s written in this journal is too chaotic and jumbled. It¡¯s like he saw something important but didn¡¯t have enough time to write everything, so he only scribbled down a few lines. The handwriting is a mess.¡±

    ¡°Can you make out any other important points?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan shuffled through the notebook and, without lifting his head, said, ¡°Give me some time.¡±

    Luo Jian nodded. He then retrieved his silver pocket watch from his pocket and nced at the time: 14:12.

    Two hours had already passed.

    The rain outside seemed to have stopped for a while, but it soon started again. The crashing sound from heavy downpour dispelled the tranquil silence; the light from themp on the desk was dimming. Feng Yu Lan was struggling to read.

    ¡°The oil is almost gone.¡± Luo Jian stated, standing up from his chair, ¡°This is the captain¡¯s cabin, so there should be somemp oil. I¡¯ll go look for some; you just continue tranting.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan soundlessly nodded and continued to decipher the disorganized text in the journal. Luo Jian searched around the great cabin for a long time and eventually found a spare oilmp. It seemed that he didn¡¯t need to change the oil in themp anymore.

    Luo Jian lit the sparemp, and at this moment, Feng Yu Lan suddenly announced, ¡°Most of the contents in this journal seem unimportant.¡±

    Hearing Feng Yu Lan¡¯s words, Luo Jian helplessly heaved a sigh and asked, ¡°Guess we can¡¯t find any clues from it, right?¡±

    ¡°No, not necessarily.¡± Feng Yu Lan¡¯s frown deepened. All of a sudden, he looked up at Luo Jian and inquired, ¡°Ah Jian, do you know cryptography?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t joke around. Of course I don¡¯t know any.¡± Luo Jian spread out his palms, then questioned, ¡°Do you mean to say that the contents in this journal are all encrypted writings?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Feng Yu Lan flipped through a few more pages in the journal, then identally came across the old photograph that was wedged inside the notebook; however, Ah Lan wasn¡¯t interested in the photo. He pointed to a sentence in the notebook and said to Luo Jian, ¡°All of the words in this phrase are randomly arranged. And though the words are scribbled and somewhat messy, they¡¯re still very neat. I can understand each separate word clearly, but they make no sense when they¡¯rebined. What I mean to say is, all of the following sentences aren¡¯t as readable and organized like the first one.¡±

    ¡°So, the famous Bible verse written at the beginning is the only coherent sentence in this entire journal.¡± Luo Jian narrowed his eyes and contemted for a moment. ¡°It seems that the owner of this journal didn¡¯t want to reveal his secrets so easily. Oh well, I guess we can¡¯t do anything about it.¡±

    ¡°What should we do? How about trying to decrypt it?¡± Feng Yu Lan was still quite interested in the ciphertext and what it meant.

    ¡°No, no need.¡± Luo Jian rejected his suggestion. ¡°We¡¯re both terrible at cryptography, and this journal is written in English. If you really wanted to decrypt it, then I pretty much wouldn¡¯t be doing anything to help. The chambers wouldn¡¯t arrange such a scenario where the both of us are powerless and can¡¯t do anything. So that can only mean¡ª¡±

    ¡°This notebook is actually worthless to us?¡± Feng Yu Lan interjected.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that. It might have another purpose that we just don¡¯t know of yet.¡± Luo Jian got up and told Feng Yu Lan, ¡°Take the journal with you. Let¡¯s think about the other clues.¡±

    ¡°But what other clues are there?¡±

    Luo Jian smiled mysteriously then took out two slips of paper from his pocket, ced them on the table, and said, ¡°The tips that we should follow.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan looked at Luo Jian¡¯s note, at the hints and additionalments, then wrinkled his brows and puzzled over it. ¡°I can¡¯t make out anything from this. It just says I can¡¯t jump into the sea¡­of course, I wouldn¡¯t want to jump either way. What¡¯s it mean by the sky is the shortcut?¡±

    ¡°Compared to today, the science and technology of the sixteenth century was far from developed. There were neither good testing equipment nor telescopes and such. At the time, the ship¡¯s mast was practically an observation deck, of course, it does still apply to some ships today; a watchman stood on the tform and kept lookout, and this was the highest position one could be located at on the whole ship. That being said, this location just might be the nearest to the sky.¡±

    ¡°You mean, we have to climb up to the top of the mast?¡±

    Luo Jian cocked his head, ¡°We have no choice.¡±

    As Luo Jian stated, they, indeed, had no other options. Since they¡¯d reached a dead end with those clues, they had to act ording to the hints on the note. The two men standing at the bottom deck stared at the crow¡¯s nest3 that was at the top of the mast, which was dozens of meters high. Feng Yu Lan swallowed hard at the terrifying sight. ¡°Jian, I have a fear of heights.¡±

    ¡°Stinking brat, stop talking nonsense. You don¡¯t think I know very well that you don¡¯t have any fear of heights?¡± Luo Jian snorted, the corners of his lips twitched upwards.

    ¡°But how are we going to go up?¡± Feng Yu Lan looked up at the mast in worry. The sails that hung on it became tattered by the weather, leaving behind a mess of dingy rags and torn strings. The wooden mast was rotting, and moss also started growing on it because of the damp environment. This made it slippery and more difficult to climb.

    ¡°There¡¯s a rope over there.¡± Luo Jian pointed to a rope tied to the mast.

    ¡°That¡¯s even worse. That rope looks like it¡¯d immediately snap once it¡¯s pulled.¡± Feng Yu Lan refused to use it.

    The rope was often used to climb the mast to change and modify the sails. The ropedder looked sturdier than the sail, but this rope was exposed to the weather for a long time, so many ces had been worn down and some strings had snapped off. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s reluctance wasn¡¯t unreasonable; just looking at the rope made one feel as if it would break.

    ¡°Then you stay down here. I¡¯ll go up by myself.¡± Luo Jian looked at Feng Yu Lan¡¯s smaller physique. The kid looked so fragile. If he really fell, he¡¯d probably die before breathing hisst breath.

    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to stay down here all alone!¡± Feng Yu Lan started to make a fuss.

    ¡°Then what do you want? There are only two choices; one is to go up with me, and the other is to stay down here alone!¡± Luo Jian asserted with a dour expression on his face.

    Feng Yu Lan peered up at Luo Jian, misery evident in his eyes, then he looked around at the barren environment surrounding them. The deck was wet and dark. The cold rain drenched his cor, falling on his nape, and the droplets ran down his spine. Ah Lan shivered from the chill. To stay alone in such a dark, gloomy ce¡­ Feng Yu Lan finally surrendered and followed behind Luo Jian.

    They seized the rope and began to climb. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heart nearly stopped from hearing to the rope in his hands squeak and groan. He turned his head back to peek behind at Luo Jian who was carrying a knife in his hand. His face was impassive. Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t understand how Luo Jian was able to remain soposed in this situation. He was just too calm; it was a bit different from his usual impression of Luo Jian.

    During the climb, there was a minor ident. The rope Luo Jian was stepping on suddenly snapped. The startling noise scared Feng Yu Lan who was holding onto the nearby rope. He let out a panicked shout and hastily stretched out his hand to catch Luo Jian, sessfully managing to grab onto Luo Jian¡¯s arm. Yet, Luo Jian remained expressionless, seemingly unperturbed by the incident. He unhurriedly grasped another rope and continued climbing up.

    The sea¡¯s winds and waves were rough, powerful. The ship would rock violently from time to time, and the more it swayed, the more difficult climbing became. But Luo Jian was still at ease, and in the end, he effortlessly dragged Feng Yu Lan to the top of the observation deck.

    The crow¡¯s nest was a small, circr tform on the mast. There were railings enclosing it, and it could hold approximately five to six people. When Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan climbed up, they unexpectedly discovered that there was a body at the top observation deck. Ragged sails covered the cadaver, which wasying on the tform, leaning against the mast. A human shape could vaguely be seen under those sails.

    ¡°There¡¯s a corpse here?¡± Feng Yu Lan curiously squatted and reached out to pull off the sails. Luo Jian was very alert; he immediately stuck out his arm and blocked Feng Yu Lan¡¯s movement, furrowing his brows slightly.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Confused, Feng Yu Lan turned around and looked at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian extended his hand and pointed to the mast at the tform. Feng Yu Lan followed Luo Jian¡¯s finger and noticed there was a piece of paper with a purple design tacked to the mast.

    A new note had appeared!

    Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan nced at each other. Then, Luo Jian quickly stepped forward and ripped the note off the mast. He held it near themp, and the two huddled together as they scanned the message on the note. The cursive writing was still so beautiful no matter how many times oneid eyes on it:

    ¡¾Dear Adventurers,¡¿

    ¡¾If the both of you have arrived here, then congrattions. Your trip in escaping this chamber has been half-sessful.¡¿

    ¡¾The key to the door is hidden on the corpse right before your eyes. Nevertheless, whether you will truly be able to escape from this chamber through that door is something that you both must figure out for yourselves.¡¿

    ¡¾P.S. The guardian of the key is filled with deep loathing and enmity against the both of you.¡¿

    ¡¾The aforementioned hints are over4. I wish you the best of luck!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan hadn¡¯t made anyments yet. Luo Jian quickly flipped the paper over, and there was another hint written on the back:

    ¡¾The navigator was thest to die. Stationed at the highest tform, he stood on the lookout, gazing at the murderer¡¯s back.¡¿

 Chapter 15: Escaping the Ghost Ship (II)

    Chapter 15: Escaping the Ghost Ship (II)

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get the key. You stay right here, don¡¯t move!¡± After he finished reading the note, Luo Jian made Feng Yu Lan hold tight onto the railing and stand at edge of the crow¡¯s nest, near the rope. Thereafter, Luo Jian crouched down beside the remains buried under the sails and slowly reached out to remove the cloth.

    Under the piece of cloth was a disfigured corpse that waspletely rotten; it was no different from the dead bodies inside those boxes. Nheless, Luo Jian¡¯s whole body sagged with relief the instant he saw this corpse. ¡°The guardian of the key is filled with deep loathing and enmity against the both of you.¡± That one sentence written on the note that Luo Jian read naturally made Luo Jian imagine all of the possibilities that could arise, such as the Stalker he unexpectedly encountered in the first chamber; it was dead but it suddenly came back to life and gave him a fatal blow while his guard was down. This kind of unanticipated attack was the most fearsome to anyone.

    So after seeing this horrendous, rotten corpse, Luo Jian breathed a sigh of relief instead. He then began to search through the other¡¯s pocket to find the key. He couldn¡¯t care less about the rancid stench or the squirming maggots, as he had already be ustomed to such scenes when it came to these dead bodies. In fact, he even became somewhat used to fighting and killing, as well as remaining cool-headed in such circumstances. Although Luo Jian might not have been aware of this, Feng Yu Lan obviously felt an slight change in Luo Jian.

    Only under the most life-threatening and oppressive situations would an otherwise ordinary person instantly transform into a fierce soldier who wouldn¡¯t even blink an eye at the world¡¯s destruction. But whether this change was for the better or the worse was still unknown.

    Luo Jian¡¯s fingers eventually touched the key hidden deep inside in the dead bodies¡¯ pocket, but just when he was about to pull it out, something horrifying happened! Luo Jian didn¡¯t have any time to prepare before a white skeletal hand aggressively caught his arm! Sheer pain shot up through his wrist!

    Luo Jian¡¯s widened his eyes in horror. He gasped at the unbelievable sight of the dead body before him. This dposed corpse was actually moving! The carcass that was only a pile of bones, scraps of rotting flesh, bobbed its skull awkwardly and unsteadily made its way up; the hand grasped his arm firmly, and the rickety bones issued a grating sound!

    Both Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan cried out from seeing this abnormal scene. ¡°Fucking hell!¡±

    Luo Jian started freaking out. Distressed, he tried drawing his hand back, but unexpectedly, the strength of this skeleton astonished Luo Jian. No matter how hard he pulled back, the bone hand still firmly gripped Luo Jian¡¯s wrist. At the same time, its body slowly sat up straight. A faint green light glinted within those two bottomless, dark holes on its skull, fixing its gaze on Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian was ovee by terror; goosebumps appeared all over his body. Holding the knife in one of his hands, he ruthlessly thrusted downwards at the corpse¡¯s arm, but the edge of the de rang out the moment he hit it¡ªng! It was as if he¡¯d just shed metal! He wasn¡¯t able to cut down this seemingly fragile skeleton!

    ¡°What is this thing?! It¡¯s so strong!¡± Luo Jian continued hacking at the body and constantly moved around. He immediately lifted his leg and ferociously kicked at the corpse¡¯s stomach, but despite everything, the corpse persistentlytched onto Luo Jian¡¯s arm; still tenacious after death, it didn¡¯t release its hold!

    The dead body didn¡¯t only grab Luo Jian¡¯s arm; its other hand quivered and slowly approached Luo Jian¡¯s hand, scratching at his fingers that were wrapped around the key. It seemed to want to take the key back from Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian looked at the dead body¡¯s movements, and that¡¯s when the thought struck him. Taking advantage of the corpse¡¯s blind spot, he opened his fingers and let the key fall straight to the ground. The corpse promptly loosened its grip on Luo Jian and kneeled on the tform to pick the key up.

    But how could the sluggish movements of a corpse be faster than Luo Jian? Luo Jian swiftly kicked the skeleton¡¯s hand with his foot, bent down, snatched the key away, and immediately tossed it to Feng Yu Lan. The key was nearly swept away by the powerful wind¡¯s gust, but Feng Yu Lan nimbly caught it, and without having to be instructed by Luo Jian, Feng Yu Lan quickly hopped down from the observation deck and stepped on the rope to climb down.

    The corpse abruptly rushed over, and this time, it seemed to have gotten faster! Just when Feng Yu Lan ced one foot down on the rope, it lunged forward and grabbed onto the corners of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s clothes! Luo Jian was even more alert. He darted and jumped on the back of the dead body. Though the corpse¡¯s strength was immeasurable, its bnce wascking. It tumbled backwards, and Luo Jian pinned it to the ground with his foot. But its bony hands still clung tightly to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s clothes. Feng Yu Lan was caught by it and was also dragged backwards!

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t stop moving. Without pausing, he held Feng Yu Lan back with one hand, and he used his other hand, which held the knife, to skillfully cut the hem of his clothes that the corpse wouldn¡¯t release.

    ¡°Go down!¡± Luo Jian thundered at Feng Yu Lan and then fiercely lifted Feng Yu Lan and shoved him directly off the observation deck. Feng Yu Lan shrieked in fright from this action; he narrowly grabbed the rope as he fell, then furiously yelled at Luo Jian.

    ¡°Ah! Luo Jian! You murderer1!¡±

    Luo Jian ignored Feng Yu Lan¡¯s yelling and focused all of his attention on the dead body in front of him. This corpse seemed to have realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to retrieve the key. Completely angered, it opened it jaws wide, directed a deafening roar to Luo Jian, simrly to how beasts roared at their enemies, andunched itself right towards Luo Jian!

    Luo Jian knew this thing¡¯s strength was great and its bones, hard. Recklessly fighting it was futile. The best option was to push it into the sea.

    The tform was very high, and the sea¡¯s winds were powerful; with the wind, the probability of pushing it down into the ocean was very likely. Most of the flesh on its body was dposed and gone, and all that mainly remained was a white skeletal frame, meaning that it was quite light, perhaps even lighter than half of the weight of an average male. And that, coupled with these strong winds, made it quite possible for it to be blown away.

    Luo Jian, who had made up his mind, timely avoided the corpse¡¯s attack. And once it was near the edge of the observation deck, he forcefully kicked out his foot. This action exhausted all of his strength, but as a result, the corpse was flung upwards. The wind was still blowing strong, and it soon carried the dead body into the air. But annoyingly, this hateful corpse, which obviously couldn¡¯t be anymore dead, was still intelligent. In the middle of falling, it suddenly stretched out its bony arms and clutched Luo Jian¡¯s foot¡ªwell, more urately, his shoe.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± Luo Jian only had time to shout one word before he was dragged down by the corpse, directly falling from the observation deck alongside the other.

    In his daze, he seemed to have heard Feng Yu Lan anxiously cry out his name.

    During the fall, Luo Jian abandoned his own shoe, and the corpse flew into the ocean with his shoe. Unfortunately, Luo Jian¡¯s wasn¡¯t light at all, so he wasn¡¯t blown into the waters by the sea breeze. He dropped straight down towards the deck! Luo Jian estimated that the height of the tform above was about as high as the third floor of a building, so although he probably wouldn¡¯t die from the fall, a couple of broken bones were inevitable.

    Luo Jian knew there was no way out of this; he could do nothing but close his eyes and meet his fate.

    However, the expected pain never arrived, because a second before he crashed against the ground, Luo Jian felt himself being caught in someone¡¯s arms.

    This was no trivial matter. Everyone knew that when an object fell, it had an impact force. The greater the height the object fell from and the heavier the object was, the greater its force. Even a light egg in free-fall would be harder than stone, let alone Luo Jian whose weight and height were those of an average adult male. Rashly running up to catch the falling object or person with one¡¯s hands will undoubtedly result in fractures and broken hands!

    Luo Jian¡¯s first thought was that perhaps Feng Yu Lan somehow climbed down, rushed over and caught him? However, the moment he opened his eyes, he was stunned speechless.

    It wasn¡¯t Feng Yu Lan. But this person¡¯s face was extremely familiar. So familiar that Luo Jian simply wanted to scream!

    It was the very Stalker he met in the first chamber!

    The beautiful man¡¯s blood-red eyes unblinkingly gazed at Luo Jian. Luo Jian was so frightened; he choked on his breath and frightfully trembled in the other¡¯s arms. Even fighting with the monster and ¡®dancing¡¯ with a corpse at a high altitude didn¡¯t leave him scared. But before this Stalker, Luo Jian was petrified; he was terrified to death.

    He couldn¡¯t understand why he was so afraid, but being stabbed with a knife most likely left him with psychological traumas. Regardless, this situation right now was extremely diforting. Luo Jian instinctively struggled to get out of the other¡¯s embrace, but the Stalker only tightened his hold on him.

    The storm at sea seemed to have calmed down slightly. But Luo Jian felt that the other person¡¯s face was a bit too close. Those alluring crimson eyes and attractive face made his heart race; his emotions ran wild, and his heart pound violently against his chest. He interpreted this strange reaction as his pure fear intensifying, and so he struggled even more.

    But the other¡¯s next action made Luo Jian freeze and settle down.

    It wasn¡¯t exactly a big deal. The other person merely lowered his head and pressed his tongue against Luo Jian¡¯s lips, licking him. The temperature and moist sensation immediately made Luo Jian jerk backwards; his body was stiff and motionless. To Luo Jian, this man¡¯s clinging felt simr to a snake wrapping its body around its victim. The more he struggled, the tighter the other would cling, and eventually, the other would strangle the life out of Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t dare move a single muscle, but Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t manage so much. He hurriedly climbed down from the rope and ran straight towards Luo Jian¡¯s direction. Seeing Luo Jian in a stranger¡¯s arms, he immediately thought Luo Jian was entangled with another monster, and he readily picked up a broken nk off the deck. At this moment, the cowardly Feng Yu Lan was peerlessly heroic. He courageously rushed forward, and his target was precisely the Stalker.

    However, this level of attack didn¡¯t pose a threat to the Stalker. Atst, he loosened his grip on Luo Jian and smashed the board that flew towards him with one hand. But because of this, Luo Jian gained his freedom. Staggering to his feet, he sprinted towards Feng Yu Lan and dragged Feng Yu Lan away by his hand.

    He didn¡¯t turn his head around once and just ran to the entrance of the ship¡¯s hold.

    The Stalker didn¡¯t chase him. He just stood still and thoughtfully stared at Luo Jian¡¯s figure as the two individuals disappeared through the doorway of the ship¡¯s hold.

    The hold of the ship was dark, but since an oilmp hung from Feng Yu Lan¡¯s waist, the situation wasn¡¯t entirely bad. The two people ran for a long, long time. In the end, they were confused; they didn¡¯t know which door they had opened or which room they had entered. Luo Jian just mmed the door shut and securely locked it, then sat on the floor with Feng Yu Lan, panting and inhaling as much air as possible.

    ¡°That¡­who was that man just now?¡± Feng Yu Lan hesitantly questioned. He waspletely bewildered.

    Luo Jian felt awkward, as he didn¡¯t know how to answer this question. He thought for a while, then briefly responded, ¡°Not a good person.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan squinted at Luo Jian; his face was filled with doubt and suspicion. He continued, ¡°But I just saw the two of you kissing¡­¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! Are your eyes on the back of your head?! Whatever you saw was just an illusion!¡± Luo Jian¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of his head. His entire face flushed a deep red and he outright denied everything.

    ¡°But I clearly saw¡­¡± Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence, because he was immediately tackled by Luo Jian. Luo Jian curled his fingers, slowly approached Feng Yu Lan, and mercilessly began¡­tickling his body!

    In the end, Feng Yu Lan giggled, gasped for air, and rolled around the ground, wholly distracted. Luo Jian had sessfully diverted his attention.

 Chapter 16: Escaping the Ghost Ship (III)

    Chapter 16: Escaping the Ghost Ship (III)

    ¡°What about the key?¡± Once he was satisfied and stopped tormenting the other with his relentless tickling, Luo Jian began searching Feng Yu Lan¡¯s whole body, and he eventually pulled out a worn key, which resembled one of those old-fashioned,rge keys, from his pocket. Back then, Luo Jian wasn¡¯t able to take a good look at the key because he was struggling too much as he tussled with the livecorpse.

    ¡°Which door will this key fit into?¡± Feng Yu Lan also leaned in to study the key. The surface of the object seemed to be ted in gold. Although it was old and worn, it still seemed to be valuable. Looking closely, one would be able to distinguish narrow engravings, seemingly carved by hand, on the key, but the characters were too small to see. Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan scrutinized the writings for a long time, but they still couldn¡¯t identify what had been written.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if there¡¯s a magnifying ss on this ship that can help us see what¡¯s written on it.¡± Feng Yu Lan stated.

    ¡°Hmm, where would a magnifying ss most likely be?¡± Luo Jian tapped his chin and pondered.

    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s no need, we just have to find a telescope.¡± Feng Yu Lan seemed to have thought of a brilliant idea, and heughed excitedly. ¡°Ships normally have telescopes, and they can also be used as magnifying sses.¡±

    ¡°I remember seeing a telescope in the captain¡¯s cabin. It hung right next to a painting, and it looked like it hadn¡¯t been touched in a long time since it had a lot of dust covering it.¡± Luo Jian recalled the time when he rummaged through the great cabin. To his surprise, he was able to clearly remember every detail and moment, the actions that he made, the ces that he searched through, the items that he overturned. It was just like a video yback. Everything was so clear.

    ¡°The captain¡¯s cabin again¡­¡± Feng Yu Lan shifted awkwardly. He thought about that stranger who might still be on the deck and the monster that had been killed in the corridor near the captain¡¯s cabin. Both of them were really close to the great cabin. In any case, going back was too dangerous. The gutless Feng Yu Lan peeked at Luo Jian, waiting.

    But this time, Luo Jian didn¡¯t spare a nce at Feng Yu Lan. He frowned and touched the wound on his arm; a sharp, shooting pain travelled through his body. In fact, the wound always ached, but now, this stinging pain became more apparent, excruciating, as if it had suddenly intensified.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Where does it hurt?¡± Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t help but worry about him.

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Luo Jian faintly groaned to himself, took a moment topose himself, and then shrugged it off, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just the injury on my arm hurts a bit.¡±

    ¡°Let me take a look.¡± Feng Yu Lan wanted to pull Luo Jian¡¯s sleeve up, but he was stopped by him. Luo Jian shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s not serious, but there¡¯s something I need to tell you. Ah Lan, remember this. Any injury that a person receives in the chamber willpletely heal once the person returns to the real world. No wound will be left behind. So, no matter how many times we bruise our bodies and injure ourselves right now, as long as we escape from this chamber within the time limit, even if we¡¯re on the verge of dying, we¡¯ll survive.¡±

    ¡°Likewise, if there are any injuries that a person receives in the real world, those injuries would heal once he enters the chamber; it¡¯ll always leave us in our best condition, right?¡± Feng Yu Lan subconsciously touched his waist, where his knife wound had vanished without a trace.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s how strange these supernatural chambers are, and some settings are rather¡­user-friendly1?¡±

    ¡°But what¡¯s the significance of these chambers¡¯ existence? I mean¡­why did it pick us? Why did it arrange these trials for us?¡± Feng Yu Lan asked the main questions he wanted to know the answers to. He learned a lot about these chambers from Luo Jian, but most of it wasn¡¯tprehensive, so it only gave him a vague idea of this mystical space.

    ¡°Who knows? Even I don¡¯t understand the main reasons.¡± Luo Jian stood up, patted his legs, shoved the key into his pocket, and pped his hands, ¡°Well, we only need to survive.¡±

    In order to get a telescope, Luo Jian had to drag Feng Yu Lan back to the great cabin. When they approached the corridor, Luo Jian suddenly paused and stood before a pool of thick blood, looking pensive and frowning deeply. Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t react for a moment, then he wondered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°That monster resurrected.¡± Luo Jian face exposed a strange grin.

    Feng Yu Lan recalled that horrifying,rge, feline-looking creature and immediately broke into a cold sweat. Shaken, he questioned, ¡°But that¡¯s not possible! You dismembered it, so how can ite back to life?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how it happened, but the body¡¯s gone.¡± Luo Jian simply responded. ¡°The rules in the chambers are peculiar, abnormal. There are many things that are unconditionally impossible in the real world, but here¡­anything is possible.¡±

    That eerie smile remained on Luo Jian¡¯s face as he spoke, and Feng Yu Lan, who stood at the sidelines, felt his blood run cold at the sight. He watched him with pure terror in his eyes.

    ¡°It seems that when the creature revives, it bes stronger. When I first encountered it, I was able to kill it easily, even though Icked real experience. But the second time, I sensed that its strength and speed increased tremendously. But currently, I don¡¯t know what it¡¯ll be now that it has resurrected again. We¡¯d better hurry and find the exit, otherwise this will never end.¡±

    The only clue they had at this stage was the key in hand. Tiny words were engraved on the key, and only by reading these words would they be able to find a way out. Soon after, Luo Jian returned to the great cabin with Feng Yu Lan. The captain¡¯s cabin didn¡¯t appear any different; it was like no one but Luo Jian had been here.

    When Luo Jian entered the room, he dashed straight towards the telescope hanging on the wall. He took it down and checked it for any faults. Feng Yu Lan shut the door securely behind him. The two men held the oilmp and squeezed together. Both ufortable, they looked through the telescope that they used as a magnifying ss. The carved words gradually came into view, one by one:

    ¡¾The murderer buried the sole exit. If you wish to live, kill them.¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan scratched his head and sighed, ¡°We¡¯re just going in circles, back to the original question. Who is the murderer? Is it the captain? The navigator? Or one of the two surviving sailors?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps everyone¡¯s a killer?¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°This pirate vessel couldn¡¯t find a way out in this fog. The entire ship was chaotic. Everyone on board was panicking, and ording to the description in the logbook, something happened on August 9th. We don¡¯t know what happened, but we can assume that it was a taboo subject for all. This matter may have even aggravated the members, corrupted their minds. In this situation, no one was able to keepposed and rational. And there might¡¯ve been other reasons too, such as ack of food and water. They probably couldn¡¯t continue providing necessities to the people.¡±

    ¡°The captain may have, indeed, instigated the crewmates, leading an attempt to attack the others, but his actions were just the start, a fuse. And this fuse sparked a massive fire, filling everyone¡¯s heart with an appetite for destruction.¡±

    ¡°Thus, one after another, the crewmates began killing each other. There was a tacit agreement that those who died would be crammed into boxes, piling them up high, while the rest were simply insane, madmen who had survived and engaged in the struggle for their lives. The captain wanted to record everything that had urred on board when he was killed. One of the additional sailors was killed by the other, and the one who had survived was the ultimate victor. They killed the navigator and hung his body up on the high observation deck.

    Luo Jian slowly narrated; his chronological order of events based on inferences and what was already given was quite rational. When he came to thest word, he paused, then remarked, ¡°Now that we can imagine what went down, what would the only ending left for thest, remaining survivor be?¡±

    ¡°Suicide?¡± This was the first thing Feng Yu Lan thought of. ¡°This ship obviously didn¡¯t escape from the fog. All of the members on board were dead as a doornail. All of the food and water would eventually be consumed, and in addition, the loneliness and despair was probably unbearable. Apart from suicide, I can¡¯t think of any other ending.¡±

    ¡°What ce would they possiblymit suicide?¡± Luo Jian inquired.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Feng Yu Lan shook his head. ¡°It honestly depends on the individual¡¯s mentality. If it were me, I would choose the deck. Even if I couldn¡¯t see a ray of light in this thick fog, I wouldn¡¯t want to die alone in a dark, miserable ce.¡±

    ¡°And if it were a woman?¡± Luo Jian suddenly opened his mouth and cracked a smile.

    ¡°A woman?¡± Feng Yu Lan had to admit that he didn¡¯t consider the gender of the sole survivor. In his understanding, there were few women who were actual pirates.

    ¡°If it was an extraordinarily beautiful individual, whose heart was consumed by revenge, who loathed everything, and at the same time, possessed these contradictory feelings of low self-esteem and high pride, reveling in self-confidence yet wallowing in self-abasement, perhaps someone who was also religious, an individual with a warped personality, hiding within this deceptive fog, silently killing many members on board. Such a woman¡­where do you think she would choose to die?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan frowned for a very long time, then tentatively answered, ¡°Perhaps, I would find a ce where others can¡¯t see me, or rather, a ce that no one could find? But¡­Luo Jian, why do you think thest survivor is a woman?¡±

    ¡°Because of the first victim inside the wooden box on deck. He had a photo on him of him and his wife.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan suddenly thought of the old photograph that was wedged between the pages of the journal.

    ¡°You think his wife could also be on this boat?¡±

    ¡°Possibly. I¡¯m simply taking some guesses here. The incident detailed in the logbook on August 9th, the page that was ripped off, may have been rted to his wife. Perhaps she was subject to oppression, or maybe even¡­¡± Luo Jian minded his words and lowered his voice into a hushed whisper, ¡°¡­something might have happened with someone, and it was soon discovered, one way or another, spreading around and making everything known to many on board, if not everyone. The poor woman¡¯s husband didn¡¯t know how to avenge his own wife. He probably mocked and ridiculed the captain of the ship and, naturally, might¡¯ve done something else too. In the end, he became the first victim¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, this wise, deceptive woman pretended to keep her calm, trying her best to survive with these bunch of wolves. Maybe she also paid with something, for instance¡­her body? She beguiled several men, instructing them to cause turmoil on board in her stead, and vowed to kill everyone?¡± Feng Yu Lan interrupted Luo Jian, adding on to his spections.

    Luo Jian nodded. ¡°Just as she desired, everyone died. She might¡¯ve felt guilty deep in her heart, perhaps at a loss. Her husband was a devote Christian, so she reckoned that since she premeditated many murders, she betrayed their Lord. Therefore, she wanted to hide in a ce where the light couldn¡¯t reach her,pletely ridding any trace of her existence from this world.¡±

    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t she jump into the sea tomit suicide?¡±

    After taking a quick nce at Feng Yu Lan from the corner of his eye, he replied, ¡°The very first hint given to me on my note was to not jump into the ocean. We can see a lot from that line. That said, the woman definitely did not jump into the ocean.¡±

    ¡°Okay, what should I address you as? The Whimsical Emperor of Analysis2?¡±

 Chapter 17: Escaping the Ghost Ship (IV)

    Chapter 17: Escaping the Ghost Ship (IV)

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t know whether his analysis was correct, as he had no definitive evidence to prove that the remaining survivor, the murderer, was a woman. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean he had to verify it; he wasn¡¯t aw enforcement officer, and he could only do so much. Merely understanding the killer¡¯s motives and thoughts process as well as further deducing the killer¡¯s behavior and mentality would suffice for him.

    ¡°But where exactly could this woman be hiding?¡± Feng Yu Lan ruminated on the issue; he even tried putting himself in the other¡¯s shoes, but in the end, it was pointless. The difference between a male¡¯s thinking and a woman¡¯s mind was too great. Feng Yu Lan felt that his brain wasn¡¯t brilliant enough to divine the thoughts of a woman.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to think so hard on where the woman hid. Didn¡¯t this note explicitly point it out?¡± Luo Jian flipped over the sheet of paper he found on the observation deck and presented the back of the note to Feng Yu Lan for him to read that single sentence:

    ¡¾The navigator was thest to die. Stationed at the highest tform, he stood on the lookout, gazing at the murderer¡¯s back.¡¿

    ¡°This¡­I seriously don¡¯t understand it, ah.¡± Feng Yu Lan pulled at his disheveled hair in frustration, ¡°There was nothing to see from the observation deck except for the sea and the deck of the entire ship. And on the deck there was only a dead body. What murderer? There was absolutely no murderer in sight.¡±

    ¡°No! The murderer is located at the deck!¡± Luo Jian resolutely and unhesitatingly contested, ¡°She¡¯s beneath the deck!¡±

    ¡°Underneath the deck?¡±

    ¡°You might not be aware of this, but on some ships, there are secret hatchways built on the deck. Pull open the nk and there will be a narrow space set between the top and bottomyers that one can enter. Most people don¡¯t know of this, but my grandfather worked as a seafarer so he knew about this.¡± Luo Jian exined.

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to those ancient imperial tombs, the ones built specifically for royalty, where the burial artisans furtively constructed a secret passageway to escape. The age of navigation was considered to be the one of the cruelest eras. The pirates forced shipbuilders to hang on the mast after they finished crafting their ships. Many of these craftsmen, who were adept in creating secret passageways and doors, built these unknown spaces to hide themselves in order to escape from their imminent deaths; and these spots were also good for storing food and other stashes.¡±

    ¡°Does this ship also have a secret door?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We just have to go back to the deck and check it out.¡± Luo Jian nced at the entrance of the great cabin.

    ¡°But outside, there¡¯s that¡­¡± Feng Yu Lan recalled that unfamiliar man on the deck. Although he only took a quick glimpse of him when they were standing face-to-face, Feng Yu Lan could clearly remember those pure red eyes glinting in the dark like rubies, those dark crimson eyes that was darker and redder than a flowing river of blood. Obviously, these weren¡¯t the eyes of a human being.

    A simple recollection of the Stalker made Luo Jian¡¯s heart thump rapidly; his heartbeat rapidly increased. He couldn¡¯t understand why he was so unlucky; he had already encountered this Stalker twice. Hold on¡­the Stalker?

    Unable to restrain himself, Luo Jian suddenly reached out to feel the circr tattoo on his neck. The serpent bit its own tail; it devoured its own self. As everyone already knew, the shape that resulted from a serpent swallowing its own tail was a circle. In many ancient historical documents, this ouroboros represented infinity, rebirth. There was no beginning, there was no end; it was an endless cycle, a never-ending reincarnation.

    It seemed that this tattoo epitomized the significance of these mysterious chambers. And he feared that this was also the Stalker¡¯s purpose. To hunt and kill forever, a purpose such as this? Luo Jian touched his tattoo, cold sweat dripped down his spine. If his surmise was correct, then this tattoo was left by the Stalker. He deliberately left him alive and allowed him to escape the first chamber, then he immediately followed him to the second chamber, just to toy with this ignorant, feeble prey.

    Luo Jian staggered backwards at the thought; hisplexion was unnaturally pale. Feng Yu Lan was flustered, his heart was filled with panic. He stretched his arms and grabbed Luo Jian,forting him, ¡°Hey, Ah Jian? What¡¯s the matter with you? Is the wound hurting again?¡±

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t respond. He raised his head, his brows scrunched with overwhelming anxiety, and he worriedly looked up at Feng Yu Lan. Since Luo Jian was being targeted by the Stalker, would Ah Lan, who was inexplicably dragged into the chamber with him, be implicated? Would he possibly¡­die?

    Die?

    Just like the corpse in that box, dposing until there were only white bones left behind; no longer would his beautiful image be preserved, no longer would anyone be able toy eyes on his lovely visage,pletely abandoned in the dark corner, forgotten by everyone, vanished from the world, ripped away from Luo Jian¡¯s life.

    Luo Jian extended his hand and tenderly stroked Ah Lan¡¯s cheek. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s cheek was smooth to the touch; he still had a fair amount of baby fat. He was apparently taken by surprise by Luo Jian¡¯s sudden actions. His face flushed pink, and he awkwardly stuttered, ¡°Aiyo~ If you¡¯re confessing, then I won¡¯t refuse!¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s face turned ck, and he immediately raised his fist and gave Feng Yu Lan good knock on his head.

    ¡°Wuwu¡­painful, painful¡­¡± Feng Yu Lan, once again, covered his head with his tiny hands and discontentedly grumbled, ¡°What¡¯s up?! Hit me again!¡±

    ¡°Ah Lan!¡± Luo Jian¡¯s expression suddenly turned grave, forcing Feng Yu Lan to listen to him seriously. He lifted his head and watched Luo Jian with big, shining eyes, like a sweet child.

    ¡°In this chamber, I can¡¯t guarantee your safety.¡± Luo Jian wrapped his hands around Feng Yu Lan¡¯s and gripped them tight; he sternly enunciated, ¡°So¡­you must learn to use every means possible to ensure your survival! Even if you have to abandon me!¡±

    Presumably, Luo Jian never used such a solemn and heavy tone to speak to Feng Yu Lan before, which was why Feng Yu Lan was stupefied for a moment. He could only stare at Luo Jian,pletely dumbfounded. Then, he suddenly shook his head hard and angrily roared, ¡°Are you kidding me?! You¡¯re telling me to give up on you?! Luo Jian! Is your head filled with water1 orrd?! Have you fed your IQ to dogs?!¡±

    Feng Yu Lan¡¯s roar was quite imposing, it intimidated Luo Jian. He faltered, bowed his head, and confessed, ¡°I just don¡¯t want you to die¡­¡±

    ¡°And I don¡¯t want you to die either!¡± Feng Yu Lan¡¯s voice was so determined and powerful; his shouts suppressed Luo Jian¡¯s timid voice. Luo Jian¡¯s head was harshly lifted by the other, but he quickly lowered his head back down, feeling aggrieved.

    Feng Yu Lan took a deep, ragged breath and forced himself to calm down. He brooded over how he should word what he wanted to say, then finally looked to Luo Jian and announced, ¡°I know I¡¯m not as smart as you are. In fact, my biggest fear is that you believe that I¡¯m dragging you down. I¡¯m afraid that you think I¡¯m a burden or that you have no other choice but to take into consideration your brotherly role whenever you¡¯re with me, that you¡¯re forced to take care of me even though you despise it. And if that¡¯s truly the case, I think you¡¯d be better off abandoning me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­¡± Luo Jian immediately retorted, raising his head. But he was soon interrupted by Feng Yu Lan.

    ¡°I know! I don¡¯t know much about this chamber, and I can barely even help you. I¡¯m nothing like you, not nearly as good as you¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah Lan, you¡¯re very good, much better than me! You don¡¯t need to think like this! Your English is better than mine, and without you, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to figure these clues out!¡±

    Without warning, Feng Yu Lan seized Luo Jian¡¯s hand and forced him to pose like they were in a match, with their wrists tight against each other, like some kind of martial arts hero2. And with an arrogant grin, he dered, ¡°Then let¡¯s make an oath!¡±

    ¡°Make what oath?¡±

    ¡°An oath to never betray each other!¡±

    For some people, verbal promises were never true promises. They would vow something, only to turn away and forget about it, perhaps disregard it entirely. Viting an oath was like skipping a regr meal,pletely normal. It wasmon for oaths to flow carelessly through people¡¯s mouths; people casually made promises all the time, just like the clouds drifting in the skies¡ªthere were more and more that appeared by the day.

    In fact, many people had this kind of trouble. You couldn¡¯t say that you were perfect, that you¡¯d never break any vows or agreements that you¡¯ve made. However, there were certain vows that you¡¯d value greatly, that you¡¯d ce above your own life, as these promises were ones that you and others have solemnly sworn to, oaths that¡¯d be deeply embedded into your bones, that¡¯d take over your soul, that¡¯d never be forgotten, and naturally, would never be broken.

    This was precisely Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan¡¯s oath at this time.

    The downpour at sea had stopped, but the surroundings were enveloped by the thick fog; the hull of the ship swayed slightly with the undting waves. Staying here for a long time made people dizzy and nauseous. When Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan walked out of the great cabin, they discovered that the Stalker had vanished from the deck. They didn¡¯t know where he disappeared off to, but at least knowing that he wasn¡¯t here gave the two individuals a little peace of mind.

    ¡°Look around to see if there¡¯s a secret door; they¡¯re generally located in obscure ces, like the corners.¡± Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan assigned each other tasks to start searching every spot on the entire deck, meticulously checking every nk. This task was undoubtedly daunting. To say this ghost vessel wasrge wasn¡¯t necessarily true, but to say it was small would be definitely be false. In addition, it was hard to see with all this darkness and fog, and the likelihood of monsters and the Stalker appearing was high. It was extremely risky separating from each other, but if they didn¡¯t split from each other, it would take a longer time.

    Nevertheless, Luo Jian ultimately decided not to separate from Feng Yu Lan. After all, they only had one oilmp. If he couldn¡¯t even see a shadow of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s figure, Luo Jian would feel uneasy. So they both started searching from the bow of the ship, felt every nk all the way to the stern and, eventually, found a secret hatch hidden in the corner of the aft-most part. They tugged at it, and the board was soon pulled open.

    Stairs and dark tunnels stared back at them from the inside; it was pitch-ck. Just looking at this made Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan feel frightened. They two people gaped at the ck hole for such a long time; atst, Luo Jian gulped hard and summoned his courage, taking the lead and advancing forward. He held themp with his knife; the de scraped against the walls, tracing long lines and issuing a slight scratching noise. But in this quiet, narrow staircase, those sounds were ear-piercing.

    ¡°Why are you making that sound?¡± Feng Yu Lan asked behind him, expressing bewilderment.

    ¡°We¡¯re not dark creatures. Darkness and silence aren¡¯t advantages for us; rather, we¡¯re disadvantaged. We need to remind our enemies of our arrival, show that we¡¯re armed and prepared for battle.¡±

    The dark stairwell wasn¡¯t too long, and they soon reached a long corridor. They way before them was still shrouded by darkness, but Luo Jian rejoiced at this gloomy tunnel that appeared to be perfectly straight, without a single fork in the road. There were no more external factors that would change the course of their attacking and escaping.

    The tunnel came to a dead end, and at this point, there was a door to the room. There wasn¡¯t a lock on the door, so he cracked it open just a bit. It was dark inside. The door appeared to be untouched by anyone for centuries. Moss grew all over the ce, and it was cold and slippery; this feeling was simr to touching the skin of a monstrous serpent. Goosebumps travelled up Luo Jian¡¯s arm from his fingers.

    But he finally braced himself and pushed the door open.

    The room behind the door was narrow, much narrower than the constricted, enclosed room Luo Jian was trapped in during his first chamber experience. The room was empty except for the single rope hanging down in the middle of the room. A corpse was hanging from the rope. Revealed under the light of the oilmp, at first nce, it was iparably terrifying. It scared the living daylights out of Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan, and they clung to each other, shivering.

    The body gently swayed back and forth along with the bobbing ship. Wearing a long, white gown covered in dust, thick and long cascading locks, naturally scattered over the shoulders, flowing down like a waterfall, the figure before them was, no doubt, a woman.

    ¡°Is this really a woman?¡± asked Feng Yu Lan after seeing the hanging body. He seemed to believe there wasn¡¯t any danger lurking, so he leaned in to take a closer look. The woman¡¯s corpse was, indeed, nearly decayed. She was just a pile of dead bones and head of unkempt hair. But Luo Jian dared not rx his vignce, and he dragged the inquisitive Feng Yu Lan back to his side, reprimanding him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient to reach a conclusion. Maybe she¡¯ll alsoe back to life, seeing as she may be thest murderer.¡±

    ¡°But this is just a dead body. How can we possibly find out where the ¡®door¡¯ is from her.¡±

    ¡°Find if there¡¯s another note.¡±

 Chapter 18: Escaping the Ghost Ship (V)

    Chapter 18: Escaping the Ghost Ship (V)

    The time disyed on the pocket watch was 15:45.

    Feng Yu Lan had sharp eyes so he immediately found a purple patterned note caught on thece of the dead woman¡¯s gown. He merrily reached for it, but just when his fingers touched the corner of the note, an abrupt noise resounded, startling them.

    Before they knew it, the door to this narrow room had mmed shut! The door creaked ever so faintly as it closed gradually¡ªthen, without warning, there was a tremendous bang! The moss-covered door was locked tight, practically cemented to the wall. It seemed like it couldn¡¯t ever be opened again.

    Both Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were shell-shocked by this unexpected change. In this deste room, the rickety door groaned and mmed itself shut; it was unconditionally freakish to say the least. Luo Jian tightened his brows and quickly walked over to the door to open it. He tried turning the doorknob, only to discover he couldn¡¯t open it no matter how hard he twisted the knob; it was secured shut. This wooden door that was crafted out of a deep red material reminded Luo Jian of the door to the enclosed room in his very first chamber experience.

    ¡°We¡¯re trapped in.¡±

    Luo Jian dered this one sentence; he huffed in irritation and smashed his fist against the wooden board. The following sound echoed in this quiet room. Feng Yu Lan jumped in fright from his actions, but he didn¡¯t ask any questions. Glowering at the door, Luo Jian muttered, ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s as expected.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up? What¡¯s as expected?¡±

    ¡°Watch¡­¡± Luo Jain pointed to the wooden door, took out his dagger, and then shed at the door with his knife. But something strange happened. Luo Jian clearly cut down on this door, which was shabby and fragile-looking, but not a single scratch or de mark was left behind. The wood was still smooth; there was only moss sticking to it like gum.

    ¡°Woah! Amazing! It¡¯s magic!¡± Completely awe-struck, Feng Yu Lan darted over and leaned in curiously, his eyes filled with sparkles of interest. He stretched his fingers, stroked the surface of the door, then eximed, ¡°Luo Jian, how¡¯d you do that?! It looked like such a powerful sh, but there aren¡¯t any cuts in the end!¡±

    Luo Jian was struck dumb by his words. He had demonstrated for a long time over here, but this boy actually thought he was performing a magic trick! Stunned speechless, Luo Jian just had to relentlessly knock his knuckles against on Ah Lan¡¯s brainless skull. He then ced his knife into the other¡¯s hands and let him try out the door for himself.

    Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t sure as to what he was supposed to do upon receiving this knife. Gripping onto Luo Jian¡¯s dagger, he hesitantly scratched lightly at the door since there was nothing else he could do; there weren¡¯t any traces left on the wooden block. Feng Yu Lan became irate at once. He attacked the door in a violent frenzy.

    Confounded, he suddenly turned his head around and met Luo Jian eyes, ¡°What is this? Aren¡¯t we going to leave yet?¡±

    ¡°Well, let me give you some basic knowledge on the chamber.¡± Luo Jian gazed at the wooden door and exined to Feng Yu Lan, ¡°The chamber will always ce some special items around¡ªmostmonly, items that ¡®can never be destroyed no matter what¡¯¡ªlike this door. As a result, we can onlyply with specific conditions, such as finding the key to this door or even killing the person who trapped us here!¡±

    Feng Yu Lan grasped Luo Jian¡¯s exnation quite easily. He looked at the door, then looked back at the female corpse hanging from the ceiling of this small room. He pondered, ¡°Maybe we can find some clues on her body.¡±

    Luo Jian grabbed the note from the woman¡¯s dress and held it near the oilmp. Feng Yu Lan joined in, and together, they read the following text:

    ¡¾Congrattions to our two brave adventurers!¡¿

    ¡¾If you are reading this message at present time, that means that your adventure ising to an end. Nevertheless, you mustn¡¯t rx your guard, for you will soon be facing unprecedented difficulties.¡¿

    ¡¾Do you wish to know the exact location of ¡®the final door¡¯? Then confer with this charming madam before your eyes!¡¿

    ¡¾Regards, I wish you two the best of luck!¡¿

    Luo Jian promptly flipped the note over, and, naturally, there was a phrase written down on the back. It was one blood-curdling sentence:

    ¡¾My soul will never rest in peace. ¨C Julia¡¿

    This single phrase red at Luo Jian, and he wasn¡¯t able to resist rereading it aloud. But reading it out loud the second time gave him a spine-chilling feeling; Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but quiver from this. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s reaction was even worse. He felt a piercing chill crawling up his spine, and, shivering miserably, he anxiously clung to Luo Jian clothes and shrunk into Luo Jian¡¯s back.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Feng Yu Lan nced at the female corpse that was hanging. This corpse wouldn¡¯t suddenly get up and ferociously attack them like the ones back then, right? Even so, it was a dead body! How on earth were they supposed to get answers on the whereabouts of the ¡®door¡¯ from a corpse¡¯s mouth?!

    ¡°We¡¯ll follow ording to the note! We¡¯ll do whatever it said!¡± Luo Jian licked his dry lips, swallowed hard, and dragged Feng Yu Lan to stand in front of the dead woman. They raised their heads and fixed their eyes on that woman¡¯s face. She was all bones, and the areas where her eyes should¡¯ve been were dark as the abyss. Luo Jian¡¯s and Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heartbeat pounded in their ears as they stared into those two endless ck holes.

    This corpse was simr to that dead body that was in the box outside. It had a few pieces of rotten flesh hanging from it, and it exuded a peculiar odor, but Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t identify what it exactly smelled like. Luo Jian loosened his tongue then clumsily questioned the corpse in broken English.

    ¡°Ehem¡­Mrs. Julia? Can you tell me where¡­the exit to leave this ship is?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s question, naturally, wasn¡¯t answered. Feng Yu Lan thought this was perfectly normal. After all, how could a corpse reply? Even if this dead body ended up moving like the ones before, it was dposed down to its very bones. It had no throat and no vocal cords; it was impossible for it to speak!

    However, Luo Jian persisted and unremittingly questioned it, raising his voice with every repeated sentence. Feng Yu Lan thought it was strange to talk to a dead body, but he couldn¡¯t help but gawk at the dead woman. The room fell into silence. Just when Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan believed that they weren¡¯t progressing enough, something strange happened!

    The female¡¯s dead body suddenly twitched! She twisted her neck and slightly tilted her head to the side. Her two dark eyes prated Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan! Could you even imagine how it felt when a skull shrewdly scrutinized you with its cold-as-death stare?! In any case, Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan¡¯s bodies instantly turned stiff; they were paralyzed by fear! Feng Yu Lan nearly screamed his head off!

    What was even more frightening was that the female corpse actually opened its mouth and responded to Luo Jian¡¯s question, her ghostly voice broke the oppressive silence. Her voice was eerie, breathy, devoid of all emotion, like an empty soul¡­nothing like the voice of a human.

    ¡°This ship has no exit.¡± The dead woman croaked, then repeated, ¡°This ship has no exit.¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t understand why the other had to express it twice, Luo Jian decided to ask it once more, this time, changing his question. He pulled out the key that he¡¯d suffered so much for trying to retrieve it from the observation deck, and he held it up in the light, politely inquiring again, ¡°Then do you know which door this key fits into?¡±

    The female corpse was mute for a long time. Because she took too long in answering, Luo Jian thought she wouldn¡¯t speak again, but just at that moment, she revealed, ¡°This is my husband¡¯s key¡ªit is only he who knows which door that key unlocks.¡±

    Once the dead woman finished conveying this sentence, Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan nced at each other, grimacing. Dread marked their faces. Their hearts were filled with an inexplicable sense of horror. They were utterly appalled. Wasn¡¯t this woman¡¯s husband dead from the start? It couldn¡¯t be that they had to run back up to the deck and question the corpse that wasying on the deck?

    All of a sudden, an abysmal conjecture popped into Luo Jian¡¯s mind. It was because of this dismaying thought that he probed the deceaseddy for more answers, ¡°I want to ask you again, Mrs. Julia, is your husband still alive?¡±

    Julia¡­this deaddy suddenly burst into ghastly cackles. Her jaw chattered, a harsh noise came from her teeth knocking against each other. Those awful giggles reverberated throughout the room; the more they listened, the more it seeped deeper into the two¡¯s bones, and it soon overwhelmed them with sheer terror. Luo Jian was on edge, his whole back was tense. Feng Yu Lan pathetically draped his entire body over Luo Jian¡¯s and clung to him in a ridiculous manner. But immediately after, they heard the dead woman¡¯s reply.

    ¡°My husband? Of course he¡¯s still alive. He was the one who hung me up here.¡± This answer left Luo Jian even more perturbed. He was so disturbed that he even forgot his manners and disconcertingly shouted, ¡°Isn¡¯t that thing on the deck your husband?!¡±

    ¡°You mean that pitiful chap who was shoved inside the box on deck? Oh¡­Of course not. He¡¯s simply a pathetic stowaway. He was merely a substitute for my darling. Everyone thought that my husband was the one crammed inside the box on deck.¡±

    I guessed wrong? Did I guess wrong from the very beginning?! Luo Jian was unnerved; his mind was ovee by extreme panic, and his heart was in a fluster. Distressed, he whipped out the English journal and the cross pendant from his pocket and urgently demanded, ¡°What about these? Aren¡¯t these your husband¡¯s?!¡±

    The woman leaned forward slightly, her bones groaned with every movement, and she snorted faintly. Then she howled withughter, her jaw rattled. She heartily rasped, ¡°Those are all his, yes! But they¡¯re all things he willingly discarded! He gave up on himself and decided to take another person¡¯s face, to live their life!¡±

    ¡°Then, can I ask you?¡± Luo Jian was dripping cold sweat from head to toe. His face turned ashen. By now, he was at his wits¡¯ end. ¡°Where exactly is your husband right now?¡±

    The dead woman stoppedughing in an instant. Those dark holes on her skull gazed straight at Luo Jian. ¡°My husband¡­he is directly behind you right now.¡±

    This one sentence caused Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan to reflexively swivel around and look back. Behind them was the closed door, but without them noticing, the door had cracked open at some time. The door creaked as it slowly, agonizingly slowly, opened by itself¡­

    Standing outside the doorway was a man whom Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were very familiar with. It was precisely that Stalker.

    The stunning man narrowed his beautiful crimson eyes. A faint smile yed on his lips, and this smile added to his charisma, making him appear even more attractive. He wore the same clothes that he had on when Luo Jian first encountered him, a ck military uniform, which seemed rather out-of-ce in this environment, and his hand still gripped at a tactical knife. The style of this dagger was exactly the same as that of Luo Jian¡¯s.

    Luo Jian stumbled back in horror, and Feng Yu Lan also followed with a step backwards. But they couldn¡¯t retreat. Right behind them was that tittering dead woman. She cackled nonstop and her hanging body swayed back and forth along with her fluttering dress; the dust covering her gown scattered all around, falling to the floor.

    ¡°This man is your husband?!¡± The sight of him scared Feng Ye Lan, and he automatically spoke in English to the woman. The deaddy was still giggling, justughing continuously; she finally managed to give a reply between her shrill cackles, ¡°Oh¡ªI don¡¯t know either! He looks quite different from my husband! But he truly is my husband!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The words of this deceased female left Feng Yu Lan in a state of bewilderment. Luo Jian interrupted him.

    ¡°This guy¡¯s not her husband. However, he is ying the role of this woman¡¯s husband.¡±

    ¡°ying a role?¡±

    ¡°Stalkers will y the role of certain characters in the chamber and will appear in front of the yers.¡± Luo Jian repeated the boss¡¯ sentence to Feng Yu Lan. He clenched his teeth, raised his weapon, and stood face-to-face with the man before him, confronting him head on.

    ¡°What¡¯s a Stalker?¡±

    ¡°A person who¡¯ll keep hunting us in order to kill us in the chambers.¡±

    Luo Jian briefly exined, then shoved Feng Yu Lan aside. He stressed his words.

    ¡°Ah Lan, stand far away! When you find the chance, then run! Just leave me behind!¡±

    ¡°But¡­!¡± Feng Yu Lan wanted to say something.

    Luo Jian, once again, interrupted him and insisted, ¡°I¡¯ll think of a way to get him to tell us where the ¡®door¡¯ is, but you absolutely cannot stay here! You can¡¯t deal with him! If there¡¯re any idents, then I wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of you!¡±

    Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t an indecisive person. He understood the gravity of the current situation, and so he eventually conceded, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll leave. But Luo Jian, you must catch up to me! I won¡¯t wait for you in the same ce for ever!¡±

    Luo Jian nodded and warned, ¡°Ah Lan, there might be some monsters lurking about outside. You have to be careful no matter what. The most important thing is to live.¡±

    The Stalker who stood in front impatiently watched his prey chat with the other. He finally lifted his foot and strode towards Luo Jian. He seemed to have gained a lot of interest in Luo Jian. Those scarlet eyes unwaveringly stared at Luo Jian; his eyes shined bright. Luo Jian trembled in fright. He rounded the woman¡¯s corpse and took a couple of small steps backwards. The Stalker stealthily inched forward, gradually approaching him.

    Luo Jian drew out the knife strapped across his chest. He mustered up all of his courage and suddenly thrusted his knife in the Stalker¡¯s direction. At the same time, Luo Jian yelled out, ¡°Run!¡± Upon hearing this order, Feng Yu Lan instantly turned on his heels and almost bumped into the door, before frantically dashing out of the room!

 Chapter 19: Escaping the Ghost Ship (VI)

    Chapter 19: Escaping the Ghost Ship (VI)

    The Stalker wasn¡¯t interested in whether Feng Yu Lan had escaped. He merely turned his head slightly and swept an indifferent nce behind him. He also couldn¡¯t care any less about Luo Jian attacking him with his knife. Without wasting a breath, he skillfully parried the weapon with his hand and struck down on Luo Jian¡¯s wrist. Luo Jian¡¯s entire arm became numb, and then the other effortlessly snatched the knife away from him.

    His weapon was taken away, but in truth, Luo Jian thought this was a given. He wallowed in regret for only a second, then immediately started looking for an opportunity to escape.

    Luo Jian never believed he could actually defeat the Stalker.

    The strength of this Stalker was directly proportional to his level of fear, immeasurable. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just his strength that was great; even hisbat expertise was infinitely superior to Luo Jian¡¯s. The difference between Luo Jian and this man was far too great that it only left Luo Jian in despair. Just take a look at Luo Jian; he never even had the courage to stand in front of the other in the first ce.

    ¡°I have to leave! I have run away fast!¡± Luo Jian uttered to himself. Luo Jian had lied to Feng Yu Lan. He had absolutely no way of prying the whereabouts of the ¡®door¡¯ from the Stalker¡¯s mouth! Such a thing was in impossible for Luo Jian! Don¡¯t tell him that the chamber wouldn¡¯t easily allow him to escape; the one who wouldn¡¯t easily let him escape was the Stalker in front of him!

    The only reason why he made Feng Yu Lan flee by himself was because Luo Jian feared implicating him. The Stalker¡¯s attitude towards Luo Jian was somewhat abnormal. Luo Jian¡¯s couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it, he couldn¡¯t read the other man¡¯s thoughts, but he vaguely sensed that the other was only chasing after him; there was no need to worry about his life being at stake. But there wasn¡¯t any space for variabilities is his original n; Luo Jian had no choice but to adapt and do things ording to the situation.

    However, there was no such thing as an easy escape for Luo Jian. The Stalker rushed forth, swiftly caught him, and at once, pressed him to the ground, his hands and feet were firmly bound. It was a futile to struggle. The man was too powerful, and Luo Jian was sensible, so he decided to give up on pointlessly resisting. He stared at the Stalker with wide eyes.

    At this moment, they were only a breath away from each other; an inch closer and their noses would touch.

    The Stalker grinned wickedly from seeing Luo Jian gape at him from beneath.

    Luo Jian was no stranger to this grin. He had seen this kind of smile before, as it was on the face of a crazed killer that he¡¯d seen back in the real world. Even when he¡¯d been arrested and when he¡¯d been taken into the armored vehicle and transported to the execution grounds, the murderer still maintained a demented, creepy smile on his face.

    And the Stalker who faced him grinned exactly like that.

    He must¡¯ve grown up surrounded by blood and ughter. Luo Jian thought as he stared nkly at the man.

    How else could he have such a callous grin? Luo Jian could easily and distinctly perceive the other¡¯s malice, his unquenchable thirst for blood. He was like a voracious beast lurking in the darkness, vowing to never stop until it reached its goal, until it captured its prey. As long as it opened its jaws, you¡¯d be able to catch a glimpse of its piercing fangs, seemingly desiring to devour you in the very next second, swallow you whole until you settled at the bottom of its belly. Just the thought of this was hard to stomach.

    But this man¡¯s appearance was truly peerless. Even this murderous smile could look so attractive when it was on his face. Luo Jian stupidly gazed at the Stalker. His heart pounded wildly against his chest, intensifying with each passing second, nearly suffocating him. He couldn¡¯t believe how silly he was. How could his heart beat like this for the enemy?

    The Stalker just pressed his body against Luo Jian¡¯s; he didn¡¯t move for a very long time. Luo Jian paused. He suddenly felt that this might be his chance to properlymunicate with the other. So he cautiously opened his mouth and hesitantly questioned, ¡°You¡­what do you want to do?¡±

    The Stalker didn¡¯t say a word, he didn¡¯t answer back. It was as if he didn¡¯t understand what Luo Jian was asking. He cocked his head to one side and blinked his beautiful crimson eyes. This unexpected action was so adorable, Luo Jian felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest; heat rushed to his face. Then, he asked another question.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    Unfortunately, the Stalker still didn¡¯t reply. He seemed particrly absorbed by Luo Jian¡¯s lips opening and closing. He eagerly gazed at them, and atst, he was unable to restrain himself. He leaned in closer to Luo Jian¡¯s lips, brushing against them with his own, then gently bit down, without licking. Luo Jian immediately tensed up from that. He flushed a deep red, his ears turned pink, his body trembled, his mind was in chaos, and then he suddenly began to move furtively, wanting to climb out from under the Stalker.

    The Stalker reached out with his hands and dragged him back, embracing him tightly in his arms.

    ¡°You¡­What do you want to do in the end?¡± Luo Jian was getting irritated. Just what did this guy want to do? He wouldn¡¯t let him go, and he kept kissing him and hugging him. It was just like¡­Luo Jian¡¯s face burned even hotter. This was unconditionally illogical! This must be some sort of conspiracy! He mustn¡¯t be deceived! He had to find a way to escape from here!

    Just then, the dead woman who was hanging abruptly shrieked. The prating sound resounded in this narrow room; it was deafening to the point that Luo Jian felt like his eardrums would pop. The dead woman¡¯s body quaked, her bones harshly grated against each other. The Stalker raised his head and apathetically nced at the female corpse.

    Only one second.

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t see how the man did it. He just felt something sh before his eyes, and then the female corpse screeched in anguish before she was suddenly torn into pieces, bing a mere pile of fragmented bones on the ground. Her shredded skirt scattered around, flowing through the air. It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured on top of Luo Jian¡¯s head, instantly waking him up from his daydream. His blood ran cold in the Stalker¡¯s embrace.

    How could he just forget about it? This guy was the most dreadful Stalker. The boss had repeatedly warned him that if he ever encountered a Stalker, he should use every means to run away. He absolutely mustn¡¯te into close contact with one. He mustn¡¯t be arrogant and think he can defeat one. So far, all of those foolish yers who believed they were strong enough to challenge a Stalker never returned. None of them lived.

    Luo Jian paled, he shivered, and he frightfully peeked up at the Stalker¡¯s face. The other person also withdrew his gaze from the woman¡¯s corpse and looked down at Luo Jian. The human in his embrace was trembling. He thought he was cold so he wrapped his arms tighter around the male. However, Luo Jian was still shivering, his teeth, chattering. He was afraid, extremely afraid.

    The Stalker couldn¡¯t understand the mind of humans¡¯, but he could clearly recognize that the other person was terrified. He contemted for a moment, then suddenly pulled out a long, flexible item from his pocket and wrapped it around Luo Jian¡¯s left wrist. Luo Jian eyed the thing, and his face turned even whiter. Holy shit, it was actually a snake!

    It was slender snake with ck and white stripes! Approximately the width of one¡¯s finger, there the snake was on Luo Jian¡¯s arm, encircling his wrist several times! This clever little snake was certainly the son of that bigger serpent. It wrapped itself tightly around Luo Jian¡¯s wrist. Luo Jian tugged on its tail, but the small snake just twisted its body, before settling back down, still coiling tightly around Luo Jian¡¯s hand, never letting go.

    Fuck my life, what do you even want to do?! Why¡¯d you give me a snake? Are you making me raise it? Is it poisonous? I¡¯ll die if I¡¯m bitten! At this moment, Luo Jian felt that his dark days were looking even grimmer. He pitifully peered up at the Stalker and begged, ¡°Big brother, I can¡¯t raise a snake and all. I beg you to take it back!¡±

    The Stalker didn¡¯t pay any heed to Luo Jian. He rounded his arm around Luo Jian¡¯s waist and immediately picked him up. Tears streamed down Luo Jian¡¯s cheeks. He, a man who was 1.78 meters tall and weighed 60 kilograms1, was easily carried bridal-style! Just what kind of cruel joke was this?!

    The Stalker strode out of the pitch-ck room with Luo Jian in his arms; he didn¡¯t forget to bring the unstable oilmp with him, and then strolled back to the deck. The fog at sea was even thicker than usual. Not a single ray of light shone, and the inky darkness shrouded everything before one¡¯s eyes. Even with the light from the oilmp, it was still difficult to make out anything five meters away, but fortunately, the rain had stopped.

    Where was Ah Lan? Luo Jian looked around him at the gloomy weather that evoked feelings of despondency. He probably shouldn¡¯t have let Feng Yu Lan escape first, it worst decision he could¡¯ve made; to think he just left him alone on this depressing, deste ship. Luo Jian could already imagine how much Ah Lan cried, how he wretchedly sobbed, how he miserably trembled in the corner.

    I have to find a way to leave this Stalker and find Ah Lan¡­but before that, maybe I can try to find out where the door is. Luo Jian held his chin as he pondered, but he¡¯dpletely overlooked the snake that was twined around his wrist. Luo Jian¡¯s action seemed to make that snake ufortable, and it twisted its body. The icy sensation sent shivers up Luo Jian¡¯s spine.

    ¡°Can you put me down?¡± Luo Jian just couldn¡¯t get used to being held like a princess in the arms of the bigger man; he carefully nced at the Stalker and obediently waited.

    But, strangely enough, the Stalker hadn¡¯t spoken a word to Luo Jian since the very beginning. He didn¡¯t even make a small sound. It was like he didn¡¯t have a voice, almost like he was mute. Luo Jian observed him for a long while and finally realized something wasn¡¯t right. This man¡­could it be that he couldn¡¯t speak?

    No no no, perhaps¡­he didn¡¯t speak the humannguage?

    Luo Jian recalled what the boss had said to him before. He reminded Luo Jian not to consider Stalkers as human beings. He mentioned they were simply a group of monsters, inhumane monsters that only had the appearance of humans. Luo Jian had originally thought the boss was describing how cruel these Stalkers were, but now, it seemed that the boss may have been stating facts.

    What he said was true, these monsters were really just monsters, not humans. They didn¡¯t speak the humannguage, perhaps they could speak it, but they disdained learning it. In their eyes, humans were mere prey to hunt down, to kill just for fun, nothing more.

    This spection left a chill in Luo Jian¡¯s heart. Regardless, these Stalkers were not to be messed with. But it was a bit strange. Luo Jian thought that when he met the Stalker again, the Stalker would be the first to stab him with a knife and leave him for dead. However, he never expected this scene; it made Luo Jian feel extremely embarrassed.

    They couldn¡¯tmunicate orally, so whatever Luo Jian said was pointless. The Stalker already looked like he wasn¡¯t nning on putting him down. And so, Luo Jianid down his heart, firmly deciding to go along with the flow! Wherever he went, he¡¯d observe the situation at every step!

    Thereupon, the Stalker carefully held Luo Jian and carried him to the hold of the ship. He walked slowly inside, carefully treading on the floorboards. His footsteps issued a sharp, heavy thud. Luo Jian¡¯s timid heart also shuddered with every reverberating stomp.

    Where will he take me? Luo Jian wondered. He was feeling conflicted; the depressing environment and his fear of the unknown added to his chaotic mind. Luo Jian thought about a lot of things at the time. He thought about that piece of paper from the chamber, about where Ah Lan could be right now, about the door¡¯s key that was in his pocket, about where the door to the exit was¡­many, many things ran through his mind. And his veryst thought was about that Stalker.

    The Stalker lowered his head slightly and looked down at Luo Jian. In that moment, the depths of his bewitching crimson eyes seemed to sh with an almost imperceptible tenderness.

 Chapter 20: Escaping the Ghost Ship (VII)

    Chapter 20: Escaping the Ghost Ship (VII)

    Luo Jian eventually found Feng Yu Lan in the lounge. But while he was searching for him, Feng Yu Lan had been caught in a disastrous situation. He was unfortunate enough to have encountered that feline creature again. The skinless monster growled at him and slowly crept towards Feng Yu Lan, ready to pounce on him. Feng Yu Lan picked up a stick and tried stabbing at the creature with all his might, but from the looks of it, he wasn¡¯t going to make it. Just in that moment, the Stalker kicked the door open, and he steadily marched into the lounge while carrying Luo Jian.

    As soon as the Stalker appeared, the monster immediately shifted targets and roared at the Stalker. The Stalker¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. He dropped Luo Jian, who was in his arms, directly onto the floor, raised his leg, and then mercilessly kicked the poor monster, flinging it high into the air. But the monster was still frustratingly difficult to deal with. Just as it was flung into the air, it took advantage of surrounding terrain. With frightfully agile movements, it bounced off the walls, leaping towards the Stalker, rushing straight at¡­no, wait, it shifted its target again! This time, it bolted towards Luo Jian who sat on the ground, rubbing his sore bottom!

    Luo Jian was instantly struck dumb. His weapon had long been taken away by the Stalker and shoved into the other¡¯s pocket. Without his weapon¡¯s special passive abilities, Luo Jian had suddenly transformed from Superman back into an ordinary civilian! He could only stare on helplessly as the monster charged straight at him! Feng Yu Lan technically had no time to save him, but even the Stalker just stood in ce,pletely motionless, without the slightest intention of lending him a hand.

    Nevertheless, Luo Jian also didn¡¯t want others to try to save him. As someone who was inclined to depend entirely upon his own strength, he was destined for greatness. In that split second, Luo Jian did his best to conjure that feeling of being manipted by his own weapon, he tried controlling himself like a marite. He abandoned his morals and broke free from his mind¡¯s constraints. Engulfed by beastly instincts, he fought!

    Luo Jian had seeded. He found that he was faintly able to recall that sensation of being manipted. His body was inplete sync with his instincts; he leaned sideways, braced his hand against the floor, and executed a magnificent backflip, nimbly avoiding the creature¡¯s attack. The monster obviously didn¡¯t know that Luo Jian¡¯s reaction time could be this fast. It flew straight passed Luo Jian and crashed to the ground. It sprawled its body across the floor then turned its head; it wanted to get back up and fight again! But atst, the Stalker had sprung into action.

    The Stalker quickly pulled out Luo Jian¡¯s tactical knife from his pocket. He performed a standard shing motion in front of Luo Jian; this one action was swift and fluid. Then, he strode directly up to the monster and, while this disgusting creature still hadn¡¯t reacted, he struck it with the knife! It didn¡¯t even have time to yelp before its head was cleanly separated from its body, decapitated!

    He handled the de wlessly and urately grasped the enemy¡¯s blind spots and weaknesses. He was like an assassin who preyed in the dark, striking a fatal blow at the most critical and unsuspecting time, allowing others to experience this valor, to feel this tremendous fear!

    Luo Jian¡¯s body was tense; he stared intently at the Stalker¡¯s movements. He realized that he should try to learn how to fight from the Stalker¡¯s ownbat style; after all, they both used the same type of weapon. They were exactly the same. If it weren¡¯t for Luo Jian¡¯s special connection with his weapon, Luo Jian wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize that the knife held in the Stalker¡¯s hand was his own.

    The Stalker also seemed to expect Luo Jian to learn from him, so he demonstrated a few different styles of attack on the carcass,pletely dismembering the poor, little monster. This entire mess of a scene was gruesome, appalling, and disturbing. The Stalker¡¯s face was expressionless as he continued hacking the corpse to pieces, chopping and chopping, until the butchered creature became a pulverized pile of bloody meat.

    Luo Jian stood at the side and carefully watched the scene, earnestly studying every movement. With a deathly pale face, Feng Yu Lan shrunk into Luo Jian¡¯s side and then constantly tugged on the hem of Luo Jian¡¯s shirt; he was trembling violently, shivering in fear¡­

    ¡°Ah Jian, why¡¯d the Stalkere here? Aren¡¯t we going to run away?¡± The pitiful Feng Yu Lan was restless. His eyes were spinning with misery and anxiety. At first, he gripped onto the corner of Luo Jian¡¯s shirt but he soon grabbed tightly onto Luo Jian¡¯s hand. Luo Jian grabbed his hand back and lightly touched his head.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I, your elder brother, will definitely protect you!¡±

    Ah Lan was particrly docile, and he nodded without question.

    The Stalker was even more thorough than Luo Jian when it came to mutting the corpse. He practically minced the poor, little monster into ground meat. Perfectly satisfied with his finished work of art, the Stalker flung the fresh blood off both of his hands. His face revealed a morbid smile, and with all that blood on his face, that grin seemed even more twisted and unsightly.

    Nevertheless, the Stalker appeared to be very happy. With arge smile, he gazed hopefully at Luo Jian. Under the watchful stare of those malicious, bright crimson eyes, Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan simultaneously quivered and involuntarily took a step backwards.

    Ah Lan was afraid; he cringed and immediately hid behind Luo Jian¡¯s back. Luo Jian also raised his vignce; his eyes were firmly locked on the Stalker.

    The Stalker was the enemy, this belief was deeply-rooted within Luo Jian¡¯s mind. From the very beginning, he had no room for hesitation, as this was the only stance he¡¯d held on the matter. Regardless of how odd the Stalker was or how he acted towards Luo Jian, doing all of those¡­strange things, Luo Jian was resolute; he absolutely could never regard the other as arade.

    He couldn¡¯t trust him, and he had to be on his guard at all times to prevent the other from stabbing him. Yes, Luo Jian had already realized that he was no match for the Stalker just based on the wide disparity in their strengths, but this was exactly why Luo Jian had to use every means and try his best to make sure he and Feng Yu Lan survived and lived.

    The Stalker saw Luo Jian¡¯s hostility, but he didn¡¯t care. He tossed the knife that original belonged to Luo Jian back to him. Luo Jian extended his arms and safely caught the knife in his hand, easily holding onto it. He flicked his wrist and marvelously twirled the blood-stained dagger in his hand.

    Surprisingly, the Stalker didn¡¯t do anything bad to Luo Jian after that. He just turned on his heels and left the lounge. Luo Jian paused, then pulled Feng Yu Lan to follow him. The clue to the ¡®door¡¯ was on the Stalker; Luo Jian was certain that he¡¯d be able to find the exit if he followed him.

    The Stalker paced around in the hold of the ship, but Luo Jian could see that he was ustomed to this environment, almost as if he were really a crewmember who had been living on this ship. Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan always distanced themselves a few meters away as they silently trailed after the Stalker. Luo Jian was drained of his energy, but he had to keep his spirits high. On the other hand, Ah Lan¡¯s condition was looking worse. He was soaked by cold sweat, his face was a sickly white, and his lips were dry and cracking. Luo Jian pretty much had to drag him along.

    ¡°Ah Lan, hold on a bit longer. We¡¯ll be able to leave soon.¡± Luo Jian whispered to him gently, calmly encouraging him.

    Feng Yu Lan turned his stiff neck and raised his head. His dull ck eyes stared bleakly at Luo Jian. ¡°Ah Jian, I was very useless, wasn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that again¡­¡± Luo Jian directed a warm smile at him, although he was equally as exhausted. ¡°I was worse than you when I first came to the chamber.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan lowered his head again and bit his lip. He forced himself to cheer up in order to not add any extra burdens to Luo Jian. He knew that Luo Jian wasforting him. So useless¡­ Feng Yu Lan dismally ridiculed himself; his heart was imbued with self-contempt and pessimism.

    With Luo Jian following from behind, the Stalker walked all the way to the first floor of the ship¡¯s hold¡ªto the very bottom. They found the situation to be dire when they arrived there; the lowest floor was leaking! A stream of water endlessly flowed inside the ship through the small hole. The entire bottom level was flooded with seawater all the way up to their knees! Broken tables and chairs, as well as other debris, floated about, drifting around with the swaying of the ship¡¯s hull.

    ¡°Look at this. It won¡¯t even take twenty minutes before this entire floor¡¯spletely submerged. Then ship will start sinking, I guess. If we stay on the ship for the full six hours without escaping, then the ship will definitely sink in those six hours, so no matter how you slice it, we¡¯d end up dying.¡±

    Luo Jian gauged the situation, then he took out the pocket watch from his trousers and nced at the time, 16:12. There was less than an hour left.

    Luo Jian carefully touched the key in his pocket.

    It was still there. Nothing had happened to it; it didn¡¯t suddenly disappear in all that chaos, meaning they didn¡¯t have to frantically search for it again. This gave him a sense of relief, and he followed the Stalker inside the room, slowly stepping into the knee-deep water.

    The seawater was freezing, the ice-cold chill seeped into his bones. Luo Jian felt as if his two legs were as heavy as lead. This chilling sensation left him numb to the point that he couldn¡¯t even react. He looked back at Feng Yu Lan and noticed the other wasn¡¯t faring any better; his pale face became even whiter.

    The Stalker up ahead waspletely oblivious to this. It was like the icy sea didn¡¯t affect his mobility. Luo Jian questioned the Stalker¡¯s strength. Just how powerful was it? Was it powerful enough to break through the limitations on life? To ignore the existence of thews of nature and science?

    But, of course, the Stalker wouldn¡¯t answer Luo Jian¡¯s uncertainties. He simply led Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan to the innermost area of the floor, passed through a dark corridor overflowing with the freezing water, and eventually stopped directly in front of a door.

    Luo Jian lifted his head and held the oilmp up to the door. Incidentally, Luo Jian had ascertained that all doors with the property of ¡®forever being indestructible¡¯ were made of a dark crimson material. The crimson color was so dark that it could¡¯ve been mistaken as ck, and it was smooth and wless, without any traces of marks.

    The Stalker stood motionless near the door, then turned around to face Luo Jian. Luo Jian instinctively knew what he was trying to convey. He stepped forward, retrieved the key from his pocket, inserted it into the keyhole, and twisted it. He heard a click, and the door opened.

    Luo Jian heart raced in anticipation, as did Feng Yu Lan¡¯s. Both of them were hopeful, excited. Together, they took hurried steps and approached the doorway, drawing even closer to the door. Luo Jian then turned the knob and swung the door open. He automatically lifted his foot to walk inside only to discover this wasn¡¯t an exit in the first ce.

    The door just opened to narrow, enclosed room.

    An empty and pitch-ck room submerged in freezing water.

    Luo Jian¡¯s mind went nk. Then, he instantly recalled the words that the dead woman had repeated¡ªthis ship has no exit.

    He tried to turn back to see the Stalker who stood behind him and Feng Yu Lan, but he suddenly heard Ah Lan cry out loud. The Stalker lifted his foot and kicked Luo Jian and Ah Lan into the confined room. He move fast and swiftly shut the door; the clicking sound of the bolt locking them inside followed immediately after.

    Luo Jian waded in the waters, sshing around. The oilmp fell from his hand and drifted in the water, but fortunately, the oilmp had a ss case, so the light didn¡¯t go out. Luo Jian climbed up from the seawater and mmed his body against the door! This dark red color was the nightmare of Luo Jian¡¯s life; it seemed to always deprive him of all hope and fling him into the deste abyss in an instant! Luo Jian opened his mouth to call out to the Stalker, but as soon as he parted his lips, he realized he didn¡¯t know the Stalker¡¯s name! They never even exchanged a single word with each other!

    ¡°Are we trapped inside?¡± Feng Yu Lan was drenched and freezing, and his teeth chattered. Horror was clearly written all over his face. He fearfully swept his eyes around his surroundings with were sealed-off. This was one of those more oppressive chambers, where there were no other windows or openings besides the door. The water steadily poured inside, submerging them up to their knees; it most likely flowed from the narrow crack at the bottom of the entrance.

    Luo Jian banged hard against the indestructible door, generating a loud noise. He put his ear against the wood. For some inexplicable reason, he just knew that the Stalker was still standing outside of the doorway.

    ¡°W-we¡­we have to leave. The water levels are rising¡­and soon, the ce will be flooded. And, we¡¯ll drown before the ship sinks.¡± Luo Jian was now shivering from the cold temperature; he stuttered and couldn¡¯t speak coherently. The water levels were gradually rising above his waist.

    ¡°I-I-I¡­feel like¡­before we drown¡­we¡¯ll¡­freeze to death.¡± Feng Yu Lan heaved his body up and dragged himself towards Luo Jian¡¯s side. The two people huddled together, trying to warm themselves with their body heat, but it was hopeless. The water was too cold. Overwhelming. Itpelled them to close their eyes forever. Never to wake again.

    The Stalker abruptly pounded his hand against the door, knocking harshly and forcefully. Luo Jian was frozen stiff, his thoughts were frozen, and his brain wasn¡¯t functioning. He couldn¡¯tprehend the meaning behind the Stalker¡¯s actions. He couldn¡¯t do anything but lean his head against the door and listen to that constant tapping sound.

    It was interestingly strange. It was so obvious that the Stalker deliberately pushed him. The other person evidently intended to kill him and Ah Lan. However, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t feel any hatred at this moment. He wasn¡¯t even angry. The only emotion in him was a slight disappointment.

    An enemy¡­sure enough, he was nothing but an enemy, huh?

    ¡°Ah Jian¡­we¡­are we really going to die?¡± Feng Yu Lan asked through his shuddering teeth. His lips were purple, his face was void of any color. He already resembled a stiff corpse.

    Luo Jian knew that his face didn¡¯t look any better than Feng Yu Lan¡¯s. They couldn¡¯t escape. His heart was filled with sorrow and despair, ¡°I guess¡­we will¡­die¡­¡±

    The Stalker was still standing outside, knocking and banging on the door without stopping.

    Feng Yu Lan frowned, ¡°It seems like it wants us to hurry up and open the door¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the one who has the key, and the door is locked from the outside. Trying to get us to open the door¡­it¡¯s not like¡ª¡± Luo Jianmented, then suddenly shut his mouth.

    Get us to open the door?

    Luo Jian immediately widened his eyes and concentrated on the noises. He proceeded to carefully listen to the continuous knocks the Stalker made from the outside. That rhythmic thumping, neither impatient nor urgent, neither irregr nor slow. The sounds rang at a fixed interval, without any long pauses in between.

    One of the three hints on his purple note suddenly shed through Luo Jian¡¯s mind:

    ¡¾In the event that you are unable to take the shortcut, then descend into silence.¡¿

    There was still a chance! It wasn¡¯t over just yet! Luo Jian burst intoughter. He pushed Feng Yu Lan forward. The water levels reached their chests by now. The two men floated; Luo Jian hugged Feng Yu Lan tightly and yelled, ¡°We have to sink to the bottom!¡±

    ¡°Whaa?!¡± Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Ah Lan, carefully look at the water in this room!¡± Feng Yu Lan listened to Luo Jian and observed the enclosed room once again. The speed at which the water levels rose was incredibly rapid. It was as if there was a massive hole at the bottom of the ship that the water endlessly poured in from.

    ¡°There¡¯s a hole at the bottom of the chamber!¡± Feng Yu Lan finally detected this point. The water originally hadn¡¯t flowed in from the crack under the door! It was already rising from within this room!

    ¡°We have to find the source of the water! That¡¯s the exit!¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t swim!¡± Feng Yu Lan was panicking. The water levels had already reached his neck! It was too fast! Terror-stricken, Feng Yu Lan frantically waved his arms, he choked on mouthfuls of seawater. Luo Jian firmly grabbed his waist, supporting him and stabilizing him.

    ¡°Hold onto me tight! Don¡¯t let go!¡± Luo Jain shouted. ¡°Take a deep breath, hold it, and dive down with me!¡±

    Ah Lan was very obedient. He gulped the cold air and filled his lungs. Luo Jian also inhaled deeply,clenched his teeth, then pulled Feng Yu Lan along; together, they dived down to the depths of the sea.

    Luo Jian never felt so fortunate in his entire life. Thankfully, he had learned how to swim, and he could actually swim very well. He had participated in many regional swimmingpetitions back in high school, and won first ce in both the preliminaries and the finals. In fact, his coach had even asked him to take part in the nationals, but in the end, Luo Jian gave it all up.

    However, his swimming skills remained with him. Even if he were lugging a big man behind him, he would still be able to swim with ease. And if it weren¡¯t for this freezing water, he¡¯d be able to swim even faster.

    Luo Jian soon found the source of the leakage. It wasing from a small, square door on the floor. The valve was ajar, and the seawater rapidly poured inside the room from that narrow gap.

    To think mere water could have such intensity. Luo Jian struggled for a long time before he finally managed to grasp the handle of the valve. The door was heavy, and Luo Jian fought to pull it open. The clock was ticking; the time was passing quickly. The feeling of suffocation was engulfing him. Luo Jian felt that his death was swiftly approaching at any second now.

    Feng Yu Lan was even worse. His eyes nearly rolled into the back of his skull. But he trusted Luo Jian with his life. His unconditional faith made him believe that Luo Jian would bring him out of this godforsaken chamber. So, Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t struggle; he just quietly clung onto Luo Jian. There was only one conviction that remained in his mind¡ªhold onto Luo Jian and never let him go.

    Luo Jian finally pulled the valve¡¯s handle. After exerting all of his strength, the narrow gap grew slightly wider. But the rushing water became even fiercer, and the waves were too great for Luo Jian to defend against. The hand that he used to clutch the handle of the valve had slipped off! If was difficult to seize the handle again since he¡¯d released his hold! The water was too cold. If he didn¡¯t escape right now, he soon wouldn¡¯t have enough strength to continue to swim!

    However, just in the nick of time, the small snake wrapped around Luo Jian¡¯s wrist suddenly stirred and twisted around restlessly. With half of its body still coiled around Luo Jian¡¯s arm, its tail seized the valve¡¯s handle, securing Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan in ce.

    Almost forgot about this snake! Luo Jian stared at the snake in surprise and amazement, but he didn¡¯t forget to grab his chance. Once again, he grasped the handle, and the snake opportunely slithered back into Luo Jian¡¯s sleeves. Luo Jian then gave it a harsh tug and the valve opened! More seawater rushed inside! Luo Jian struggled to grab the door; pulling Ah Lan along, he did everything he could to swim out of this ce!

    Time had stopped at this very moment.

 Chapter 21: The Grimoire

    Chapter 21: The Grimoire

    What Luo Jian never realized was that the moment he escaped from the chamber, the freezing seawater surged into the hold of the ship. The Stalker calmly closed his eyes in the icy waters, bracing himself for the inevitable suffocation that would soon end his life, silently awaiting his rebirth.

    Luo Jian was roused by the chilly, slippery sensationing from his wrist. He dazedly opened his eyes and sluggishly lifted his hand. He saw a small ck snake with white stripes coiling around his arm, squirming around every now and then and rattling its tail. It was, frankly, unpleasant waking up to this snake slithering all over him.

    He instinctively recoiled in fright, and he immediately wanted to fling the snake off his wrist, but just when he tugged on the snake¡¯s tail, Luo Jian gave up on doing so. This snake nearly saved his life. In fact, it pulled Luo Jian away from death¡¯s doorstep, and Luo Jian was extremely grateful for that.

    Moreover, when Luo Jian stared at it, he couldn¡¯t help but think of the Stalker for some reason. He remembered his earnest expression as he wrapped the little snake around his wrist, his beautiful eyes full of gentleness.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt a strange pang in his heart. He rose from his bed and found he was still wearing the same clothes he had fallen asleep with. The military knife was inserted properly into its sheath, as if it had never been touched at all.

    But there was an additional item located near his pillow. Luo Jian furrowed his brows and reached for the notebook that was ced at the edge of his pillow. It was the same notebook he had found on the ghost ship. The convict¡¯s English notes were all smudged and faded, and the notebook was coarse. Luo Jian remembered that he¡¯d put the journal inside his pocket, but he never expected he¡¯d actually be able to take it out of the chamber.

    The boss had stated that all sorts of items from the chamber couldn¡¯t be brought into the real world; but the only exceptions to this were special items. Of course, you couldn¡¯t actually distinguish between a special item and an ordinary one, and nobody would actually tell you which items could be taken out of the chamber or which items could not. At those times, you needed to rely on your luck and intuition.

    Special items, obviously, had special effects, but what those unique abilities were could only be discovered by yourself. These particr items could also be traded with other yers; the items that you didn¡¯t need could be exchanged for those that you did. This was the chambers¡¯ exclusive barter system.

    Luo Jian opened the notebook. As before, he couldn¡¯t make sense of this messy English handwriting. Luo Jian helplessly shook his head, tossed the journal on the desk, got up from his bed, and went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of water. Then, he caught sight of new note on the refrigerator, the graceful cursive writings flowed naturally on the piece of paper:

    ¡¾Dear Mr. Luo Jian,¡¿

    ¡¾Congrattions, once again, on your sessful return to reality. Your strength and wisdom have proven your worth, and you already have the qualifications to be referred to as a ¡®senior¡¯. Now, go forth and im your reward! Your prize is in your closet.¡¿

    ¡¾P.S. Do pay attention to the time. Don¡¯t forget that the appointed day is ten dayster.¡¿

    ¡¾Regards, I wish you the best of luck!¡¿

    Luo Jian set the note aside, walked back into the bedroom, and opened his closet. He swept his eyes across the numerous clothes that were arranged inside, then sneered, ¡°After getting the weapon, I get an outfit?¡±

    There was an extra set of clothes that shouldn¡¯t have appeared in his wardrobe, and it was breath-taking. It was a suit that looked somewhat simr to the Stalker¡¯s sleek ckbat uniform, except the colors on his were deep blue and ck. It included a hooded robe, trousers, and even thick boots and tactical gloves. The buttons on the waistband just so happened to be the perfect match to Luo Jian¡¯s weapon. It was easy to fasten his sheath on it, and there were plenty of pockets, more than enough to carry several items.

    Luo Jian pulled on the cloth. It felt very strong and it could most likely keep him warm. It didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d be torn easily, or rather¡­perhaps this outfit was also simr to the yers, where the cloth would automatically repair itself even if it were damaged once the yer left the chamber and returned to the real world?

    Luo Jian was still mulling over his new equipment, when his cell phone on the table rang. He took a look at the caller ID and saw that it was Feng Yu Lan, then he sighed in relief. When he had escaped from the chamber, he clearly remembered that he was dragging Ah Lan along with him as he swam, but even then, Luo Jian felt ill at ease. But the phone call at this moment proved that nothing had happened to Feng Yu Lan. The heavy anxiety that burdened his heart suddenly dissipated.

    ¡°Ah Lan, what¡¯s up, is everything okay? Where are you?¡± Luo Jian looked outside at the sky. It was early morning and the day was bright.

    ¡°I¡¯m still in the hospital.¡± Feng Yu Lan cried pitifully on the other end of the phone. He began pouring his grievances to Luo Jian, ¡°When I returned, I found that the wound on my waist came back! It hurts!¡±

    Luo Jian grinned silently, ¡°You just lie down, darling. I¡¯ll go over to the hospital a littleter and see you. I¡¯m buying breakfast on the way, what do you want to eat?¡±

    ¡°Ah Jian, have we really returned?¡± Feng Yu Lan was still unsure on whether he¡¯d truly came back to reality, so he repeatedly questioned Luo Jian.

    ¡°Stupid, ah, doesn¡¯t the wound hurt? Isn¡¯t that enough proof that you¡¯ve returned?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan took a deep breath on the other end and replied, ¡°Then I¡¯ll hang up. The nurse is checking the rooms. You have to visit me!¡±

    ¡°Ah! Wait!¡± Luo Jian¡¯s eximed, preventing Feng Yu Lan from hanging up, and added, ¡°Look around at conspicuous areas. Is there a note? Neers usually receive a weapon as their prize from their first chamber experience. Look for it.¡±

    After ending the phone call with Feng Yu Lan, Luo Jian rxed his body and reclined on the bed. He finally climbed back up and tried on his new outfit. The clothes fit his body well; they were tailored just for him, and he didn¡¯t feel ufortable wearing these clothes. Dressed in his new uniform, Luo Jian strutted around his room a few times. He also took a few handsome selfies. Soon after, he changed back into his usual attire, he specifically picked out a long-sleeved shirt to cover the small snake curled around his arm, and then he happily left his house.

    At another end, Feng Yu Lan also found a printed card on his hospital bed:

    ¡¾Dear Mr. Feng Yu Lan,¡¿

    ¡¾The thrilling novice trial hase to an end. You have gained a preciouspanion, and you will also receive the reward you deserve. Your prize is inside the cab near your bed. You can choose to take it or you can even choose to give it up, but doing so may affect your chances of survival. Please consider your options very carefully.¡¿

    ¡¾P.S. The next appointed date is ten days from tonight. Please stay healthy and sleep well.¡¿

    ¡¾Regards, I wish you the best of luck!¡¿

    After Feng Yu Lan finished reading the note, he bent over to search through his bedside cab. His movements awakened the other patient; the snoring uncle mumbled a few words, turned over, then fell back asleep. This gave Feng Yu Lan a great fright. He had just escaped from the chamber, but he still hadn¡¯t broken free from his instinctive wariness. Even the slight sound of the grass and leaves swaying in the breeze made Feng Yu Lan jittery.

    Trembling, Feng Yu Lan cautiously opened the drawer of his bedside cab, and he soon discovered there was one item that shouldn¡¯t have been there in the first ce¡­it turned out to be a book!

    How could it be a book? Didn¡¯t Jian say it was a weapon? Feng Yu Lan was baffled. He picked up the object and turned it over in his hand. The book was extremely thick, like two Chinese dictionaries1 stacked on top of each other; and it wasn¡¯t just thick, but it was wide as well. It was practically arge encyclopedia! Logically speaking, a huge book such as this should be very heavy, but when Feng Yu Lan weighed it in his hands, he was surprised. The book was abnormally light, as if he wasn¡¯t holding anything in his hand; it wasn¡¯t any heavier than a feather.

    The book was wrapped in thick leather; there were no designs or fonts on the faded-blue cover. Feng Yu Lan flipped to the first page, but much to his annoyance, he found that the contents in this book were unreadable!

    In actuality, it wasn¡¯t necessarily iprehensible, but Feng Yu Lan had no idea how to describe it. The text was written in anguage that Feng Yu Lan had never learnt before. He could somewhat understand the characters that he read, but only each individual word was understandable to him. When the words werebined, he couldn¡¯t understand anything. It was like he was reading indecipherable hieroglyphics2; it filled Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heart with awe and veneration, but his mouth would endlessly spit out curses.

    ¡°Of everything out there, my weapon¡¯s a book?¡±

    This reminded Feng Yu Lan of the time when he used the logbook to send the monster flying. Maybe because of that, the chamber decided the weapon that suited him best was a book? But what could he even do with a book? Continue to send monsters flying like before? This was an utter joke3!

    Feng Yu Lan was really depressed. He flipped through the pages again and again. The handwritten characters in this book were messy, illegible, and densely scrawled over the ce. Feng Yu Lan had been flipping through the pages the entire time, and, from beginning to end, this was the only type of handwriting that appeared. He finally turned to the veryst page when, atst, he spotted something different.

    At the very end of thest page, there were two sentences written in in Chinese:

    ¡¾I solemnly dedicate this tome to you, Mr. Feng Yu Lan, who is the purest sessor of the grimoire.¡¿

    ¡¾In order to seal the contract, you must spill your blood.¡¿

    ¡°What¡¯s this mean?¡± Feng Yu Lan repeatedly looked at those two sentences, but they still left him confused. What¡¯s a grimoire sessor? And what did it mean when it said he needed to spill his blood in order to seal the contract? Was this that so-called mixing blood4?

    Wait? Mixing blood?

    Feng Yu Lan realized something. He took the fruit knife from the bedside cab near him and created a tiny incision on his index finger; a bead of dark blood appeared. Feng Yu Lan smeared the blood from his sore finger on the page. In all honesty, he had originally wanted to use the blood from the injury at his waist. After all, it was already avable; he didn¡¯t need to cut himself with the knife. But the wound was bandaged with gauze, so if he unwrapped it, the nurse would eventually find out, and there was no doubt that he¡¯d be mercilessly scolded.

    Therefore, in order to avoid being reproached by the nurse, Feng Yu Lan reluctantly had to prick his finger. The blood was marked on the page, and he watched as the page absorbed the drop like a sponge. And yet, he still didn¡¯t see any changes in the book. As before, the contents inside were still messy and nonsensical; they were ancient Greek to him. He still couldn¡¯t make any sense of what he was reading.

    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me5!¡± Feng Yu Lan flicked his middle finger, directing a vulgar gesture of contempt at the magic tome.

    Just when he finished gesturing, something incredibly bizarre happened. The book suddenly tore away from Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hands and floated in the air a couple of centimeters above Feng Yu Lan¡¯s palms. The pages were magically turning by themselves! Feng Yu Lan saw that the indecipherable characters in this book seemed to havee to life; as if they had their own minds, they wouldn¡¯t stop shifting across the pages! In the end, the characters werebined one by one, and a sentence soon formed on the page. It was neither Chinese nor English. In fact, it wasn¡¯t anguage that Feng Yu Lan had learnt before. Nevertheless, he automatically understood this sentence when he saw it:

    ¡¾I¡¯m not kidding you!6 ¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan looked at this single phrase, and the expression on his face suddenly froze.

 Chapter 22: Heritage

    Chapter 22: Heritage

    Am I still dreaming?

    Feng Yu Lan rubbed his eyes and fixed his gaze on what appeared to be a possessed text. The sentence ¡°I¡¯m not kidding you¡± was written loud and clear; it was as if these words were responding to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s previous utterance. Feng Yu Lan cocked his head and pondered a bit. Seemingly wanting to verify something, he parted his lips and demanded:

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The magic tome shifted erratically, and, soon, a new phrase emerged from the paper once again:

    ¡¾I am you.¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t fathom this strange sentence, and he wondered, ¡°How can you be me?¡±

    ¡¾I am, without a doubt, you. I am your will, your instinct, your blood, your heritage. All that you possess shaped my raison d¡¯¨ºtre.¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan thought that his brain wasn¡¯t intelligent enough. He silently stared at the words on the page for a long time, but he still couldn¡¯t understand the meaning behind this sentence. Thereafter, Feng Yu Lan decided to change the wording of his question and said, ¡°Stop speaking so ambiguously andplexly. I only want to ask, are you my weapon?¡±

    ¡¾Yes.¡¿

    ¡°So, what can you do? I mean¡­aren¡¯t weapons supposed to be used to attack others? Like a knife, a gun, and so on? How can a book help me defeat any enemies?¡± Feng Yu Lan was feeling somewhat reluctant. Compared to this, he actually preferred Luo Jian¡¯s short dagger, which could at least be used at anytime, anywhere, whether it was to chop vegetables or to kill people.

    ¡¾I can certainly help you defeat any enemy. In fact, I can even create miracles for you.¡¿

    ¡°I like the sound of what I¡¯m hearing. So how should I use you?¡±

    ¡¾I¡¯m a grimoire. Your words are power. As long as you recite an incantation, you are able to use my powers.¡¿

    Oh shit, doesn¡¯t this mean I can be a wizard? Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heart pounded in excitement. In that instant, he fantasized all sorts of great magic powers that would make him peerlessly invincible. Unnaturally eager, Feng Yu Lan stared at the grimoire, and just when he was about to say something, the grimoire converted again; this time, revealing new sentences:

    ¡¾But you should take careful note; you¡¯re awfully weak, so the amount of spells you can use is limited¡­or rather, it should be said that the spells you are able to use are extremely scarce and primarily for support. You do not have enough strength, so I can only inform you of the incantations you are capable of using at your present state and also offer you some advice.¡¿

    ¡¾Apart from that, you must also try to learn magic. This will enhance your strength. And I, of course, will be your mentor.¡¿

    ¡°Great, so what you mean to say is that I¡¯m pretty much waste material at the early stages?¡± Feng Yu Lan rolled his eyes at the magic tome.

    ¡¾I can¡¯t agree with your statement. Magic is a very powerful force. Even though during the early stages you may be incapable of receiving adequate power to attack your opponents or defend yourself, it still has a lot of convenient uses, such as light spells.¡¿

    ¡°Well, I understand!¡± The disdain in Feng Yu Lan¡¯s eyes was so obvious, as he rolled his eyes even harder. Boiling with fury, he yelled, ¡°You had so many good things to say, but in reality, you just wanted to tell me one, little thing. That you¡¯re just a goddamn support!¡±

    The grimoire was motionless for a long while. After half a day, a sentence finally appeared:

    ¡¾I can only support you right now; it¡¯s not my fault you¡¯re so damn weak!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan instantly exploded, ¡°Tell me, how am I weak?! I have arms and legs! I¡¯m still much better than a lousy book that can¡¯t even walk!¡±

    ¡¾Without me, this lousy book, you¡¯ll immediately go off and die!¡¿

    ¡°Keep talking nonsense! Didn¡¯t I escape without you, huh?!¡±

    ¡¾You couldn¡¯t do anything but rely on your partner, the only one who had the ability to escape the chamber!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan nced at this sentence, and he suddenly quieted down. He had to admit it, this rotten book was right. If it weren¡¯t for Luo Jian, Feng Yu Lan would¡¯ve dropped dead within the first hour. The only reason why he was able to live to see the sun today was entirely because he had depended on someone else, because he had a sincere brother who was willing to go through thick and thin for him, to sacrifice his own life to let him survive!

    ¡°What can I do to be stronger?¡± Feng Yu Lan had never really wanted to be strong, but at this moment, his desire suddenly became urgent. He was too impatient to wait. Feng Yu Lan was unwilling to be an inconvenience, he refused to be a burden.

    He was well aware of the naturalws of the world. The weak would always be prey to the strong; everything came down to survival of the fittest. Without power, he was nothing. The grimoire gave Feng Yu Lan an answer:

    ¡¾You are extremely weak when ites to fighting. With your inferior physique, you simply aren¡¯t suited forbat. Your strength lies in your spirit. Learning magic is somewhat of a mental exercise, and it also fits you best. As your spirit grows stronger, you¡¯ll be able to use more and more spells until, atst, you are able to destroy the heavens and even kill the devil! All of this is just around the corner!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan merely picked at his ears in a bored manner and spat out two words, ¡°Utter rubbish!¡±

    At around dawn, the nurse came to check on the rooms. She changed Feng Yu Lan¡¯s gauze and administered his IV fluids. The grimoire was casually thrown on the bedside cab, but nobody paid attention to it. The patient on the neighboring bed was still snoring, dead asleep. Feng Yu Lan touched his belly, he was starting to feel a bit hungry, but just when his stomach started rumbling, Luo Jian strolled right into the ward.

    ¡°Brought you some breakfast!¡± Luo Jian took the light porridge and the massive stack of steamed buns and ced them directly in front of Feng Yu Lan. Ah Lan pitifully looked at the breakfast before his eyes, then he peered up at Luo Jian and said, ¡°I¡¯ve eaten porridge for half a month. Can¡¯t I eat something else?¡±

    ¡°No! You can only eat these right now! Your wound hasn¡¯t healed yet!¡± Luo Jian uprightly asserted.

    And so, with tears of misery streaming down his cheeks, Feng Yu Lan had no choice but to pathetically nibble on his steamed buns. However, halfway through his breakfast, Feng Yu Lan abruptly asked Luo Jian a random question, ¡°Jian, what¡¯s your weapon like? I mean¡­does it also speak to you?¡±

    ¡°Speak?¡± Luo Jian was confused. He whipped out his short knife. The speed at which he drew his knife was incredibly swift, evidently proving he was very skilled. Feng Yu Lan only saw a sh, before the knife appeared in Luo Jian¡¯s hand. At this moment, Feng Yu Lan was particrly struck with envy. No questions asked, the way Luo Jian looked with the knife in his hand was so cool, much more appealing than having to hold a crummy book!

    ¡°Can weapons also speak? How should I know?¡± Luo Jian continued on, ¡°But my weapon sometimes controls me, err¡­well, it technically guides me in battle.¡±

    ¡°The chamber gave me a lousy book that only talks big; it doesn¡¯t stop bragging!¡± Feng Yu Lan scoffed and showed the book on the cab to Luo Jian. Luo Jian reached out and took it, then remarked, ¡°It¡¯s huge and heavy¡­am I holding brick, or what?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan froze. He was baffled from hearing Luo Jian say such an odd thing; he replied, ¡°Heavy? I held it, but it was as light as a feather.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not the same. You¡¯re the owner of this book. Your weapon will automatically adapt to your physique and strength. It¡¯s kind of like my knife. You can take my dagger and brandish it, but it¡¯s undeniably impossible for you to use that kind of skill and force.¡± Luo Jian exined as he flipped through the pages of the grimoire. He frowned, then wondered, ¡°Is it supposed to be nk?¡±

    ¡°nk?¡± Feng Yu Lan was stunned. He snatched the book from Luo Jian¡¯s hand and took a look at it. ¡°No! See, there are so many strange words written down!

    Right then, another sentence appeared on the pages of the grimoire:

    ¡¾The contents are invisible to the people who haven¡¯t inherited magic powers.¡¿

    Meanwhile, Luo Jian also responded, ¡°If this book really is your weapon, then whatever¡¯s written down is practically your secret, your possession. It¡¯spletely normal that I can¡¯t see it.¡±

    Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan eventually finished eating breakfast. Luo Jian then recalled a major concern, and he felt it was necessary to question Feng Yu Lan, so he asked, ¡°Ah Lan, how¡¯d you enter the chamber?¡±

    ¡°How did I enter?¡± Feng Yu Lan contemted for a moment, then thought of that printed slip of paper. ¡°Didn¡¯t you invite me?¡±

    Luo Jian furrowed his brows, a dreadful feeling was creeping into his heart. ¡°But I didn¡¯t invite you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember? You ced a note on the table that said you wanted me to join you as your helper or something, and you told me to sign my name on the back, so I signed it.¡±

    Luo Jian had a headache. He rubbed his temples and unenthusiastically replied, ¡°Idiot. If I don¡¯t personally give you something to sign, then don¡¯t just recklessly write you name on it, okay?!¡±

    Feeling wronged, Feng Yu Lan pursed his lips and harshly poked him. ¡°But you were the one to take it out in the first ce, so I thought you wanted me to sign it!¡±

    Luo Jian felt helpless; he lightly tapped the top of Ah Lan¡¯s head. Ah Lan, this happy fool, couldn¡¯t care any less about his current predicament. He simply rolled around his hospital bed and said he wanted to go out and y. Luo Jian¡¯s heart was filled with distress. He had always sensed that this strange invitation note was rather problematic. Was someone aiming for Ah Lan? No, perhaps someone was targeting Luo Jian instead?

    The note was given to him by the Boss, so he should probably go back to the bar and ask, right? Luo Jian¡¯s thoughts were in turmoil. He looked at Feng Yu Lan and couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. This was all his own fault. Unknowingly, he had implicated Ah Lan. Things from the chambers shouldn¡¯t casually be ced in front of others, but Luo Jian had been careless.

    Feng Yu Lan noisily mored to go out to y, saying that he became moldy ever since he was trapped in this ward. Not to mention, at night, he would constantly relive the frightening experience he had in the chamber. Feng Yu Lan missed the outside world. He wanted to breathe the air of wide, open spaces, and he wanted to see a lot of people; he didn¡¯t want to stay confined in a narrow, enclosed room that was shrouded in darkness!

    Luo Jian had no ns for today, so he agreed to all of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s unreasonable demands. However, before he could leave, a group of uninvited guests rushed into the ward. The moment the group of uniformed officers entered the room, they surrounded Feng Yu Lan. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s expression showed all but bewilderment, and Luo Jian was even more puzzled. He instinctively stood alert near the corner, his hand touching the knife at his back.

    At the imposing sight before him, the timid Feng Yu Lan drew back in fear and curled up in his hospital bed. Finally, one of the police officers opened his mouth:

    ¡°Feng Yu Lan¡­is that you, sir?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­yeah, that¡¯s me¡­¡±

    ¡°Someone used you of murder.¡±

    ¡°What1?!¡± This sentence frightened the wits out of Feng Yu Lan that he almost jumped up, nearly falling off the hospital bed onto the floor. This must be some kind of joke, Feng Yu Lan was so much of a chicken that he couldn¡¯t ughter livestock even if his life depended on it, so how could he possibly kill a person?!

    ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous.¡± The officer then added. ¡°There isn¡¯t sufficient evidence to prove it was you, and even the conditions required to arrest you haven¡¯t been met.¡±

    ¡°What on earth happened?¡±

    ¡°A few hours before dawn, a person was killed, and their corpse was abandoned in the wilderness. Based on what we determined, the murderer should be the same person who attacked you, meaning this case involves a serial killer. But the bad news is that the victim was someone our target had attacked before.¡±

 Chapter 23: Recidivism

    Chapter 23: Recidivism

    What the officer was suggesting was as clear as day. Once again, the serial killer seemed to have started killing others without restraint. This time, those who had been attacked before were in danger of being attacked again, which is why it was necessary to protect the previous victims. Including Feng Yu Lan, there were a total of three people who were fortunate enough to have survived the first attack. However, one of the survivors had recently died, which meant that the remaining survivors were down to only Feng Yu Lan and the other individual, both of whom were in danger of being murdered at any time.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why¡¯d you say someone used me of murder?¡± Now that Feng Yu Lan had understood why this group of police officers hade for him, he didn¡¯t hesitate to jump to the subject that had been unsettling him for a while.

    ¡°It¡¯s rather odd to say, but the victim who died this morning seemed to have made a phone call before he passed away; it¡¯s just that the call didn¡¯t go through. After checking the number, we found that it was meant for you¡­¡± The officer announced. ¡°Because of the call, the family of the deceased became rather agitated. They think the murderer is you, so they want to charge you with manughter.¡±

    The officer¡¯s words shocked Feng Yu Lan. He instinctively touched the mobile phone under his pillow. When he woke up after escaping the chamber, his initial reaction was to grab his phone and check the time. At that moment, there was, indeed, a missed call on his cell, but the number was unfamiliar, so Feng Yu Lan had assumed that it was either a case of dialing the wrong number or it was a random prank call from some stranger. He ignored it at the time and, instead, directly called Luo Jian.

    The police officer took the phone from Feng Yu Lan, examined it, and then exined a couple of things to Feng Yu Lan. Although Feng Yu Lan had originally been the primary suspect because of this phone call, once the police investigated the surveince cameras in the hospital, they discovered that Feng Yu Lan had not left the ward the entire night. In the middle of the night, a nurse stopped by and checked the room, and Feng Yu Lan was sound asleep in his bed. Moreover, it was a full one-hour drive from the crime scene to the hospital that Feng Yu Lan currently rested at, meaning he wouldn¡¯t have enough time to return [if he hadmitted the crime]. In other words, Feng Yu Lan had a solid alibi to prove that he was not the murderer.

    Since they had proved that Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t the culprit, the next steps were easier to handle. The officer had reason to believe that Feng Yu Lan may be targeted again, so he set up the following arrangement for Feng Yu Lan: ¡°Because of your special circumstances, we will personally request a single room for you. And for the sake of your safety, you¡¯ll be under the protection of our police during your stay at this hospital.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan cursed in his heart, rather than saying such a pleasant word like, ¡®protecting¡¯, why not just say ¡®monitoring¡¯. Unfortunately, he could only say this in his mind without voicing it aloud. His heart had no choice but to ept the arrangement since it wouldn¡¯t do him any good to reject such an offer. After all, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s wound hadn¡¯t healed yet, and he also didn¡¯t want to receive any more fatal injuries.

    Luo Jian, who was standing nearby, was also taken out for a drink by one of the officers. Of course, since Luo Jian didn¡¯t have anything to do with this matter in the first ce, he was free to leave after a few questions. Luo Jian was still feeling unbearably anxious though; he felt that he had overlooked something extremely important. So before he left, he told Feng Yu Lan to take care of himself then headed off by himself to the Red Spider Lily Bar.

    There were a couple of things that the boss didn¡¯t exin in detail. However, the most concerning issues at hand involved Feng Yu Lan and the note. Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t a yer in the game, so how could he be invited? If not all, he didn¡¯t write on the nk letter, but how did the note spontaneously modify itself into an invitation card? These were questions that Luo Jian needed answers to, and the only person who could answer these right now was the boss.

    Unexpectedly, the moment he stepped into the Red Spider Lily Bar, the bartender, Noah, took the initiative to wee him. He said to Luo Jian, ¡°You must be looking for the boss. He¡¯s been awaiting your arrival for a long time.¡±

    ¡°He knew I¡¯de?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Noah directed a grin at Luo Jian then led him to the private room on the second floor. Sure enough, he saw that bearded uncle who imed to be Boss; his face was flushed red from the wine, and he was sprawled across the sofa,pletely motionless. Noah sauntered over and, without an ounce of respect, harshly kicked the boss. The other raised his head in a drunken daze, caught sight of Luo Jian, and then hupped.

    He slurred, ¡°You came¡­hic¡­I waited for you¡­for a long time!¡±

    ¡°Did you forget to mention some things to me when we spokest time?¡± Frowning, Luo Jian got straight to the point.

    ¡°Ah¡­.that¡¯s right. I drank a bit too much and forget about that. But thinking about it, you should¡¯ve already realized something was wrong.¡± The boss tossed his bottle aside, sat upright on the couch, and pulled at his disheveled hair, seemingly trying to remember something. The expression on his face was grave as he exined to Luo Jian, ¡°Before I answer any of your questions, I have to tell you something that I forgot to mention before¡­ It¡¯s something very, very important.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s this note in the chambers. It¡¯s a piece of paper with a purple hell flower that you would often see in the chambers. The purpose of this note isn¡¯t just to remind you the rules of the game or to give you some hints about the situation, it also has other functions. If you take this note and ask it some questions about the chamber, it will automatically give you a response¡­ In simpler terms, it¡¯s as if this slip of paper possesses a mind of its own; it has the ability tomunicate with you! But most importantly, this paper will leave you a message on behalf of the chambers¡¯ will. You must adapt to any possible changes the note brings to you!¡±

    The boss¡¯s ount somewhat surprised Luo Jian. He immediately recalled his first chamber experience; the piece of paper he held in his hand certainly answered Luo Jian¡¯s question. This made Luo Jian think of how Feng Yu Lan was invited by the note, and he asked, ¡°You gave me a nk letter thest time I was here, but without my knowing, it suddenly changed into a written invitation card and invited my friend, who is an ordinary person, to the game. Was this also the chambers¡¯ doing?¡±

    ¡°The chambers will never invite ordinary people.¡± The boss shook his head and pondered for a minute before responding to Luo Jian¡¯s question. ¡°Since your friend was invited, his situation¡¯s probably just like yours; he was selected for a reason! As a neer, he still had yet to experience his first trial, but because he came in contact with that note, he was automatically approved and invited by the chambers¡ªbut if he really did ept the invitation, wouldn¡¯t that mean you guys became a team? That¡¯s double the difficulty ah! You should count yourself lucky to be able to stand in front of me right now!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t help but feel that something¡¯s still amiss.¡± Luo Jian cast a wry smile in the boss¡¯ direction; however, he couldn¡¯t ignore this vague sense of unease that pricked his heart. After deliberating over whether he should say it, he finally continued, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve read the newspaper recently, but my friend was attacked by a serial killer a while ago¡­ is this matter rted to the chambers?¡±

    The great uncle ruffled his hair in exasperation; his previously unkempt hair turned into a messier bird¡¯s nest, a perfect match to his straggly beard. With a bitter expression, he grimly admitted, ¡°I haven¡¯t got single clue about this. Although I¡¯m a guide to all neers in this city, I¡¯m not at all omniscient, but¡­about that serial killer in the city¡­ There¡¯s actually someone who has better qualifications to answer any questions you might have. He¡¯s my senior, and he should know something about this. You can go ask him.¡±

    The boss said his senior woulde over at 8 P.M. or 9 P.M., around the time when the bar opened, but it was still morning, so there was a good while before nighttime arrived. The boss suggested that Luo Jian try to find a nearby ce to kill some time, but Luo Jian didn¡¯t know what he could do to busy himself. He¡¯d just recently escaped the oppressive environment of the chamber, so having all of this free time actually stressed Luo Jian out.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never teamed up with other people during one of the levels of the chambers. Then again, I¡¯ve never really had the guts to do so.¡± The boss seemed to have the desire to engage in a conversation with Luo Jian, and he gleefully inquired, ¡°So what was it like having double the trouble?¡±

    Luo Jian recalled his experience on the ghost ship, and he couldn¡¯t help but shiver. He replied, ¡°Oh¡­we ended up in a ghost ship surrounded by thick fog. There were undead monsters that could never be killed and corpses that coulde back to life.¡±

    The boss looked at Luo Jian in pity, thenmented, ¡°ording to my own experiences, the degree of difficulty¡¯s really been ramped up for you. As a matter of fact, a rookie yer, who has only experienced the first, most basic level of the chambers that¡¯s meant for beginners, shouldn¡¯te across such a strange and mysterious chamber that fast.¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡± Luo Jian then thought of the Stalker who was on the ghost ship. He nced at the boss, then tentatively questioned, ¡°You still remember how I told you that I encountered a Stalker in the first level of the chambers?¡±

    ¡°Of course I remember. Why? You met him again?¡±

    Luo Jian paused, neither affirming it nor denying it. ¡°What happens if a person runs into a Stalker for a second time?¡±

    ¡°Well then, you¡¯re very unlucky to have been engraved with a seal, I guess?¡± The boss¡¯ words sent a cold chill down Luo Jian¡¯s spine. He was tempted to touch the round tattoo on his neck that was covered by his hair. The boss didn¡¯t notice that Luo Jian was acting unnatural. He merely went to his desk to fetch a bottle of wine, popped open the cap, and chugged it down. Once he finished downing half the bottle, he hupped and added, ¡°But it¡¯s not as if something like that would ever happen.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Stalkers will only mark the extremely powerful prey who¡¯ve managed to flee from them, and you¡­look at you. You¡¯re unbelievably weak, so how¡¯s that even a possibility?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever met a yer who¡¯s been marked?¡± Luo Jian was anxious for any sort of reassurance. He brooded over the tattoo the Stalker left on his neck. Not to mention, there was also that snake the Stalker wrapped around his wrist. Every day he would feel the cold sensation, the disturbing squirming, the peristaltic movement of the small snake; it was always there, constantly reminding him of his situation.

    ¡°At this stage, it¡¯s impossible for us yers to determine who the true, strong winners are.¡± The boss dered. ¡°You never know, some day, you might not even find me in this bar. Perhaps another newbie guide will be the one to greet you. Death is verymon. Anyone who struggles in these chambers havee to terms with this.¡±

    Luo Jian wasn¡¯t quite satisfied with the information he¡¯d obtained from the boss. He left the bar at noon, and prepared to return to the hospital to take a look at his Ah Lanter.

    Feng Yu Lan was, once again, put into a single-upancy room. He was sitting on his hospital bed, casually flipping through the pages of his grimoire. Despite the fact that Feng Yu Lan was very reluctant to talk to this stupid book, he still began preparing himself in order to learn apletely new and strangenguage.

    News reports on the serial killer had been broadcast on television. Apparently, this was the most horrific thing that¡¯s ever happened in the city. A total of five people had been killed so far! If one woke up in the middle of the night, all one would hear would be the sounds of police sirens. The superiors attached great importance to this matter, and the pressure the elites and the regr citizens put on the police was astounding. The two police officers who were stationed near the door to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s ward wore heavy expressions on their faces.

    These two officers were ordered to monitor and protect Feng Yu Lan in the ward for 24 hours. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant job at all. They had to enter the room from time to time, disturbing the poor Ah Lan. No matter what he did, they would immediately hound him; even if Feng Yu Lan went to the squatting toilet to do his business, they would instantly follow after him, giving him no space. Not only did Feng Yu Lan feel awfully irritated, but even the two policemen were feeling vexed.

    Soon after, the two officers began to chat with each other at the door to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s private room. The topics ranged from each other¡¯s girlfriends to the serial killer. Finally, when the topic of Feng Yu Lan came up, one of the policemen said, ¡°What do you think about that moronic chap who¡¯s just been there, reading his book out loud non-stop? I mean, we¡¯ve been standing out here for over an hour, listening to him ramble on like a lunatic.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t realize he¡¯d been crowned with the adjective ¡®moronic¡¯. He simply sat on his bed,pletely focused on learning magic. At this time, the other police officer opened his mouth. ¡°Maybe that killer scared him silly.¡±

    But just as the police officer finished this sentence, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck. It was as if someone had ruthlessly struck him with a bat, giving him no time to react. The view before his eyes gradually turned ck, and he soon lost consciousness.

 Chapter 24: Devil

    Chapter 24: Devil

    As he was sittingfortably inside his room, Feng Yu Lan heard muffled noisesing from the doorway. Suddenly, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine; he sensed something was amiss.

    The grimoire in his hand trembled violently and, without warning, a few words materialized:

    ¡¾Escape now! There¡¯s a strong killing intent nearby!¡¿

    Although Feng Yu Lan had always thought this magic tome was stupid, he had to admit that it was his weapon, his partner; no matter when or where, Feng Yu Lan had to trust it! Therefore, at the sight of these sentences, he promptly hopped out of his hospital bed. The wound at his waist hadn¡¯t fully healed, and there was still a dull ache, yet he had no choice but to endure it.

    With the grimoire in hand, Feng Yu Lan darted to the washroom inside his private ward and locked the door. Just when he mmed the door shut, he heard a slight creak from outside. It seemed that someone had opened the door to the room, very slowly and carefully. Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t dare peek. He barricaded the bathroom door and clung to the magic tome, shivering uncontrobly. With a hushed whisper, he asked the grimoire for advice on how to deal with this matter.

    ¡¾You have to get away from here, escape far away as possible! Climb out the window!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan nced at the window inside thevatory. His room was on the fourth floor. It wasn¡¯t a good idea to jump out of the window from the fourth floor; however, he had no other options. If he didn¡¯t do it, Feng Yu Lan was sure that he¡¯d be crushed to bones by the uninvited guest outside!

    ¡°I¡¯m so fucking unlucky! I¡¯m practically being chased everyday by someone who wants to kill me!¡± Feng Yu Lan grumbled indignantly. But he didn¡¯t dare dy. He hoisted himself up using his hands and feet and climbed out of the window. Feng Yu Lan looked down and immediately became dizzy from seeing the scene at this height. The grimoire changed again, this time giving him new lines:

    ¡¾Now, I¡¯ll teach you your first incantation. It¡¯s a spell that can make your body float, but this spell can onlyst up to three minutes because your powers are weak. Remain vignt at all costs; do not let your guard down. ¡¿

    Reciting the floating spell was very brief. Feng Yu Lan read the incantation from the grimoire out loud. The words were a bit difficult and awkward to pronounce, and Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t know what these words meant, but once he finished reading them, something miraculous urred. It was as if he were lighter than ten catties1, as if the earth¡¯s gravity no longer applied to him. To put it simply, he was unbelievably light; so light that even the slightest breeze could lift him into the air.

    Feng Yu Lan was shocked by the magical effects of the spell. He immediately jumped out of the window and leapt onto the water pipe on the edge of the wall. He¡¯d never felt so agile before; he systematically began to climb down the water pipe. He had just reached the third floor when he heard the door to the bathroom open. The footsteps didn¡¯t pause and the sound gradually approached the window.

    ¡¾Hurry up! He¡¯s here!¡¿

    This time, the grimoire didn¡¯t wait for Feng Yu Lan; it suddenly flew away to his side. The pages of the book rapidly turned over, and severalrge characters shed before Feng Yu Lan¡¯s eyes. Feng Yu Lan was in a haste; he anxiously climbed down as fast as he could. Just at that moment, a person poked their head out of the window above and looked down. Feng Yu Lan inadvertently nced back up and caught sight of the other, and with just one glimpse, his face paled in sheer terror.

    From what he could see, the person¡¯s entire body was clothed in ck, a ck jacket paired up with a ck shirt. Based on the other¡¯s stature, the person was undoubtedly a man; however, he had inky ck hair that reached his shoulders and that was slightly tousled by the wind¡¯s breeze. Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t able to see the other¡¯s face clearly due to the ferocious-looking demon mask he wore. In fact, Feng Yu Lan was so startled by the masked face that he nearly released his grip on the pipe.

    The pages of the grimoire continued to flip rapidly. This time, however, the magic tome flew directly in front of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s face. Several lines of bold cursive obstructed his view:

    ¡¾What are you gawking at! Hurry up and go! You want to be stabbed with a knife again?!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan returned to his senses and proceeded to climb down the pipe in a hurry. But the masked man¡¯s following actions soon made Feng Yu Lan¡¯s jaw drop. He saw the man climb out the window of the fourth floor of the building just as he did, but afterwards the other jumped straight down from there!

    Mommy! Feng Yu Lan was so frightened that he cried out loud. The masked man instantly dropped to the same level as Feng Yu Lan. He shot out his arm and clutched Feng Yu Lan¡¯s clothes, dragging him down! Feng Yu Lan¡¯s mind nked from the weightlessness of the fall. It was only a matter of seconds. He felt himself approaching the ground, getting closer and closer. He suddenly thought of Luo Jian, how Luo Jian fell from the mast. Perhaps this was what he was feeling back then¡­ But how could this be? At that time, Luo Jian left the scene unscathed.

    He and the masked man plummeted to the earth; however, this man exhibited a strength far greater than ordinary humans. He rolled on the ground once, reducing the impact of his fall, and then he stood up, spread his arms wide, and caught Feng Yu Lan! Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t feel any pain from falling down, but he still didn¡¯t realize it at the moment. Time froze for him; he simply stared at the masked man, utterly dumbfounded.

    Ah! So this was the reason! Feng Yu Lan registered. No wonder Luo Jian was unharmed after falling from such a great height; it turned out that whatever happened back then was exactly the same as now!

    But the masked man wasn¡¯t the Stalker, and Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t Luo Jian.

    Feng Yu Lan heard the masked man let out a weird chuckle from under his disguise. The sound was eerie, hair-raising. Such creepyughter coupled with that monstrous demon mask was beyond chilling; Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t dare look at him! This scene practically made it seem as if he had returned to that dark, gloomy, deste ghost ship!

    Feng Yu Lan immediately began to struggle. He twisted in the masked man¡¯s arms, hopped out, managing to free himself, and staggered backwards, trying to escape. However, in the very next second, the man kicked him to the ground. The man wore a pair of seemingly expensive, ck designer sports shoes. He viciously stepped on Feng Yu Lan¡¯s back; sadly, it was no coincidence that he stepped near the wound on Feng Yu Lan¡¯s waist.

    Feng Yu Lan abruptly shrieked in agony! ¡°Fucking hell! This shit hurts! The wound¡¯s going to open up! Ahhhhh! It fucking hurts!¡±

    In that instant, Feng Yu Lan suddenly recalled the murderer who had stabbed him with a knife back then, but he didn¡¯t know whether the masked man in front of him was the same person. When he was stabbed on the street, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s back was facing the killer, so he wasn¡¯t able to catch the other person¡¯s appearance. Not to mention, he ended up falling unconscious from that sharp, excruciating pain at his waist.

    Nevertheless, Feng Yu Lan had still managed to hear the killer¡¯sugh right before he sumbed to the darkness. Piercing, delirious, arrogant, a mix of many things. He could clearly distinguish the malice, the animus, the insanity, contained within the voice.

    The masked man soon drew out his knives. Feng Yu Lan discovered that this man carried two weapons on him, a long sword and a short knife. Feng Yu Lan studied the two knives and identified that the longer one was a tang dao, while the shorter one was a surgeon¡¯s knife.

    Simrly to Luo Jian, this man was skilled in using knives; but different knives induced unique attacks. Longer knives were used to sh, to cut down another without restraint, to pressure another with one¡¯s powerful momentum. However, shorter knives were like vipers, silently lurking in the dark, quietly waiting for the opportune moment to strike their prey dead, treacherous and unrivaled.

    The male before him was undoubtedly going to use the longer knife. He took out his tang dao, faced Feng Yu Lan, and cut down. Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t have Luo Jian¡¯s agility; he was only able to dodge that first blow before all of his strength left his body. He could only watch on distraught as that long, sharp dagger drew nearer. Feng Yu Lan was terrified¡­but, interestingly enough, he soon grew tranquil.

    Since his mind was now calmer and clearer, he naturally thought of the brief, difficult-to-pronounce floating spell and whether he could employ it once again. Feng Yu Lan mouthed the words then spoke aloud. His body turned light in an instant, and he evaded the masked man¡¯s second attack.

    However, the spell didn¡¯tst long. Feng Yu Lan was eventually forced to a dead end. They jumped down from the fourth floor of the building and ended up in a deserted alley behind the hospital. This narrow area ce waspletely abandoned; there was not a soul in sight, and every spot was littered with heaps of trash.

    He couldn¡¯t call on anyone for help at this ce. This was the end of the line for Feng Yu Lan. His grimoire hovered beside him; the pages continued to flutter wildly, but Feng Yu Lan had no energy to read the words that were written down. He felt that the masked man was merely amusing himself, that he wasn¡¯t actually in a hurry to kill him. Instead, he toyed with him like how a cat would a mouse, entrapping its prey slowly, ever so carefully driving the small animal to hopelessness. At longst, Feng Yu Lan helplessly slouched against the wall behind him, finally giving up this futile resistance.

    ¡°Are you going to kill me?¡± Though the answer was quite obvious, Feng Yu Lan couldn¡¯t reconcile himself to his loss. This was truly the worst. In the end, he wasn¡¯t going to die in the chambers; rather, he was going to die in the real world¡­ But perhaps that was a good thing. Luo Jian would be better off without him; at least he would no longer be a burden if he was gone.

    Deep sorrow filled Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heart as he thought of Luo Jian. My dear brother, it seems I have to go now; remember to say sorry to our parents in my stead.

    Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t someone who feared death. He may appear timid at times, but he knew it, and Luo Jian also knew it; in reality, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s courage was far greater than Luo Jian¡¯s. He was extremely optimistic, he was brazen; no desperate situation could force him into the pits of despair. If he were born with a healthy body like Luo Jian, he¡¯d be able to aplish anything that Luo Jian could.

    But God was fair. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s health was very poor. From the moment he came out of his mother¡¯s womb, he was never as lively as other children. When he was younger, he was born with countless serious illnesses and nearly died several times. As he grew older, his condition slightly improved; however, it was still much worse than the average adult male. Every day, Feng Yu Lan detested his own weaknesses; he loathed the fact that he practically resembled a girl.

    It was all because of his frailty that he would always stick to Luo Jian, experiencing things together, encountering anything together. And even though Luo Jian was more of a coward than he was, Luo Jian always had to be the one to stand up for him, he always had to be the one to protect him!

    ¡°Fuck this shit!¡± Consumed by self-loathing, Feng Yu Lan abruptly snatched his grimoire, which was suspended in the air beside him, and softly hissed, ¡°I want to live. Tell me everything you can. Tell me all of the spells that will let me survive!¡±

    ¡¾Even if you pay a heavy price for it?¡¿

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter even if I go to hell and be a devil!¡±

    He yearned strength, his ardent need for strength was unquenchable! To surpass all, to conquer over everything, to forever be powerful, to absolutely never be trampled under the feet of the strong! For this reason, he would sacrifice all that he possessed; it didn¡¯t matter whether he burned in the depths of hell for all eternity or if he turned into the devil, he would not hesitate!

    ¡¾Then be a devil.¡¿

    A series of long incantations appeared on the pages of the grimoire. Feng Yu Lan nced at it once then looked up at the masked man in front of him. The man cocked his head to one side and slowly dragged the tang dao on the ground, issuing a harsh, grating noise. By now, he seemed to have lost interest in toying with his pitiful prey. His murderous intent grew increasingly threatening as he gradually strode towards Feng Yu Lan, his footsteps became even more oppressive by the second. Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t stop chanting under his breath; he didn¡¯t stop uttering those long,plicated sybles. A pale hue colored his youthful face; his voice grew indistinct as those strange and intricate spells spilled from his parted lips. It was like the aria of an evil creature, like an eerie melody that scorned the world¡¯s virtues and vices.

    ¡¾May God forgive you for my sins.¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan bowed his head and silently recited the incantation, unaware that this one phrase had emerged from the pages of the grimoire.

 Chapter 25: Omen

    Chapter 25: Omen

    The knife he held grew hot; the scorching heat nearly seared Luo Jian¡¯s hand. Luo Jian nced down at his right hand, then observed the short dagger grasped in his palm. The knife burned to the touch, but a prating, cial light glinted off the de; this chilling iciness was a stark contrast to the blistering heat.

    Guests seldom stayed in the VIP private wards on the fourth floor. When Luo Jian arrived to the fourth level, he didn¡¯t see a single person. However, when he walked over to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s ward, he noticed two police officers lying facedown on the ground. They didn¡¯t have any physical injuries on their bodies; they only seemed to have passed out. A nurse who followed Luo Jian upstairs saw this scene and suddenly eximed. Luo Jian was unperturbed. He simply turned his head around and told the nurse to go back downstairs and call for a doctor. After the nurse left, Luo Jian immediately sidestepped the two hapless officers sprawled on the ground and directly entered Feng Yu Lan¡¯s room.

    Sure enough, there wasn¡¯t a soul in sight; it waspletely empty.

    But the Luo Jian as of now wasn¡¯t the Luo Jian of back then. He was able to discern the nearly imperceptible, unusual traces on the hospital bed and on the ground, allowing him to assess the situation. He didn¡¯t pause and headed straight for thevatory. The window inside the bathroom was left wide open; the heavy, cool winds blew inside. He went to the window, poked his head outside, and looked down. Two dark figures shed through the deep alley, seemingly entangled with one another, struggling and chasing.

    ¡°Ah Lan¡ª!¡± Luo Jian shouted loudly. He could vaguely recognize one of the shadows in the narrow alley below, but he couldn¡¯t see very clearly for the trees and surrounding buildings were obstructing his view.

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart pounded violently; his stomach clenched as he grew more nervous.

    He climbed out of the window without hesitation and calcted the distance of the fourth floor from the ground. Then, he took a deep breath, kicked out his foot, and leapt.

    If it was before, Luo Jian would never have even considered jumping down from such a height. Even if he was surrounded by fire and there was no alternative solutions but for him to jump, he would still try to find a way to rush out of the mes, rather of leaving his life or death to the earth¡¯s vile gravity.

    But, of course, that was before. Currently, Luo Jian had a strange feeling that his strength seemed to be growing by the second. This feeling was particrly strong when he¡¯d escaped the second chamber, the ghost ship. The weapon in his hand gave him valor, a great courage that bred Luo Jian¡¯s confidence, leading him to blindly trust in his own power.

    Luo Jian¡¯s inherent fighting instincts were maxed out to the extreme. Right before he crashed to the ground, Luo Jian did exactly as the masked man who was after Feng Yu Lan did; he skillfully executed a wless roll, reducing the impact of his fall. He staggered to his feet and followed the trails leading to the battle. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t dy; he soon found the two people deep within the alley.

    But¡­the situation was rather odd.

    Luo Jian fiercely rubbed his eyes and suspected that he was seeing things; he figured he was only mistaken, or that his exhaustion caused him to hallucinate. Because he actually saw his Ah Lan and some random man tightly embracing each other! The two individuals¡¯ clothes were messy, Ah Lan was pressed up against the wall by the man, and one of his arms were rounding the other man¡¯s neck. The man¡¯s back was facing Luo Jian, so Luo Jian couldn¡¯t see this guy¡¯s mug. The only thing Luo Jian could see was half of Ah Lan¡¯s pale face, more specifically, his dazed expression as well as the blood that stained the corner of his mouth.

    This scene stunned Luo Jian speechless, and he stood in ce,pletely paralyzed. It was only until Feng Yu Lan let out a faint cry that Luo Jian came back to his senses and promptly darted forward into action. The man embracing Feng Yu Lan suddenly struck out his hand behind him; the tang dao flew through the air, heading towards Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian nimbly sprung back, evading the attack, and raised his head to see that strange man, who held Ah Lan in his arms, turn around. The man was dressed in all ck. His long, raven hair fell down to his shoulders, and a ferocious demon mask hung on his face. The mask was partially pulled back, exposing half of the other¡¯s face. Those deep, ck eyes. Contrary to expectations, the man was rather good-looking; it was just that the man had a rare, hideous scar that ran across his right eye, destroying his natural beauty.

    Feng Yu Lan was nestled in the man¡¯s arms, his breaths were slowing. Seeing this, Luo Jian immediately realized how severe his Ah Lan¡¯s current state was. The man held a tang dao in one hand while his other hand was wrapped around Ah Lan¡¯s waist, pressing down on the fresh injury at Feng Yu Lan¡¯s waist. He then ruthlessly plunged his fingers into the unhealed wound. The wound was torn open, and the blood flowed down from Feng Yu Lan¡¯s body.

    Feng Yu Lan looked to be in a trance, as if he wasn¡¯t conscious of anything. He clung to the man, instinctively seeking anything to support himself. His body was trembling, his lips were painted in bright red blood. His grimoire wasying open on the ground, motionless. The pages of the book were also stained with scarlet.

    Feng Yu Lan¡¯s appearance really made Luo Jian worried; he didn¡¯t take into consideration the man¡¯s strength and just drew out his short dagger and threw himself at him. Luo Jian¡¯s movements were incredibly swift and exact. He dodged the masked man¡¯s every blow, and sliced across the air; his de rushed straight at him! But, surprisingly, the masked man didn¡¯t try to avoid this attack. With a sudden sneer, he viciously shoved Feng Yu Lan onto the path of Luo Jian¡¯s knife. Luo Jian had to snatch back his knife midair. He opened his arms wide and caught Ah Lan, securing him in his embrace.

    The masked man wasn¡¯t interested in Luo Jian. Instead, he extended his hand that was stained with Ah Lan¡¯s blood and gave it a lick. He seemed obsessed with the taste of his blood; a crazed grin crept onto his face. Luo Jian¡¯s stomach churned at the sight of this. Luo Jian nced down at Ah Lan, who was drenched in his own blood, dying in his arms, and scrunched his eyebrows, feeling unbearably distressed. How could anyone dare bully his family¡¯s Ah Lan? Since he was small, Luo Jian had always protected his dear baby brother! Righteousness and heroism engulfed Luo Jian¡¯s heart. He had to cut up that sick man; he wouldn¡¯t be at peace if he didn¡¯t behead that unfamiliar, repulsive masked man with his de!

    But there was one thing that was far beyond Luo Jian¡¯s calctions. He had temporarily set Ah Lan down, used his clothes to block the heavily-bleeding wound, and picked up his own knife, preparing to battle for three hundred rounds, when Ah Lan suddenly woke up, reached out with his hand, and captured Luo Jian¡¯s arm.

    ¡°Ah Lan?¡± Luo Jian worriedly looked down at Feng Yu Lan¡¯s face. Feng Yu Lan was expressionless. His face was pale from blood loss, and his eyes were as lifeless as before. He seemingly still hadn¡¯t regained his will. However, just then, Feng Yu Lan opened his mouth and uttered a word.

    It was strange. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying. He only heard a series of distorted sybles that weren¡¯t Chinese or English. ording to what Luo Jian already knew, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s nativenguage was Chinese, but he was also fluent in English, and he also knew some German and French. Luo Jian has heard Feng Yu Lan speak all thesenguages before, but they weren¡¯t at all close to thenguage Ah Lan was currently speaking.

    ¡°It¡¯s best if he stops reciting those disgusting mantras.¡± At this moment, the masked man, who was standing at the side, suddenly spoke up.

    The masked man¡¯s voice startled Luo Jian. He¡¯d interacted with the Stalker before, so Luo Jian had believed this man to have a simr nature as the Stalker; thus, he assumed this masked man also couldn¡¯t speak. However, it was obvious this man wasn¡¯t a Stalker; he didn¡¯t possess the one thing that characterized Stalkers¡ªbright crimson eyes.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Luo Jian warily red at the masked man, sending out as much of his own malice as possible. But the masked man hardly cared. He cracked a grin and chuckled in amusement, ¡°My name is Duan Li.¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯d you attack him?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­¡± Duan Li raised his tang dao and ced it on his shoulder, that twisted smile remained on his face. ¡°I just like to cut people, nothing more¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re that serial killer?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so. After all, that is what they call me.¡±

    Luo Jian took a deep, ragged breath, trying to suppress his inner fury that was threatening to explode. The world was such a baffling mystery! There were many inexplicable phenomena, such as some ineffable boneheads who just killed people for an even more ludicrous and iprehensible reason! But, clearly, one of these boneheads was standing right before his eyes! There was no use in wasting words on this brainless guy!

    One has to understand. There are some people who simply enjoy sitting and watching the world¡¯s destruction. For such people, threats and promises have no effects. They aren¡¯t concerned of worldly affairs andws, they regard material riches as trash, they treat authority as shit. They only act on their own interests, kill people just for fun.

    Luo Jian detested such people.

    Indeed, Luo Jian himself wasn¡¯t a saint. He was also very selfish. He would never hesitate to sacrifice the interests of others for the sake of his own gains, for the people and things he valued and cared for. But Luo Jian would also never choose to be a wicked man. Even if the world was really destroyed, even if darkness descended upon the earth, even if all the people around him chose to fall to the abyss of sins, sumbing to evil, Luo Jian would not persecute others; he would never harm another¡¯s life for the hell of it. Because Luo Jian was, ultimately, a human being, not just a savage beast.

    This was the difference between man and beast.

    As for the masked man before him, he was entirely worthy of being a damned beast.

    ¡°If I kill you here right now, I wonder if it¡¯d be considered a justifiable homicide in self-defense.¡± Luo Jian gently shrugged off Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hand, picked up his weapon, and faced the masked man. This was the first time he was overwhelmed by such an intense emotion, such violent thoughts. This wasn¡¯t just for Ah Lan, but also for those who¡¯ve died by his hands. Luo Jian only had one conviction in his heart at this moment: If I don¡¯t eliminate this man, then I swear I¡¯m not a man myself!

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± The masked manughed as he narrowed his eyes at Luo Jian. ¡°That¡¯s truly a nice expression you got there.¡±

    While Luo Jian and Duan Li were fighting, the pages of the grimoire thaty on the floor suddenly began turning despite theck of wind outside. The bloodstains soon vanished, and immediately after, the book quivered, floated in the air, then shed over to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s side. A short phrase appeared:

    ¡¾Are you ready?¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan had been silently chanting the spell the entire time. Even if he wasn¡¯t consciously aware of it, this lengthy mantra was engraved within his impable memory, and he was able to read aloud verbatim.

    ¡¾This is a forbidden spell. It¡¯s impossible to use at your current strength. The cost of doing this is that you¡¯d be struck by a powerful curse. However, you¡¯d also be able to obtain unrivaled power at this stage.¡¿

    Regardless whether Feng Yu Lan could see the sentences, the grimoire continuously presented these words on its own ord. These warped characters presaged a sinister omen, indicating that Feng Yu Lan¡¯s world was bound to be distorted, shattered to pieces.

    ¡¾Master, your inner demons have been suppressed for far too long. It¡¯s time to release them.¡¿

 Chapter 26: Survive

    Chapter 26: Survive

    Feng Yu Lan probably wasn¡¯t aware that weapons possessed a will of their own; however, this wasn¡¯t at all a good thing.

    The chambers gave all yers a weapon. Its creation and origin was based upon the yers¡¯ various physical qualities, mental capacity, as well as their spirit. That is to say, one¡¯s personality and physique determined one¡¯s ideal weapon. Just like Luo Jian, some people were innately suited for knives. And, usually, those who used knives tended to be rather aggressive in nature; they all possessed a sort of ¡®viciousness¡¯ within them. Perhaps these attributes weren¡¯t conspicuous on the surface, but they existed; they were simply buried within the depths of one¡¯s heart, the very ce a person¡¯s true self was hidden.

    In that sense, Luo Jian was a very cruel person in some respects; he was quite inhumane.

    But what of Feng Yu Lan? The chambers gifted him a grimoire, which may suggest that he was a man of ancient lineage, as this magic tome was primarily written in an ancientnguage. But moreover, this book embodied the predisposedplexities within Feng Yu Lan, suchplexities he was forever doomed to possess. For instance, take a look at the surface of the book. One could never understand just howplicated, how intricate and unfathomable, the narrative written inside truly was just based on the cover. It was this sort ofplexity, this mystery, that formed this kind of ridiculous weapon.

    And weapons possessing their own self-will further highlighted that irond fact.

    In the dimly lit bar, the boss mentioned to Luo Jian, ¡°Weapons will guide you inbat. When you hold on to them firmly, they will arouse the evils that dwell deep inside you, infinitely amplify them, until all that upies your mind are your fighting skills and survival instincts. This is the process we call ¡®demonizing1¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Weapons are both good and bad. Every person will carry a weapon unique to them. For some, it may be a dagger; for others, it may be a needle. But amongst these weapons are ones that have their own special category, and those weapons are ones with self-will. These are the worst kind. Weapons that possess a mind of their own typically represent their owners¡ªthose suffering from split personalities.¡±

    ¡°Human beings are undoubtedlyplex. There are many people who die without knowing their hidden alter ego. You might see a sessful man who is righteous and well-dressed during the day, but he may suddenly be apletely different person when the nightes, abandoning all restraints,cking integrity, having no limitations. This is precisely the double-nature of humans. This kind of contradiction is what creates such yers. They are naturally docile and calm on the surface, but when they engage in battle¡­they can change into someone entirely different! Be someone selfish, someone who cannot recognize their own family, someone who is unable to distinguish between friend or foe. Indeed, this is the most dangerous, as well as the most tragic.¡±

    ¡¾Demonizing isplete.¡¿

    The grimoire floated in the air and shuddered violently. A few characters manifested on the pages of the book. The grimoire seemed to be very excited. It frantically spun around Feng Yu Lan; the words on the pages became increasingly chaotic, warped. Feng Yu Lan, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes and waved his hands to swat that god-awful book away.

    But the magic tome was stubborn; it eagerly flew back and hovered near Feng Yu Lan¡¯s side. Feng Yu Lan then stood up; there wasn¡¯t the slightest change in expression on his bloodstained face. It was as if all emotions had been ripped away from Feng Yu Lan¡¯s body, turning him into an unfeeling machine. His entire being lost the color of a living man.

    In the presence of Feng Yu Lan, the battle between Luo Jian and Duan Li progressed halfway, but the oue of this battle was already clear as day. Luo Jian wasn¡¯t a match for the other. Clutching at the heavy wound on his abdomen, he leaned against the wall behind him. He never expected this man named Duan Li would be so difficult to deal with. Taking faints, striking swiftly, his style of attack was too imposing. It was obvious he was an expert, he had already perfected his skills; he was a dozen times better than Luo Jian, a beginner who wasn¡¯t even suited for such things but who still strived to improve.

    To Duan Li, Luo Jian was absolutely unworthy of his attention,pletely beneath his dignity. He curled his lips in disdain and chuckled grimly. He then flung the blood off his tang dao and suddenly opened his mouth, talking slowly, ¡°Judging from you guys¡¯ appearances, you¡¯re probably members of the chambers.¡±

    Luo Jian gasped for air, but he didn¡¯t answer. He refused to show his weakness to Duan Li.

    ¡°Rest assured, I won¡¯t kill you.¡± Duan Liughed and continued, ¡°Rookie, allow me to introduce myself. You know¡­.I trust that anyone who¡¯s entered the chambers for the first time believes with certainty that they¡¯d be able to escape that ce forever. By some chance, all of them continue to persevere and hope; they¡¯re convinced that an ¡®escape¡¯ truly exists.¡±

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t hold in the shock in his heart and he wondered, ¡°You¡­could it be that you¡¯re also¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­I wouldn¡¯t still be here if I was really powerful to that extent.¡± Duan Li seemed to be mocking himself. He swept his eyes over Luo Jian¡¯s face, then took his time to nce at Feng Yu Lan who stood at the side. Ah Lan¡¯s enchantment had already finished, but he still hadn¡¯t made his move; he merely stood in ce, motionless.

    ¡°You guys are still rookies, so you probably don¡¯t know there¡¯s this rule in the chambers. yers who¡¯ve experienced no more than five chambers have the opportunity to ¡®survive¡¯. This is the only advantage granted to all newbie yers.¡±

    ¡°Survive?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­yeah, it¡¯s five chambers or less though. Even if you die in the chambers at the time, it doesn¡¯t matter, you can still return to reality. But that¡¯s only on one condition. You must escape within twenty-four hours¡ªescape being killed by me!¡± The smile on Duan Li¡¯s face was very strange; the tang dao in his hand fiercely stabbed the ground over and over again.

    ¡°You¡¯ll pursue us?¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t exactly understand; he asked in surprise, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°You yers call me by many names. Some call me a serial killer, others call me an assassin. There are even some who call me a cleaner, garbage collector, scavenger, et cetera, whatever one pleases. I hardly care about what they call me. My job is to kill those yers who have been given the opportunity to ¡®survive¡¯ within 24 hours, nip their hopes of ever seeing a bright future in the bud.

    ¡°You should all know there are those monsters called Stalkers in the chambers. They are hunters specialized in killing the yers only in the chambers. On the other hand, me¡­I¡¯m a ¡®Stalker¡¯ who specializes in preying on yers in the real world.¡±

    That crazed smile remained on Duan Li¡¯s face as he turned his malevolent gaze to Feng Yu Lan. ¡°My task is essentially no different from a Stalker¡¯s task, but there still is a difference, because I¡¯m ultimately a human who has a will! But Stalkers, on the other hand¡­Stalkers are monsters who¡¯ve beenpletely stripped of their emotions, their memories. These monsters have been given only onemand, and that¡¯s ¡®to kill¡¯! They used to be the same as you guys, the same as me too, a yer¡­human!¡±

    ¡°These people used to stand at the very peak of the chambers. They had dreadful powers; their strength was so monstrous that it would leave you in despair. They were so fearsome to the point that they were capable of escaping these infinite chambers! But they were still no match for it, no match for it at all, still a bit inferior. In the end, it¡¯s these chambers that deserve to be called fearsome! No one can escape from this cage, no one ever escapes!¡±

    ¡°What are you trying to do?!¡± Luo Jian felt like this guy was a bit insane. This guy who called himself Duan Li just rambled endlessly to himself without getting to the point. While he was still babbling, he started advancing towards Feng Yu Lan; the tang dao scraped against the ground and issued an ear-piercing screech.

    ¡°No one can escape¡­No one! No one!¡± Duan Li tore his mask off, revealing his entire face. Half of his face was as beautiful as an angel¡¯s, but the other half was riddled with hideous scars, resembling a devil¡¯s.

    Luo Jian wasn¡¯t feeling too well; his whole body was paralyzed. The wound on his abdomen continued to bleed profusely. He never felt so powerless in his life as much as he did now. He raised his head and shouted loudly at Feng Yu Lan who was still standing motionless. ¡°Ah Lan! Run!¡±

    ¡°Is it really true that no one can escape the chambers?¡± Feng Yu Lan dismissed the yells he heard. He lifted his head, exposing an ice-cold, impassive face, and stared directly at Duan Li.

    Duan Liughed nastily. He raised his sword and pointed it at Feng Yu Lan, ¡°Death is the only eternal escape!¡±

    The sharp tip of Duan Li¡¯s de was heavily imposing. Seeing this, Luo Jian¡¯s heart froze in fear; he screamed desperately, ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t attack Ah Lan! Didn¡¯t you say you only chase and kill survivors?!¡±

    Duan Li straightened his spine and continued to hold that de straight. He turned his head around to grin at Luo Jian. ¡°Is he not a survivor?¡±

    ¡°But he never died in the chambers!¡±

    ¡°He died. Besides, his name¡¯s also on my list.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan spoke up at the same time, nkly confirming, ¡°I really did die.¡±

    Luo Jian was horrified. His eyes turned wide in sheer shock, and he bellowed, ¡°It can¡¯t be! I took you out! You couldn¡¯t have died! It¡¯s impossible!¡±

    Feng Yu Lan was silent for a long time. Suddenly, a slight smile appeared on his wooden face, and he exined, ¡°While we were trapped in the water, I had already died.¡±

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t believe this. He stubbornly shook his head as if his life depended on it. ¡°Impossible!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true. My body was too weak; I absolutely couldn¡¯t withstand the cold. I had already exceeded my limits in that freezing water. While you were still struggling to open the door, I had already suffocated. My final thoughts at the time were that I had to hold onto you tight and never let go, and that¡¯s it. My conviction was too deep; perhaps a part of my soul is forever trapped in that ghost ship.¡± Feng Yu Lan spoke as if he was narrating another person¡¯s story. Then, unlike his usual self, he pursed his lips and furrowed his brows. ¡°When I woke up in the hospital, I couldn¡¯t understand what was going on. If I was considered a survivor, but you managed to escape with me from the chambers just before I died, I should be considered to have sessfully passed the ordeal. But even if I managed to pass through that ordeal without troubles, this guy¡¯s death list would still have my name on it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re both? Poor child.¡± Duan Li rubbed his shoulders and pped his palms together, itching to get on with it already. He looked at Feng Yu Lan¡¯s face, and smiled grimly. ¡°Well, in any case, you¡¯ll never be able to escape the fate of death.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Feng Yu Lan responded. ¡°The time limit is twenty-four hours. From the time I woke up to when the sun rises tomorrow, you¡¯ll persistently chase me to kill me, right?¡±

    Duan Li didn¡¯t say anything. Still grinning evilly, he sliced down with his de. Feng Yu Lan nimbly drew back, effortlessly avoiding the attack.

    Feng Yu Lan shook his head andughed, ¡°But I won¡¯t be killed by you that easily. Being granted a second chance in life is more important than anything else.¡±

    After being demonized, Feng Yu Lan became calmer than ever before. He gracefully evaded all the attacks Duan Li threw at him. The floating spell still seemed to be working it¡¯s magic on his body, for his body was iparably lithe. He even casually skipped over to Luo Jian¡¯s side and recited a brief incantation. Luo Jian immediately felt a faint tingle near the wound on his body, and soon, the injury gradually stopped bleeding; it appeared to be healing.

    Magic certainly wasn¡¯t as glorious or majestic as films and novels depicted it to be, because there weren¡¯t any shining lights when Feng Yu Lan chanted his spells, and he didn¡¯t even flick a magnificent wand and dazzle the ce with those brilliant shimmers. He merely uttered a few short, awkward-sounding sybles, and just like that, his speech came true; he broke some naturalws of this world, and this so-called fantasy became a reality within reality.

    Duan Li wasn¡¯t at all disheartened now that his opponent was strong; on the contrary, he was rather excited. He brandished his tang dao, and instantly rushed towards Feng Yu Lan at an incredible speed. Dealing with these mages who possessed magic powers was simple for him. He only needed to keep pressuring his opponent so that the other didn¡¯t have enough time to recite an incantation!

    However, Feng Yu Lan slightly raised his hand, allowing his grimoire to hover in front of his body. The grimoire promptly created a semicircle protective shield. Duan Li¡¯s de shed against that transparent shield, and a reverberating ng sounded in the area.

    ¡°Reciting incantations is too slow, so a weapon will be used in this kind of situation. My grimoire can also instantly employ all spells I¡¯m capable of using at this stage.¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s a limit to that, correct?¡± Duan Li didn¡¯t believe the chambers would gift Feng Yu Lan a weapon that was so heaven-defying. In order to maintain bnce, there¡¯s bound to be some sort of restriction.

    ¡°Right. I can¡¯t use this book to initiate offensive spells; it¡¯s only useful for defense and support.¡± Feng Yu Lan patted his grimoire and continued, ¡°In other words, if I want to attack you, I¡¯ll have to recite incantations. And what¡¯s worse is that these damn attack spells are so fucking long.¡±

    ¡°So it alles down to endurance.¡± Duan Li analyzed the current situation. ¡°As long as I keep interrupting your attack spells, you¡¯ll be forced to use that magic book to defend yourself. It¡¯s impossible for you to possess something so useful like endless spiritual power; you will eventually be tired. And all I need to do is get you to that point of exhaustion.¡±

    ¡°You can also try to use more strength to forcefully break through my defense.¡± Feng Yu Lan spread his palms wide and grinned, ¡°But I can¡¯t waste more time on you, so I suppose I should flee from you, huh?¡±

    ¡°What¡­??¡± Feng Yu Lan¡¯s words left Duan Li baffled, but then he saw Feng Yu Lan turn around and increase the force of his floating spell. Now that he was soaring, his entire being was like a martial arts2 hero who bounded onto roofs and vaulted over walls! He rapidly leaped off the dpidated building walls in the alley, climbed up, and, atst, hopped onto the roof!

    ¡°Fucking hell! He can seriously fly!¡± Duan Li couldn¡¯t process what he saw and a stream of profanities burst from his mouth. Naturally, he was unwilling to just leave it be, and he immediately followed suit. Interestingly though, this guy obviously didn¡¯t use any spells, but his body was as light and nimble as Feng Yu Lan¡¯s. The two men bounded away, one fleeing and the other chasing, leaving behind a pitiful Luo Jian who sat in the corner by himself.

    ¡°Uh, hello?! Ah Lan, I¡¯m still here! Don¡¯t forget about me ah!¡± Luo Jian rolled his eyes and huffed in exasperation. However, the two individuals who were already far away couldn¡¯t hear him.

    ¡°I have to save Ah Lan.¡± Luo Jian thought. He had witnessed Feng Yu Lan¡¯s unrivaled condition just moments ago, but having known him since back then, Luo Jian clearly understood that expression on his face. That so-called ¡®demonizing¡¯ did, indeed, increase Ah Lan¡¯s power, but, in exchange, he would suffer extreme repercussions. Feng Yu Lan certainly wouldn¡¯t be able to hold up for an hour.

    So, as of this moment, Luo Jian¡¯s number one priority was to restore his strength as soon as possible; in one hour, he¡¯ll help suppress Duan Li, and when that timees, Feng Yu Lan can also take advantage of that period to recover his own strength. In this endless to-and-fro tussle, these two had to be in sync, they had to alternate ordingly in order to survive these twenty-four hours!

 Chapter 27: Escape

    Chapter 27: Escape

    Feng Yu Lan never knew time could be so tortuously long.

    The entire time, the homicidal maniac behind him was plowing his way through the crowds chasing him down. Feng Yu Lan was so exhausted that he literally saw stars floating before his eyes. However, this hunter still followed him closely behind, just like how a shadow followed one¡¯s body! They crossed through the busy streets of the entire city, they vaulted over the rooftops of countless tall buildings, they passed through the outer regions of a remote, abandoned vige, but no matter where Feng Yu Lan went, Duan Li pursued him relentlessly, unwilling to let go; he was practically a blood-sucking parasite that was attached to his body!

    What was even more frightening was that Feng Yu Lan was obviously tiring out, but Duan Li was still full of energy, looking as lively as ever; in fact, he appeared even more excited! During his pursuit of Feng Yu Lan, he jumped on top of taxis, he took the bus, and he even directly let Luo Jian buy a train ticket so he could hop on the train! And yet, this guy, Duan Li, still managed to chase him at his heels; he never lost him for a single second!

    Twenty-four hours so was long; not even half of those hours had passed by. If it continued like this, Feng Yu Lan felt that he¡¯d really be killed. And so, while he was running, he called Luo Jian with his phone and cried for help, ¡°Ah Jian! Set traps, set traps! We have to think of every method to get this bastard!¡±

    The whole day, Luo Jian was constantly on the move for Feng Yu Lan¡¯s sake. To start, he casually bandaged his abdominal wounds; then, without stopping to rest, he immediately purchased brand new clothes and trousers¡ªafter all, he couldn¡¯t possibly allow Feng Yu Lan to dart through the streets with only a hospital gown lest he should appear an insane fool, no?

    What was worse was that even though Feng Yu Lan was under the effects of the spell, because he was constantly on the run, his physical strength continued to rapidly deplete and the unhealed injury at his waist had the possibility of reopening. Luo Jian had preparedrge amounts of medicine and gauze. At regr intervals, he would call Feng Yu Lan to arrange a safe location for them to meet up. He would give him a change of clothes and the clean gauze for him wrap his wound, then he would go to suppress Duan Li and stall for time.

    In order to throw Duan Li off his tracks, Feng Yu Lan pretty much gave it his all and resorted to all kinds of tricks. While running, he would continuously change his clothes to disguise himself, to the point that he even wore a girl¡¯s skirt! And yet, each time, Duan Li was unexpectedly able to sniff him out better than a dog! By the time this cat-and-mouse game hade to a pause, Feng Yu Lan was a wreck, and Luo Jian was equally as scarred. If not all, the after effects of the enchantment gradually emerged; the result of forcefully raising his spiritual power and reciting incantations he wasn¡¯t capable of using at his stage was a severe headache, a massive, violent, unceasing headache.

    So, as he was escaping, he also began thinking that he might as well just get caught; in any case, when a person¡¯s dead, they¡¯re dead. He truly didn¡¯t have the energy to continue running.

    However, whenever Feng Yu Lan began to be discouraged, Luo Jian grew even more resilient, braver. He had to do something to get rid of this Stalkerpletely; he clenched his teeth and made a firm decision. He phoned Feng Yu Lan and said, ¡°Hold out for a while longer. We¡¯ll meet at the Qingshan Temple located in the west of the city.¡±

    Thereafter, he made a call to the boss.

    Due to the special circumstances of the chambers, Luo Jian instinctively knew he couldn¡¯t report to the police and ask them for help; after all, that¡¯d be quite troublesome. In only a few hours, they had already attracted too much attention just by scurrying around the city. If they continued down this path, this issue would grow bigger, and it¡¯d bring even more trouble; the situation would then turn for the worse, bing increasingly out of hand. At this moment, Luo Jian was forced to ask the first person who came to mind for help, the boss who was a guide to all neers, that great uncle who was always drunk.

    ¡°Whaa?! Your friend¡¯s about to be murdered by some crazy killer?¡± As usual, the great boss gulped down his wine and belched loudly. Muddleheaded, he stupidly yelled, ¡°You came to find me for this kind of thing?! You can¡¯t solve this by yourself?! With your current strength, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem dealing with an insignificant criminal! It¡¯s just a matter of killing a person! Go on!¡±

    ¡°No! It¡¯s not that simple; he¡¯s not just some random killer! Don¡¯t you know there are hunters specialized in killing survivors in reality?!¡± Anxious, Luo Jian urgently pressed him. On the other end of the phone, the good-for-nothing, irresponsible uncle who didn¡¯t attend to his duties hummed tonelessly.

    ¡°Oh¡­I guess there was such a person.¡± The boss was intoxicated and dizzy. He almost couldn¡¯t understand what Luo Jian was talking about. He giddilyughed with a ¡®hehe¡¯ and answered, ¡°Then I¡¯ll let 13 help you¡­ Ah! But he might not be enough. You know what, I¡¯ll also let 14 tag along¡­ but you do realize I¡¯m not just doing this favor for nothing; you better pay up in return¡­uh, in return¡­the price¡­my God, what was that?! Aiya, we¡¯ll settle thister!¡±

    So, just like that, Luo Jian was left unbelievably confused by that ridiculously confusing boss; all that he understood was that both 13 and 14 would be helping him out. Luo Jian already knew who 13 was; he was the masked man with the crossbow he¡¯d encounteredst time. But 14 was a new face for him. When Luo Jian met with this person named 14, he was quite surprised to find that it was actually a pretty little girl. She was about thirteen to fourteen years old; her face was young and tender. She was wearing a student¡¯s uniform; apparently, she had just been dragged out of the ssroom by 13.

    Little 14 red at Luo Jian with eyes full of annoyance. She made a face at him from behind 13¡¯s back; her tiny hand tightly clutched 13¡¯s sleeve. 13 gave Luo Jian a brief introduction, ¡°This is my younger sister. Although she¡¯s very young, she has already experienced four chamber escapes.¡±

    The moment Luo Jian heard this, his very being was struck by awe. Damn! That¡¯s he¡¯ awesome for a little girl to be more manly than us men! I can¡¯t believe it, four times! Just how did this young girl escape?!

    On the other hand, 13 didn¡¯t want to waste time on this topic, so he went straight to the point, ¡°Speak. What were we called for?¡±

    Luo Jian instantly recalled the reason for his requesting help. At the thought of Duan Li, that lingering spirit that wouldn¡¯t pass on already, his face suddenly sank, and he mumbled, ¡°I called because I actually need you guys to help me kill someone.¡±

    In the presence of this young girl, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t properly opened his mouth to discuss the matter of killing another. But there wasn¡¯t the faintest indication of fear on 14¡¯s face; her youthful face was still cold and impassive, and she continued tugging on her older brother¡¯s sleeve. Disregarding herpletely, 13 straightforwardly asked, ¡°Kill whom?¡±

    ¡°If you follow the news, you should probably know there¡¯s a serial killer in this city. I already know the whereabouts of the criminal, but I honestly can¡¯t report it to the police and get them involved. Therefore, I hope to settle all of this privately, get rid of him swiftly and quietly!¡±

    Luo Jian dered these words with such conviction; not even the slightest guilt burdened his soul. Sometimes, people had to be callous, malicious; they had to harden their hearts. Hispanion¡¯s life was on the line; he had no choice but to be ruthless. Only then would they be able to seed and make it through this.

    The two siblings, 13 and 14, nced at each other; they slightly hesitated before nodding their heads and agreeing to Luo Jian¡¯s request. Luo Jian¡¯s request wasn¡¯t too demanding; in any case, it wasn¡¯t as if he wanted 13 and 14 to ughter Duan Li like livestock. At the very least, he just wanted the other to be gravely injured so that he didn¡¯t have the strength to continue chasing Feng Yu Lan. He just wanted to peacefully get through these twenty-four hours, safe and sound. All¡¯s well that ends well; everyone would naturally be happy.

    The trioposed of Luo Jian, 13, and 14 instantly hit it off and immediately went on their way to the ancient Qingshan Temple located west of the city. Theid out their traps and silently waited for their prey to take the bait. At another ce, Feng Yu Lan also ran nonstop to the west; Duan Li was still hot on his heels, unremittingly pursuing him.

    The n was never going to change; this unsuspecting fish would definitely bite the bait. But just at that moment, Duan Li¡¯s footsteps slowed and he halted in the midst of his chase. Feng Yu Lan ran ahead ten meters when he noticed the hunter behind him had stopped dead in his tracks. This caused Feng Yu Lan to subconsciously pause his step; he turned his head to look back at Duan Li.

    ¡°Are you tired?¡± There was quite a distance separating Duan Li from Feng Yu Lan; but they could still hear each other clearly if they spoke aloud. Currently, Feng Yu Lan had a splitting headache. As soon as he stopped moving, his entire body turned numb; he found that he couldn¡¯t take another step forward. He was fully aware that something was amiss. Regardless whether Duan Li no longer decided to pursue him, Feng Yu Lan had to continue running away; he mustn¡¯t stop, he absolutely should never stop!

    ¡°Are you tired?¡± Duan Li asked once again.

    Feng Yu Lan wanted to answer him and say that he was very tired, so very exhausted. But, unfortunately, Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t even have the strength to open his mouth and engage in small talk. He bent over at his waist and panted heavily, gasping for more air. Remaining vignt, he never let his eyes stray from Duan Li¡¯s figure. The grimoire still floated around him; a fewrge characters faintly appeared:

    ¡¾Be careful. He¡¯s about to go berserk. Use me as a shield. No matter what attacks he uses, I will block them for you with all my might!¡¿

    Feng Yu Lan breathlessly looked up at the magic tome. Then, he lifted his head to take a nce at Duan Li. Duan Li narrowed his eyes in concentration; he seemed to be measuring the distance between them.

    ¡°If I reply that I¡¯m very tired, will you let go of me?¡± Feng Yu Lan took a deep breath and spoke to Duan Li.

    Duan Li shook his head. ¡°No. However, I can grant you an even more liberating death. You¡¯re obviously so tired. Why must you still run?¡±

    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to die.¡± Feng Yu Lan let out a bitter chuckle. ¡°I want to keep living. Even if life is tiring, I still want to live.¡±

    ¡°Do you really believe you can escape my grasp?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. I was always one who was unwilling to see the bad side of things, never wanting to think about pessimistic thoughts. I¡¯d rather pretend that every day is beautiful and fine. That way I can always feel happy and have fun. I¡¯m terrified of being weak and small; I wish to be strong. But I also once hoped that I could be normal, just ordinary.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, such a contradiction, but is that not what makes one a mortal? Why must you care about this so much though? Is dying peacefully not good enough?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan nevertheless shook his head; he gazed straight at Duan Li and shed him a grin. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s exactly because I am a mortal, an ordinary person, that I am unable to leave this mortal world. Therefore, I can only stay bound here and always worry about something. It¡¯s because my mind will never be at peace that I don¡¯t wish to die!¡±

    Duan Li paused at Feng Yu Lan¡¯s words. He remained silent for a while, then uttered, ¡°It seems that you¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s tired. I¡¯m also tired. Chasing you is honestly such a troublesome task. Nheless, I could just offer you a simple, one-time solution, and that¡¯s to put an end to this cat-and-mouse game.¡±

    After Duan Li said his piece, he suddenly held a knife in his right hand. He shifted his right leg back half a step, and leaned forward, bending his knees. He adopted a offensive stance, preparing to charge at him. At the same time, he voicelessly mouthed, ¡°Phase Two¡ªLiberation!¡±

    The very next second¡ª

    The grimoire frantically disyed several scrawled characters:

    ¡¾Now! Defend!¡¿

    But it was toote. Feng Yu Lan still hadn¡¯t figured out what was going on when Duan Li, who was more than ten meters away from him, suddenly appeared directly before him in an instant! It was as if he had teleported here! Feng Yu Lan¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t stand this overbearing pressure. His pupils dted; he widened his eyes in sheer shock at the sight of the magnified de slowly erging, approaching him. From his peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of Duan Li¡¯s malevolent smile. In that moment, a message shed through his mind¡ªI¡¯ll be killed!

    This time, it was genuine, entirely real; he truly intended to kill him. Duan Li seemed quite reluctant to continue being entangled with this matter. This game was bing too tiring, repeated and boring. He could finally enjoy the pleasures of cutting someone up. At longst, he would finish up with today¡¯s task. He couldn¡¯t wait see to that gory scene, that fresh red blood sshing everywhere, that resentful and vicious expression on the deceased¡¯s face just before his death, and that warm, living body gradually turning into an ice-cold corpse.

    But at this juncture between life and death, the grimoire abruptly broke free from Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hands. A sharp burst of pain pierced Feng Yu Lan¡¯s brain, and soon after, a transparent shield materialized right in front of Feng Yu Lan, once again blocking the attack for him!

    ¡¾The Sole Passive Spell of the Savior: Defense activates only when the host is about to receive a fatal injury.¡¿

    ¡°This damned book is truly bothersome!¡± The man wasn¡¯t pleased having missed his shot several times. Duan Li swung his arms and put away his knife. While he recovered his momentum, Feng Yu Lan also sat on the ground with a deathly pale face. His spiritual power had been excessively used, and after the emergence of that Passive Savior¡¯s Spell, he had no power to escape or strike back.

    The grimoire appeared to have no more strength. Rather than hovering in the air, it quivered and staggered, then fell into Feng Yu Lan¡¯s palm. Pale writings marked the pages of the text:

    ¡¾I¡¯m sorry, Master. I¡¯ve done all that I could.¡¿

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Feng Yu Lan shook his head and smiled, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t be able toe this far. You¡¯re right, I really am very weak. I should¡¯ve epted this fact a bit earlier.¡±

    ¡¾No, Master, in my opinion¡­you¡¯re already strong enough.¡¿

 Chapter 28: Summon

    Chapter 28: Summon

    Within the depths of these woods, there were no additional figures except for Feng Yu Lan and Duan Li. Feng Yu Lan had fled to the dense forests on the outskirts of the city. The night silently descended upon the earth, cloaking the world in inky darkness.

    ¡°It seems that you don¡¯t have any strength to fight back.¡± Duan Li carried the tang dao on his shoulder and crouched beside Feng Yu Lan¡¯s body. He looked him up and down. ¡°Have you resigned yourself to your fate?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan stubbornly didn¡¯t open his mouth. With a cold face, he lifted his head and red at Duan Li. Upon a closer observation, this man¡¯s appearance became even clearer and more malicious. Duan Li would be considered an attractive man, if not for the fact that half of his face was disfigured. Like this, Duan Li should have the aura of a wanton and unrestrained individual, a devilish yet graceful man. His beautiful appearance would¡¯ve added to his radiance. It was only such a pity that the ws on his face were like the cracks on a jade, no longer perfect.

    However, these imperfections made him all the more bloodthirsty and sinister.

    Half angel, half demon.

    ¡°You decide; how would you like to die?¡± Duan Li asked, smiling widely. ¡°You¡¯ve been the only one to escape from my grasp this far. So, I¡¯ll make an exception for you and allow you to choose the way you¡¯d like to die.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan remained silent. He inadvertently bowed his head and nced at the grimoire in the palm of his hand. The contents of this book could not be seen by anyone else but the owner; all that others saw were nk pages.

    Feng Yu Lan smirked; he raised his head towards Duan Li and replied, ¡°What kind of killing style do you prefer?¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­quite a lot.¡± Duan Li seemed very interested in this. He narrowed his eyes and carefully eyed Feng Yu Lan. Feng Yu Lan had a very small baby face, giving the impression of a thin, feeble young boy. The blood loss and strenuous exercise turned hisplexion pale, but his lips were nevertheless blood-red, so very tempting. Upon seeing this scene, Duan Li suddenly couldn¡¯t resist licking his own lips. He said:

    ¡°I¡¯ve killed countless people. When I was still a yer, I murdered my ownrades for reasons I also couldn¡¯tprehend. After that, I became an executioner in this damned city. Although I no longer needed to experience escaping those shitty chambers, I had no choice but to chase and kill those poor rookies, day after day. I mean, I do enjoy killing like this¡­but, it was still more enjoyable in the chambers.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan lifted his eyes and stared straight at Duan Li; his gaze didn¡¯t waver. His hand subconsciously felt around his grimoire. His fingers curled on the edges of the text, ferociously wing at the magic tome; beads of red blood dripped from his fingertips. Immediately after, several lines appeared on the book.

    ¡¾Commencing Special Spell; Summoning has started; Initiation: 10 minutes; Progress: 1%¡¿

    ¡°I¡¯ve killed numerous people in countless ways.¡± Duan Liughed darkly. ¡°Removing their tendons, skinning their bodies, I¡¯ve even tried all the various brutal criminal punishments that were used in ancient times¡­ Nevertheless, for you¡­I intend to be a bit gentle.¡±

    Duan Li finished what he was saying, and he suddenly reached out and seized Feng Yu Lan, clutching the man in his arms. He promptly snatched the grimoire and flung it far away. The book rolled on the ground, kicking the dust in the air, until it finallyy motionless. Thereafter, he sneered, ¡°What kind of dirty tricks do you think you¡¯re ying in front of me?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan regretfully nced at the grimoire on the ground then smiled bitterly, ¡°It looks like I really can¡¯t make any small moves.¡±

    Pleased, Duan Li narrowed his eyes and licked his dry lips. He grasped Feng Yu Lan¡¯s hair and harshly pulled it back, forcefully raising the other¡¯s head. Duan Li then lowered his head and captured those rosy lips, giving them a bite.

    This biting action was very soft and gentle, but the words that came out of Duan Li¡¯s mouth were more than astonishing. ¡°I think I want to defile you then kill you. You¡¯re still the first one to make me feel this way.¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s words frightened Feng Yu Lan. His heart trembled to no end, yet his face showed no expressions. Ever since he started fleeing, Feng Yu Lan had intermittently been in this ¡®demonizing¡¯ state, simrly to how Luo Jian held his knife and enteredbat mode. This state allowed Feng Yu Lan to remain calm; his brain was like a preciseputer. He had to observe each and every step; even if an unexpected development urred, Feng Yu Lan had move ording to the steps he calcted, stick to them and see them through to the end.

    It was either ¡°seed or die trying¡±.

    Thus, even if Duan Li caught him, dragged him through the underbrush, and stripped all of his clothes, Feng Yu Lan, whoseplexion was ghostly pale, wouldn¡¯t emit the faintest of sounds. He wouldn¡¯t struggle; he had to preserve his physical strength. The summoning spell would allow Feng Yu Lan to call on a powerful and fearsome being. This technique was extremely dangerous because Feng Yu Lan¡¯s body most likely wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the spell, and his mind could possibly be inhibited and copse entirely under the overbearing pressure of the external, formidable presence. This could cause hemorrhaging and visceral rupturing. But Feng Yu Lan didn¡¯t want to die.

    As long as there was a slight chance for him to live, Feng Yu Lan had to try.

    He didn¡¯t have Luo Jian¡¯s impable luck, he didn¡¯t have Luo Jian¡¯s physique, and, sometimes, he didn¡¯t even have Luo Jian¡¯s intelligence. But none of it mattered. He at least held the conviction to live. As long as he had this, he would be able to have everything else.

    The characters on the grimoire that had fallen on the ground far away were still disying changes. ¡¾Initiation: 10 minutes. Progress: 68%¡¿

    I want to live!

    At this moment, Feng Yu Lan was practically possessed. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was all but filled with ire and indignation, but he still seemed unusually tranquil. He remained on the ground, pushed down by Duan Li. Determined, Duan Li decided to have a go at his novel killing method. He couldn¡¯t wait to tear off the other¡¯s clothes. He didn¡¯t do any preparations. He spread the other¡¯s legs wide and entered.

    Feng Yu Lan shuddered violently. The view before his eyes turned ck. Soon after, he closed his eyes in pain.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    At another end, while Luo Jian, 13 and 14 were standing at position at the Qingshan Temple, Luo Jian was suddenly ovee by palpitations. He stepped back and looked at the skies above the temple. The night had arrived, and darkness engulfed the scene.

    ¡°The situation has changed.¡± Luo Jian furrowed his brows and turned to speak to 13 and 14. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    After that was said, the party immediately hopped out of the temple and headed down the limestone path. From time to time, Luo Jian nced at his mobile phone. He had ced a tracker on Ah Lan¡¯s body. At this point, he had clearly understood something¡ªhe must never lose hisrade¡¯s whereabouts.

    Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan werepanions who had been together for more than twenty years; in the future, they will continue to be together in the chambers, and they will continue walking down this path in reality. No matter what happens in the future, no matter the changes that may ur, and even if the sky fell, this connection would never break apart. None of the two could tell what sort of feelings these were; regardless, these feelings came into being, existing only between them.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    Duan Li was shivering in tremendous excitement; he couldn¡¯t understand why he was feeling so excited. Perhaps the blood had rushed to his brain from this cruel, tyrannical torture; or perhaps, the soft body beneath him had bewitched him. He was terribly and tragically enchanted. Captivated, he was unable to take his eyes off of Feng Yu Lan. He gazed at his face as if he wanted to firmly engrave the other person¡¯s appearance in his mind.

    Duan Li removed his coat and covered little Ah Lan. He was worried that the decayed branches and leaves would bruise him, injure him. This action was ever so tender; unfortunately, Ah Lan¡¯s eyes were tightly squeezed shut, and he never saw it. Nevertheless, Duan Li also didn¡¯t pay any heed. He gathered him in his embrace and pressed him down, tossing his body mercilessly against the ground. Upon hearing the other¡¯s muffled, broken cries of pain, he couldn¡¯t help but be softer, lighten his force. Even so, Feng Yu Lan¡¯s body was still a bloody mess.

    I have to be gentle, I need to be gentle. Duan Li chanted to himself. He licked Feng Yu Lan¡¯s lips; he caressed and stroked his clear skin. That fiery temperature, that pulsing heartbeat. Duan Li hugged him tighter and tighter. He just wanted to hold the man, swallow this man into his stomach, devour his flesh and drink his blood to the greatest extent, never to part from him.

    In truth, Duan Li had first seen Feng Yu Lan eons ago; it was so long ago that even Duan Li himself didn¡¯t remember this encounter very well. Back then, Duan Li was only a teenager; he was still a student. He had just entered the chambers and, through painstaking efforts, he managed to escape and return to reality. At the time, Duan Li waspletely normal. Every ten days, he would suffer miserably because he had no choice but to go through those death experiences, and he couldn¡¯t even tell his family or friends about this matter. As time went by, his personality gradually changed, bing twisted, andter, all of his close rtives died unexpectedly. In one night, Duan Li suddenly became all alone, and the beast that was suppressed deep inside him escaped from its chains.

    Duan Li¡¯s first crazy attempt to kill was actually in the real world, but it was unsessful. He trailed a woman through the streets and alleys, but a small brat appeared midway, blocking his way. The child seemed to have been beaten up by others just moments before. His clothes were filthy, and his face was covered with ck and blue bruises. With a schoolbag on his back and with his head lowered, he trudged down the road when he unknowingly crashed into Duan Li and disastrously tumbled to the ground, hard. He tried to stand, but he found he couldn¡¯t climb back up.

    Yes, this was the very first time Duan Li and Feng Yu Lan ran into each other. Such an encounter happened decades ago; it was so long ago that they both failed to notice such details.

    With thest bit of conscience Duan Li had in him back then, he reached out, picked up the brat, and patted the dust off his clothes. The tiny Feng Yu Lan softly expressed his thanks; his face was surprisingly unperturbed.

    ¡°Who beat you up?¡± asked Duan Li at the time. He had forgotten about the target he wanted to murder.

    With puffed up cheeks, Feng Yu Lan nkly answered, ¡°My ssmates.¡±

    ¡°Are they bullying you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Why not get back at them then?¡¯

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat them.¡±

    ¡°And so you resigned yourself to this fate. Decided to return home with your tail between your legs and cry to your mommy and daddy?¡±

    All of a sudden, Feng Yu Lan raised his head and gazed straight into Duan Li; his expression was exceptionally ice-cold. ¡°I never resigned myself to fate.¡±

    Duan Li probably never expected this simple phrase would be his conviction to live, bing his ultimate raison d¡¯¨ºtre. Even during the craziest of times, even when he was forced into desperate situations within the chambers, he would suddenly recall that phrase, ¡°I never resigned myself to fate,¡± and so he would survive. After many years, Duan Li didn¡¯t remember who said this sentence to him.

    With the passing ages, they eventually forgot about the other¡¯s existence. This mere passerby in life wouldn¡¯t be consciously remembered, until Duan Li met Feng Yu Lan for a second time on the busy streets.

    The chambers assigned Duan Li tasks that were simr to the Stalkers¡¯¡ªto chase and kill survivors. If not all, it gave Duan Li a special skill where he was able to see the aura of death around yers. yers who possessed a heavy aura of death were most likely survivors, thus Duan Li normally took drastic measures to mark these people¡ªstabbing these poor rookies with his knife.

    They may have been brought together by fate.

    Though, this predestined rtionship was foreordained to be tragic.

    ¡¾Progress: 100%. Summoning sessful!¡¿

 Chapter 29: Xing Yan

    Chapter 29: Xing Yan

    The grimoire that fell to the ground emitted a bright light.

    Duan Li was suddenly struck by an intense chill. His exceptionally keen intuition warned him that something was up. He leisurely stood up and put on his trousers. Then, he wrapped his coat around Feng Yu Lan and, carrying him in his arms, he fled deeper into the woods.

    While he temporarily rested at arge tree, he soon couldn¡¯t endure it, and he drew little Ah Lan closer into his embrace, rubbing against him and kissing him. This passionate fire just had to be fucking interrupted halfway through. He felt like an extremely thirsty person who had only taken a sip of water when it was abruptly snatched away from him before he could even indulge in it. And so, Duan Li felt as if ws were ferociously scratching the inside of his heart; he couldn¡¯t bear this itchiness. His saliva flowed as he faced Ah Lan who was in his arms. He then lowered his head and began licking Feng Yu Lan¡¯s eyes and lips.

    Feng Yu Lan currently had a splitting headache. He curled up into a ball; there wasn¡¯t a single ce on his body that wasn¡¯t in pain. His consciousness wasn¡¯t clear, but he somehow knew that he seeded with the summoning.

    In the case that the host was incapable of executing orders, the being that was summoned would automatically fulfill the first magic summoning rule¡ªto follow and protect the summoner.

    After persevering this far, he would soon be able to escape Duan Li¡¯s control; he would obtain his freedom very soon. In a daze, Feng Yu Lan chanted this to himself. However, he was truly suffering in agony. His spiritual power was beyond drained; his brain felt as if it was splitting apart from this headache; and there was an also a sharp stab of pain at his unspeakable lower region. Delirious and wan, Feng Yu Lan had now be so frail. He shrank into Duan Li¡¯s embrace and began to weep.

    He seldom cried, but he oftenughed.

    At this moment, however, there was no other way to vent this pain.

    Duan Li immediately found the boy weeping in his arms. He paused, slightly slowing down his pace, and then hid in a narrow cave in the mountain forest. With Feng Yu Lan tucked in his arms, he sat down, leaned against the wall, and hugged him tight. He wanted to say anything tofort him, yet he didn¡¯t know how to speak for a while.

    In the end, he could only stroke Ah Lan¡¯s head.

    ¡°I should kill you. That¡¯s the task.¡± Duan Li said to him. He thought for a second, then extended his ws and grasped Feng Yu Lan¡¯s neck. This human was so fragile. He only needed to squeeze down lightly, and he could easy strangle him to death, allow him to experience a painful death by suffocation in his arms.

    But, at this moment, his hand unexpectedly wouldn¡¯t exert any more pressure; he couldn¡¯t do it. He simply watched him cry. Duan Li felt a strange ache well up in his heart. The ache wasn¡¯t at all painful or insufferable; however, it relentlessly hovered above his heart, causing the man to feel an agitating helplessness.

    This unfamiliar, inexplicable sensation made Duan Li hesitate. He nced down at Feng Yu Lan who was still wailing miserably. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s injuries were severe. The former wound at his waist re-opened, and his clothes were stained with red. Duan Li hugged him even tighter and gently patted his back, softly coaxing, ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡±

    Feng Yu Lan wasn¡¯t fully conscious, but he felt that the one hugging him tight was so warm. And so, he shrank further into the other¡¯s embrace; his entire person resembled a small, shriveled shrimp. As if his life depended on it, he huddled into the pit of Duan Li¡¯s stomach. A peculiar warmth engulfed Duan Li¡¯s heart at Ah Lan¡¯s small action. He wasn¡¯t sure how to describe this feeling; he merely felt as if his hollow chest was filled with something. Thereupon, Duan Li wasn¡¯t the least stingy with his own temperature. He wrapped all clothes around Feng Yu Lan, for he deeply feared the cold would infect him.

    At another end, Luo Jian followed the location signal of the tracker only toe across Feng Yu Lan¡¯s cell phone. This mobile phone was all alone amidst the grass; perhaps it identally fell during Duan Li¡¯s chase. Aplicated expression shed in Luo Jian¡¯s eyes; he picked up the cell phone then surveyed the area. Immediately after, 13 pointed at a nearby region and remarked, ¡°There¡¯s a book.¡±

    Sure enough, it turned out to be Feng Yu Lan¡¯s grimoire! A faint blue light glowed on the cover of the book, and the pages of the book began to flip spontaneously. Luo Jian, 13 and 14 had just barely stepped forward. The three dazed individuals were still gaping in awe when, suddenly, a brilliant shine radiated from the grimoire. A figure appeared! Suspended midair, as if tearing open a rift in space, crossing from another world through a forbidden entrance,ing to reality, arriving to this earth!

    When the light dissipated, that dark silhouette gradually became more visible. Luo Jian took one glimpse at it and, soon after, he wore a stupefied expression on his face; his stood in ce,pletely still. His body was utterly stiff; his heart was filled with incredulity. This person, just how could this person appear here?!

    ¡°Who?¡± This little girl, 14, was extremely sharp. She seemed to have sensed that the atmosphere had been disturbed; her hair stood up, and she swiftly hid behind her older brother 13¡¯s back.

    The uninvited guest, who was called upon with those rays of light, gradually touched the ground. His back was turned to Luo Jian, and his movements were very, very slow. Apparently, he had long detected the three people behind him. He deliberately turned around and looked straight at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian was greeted by an all too familiar sight, a pair of cruel and callous blood-red eyes.

    ¡°A summoning technique?¡± Unlike Luo Jian, who was stunned speechless, the girl, 14, was on guard; 13, on the other hand, waspletely unfazed. His facial expression couldn¡¯t be seen due to the mask, but there were no fluctuations in his eyes. 13 took a quick nce at the grimoire that was on the floor, and he asked Luo Jian, ¡°Is your friend¡¯s weapon possibly a magic type?¡±

    ¡°Probably. He¡¯s a mage.¡± Luo Jian was in aplex mood. He stared intently at the Stalker before him; the Stalker also gazed just as intently at Luo Jian. Those deep crimson eyes were filled with strange emotions. The Stalker took a step forward, striding towards Luo Jian. 13 and 14 promptly hopped into action and raised their weapons. They sized the Stalker up, mulling over and analyzing the other¡¯s style of attack.

    But the Stalker didn¡¯t take any further actions. He frowned. Seemingly broken-hearted at having to part from him, he gazed at Luo Jian; he wore an expression that appeared all but reluctant. He turned on his heels and picked up the grimoire lying on the ground. Then, he instantly bounded away, jumping directly onto arge tree trunk and advancing along the branches towards the southeast direction.

    Luo Jian hesitated for a moment, then he took out his short knife and dered, ¡°Keep up!¡± Upon saying this, he chased the Stalker, speedily running after his figure. 13 and 14 merely nced at each other, then obligatorily followed after him.

    Both the Stalker and Luo Jian rapidly drew nearer to Duan Li. Of course, Duan Li was not someone who was easily bullied. He immediately perceived a formidable presence rushing towards him. He shot a nce at Feng Yu Lan who was still in his embrace. Sobbing endlessly had worn Feng Yu Lan out, and he eventually fell asleep. He curled up into a ball and slept quite soundly. Duan Li tore off a section of his clothing to bind his wound that had split open once again. Feng Yu Lan got used to this excruciating pain, and he didn¡¯t wake up; he just scrunched up his pale and feeble face.

    ¡°You really caused me a lot of trouble.¡± Duan Li poked Feng Yu Lan¡¯s small face. He sensed that powerful presence was gradually approaching. But he wasn¡¯t in the least bit afraid; contrarily, he was rather excited. Ever since he was given this rubbish ¡®pursue all survivors¡¯ mission by the chambers, his identity immediately defaulted to the ¡®Chambers Executioner¡¯, and he ended up having an NPC-like role in this escaping the chambers game; that was to say, he was no longer a carefree yer. Now, he was always constrained by the chambers. Hunting these rookies day after day was truly tasteless ah! It wasn¡¯t easy toe across a well-matched opponent; naturally, he was exhrated!

    Adrenalized, Duan Li prepared at once. He ced little Ah Lan into a hole in the tree, concealing him. Like a thief who just finished burrizing a jewellery store, he carefully hid his priceless treasure. He then fished out a small, pale-green seed from his pocket and buried it in the soil near the tree hole.

    Within seconds, a small seedling magically sprouted from the soil and grew at an unimaginable rate before one¡¯s eyes, growing longer and reaching higher until it finally became a gigantic vine, rapidly winding around the tree Feng Yu Lan was hiding in, tightly coiling around the tree and, incidentally, covering Ah Lan who remained in the tree hole.

    After hiding what he needed to, Duan Li pped his hands. Swaggering with the tang dao in his hand, he drew a formation around himself. He then struck down on the ground, embedding his knife deep into the crack on the stone, and narrowed his eyes, quietly awaiting the battle¡¯s arrival.

    Meanwhile, holding Feng Yu Lan¡¯s grimoire in hand, the Stalker slowly stepped out of the woods and walked over to stand before Duan Li.

    At this point, twisted cruelty and absolute iciness stood at pinnacle of a showdown.

    He looked the Stalker up and down and suddenlyughed mockingly as if he had just witnessed something particrly amusing. He then said, ¡°To think it¡¯s you.¡±

    Luo Jian, who caught up with him from behind, stumbled upon the scene and heard these words; a shocking conjecture popped into his mind. Could it be that this Duan Li actually knew this Stalker?

    The Stalker didn¡¯t say a word. His crimson eyes stared at Duan Li with unprecedented vignce.

    ¡°It¡¯s truly a pity that you¡¯ve be such a picture now.¡± Gripping the tang dao, Duan Li stood in ce, imposing and motionless. He seemed to have sighed regretfully, and yet he curled his lips in ridicule and derided, ¡°What should I say to you, how¡¯s it going? Former captain¡ªXing Yan.¡±

    His name¡¯s Xing Yan. Luo Jian stood behind the Stalker; he briefly became absent-minded because of this sentence. He finally heard the Stalker¡¯s name from another¡¯s mouth; nevertheless, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t understand why he was feeling a bit conflicted. He took another step forward and shouted to Duan Li, ¡°What about Ah Lan? Where¡¯d you take him?¡±

    Duan Li licked his lips and replied, ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±

    Luo Jian furrowed his brows, ¡°Impossible.¡±

    ¡°Nothing is impossible.¡± Duan Li spread out his palms and smiled.

    ¡°It¡¯s absolutely impossible. If the summoner dies, then all creatures summoned will automatically return to their original space.¡± At this moment, 13 suddenly arrived and stood beside Luo Jian. He pointed to the Stalker, ¡°So long as this guy is still here, your friend isn¡¯t dead.¡±

    ¡°You seem to know quite a lot.¡± Grinning, Duan Li nced at 13. ¡°But you didn¡¯t know? Even if the summoner dies, summoned creatures can also remain in this space through forceful means, given that they¡¯re exceptionally powerful.¡±

    ¡°Not to mention¡­¡± Duan Li fixed his eyes on the Stalker, then sneered. ¡°This guy¡¯s my former captain. Well, now, he¡¯s just a Stalker who¡¯s been stripped of his emotions and will, but he¡¯s, nevertheless, an iparable and formidable Stalker.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to lie to me.¡± Luo Jian opened his mouth and interrupted Duan Li before he could continue. He frowned, ¡°Ah Lan gave me a small spell. As long as he¡¯s met with any idents, I can immediately feel it. Although I can¡¯t locate his exact position, I do know he¡¯s nearby.¡±

    Duan Li grudgingly shook his head; he no longer refuted him. However, his voice was frosty. ¡°Well, why are you so strongly attached to him? Friends¡­do they not only betray each other in the end?¡±

 Chapter 30: A Fierce Battle

    Chapter 30: A Fierce Battle

    ¡°Friends only betray each other? Who instilled that bullshit idea into you?¡± Upon hearing Duan Li¡¯s statement, Luo Jian suddenly exploded and righteously defended against what the other said.

    Duan Li tilted his head and nced at the Stalker from the corner of his eyes. Heughed grimly, ¡°My former captain, that Stalker beside you, instilled that into me, again and again.¡±

    Luo Jian was taken aback and he carefully observed the Stalker next to him. Xing Yan¡¯s face was expressionless, and he remained silent, never uttering a sound, seemingly unaffected by Duan Li¡¯s words. In fact, he originally wasn¡¯t fazed by anything. Stalkers had no human feelings; they were merely tools used to kill yers.

    ¡°All Stalkers within these chambers are yers who once stood at the peak of the world. Only a handful of them could be counted, so very few. Not one of them couldn¡¯t dominate the heavens; they would all get everything they want, have everything go their way.¡± Duan Li rubbed the tang dao in his hand. He looked at Luo Jian and continued to sneer, ¡°Luo Jian, is it? I advise you to stay far away from this man. He is heinous, the most despicable of all evil demons. All of his once-glorious achievements were at the expense of countless piles of human lives. One day, he finally received hiseuppance; the chambers erased his entire personality and turned him into what he is now. Taking it from another perspective, perhaps you could say they¡¯re the equivalent of humanoid weapons, marites released by the chambers for no other reason but to destroy mankind, yes?¡±

    Luo Jian listened to Duan Li¡¯s speech and he was momentarily unable to respond. Theplex feeling inside his heart could very well be imagined. He knew that this Stalker was iparably savage and deadly; he understood that he truly ought to keep as far away from him as possible. He shouldn¡¯t hold any unrealistic fantasies. It went on without saying that a rtionship between them would never work out; they could never be together.

    ¡°If he¡¯s a humanoid weapon, then what about you?¡± 13 pulled down his mask and coldly spoke.

    ¡°Me?¡± Duan Li blinked then narrowed his eyes in contemtion beforeughing. ¡°I¡¯m just a crazy killer who loves killing, nothing more.¡±

    ¡°In short, human trash that needs to be eradicated.¡± 13 raised the crossbow in his hands.

    Once again, Duan Li licked his dry lips. That half-disfigured, ungraceful face was marred by wickedness and distortion. ¡°He who kills will be killed by others1. So long as you¡¯re up for it, I wee you all to get rid of me, tear me limb from limb.¡±

    A team in the chambers could hold a maximum of three members; however, this was only limited to beginner yers. When a random yer in a team experienced at least five chambers, the team would then be granted privileges. The team members would be given the right to vote for a team leader. The captain didn¡¯t only hold the authority to name the team, but he could also extend his team to five members. At the same time, the five-member team would be forced into a ¡®Chaos Chamber Battlefield.¡¯

    If fact, the ¡®Chaos Chamber Battlefield¡¯ referred to a so-called team battle.

    Set within an enclosed chamber, two or more teams would face off under a ¡®kill-each-other-to-obtain-greater-rewards¡¯ condition. Human beings would always do anything, by fair means or foul, for such tempting incentives. Thus, chaos wouldmence, and the chambers would indeed sessfully host a gruesome feast.

    However, such team battles always concluded with the annihtion of all parties. The reason was quite simple. Once the fierce battle between the teams ended, the strengths of these remaining victors, tragic soldiers of a Pyrrhic victory, were greatly reduced to the point that they were unable solve the hellish conundrums set by the chambers, and they also weren¡¯t able to defeat the various monsters lurking within these chambers. They possessed substantial amounts of treasures and rewards, yet they could never locate the ¡®door¡¯ to return!

    Having no other choice but to ept thisughable end, they remained in these chambers for all eternity.

    Even if they stood at the summit of the chambers, these fearsome yers who possessed tyrannical strength also couldn¡¯t escape their fate. Being too powerful, however, may not have been a good thing. The chambers pitied the deaths of such mighty yers, so they kept their flesh and retained their power but erased their will, turning these people into what were known as ¡®Stalkers.¡¯

    From the highest pinnacle, they fell, bing pitiful tools.

    Duan Li and Xing Yan were prime examples of this, except Duan Li was a bit lucky. During a certain instance inside the chamber, he acquired a precious item, ¡®Resurrection of Hatred,¡¯ and risked escaping the ¡®Chaos Chamber Battlefield.¡¯ But, it wasn¡¯t long before the chambers deprived him of his ¡®yer¡¯ identity because of the death penalty; and so, he was forced to stay in reality and hunt survivors down, one by one.

    Unlike Duan Li, who was slightly fortunate, Xing Yan waspletely wiped of his human will. On ount of the chambers, the concept of ¡®killing¡¯ was deeply ingrained in him. He repeatedly wandered through various chambers and followed the chambers¡¯ order, ughtering each and every yer, until, one unexpected day, he incidentally encountered Luo Jian.

    Soon after, events unfolded in such ways and continued to develop to this current point. Day after day, the chambers continued devouring neers, causing these wretched yers to struggle painfully.

    ¡°Allow me to give you all a word of advice.¡± Duan Li stood before his four opponents. Without a hint of fear, he raised his tang dao and, as before, heughed with overbearing arrogance. ¡°My task is to hunt survivors within twenty-four hours; so long as my target isn¡¯t dead, I will not die!¡±

    Luo Jian listened to his words and remarked something. ¡°What you mean to say is that Ah Lan really isn¡¯t dead?¡±

    Duan Li replied, ¡°Rest assured. When I¡¯m done with you guys, he¡¯ll be my prey sooner orter.¡±

    It was good that he wasn¡¯t dead. At least it gave Luo Jian a little peace of mind. Yet, he couldn¡¯t help but frown afterwards. His priority at this moment was to dispose of this Duan Li, but if it was true that Duan Li wouldn¡¯t die, then this matter became all the more troublesome to deal with. The skies were already getting darker; eventually, the entire forest would be painted in pitch-ck. They only had a period of twenty-four hours; dawn was still more than ten hours away. It was too long. Luo Jian anxiously nced at the nearby Xing Yan and inwardly grinded his teeth. He couldn¡¯t dy any longer. He had to take his family¡¯s Ah Lan back!

    However, Xing Yan couldn¡¯t care so much. He casually tossed the grimoire in the air, catching it safely each time. Soon after, he threw the book to Luo Jian, smoothly extracted his knife, and headed towards Duan Li.

    Duan Li retreated half a step, dragged the tip of his sword backwards, and leaned forward, fixing his attention on Xing Yan, watching him gradually draw nearer. He silently gauged the distance and determined the style of attack. By surrendering the battle to his instincts, the only thing left was an intense struggle between life and death.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t participate in the battle between Duan Li and Xing Yan because the sky was getting darker, the forest was bing more deste and quiet, and the swords had no eyes [to distinguish friend from foe]. Blindly joining the fight would only create a more disastrous situation; thus, Luo Jian simply began to search all over the ce for Feng Yu Lan with 13 and 14. Yet, despite circling the battlefield a few times, he still couldn¡¯t spot a hint of Feng Yu Lan.

    On another hand, the sh between Xing Yan and Duan Li became fiercer by the second. They fully demonstrated the power of non-humans and swiftly bounded between trees. At his current level, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t visibly see the irregr actions of these two, and because Luo Jian couldn¡¯t see very well, he didn¡¯t even feel like watching any longer. However, the duel between these two anomalies was too intense and violent. At this time, Duan Li parried Xin Yan¡¯s attack with his own knife then ferociously kicked him. He flew back and, as fortune would have it, he just had to fall directly in front of Luo Jian. For Xing Yan, this was nothing. Apart from his slightly dirtied clothes, he was immacte. At once, he stood up, but as soon as he got up, he caught sight of Luo Jian standing before him.

    Xing Yan lifted his head and nced at Duan Li who was far away. There was still quite some distance between them. Thereafter he only thought for a second, then strode towards Luo Jian. Luo Jian recoiled in fright; cowering in fear, he warily stared at him. Xing Yan stretched out his hand and pressed down on Luo Jian¡¯s shoulder. Luo Jian¡¯s face flushed red. Standing rigidly, he gazed at Xing Yan¡¯s face that was slowly magnifying, gradually closing in.

    The hell is this guy doing?! Isn¡¯t he supposed to be in a fierce battle?! Why is he not going back to the battlefield and instead doing something like this to me!! Is this really a true man? This is obviously unscientific ah! Luo Jian silently cursed in his heart. But it wasn¡¯t long before a soft sensation on his lips made his entire body stiffen. Xing Yan seemed addicted to kissing him. He kept clutching Luo Jian¡¯s waist, never nning to let go even after death. It was only after Duan Li approached that he reluctantly loosened his hold and, in the end, he gently nipped Luo Jian¡¯s chin.

    Luo Jian was motionless; his mind was tangled. Luo Jian didn¡¯t recover from his inner turmoil and conflicted feelings until Xing Yan released him and headed back to the battlefield to continue exchanging blows with Duan Li. He then suddenly recalled Duan Li¡¯s words. Was it really true that Stalkers werepletely emptied of human emotions? Were they truly entirely stripped of their will?

    If what Duan Li said was true, then how could Xing Yan¡¯s behavior be exined?

    Luo Jian sighed regretfully. At this stage, it was better to be pragmatic and act per circumstances. He himself was powerless; he currently had no time to consider the Stalker¡¯s problems. He had to rescue Feng Yu Lan first.

    Of course, unexpected urrences were always bound to happen, and amongst such unexpected happenings was Feng Yu Lan¡¯s awakening after falling asleep inside the tree hole. His headache was bing increasingly insufferable; after all, the stronger the creature summoned was, the graver the wearing down of one¡¯s spirit became. Feng Yu Lan felt as if his head was about to explode; he couldn¡¯t bear such agony.

    Soon after, he woke up and found himself in a narrow hole inside a tree; he was unsettled. His magic state wouldn¡¯t hold for too long. From inside the tree hole, Little Ah Lan painstakingly wed at the tree bark, generating a faint, scratching noise. The ensuing sound wasn¡¯t at all loud, but Luo Jian quickly detected it. Thereupon, Luo Jian scampered around and frantically jumped next to therge tree; he began to observe the vines twined around the tree.

    ¡°These vines are big enough to threaten people.¡± Luo Jian assessed, tapping on his chin which was bitten by the Stalker.

    ¡°Wah wah¡ª¡± Feng Yu Lan started bawling.

    ¡°Ah Lan?¡± Luo Jian recognized Feng Yu Lan¡¯s voice from the opposite side of the vines.

    ¡°Ah Jian, you finally came! I waited forever, until the end of the world!¡± Upon discovering someone dependable, Feng Yu Lan resumed his usual self and began ying around.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The world hasn¡¯t ended yet.¡± Luo Jian was relieved after hearing Feng Yu Lan light tone. Immediately after, he started pulling off the vines on the tree. Not even a second passed when he suddenly heard Feng Yu Lan speak from inside the tree hole, ¡°Ah Jian, are there a lot of vines out there?¡±

    ¡°Yes. How¡¯d you know that¡­?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch those vines!¡± Luo Jian didn¡¯t even get to finish his sentence before he was interrupted by Feng Yu Lan. Feng Yu Lan yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t touch them! Just leave this ce!¡±

    However, Feng Yu Lan was, inevitably, toote in saying this. Luo Jian, who had already touched the vines, still didn¡¯t know what was going on when, out of nowhere, those vines seemed to havee to life. It suddenly resembled some creature with enormous tentacles, violently squirming around in a flurry! Rapidly coiling around Luo Jian¡¯s body, it immobilized him!

    ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me!¡± Luo Jian shouted profanely.

    Inside the tree hole, Feng Yu Lan instantly knew what happened after hearing him curse aloud. He helplessly sighed and added, ¡°I also have a couple of vines here. At first I thought it was a snake that still moved after wrapping itself around my body.¡±

 Chapter 31: Capture

    Chapter 31: Capture

    ¡°Now what?¡± Luo Jian drew out his short knife and started hacking at the vines, sawing back and forth non-stop¡­ I went at this vine for how long already, just how thick is it?! Luo Jian was at aplete loss. He forcefully stabbed the tree vines; these vines seemed to have felt pain, and they continuously trembled. Seeing this, Luo Jian¡¯s hair stood on end.

    From the start, the siblings, 13 and 14, and Luo Jian had taken twopletely opposite directions. The Stalker was still fighting Duan Li, Feng Yu Lan was trapped inside the tree hole, and there was nothing left to do. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t think of anyone else who could help. These vines were unexpectedly strong. Even when Luo Jian relentlessly shed at them, these vines were obviously not something found in the real world. Just who could get rid of these vines? Of course, none other than Duan Li, who had intentionally set them up there.

    ¡°Ah Lan, are you alright in there?¡± Luo Jian was wrapped around with those vines and was suspended in the air upside down; the entire world before his eyes had also flipped over. Blood rushed to Luo Jian¡¯s brain, calming him down. The first thing he had to do was ascertain Feng Yu Lan¡¯s situation.

    As of this moment, Ah Lan wasn¡¯t faring well. He lost too much blood, and his spirit was excessively depleted. Fortunately, resting allowed him to restore some of his vitality. On the whole, he wouldn¡¯t die on the spot from extreme blood loss; however, if it continued like this, he certainly wouldn¡¯t be able tost long. Feng Yu Lan was well-aware that he was currently in a very dangerous predicament. He said to Luo Jian, ¡°Ah Jian doesn¡¯t have to take care of me, I¡¯m safe here. You just find a way to save yourself, then help me retrieve my grimoire. First things first, I have to stop the summoning process. My spiritual power is draining too fast. If this goes on, my head¡¯s going to explode sooner orter.¡±

    Luo Jian paused for a second, then asked, ¡°The Stalker was summoned by you?¡±

    ¡°Stalker?¡± In a daze, Feng Yu Lan shook his head. ¡°The summoning technique randomly calls out any creature in the chambers¡­if my luck is good, then a heaven-defying BOSS will appear. But if I¡¯m not that lucky, then it might end up being a puny small-fry¡­ In any case, to think I actually summoned a Stalker on the first try. I must say, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket?¡±

    ¡°Why stop at just buying a lottery ticket; you can definitely win five million prizes!¡± Luo Jian forced a smile. ¡°You ended up summoning the Stalker we encountered in the previous chamber.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­it¡¯s that Stalker?¡± Feng Yu Lan clutched the tree bark and suddenlyughed deviously, ¡°Ah Jian, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re extremely lucky, huh?¡±

    Well, in any case, the Stalker was entangled in a duel with Duan Li; Feng Yu Lan was temporarily out of harm¡¯s way. He could also sleep to replenish his exhausted energy; he just needed to obediently stay inside the tree hole and go to bed. The two men discussed with each other and decided Luo Jian would handle the following matters. Thereupon, Ah Lan proceeded to take a nap, and Luo Jain relentlessly began hacking at those vines again.

    These vines were quite troublesome, but luckily, these vines merely seemed to be guarding the tree and protecting Feng Yu Lan who was inside. As long as one didn¡¯t take the initiate to attack, the vines would be indisposed to engage with others. Luo Jian fumbled around and eventually grasped an idea. He adjusted his breathing, rxed his body, and remained motionless. After a few minutes, the vines began to rx, and so Luo Jian easily slipped down from the vines, falling directly to the ground and rolling in the mud.

    Luo Jian surreptitiously cursed; he quickly flipped his body over and hastily crawled up, dashing away from those vines. When he was roughly situated, Luo Jian shouted, ¡°Ah Lan, wait for me, I¡¯lle back soon to save you!¡±

    There was no noise from Feng Yu Lan inside the tree hole, he most likely fell asleep. Luo Jian hesitated for a moment and didn¡¯t turn around to leave just yet. Thereafter, a massive explosion was heard in the distant woods. He wasn¡¯t sure how far the battle between Xing Yan and Duan Li had progressed, but to think they were still able to trigger an explosion. Luo Jian promptly darted through the forest and headed straight towards the source of the sound.

    First, he had to find the Stalker and take back the grimoire from him. The best oue would be that the Stalker defeated that crazy murderer, Duan Li, thus eliminating this endless pursuit. However, if Duan Li really spoke the truth, if he could never die unless his target died, then the best way to address this would be to seize his weapons and tie him up.

    While Luo Jian was mulling over the countermeasures to deal with the situation and how to progress forward, he bumped into 13 and 14, who had rounded the woods several times. The siblings reported to Luo Jian of their findings. ¡°We circled the ce for a long time, but we couldn¡¯t find your friend.¡±

    ¡°No need to search. Ah Lan is safe and sound. Don¡¯t worry about it for the time being.¡± Luo Jian replied then turned his head to face the small child, 14. 14¡¯s weapon was a rtively rare type, a five-to-six-meter-long whip. Luo Jian stared at her whip for a good while. Immediately after, the little girl became displeased; she scrunched her small face in irritation and hissed, ¡°What are you looking at? Stop staring at this whip so much; I can brandish it very well!¡±

    Luo Jian blinked his eyes several times, then walked over and crouched before the young girl. 14 was quite tiny; with short hair and a pair of inky ck, clever eyes, she was rather beautiful. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but stretch out his hand and pat the top of the young girl¡¯s head. 14 didn¡¯t resist him, she appeared particrly docile.

    Luo Jian gazed at her for half a day, yet he still couldn¡¯t imagine that this tiny girl was a veteran yer who had already escaped the chambers four times. He pondered for a while, then asked, ¡°Are you a single-yer or multiyer?¡±

    The young girl also blinked repeatedly then responded, ¡°I¡¯m with my older brother.¡±

    Thereupon, Luo Jian lifted his head and peered up at 13. ¡°So you¡¯re also a veteran who¡¯s experienced four chambers?¡±

    The masked man shook his head. ¡°urately speaking, it¡¯s five times. I entered the chambers first, and, soon after, my younger sister was selected. I didn¡¯t hesitate about deciding to team up with her.¡±

    ¡°Then you should be able to do it.¡± Luo Jian stroked the girl¡¯s head once again and continued, ¡°Could you use your rope to tie up Duan Li?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a rope, it¡¯s a whip! And it also has a name! I named it Elizabeth! You must respect Elizabeth!¡± As soon as the girl heard Luo Jian, she flipped out; it was as if this girl, who now resembled a violent hurricane, heard something extremely unnerving. Luo Jian was stunned speechless. He nced at the whip in her hand andpromised, ¡°Well then, please ask your family¡¯s Elizabeth to do me a quick favor and help me tie up that evil viin, can you do that?¡±

    Little 14 humphed proudly and epted Luo Jian¡¯s request. 13 smiled apologetically and said, ¡°My younger sister isn¡¯t very well-natured, ah¡­ Furthermore, her weapon possesses self-awareness, which is why she gave her weapon a name.¡±

    Self-awareness? Luo Jian paused for a moment then suddenly thought of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s magic tome.

    Duan Li and the Stalker were still fighting. There was hardly a difference between the two¡¯s strength. If not all, they used to be on the same team; they clearly knew the other¡¯s means of attack and strength. And who didn¡¯t know that even if Xing Yan waspletely stripped of his human self-awareness and memories, he still retained hisbat skills. Both he and Luo Jian used the same weapon, an unremarkable dagger. Yet his speed was swift, and his movements, fluid; his handling of the knife was incredibly precise and deadly. It was somewhat like magic, suddenly disappearing before the one¡¯s eyes, squeezing into the other¡¯s blind spot, stealthily concealing its shadowy presence, then appearing at the most unimaginable corners and stabbing the other¡¯s back with a knife, resembling an assassin or a hitman.

    Of course, this was the strength Xing Yan currently exhibited; whether he had any deeper skills or powers was unknown.

    As for Duan Li, his swordsmanship was a stark contrast to the Stalker¡¯s. He more closely resembled a warrior with a long sword, steadily fixing his feet to the ground, as motionless as a mountain. With his skill, he could remain in several states of liberation1. At ordinary times, he would remain in the first liberation phase. In the second phase of liberation, his speed, power, and reaction time would surge geometrically; however, this burst of power had a time limit. The second liberation phase onlysted for ten minutes, the third liberation phase held up for five minutes, the fourth phase of liberation was only two minutes long, and the fifth liberation phase was but a few seconds long.

    Moreover, when it came to the reality, the chambers gave yers a constraint. The power they exerted in the real world was only 20% of their powers exerted in the chambers. But the most unfair thing about this was that these constraints were specifically aimed against yers, like Feng Yu Lan, who possessed magic weapons. These yers couldn¡¯t even wield 10% of their original powers. This was most likely because magic was too fantastical for reality, so it would probably leave a great impact on the real world.

    These constraints substantially limited Xing Yan¡¯s and Duan Li¡¯sbat capabilities, thus prolonging their battle. Nevertheless, no matter how a fight progressed, there would inevitably be an oue to the battle. Yet, the most probable conclusion to a battle between two rivals of equal strength was that there would be neither victory nor defeat, only a denouement of mutual destruction. When Luo Jian arrived to their location, both sides held a knife and directly stabbed the other¡¯s chest.

    Duan Li¡¯s cor was coated in blood. He nced down at the de that was buried deep in his chest, then he looked up at the other side who was cut through with his own knife. With thick blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, he said, ¡°It¡¯s off, still a bit far from the heart. You can¡¯t kill me, and I also can¡¯t kill you.¡±

    Xing Yan waspletely expressionless; he didn¡¯t reveal any signs of pain from his injuries. Fighting to the death was normal for him. He fought until he was numb; his blood flowed to the extremes, and he also had no feelings.

    The very instant Luo Jian witnessed this scene, he could only feel this unspeakable suffocation engulfing his heart. For a split second, it caused his mind to be in disarray, but soon after, he woke up from his stupor. At this moment, Duan Li and Xing Yan constantly maintained the same position with their knives. The two individuals currently resembled grasshoppers tied to the same string, unable to move. Luo Jian realized this situation was hard toe by. He then turned to 14 and said, ¡°This is a good opportunity to tie Duan Li up!¡±

    14 briefly nodded. She waved her whip towards Duan Li. Duan Li grunted coldly. He abruptly lifted his leg and ruthlessly kicked Xing Yan¡¯s abdomen, forcefully pulling the knife out. But Xing Yan wasn¡¯t so easy to deal with; he clearly understood Luo Jian¡¯s intentions. He suddenly reached out, firmly caught Duan Li¡¯s clothes and vigorously yanked him back to his side. Thereupon, 14 took care of matters with her whip and urately bound the two people together.

    14 twisted her tiny face and earnestly eximed to Luo Jian, ¡°It¡¯s not my Elizabeth¡¯s fault! It¡¯s just that the two of them were randomly moving about non-stop! Because of that, I ended up roping them together!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± Luo Jian didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. After assessing the two dangerous individuals were securely bound, he felt reassured; he rapidly swooped down in front of Duan Li and Xing Yan and quickly seized Xing Yan¡¯s and Duan Li¡¯s knives.

    Tied back-to-back, Duan Li and Xing Yan struggled against each other. The rope that entwined them was a type of weapon that held extremely effective properties. Their hands and feet werepletely secured by this entangling rope. It would contract as they struggled; the more they struggled, the tighter it became. In the end, Duan Li chuckled and spoke to Xing Yan behind him, ¡°Captain, I reckon that coiling serpent of yours also binds people like this?¡±

    Without saying a word, Xing Yan raised his head and gazed straight at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian avoided Xing Yan¡¯s eyes. He braced himself and groped the Stalker¡¯s body. To think wanting to take the grimoire from him could make Luo Jian feel so embarrassed. His hand unintentionally touched Xing Yan¡¯s cheek; Xing Yan suddenly tilted his head forward and licked his palm. Luo Jian instantly shuddered from the stimulus. He quickly felt around, snatched the grimoire from him, and immediately distanced himself from the other.

    After breathing a sigh of relief, he peeked at Xing Yan, then he nced at 14. ¡°14, can¡¯t you only bind Duan Li? Is there any way you can release the Stalker?¡±

    ¡°No. If you want to release someone, then it¡¯s necessary to release the whip. If the whip is loosened, then that scoundrel will have an opportunity to grab.¡± 14 was quite intelligent. She looked back and forth between the two males, Duan Li and Xing Yan, then furrowed her brows. The little girl was very sensitive. At a nce, she recognized that the two¡¯s bodies were shrouded by a heavy murderous intent; she was certain they had killed countless people.

    Author¡¯s Comment:

    It¡¯s not a surprise that the Stalker isn¡¯t only active in the chambers. He appeared this time because you all have been begging and asking. I had to let him appear ahead of time. Don¡¯t hate little Ah Lan, TAT. Nothing will happen; he will always be the protagonist¡¯s ¡®best friend¡¯. In the premise of this story, Luo Jian and Ah Lan actually spent more time together than [Luo Jian and] the Stalker¡­

    Also, writing about CP emotional drama is awfully tricky/conflicting, but writing about the chambers is so much fun /(tot)/~~

    Trantor¡¯s Comment:

    The author¡¯s note was originally supposed to be in the previous chapter, but I somehow skipped it¡­..Well, here it is now¡­

 Chapter 32: Vine of Life-and-Death

    Chapter 32: Vine of Life-and-Death

    The Stalker and Duan Li were absolute monsters. Blood poured down from their bodies from the gaping hole in their chests. It was a pity these two monsters didn¡¯t cry out from the pain; both their faces showed they couldn¡¯t care in the least. But, in retrospect, the physiques of these two individuals were rather strange. The wounds on their bodies eventually stopped bleeding, and they seemed to be healing. As long as they didn¡¯t receive any fatal injuries, they were practically immortal.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t know how to deal with these two guys. He stared at the Stalker for a long time, then he finally recalled Feng Yu Lan who was still inside the tree hole. He sighed and walked over to Duan Li. Crouching before him, he asserted, ¡°I already know where you hid Ah Lan, and I¡¯ll only say one thing: get rid of those goddamn vines.¡±

    Duan Li lifted his half-disfigured, sinister face and tantly sneered at Luo Jian. ¡°You think I¡¯ll do something like that?¡±

    ¡°I also suspected it was impossible.¡± Luo Jian let out a self-deprecating smile, stood up, and continued, ¡°Then I suppose it¡¯s better to use some tougher means.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you want to torture me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not as cruel as you.¡± Luo Jian straightened his back and said to 14 beside him, ¡°Drag them along and follow me.¡±

    And so, Luo Jian led 13 and 14, while 14 pulled on the Stalker and Duan Li who were tied with the whip. He walked all the way to therge tree where Feng Yu Lan was located. The massive vines coiled around the entire tree and crowded around the base of the tree trunk, evoking this spooky feeling.

    As Luo Jian and the gang approached, the vines seemed to be aware of the danger. They began to twist around the branches unnaturally, encircling the tree even more. In terms of the gravity of the situation, they didn¡¯t coil around just one tree; the vines gradually extended to the epassing trees. Seizing the others one by one until the surrounding trees were twined thickly. Upon seeing this densely-packed scene, the people¡¯s scalp began to tingle.

    At this moment, 13 fully disyed his capabilities. Luo Jian didn¡¯t know from where 13 retrieved his crossbow, he didn¡¯t know when he had loaded it with arrows, and he also didn¡¯t know what he applied to the arrow or what he even nned to do, but when 13 suddenly released the arrow from the crossbow, directly shooting one vine, the arrow instantly ignited into zing mes! The raging mes devoured the surrounding vines, and vine also seemed to have been burnt. It immediately started twitching and swaying, and the surrounding vines also began to shake violently.

    ¡°nts are afraid of fire. This method will always produce results no matter what nt it is.¡± 13 exined. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen this species of nt in the chambers, but, generally speaking, they should more or less be the same.¡±

    Of course, these nts truly were afraid of fire; however, these strange vines exhibited unusually rare characteristics. While the mes engulfed the vines, Luo Jian and the group suddenly discovered something. This massive tree vine lifted its head, and at the very top there was a bloody mouth wide open like a sacrificial bowl; it hadn¡¯t any eyes or a nose, just onerge mouth! It¡¯s razor sharp teeth secreted some sort of disgusting mucus, and the most frightening part was that this bloody, ferocious mouth didn¡¯t hesitate to bite off the part of the vine that had caught on fire, eliminating the growing fire by swallowing the vine into its belly!

    ¡°It seems that it isn¡¯t easy to deal with.¡± 13 withdrew his crossbow and switched out his arrow; the new one looked a bit simr to the zing arrow, but it wasn¡¯t quite the same. Luo Jian noticed that a dark green liquid seemed to have been smeared on 13¡¯s newly exchanged arrow, but he wasn¡¯t sure of its specific effects.

    ¡°This tree vine isn¡¯t a mere nt. Rather, you could say it¡¯s some kind of living creature. In that case, I can try to use different methods.¡± 13 was quite knowledgeable; he certainly deserved to be called a master who experienced five chambers. Since the start, Luo Jian wasn¡¯t able to see the man¡¯s expression due to the mask; however, his exposed eyes were sharp, prating.

    ¡°It¡¯s useless. These vines aren¡¯t affected by any kinds of poison, and fire can¡¯t damage them. Furthermore, they possess the strongest self-healing abilities in nature.¡±

    Just then, Duan Li suddenly spoke up. As before, a twisted, malevolent smile floated around his lips; it was as if this man was constantly possessed by malice, so evil and daunting. Duan Li stared at 13 condescendingly, then chuckled darkly, ¡°This vine is an invaluable creature I obtained in a rare chamber. As for the name, call it ¡®Vine of Life-and-Death¡¯. As long as it¡¯s assigned a specific target, and if you bury the seeds near the target¡¯s body¡­it will never stop coiling around the target¡¯s body until death¡­ Not sure if you¡¯ve all heard of such a saying¡ªif you¡¯re alive, I will never die; if you¡¯re dead, I would never be able to live by myself1¡ªit¡¯s roughly about the same idea.¡±

    ¡°Then how can we destroy it?¡± Luo Jian furrowed his brows; he took a look at Duan Li, then unnaturally peeked at Xing Yan who was beside him.

    ¡°You wish to know?¡±

    ¡°Of course I want to know.¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, you needn¡¯t be so anxious. This Vine of Life-and-Death has quite a short life. It onlysts for a night, and when dawn arrives, it will die.¡± Duan Li seemingly appeared pensive, then a treacherous smile crept onto his face. ¡°But it does have this one small quirk. When it dies, it will strangle the precious treasure it guarded, thus dying together with it.¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s brief speech astonished Luo Jian. He stomped towards his direction and viciously red at him. ¡°Dawn signals the end of the 24 hour time period. It seems that you already had everything figured out from the start. Even if you were caught, that target of yours¡ªAh Lan would die regardless?!¡±

    A hint of crimson flickered within Duan Li¡¯s bloodthirsty eyes. Hisughter was piercing, causing one to shiver. ¡°I¡¯m a killer! You honestly believe I¡¯ll let my target escape?! Luo Jian, you wanted to face me, was it? You still too tender!¡±

    Luo Jian was obviously infuriated. He suddenly drew out his knife; a cold light gleamed, and immediately afterwards, a streak of blood was left behind on Duan Li¡¯s only faultless cheek. At this time, 13 jumped in, getting involved and stopping Luo Jian; he then said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so impulsive. Even if you vent your rage now and hack him to death, you still won¡¯t be able to save that friend of yours.¡±

    ¡°So, what should we do?¡±

    ¡°Cure ills with poison2. Since he talked so much about these vines, let this guy be the bait.¡±

    Luo Jian nodded in approval. His cruel side seemed to have gradually emerged. He red at Duan Li with red eyes, and his voice sunk, ¡°Seeing as you¡¯re so confident, I think it¡¯d be quite fascinating to see whether that precious Vine of Life-and-Death that you nted with your own hands would choke you to death as well.¡±

    Luo Jian finished speaking and looked at the little girl, 14, next to him. 14 clearly understood Luo Jian¡¯s intentions. She flicked the whip in her hand, and the whip that securely bound Duan Li and the Stalker together immediately came loose. Upon being freed, Duan Li wanted to start running, but the Stalker beside him was merciless. He pressed his hand down on Duan Li¡¯s shoulder to restrain him, and in an instant, Duan Li couldn¡¯t move a single step. Duan Li nced at the Stalker and sneered, ¡°Since when were you devoted and loyal enough to help a group of worms, Captain?¡±

    The Stalker remained silent. A faint glint shed within the depths of his eyes, but it instantaneously receded before one could catch it.

    Nevertheless, Duan Li clearly perceived the Stalker¡¯s split-second unnaturalness, and he continued to sneer, ¡°It seems as though your position isn¡¯t so tragic or unfortunate.¡±

    14 swung her whip around to bind Duan Li. This tiny little girl was utterly terrifying as she waved that whip again with her mighty strength. She unexpectedly sent Duan Li flying, flinging him to where the vine twined around therge tree. The tree vine sensed something approached it and countless vines spread out chaotically; resembling tentacles reaching out, they aimed for Duan Li. But it was a pity that Duan Li wasn¡¯t easy to deal with. Even though most of his strength had been restricted in the real world, and even though Luo Jian took away his weapons, he was irrefutably worthy of the title of one of the most powerful veterans ever. With force, he flipped his body midair and faced the countless vines that flew before his eyes. Then, in the lowest of hushed whispers, he uttered:

    ¡°Phase Two, Liberation¡ª!¡±

    It wasn¡¯t long before Luo Jian and the others were witness to something so inconceivable! In an instant, unimaginable strength and speed burst from Duan Li! This rise in power made his body frightfully agile! His entire being was like a martial artist who soared in the skies. He lightly stepped on the fluttering tree vines, dodging left, evading right, going as far as to gradually leaping higher and bounding up the branches of therge tree!

    13 promptly reacted. He raised his crossbow and, with the arrow pointing straight at Duan Li, he shot quickly.

    Unfortunately, Duan Li seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. His tilted his head to one side, avoiding 13¡¯s strike. But after that, the vines seemed to have be enraged. They grew even longer and encircled the area even more; they enshrouded the entire tree, not even a crack was exposed, and even Duan Li was surrounded.

    ¡°I was negligent. It was a mistake to release him.¡± Luo Jian bared his teeth. His grinded his teeth as he red intensely at that ginormous maroon cocoon of tree vines. Ah Lan was also inside. He truly didn¡¯t know what would happen, but Luo Jian had a bad feeling; he vaguely felt that something would go wrong.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was undoubtedly a grave error on my part.¡± 13 admitted his mistake.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. There may still be some time. We have to to do everything we can to eradicate these tree vines.¡±

    The individuals began to act as they spoke. Duan Li didn¡¯t seem to have lied to them. The self-healing ability of this tree vine was so strong to the point that no one was a match for it. Even if every vine was cut off, the vines would grow faster. And what was even more terrible was that if a severed piece of the vine fell to the ground, it would rapidly take root, and, immediately after, a brand-new tree vine would sprout!

    Only fire was capable of having some effects; but even if mes produced slight results, those mes were eventually swallowed by the vine itself! It couldn¡¯t burn, it couldn¡¯t be cut, and it grew longer by the second! These tree vines were by far the most wretched.

    Luo Jian was exhausted and perspiring profusely. He took a deep breath to calm his fluctuating emotions. He raised his head and stared at the Stalker beside him. The Stalker was expressionless; he seemed to have noticed Luo Jian¡¯s gaze, and he turned around to look at him. Luo Jian¡¯s heart suddenly throbbed, and he immediately swiveled his head around. But the Stalker clearly didn¡¯t want to let him off. He suddenly stretched out his hand and touched Luo Jian¡¯s neck with his fingertips. In the end, he stroked that round ouroboros tattoo on his neck. The Stalker¡¯s icy fingertips made Luo Jian shudder, and he waspelled to turn back around and look at him. This one turn immediately gave Xing Yan an opportunity he could exploit; he impatiently lowered his head and pressed his lips against the other¡¯s.

    However, this superficial contact was only but a second, for, at once, he was shoved away by Luo Jian. 13 and 14 were still in the process of clearing the vines, and although they didn¡¯t have the free time to watch their actions, Luo Jian wasn¡¯t bold or wild enough to disy a grand y of passion in the presence of others. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t guess this Stalker¡¯s intentions. His face burned red, and he distanced himself from the other. But, unfortunately, wherever he went, the Stalker also followed closely behind him, and whenever he encountered any danger, the guy would step forward bravely; Luo Jian couldn¡¯t understand why the other protected him.

    The Stalker was so baffling and disturbing that Luo Jian couldn¡¯t concentrate on fighting, and he slipped up. A vine tangled around his foot and promptly dragged him towards thatrge cocoon of tree vines. Xing Yan immediately jumped into action. He reached out with his hands and captured Luo Jian¡¯s arm. However, the vine¡¯s strength was astonishing. The Stalker wasn¡¯t a match, and he was also dragged into that massive cocoon of tree vines along with the other.

 Chapter 33: Too Cold (Extra)

    Chapter 33: Too Cold (Extra)

    Xing Yan stood still in the darkness for a very, very long time.

    It was pitch-ck, turbulent, without skies, and withoutnd. There was no sound; there was no life. There was nothing. Only Xing Yan. He curled up in this cold, dreary, chaotic space of nothingness and endured day after day, waiting for the advent of light.

    It was within this darkness that his will was born.

    He didn¡¯t remember his name, he didn¡¯t remember whence he came, he couldn¡¯t recall his past, and he was also unsure of his future.

    He may have been a man known as Xing Yan, but now, he was ¡®Xing Yan¡¯ in name only, a shell of this person called ¡®Xing Yan¡¯. He was merely a ghost born in the darkness, a devil born in the chambers.

    He was indeed Xing Yan, yet he also wasn¡¯t Xing Yan.

    At longst, the moment where he could escape this everyday darkness arrived. But the price of leaving the shadows was to be stripped of his will. His mind was like a calcting machine imnted with unfamiliarmands, and for him, there was only one specificmand, so simple and so clear¡ª¡±Kill all creatures you see.¡±

    And so, Xing Yan picked up his knife.

    Eventually, he no longer possessed this so-called ¡®fear¡¯, as it was that cold machines didn¡¯t have feelings of fear.

    Finally, he no longer had to worry about Death¡¯s scythe. After all, he himself was the scythe of Death.

    In the end, he lost all emotions and ceased to feel love or hatred. Even though times passed and his body deteriorated, he would still be reborn from the corrosive soil.

    His prey soon gave him a new name¡ª¡¯Stalker¡¯.

    The de in his hand fell, and Death was born that very moment. Even if he returned to the radiant world of light, Xing Yan still wouldn¡¯t be able to catch a glimpse of that light. Everything within his line of sight had only three colors: grey, ck, and red.

    Grey was a pale corpse. ck was the suffocating fear and dread. Red was the trickle of blood.

    He didn¡¯t know whether a genuine machine could be exhausted, but Xing Yan felt extremely tired. He was too tired to take another step, he practically had no strength to wield his ughter knife. He thought, perhaps like this, he could finally be killed by someone. Just wait until he was unable to move a single muscle, then immediately after, someone could easily take his life. At least he wouldn¡¯t have to repeat these senseless, mundane orders and tasks day after day.

    Yet, why was it like this? It wasn¡¯t enough just being tired. Xing Yan was still able to advance forward, he still had enough strength to kill all creatures that appeared before his eyes one by one. Even if his soul was exhausted, verging on death, his body still possessed more than enough strength, peerless strength. He was so powerful that he was invincible; he triumphed in every battle, seeded in every undertaking.

    The scythe of Death would never die, simply because he was a tool personally crafted by the gods themselves.

    He couldn¡¯t feel despair or hopelessness, but he was so very tired. Then one day, Xing Yan seemed to have been enlightened. Since these gods gave him the orders to kill, he decided he shall thoroughly ughter everything heys eyes on, to the greatest extent! After that, Xing Yan went berserk. He massacred everything in his path. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was a living creature or something else, he couldn¡¯t wait to annihte all. He was like a nuclear bomb. Deranged, he wanted to end the entire world; he crazily desired the whole world¡¯s destruction!

    The chambers were forced to restrain him due to his madness. They confined him in that never-ending primal chaos and darkness once more.

    But this time, he felt at ease.

    Perhaps this wasn¡¯t such a bad thing, sleeping for a long time, not needing to wake up again.

    Unfortunately, God was never so kind.

    Once again, Xing Yan was awakened by a thud¡ªit sounded as if a hammer was striking the wall. Xing Yan didn¡¯t open his eyes, but his eyelids could sense a shining light; it passed through that thinyer of skin and cast on his retinae.

    Because of his keen perception, he was aware that a human was squatting in front of him, observing him. This led Xing Yan to increase his vignce; his mind automatically reyed the first and final order the chambers assigned to him: to kill all creatures he catches sight of.

    Thereupon, Xing Yan imperceptibly clenched his fists. In that moment, he considered countless methods to swiftly knock down and kill this human before him; he quickly determined his n of action. But just when he was about to put his idea into practice, the human¡¯s next action made him freeze.

    It wasn¡¯t anything really; the human merely stretched out a hand and touched Xing Yan¡¯s neck with his warm fingers. The ce where his fingers touched seemed to have captured that warmth. It was so warm that it was unfathomable. In an instant, Xing Yan¡¯s heart, which had been dead for quite some time, seemed to have revived. For the first time, Xing Yan came to a realization¡ªas it turned out, living creatures were actually warm!

    Unlike him, unlike Xing Yan, they had a warm temperature. Xing Yan¡¯s entire self didn¡¯t contain the slightest warmth. He was exactly like the ck-and-white striped serpent he was raising, just as cold-blooded and just as iparably lethal.

    Xing Yan never knew that humans could be so warm, but this was normal. Since he became conscious, he had stayed hidden within the darkest abyss. The moment he was released by the chambers, he picked up his ughter knife to exterminate humanity. He subconsciously loathed those scarlet bloodstains; such a bright, vivid color shouldn¡¯t have made an appearance in his monochrome world. And so, he began to use the cleanest, most beautiful knife techniques to deliver the most fatal blow to his prey. He was unwilling to be contaminated by that crimson blood, he refused to be touched by others.

    As a result, it took Xing Yan until this day for him to realize living creatures could be so warm.

    However, if killed, they would immediately turn ice-cold.

    This warmth was burning. Xing Yan was brimming with nostalgia. But it was a pity that this warm temperature didn¡¯t belong to him; he was just a cold-blooded killing machine, he wasn¡¯t able to possess this thing called ¡®warmth¡¯. He was destined to live in a gloomy, cold, dark world, not one where the sun of the iridescent skies cast a brilliant shine upon all. Since this warmth could never belong to him, let him destroy it! For all things he could never have, Xing Yan was always filled with hatred.

    Afterwards, Xing Yan opened his eyes, lifted his head, and looked towards that human being. The pitiful little prey thought that he was finally going to escape from this ce; with his back turned around, he eagerly opened the door with the key. Excited, Xing Yan grinned evilly as he fished out the knife from his pocket. His footsteps were so light and graceful, his movements were so gentle; he gradually approached that unsuspecting prey¡¯s back.

    As a matter of fact, Xing Yan only needed this one knife and a bit of force, and he could easily cut off the head of this tiny prey in a sh. However, Xing Yan didn¡¯t do so. While switching between ideas, he finally chose one of the methods he was heavily opposed to. He grasped the neck of that small prey from behind, dragged him into his strong arms, then stabbed the other¡¯s abdomen with his knife.

    His little prey should¡¯ve been in quite a lot of pain.

    Xing Yan lowered his head and observed the small prey¡¯s expression; Xing Yan himself couldn¡¯t feel any pain¡­ No, it should be said that this body of his had already be ustomed to injuries and suffering; therefore, he was very much insensitive and numb to all pain. If not all, he hadn¡¯t felt pain, specifically the kind that made one roll around on the ground from the agony, in a very long time.

    However, just because he hadn¡¯t felt it in a very long time didn¡¯t mean Xing Yan couldn¡¯t understand this sort of pain. He personally felt that he should be considered a good person because he always chose the swiftest and fastest method when killing another; it was so quick that even the deceased couldn¡¯t feel pain; in fact, the other wouldn¡¯t even know he was already dead.

    Only the most perverse murderers were fond of cutting up their victims¡¯ bodies, subjecting those poor victims to both physical and mental torment, eventually leaving them to die in excruciating pain.

    Of course, Xing Yan asionally liked that feeling as well.

    It¡¯s just that, currently, his small prey was fiercely resisting him a bit too much. Covered in blood, he forcefully shoved Xing Yan away and copsed to the floor. The knife perforated the viscera of this tiny prey, causing him to bleed profusely. He would be dizzy, all of his strength would leave his body, and very soon, he would die from excessive blood loss. Xing Yan sauntered over and crouched down, abnormally and desperately wishing to gaze upon his wounded victim¡¯s expression.

    Xing Yan suddenly discovered this lovely little prey looked quite beautiful. The type he liked. His eyes were slightly upturned, and he was particrly soul-stirring when he slightly narrowed those eyes of his. With his ck hair and ck eyes, he resembled an adorable little kitten. But it was such pity he would die, ah.

    When people died, their expressions would always differ. But in these chambers, most of them were indignant, at a loss, and reluctant. After all, every single person selected by the chambers had terrifying will to live. This fearsome conviction to survive allowed the yers to exhibit a non-human side in the chambers. It didn¡¯t matter if they were ipetent good-for-nothings in the real world, in these chambers, one absolutely mustn¡¯t underestimate the hidden potential of any individual.

    But this cute little prey¡¯s will to live was disyed with an unexpected action Xing Yan couldn¡¯t have possibly foreseen.

    This little thing suddenly reached out and clutched Xing Yan¡¯s cor; the other pulled his head down, lifted his own chin, and soon after, Xing Yan felt something warm and moist touch his lips. In that instance, the sensation within him was indescribable; it was as if a man dying of thirst suddenly had a taste of water after wandering through the desert for so long, or perhaps, how everything would get out of hand, how the situation would be incontroble, unsalvageable, once a person got hooked on drugs¡­it was such an intense emotion.

    Stalkers had no memories of their past; they had no feelings, nonguage, and they couldn¡¯t even speak. They were callous, cruel, deprived of warmth. But at that moment, Xing Yan truly embraced warmth¡¯s existence. Granted, Luo Jian¡¯s unintentional kiss was malicious, a product of wrath, resentment and reluctance, an inexplicable and desperate move he made while his was delirious.

    However, it was this very move that caused Xing Yan to be addicted to this drug called ¡®warmth¡¯.

    After that, Xing Yan strangely discovered that this damned thing he was so obsessed with could only be found on his cute little prey. There was no other person who was capable of impacting him this way. Xing Yan himself couldn¡¯tprehend or exin this sensation, so he left Luo Jian alive, and ultimately, followed in the wake of Luo Jian¡¯s footsteps. But this tiny prey¡¯s footsteps were so fast, always disappearing in a blink of an eye; he would constantly flee to where Xing Yan couldn¡¯t reach.

    They had to be separated for so long every time they saw each other, but he still looked forward to each meeting.

    It would¡¯ve been nice if he could break through the barrier of this space. As Xing Yan drifted about in this dark void, he raised his head and gazed at the boundless shadows. And he thought to himself. If he had enough strength, he would be able to break this spatial barrier, he would immediately be able to go out and find that lovely little thing, touch him. Surely, he must still feel very warm.

    Xing Yan closed his eyes, and the dreadful darkness consumed his heart.

    This ce truly was¡­too cold.

 Chapter 34: Memories

    Chapter 34: Memories

    There was always this one scene that would appear in Luo Jian¡¯s mind every time he tried recalling his childhood memories.

    Crepuscule, a setting sun, greenery, open fields, lush thickets.

    A broad view of the world gave way to a breathtaking site. As the radiant sun kissed the horizon, its rays scattered through the air; streaks of crimson shed against the pure colors of the wispy clouds, painting the skies an intense shade of red and orange. The crisp evening breeze caressed his cheeks, bringing about a refreshing touch. And within his line of sight stood a tall and thin silhouette. The figure evoked a vague sense of familiarity, but because the other¡¯s back was facing the setting sun, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t discern the other¡¯s shadowed facial features clearly. However, despite being unable to make out the other¡¯s face, he was still able to see the sad gentleness brewing within those deep, dark eyes, as the other let out a tender smile.

    Luo Jian just couldn¡¯t remember him. It was that same endless dream. There would always be this person talking to him, but he could never see the other¡¯s face. No matter when or where he fell asleep, he would always have this exact dream.

    Soon after, Luo Jian woke up. When he came to, he found himself trapped within a huge cocoon of rattans. He was surrounded by a cluster of entangled vines, some of which coiled tightly around his entire body. Unable to move a single muscle, Luo Jian struggled to lift his head, only toy eyes on countless chaotic vines furiously squirming about. The group of vines writhed around nauseatingly, entwining around each other and creating a single grotesque entity. It wasn¡¯t long before one of therger vines seemed to have spotted Luo Jian, and it suddenly shot forward. At the tip of the vine was a carnivorous mouth reeking of blood, and ever so gradually, it approached Luo Jian.

    The tree vine soon began to twist like a serpent. Judging from its current posture, it appeared to want to gulp Luo Jian down. Feeling anxious in his heart, Luo Jian gathered all of his strength and struggled, but he couldn¡¯t free his body from those snarling vines. However, he somehow managed to loosen his wrist, and taking advantage of that chance, he instantly reached for the dagger at his waist.

    Luo Jian had two knives in his possession. One was naturally his own. Unfortunately, that very knife flew from his grip as a result of the sudden impact he received from the tree vines violently dragging him away. And now, he didn¡¯t know where itnded. The other, however, was the tang dao he had taken from Duan Li, and as of this moment, the knife he had grabbed happened to be Duan Li¡¯s tang dao. Luo Jian did everything he could to force the tang dao out of its scabbard, but it didn¡¯t even budge by a centimeter.

    A weapon belonged to its master, and no one, apart from its master, had the power to use it.

    Damn it all! Luo Jian inwardly cursed; his heart sank in his chest. He couldn¡¯t pull the knife from its cover, his body couldn¡¯t even move a single step, and now there was a horrific vine right before his eyes! It couldn¡¯t get any worse than this! The tree vine inched closer and closer to him, and its monstrous mouth grew wider and wider. Just look at the sickening size of that mouth, it could just swallow Luo Jian¡¯s whole body without chewing!

    I have to think of a way; otherwise, I¡¯ll really be eaten whole. Luo Jian certainly didn¡¯t want to experience death by being eaten by a tree vine. He had already anticipated the worst that could ever happen to him, the most tragic death he could ever experience, but interestingly enough, he¡¯d never considered that he would die inside one of these endless chambers. In fact, he felt that he¡¯d most likely die by his own two hands, a death by suicide.

    That¡¯s right, he believed as though he¡¯d end up taking his own life.

    But why would he think that? For what reason exactly did he believe he would end upmitting suicide? Even he himself didn¡¯t know the reason; it¡¯s just the feeling he had. It was as if this idea abruptly cut into his thoughts one day and settled into the depths of his mind, like a burst of inspiration, slowly taking root, gradually devouring his heart and corrupting his soul, forever etching itself into his being, never to be crushed or removed. And, in truth, Luo Jian loathed himself for this. He detested how outrageously keen he was¡­especially when it came to his sharp intuition.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I definitely won¡¯t be dying in this sort of ce, hah!¡± Luo Jian gritted his teeth. The corners of his mouth curled upwards into a crooked sneer. He stared straight ahead as that vile vine neared him. That huge mouth split wide open, exposing its fierce fangs. It truly was such a baffling sight to see a seemingly ordinary tree vine exhibit characteristics normally found in live creatures; it was just so strange that a vine could have such a big mouth and even grow sharp teeth. This made one quite curious¡­ Just how would the inside of this vine¡¯s stomach look?

    It was a pity that Luo Jian¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t creative enough to imagine what this vine looked like from the inside. Nevertheless, he was still unwilling to be eaten by this tree vine. He gave up on the idea of trying to draw out the sword that wasn¡¯t his. He closed his eyes, when suddenly, the words of the boss echoed in his mind¡ª

    ¡°Your weapons are a part of your body; they may be your internals organs or perhaps one of your limbs, but they¡¯re practically you. You always have to bear this in mind. It isn¡¯t your weapon who¡¯s in control of you, but you who¡¯s in control of your weapon. You must firmly believe that it is you, that you two are one. Even if you discard it, abandon it, give up on it, or change it, it will always be by your side. It is the very flesh that you were born with. It will never leave you, unless it bes gory mess dripping with blood, an appalling sight that no one could bear to witness.¡±

    The boss was both Luo Jian¡¯s mentor and friend. He was the guide for all neers, and he was certainly worthy of such a title. Although he himself admitted to Luo Jian that he was merely a rookie who barely managed to escape the small number of chambers he¡¯s experienced, Luo Jian just couldn¡¯t believe him. After all, this slovenly dressed, unruly, drunken uncle, who looked as if he¡¯s never once brushed that scraggly beard of his, had constantly guided him, giving him tons of invaluable information.

    ¡°My weapon will never leave my side¡­is that so?¡±

    As Luo Jian mumbled to himself, he nced down at Duan Li¡¯s tang dao that was hanging at his waist, when, suddenly, an odd thought popped into his mind. He thought of that massive, eye-catching crossbow that 13 would hold in his hand, how it would appear out of nowhere in spite of being hidden just moments before. He just didn¡¯t know where in the world that tight-lipped, ever-so-secretive 13 pulled out a such arge weapon from. Not to mention that little girl, 14, and her majestic whip¡­ When Luo Jian first saw this little girl, she was still wearing her school uniform, and there wasn¡¯t a single trace of that whip on her body. But, as if it were magic, the whip manifested from thin air, causing onlookers to scratch their heads in bafflement as they tried to make sense of when and where it appeared.

    The same applied to that Stalker, as well. Although he always donned a sleek ck uniform that had quite a lot of pockets on it, every time he drew his de, it was almost instantaneously; Luo Jian couldn¡¯t see his movements at all. It one witnessed this, they wouldn¡¯t even know where he pulled that tactical assault knife from.

    Just why was this so? Was it truly something unrealistically mystical, like those infamous spatial storage rings one would read about in fantasy novels?

    ¡°No, that¡¯s wrong.¡± Luo Jian raised his head and opened his eyes. The tree vine was only a breath away now. The threatening vine seemed to brimming with impatience. Its mouth was wide open, and disgusting secretions dripped from its razor-sharp fangs; the putrid stench assaulted Luo Jian¡¯s nostrils. Luo Jian then narrowed his eyes and uttered:

    ¡°My knife. It¡¯s always been here.¡±

    It had never left in the first ce.

    The vine quickly extended his head, striking fast. Its humongous mouth aimed for Luo Jian, and it¡¯s intentions were clear¡ªit nned to take a ruthlessly bite of Luo Jian. Too bad it never did get to enjoy its prey¡¯s delicious blood, because the very instant it was going to bite down, a cold glint of light shed before the two, like a shooting star whizzing through the skies, swift, breathtaking, and impossible to catch a glimpse of. Not even a split-second had passed before the vine let out a screech and copsed to the ground. Its entire mouth had been split into two, where the upper half was no longer connected to the bottom. Warm blood bubbled out of the creature¡¯s wound; its color was a beautiful shade of crimson, the same bright color as the blood that ran through the bodies of humans.

    This tree vine was indeed different from the rest, because the others never bled after being shed in half. Rather, the more he cut, the fast and longer they would grow back. Luo Jian studied the atrocious vine before his eyes, and he wondered whether he¡¯d cut down a vital part of those vines, possibly its main body? But he no longer dwelled on this thought and instead looked down at the recovered dagger in his hand. It was a carbon copy of the one Xing Yan possessed, the same exact model and size. Was this merely a coincidence? Or¡­was there perhaps a deeper meaning to this?

    As soon as Luo Jian flicked his wrist, the dagger in his hand inexplicably vanished into his palm.

    ¡°Boss actually didn¡¯t lie to me. Weapons really are a part of one¡¯s body.¡±

    However, time didn¡¯t allow Luo Jian to continue specting on this matter any longer. After he cut down thatrge-mouthed vine, the epassing vines began twitching violently, convulsing bizarrely. Once again, Luo Jian seized his knife and stood on guard. But to his surprise, the vines seemed to shrink after their trembling ceased. They gradually began to wither, as it all of the water in its body was being sucked out of it in that very moment. One by one, the vines drooped towards the ground, and soon, they all remained motionless,pletely dried up.

    Yet, even though the vines had already died, their remains still surrounded the vicinity, densely shrouding the area. Luo Jian stepped on one of the remnants left behind on the ground and pried apart the thick curtain of vines with his hands. Having chanced upon a path, he trudged deeper into this swathing of vines. After climbing for a while, Luo Jian furrowed his brows. He didn¡¯t expect the cocoon of vines to be this big. Countless vines intertwined with one another; the entire area was crowded with these warped things. Even if they had withered in one area, there were still more lively vines encircling other areas.

    These vines were alive and kicking, twisting around each other right before him. Luo Jian¡¯s eyes soon widened as he caught the shadows of a hazy figure sitting inside the nest of vines. He was just about to jump into action, when he heard a faint voiceing from inside.

    ¡°Luo Jian?¡±

    ¡°Ah Lan?¡± Luo Jian was so startled at hearing that all too familiar voice. He cried out, ¡°Ah Lan?! How did you get here?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan should have been sleeping safely and soundly inside that tree hole. He shouldn¡¯t have been able toe out, unless¡­

    ¡°Have I slept for a long time?¡± wondered Feng Yu Lan.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long you were sleeping for. I seem to have dropped my cell phone somewhere, so I couldn¡¯t even check the time. But it should be around midnight; the sky will turn bright soon.¡± Luo Jian stabbed at those relentless, iling vines with his knife. Feeling rather anxious, he asked, ¡°Are you alright in there, Ah Lan? Shouldn¡¯t you have been inside that tree hole?¡±

    As if it wasn¡¯t already weird enough; it didn¡¯t help that Feng Yu Lan¡¯s voice was sounding awfully strange right now. He stayed silent for a moment, not breathing a single word, then responded with a question of his own, ¡°Have you brought my grimoire with you?¡±

    It was only then that Luo Jian recalled Feng Yu Lan¡¯s book. He hastily reached for his pocket and felt around. Luo Jian lost many items in the midst of the chaos, and it appeared that his best friend¡¯s magic tome was one of those items that had disappeared. Luo Jian knitted his brows, then sweeping a nce at his dagger, he told the other, ¡°Listen, Ah Lan. A weapon is connected to its owner, so even if you happen to lose it, you can summon it back at your own will. Go ahead, try calling it back.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. The summoning spell has already ended, and that Stalker has most likely returned to the ce he belongs.¡±

    ¡°Ended? It actually stopped? Didn¡¯t you say that you can¡¯t stop it without reciting a specific incantation?¡±

    ¡°When the summoner dies, the spell will end.¡±

    Luo Jian paused as he took a moment to process what he had just heard. It took him a long time to finally register what Feng Yu Lan meant. He fiercely grasped those vines before him with his hands, without caring if it the vines winded around his wrist and slithered up his arm. His face grew ashen, and his tone, deep and dark. He roared, ¡°Feng Yu Lan, you¡¯d better stop fucking around with me! Don¡¯t you even dare spout that kind of bullshit! I, your father, have let you down and regrettably caused you to die once in the first chamber. I know it¡¯s my fault that you have to suffer through this absurd chase for the sake of your ¡®survival¡¯; however, I have already vowed in my heart that I will never, ever let you die for a second time!!!¡±

    A thick wall of vines separated the two. And just on the other side, Feng Yu Lan seemed to be chuckling in amusement. His tone was truly too strange; something about him was off. It was like he wasn¡¯t the same as before, like he wasn¡¯t the usual Feng Yu Lan. There was no sense of close intimacy, no brotherly love, between him and Luo Jian. He was calm, deathly calm¡­and his voice was colder than ice, dreadfully frosty and down-right emotionless, ¡°Luo Jian, I really would like to thank you; you have been very good to me, a bit too good.¡±

    Luo Jian frowned and gnashed his teeth, ¡°What the hell are you trying to say?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, really. I¡¯m merely expressing my gratitude.¡±

    ¡°Then why is it that I can¡¯t I hear a sliver of that appreciation in your words?¡±

    Feng Yu Lan grew silent. After a moment, he sighed, ¡°Look, Luo Jian, I truly do want to give the real Feng Yu Lan back to you, but I¡¯m afraid I cannot do so.¡±

    Luo Jian simply couldn¡¯tprehend what the other was trying to get across. He demanded, ¡°Ah Lan, stop beating around the bush, and tell it to me straight. Just what the hell are you trying to say?!¡±

    ¡°Feng Yu Lan is dead.¡± The voice on the other side continued, ¡°He was too weak. His old wounds weren¡¯t healed, and they opened back up. He lost too much blood, and he also forced himself to recite all those high-level incantations that he shouldn¡¯t even be using at his current stage, causing his spirit to weaken considerably. If not all, he was¡­that Duan Li also hurt him¡­ Perhaps out of excruciating wrath or hatred, he decided to use that summoning spell. But this spell has great side effects. The longer the summoning time, the weaker his body would grow until it¡¯s eventually unable to withstand the overbearing force of the bacsh, causing all of his viscera to rupture and resulting in his tragically dying from extreme blood loss.

    ¡°When he was speaking to you in the tree hole, he was actually on the verge of death. Perhaps he himself had already realized that his time was almost up, so he sent you away, then silently fell fast asleep inside that tree hole.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Luo Jian felt his fingers trembling, his heart pounded furiously in his chest. What the other was saying was difficult toprehend. For a long time, the other¡¯s words echoed through his mind, but he couldn¡¯t hear them, he just couldn¡¯t understand. Luo Jian could only shake his head in denial and counter with, ¡°If Feng Yu Lan is dead, then who the hell are you?¡±

    ¡°Me? I¡¯m Feng Yu Lan.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah? And I¡¯m telling you to stop fucking around! Did you not just say that Feng Yu Lan is dead?!¡±

    ¡°Hah¡­¡± The other smiled wryly before letting out a grim chuckle. ¡°I am without a doubt Feng Yu Lan. I am¡­another him.¡±

    ¡°What kind of bullshit are you spouting out now! The fuck do you mean by ¡®another him¡¯? Let me just remind you, this father right here has known Feng Yu Lan for more than twenty years, and I sure as hell haven¡¯t see another one of that fool!¡± It was as if the cap to his emotions suddenly busted open, fueling him with sheer anger. Enraged, Luo Jian wildly wed at the vines, tearing them apart and shoving them aside, in order to see the figure hidden behind them.

    ¡°To be more precise, I am his grimoire.¡±

    At this very instant, Luo Jian was stunned speechless, utterly shocked and horrified by this remark.

    A heavy silence filled the air. After a while, he suddenly heard the other heave a sigh of regret, then add, ¡°Feng Yu Lan is dead, but he also isn¡¯t dead at the same time. I won¡¯t let him die so easily. Which is why¡­you must always believe in your own weapon, Luo Jian. It will do its utmost to protect you, just as I am trying my best to protect him.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Luo Jian opened his mouth, only to close it back. He didn¡¯t know how to react, what to do or what to even say.

    ¡°I truly am another Feng Yu Lan. Another¡­who will solely dedicate his heart and soul to his one and only Feng Yu Lan. You may also refer to me as Shadow.¡± The other¡¯s voice suddenly became ethereal, so soft and vague, so faint that it seemed as though it would dissipate in the very next second. ¡°Next time, I will exchange my presence with the real Feng Yu Lan. He will be me, and I will be him. But right now, he is too weak, so I will be letting him rest in my own body as I cultivate him carefully. Perhaps in the next chamber, you¡¯ll be lucky enough to see him again.¡±

    Shadow¡¯s words never failed to astonish Luo Jian. ¡°You can put him inside your body? No¡­I mean, aren¡¯t you a book?¡±

    A slight smile unexpectedly spread across Shadow¡¯s lips, and he replied, ¡°Weapons can enter your body, and you can also be the weapons themselves. I can also turn into a person, but truthfully speaking, maintaining a human form drains too much of my force, so I tend to stay as a book most of the time, as you already saw.¡±

    ¡°So¡­what of Feng Yu Lan now? Have you already taken him back?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve still yet to find him, but I can sense his presence. He has fallen into a state of suspended animation. He just can¡¯t directly recall his weapon as well as you can¡­ These vines are quite troublesome; would you mind removing them and getting me out of here?¡±

    Upon hearing his request, Luo Jian immediately began working harder to tear down the wall of vines. After toiling away for half a day, he finally managed to get rid of all the vines in his way. He then peeked inside, only to suck in a cool breath at the startling sight before him.

    ¡°Ah Lan¡­¡±

    It was indeed Feng Yu Lan. The other¡¯s appearance was identical to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s, the clothes on his body were the same as Feng Yu Lan¡¯s, and even the other¡¯s voice and mannerism came close enough to Feng Yu Lan¡¯s. Luo Jian scrutinized the other for ages, but he couldn¡¯t even spot a single discrepancy.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that I am another Feng Yu Lan. I am the side hidden within his heart, a manifestation of his innermost feelings, his alter ego. One can even say that I¡¯m the darkest, filthiest, most despicable and most wretched side of him. Previously, when I still had yet to transform into a book, it was quite difficult for me to leave the depths of his heart. Or rather¡­I suppose, I simply didn¡¯t want to escape.¡±

    Shadow cocked his head to one side. The other¡¯s habits and appearance were practically identical to that of Feng Yu Lan¡¯s. Luo Jian had no choice but to ept the truth of what the other said. He knelt down right next to Shadow. Unable to suppress his turbulent emotions, he couldn¡¯t help but reach out and touch him. Shadow didn¡¯t resist and he rubbed his cheek against Luo Jian¡¯s hand, fondly snuggling into thefort of Luo Jian¡¯s palm. A warm smile hung on his sweet face, so gentle and tender, yet ever so deceptive.

    Agonizing sorrow suddenly took ahold of Luo Jian¡¯s heart. He dolefully gazed at Shadow; his voice cracked as he softly whispered, ¡°Ah Lan, just how could this have happened to you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Duan Li.¡± Shadow uttered. ¡°It was he¡­who awakened ¡®us¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 35: Asura

    Chapter 35: Asura

    With the help of Shadow, who had turned back into his original grimoire form, Luo Jian managed to find Feng Yu Lan huddled within a tree hole. However, they were apparently toote. There was already another person standing directly outside of the opening. Duan Li crouched down before the hole, stretched out his arms, and carefully carried Ah Lan out, hugging him to his chest. Feng Yu Lan¡¯s entire body was covered in blood; his clothes were drenched in crimson, and both of his eyes were shut tight, motionless. In a trance, Duan Li gently held the other in his arms.

    ¡°It appears as though my task has nearly been aplished.¡± Duan Li sensed Luo Jian¡¯s arrival. He didn¡¯t bother turning around as he spoke. ¡°I thought I could y for a bit longer, but it seems that this little thing couldn¡¯t handle it, ah. In my hands¡­he was even more fragile than ss.¡±

    Now that the target was no longer alive, the tree vines began to wither; one by one, the vines rapidly dried and shriveled before everyone¡¯s eyes. It was only a matter of seconds before all the nts died, copsing limply to the ground. With the sun having yet to rise, the forest was shrouded in darkness; only the cool, silvery light of the moon, gently spilling in through the leaves and softly hitting the forest ground, illuminated the surrounding area. The morning star had already risen, signaling the arrival of the first light of the day, signaling¡­dawn¡¯s advent.

    ¡°Give my Ah Lan back to me.¡± Violent chills wracked Luo Jian¡¯s body, but he had no choice but to maintain hisposure.

    ¡°You wish to have a mere corpse?¡±

    ¡°Even if it is just a corpse, it doesn¡¯t belong to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but¡­he already belongs to me.¡± Duan Li tightened his grip on Feng Yu Lan, possessively dragging the other closer to his chest, and turned to face Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian raised his chin and ferociously red at Duan Li, ¡°He¡¯s dead! You¡¯ve alreadypleted your mission, so I¡¯m begging you, just let him go already!¡±

    ¡°Hah! Luo Jian, you really underestimate me too much! You honestly think I can¡¯t tell whether or not he¡¯s truly dead?¡± Duan Li remained unmoved. ¡°I haven¡¯t received any notifications from the chambers, indicating that this task has officially beenpleted. That being said, even though this lovely little target of mine looks dead, he is very much still alive.¡±

    Afterwards, right before Luo Jian, Duan Li abruptly lowered his head, and to Luo Jian¡¯s horror, he kissed Feng Yu Lan¡¯s ice-cold lips.

    ¡°You¡­¡± This scene rendered Luo Jian speechless. Utterly stunned, he could do nothing but gape at Duan Li in shock.

    ¡°Luo Jian, I¡¯ve changed my mind.¡± Duan Li suddenly announced. ¡°Do you know what the consequences are if I don¡¯tplete my task? If I fail to kill this lovely little thing within twenty-four hours, I will be punished by the chambers. If he doesn¡¯t die, the one who¡¯ll end up dropping dead would be me¡ªI¡¯ll be the one to die in his stead.¡±

    ¡°What are you getting at?¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t make sense of what the other was trying to say, but a strange premonition lurked in the back of his mind.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die. But I also don¡¯t want him to die.¡± Duan Li wrinkled his brows and nced down at Feng Yu Lan who was in his arms. His frown grew deeper. ¡°It¡¯s strange; I feel so weird. I shouldn¡¯t have these feelings in the first ce, but every time I look at him, I feel this inexplicable sadness. Why is that?¡±

    He simply couldn¡¯t fathom it; just how could he feel such emotions? They haven¡¯t even known each other for more than twenty-four hours, but for some unexinable reason, he felt that the man in his arm suddenly became so heavy, so heavy that Duan Li didn¡¯t have the courage to move him, much less pick him up; this strange feeling was especially strong the moment Duan Li caught sight of the other lying there, breathless and covered in blood.

    All of a sudden, he felt cold, he couldn¡¯t breathe. It was as if a freezing hand came to strangle his neck, choking him; he could feel his life gradually being ripped away from him. Agonizing sorrow overcame him in that instant. No one else¡¯s death could evoke such deep emotions in Duan Li, but this person was different. Yet, in the end, Duan Li couldn¡¯t put a finger on why he thought the other was so different.

    Should I pay such a big price and suffer the consequences, for a human being who has nothing to do with me? Duan Li reasoned that it wasn¡¯t worth it, but at the same time, he couldn¡¯t let go. He hugged Feng Yu Lan even tighter. For the first time in his life, he felt he had lost control of everything; all of his ns were slipping through his fingers like sand.

    ¡°Fuck it, what the hell, let¡¯s just take this gamble. Whether I win or lose, I¡¯ll just leave it to fate. If I don¡¯t have the guts to bet with my life, then my name isn¡¯t Duan Li.¡± While muttering this to himself, Duan Li shook his head and sighed deeply. He propped up Ah Lan¡¯s body with his own, rounding Ah Lan¡¯s waist with one arm and letting him lean on his chest. He then waved his right arm. Luo Jian immediately felt something disappear from his side. He bowed his head and looked down, only to find that the tang dao, which was originally secured at his waist, had magically returned to Duan Li¡¯s hand.

    Duan Li snatched his own weapon back, but he had no intentions of attacking. He flipped the knife in his hand, and unexpectedly put the de against his own neck. Luo Jian was beyond confounded at Duan Li¡¯s actions, but he didn¡¯t dare act rashly either; after all, who knew what this abnormal fellow was nning to do in the end? At this very moment, Luo Jian ced all of his attention on Feng Yu Lan. Feng Yu Lan was currently in a state of suspended animation, but he absolutely could not be hurt or even slightly injured at this time; otherwise, he would no longer be in a deathlike state, but actually dead.

    But contrary to expectations, Duan Li had no ns to injure the other. He ced the de against his own neck, pressed hard with the razor-sharp tip, piercing the thin skin. As Duan Li dragged the knife across his neck, viscous blood began flowing down the fresh, shallow wound.

    Naturally, the neck was amongst one of the most delicate and vital parts of one¡¯s body, for many major arteries ran though this area, which was why even the smallest of wounds could produce a lot of blood. And yet, Duan Li couldn¡¯t care any less about the river of blood pouring down from his neck. The blood ran down his clothes onto Feng Yu Lan, who was still caught in his embrace, and both of their blood eventually merged into one. Duan Li remained silent for a moment. No sooner, a whisper fell from his lips.

    ¡¾Interdependent Contract¡ªEstablished!¡¿

    ¡¾Damn it!¡¿In this instant, the grimoire in Luo Jian¡¯s hand flew up by itself. Countless words frantically began to form on the fluttering pages of the magic tome. Unfortunately, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t catch a single word, and the grimoire seemed too impatient to exin to Luo Jian, so it directly changed into its human form.

    Shadow, who had now assumed the form of a human, could still float in the air just as he could when he was a grimoire; if not all, he was incredibly swift. He charged straight at Duan Li; he acted so fast, that Luo Jian didn¡¯t even have the time to respond. At that very moment, Duan Li raised his head and shot a nce at the other, only to be left in shock.

    Feng Yu Lan was clearly still in his arms, so how could there possibly be another one right before his eyes?

    Nevertheless, Shadow didn¡¯t have much control over his actions, and he certainly didn¡¯t have the patience to deal with the other. He pounced over, reaching out with his arms, to seize Feng Yu Lan back, even at the cost of a fight. But, of course, how could Duan Li just let the other snatch him like that? Naturally, it was impossible to take anything from under Duan Li¡¯s nose, and Duan Li would definitely not let him take hold of Ah Lan. He tightened his hold on the one in his arms, pulling him closer into his embrace. He couldn¡¯t help but ask a question at the sight of Shadow, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Shadow didn¡¯t answer him. He viciously red at Duan Li, and once again reached out both his hands to grab Feng Yu Lan who was trapped in Duan Li¡¯s arms. Trembling in rage and restiveness, he spat out between his gnashed teeth, ¡°Give. Him. To. Me!¡±

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Duan Li was more than startled by this situation, but he stubbornly repeated his question.

    ¡°He¡¯s mine!¡± growled Shadow. The feral look he directed at Duan Li was filled with heavy bloodthirst and murderous intent. ¡°He is me, and I am him. And you have no fucking qualifications to establish any shitty contract with him! Because I won¡¯t allow it!¡±

    Duan Li fell silent for a moment, then he unexpectedly burst intoughter. He seemed to havee to a conclusion after observing Shadow for a while. Smiling, he said, ¡°But the contract has already started. You might as well just prepare yourself. If you two truly are the same person, then the contract will affect you, too.¡±

    Shadow hesitated for a moment. He couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, and while he was still trying to sort his thoughts, something shocking happened! The blood on Duan Li¡¯s body began twisting around like vines, as if it possessed life. The strips of blood soon turned into scarlet ribbons and quickly twined around Feng Yu Lan¡¯s body, and Shadow, who had grabbed Feng Yu Lan¡¯s arm, was caught in the same predicament! The ribbons of blood were relentlessly coiling around his arms, gradually spreading and winding around his entire body.

    Feeling anxious, Shadow desperately tried pulling off those vile crimson ribbons, but the ribbons began wrapping around him even more, persistently twirling around their bodies. These blood-red ribbons were simr to those tree vines, except these were undeniably more beautiful.

    ¡°It seems that you two truly are one person, and the contract applies to you, as well.¡± Duan Li let out a chuckle. He slowly approached Shadow and narrowed his eyes at him. A twisted grin crept onto his face, and he began tough wickedly, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, my beautiful little treasure. It won¡¯t hurt. I will make you happy.¡±

    On the opposite side, Luo Jian finally returned to his senses and noticed the situation was far from good. He wanted to rush forward to do something, but everything happened so fast, and the moment he decided to move, something unbelievable happened. In a blink of an eye, Duan Li, Feng Yu Lan and Shadow vanished right in front of him!

    Struck utterly dumb, Luo Jian remained motionless in the same spot. The surrounding trees and vines began to wilt rapidly, and the massive cocoon of vines soon copsed, bing a pile of dirt in an instant. Luo Jian¡¯splexion had turned beyond pale by now, and he merely stood in the same spot, still stuck in a daze. His mind was nk, his hands were quivering; he simply couldn¡¯tprehend what just happened. The trace of white gradually emerged at the sky¡¯s horizon; at longst, the break of dawn had arrived.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Thirteen and fourteen, who were located outside of the cocoon of vines, spotted Luo Jian¡¯s figure just then.

    Luo Jian was absent-minded for a long time. His emotions were running wild, and his mind was a chaotic mess. He slowly turned around and stared vacantly at the masked man. His eyes were dull and red, and destion was written all over his face. He howled wretchedly, ¡°My Ah Lan has been taken! He¡¯s been taken from me!¡±

    Thirteen and fourteen looked at each other in dismay and sheer shock.

    ¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù¡ù

    ¡°You¡¯vee back.¡± When Xing Yan opened his eyes, he caught sight of a figure sitting in the usual same position,pletely motionless; the other didn¡¯t even raise his head or look him in the eyes when speaking. With long hair flowing down his waist, scattering around him, and his head bowed low, the figure was practically the living embodiment of Sadako.

    ¡°It seems as though I¡¯ve returned¡­¡± Xing Yan¡¯s deep and low voice was so velvety and maic, captivating almost anyone who listened to it, but his tone was intimidatingly cold.

    The seated figured proceed to ask, ¡°Where did you disappear off to?¡±

    Xing Yan¡¯s face was void of all emotion as he observed his surroundings. His eyes took in the vast ravine enclosed by towering mountains that rose above the clouds; this entire valley was simply a huge circle confined by these tall mountains. And Xing Yan and the others who remained in this valley were like mere frogs trapped at the bottom of a well. The sky above their heads was as red as blood; there was no sun, no moon, not even a single star.

    There were many corpses strewn around this valley, and there were also many figures aimlessly wandering about. Sometimes, a corpse would suddenly get up, but it would soon be cut down by one of those figures. All their eyes could see was a shower of blood, and all their ears could hear were shrill screams of misery; this world of gore and grotesquerie was all they knew. Obviously, fights broke out everywhere in this valley, and carnage and bloodshed would naturally follow. Yet strangely enough, despite the savagery entrenching the ce, no one dared approach the area Xing Yan was located. He and the long-haired man leaned against some rocks near the base of the mountains, and not a single shadow came close within a hundred meters of the two.

    The name of this great valley was called ¡°Crimson Asura Realm¡±. Various battles urred all year round in this ravine. Every second, bizarre creatures and dead souls woulde back to life, climbing out from underneath the soil, and participate in this kill-or-be-killed grisly death match

    Some yers would be sent to this dreadful Crimson Asura Realm after being in contact with heaven-defying artifacts or other dark mechanisms, unlocking this inescapable penalty scheme set by the chambers. These yers were doomed to remain here for eternity. Even after death, their souls would be bound to this ravine, and once seven days passed, they would, once again, be resurrected and continue fighting for their lives; such a vicious cycle was simply never-ending.

    Furthermore, the Crimson Asura Realm was also the check point for all stalkers. Stalkers were able to move between any spaces or chambers freely, and sometimes the chambers would even assign them to unknown regions; however, the area where a great majority of Stalkers mainly stayed in was this exact region, the Crimson Asura Realm.

    Yet, interestingly enough, the Crimson Asura Realm wasn¡¯t considered a part of the chambers. Legend had it that a terrifyingly formidable yer with monstrous strength had created this independent realm. This fearsome yer¡¯s purpose for creating such a separate, mysterious realm was unknown. Not a single soul knew how or why this yer did such a thing; all they knew was that he created it, sessfully constructing a space that existed in the chambers but that wasn¡¯t under the chambers¡¯ jurisdiction or scrutiny.

    Though in the end, this realm sadly lost its creator. No one knew whether this powerful yer escaped these infinite chambers; he simply vanished from the chambers, only leaving behind this unowned space as proof of his existence. But because this space no longer had a creator to control it, its power went rampant, chaos ensued, and it wasn¡¯t long before this realm resembled an unstable ck hole. If something was tossed inside this region, it would no longer be able to get out, and so the chambers simply considered this room to be arge waste disposal, where all the unwanted trash, defective monsters and even useless yers, would be thrown in.

    Because the chambers had given Stalkers the ability to travel between spaces and realms, these hunters coulde and go whenever they pleased. In fact, even though fights broke out in every corner of this area and corpses were scattered almost everywhere, many Stalkers actually found this region to be quite pleasant, because this was the only area where they wouldn¡¯t be monitored by the chambers; this was the only region the chambers could not control.

    ¡°I was summoned out.¡± Xing Yan nonchntly answered the long-haired man¡¯s question. Right after replying, he casually sat down on the ground. It was as if the brutality surrounding him had absolutely nothing to do with him.

    ¡°Oho? How interesting, how remarkable. For someone to be able to summon a Stalker is quite impressive¡­ So, where did you go this time?¡± The long-haired man seemed to be grinning, but it was a pity that his long hair covered more than three-fourths of his face; if not all, because he lowered his head even more and because the change in his expression was not clearly visible, he started looking increasingly simr to the horrifying Sadako.

    ¡°Reality. I went to the real world.¡± The Stalker pulled out his dagger and a handkerchief from God-knows-where and began to clean the de meticulously.

    ¡°Can summoning actually return you to reality?¡±

    ¡°It may be reality for you, but for me, it¡¯s merely another space.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You used to be human, as well.¡±

    Xing Yan turned around. As he stared at the long-haired man, his scarlet eyes burned holes into the other. He then curled his lips and let out a grim chuckle, ¡°Haven¡¯t I already told you? The real Xing Yan is dead. As for me? I am merely someone wearing his skin and using his name¡­a monster¡­¡±

    ¡°Born in the darkness, the shadows are your parents.¡± The long-haired man smiled helplessly. ¡°Have you ever thought about bing a human being?¡±

    Xing Yan remained silent. He kept his head bowed and continued studying the knife in his hand. His finger trailed lightly across the cold, sharp de, which reflected his bright crimson eyes. These damned eyes were clearly the eyes of savage beasts, cruel and ferocious.

    ¡°I do not wish to be a human, nor would I probably ever be one.¡± Xing Yan said dryly. He suddenly paused, as if he remembered something. A soft smile came over his features as he asked, ¡°Hey, Ying, I would like to ask you, are humans warm?¡±

    ¡°Warm?¡± The long-haired man was somewhat puzzled at this question. He took a moment to think, then admitted, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t remember anymore. Back when I was still human, I was probably warm, but aftering here¡­¡±

    All of a sudden, the long-haired man held up his arms, touched his right hand with his left hand, andughed bitterly. Sighing, he finished his previous statement, ¡°I can¡¯t feel anything. No temperature, no warmth, nothing at all.¡±

    In the Crimson Asura Realm, sometimes time woulde to aplete stop, and other times, time would flow backwards. Every monster and yer who arrived here possessed a different time flow. If one was killed, they would be able toe back to life, resurrecting over and over again; they were practically immortal. They simply could not die and would forever be tormented by this endless cycle of being killed, reliving every death experience for eternity.

    They could not escape their cruel fates. As a matter of fact, many had also given up on the idea of escaping it. There were a few individuals who still chose to fight, trying to break free of this cage of suffering. But there were also others who had long lost all hope, wallowing in pessimism and destion; without any care for whether they came back to life or died for the millionth time, these wretched individuals remained utterly motionless in one spot, deciding to close their eyes and sleep for a long, long time.

    Their bodies turned ice-cold, their hearts no longer beat, yet they were still considered alive, they were still able to move andmunicate. It was all very strange, and also frightfully terrible.

    ¡°You know, Xing Yan, you are the only Stalker I have met who is capable of speaking. Why do you think that is?¡± Ying curiously remarked. ¡°The other Stalkers I came across in the past never said a word whenever I tried talking to them; they just never replied to anything I said. Later, I learned that Stalkers lost all ability tomunicate throughnguage. However, you are different.¡±

    Xing Yan hesitated slightly, before replying, ¡°I am actually the same. In other regions, I cannot speak like the other Stalkers. It¡¯s just this ce that is different for some reason.¡±

    The Stalker lifted his head and gazed at the blood-red sky of the Crimson Asura Realm. He seemed to be reflecting on this question also. ¡°I can¡¯t recall when I learned how to speak either. It was as if it suddenly came to me one day.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very good, nheless,¡± stated Ying. ¡°Language is such an extraordinary thing. Language represents the will of a person¡­ However, if you can only talk in this ce, that means the only person you¡¯re able to chat with is me, an entric lunatic. What a pity¡­ But speaking of which, didn¡¯t you just ask me if humans are warm? Why would you suddenly want to know such a thing?¡±

    Xing Yan blinked his eyes slowly and announced, ¡°I¡¯ve recently held a human.¡±

    This sentence nearly caused the long-haired man to choke on his spit. He coughed a few of times in an attempt to mask his embarrassment, ¡°Kek kek! Ahem, I must have misheard you¡­ Now, what exactly did you say?¡±

    ¡°I have held a human.¡±

    The long-haired was coughing violently by now. He assumed Xing Yan knew nothing of the ways of the world so he decided to rephrase his next question, asking it as discreetly and tactfully as possible, ¡°And¡­how and when exactly did you hold this human?¡±

    ¡°How and when did I hold the human?¡± Xing Yan cocked his head to one side as he pondered this question. ¡°I¡¯ve held him many times, which time are you referring to?¡±

    ¡°Kek kek kek kek kek kek kek kek kek kek!!!¡±

 Chapter 36: Interdependent Contract

    Chapter 36: Interdependent Contract

    ¡°What¡¯s an interdependent contract?¡±

    As soon as Luo Jian entered the bar, he sat himself down on the sofa across the boss and aggressively demanded for answers.

    The great boss was as drunk as always. He squinted at Luo Jian for a long time, trying to figure out who the other was, before finally muttering in realization, ¡°Ah! It¡¯s Ah Jian¡­ Hic! He came to find me¡­ You came to find me¡­ So, what did youe to find me for again?¡±

    Gnashing his teeth in impatience, Luo Jian inhaled deeply then fiercely mmed his palms down on the table in front of him. The wine bottle on the table toppled over with the force of the impact. Atst, the slovenly elder boss snapped out of his drunken reverie and directly faced a Luo Jian who was emitting a dark, dangerous aura. Quivering violently in trepidation, the pathetic boss revealed, ¡°This so-called interdependent contract¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just as its name says. To put it in simpler terms, an interdependent contract means that the party who has been bound by this contract is unterally and unconditionally controlled by the party who has formed the contract.¡± The great uncle boss shook his head helplessly. ¡°The biggest advantage to this contract is probably the shared life, or connected fate, that binds the two parties together. Even if one party is on the verge of death, as long as said party isn¡¯tpletely dead, the other party can support the former by binding his own life force to the other¡¯s, ultimately allowing both sides to survive.

    ¡°Thirteen has informed me about what happened. It seems that your poor friend has been caught up in this damned contract. There¡¯s no need to worry though. For the time being, his life has been saved; however, that doesn¡¯t mean he isn¡¯t suffering. For the next few days, all you can do is wait patiently.¡±

    ¡°Wait for the next chamber, you mean?¡±

    ¡°If your friend is truly in an interdependent contract with that fellow called Duan Li, then ording to the rules of the contract, their lives are now tied to each other and this shared link can no longer be separated. With this contract now in order, there¡¯s a high possibility that Duan Li has automatically broken free from his default NPC identity.¡± A mysterious smile came over the boss¡¯ features, as he gazed at Luo Jian. He continued, ¡°That being said, he will be your thirdpanion, whether you like it or not. The chambers will inevitably assign him as a new member of your team.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fucking bullshit!¡± Luo Jian was utterly incensed when he heard the boss¡¯ words. He smacked the table hard and stood up. No questions asked, Luo Jian absolutely despised the thought of having a demented murderer like Duan Li join their team; such a thing was simply too appalling to even consider! Luo Jian could already imagine what would happen next.

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in getting angry with me, kiddo.¡± Swaying back and forth, the intoxicated uncle seemed to be taking delight the other¡¯s misfortune. He chuckled in amusement, ¡°Such a powerful yer has joined your team. This is either a disaster for you both, or perhaps a blessing in disguise. The biggest issue at hand, however, is the next chamber you¡¯ll be facing. There¡¯s no doubt it¡¯ll be several times more difficult now that you¡¯ve got a new team member. That Duan Li is definitely an expert who has experienced more than five chambers, and he will surely expose you to unimaginable, harrowing dangers. But there are always two sides of the coin, and where there are disadvantages, there will always be advantages. The greater the perils, the greater the rewards you receive. If you manage to survive your next chamber, I can assure you that you will certainly be the strongest of all rookies. In fact, you¡¯re already advancing and growing faster than most.¡±

    Luo Jian narrowed his eyes pensively. ¡°But the price I need to pay is very high, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°My dear child, ah.¡± Shaking his head, the boss spread out his palms. ¡°Sess is built on uncertainties and risks. And I doubt you, of all people, don¡¯t have the guts to take this gamble. After all, if you never had any courage in the first ce, then you wouldn¡¯t have been chosen by the chambers.¡±

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t respond. He remained deep in thought for a moment, before turning to leave. Just when he raised his leg to step out of the door, the Boss, who seemed to have recalled something in that instant, suddenly called out to him, stopping the other in his tracks. ¡°You still haven¡¯t met the veteran yer I wanted to introduce you to before, have you? Perhaps you can meet with him soon. And don¡¯t forget to bring any loot you happen to have obtained in the chamber with you; you never know, maybe you¡¯ll be in for a pleasant surprise.¡±

    ¡°Loot?¡± Luo Jian stared back at the other suspiciously. ¡°How did you know?¡±

    ¡°I guessed.¡± An unfathomable, profound look clouded the boss¡¯ features. ¡°In exactly three days¡¯ time,e back and meet me here again.¡±

    Luo Jian gave the other a curt nod, then exited the dpidated bar. He was constantly moving on his feet the entire night, so he had no time to rest. Before he knew it, it was already nine o¡¯clock in the morning by the time he left the bar. The sun was shining brightly in the clear skies, and the streets were busy; the world was passing normally, like every other ordinary day. Luo Jian bite at his fingers to keep himself awake and distracted, but this little habit seemed to have annoyed that restless little buddy of his, that monochrome serpent.

    The serpent coiled around his arm and remained utterly motionless, like a metal bracelet. Even when its own master, that Stalker, appeared, the snake was still indifferent. It was so calm, that Luo Jian nearly forgot about its existence. However, just now, it moved. Writhing slightly, it repositioned itself, winding around Luo Jian¡¯s wrist again. Its icy touch made Luo Jian shudder.

    But the serpent soon grew calm and stopped moving, once again resting on the other¡¯s arm obediently. Seeing that there wasn¡¯t anything unusual about it, Luo Jian simply let it be.

    Right now, he was more concerned about Feng Yu Lan.

    Thinking of Feng Yu Lan, Luo Jian massaged his aching temples. He always knew that he himself didn¡¯t have much luck, but that idiot was truly one unlucky bastard. Not only had he mistakenly been forced into this survival game, but he even managed to catch the eye of a murderer who was looking to kill him! This oue waspletely out of Luo Jian¡¯s expectations. And now, Luo Jian didn¡¯t even know where Duan Li took him.

    The helpless Luo Jian thought back on the boss¡¯ words. After hardening his heart andposing himself, he decided to put this matter to the side for the time being. He should try not to worry about the other for a while. So long as he had his life, there would always be an opportunity to get his friend back.

    As of this moment, Luo Jian focused on the veteran yer he would see in a few days; if he had to be honest, he was actually looking forward to meeting him. He then remembered the journal back at his ce; perhaps, he gained an unexpected fortune.

    But with Feng Yu Lan¡¯s disappearance, trouble came knocking on his door. Shortly after returning home, a few uninvited guests came over to Luo Jian¡¯s ce, inviting him over to the police station for a small chat. Luo Jian had absolutely no idea how to exin why or how Feng Yu Lan suddenly went missing. Despite being closely supervised by the police, he had easily been taken away. Not only were there two officers keeping watch on him while he was resting in bed, but there was even an undercover van monitoring him from outside the hospital. If not all, the wards and corridors of the hospital were also filled with surveince cameras.

    ¡°Mister Luo Jian. You arrived at the hospital yesterday afternoon to visit your friend, Feng Yu Lan, correct? Yet, interestingly enough, we seemed to have lost track of your whereabouts moments after, and the same seemed to have happened with Mr. Feng Yu Lan. We conducted several investigations and scoured the entire scene, but we noticed that the security cameras had beenpletely destroyed¡ªwe¡¯re assuming the evidence had been tampered with¡ªand our officers had also been knocked unconscious, no doubt the killer was very professional and skilled at evading. Now, do you have anything to say about this?¡±

    Feigning ignorance, Luo Jian shook his head solemnly, ¡°I went to visit my friend, but before I could step inside the room, I saw two police officers lying on the ground, unconscious. I shouted at the nurse to call the doctor, and then I entered the ward. But¡­ I didn¡¯t see my friend¡­ So, I just¡­left.¡±

    ¡°Your ount of this is too far-fetched. Your friend mysteriously disappeared, and rather than immediately reporting this to the police, you just turn on your heels without looking back and thoughtlessly leave?¡±

    Beyond frustrated, Luo Jian pulled at his disheveled hair and exhaled through his teeth, ¡°Haven¡¯t you guys constantly been watching over him, huh? I believed that the police would¡¯ve instantly taken matters into their hands, so I left, reassured that everything would be solved soon.¡±

    Out of nowhere, the police ferociously mmed his palms on the table in front of Luo Jian and began threatening the other, ¡°Mr. Luo Jian, let¡¯s cut to the chase. Your behavior is highly suspicious, and right now, you¡¯re our number one suspect in this case. We may not have enough evidence to incriminate you as of this moment, but we are still capable of detaining you for however long we would like. So, how about we stop beating around the bush. I do hope you can speak the full truth, every single detail you know, without holding any information back.¡±

    Luo Jian sighed helplessly. Thinking he was doomed to be detained, he braced himself for the order, but who would¡¯ve known that the officer who was interrogating him would suddenly be called outside by other officers. After a couple of minutes, the man strode back in. He threw a side-nce at Luo Jian then rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Alright. You¡¯re free to go.¡±

    ¡°Hah?¡± blurted Luo Jian, dumbfounded. He was more than surprised and baffled, to say the least.

    Luo Jian walked out of the police station, only to run into the masked man, Thirteen. As always, Thirteen was wearing all ck: a ck mask, some ck pants, a ck windbreaker. Frankly speaking, he looked as though he was getting ready to rob a bank. And yet, he still had enough courage to stand in front of the police station doors so confidently, despite looking like a thief. Upon seeing him, Luo Jian reckoned that the boss, being the guide to all neers in this town, used some underhanded means to conceal this incident and persuade the government to release Luo Jian.

    Thirteen opened his mouth to speak; the words that came from him were awfully kind and apologetic, ¡°This incident was a bit more troublesome than expected, so it took quite a while. Would you like for me to send you home?¡±

    Feeling somewhat awkward and embarrassed by this situation, Luo Jian offered a faint smile and replied, ¡°Thank you, but there¡¯s no need. You didn¡¯t get any sleepst night either, so just go home and get some rest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry. I was hardly any help.¡± Thirteen was feeling a tad regretful. ¡°yers who specialize in magic are extremely rare. And naturally talented rookies like you two, who are blessed with innate skills and who also work together as a team wlessly, watching each other¡¯s backs and sticking with each other through thick and thin, are even harder toe by. I did consider letting you two join my team, but¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve also helped me a lot.¡± Thirteen was too polite that Luo Jian couldn¡¯t find any fault with him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Upon opening them, he gestured towards Thirteen, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s just go back.¡±

    The following days, Luo Jian lived his life fairlyfortably; he wasn¡¯t met with any unfortunate idents, and no one came looking for him again. And like that, three days passed within a blink of an eye.

    Luo Jian left his residence in the morning to meet with the boss. With the ¡°Killer¡¯s English Journal¡± tucked safely in his arms, he set off into the bar¡¯s direction. It wasn¡¯t long before he came face-to-face with the legendary veteran yer the boss had previously mentioned. But to his utter surprise and disappointment, it was just a in-looking middle-aged uncle. If one had to describe him, the man was like that one standard viger, Viger A, amongst the sea of many easily-forgotten vigers¡ªunremarkable and quite ordinary. It not all, this supposed veteran yer was very timid, as well. Having caught sight of Luo Jian, he smiled courteously. His voice was as smooth and soft as silk; and he gave off a gentle and mature aura, appropriate for his age.

    Nevertheless, Luo Jian was, obviously, still slightly upset. All of the yers he had seen so far had very strong and distinct personalities and quirks. For instance, Thirteen, whose ck masks and rather odd attires embodied his very being, or Fourteen, that twin-tailed little girl who often stuck to Thirteen¡¯s side, or even Boss, who was known for being habitually drunk and disoriented. These individuals were people with strong characters, people that somewhat shined like the protagonists of novels, people who others could sense weren¡¯t ordinary with just once nce.

    He was anticipating someone overflowing with charisma, certainly not some ordinary chap who looked like he randomly strolled in from the side of the road. The unexpected appearance of such an ordinary mob character simply devastated Luo Jian, who was genuinely prepared to shake hands with a new peculiar character, a character of any kind¡ªperhaps a legendary hero, a gloomy rogue, an audacious pervert, just someone brimming with awesomeness or unconventionality. s, the world wasn¡¯t always fair, and in the end, he was left with the bitter taste of sheer disappointment.

    Boss seemed to have perceived Luo Jian¡¯s feelings. He exined, ¡°Don¡¯t be disappointed, kiddo. This guy here isn¡¯t as simple or ordinary as he looks. He¡¯s an expert at appraising goods. There are times in the chambers where you might obtain an item or artifact that you have absolutely no idea what to do with; you might fiddle around with it for a while and such, but you still wouldn¡¯t have a single clue as to how to use it. In situations like those, you need someone who possess the weapons, arm power, sources and materials to gather more information, someone who has the brains and ingenuity to even formte a n ore up with a solution¡­ And that¡¯s where this fellowes in. If you had a scout, investigator, appraiser, or even a consigliere¡ªjust anyone who is extremely skilled in this particr field¡ªthe chances of escaping death can increase significantly, and you¡¯ll be left with infinite possibilities.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s that amazing?!¡± Luo Jian was astonished by this revtion. He sized the man before his eyes, looking him up and down. With impable manners, the man bowed then smiled warmly at Luo Jian.

    Realizing his mistake, Luo Jian, who had newfound respect and admiration for the man, also smiled back at him.

 Chapter 37 - Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (I)

    <h4>Chapter 37 - Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (I)</h4>

    ¡°There are many yers struggling to survive in the secret chambers. So, of course, there are many kinds of weapons, such as Luo Jian¡¯s knife, which belongs to the conventional melee weapon, or, like Thirteen¡¯s crossbow, which belongs to the conventional long-range weapon. Simrly, there are also magic weapons in the magic category. For magic weapons, it can be divided into two kinds of closebat long-range weapons.¡±

    Boss began to introduce to Luo Jian. He pointed to the Appraiser and said: ¡°This weapon belongs to the ¡®special¡¯ category and is also known as a weapon that is not a weapon. yers who hold these weapons are generally not good fighters and rely on theirpanions, but they are far ahead of others in some aspects. The secret rooms will not give yers useless weapons, and Appraiser is definitely one of the few outstanding people.¡±

    After the uncle boss¡¯s introduction, Appraiser squeezed over here and shook hands with Luo Jian. When the middle-aged man opened his mouth and his voice sounded warm and pleasant, to Luo Jian¡¯s surprise. He only heard him say, ¡°Boss had previously mentioned you. What can I do for you?¡±

    Without any dy, Luo Jian took out the English notebook he had obtained from the secret chamber and straightforwardly said, ¡°I want you to help me identify this.¡±

    Appraiser, as his name implies, specializes in identifying objects for others. Of course, his services are not free of charge, but he provides a special free service for newbies like Luo Jian.

    There are not only a few yers that are struggling in the secret chambers, but the numbers are not a lot. In every city, there would be a scanty few, and the maximum number would not be more than over a dozen. No one knows how the secret chamber selects new yers. But once any yer dies, the secret chamber will soon top up the numbers with newbies. This allowed the number of yers to be kept at a stable amount.

    Appraiser appeared slightly interested in the notebook that Luo Jian took out. He swung it up and flipped it over. It seemed that he was estimating the value. After a while, it appeared that he saw something that was a famed object. He slightly smiled and uttered, ¡°This is a good thing.¡±

    ¡°What is this? Are you able to understand what is written inside? ¡± Luo Jian is unable to hold himself back.

    ¡°I am not able to understand it.¡± Appraiser shook his head.

    This time, Luo Jian could notprehend what he had said and replied: ¡°Since you are not able to understand it, how could you know that it¡¯s a good thing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to understand what is contained.¡±

    Appraiser continued, ¡°I just need to understand how it can be used.¡±

    Seeing that Luo Jian was nevertheless not able to understand, Appraiser did not speak as well. He took out his weapon, a camera that appeared old, ck and small in size. It wasn¡¯t known if Luo Jian had been deluded. He blinked. It seemed that Appraiser¡¯s fingers that were wrapped around the camera had been winded with many small transparent silk threads. These threads were wrapped around the camera along with his fingers. But when Luo Jian blinked, he focused his sight and found that the threads had disappeared again.

    Luo Jian doesn¡¯t believe that what he saw was wrong, but with regards to his secret, it is not appropriate to question him in his face. Therefore, he shook his head and decided not to get to the bottom of the issue. As usual, Appraiser raised his camera, ced the English notebook in the centre of the table and took a picture of it.

    The camera sounded with a click. It appeared that nothing happened. Luo Jian stared at Appraiser for a long moment. He is stunned in confusion. He could only stare at Appraiser expectantly. Appraiser was not immune to Luo Jian¡¯s big, blinking eyes. He faked a cough twice and exined: ¡°My weapon¡­¡­I name it as ¡®The Shadow of the Truth¡¯. It can disperse all illusions and fakery and bring about the truth. Try to give your notebook a flip now.¡±

    Luo Jian doubted what he said, but he took the notebook on the desk and flipped it. To his surprise, the notebook that was originally filled with densely written English words had only had the first two pages written now. The first line on the first page remains to be a sentence found in the old Bible, which is ¡°Resentment kills a fool and envy ys the simple.¡±

    Besides this single line of English, the rest of the following words are all written in Chinese. They are identical the words that were printed on the piece of paper found in the chamber. The contents are as follows:

    [Single yer Secret Chamber Opening Prop]

    [Time: 3 hours]

    [Background: Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake]

    [Three designated rewards will be obtained once the yer sessfully escapes:]

    [First reward, the basic sabre technique of a disguiser; Second reward, the basic mental technique of a disguiser; Third reward, the cross piece of a disguiser]

    [Warning: yers who have experienced the secret chamber for less than three times are allowed to enter the secret chamber, but the difficulty coefficient might be too high for new yers. If the yer does not have absolute confidence in yourself, please act with caution when opening this prop.]

    [Opening method of this prop: Blood contract]

    ¡°Single-yer secret chamber opening prop¡­¡­?¡± Luo Jian roughly understood the contents of the notebook. He raised his head to gaze at the boss and asked: ¡°What is a single-yer secret chamber opening prop?¡±

    ¡°This is a good thing¡­¡­¡± Boss seemed to be making fun of him. He nced at Luo Jian with a dirty smirk and said: ¡°Single-yer secret chamber opening prop means opening a new secret chamber in a single mode. In this secret chamber, in addition to the secret chamber that you must experience every ten days, you may also get an extra prop to open a secret chamber when you are engaged in a secret chamber. This sort of object will allow you to enter a three-hour secret chamber space. Generally speaking, in such an extra secret chamber, as long as you sessfully escape, you would be able to obtain fairly rich rewards. These rewards are far richer than rewards obtained in a general secret chamber. However, generous rewards provided are directly proportional to the danger level in the chamber.¡±

    ¡°That is to say, even if I form a team with someone, once I use this prop, I have to enter the secret chamber alone to solve the problems?¡± Luo Jian patted the notebook on his hands and questioned, ¡°What if I didn¡¯t manage to escape?¡±

    ¡°I would have to congratte you, then. Your team would be disbanded.¡± Boss appeared to be in a joyous spirit. He replied to Luo Jian: ¡°You¡¯d better attempt this prop. Only yers who have gone through three secret chambers or lesser can use it. If you do not use it now, you can¡¯t use it after you have gone through the third secret chamber a few dayster.¡±

    ¡°I also think you should attempt it. I haven¡¯t been that lucky to get such props before.¡± Appraiser also suggested that Luo Jian should try. The man had a gentle smile: ¡°But with my timid character, I won¡¯t use it even if I obtained it.¡±

    ncing at the notebook in his hand, Luo Jian felt a little bit moved, but he still had something to scruple about. He decided to consider it for the time being. After all, there are six days left until the next secret room, and he still has enough time to prepare. So, he bid farewell to Boss and Appraiser and returned home alone.

    After returning home, Luo Jian turned on theputer and went to the Inte for a while. He flipped open the notebook again and nced at the beautiful ink-pen written words. After that, he began to search for the 11 words of ''Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake'' on Baidu, but the search results of Mother Baidu shows¡­¡­some inexplicable and explicable pictures and some inexplicable and explicable music. The only meaning behind the sentence is: There are flowers in the mirror, and the moon is in the water. Originally, it refers to the flexible and unpredictable artistic conception in a poem. Later, the idiom¡¯s meaning changed to refer to an illusory scene.

    An illusory scene¡­¡­?

    Luo Jian sighed, stood up and left the area where theputer desk is ced. He dug out his battle suit, and repeatedly checked his weapons. Once he confirmed that there were no problems with either, he bit his fingers and a small cut formed. Droplets of blood flowed out, and then Luo Jian calmly wiped the blood on the notebook.

    A red light seemingly shed, and a sentence quickly appeared on the notebook:

    [The single-yer secret chamber has been opened sessfully. Preparing to transmit yer now. Please breathe steadily and sleep calmly.]

    When Luo Jian saw this, heid down on the bed hugging the sheepskin notebook and closed his eyes.

    Luo Jian fell into deep sleep unknowingly. He probably felt that he was in that dream again. He saw the same person whose appearance he cannot decipher. Under the blood-red sunset, that person muttered something that Luo Jian couldn¡¯t understand. But this time, the dream seemed to be much clearer. At least, Luo Jian found that he retained his appearance when he was a child in the dream. The man who had a blurry appearance held little Luo Jian¡¯s hand. His lips hooked up, akin to the shape of a curvature. He seemed to be smiling.

    The dream soon ended, and Luo Jian woke up.

    The moment he just woke up, it seemed that he was in a trance for a moment. He hesitated slightly and climbed up from his feet speedily. He nced around his surroundings, but cannot help but be extremely shocked.

    This is a ssroom.

    In the olden-style ssroom, the desks and chairs are all made of dirt yellow colour wood that was known to be firm. Luo Jian remembered that when he was a child, he used a simr type of desks and chairs when he was attending sses. When he was a child, he liked to a penknife, crayons, or other simr things to damage or write something on the tables. At that time, the chair he was sitting on seemed tock a chair leg. It was always wobbly when he sat on it. Since the chair had probably been used over a long time, the nails on the chair had stuck up without anyone noticing. It had ripped apart someone¡¯s trousers and caused everyone in the ss to loudlyugh.

    However, Luo Jian¡¯s beautiful childhood memory in his heart waspletely subverted by the present situation and destroyed beyond recognition by it.

    Because in this ssroom, in every seat cement, on every chair, there is a corpse that is beyond recognition. All that is left on the corpse are white bones.

    What¡¯s more frightening is that when he woke up moments ago, he found that he was also sitting in one of the chairs, just like those bone racks. It appeared like he became part of them.

    Luo Jian¡¯s felt his heart tremble. He looked up at the teaching podium. A mere sight of it caused him to be drained of colour. There was a corpse hanging on the ceiling of the podium. The corpse was hung around its neck and connected to above the podium. Moreover, the cause of death of this particr corpse could be clearly deciphered because there was an iron-made teacher¡¯s pointer pierced in the corpse¡¯s head.

    Luo Jian took a deep breath. There was a smell of rust in the air. He took a moment to calm down and carefully observed the surrounding environment again. This is a ssroom that ispletely sealed. The windows of the ssroom were sealed with wooden boards. The front door of the ssroom made of a type of dark redwood that Luo Jian is familiar with. It is a door that is notpatible with this secret chamber. This implies that the door has been set as ¡®an object that cannot be destroyed in any way¡¯. When such a door appears in a secret chamber, generally, if it is not an exit, it would be the entrance to hell.

    The back door of the ssroom ispletely sealed with bricks and painted with a brand-new coat of white paint.

    It seemed that this ssroom secret chamber is iparable with the ghost ship secret chamber that he previously experienced, but he could not underestimate this chamber as well.

 Chapter 38 - Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (II)

    <h4>Chapter 38 - Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (II)</h4>

    The enclosed ssroom is full of corpses, and all of them are sitting in their seats in various positions. There is also a corpse hanging on the podium. On the ckboard of the podium, there are some graffiti and a poem titled ¡°Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake¡±.

    Under the dark eaves, white written words were seen in the ck backdrop, broken pieces are scattered everywhere, and yin and yang are within your grasp.

    One side is one side, one side is also one side, a left hand exchanged for a right hand, your face is my face.

    In addition to the ckboard on the podium, there is also a big ckboard at the back of the ssroom, which is usually used for posting newspapers. But, now, the ckboard disyed several big words written in red chalk, which reads: The one who snitches will be killed without mercy!

    No, it is not written in red chalk. Luo Jian blinked and looked at it carefully. It seems to be written in red paint or a simr material¡­¡­or perhaps, it seemed more like written with clotted blood?

    Luo Jian counted and found that there were 35 desks in the ssroom, which meant 35 seats and 35 students. In addition to the seat where Luo Jian had woken up in, there are 34 corpses sitting on the seats in this ssroom, and including the corpse hanging on the podium, there are 35 corpses exactly.

    ¡°No, there¡¯s something that is not right.¡± Luo Jian muttered to himself, but he had not been able to figure out what is not right. He took a nce at the seat he was sitting in. There is a shabby desk and a shabby chair, and right now, he is sitting on the shabby chair. He is in the first-row second seat, and his seat is ced against the wall on the right.

    There are a lot of footprints on the wall. It is not known who created the footprints by stepping on the wall, as well as small characters that are densely written on the wall with a pen. As soon as Luo Jian turned his head, he saw a piece of paper printed with purple patterns nailed by a tack on the wall to his right.

    He pulled the note down, and what is written in the paper is as follows:

    [Dear Mr Luo Jian:]

    [It is very brave of you to take part in this singer-yer secret chamber, but you might not be aware of how terrible a situation you are in now. This secret chamber reward is very rewarding. It allows your strength at this point to take a leap forward, but the same, the cost of it will always be shocking.]

    [Note: you are in a special secret chamber. ording to the regtions, we cannot give you any hints. ]

    [Time Limit: Three Hours]

    [Base Location: Sealed ssroom]

    [Base Background: Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake]

    [With that, good luck!]

    ¡°What a ton of shit? No hint?¡± After reading the note, Luo Jian felt his scalp turned numb. He flipped the note over and could not help but be relieved. Fortunately, a message was written on the back:

    [It was not known why. Who started the dispute? It caused the ssmates of three years to kill one another, but the real culprit that has caused all of this, has not woken up from a dreamscape from the opposite side.]

    Luo Jian crumpled the note into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket. He was wearing the reward obtained from the secret chamber-a dark bluebat suit, which has many pockets and could hold many things. It was not known what the material was made of. The fabric felt veryfortable. The parts of the clothes were his joints are in were loose. The opening of his shirt and pants can be tightly buttoned up. A hat is also provided. The hat also has an interesting design. The hat is attached to something simr to a mask. As long as the buttons are buttoned up, Luo Jian¡¯s whole face could be covered up, with the exception of his eyes.

    The temperature of this ssroom is a little low, but thebat suit hadpletely insted him from the cold. Luo Jian thought about it and decided to button his hood and conveniently also wore his mask. This also made Luo Jian recall thatd, Thirteen, who also wore a mask. The feeling of being fully armed gave Luo Jian a sense of security and made him feel less afraid in a ssroom full of corpses.

    ¡°Now, in what way can I escape from here?¡± Luo Jian said to himself. He felt that the first thing that he should pay heed to in a secret chamber is the time.

    This time, the note did not give any hint to Luo Jian, but simply exined the time, ce, and background of the ssroom. It did not even tell Luo Jian where the clock is for him to check the time.

    The tricky situation that the secret chamber ced Luo Jian in made his thoughts to be in a mess. He paid attention to his sitting position and environment, hoping to find some useful information from it. And amazingly, Luo Jian found a mobile phone on the desk where he was sitting in!

    ¡°There¡¯s actually a cellphone here?!¡± When he touched the cellphone in the drawer, Luo Jian was very surprised. The two secret rooms he had experienced had brought about a feeling that the chamber was located in a time long ago, and made Luo Jian feel a magical feeling as if he transmigrated.

    However, this mobile phone seems to be from an era long ago. It is the oldest Nokia, ck style. Compared with the modernrge-screen smartphone, the screen of this cell phone is incredibly small. The cellphone is the size of a palm-size. After a while, Luo Jian dabbled with it for a moment and was stunned to find that the cell phone could be powered on. After it was turned on, the time disyed on it is 12:07, but the phone signal bar does not even disy one bar.

    ¡°12:00 to 15:00 hours, three hours.¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°Would I have to stay here for the entire duration?¡±

    He opened the phone¡¯s contact list and found that the contact list is nk. The call history is also empty. There is a short message in the message inbox. It is sent from a strange number. There are only three words in the message: please help me.

    Luo Jian stared at the message for a long time, but he could not help but feel a sense of strangeness. He also cannot help but feel goosebumps surfacing up his body.

    This oldest of the old model of cellphone has no other function except to make phone calls and send messages. Oh, one can also use this to y a game, a game called ¡®greedy snake¡¯ or something akin to it. Luo Jian remembered that he once yed the game a long time ago. The snake will keep eating and eating until the snake fills up the whole screen.

    Luo Jian could not help shaking the thought of the snake game off. There is a snake lying on his wrist. He rolled up his sleeve and saw that the ck-and-white snake coiled on his wrist. It seemed that its posture had not changed.

    It was not known why but when he saw this snake, his fear and tension brought about by this secret chamber subsided a little. It seemed that this snake could follow him to any secret chamber, and this is a good thing because he suddenly felt that he was no longer alone.

    Luo Jian intuitively thought that the cellphone should be a key prop, so he stuffed the mobile phone into his pocket, and he continued to search his desk drawer. This time, he found two books, they were topics on mathematics and English. It seemed to be high school textbooks, and in which, lesson notes were messily scribbled on it. But after flipping about these books for quite a while, he did not find a name written on the books.

    Shouldn¡¯t that not be the case in general? Once the teacher handed out the books, the students would write their names on it to distinguish who the book belonged to. But neither of the two books that Luo Jian had found had a name written. The handwriting in the book looked pretty good.

    In addition to these two books and a cellphone, Luo Jian did not manage to find anything else. The two books seemed to have little value. So, Luo Jian left them on the desk. He stood up from his seat. His position was in the first column second row, a seat that was more towards the front of the room. There was a female corpse sitting in the seat in front of him. The corpse had been rotten to the extent where only the bones were left, but since the corpse wore an old-fashioned dress, it meant that the corpse was a female.

    ¡°I apologize for the offence.¡± Luo Jian went up to the front of the female corpse and said this first.

    Luo Jian still had lingering fears in regards to corpses. After experiencing the supernatural experience of being on a ghost ship and having a bunch of white bones standing up to snatch his key, this caused an irreparable psychological shadow on Luo Jian. It also made him respect every corpse that he saw. As expected, he will be condemned if he does something disrespectful.

    ¡°May I search your desk?¡± Luo Jian spoke in a serious manner to the female corpse.

    The female corpse sat in her own position uprightly and did not respond to Luo Jian¡¯s words. It is strange that she could keep such a posture even when she turned into a pile of bones.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t speak, I will deem it as you agreed to it.¡± While talking to himself, Luo Jian reached into the desk of the female corpse with trembling hands. There are many books under her desk, there were topics on Chinese, mathematics, English, politics, physics, history and geography¡­¡­Wait a minute, there are also a lot of test papers, and these are what Luo Jian had learnt in his unreliable curriculum in the past.

    The book is full of beautiful small Chinese characters, but the book had clearly been written with the name of the female corpse: Hu YanYa.

    There seemed to be nothing special about it. Luo Jian scratched his head. The book and test papers are owned by every student. The three hours stipted in this secret room obviously will not be sufficient if Luo Jian reads every book and test paper. So, for this secret room, the books and test papers are obviously unimportant.

    Luo Jian put down these books, sighed and observed at the corpse in front of him.

    The corpse sat in a very upright position, with hands sped on her thighs, and there seemed to something reflective between her phnges.

    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Luo Jian apologized to the corpse again and reached out to pry the phnges of the corpse. He took out a piece of broken ss from the corpse¡¯s fingers-no, it is a piece of mirror fragment.

    The corpse held on a piece of mirror fragment, which is obviously something abnormal. In general, this object is a very important thing. Luo Jian nodded his head lightly and ced the mirror fragment into his pocket.

    ¡°Well, it seems to be a difficult mission.¡± After searching through the female corpse, Luo Jian straightened up and nced around at the 30 over seats. He was ready to search through all the desks and corpses.

    So, which one to start with? Luo Jian looked around the surroundings. The light illuminating the ssroom is still considered to be bright. He shifted his line of sight to the corpse on the podium. Then, he suddenly found that the corpse does not belong to a student, because the clothes appeared very old-fashioned and it looked like the clothes were what a middle-aged person would wear. Also¡­¡­the bones appear rather big. Compared to the bone rack of a minor, it appeared much bigger. Therefore, with a mere look, it can be determined that the skeleton is that of an adult.

    ¡°This should be the corpse of the teacher.¡± Luo Jian went to the tform and paid homage to the corpses. The teacher¡¯s body was hung on the podium and the students¡¯ bodies were sitting under the podium. Seeing this situation, Luo Jian felt this was a thorny matter. He could not figure out what happened and how did these people died.

    From Luo Jian¡¯s previous secret chamber experience, what Luo Jian had to experience in the secret chamber was basically akin to solving certain unsolved cases. By searching for traces and clues that lead to the true murderer is akin to finding the exit. Without solving this mystery, he will never be able to get to the next secret chamber.

 Chapter 39 - Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (III)

    <h4>Chapter 39 - Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (III)</h4>

    ¡°But one body is missing.¡± Luo Jian repeatedly counted the number of corpses in the ssroom, and with the addition of the teacher¡¯s corpse, the total number was only 35. However, there were 35 student desks, so where is the corpse of thest student?

    Did it disappear?

    Luo Jian looked around the ssroom and paid attention to the corpse of the teacher in front of him again. From the appearance, the teacher died miserably. The teacher¡¯s head was pierced by an iron teacher¡¯s pointer. It went through from the corpse¡¯s left temple and protruded out from the right ear, causing arge crack in that area of the corpse¡¯s skull. As a weapon, the pointer is notpletely sharp, but the ends of it were of a smooth curvature. But seeing the way this teacher died, it is likely that the pointer was thrust into the teacher by someone. The pain the teacher felt could only be imagined.

    After the teacher died, the corpse was hung on the ceiling with a rope. Luo Jian lifted the corpse¡¯s clothes and noticed that there were many cracks on the bones of the hands and feet of the teacher. He gauged that the teacher probably suffered from inhuman torture when the teacher was dying.

    ¡°To be able to cause that many injuries, it can be seen that it was not only the work of a single person, most likely...¡± Luo Jian took a nce at the rows of students¡¯ corpses sitting below and then reverted his gaze back to the poor teacher¡¯s corpse. He sighed with pity. He didn¡¯t know what the teacher had done before the teacher¡¯s death, which caused everyone to torture the teacher to death.

    It seemed that the culprits are obviously this group of students, but perhaps, it may only involve a part of this group of students too. However, regardless, if one can watch their teacher being tortured to death and watch the culprits hang the corpse onto the ssroom¡¯s podium, whether this group of students were involved or not in this crime, it is evident that they were at least the aplice.

    Towards the national education system, Luo Jian knew that studying is mandatory, but this kind of education is really wed. He felt that it¡¯s even possible to produce some abnormal murderers. He thought of the news reports of many ssmates and roommates killing each other in the past few years, which only fully proved that there is nothing that human beings can¡¯t do in this world.

    Luo Jian searched the teacher¡¯s corpse¡¯s pocket and he found a wallet, a bunch of keys, a piece of mirror fragment.

    ¡°What¡¯s the use of this mirror?¡± Luo Jian stroke the mirror fragment. The fragment was rtively small, and its edges were sharp. Luo Jian took out the fragment which he found from the female corpse moments before. The two fragments could not be put together, so he sighed again and ced them all in his pocket.

    In addition to the mirror fragments, other things seem to be of little value. The ID card in the wallet read Wang Teng and there were several hundred yuan of Grandpa Mao stuffed in the wallet. It is a pity that when you are born, you don¡¯t bring anything with you and with your death, you can¡¯t bring anything with you either. When you leave this secret chamber, you cannot bring them out except for what you brought in at the beginning.

    So, Luo Jian threw the wallet aside and ced his concentration on the set of keys. Although the secret chamber would not make it so easy for him to find the key to open the door, with so many keys here he could not help but want to try to use these keys to do it.

    Luo Jian insisted on not letting go of any chances. Therefore, he immediately snatched the keys and made variousparisons on the lock of the redwood door, but he could not find any that could match the lock. Luo Jian was disappointed and threw the key on the desk, butter, he seemed to think of something, and kept the set of keys. He ced it into his pockets.

    After checking the body of the teacher, Luo Jian then focused on the ckboard behind the corpse. On the ckboard, there was a poem written with white chalk. The chalk words were askew and twisted. At first nce, they were like words written by a primary school student. But the content of the poem really made Luo Jian confused:

    Under the dark eaves, white written words were seen in the ck backdrop, broken pieces are scattered everywhere, and yin and yang are within your grasp.

    One side is one side, one side is also one side, a left hand exchanged for a right hand, your face is my face.

    Luo Jian was inexplicably incited by this poem. He felt his hair stand due to the chill. Luo Jian could understand these two phrases- ¡°Under the dark eaves, white written words were seen in the ck backdrop¡±. The ceiling of this ssroom was originally white, but because of this ce appeared to be from an era long ago. Perhaps due to the water leakage, there is ayer of dark mould on the ceiling. The light did not illuminate over the ceiling much. Thus, the ceiling appeared to be in a shade of ck.

    ¡®White written words were seen in the ck backdrop¡¯- it obviously meant the ckboard. But what do the ¡®broken pieces are scattered everywhere¡¯ mean?

    Luo Jian stepped forward and approached the ckboard, but as soon as he reached the front of the ckboard, he felt something under his feet. It sounded with a creak. Luo Jian nced down. To his surprise, there is another mirror fragment under his feet.

    In some horror movies, the presence of a mirror always hints to the existence of something unknown. For example, a ck shadow shing in the mirror, a blood face reflected in the mirror, or because of a prank, someone would use blood to write words on a mirror. Such an object drenched in blood is rather creepy.

    There are also cases with broken mirrors, which usually indicates that the protagonist will be broken into pieces, akin to how the mirror is like.

    ¡°I can understand the phrase ¡®broken pieces are scattered everywhere¡¯, but what does the phrase of ¡®yin and yang are within your grasp¡¯ mean?¡± Luo Jian picked up the mirror. Now he has got three pieces of mirror. It felt like he was doing a collecting items quest. He fixed his eyes on these mirror fragments. The broken pieces can only reflect a part of Luo Jian¡¯s face. Looking at it, it appeared as if Luo Jian¡¯s face is split into four or five fragments.

    ¡®One side is one side, one side is also one side¡¯-Luo Jianpletely could notprehend the second half of this poem phrase. He could only guess that this may also be rted to the mirror. After all, what reflects in the mirror is the opposite of reality. The left hand¡¯s reflection would show the right hand.

    What is more, the background of the secret chamber involves the use of the word ¡®mirror¡¯, which made Luo Jian thought of many different assumptions. But what is the use of a mirror? Could it be that one could escape if one could find all the mirror fragments?

    Momentster, Luo Jian decided not to get tangled up in the thoughts of the mirror. He searched around the podium and found nothing special. So, he searched the students¡¯ desks and chairs below and searched through each and every corpse. It was a disgusting and exhausting task. Some of the corpses had rotted to the extent where there were only bones left were not so disgusting. However, if there were rotten flesh left hanging on the corpse or maggots crawling on it, those were the corpses that were utterly disgusting. When walked up to every corpse, he had to summon up 120% of his courage. Besides this, he still had 30 over corpses waiting for him to search through them.

    It took Luo Jian an hour to search through every corpse. One-third of the three hours passed. During the process of searching, Luo Jian was very careful to keep thepleteness and the position of every corpse as much as possible. Most of the corpses were sitting on their chairs. There were a few of them that were lying on their desks. One of the female corpses died more miserablypared to the teacher hanging on the podium. Although Luo Jian was not a professional forensic scientist, he still saw how the female died-the female corpse¡¯s cause of death was rape.

    The corpse¡¯s cervical vertebrae were broken, the legs were twisted in an extreme angle and it appeared that her legs had been pried open, the clothes on the corpse were full of holes and dirty, the leg bones were broken, the entire corpseid back on the chair, and the head was drooping. After gazing at the corpse for quite a moment, Luo Jian finally cannot help but sigh. He tore down the curtains in the ssroom and used it to cover on the female corpse.

    The one who died miserably seemed to be the key figure. He also got two pieces of mirror fragments from this female corpse. After searching through all the corpses, he got seven pieces of mirror fragments. He immediately jumped onto the podium and began to piece the mirror fragments on the teacher¡¯s desk. The mirror was the size of four palms, in a rectangr-like shape. It was the kind of small mirror that little girls usually took out from their bags to take a glimpse when they needed to. However, it did not matter how Luo Jian tries to piece it together, because the pieced mirror is missing a fragment. The mirror seemed to be missing a fragment in the middle.

    In addition to the mirror, Luo Jian did not get anything of key importance from other corpses. What was found were just books, pens and test papersmonly owned by students. There were also some old-fashioned martial fantasy novels, expired snacks, and garbage bags. He also found a small game console. It was the old-fashioned kind of game console. However, it seemed to be broken.

    Other than these, the most important things found should be the little pieces of message slips that Luo Jian has collected.

    A message slip is a kind of paper torn from a book in ss and in it, one can write what wants to say to the receiver. It can be folded into a square or rectangr-like shape or simply crushed into a ball so that the students next to you can pass the message to the other till it reaches the person you want to convey the message to.

    Luo Jian found five pieces of such message slips in total. When the slips were unfolded, one could see that there were different written words in different handwritings, some were gossiping or having boring conversations. However, Luo Jian noticed that the contents of these notes all mentioned something about a certain someone, and when talking about this person, they all used a kind of way to refer to this person, for example, one of the slips are written as follows:

    [Aftermitting such an act, how can this person continue to stay in this ss]

    [It¡¯s Slut Wang who opened the back door for her]

    [How shameful, she had already been XX!]

    [Last time I saw her go to the hotel with a man]

    [Since she likes to be fucked by others so much, it would be better if she is killed]

    At the end of the conversation, Luo Jian could glean a lot of information from it. For example, the corpse that had been raped to death may be the ¡°she¡± in the message slip and the so-called ¡°Slut Wang¡± is the teacher Wang Teng hanging on the podium.

    There is an unusual rtionship between the teacher and the female student. Moreover, the female student is isted by most of her ssmates and they deemed her behaviour as improper. But there are still some points of doubt......

    Luo Jian frowned. Even if the girl really behaved badly or had all kinds of unusual rtionships with people out of school, the mostmon thing was to that she would be gossiped about by other students and she would be hailed by the school¡¯s headmaster or other higher-ups. Then, this matter would be settled by expelling her out of school. It would not be that serious where she would end up being murdered.

    Exactly what was the reason that caused this group of students to be so crazy? They killed their teacher and raped their female ssmate. In the end, all of them even collectively died in this ssroom.

    Luo Jian looked at the message slips over again, and he found that he could not find more valuable information. Issues that had passed long ago no longer had any value, and these people had already died. Luo Jian also did not want to explore the various reasons that caused this to happen. What he troubled over is that he missed at least one mirror fragment and after searching through every corner of the ssroom, he could not find more fragments.

 Chapter 40 - Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 40 - Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (IV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°Did I miss anything?¡± Luo Jian said to himself. There had to be a reason why the mirror fragment was missing. He must have overlooked something. Therefore, Luo Jian started searching and checking around the ssroom. He looked through the podium again and examined every piece of chalk in it. Then, he headed to the ckboard at the back of the ssroom. The ckboard, normally used to report significant news, had big words written on it in a blood-red color: The one who snitches will be killed without mercy!

    Who was the one who snitched? And what secret was revealed?

    Luo Jian was a little confused. There were very few clues given to him in this secret chamber. Except for the message slips, he couldn¡¯t seem to find any clues regarding this incident. Luo Jian racked his brain, and he suddenly raised his head to look at the windows of the ssroom. The windows were all sealed by wooden boards. There were no curtains, but there were window screens. The windows were the only ces that Luo Jian had yet to search.

    ¡°ss...¡± Luo Jian passed by several desks and arrived at the first window. The ss was mostly intact, and colourful paper was pasted on it. After sweeping his gaze over it several times, Luo Jian found nothing unusual. Then he went to the second window, followed by the third one. When he came to thest window, he found that one of the window panes was broken and was missing arge part of the corner, but there were no ss fragments on the ground.

    ¡°Maybe I should search through the garbage can.¡± ording tomon sense, the broken ss would have been swept up and thrown into the garbage, but there was no garbage can in the ssroom. Luo Jian walked around to look for it. There were only two brooms, a mop, a dustpan, a pile of waste paper in the corner, some leftover snack bags, and other bits and pieces of garbage.

    Where exactly was thest piece of the mirror?

    Luo Jian stared at the rubbish for a long time and sighed with regret before squatting down to pick up some balled-up papers and unfold them. The first one had some meaningless patterns drawn on it. The second one was a wrongly-written homework paper that had been torn into pieces, balled up, and thrown away. The third one waspletely nk. There was nothing on it. Thest one had a bizarre and inexplicable sentence written on it:

    Watch your back.

    Luo Jian shivered when he read this sentence. Suddenly, he had a strange feeling. He felt a chilly sensation on his back. It was as if there was a stream of cold air blowing on him. Before, he was searching through the wastepaper so seriously that he hadn¡¯t noticed such a bizarre chill.

    One must know that, at the moment, he was in a secret chamber with thirty-five corpses. ording to the usual, illogical style of the secret chamber, it was possible for any corpses to resurrect.

    As soon as he realized this, Luo Jian broke out into a cold sweat, and the icy feeling on his back became more and more prominent. This made him aware that there was clearly someone...... or some ghost standing behind Luo Jian. Maybe a skeleton was using his two hollow eye sockets to gaze at him. Luo Jian¡¯s body stiffened. He slowly turned his head around...... and it turned out.....

    It turned out that there was nothing behind him.

    The ssroom was still the same. The corpses were sitting and lying in their original positions without any changes. Luo Jian took a deep breath. He felt the chill on his back disappear instantly as if it were never there. But Luo Jian¡¯s intuition was correct. There absolutely was something behind him just now!

    Luo Jian now observed each corpse carefully. The teacher was still hanging on the podium, and the students were sitting in their seats...... No!

    Luo Jian suddenly noticed a serious problem. This terrible detail that he noticed was like an evil ghost¡¯s hand, strangling him and making it so hard to breathe that in that instant, he felt like he was dying.

    The corpses had moved!

    Although Luo Jian could not remember the specific seats where the corpses sat or each of their poses, he had a general impression of them. He noticed that one of the corpses in this group of students had moved. Previously, it was sitting on a seat. Now, the corpse changed positions to lie on the ground.

    Luo Jian forced himself to look away. He looked down at the paper ball in his hand again. The sentence that sent chills down his spine was still present: Watch your back.

    In Luo Jian¡¯s opinion, sometimes things that couldn¡¯t be exined bymon sense needed to be handled using abnormal and extreme means. Luo Jian had the advantage of being able to recognize reality, and at the same time, he was also very clear on how to break the limitations of conventional reality in order to achieve unexpected results.

    Luo Jian, who was at his breaking point, now made the right decision. He took out his short de and walked directly towards the corpse that had moved. His movements showed that he was highly vignt and on guard against attacks from all directions. When he sessfully reached the corpse, he immediately waved his knife and chopped off its skull and limbs.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a body.¡± Luo Jian said to himself, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. They are already dead. All you have to do is kill them again.¡±

    After Luo Jian pulled the knife out of the body, he stood up straight and looked around the ssroom again. This time, all the bodies had shifted. One after another, they began to move. The skeletons creaked. Some could stand up while others could only move on the ground, but their goal was obvious¡ªthey were moving towards Luo Jian, who was standing in the middle.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt pain in his ankle. When he lowered his head, he saw a corpse that he hadn¡¯t noticed before stretching out its ws and grasping at his feet. He immediately felt the hair around its grasp stand up. However, he acted reflexively in a cold-blooded way. He raised his other foot and stepped on the corpse¡¯s head to smash it.

    The flesh on the head had notpletely rotted away yet and ck brain matter sprayed out, sshing all over his pants, but Luo Jian had no time to worry about that. He raised his weapon and focused his attention on the corpses that were surrounding him and ring at him as if watching their prey.

    The ssroom was not big, but there were more than 30 corpses. If they surrounded him, it would be hard to escape. These corpses seemed to be easier to deal with than the ones he encounteredst time on the ghost ship. Their bones were not very hard, and they weren¡¯t very strong, either. But Luo Jian did not know whether these damn things could be revived indefinitely and continuously. If they could, even if Luo Jian crushed all the corpses here, his actions would be meaningless.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been dealing with corpses a lottely.¡± Luo Jian said uneasily as he smiled bitterly.

    The battle went on for another hour. Two-thirds of the three hours passed, and he was left with less than an hour. Luo Jian chopped down thest body and exhaustedly leaned against the desk on the podium. The secret chamber did not let these corpses resurrect infinitely, but it was still rather difficult to deal with them because unless these terrible things werepletely crushed and ground into powder, even if only a single hand was left, it would use its fingers to crawl towards him and attempt to strangle him to death.

    Therefore, Luo Jian had to break the bones of every corpse to the point where theypletely couldn¡¯t move. This was so tiring that Luo Jian¡¯s eyes sparkled with fury and he panted like a bull. It also reminded him of the poem on the ckboard¡ªBroken pieces are scattered everywhere, and yin and yang are within your grasp.

    ¡°Broken pieces are scattered everywhere, and yin and yang are within your grasp?¡± Luo Jian recited the poem. He reluctantly climbed up and rummaged through a pile of the corpses¡¯ remains. Doing this felt even more disgusting. There was a puddle of ck and sticky corpse water, bone fragments all over the floor, and some pieces of skulls and other bones that had not beenpletely crushed into dust.

    Luo Jian was injured. It should be said that he was seriously injured. The battle with the corpses was extremely dangerous for him. He had been surrounded by many corpses several times. They had mbered onto him and pinned him down with their limbs. Their rotten teeth had bitten into his body, and theyid down on him like snakes to immobilize him. Momentarily, Luo Jian had felt like giving up, but in the end he chopped them all down with his knife.

    He was so determined to survive that he could not control his intense feelings. When he pulled thest mirror fragment out of a crack in a bone, he almost cried out in joy.

    He took all the mirror fragments to the podium and started to piece them together. The corpse on the podium was still hanging there. For some reason, the teacher¡¯s corpse had not moved or attacked Luo Jian. It hung there peacefully. Since it didn¡¯t attack him, Luo Jian was toozy to move it. Even if the corpse had been a scum while alive, he still had some respect for the teaching profession.

    All the pieces of the mirror had been found. Therefore, Luo Jian naturally found it easy to piece the fragments together. The small mirror had been split by several cracks. Even if the fragments were put together, Luo Jian¡¯s reflection still appeared fragmented. After looking at the mirror for a long period of time, Luo Jian didn¡¯t find any abnormalities. The mirror was still fragmented, and there was no response from it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Is there something missing?¡±

    Luo Jian tried to think about what information he may have missed, but he could not understand what to do next. The mirror fragments had all been found and pieced together, but the next hint that would allow him to progress in the chamber did not appear.

    Distressed, Luo Jian stared at the mirror and tried hard to recall all possible details. He incidentally thought of the of the poem: One side is one side, one side for one side, a left hand exchanged for a right hand, your face is my face.

    Luo Jian thought about it and read it out unconsciously, but when he spoke thest phrase, he suddenly felt dizzy, as if he had momentarily lost consciousness. However, the feeling appeared fast and disappeared even faster. Thus, he only felt dizzy for a moment.

    Because he still felt a bit dizzy, Luo Jian shook his head. He opened his eyes and took a look at his surroundings again. This time, what he discovered astonished him! Luo Jian was shocked to find out that without his noticing, all the corpses in the ssroom had disappeared!

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Luo Jian was baffled by this scene. He had looked at the mirror for a short moment. In less than a few minutes, all the corpses in the ssroom had disappeared without a trace. Even the bone fragments, rotten flesh, corpse water, and debris on the ground had vanished. If it weren¡¯t for the traces of the battle he¡¯d left in the ssroom, Luo Jian would have doubted what he had just seen!

    When did it all disappear? Why was it that he didn¡¯t notice any of it?

    Luo Jian suddenly thought of something. He quickly took out the Nokia cellphone he had found from his pocket. The time on it was 14:11.

    However, after waiting for a long time, the screen still read 11 and did not jump to 12. It was as if time had stopped in that moment. It left Luo Jian in this terrible ssroom, crying out to heaven and earth for help to no avail.

    Then, at this time, the Nokia cellphone in Luo Jian¡¯s hand suddenly rang!

    T/N: I¡¯ve moved over to Please continue to support EIC here! ^~^

    For now, there would be 2x/chapter a week!

    And please wee my editor, Kitty who would be joining me in bringing all of you here amazing EIC chapters!!

    Also, thank you guys and girls for reading EIC, I won¡¯t be able to reply to allments, but I¡¯m really grateful to the readers of this project!

 Chapter 41 - Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (V)

    <h4>Chapter 41 - Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (V)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Despite having no signal at all, the cellphone received a text message.

    The notification sound was an old, jingling song, and its sudden ring in the empty ssroom scared Luo Jian to the point where goosebumps appeared on his skin. It took a long time for him to respond. He pressed his fingers on the keyboard of the cellphone to turn it on. The text message was very strange. The sender¡¯s name was empty, and the contents were as follows:

    [You are in a double-sided secret room; one side is real while the other side is not, and the door that you can escape from is only present on one side. Can you recognize the difference between reality and illusion? Even if your body dies, the illusory world will still keep its doors wide open for you so that you can remain here forever. Perhaps that¡¯s how you will meet your end.]

    ¡°Truth and facies.¡± Luo Jian put away the cellphone and checked his surroundings. The room appeared to be the same as what he¡¯d seen previously. Except for theck of corpses, the ssroom was no different from before. The ckboard still held the scribbled poem...... poem. Luo Jian¡¯s eyes widened suddenly, and he stared at the ckboard. He found a strange phenomenon: the words on the ckboard...... were written in reverse.

    ¡°The mirror¡¯s world,¡± Luo Jian muttered to himself.

    ¡°Here...... It¡¯s the world in the mirror.¡±

    ¡°Since it¡¯s reversed, then this is the illusory world, and the battle I just experienced was the so-called reality.¡± The blood, fighting, killing, and sounds of shrieking were real. Luo Jian sat on the ground with his back against the ckboard. He looked at his hands that wore a pair of dark ck tactical gloves. There were many traces of blood on the exposed knuckles, and blood had spilled all over the gloves. He still remembered the sensation of waving the butcher¡¯s knife and the feeling of chopping all the corpses into pieces. It was very real. There were also sshes of blood on his face. Bright red colours had stained the entirety of his vision.

    Was there anything more frightening than reality?

    The time on the cellphone had stopped. Besides this, Luo Jian didn¡¯t have any other tools to check the time. He did not know how long it would be until he reached the three-hour mark or how much longer he could stay in this secret room. Luo Jian didn¡¯t have any way to figure out these answers.

    When he saw the message, Luo Jian understood that not only had he failed to find the key to open the door, but he also had no way to determine which was the real door. What would happen if he identally opened the wrong door?

    If Luo Jian guessed correctly, then this secret chamber was like its name, Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake, and was a secret chamber reflected in a mirror. The room consisted of the real world on one side and the mirrored world on the other, that is, the so-called reality and illusion. The world in the mirror appeared inverted, which Luo Jian confirmed using the words written in reverse on the ckboard. If everything was as he imagined, then the books and textbooks in this ssroom and the words inside them would also be reversed.

    And this chamber...... Luo Jian was previously astounded by the bodies that disappeared without a trace. When he¡¯d calmed down, he found that the whole illusory chamber appeared to be reflected. The windows that had been on the right were on the left, and the cement of the doors had changed from left to right. In other words, everything was ced in the opposite location.

    And all this made up the mirrored reflection side of the secret chamber.

    Although he did not yet know whether it was helpful or not, time seemed to stop in this illusory secret chamber. The three-hour time limit had halted at a certain point, but Luo Jian was not sure whether time was still flowing normally outside in the real secret chamber.

    There was a door in the illusory secret chamber and one in the real secret chamber. Which one was the real exit? ording tomon sense, most people would think that the door in the real secret chamber was the real exit. If everything in the illusory secret chamber was an illusion, then naturally, even the door should have been fake.

    But the secret chamber was not a ce wheremon sense ruled. Since even the dead could be resurrected, why couldn¡¯t the real door be in the fake world?

    Since there were two doors, there were probably two sets of keys.

    When Luo Jian thought of these issues, he felt a slight headache. He anticipated that there would be a lot of possibilities. If there were two keys, he would face the same problem. It was impossible to have a key that was on one side while the other key was built in the opposite way. The secret chamber hadid down a trap for Luo Jian: there were two identical doors in different spaces. The locations of the doors were different, with one on the left and the other on the right, but the two doors appeared the same. Not only that, but the keyholes also looked the same. Naturally, a situation where the keys would have different appearances would not exist.

    That is to say, Luo Jian had to distinguish not only which door was the real exit, but also which key was the real key. If the fake door was opened with the real key, or the real door was opened with the fake key, he didn¡¯t know what would happen to him.

    The trap was deliberatelyid by the secret chamber, and naturally, the goal was to trap Luo Jian in here forever. Time would continue to flow in the real secret chamber. If the right door and key couldn¡¯t be found before time ran out, then in order to survive, Luo Jian would have to enter the illusory secret chamber where time came to a stop.

    As he thought about this, Luo Jian suddenly understood something. His face was pale white, and his face was covered in cold sweat.

    If he really couldn¡¯t escape, it would be just as the text message had described. Even if his body had died, the illusory world would still keep its doors wide open for him to let him remain here forever......

    ¡°I would still end up dying.¡±

    But so far, Luo Jian had not found any keys...... no, he did have a bunch of keys that he¡¯d taken from the teacher¡¯s body.

    Luo Jian reached out and took out the keys, breathed in deeply, and went to the door of the secret chamber. He began to check the fit of every key, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t find a match.

    ¡°It seems that these keys are really useless.¡±

    Not everything in the secret chamber had a role to y. It depended on how you reacted. Some people were born as strategic geniuses at this sort of game. They could quickly and urately find the keys and props and solve the puzzles, but it seemed that Luo Jian wasn¡¯t one of those people.

    In both work and daily life, Luo Jian had always thought that his IQ was high enough, but here, he hated that he couldn¡¯t eat Newton¡¯s apple so that his IQ would soar to the levels of Edison, Einstein, and even fictional figures like Sherlock Holmes.

    In such a chaotic situation, Luo Jian even began to recall the stories of Detective Conan¡¯s confined room murder cases, but they didn¡¯t help his current situation at all. After searching through the illusory secret chamber, Luo Jian found that there were no big differences between the real secret chamber and this one here. Except for the opposite cement of the objects and the reversed words in the textbooks, there were no differences, and there was nothing extra here. There was nothing missing except the bodies that disappeared.

    ¡°Why are there no corpses in this illusory secret chamber?¡± Luo Jian was helpless and started to think about this problem. He suddenly thought of the key prop that linked the two mirrored chambers, the broken mirror.

    So, how did the mirror break? Why were the fragments in the hands of several different corpses? Who was the owner of the mirror? Luo Jian had a rough guess as to the answers to these questions. It was impossible for boys to use this kind of small mirror, so it absolutely had to belong to a girl. There were not many girls in the ssroom. There were only five or six female corpses among the 30-something corpses.

    Luo Jian suddenly noticed a small detail. All the pieces of the mirror, except for the ones he got from the teacher and found on the ground, had been hidden in the corpses of women. Thest one was found in his seat when he woke up in the secret room.

    There was also a problem that he discovered after much thinking. There was one missing corpse in the ssroom: the one that belonged in the seat that Luo Jian had been in when he¡¯d woken up at the beginning. There were 35 seats, and Luo Jian upied one of them. Naturally, Luo Jian could not count himself as one of the students. So, there were thirty-five students but only thirty-four corpses. Where did thest one go?

    Was the person who disappeared the so-called murderer? Or was the person not dead?

    Luo Jian had a terrible headache. Now, he had no clue. This secret chamber was silent. Luo Jian felt tired since he had been risking his life while fighting for an hour. He had bloody cuts on his waist and abdomen and a circle of bruises on his throat. His whole body was full of bloody teeth marks. Those corpses were like zombies and had wanted to eat him. Fortunately, they did not seem to have any viral infection. If they did, Luo Jian would be lying dead with them now.

    After experiencing a great battle and thinking about the problems of the secret chamber, Luo Jian was exhausted. He was dizzy and wanted to sleep. But Luo Jian was not sure whether there was a time limit in the illusory secret chamber where time had stopped. So, he thought about it and did an experiment. He grasped the broken mirror again and read the poem he¡¯d read before once.

    But this time there was no reaction at all. After thinking about it, Luo Jian suddenly came up with an idea and read the poem backwards. Then there was a faint feeling of suffocation. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the floor was soaked in jet-ck corpse water and covered in bone debris.

    The corpse of the teacher was still hanging over Luo Jian¡¯s head, swaying slightly.

    He had returned to the real secret chamber. The mirror and the mysterious poem seemed to be the key props and keywords, which were essential to the chamber.

    The real secret chamber was much more pleasing to the eye than the illusory one. It was just that the disgusting stink of corpses in the air made it difficult for Luo Jian to breathe, but that was not a problem. He was almost used to it. He walked around the ssroom once again, and he noticed that the only bodies that he hadn¡¯t fought were the teacher¡¯s corpse hanging on the ceiling and the female corpse who had been raped to death. Both were motionless. The female corpse still sat in her original position and was covered with the curtains pulled down by Luo Jian.

    It seemed that both were key figures. Judging from the previous message slips that he had found, they were the protagonists of the main incident. Maybe they had something inmon.

    Thinking of this, Luo Jian went to the woman¡¯s corpse, pulled the curtains away, and began to observe her carefully from her head to her feet.

    This girl had probably been beautiful when she was still alive. Her clothes and style were much better than that of the other female corpses. The bones of her hands also had slight cracks, which made Luo Jian guess that her hands had been tied before she died. Simrly, Luo Jian also found that she wore a ring on her ring finger.

    Luo Jian suddenly noticed that the ring looked slightly familiar. He observed it for a long time before suddenly standing up and going to the teacher¡¯s corpse on the podium. He looked at the man¡¯s left hand. He wore a simr ring on his hand, and it appeared to match the ring on the hand of the female corpse. It was a pair of lovers¡¯ rings.

    Maybe...... Maybe the teacher and this student had some bodily rtions, but at the same time, they were just ordinary lovers and were merely dating. Even if the age gap was veryrge, even if they were not tolerated by the secr world, Luo Jian could see that they indeed did have feelings for one another, which was shown in the act of exchanging rings.

    ¡°This is aplete tragedy,¡± Luo Jian murmured, looking at the ring and feeling a little disappointed and frustrated.

    No matter what the cause of the incident was or who instigated the dispute, the girl had merely fallen in love, and the subject of her young love was the teacher in her ss. However, she was then isted by the whole ss. After this, something bad urred. Luo Jian could not figure out what exactly happened, but it obviously caused some students topletely erupt in anger, which caused some of the more extreme students to rape this girl. The teacher came to save her, but he was beaten and killed by his students and hung on the podium.

    Luo Jian felt a little ufortable with this conclusion. He moved his line of sight away from the ring and carefully observed the two corpses again. This time, he realized something significant.

    T/N: The exnation of the keys and doors may be confusing and I took a while to understand what exactly the author is trying to imply from the raws as well. If you¡¯re confused,ment on thement section and I¡¯ll try my best to exin. ^~^

 Chapter 42 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (I)

    <h4>Chapter 42 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (I)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Thest piece of the mirror that Luo Jian found earlier had been hidden in a crack on a corpse¡¯s skull. This made Luo Jian realize that objects could be hidden in the human body, and that the body could potentially hide many things. He had smashed almost all the bodies and found only a small fragment of the mirror. With that, he was left with only two corpses that he had yet to inspect.

    ¡°Sorry for the offence.¡± After some deliberation, Luo Jian acted. He carried the teacher¡¯s body down from the ceiling, gritted his teeth, and ripped the clothes off of the corpse. There was some thick and disgusting carrion still hanging on the skeleton. When he took off all the clothes, the entire rib cage was exposed. The internal organs had turnedpletely into a pool of ck water. After searching for a long time, Luo Jian finally found a key in the teacher¡¯s mouth and a piece of paper with the printed purple patternsmonly used by the Secret Chamber.

    The key was rusty. When he unfolded the note, the contents were as follows:

    [Dear Mr Luo Jian:]

    [At this point, perhaps you have realized certain things about this secret chamber, so it is of no harm to tell you frankly that there is another key in the illusory chamber.]

    [An exception was made, and hints will be given to you:]

    [First, you should never open the real door with a fake key because that will cause you to fall into the illusory world forever.]

    [Second, for the same reason, do not use the real key to open the illusory door. Otherwise your end will be as described above.]

    [Third, finding thest person who disappeared is the right method for you to leave this secret chamber.]

    [With that, all the hints have been provided. Good luck.]

    ¡°It seems that even if I¡¯ve found the key, I¡¯m not in a very good situation.¡± Luo Jian fiddled with the key he had found. It looked very old and was rusty and discoloured. If one looked at it closely, one would find a small crack on the key¡¯s handle.

    Luo Jian put the key into his pocket. This time, he began to search through the female corpse, and he found something shocking. He actually found a cellphone in the belly of the dead woman!

    It was another old Nokia phone!

    The cellphone was in the stomach of the female corpse, so it was soaked in some sort of disgusting ck fluid. Although Luo Jian felt sick and wanted to vomit when he found it, he still reached out his trembling hands and pushed them into the abdomen of the female corpse. The corpse was not very clean, and arge amount of meat and viscera were still present. At this time, Luo Jian would have preferred if the corpse was a bare skeleton.

    ¡°Don¡¯t me me, don¡¯t me me,¡± Luo Jian searched while he muttered to himself. He was afraid that the body would suddenly move. Although Luo Jian had experienced many things and should have been used to it long ago, he was still afraid. That was because the definition of death seemed to be meaningless in this strange secret chamber, and the chamber was so confusingly bizarre that precautions were useless.

    When Luo Jian took out the cellphone, he was still in disbelief. Subconsciously, he reached for the other phone in his pocket and saw that it was still there! The two cellphones looked exactly the same¡ªboth were ck models, and the sizes were identical. Luo Jian was stunned, but he soon reacted, pressing the button to turn on the phone. He waited for about a minute, and just as Luo Jian was about to lose hope, believing that the phone was out of battery and therefore worthless, the screen suddenly brightened.

    The battery bar showed that there was one bar of power left. The time reflected was 00:00:00, and a prompt popped up within a few seconds after the power was turned on to inform him that the battery was insufficiently charged. Luo Jian immediately opened the address book, and he found that it was nk. Then, he pressed several buttons to enter the mailbox, which was almost empty; in it, there was only a very short and familiar message:

    [Please help me.]

    After staring at the message for a second, Luo Jian suddenly felt as if there was a fishbone stuck in his throat and his chest was beingpressed. It was as if nothing could enter his lungs, and it caused a piercing pain that was hard to endure. Luo Jian opened his mouth and slowly took out the other Nokia phone. He opened it and looked through the mailbox. In it, there was only one text message, and it had the same few words:

    [Please help me.]

    ¡°Who does this cellphone belong to?¡± Luo Jian mumbled to himself. The phone pulled out from the belly of the female corpse obviously belonged to her. She¡¯d sent a text message to ask for help before she died, but it was strange...... because she was not asking for help from her teacher, the lover who she was dating and exchanged rings with, but......

    Who did it belong to? Luo Jian stared at the Nokia phone in his hand. This phone was the one that he had found in the drawer when he woke up in the beginning. There was no name written on the books and notes where he sat. Obviously, the seat Luo Jian was in belonged to the missing 35th person.

    ¡°Thest, missing person is pivotal to this mystery,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°But, I don¡¯t even know what their name is. They only left a few strange textbooks and a cellphone. What does this person have to do with this incident? Simrly, why did she ask them for help?¡±

    Luo Jian sighed, confused. The dead woman¡¯s cellphone soon ran out of power and turned off. There was no use dabbling with it, so Luo Jian could only throw the cellphone away. He thought that his next move should be to go into the illusory chamber in order to find the other key.

    Once Luo Jian thought of this, he executed his n immediately. Luo Jian put away the cellphone and dug out the mirror pieces. It was such a hassle for him to deal with the mirror. Every time he wanted to use it, he had to piece it back together, put it in the palm of his hand, and read out the ridiculous poem again. After that, what followed was the feeling of dizziness. When he opened his eyes, he saw theplete reverse of the previous scene.

    After circling around the illusory chamber, Luo Jian suddenly thought of a question: where was thest student who had disappeared? The secret chamber was only that big. One could clearly see every corner of the ssroom by standing on the podium. There was no ce to hide. Regardless of it being the illusory or real secret chamber, there werepletely no ces to hide. So where was the missing person? Were they dead? Had they turned into a corpse? Or was the person invisible?

    ¡°There is no other living person but me.¡± Luo Jian circled around the illusory secret chamber again and again, turning over the things that he could again. The time in the illusory secret chamber would not flow. When Luo Jian had left the illusory chamber, he had looked at the cellphone, and the time that stopped had started to move again. When he came into the illusory chamber again, the time stopped.

    Because there was no time limit, Luo Jian searched through more carefully this time, but he still did not find anything useful. His wounds were aching again. Luo Jian felt a little weak, so he found a stool to sit down and rest. He leaned against the back of the chair and looked at the ceiling that was above his head. There was a rusty iron fan and a dim, yellow chandelier on it. The edges had started to decay due to the water stains on the wall, and he could see ck patches on it.

    As Luo Jian gazed up, his eyelids drooped down. Unknowingly, his eyes began to narrow, and he unwittingly fell asleep.

    The dim ssroom was empty, and only the sound of Luo Jian¡¯s breathing could be heard.

    Time hade to a stop, the light remained dim and dark, and chalk was still scrawled on the ckboard. Suddenly, with a squeak, the door of the ssroom opened!

    Yes, the illusory door had been opened! A shaky, low voice sounded as a clean hand pushed the door open from the outside. Beyond the door was a dark world, but this man walked in from the darkness. Once he entered, the mahogany door squeaked loudly as it closed again with a m. The sound immediately woke Luo Jian. He shivered and opened his eyes.

    As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a magnified, handsome face in front of him. A pair of bright red eyes stared at him without blinking. All this happened so suddenly and without a sign, so Luo Jian was given a fright. He instinctively backed away and almost fell from the chair. But the man reached out his hand and hugged Luo Jian.

    ¡°Stalk...... stalker! ¡± Luo Jian shivered and grabbed the cor of the man with a hand. It really scared Luo Jian when he saw such a huge monster. But while he was scared, Luo Jian had been mentally prepared for the stalker to appear. Luo Jian was not stupid. The ouroboros mark on his neck was obviously a way for the stalker to track and locate him. Luo Jian just did not expect the stalker to keep chasing him in such a way that he showed himself in every secret chamber Luo Jian entered.

    But......

    Luo Jian suddenly felt his heartbeat get faster. He could only stare at the man. For some reason, as soon as the stalker appeared, Luo Jian felt at ease. No matter how terrible the secret chamber was, Luo Jian was not afraid.

    But Luo Jian didn¡¯t want to think this way. He knew that this mindset was not good. He could not rely on an unknown existence that he waspletely unfamiliar with, especially since the other party may cause great harm or be a threat to him.

    But the stalker did not care about it so much. It seemed that he was excited when he saw Luo Jian. He ced his arm around his waist and pulled him desperately into his arms. Luo Jian could notpete with the other person in terms of strength, so hepromised and resigned himself to the man¡¯s embrace.

    Of course, just cuddling was not enough for the stalker. Luo Jian rolled his eyes and stared at the man wordlessly as he began to nibble at Luo Jian¡¯s lips. Why did this fool kiss him every time they met? Could it be that...... Luo Jian suddenly thought of the first time he had met this fool in the secret chamber. Could it be that the incident...... gave him too deep of an impression? Which caused him to be reluctant to part with Luo Jian and made the stalker chase him to nibble on his lips?

    Luo Jian did not know that he¡¯d identally figured out the truth.

    The stalker happily nibbled at Luo Jian¡¯s lips. He felt that it was not enough to nibble his lips alone, so he nibbled his neck. But simrly, he felt it was insufficient just nibbling on his neck. He began to remove Luo Jian¡¯s clothes. Atst, Luo Jian could not stand his actions. Bearing the risk of being beaten to death by the stalker, he kneed the other in the stomach.

    In fact, the stalker did not feel any pain at all, but he thought that maybe this little human did not like his behaviour. Xing Yan hesitated for a moment and promptly released Luo Jian. He thought of what Ying had said to him in the Crimson Asura Realm.

    Ying had said that the reason why he liked to hug this human is because he liked him.

    Not only did Xing Yanpletely not understand the concept of liking someone, but he alsopletely did not understand human emotions.

    Therefore, Ying had asked Xing Yan: ¡°Would you miss that human if you were not able to see him?¡±

    Since he would miss him, Xing Yan nodded.

    Ying asked again: ¡°Would you want to hug that human when you see him?¡±

    That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right! Xing Yan nodded again.

    Ying continued to ask: ¡°Is hugging enough for you, or do you want to kiss him?¡±

    Kiss? Xing Yan thought about it for a while. He considered it an act of biting his lips. He really liked doing it! Therefore, he nodded incessantly.

    Hearing that, Ying had an enigmatic look on his face and dered: ¡°This means you like him. If you like him, you should treat him well!¡±

    En, he should treat Luo Jian well! Xing Yan obsessively stared at Luo Jian.

    Under his stare, Luo Jian felt the hairs all over his body stand up. He cowered and rolled himself into a ball. Was this fool angry? Why did he have such a terrifying look in his eyes and seem as if he wanted to take a bite of him? Mommy!

    T/N: Xing Yan appears! I feel like he¡¯s like a 3 y/o kid looking at candy though...

    Thank you LurkingReader for the Ko-Fi!

 Chapter 43 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (II)

    <h4>Chapter 43 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (II)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    In the illusory chamber, there was now a weird scene being acted out.

    Luo Jian found that the stalker was especially interested in him. If he squatted somewhere, the stalker would squat next to him, and from time to time, the stalker woulde to him in order to rub against him. Luo Jian felt his head throb with pain because of his actions. This fool could not speak, and it seemed that he could not understand Luo Jian. His actions felt strange, and whenever he caught Luo Jian, he would hug Luo Jian and seemed as if he would rather die than let go.

    ¡°Let go of me!¡± Luo Jian was caught again. He frowned and shouted seriously at Xing Yan.

    Xing Yan was unable to take his eyes off Luo Jian. His pupils were a pretty shade of blood-red, and the way his eyes stared straight at him was no different from the eyes of a wild beast. After being gazed at for a long moment, Luo Jian felt his hairs stand on end. However, Luo Jian did not know why, but gazing into his eyes would also cause his heartbeat to elerate.

    Xing Yan closed the gap between them and began to lick Luo Jian¡¯s pink lips. Luo Jian found that this fool did not know how to kiss. He had only licked or bitten Luo Jian¡¯s lips. He would also push his tongue into Luo Jian¡¯s mouth. But generally, he would bite Luo Jian¡¯s tongue and refuse to let go of it.

    In fact, this way of kissing could not be consideredfortable, but it was not bad. Luo Jian did not have much experience in kissing either, and he was sadly still a virgin. But as a high-tech modern man of the 21st century, Luo Jian had seen clips of others kissing, and he had also read a book called The Ins and Outs of Kissing and others simr to it. It just so happened that he had a ready-made opportunity for practice now.

    With that, Luo Jian summoned up his courage, reached out to hook his arms around the stalker¡¯s neck, and began to respond aggressively to him with all his might. But what Luo Jian did not expect was that the stalker¡¯s ability to learn was so powerful that he could learn as he kissed. Whatever Luo Jian did, he would reflexively execute in the same way, and he would be even more aggressive than Luo Jian.

    Due to the kiss¡¯s intensity, Luo Jian even felt that he had a reaction there. This hateful stalker deliberately touched all over his body. When a woman touched Luo Jian, he would not react the same way as he did now. But when a man touched him, especially when Luo Jian was a little bit fond of him, he would not be human if he did not react.

    After kissing for such a long time, Luo Jian felt that he could not catch his breath, and his face became red due to theck of air. Finally, Xing Yan realized that Luo Jian was notfortable, so he carefully let go of him. Once he released his grip on his mouth, Luo Jian could not stop panting. Heid on the stalker¡¯s chest for a long time while he blushed and did not dare to move. He secretly ced his arms around the other person¡¯s waist and contentedly rubbed against him.

    Now what should he do? Luo Jian thought to himself that he could not beat or escape from the stalker. It seemed that he had no choice but to take advantage of him. Uh...... it appeared that he could make use of him because this fool was very powerful. It was not a problem for him as long as he could escape from the secret chamber.

    Luo Jian wanted to raise his head to look at Xing Yan. Coincidentally, Xing Yan was lowering his head to look at Luo Jian. As their eyes met, Luo Jian felt his face and ears flush with excitement. He quickly lowered his head and buried his face in the other person¡¯s chest.

    While he was being shy, Luo Jian angrily scolded himself secretly: &#k2018;Luo Jian, are you really considered a man? How can you just give in to the other person¡¯s tyrannical abuse?! You should at least struggle twice, right?! After you have been kissed twice, you gave him an inch, and he will take a mile! Who knows if this fool is really a dumb idiot?! Sooner orter, not even a scrap will be left after he cheats you, AHHHH!!¡¯

    Of course, regardless of how Luo Jian was cursing in his heart, the stalker did not let go of him. He pulled Luo Jian in his embrace as he rubbed against Luo Jian. His fingers reached under Luo Jian¡¯s clothes to caress his stomach. Luo Jian was suddenly given a fright and he quickly restrained the stalker¡¯s ws. However, at that moment, since Xing Yan had finally been able to caress him happily, he naturally would not let him get away. He lowered his head and bit Luo Jian¡¯s ear.

    Once again, Luo Jian was frightened, and with a slight quiver, he released his grip. The stalker did not let go of this chance. He directly reached into Luo Jian¡¯s pants and unrelentingly went for the forbidden area. At that moment, Luo Jian¡¯s mind was filled with all kinds of ¡°f*ck¡±!!

    Luo Jian felt that a tight thread in his brain suddenly snapped in that split second. He pushed Xing Yan away from him and leapt a few metres back. His face turned from red to white, and his eyes were fixed on Xing Yan. For a few moments, he could only hear all sorts of danger rms sounding in his head.

    Xing Yan nced at him, puzzled. He did not understand why he was suddenly alienated by Luo Jian. Shouldn¡¯t it be done this way? Ying had definitely said that as long as the other side did not resist kissing, he would not be too resistant to the other things that he would do following it.

    The inability tomunicate was a fatal weakness between two people and the starting point of their conflicts. All kinds of human feelings could be built onmunication. Communication epassed not onlynguage, but also bodilymunication, actions, or behaviour. All of them could be consideredmunication. But there was no doubt thatnguage always took priority. In the absence of verbalmunication, obstacles would appear, and conflicts would therefore follow.

    Luo Jian felt it was rather contradictory that the other party had touched his bottom line.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t know how far the stalker wanted to go, and somewhere in his heart, he actually felt very afraid. Moreover, it was an extreme fear that he felt. He was not only afraid of this terrible secret chamber, but he was also afraid of the stalker in front of him. He had learned the stalker¡¯s name and identity from others. Everyone had told him that stalkers were a horrifying existence. And to some extent, Luo Jian believed in what they had said.

    Kissing and hugging were eptable because Luo Jian did not have the strength to resist him, and his resistance was futile anyway. The stalker was too strong. He was so strong that Luo Jian could only look up to him. All forms of resistance could only be based on the foundation of strength. Therefore, in the absence of strength, Luo Jian chose the easiest way to survive, which was topromise.

    But there was a bottom line, even whenpromising. Luo Jian could not ept that he would have close physical contact with the stalker, who was mysterious and posed a danger to him, because he couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen next if he did.

    If the stalker just wanted to do this out of curiosity, once he lost his curiosity, would Luo Jian have no value and be apletely disposable object? Luo Jian had no choice but to worry and wonder about this. Survival was always his top priority. As long as their rtionship was based on survival, Luo Jian would make use of everything that he could.

    Luo Jian had to learn how to use his value.

    ¡°You can¡¯t because I have to find a way to get out of this chamber.¡± Luo Jian fixed his eyes at Xing Yan and observed his every move. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and pulled out the fragments of the mirror. Before, Luo Jian had thought that it was too troublesome to piece the mirror together every time he went in and out of the two secret chambers. Therefore, he had searched through the secret chamber and found transparent glue. He used it to glue the pieces together. Although it looked a little ugly, at least it was usable......

    It seemed that Luo Jian¡¯s act of pulling out the mirror made the stalker realize something, but he didn¡¯t understand what Luo Jian wanted to do now. He frowned, stood upright, and walked towards Luo Jian. When he took a step forward, Luo Jian took a step backward. He backed up all the way until his back was to the wall.

    ¡°One side is one side; one side is also one side......¡±

    Luo Jian carefully read the ¡°transmission phrase,¡± but this time the stalker seemed to understand what he was doing. Before Luo Jian finished reading the poem, he suddenly rushed up at a terrifyingly fast speed, reached his hands out, and snatched the mirror from Luo Jian¡¯s hand. His speed was so fast that in Luo Jian¡¯s eyes, he was just a blur. With that, his transmission was interrupted.

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart sank. Quickly, he felt for his short de and used it to stab at the stalker. He subconsciously wanted to get his mirror back. However, Xing Yan was so powerful that he caught Luo Jian¡¯s hands and pressed him to the wall.

    Xing Yan narrowed his blood-red eyes and carefully observed Luo Jian¡¯s expression. Luo Jian¡¯s face was a little pale, and he subconsciously avoided the stalker¡¯s gaze. Xing Yan reached over and caressed the human¡¯s cheek with one hand as he recalled what Ying had said.

    If that human hated you or resisted you or was even...... afraid of you, then you should show your gentleness,fort him, and make him feel at ease.

    What could he do to make a human feel at ease?

    As a matter of fact, Xing Yan did not know how he should go about doing it. He confined Luo Jian in his arms, thought about it, and made a move based on his intuition¡ªhe kissed Luo Jian on his forehead.

    Luo Jian froze.

    Kissing one¡¯s lips was an action for close lovers. Someone kissing his forehead..... was what Luo Jian had experienced when he was young. His father and mother had done that when he was a child. However, when he grew up, he lost the privilege to receive such a kiss because it was the privilege of a child.

    Naturally, his feelings regarding this wereplex. Momentarily, Luo Jian could not react, so he remained silent.

    His silence caused Xing Yan to feel at a loss. He thought that he might not have done a good job inforting him. For a while, he felt nervous. He was not able to produce any sound or speak, which was something normal for him. The secret chamber forbade the stalkers¡¯ use of sounds to converse. In other words, the secret chamber prevented the stalkers from using any vocalmunication. Many people did not know that, in fact, the stalkers were not only unable to produce any sounds, but they also could not hear other people¡¯s voices.

    Although this taboo did not apply in the independent space of the Crimson Asura Realm, in other spaces, Xing Yan could notmunicate with anyone. Even if he met other Stalkers who were like him, they could not hold any verbal conversations.

    This was a verymentable and scary fact. Imagine if you had to go around killing without emitting a sound, acting like a lifeless robot. Even if the secret chamber had robbed the stalkers of most of their emotions, including feelings of loneliness and alienation, this sort of feeling was not one that most people could understand.

    As there was no way tomunicate, Xing Yan was unable to tell Luo Jian his inner thoughts.

    Merely relying on his actions was not enough.

    It was not enough.

    Xing Yan suddenly grabbed Luo Jian¡¯s hand that was holding the de. His hands were freezing cold, and that cold made Luo Jian feel a little sluggish. After that, the snake that had been coiled around Luo Jian¡¯s wrist moved, crawled from his wrist to his finger, and finally climbed over to Xing Yan¡¯s wrist and up to his arm.

    The little snake spit out its forked tongue and bit down on Xing Yan¡¯s arm, leaving behind two teeth marks. It then smugly crawled back to Luo Jian¡¯s arm and bit down on his arm. Luo Jian felt a stabbing pain. Luo Jian was unclear what had happened and was a little panicked, but after a moment, he felt that there was nothing different about his body.

    Instead, a mark appeared on the stalker¡¯s arm, and it was identical to the ouroboros on Luo Jian¡¯s neck.

    What did this mean?

    Luo Jian stared at the mark and felt somewhat perplexed.

 Chapter 44 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (III)

    <h4>Chapter 44 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (III)</h4>

    Slight NSFW, Dub-con

    <strong>Please note, this is not an urate depiction of m/m sex in reality</strong>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Some marks have links to others, just like the one that Luo Jian had at this time.

    When the special mark appeared on the stalker¡¯s arm, Luo Jian suddenly sensed something unusual, and a strong and strange feeling surged in him. It was as if he could clearly feel something tightly connected to part of his body.

    It was a terrible connection embedded in flesh and blood, carved into their bones, and buried in their souls.

    At this moment, Luo Jian suddenly realized that he had established a special method ofmunication with the stalker in front of him. Although they were still unable tomunicate verbally, Luo Jian found that he could feel the ¡°existence¡± of the other person!

    This feeling of ¡®existence¡¯...... was as if Luo Jian had an extra sensory organ other than his eyes, nose, mouth, ears and skin, and this organ could only sense the stalker. It could feel some of the simpler emotions in the stalker¡¯s heart as well as his actions and motives. Even if his original five senses were disabled, Luo Jian could still clearly sense the movements of the stalker.

    It was like 24-hour monitoring, but it did not put any pressure on him. Luo Jian was surprised by this terrible link because he suddenly realized that ever since the stalker left the ouroboros on him in the first secret chamber, Xing Yan was constantly monitoring him.

    Regardless of what emotions he felt, from pain to happiness, all of it could be felt by the other party.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Luo Jian did not understand. He could understand why Xing Yan wanted to monitor him; after all, the other party was a stalker. Such a strong existence like him could naturally deal with a small toy however he liked, regardless of whether he wanted to pinch him into a circle or knead him t. Luo Jian couldn¡¯t do anything about it even if he wanted to.

    But when Xing Yan gave Luo Jian the right to surveil him, he felt very confused. It was like the enemy sharing his biggest trump card with you. He not only allowed you to openly view it, but he also let you take it whenever you wanted.

    Xing Yan sensed some of Luo Jian¡¯s doubts. The stalker came close to his cheek and rubbed against it gently and carefully. Luo Jian could clearly feel a strange, warm feeling surging up from his heart, which indicated the change in his partner¡¯s mood. The sensation had morphed into a sort of warmth and softness that beckoned for him to touch the other party.

    Luo Jian paused and raised his head to look up at Xing Yan. His eyes stopped avoiding his gaze for a moment, and he said, ¡°You want to kiss me.¡±

    When he finished saying this, Xing Yan came closer and bit Luo Jian¡¯s lips. Their tongues were sticky and intertwined. They hugged each other tightly and rubbed against each other lightly. Xing Yan could no longer hold back now. Holding the little human in his arms, he stepped onto the podium and ced him on the desk. Luo Jian instantly blushed. This time, he could clearly sense the inner thoughts of the other party sending out feelings of lust. The wanton desire felt like he wanted to cleanly eat Luo Jian up and swallow all of him into his stomach.

    It was over. He felt like he probably would not be able to escape.

    Luo Jian took a careful nce at the broken mirror that the stalker had taken away from him and ced into his pocket. But Xing Yan seemed to have noticed Luo Jian¡¯s intentions and suddenly reached into his pocket. He threw it out of reach, the mirror travelling in a beautiful parab. The mirror was skilfully thrown onto a desk close by and did not shatter.

    For a moment, Luo Jian could only gaze at the stalker tearfully and pitifully. Unfortunately, Xing Yan waspletely unmoved. He pressed Luo Jian¡¯s shoulder to the desk and stuffed his fingers under Luo Jian¡¯s clothes at will. The cold fingertips made Luo Jian shiver, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel afraid.

    ¡°Can you spare me?¡± Luo Jian asked pathetically, knowing that the other side definitely understood what he meant.

    Xing Yan did not answer. He did not even nod or shake his head, but his actions revealed his answer. He ripped off Luo Jian¡¯s clothes, lowered his head, and bit the buds on his chest. Luo Jian trembled even more. He reached out to the stalker but was unable to push him away.

    The illusory secret chamber was extremely quiet, and no other sounds could be heard.

    Luo Jian bit his lips and didn¡¯t dare to make a sound, so he could only close his eyes.

    <details>Xing Yan¡¯s actions could be considered inexperienced. After a lot of forey, he did not know what to do next. As a matter of fact, Ying had especially taught Xing Yan about this aspect of rtionships. However, this sort of person, Ying, did not exin clearly, and he merely spoke eloquently about it¡ªYou have to take off the clothes, you have to touch those sorts of ces, you have to kiss that particr ce...... and then, you have to insert/enter and continuously plunge into him!His vague exnations caused Xing Yan to be more confused about what to do! In particr, since Xing Yan did not say otherwise and Ying did not know better, Ying assumed that the person Xing Yan liked was a woman. Therefore, he told Xing Yan exactly what he did with women!

    Of course, Luo Jian did not know all this, and Xing Yan did not understand any more than him. He frowned as he licked and rubbed against Luo Jian¡¯s body. Luo Jian clearly felt the other party¡¯s anxiety and restlessness as well as the hardness under him. Somehow, Luo Jian suddenly thought that it was hrious. The stalker was obviously a fool who did not understand anything.

    And his heartstrings were actually tugged by this fool!

    Hence, Luo Jian sighed. Forget it. He was not a chaste woman. It was just going to bed and making love with him. It was a magical experience to be able to do it with the famous stalker.

    So Luo Jian took the initiative to stretch out his hands and lead Xing Yan, but in the process, he also forgot an important thing. No... it shouldn¡¯t be said that he forgot, but rather, he thought that there was nothing to use as lubrication in the secret chamber. However, even if he could bear the pain and knew that it would subside, he did not expect to suffer so much!

    It seemed as if his lower body was about to split open. Moreover, the stalker was a brainless fool and had just directly stabbed into him. At once, Luo Jian¡¯s body became stiff and motionless. He was in so much pain that he could not make any sound. Luo Jian pursed his lips, and his vision turned pitch ck. Xing Yan had also realized he was in pain, so he remained still and did not move.

    While Luo Jian was experiencing such a painful ordeal, he did not forget to curse inwardly: F*ck, what did this fool eat growing up to be so huge!

    The two fools remained in this position for a very long time. Finally, Xing Yan could not hold himself back anymore. He pulled Luo Jian into his embrace and began to rub against him as if trying to rx Luo Jian¡¯s stiff body. Luo Jian also leaned into the stalker¡¯s embrace, forcefully bit his shoulder, and did not let go.

    The two people ¡®struggled¡¯ for a long time, and the ¡®tragically huge amount of blood¡¯ from Luo Jian flowed all over the table...... (Big Misunderstanding). When Xing Yan saw that the human in his arms began to bleed, he was even more panic-stricken. He immediately wanted to pull out from Luo Jian¡¯s body, but when he moved a little, Luo Jian groaned in response. His mouth was stilltched on the stalker¡¯s shoulder, and his hands were tightly hugging Xing Yan¡¯s back.

    Thereupon, they felt into a state of rigidity.

    After a while, Luo Jian seemed to get used to it. Instead of biting the stalker on the shoulder, he held his neck and began to lick his chin. It seemed that Xing Yan could not hold himself back any longer, and he slightly lost control. He pressed down on Luo Jian and began to fiercely ravage him. Soft moans echoed in the secret chamber. Xing Yan became more and more passionate, causing Luo Jian¡¯s fingertips to quiver.

    Then, Luo Jian felt delirious and fainted, woke up, fainted again. While in a daze, he was ravaged and tossed about for a long period of time. Finally, with much difficulty, Xing Yan was able to calm down a little bit. When Luo Jian regained a little consciousness, Xing Yan held him and yet again pushed into him.

    ¡°No, no more.¡± Luo Jian shook his head in a trance and mumbled, but his voice was too weak. Xing Yan soon closed the gap between them and blocked Luo Jian¡¯s mouth with his lips. Thus, Luo Jian could only whine pathetically.

    If he continued to do it more, he felt that his lower body would break.

    Luo Jian began to struggle as if he was dying, but Xing Yan would not let go of him even if he died. Luo Jian could not stand it anymore as the lethal weapon went in and out of his body. He started to cry unintelligibly, but the more he cried, the more ferocious Xing Yan was. When he fainted again, Luo Jian did not wake up for a long time.

    <summary><b>Click here to see the NSFW Content</b></summary></details>

    After a while, it seemed that Luo Jian had escaped from the nightmare. He opened his eyes to see the dark ceiling of the secret chamber, and he was sluggish for a long moment before he realized that he was still lying in the stalker¡¯s arms. The stalker held him and stood in front of the ckboard at the back of the ssroom. He stared at the bloody words written in reverse on the ckboard¡ªThe one who snitches will be killed without mercy!¡ªfor a long moment.

    Xing Yan realized that Luo Jian was awake in his arms, so he lowered his head and kissed his forehead.

    Luo Jian found that his clothes were back on his body, and his body seemed to have been cleaned up. The only remnants of pain were in that shameful ce. He buried his face in Xing Yan¡¯s chest, grabbed the other¡¯s shirt, and suddenly felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his heart. But he did not know whether the satisfaction came from himself, the stalker, or both.

    Now, it seemed that he had no way to retreat. What changes would take ce in the future?

    Luo Jian sighed internally. For the first time, he was worried about his future. He knew that the road he¡¯d chosen was not easy to walk. Maybe there wasn¡¯t even a way to progress.

    Therefore, Luo Jian raised his head and asked the stalker, ¡°Do you like me?¡±

    Xing Yan bowed his head to look at him.

    How terrifying.

    Luo Jian thought this because he realized that even if he did not use the mark tomunicate at that moment, Xing Yan seemed to understand Luo Jian¡¯s meaning and nodded his head.

    They had spent a long time entangling in the illusory secret chamber. The stalker had greatly dyed the process of aplishing his task. Luo Jian, who was finally free from Xing Yan¡¯s embrace, was in low spirits. He began to continue his task of searching for the few clues avable in the secret chamber.

    The illusory secret chamber and the real secret chamber appeared almost the same, and Luo Jian was still confused about the location of the key. Meanwhile, the stalker was standing in front of the ckboard and staring at the big, blood-red words on it. The words ¡®The one who snitches will be killed without mercy!¡¯ appeared even more horrifying now.

    Seeing that Xing Yan kept staring at those words, Luo Jian soon realized that there was something wrong with them, so he stood beside the stalker and stared at those words together with him. As Luo Jian looked at those words, he suddenly discovered a surprising fact.

    Luo Jian reached his hand out, touched the ckboard with his hand, and knocked on it. The ckboard made a clear sound, indicating that it was hollow underneath. Luo Jian pushed the edge of the ckboard again with more force. It loosened up a little, and it appeared that the ckboard could be taken down.

 Chapter 45 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 45 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (IV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Although it was possible to take the ckboard down, Luo Jian had tried and failed for such a long time that he was a little sad and dispirited. Earlier, the stalker had ravaged him for too long, so now, he did not have enough strength to move the ckboard. Luo Jian¡¯s face was a little warm as he turned his head to look at Xing Yan.

    It seemed that Xing Yan understood the meaning of Luo Jian¡¯s look, but at the same time, it also seemed that he did not understand at all. He rushed to hold Luo Jian and pulled him into his arms. He rubbed against him left and his right, as if he were particrly interested in Luo Jian. He reached out and pinched Luo Jian¡¯s little face. Luo Jian blushed again and pushed off Xing Yan¡¯s ws.

    However, Xing Yan persevered. He picked up Luo Jian by the waist and pressed him against the ckboard. His face was close, and his lips inched closer. Luo Jian was unable to dodge, so he had to passively wee him. He hooked his arms around the other party¡¯s neck and shrank into the stalker¡¯s arms as the other party willfully ravaged him.

    ¡°Stop...... stop kissing me......¡± After being intimate for a long time, Luo Jian finally got some breathing space and turned his head to avoid Xing Yan¡¯s kisses. He looked at the good-looking face of the stalker, thought a bit, and said righteously, ¡°Help me remove the ckboard.¡±

    Xing Yan bit Luo Jian¡¯s nose and did as he was told. He took down the ckboard with one hand. The process was a little violent and the huge ckboard was broken into two with just the strength of a single hand, but Luo Jian did not care. He only paid attention to the results.

    After the entire ckboard was removed, the wall behind was exposed. It was indeed hollow. A square hole was chiselled into the wall, and in it, there were only three things¡ªa full-length mirror, a diary, and a key.

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes were first attracted to the mirror. After all, the mirror was rtivelyrge and upied arge area of the wall. The mirror was obviously reflecting the illusory chamber, but the reflection looked more like the real chamber. But the only real things in the mirror were Luo Jian and Xing Yan.

    After looking at the mirror for a long time, Luo Jian soon found something strange that was worth considering.

    Only the stalker was reflected in this mirror.

    Yes, only the stalker was reflected in the mirror! And Luo Jian, who was standing beside the stalker, disappeared in the mirror¡¯s world, just like a suddenly vanishing ghost! There was no trace of Luo Jian in the mirror. It was as if he did not exist here at all!

    Luo Jian hesitated for a moment, and his mind was in a state of panic. He went up to the mirror and pressed his hand against it, but the mirror still did not reflect his face or body. Upon realizing this, Luo Jian was terrified. He turned his head to nce at Xing Yan, who stood nearby. Xing Yan was expressionless and merely stared at him.

    ¡°Is this mirror broken? Why can¡¯t I see my face?¡± Luo Jian turned to touch the mirror again. The mirror¡¯s surface was extremely cold to the touch. Its frame had fine patterns, and the mirror was big enough that it could reflect most of the secret chamber. It was as if no detail or part of the chamber could hide from it.

    Even the stalker was clearly duplicated on the mirror. He was standing behind Luo Jian, dressed in ck, wearing a pair of tactical gloves, and holding a knife in his hands. Luo Jian did not know when the knife appeared in his hands.

    Luo Jian was startled. He immediately turned around and saw Xing Yan¡¯s whole body sticking close to him. The stalker raised the pitch-ck de in his hand and swung it in a downward motion. At that moment, Luo Jian reacted at an amazing speed and dodged sideways, and he barely avoided the stalker¡¯s de. Luo Jian retreated further and further back in fear and horror until his whole body was pasted to the surface of the mirror.

    ¡°You...... Why?¡± Why did you attack me suddenly? Luo Jian did not know why. Moments ago, this fool had embraced him tenderly. How could he raise his de against him in the next second? Luo Jian did not understand. He felt terrible, and at the same time, there was a sharp pain in his heart. In confusion, he subconsciously groped for the key and diary that were ced near the mirror, grabbed them, and stuffed the items into his pocket.

    Even though he was very afraid and confused and his thoughts were all muddled up, Luo Jian still had such a talent: even in the most dangerous situations, even if his mind was nk, even if he was controlled by extreme emotions, his self-protective instinct was still intact. If someone wanted to hurt him, he would take up his knife.

    Hence, he summoned his knife and held it horizontally in front of his chest to confront the stalker.

    Xing Yan did not speak. He just smiled at Luo Jian. He was born with a good-looking face. Even if a blood-thirsty smile was hung on his face, he was still handsome.

    Luo Jian calmed himself down for a moment. It seemed that he could clearly feel some simple emotions transmitted from Xing Yan such as¡ªexcitement?

    This dude was excited?

    But why was he excited?

    ¡°Killing...... Does it bring joy to you?¡± Luo Jian questioned with aplex look on his face, ¡°Or are you excited because I¡¯m afraid?¡±

    Xing Yan did not leave much time for Luo Jian to guess and stabbed his de forward. Luo Jian instinctively blocked his attack. The des were interlocked, and Luo Jian could clearly feel the power of the other party reverberating from their weapons. He frowned and blocked Xing Yan¡¯s next attack. Luo Jian backed away from Xing Yan and stuck to the mirror to keep his distance from the other.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t use your strength,¡± Luo Jian gasped slightly. He stared at Xing Yan inexplicably and asked, ¡°What do you really want to convey? Do you want to kill me or do you merely want to tease me? ¡°

    Unfortunately, Xing Yan could not answer him. The evil stalker staggered forward and approached Luo Jian. The two men started a chasingpetition in the secret chamber. While resisting the stalker¡¯s attacks, Luo Jian retreated and circled around the secret chamber again and again. Xing Yan seemed to intend to throw the game, so he was not in a hurry to kill Luo Jian. If Xing Yan truly wanted to kill him, he would use at least one percent of the power he had shown when he was battling Duan Li. If that was so, one was afraid that Luo Jian¡¯s dead body would already be lying on the ground.

    This battle with him felt more like the stalker was giving him guidance. As the battle dragged on, Luo Jian realized that Xing Yan¡¯s attacks appeared to be very uniform and well-trained. He was good with this kind of dagger and knew how to attack. His way of attacking was very suitable for battling in close quarters. The closer one was to the opponent, the faster the attack speed was. One would have such strong momentum and act at a speed that was incredibly difficult to react to, breaking the opponent¡¯s fighting spirit instantaneously.

    There are no redundant moves, and his moves are not fancy either. His moves aimed at the vital body parts and struck towards them simply and directly. Luo Jian both intentionally and unintentionally started to imitate and learn the fighting style of the other party. Xing Yan allowed Luo Jian to adapt to his attacks before he gradually increased his attacking speed. When Luo Jian had sessfully adapted to his actions, he would increase his attacking speed again.

    This continued until the de in Luo Jian¡¯s hand was flipped away with a single move by the stalker, and the stalker¡¯s pitch-ck de drew an arc in the air and fell to the ground shortly after.

    Luo Jian gasped, looked at his knife that had fallen to the ground, and nced at Xing Yan in front of him.

    Xing Yan seemed to be satisfied. He licked his dry lips and got closer to Luo Jian. Luo Jian was frightened by him and retreated nervously. But after their battle, Luo Jian was very weak and was easily caught by Xing Yan. Xing Yan naturally put his arms around Luo Jian¡¯s waist and bowed his head to kiss his forehead.

    The way he acted was as if he was praising Luo Jian for his brilliant performance.

    Luo Jian was a little aggrieved and toozy to struggle. He lowered his head and stayed silent. It seemed that Xing Yan intended tofort him as he rubbed against Luo Jian¡¯s cheek. Luo Jian had to admit that this was such a cute action. Especially when made by such a good-looking stalker, it felt a little like he was coquetting with him, and his disposition made him charming as well.

    After a moment of silence, Luo Jian raised his head to look at Xing Yan and said, ¡°Are you leaving?¡±

    Luo Jian could feel the emotions of the other party, indicating that they were about to part.

    Xing Yan seemed to understand Luo Jian¡¯s words and nodded. This was even more iprehensible to Luo Jian. His mission in the secret chamber was not over yet. Could stalkers enter and leave freely?

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t youe and kill me?¡± Luo Jian frowned.

    Xing Yan just smiled and inched closer to kiss Luo Jian. He seemed to like kissing Luo Jian very much. Whenever he had a chance, he would bite Luo Jian¡¯s lips. It seemed that he would never tire of doing it.

    In fact, Luo Jian did not hate his behaviour at all. Maybe a part of him even liked him. He was a little annoyed that he had been so easily captured by others and taken advantage of in all sorts of ways, so Luo Jian felt chagrin. But it was a pity that the irritation that he felt would vanish as soon as he saw Xing Yan¡¯s smile.

    The stalker seemed determined to go, but Luo Jian could not make out where he was going. The way he left was the same as the way he came. He walked to the only door in the secret chamber and reached out with a hand to open the mahogany door.

    Outside the door was pitch darkness. There was no light. There was nothing there. It appeared just like the first big bang of the universe and seemed as if it could devour everything. That kind of darkness surprised Luo Jian. He went to grasp Xing Yan¡¯s hand since he suddenly felt a little reluctant to let him go. But Luo Jian also understood that he and the stalker had no chance of being together. They were standing onpletely opposing sides. The only connection between them was hostility.

    Even so, Luo Jian was reluctant to give up. He tightened his grip on Xing Yan and said pitifully, ¡°Don¡¯t go...... alright?¡±

    Xing Yan bowed his head to kiss Luo Jian¡¯s lips and gave him a hug. He picked up Luo Jian¡¯s knife from somewhere and ced it in Luo Jian¡¯s palm. Before Luo Jian could react, he quickly turned around and walked into the darkness outside of the door. His figure immediately disappeared in the darkness. Then, the door creaked and shut gently.

    The door closed slowly, and Luo Jian hesitated. He could follow the stalker in, but he was not sure what was behind the door or whether the darkness could let him leave the secret chamber. All these were questions Luo Jian did not have the answers to.

    Maybe that darkness was a path that only stalkers can walk on. One feared that once newbies like Luo Jian stepped into it, they would never be able toe out again.

    Luo Jian sighed and lowered his head to look at the knife that the stalker had given him. With a mere look, Luo Jian was given a shock. His knife and the stalker¡¯s knife were exactly the same. However, Luo Jian was, after all, more familiar with his own knife, so he could easily distinguish between his own weapon and the stalker¡¯s weapon. But this knife in his hand......

    ¡°It¡¯s not my knife...¡± Luo Jian felt the ck de and wondered if Xing Yan had mistaken his de as his own or if he had deliberately given his knife to Luo Jian and taken his knife away.

    ¡°But can I use other people¡¯s weapons?¡± Luo Jian frowned. A weapon supposedly only belonged to its owner. If somebody other than the owner possessed it, they would not be able to use it. As Luo Jian thought about it, he subconsciously swung the knife. However, he was surprised to find that the de in his hands became hotter and hotter. It felt exactly the same when his weapon started to demonize.

    ¡°It can be used...¡± Luo Jian mumbled in astonishment, and then he swung it again. The weapon in his hand disappeared. Luo Jian could not only use it, but he could also flexibly and freely ce it within his body. He also found that this knife carried an aura that made him feel extremely at ease.

 Chapter 46 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (V)

    <h4>Chapter 46 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (V)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    <strong>Trigger Warning: Suicidal Thoughts, Implied Sexual Assault/Dub-con </strong>

    Without the stalker in the chamber, the surroundings immediately became empty and quiet. It was so quiet that Luo Jian felt ufortable.

    Now, he had all the props in his hands¡ªa small mirror, held together with transparent glue, that connected reality and illusion; a big mirror that didn¡¯t reflect him; a diary; an old Nokia cellphone that disyed a frozen time; and two keys.

    The second key appearedpletely identical to the one he had found in the real chamber. It seemed that Luo Jian guessed correctly: there were not only two chambers but also two doors and two keys. Luo Jian put the key found in the real secret chamber in his left pocket and the key from the mirrored chamber in his right pocket.

    He did not use a key to open the door in a rush. After the stalker left, he had tried opening the door again. It had clearly been easy for Xing Yan to push the mahogany door open, but even when he used all of his strength, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t open the door, which made him realize that only the stalker coulde and go freely in the secret chamber. On the other hand, if he wanted to leave the chamber, he might have to pay a price.

    Now, Luo Jian had to deal with the problems he was facing. He needed to find the 35<sup>th</sup> student, who had disappeared.

    The printed note indicated that as long as he could find the disappeared student, the road to escape from this secret chamber would beid out in front of him. However, the two secret rooms were only so big. Everything could be seen from the podium, and there was clearly no ce to hide.

    Luo Jian immediately went to look through the diary. Unfortunately, it seemed that because he was in the illusory secret chamber, even the words in the diary are written in reverse. After studying it for a long time, Luo Jian found that it was an exchange diary.

    It was the kind of exchange diary shared by lovers or very close friends. One person wrote in it one day, and the other person would write in it the next day. The concept of the exchange diary seemed to be very popr among students during a certain period of time. Unfortunately, students would not be dedicated and continue to exchange their diaries. Many of them only wrote one or two times before giving up and leaving them in a corner.

    However, the diary found by Luo Jian was a little different because the diary could be regarded aspleted¡ªat least one of the two people who had exchanged the diary hadpleted the whole process perfectly.

    The first page of the diary was a white piece of paper. On it, two words, ¡°exchange diary,¡± were written childishly in red pen. Of course, all the words were written in reverse. Luo Jian twisted his neck and looked at it for a long time before he could smoothly interpret it.

    Under the two big words of ¡°exchange diary,¡± two people¡¯s names were written in small, cursive handwriting, but only one person¡¯s name waspletely and clearly written out. The other name was repeatedly covered and scratched with ck pen, and even the shape of the original handwriting was almost impossible to infer.

    The clearly-written name was a girl¡¯s name, Xiao YaXuan. The name sounded familiar. After deliberating for a long time, Luo Jian realized that wasn¡¯t Xiao YaXuan the woman who was raped to death? He had seen her name on the female corpse¡¯s textbook, but since there were more than 30 people in the ss, Luo Jian did not remember all of them. Therefore, he could only try to vaguely remember the names of the key figures.

    As he thought of this fact, Luo Jian understood that the exchange diary was probably written by the female corpse and another person before her death, but the name of the other person was strictly scratched out. All kinds of thoughts circled around Luo Jian¡¯s mind. He guessed that the crossed-out name belonged to the 35th student who had disappeared, the real owner of the Nokia cellphone in Luo Jian¡¯s pocket.

    As Luo Jian conjectured this point, he was naturally excited to start studying the diary, but the content of the diary made him a little disappointed.

    The content of the first page in the opening entry was obviously written by the girl, the poor female corpse Xiao YaXuan, whose handwriting was very beautiful. This was what she wrote:

    [January 6, sunny and cloudless. I¡¯m very happy. Today is the first day that we are exchanging diaries. I clearly have a lot that I want to say to you, but I can¡¯t write anything right now. How strange. We have known each other for so long. When did you exactly appear in my world?

    Well, I don¡¯t know what I should write in this diary, but I¡¯m really excited to write an exchange diary with you. Because of this, I don¡¯t even feel bothered by those annoying girls who came to find trouble with me.]

    [From the Ya who loves you. I look forward to seeing your diary entry tomorrow.]

    Xiao YaXuan¡¯s diary entry was very short but very neat. It could be seen from her handwriting that she was a serious girl. In the first entry, she simply expressed her happy mood and also revealed the fact that there were girls in the ss who often found trouble with her.

    After a cursory scan of the first diary entry, Luo Jian found that reading these reversed words was an extremelyborious task. He had to work diligently to identify each word. After reading it, he could not wait as he flipped to the second page. However, what entered his view was a mess of lines that left him very disappointed. The scribbled, disordered, and irregr lines seemed to be drawn on the paper casually. The person had drawn something strange that nobody could interpret. Even when Luo Jian was looking at it upside down, he could not figure out what was drawn.

    After gazing at the lines for a long time, Luo Jian finally sighed and turned to the third page.

    [January 8, light rain. I can¡¯t understand the diary entry you wrote yesterday, but it doesn¡¯t matter. I know you¡¯re azy person. You are only awake for 2 out of the 24 hours in a day. It shocks me that you can sleep so long.

    I didn¡¯t have a good time today. The homeroom teacher kept staring at me again. Perhaps after school, he will find various reasons to ask me to go to his office. I don¡¯t like him or his office, but it seems that there is no way out. In life, you can¡¯t always act as you like.]

    [I look forward to your diary entry tomorrow. From the Ya who loves you.]

    This diary entry seemed to imply something. Luo Jian seemed to both understand and not understand what was written. If someone could only be awake 2 out of 24 hours, wasn¡¯t it considered abnormal from the perspective of ordinary people? Apart from this, Luo Jian saw that the homeroom teacher was mentioned in the diary entry. He thought that the homeroom teacher mentioned in the diary was probably the corpse of the teacher that was hanging on the podium of the secret chamber. Only such a homeroom teacher would enjoy such high-level treatment.

    As he pondered, he turned to the fourth page. This time, he was even more disappointed.

    The fourth page was nk, and nothing was written on it.

    Thus, Luo Jian could only continue to turn to page five, six, seven, eight...... Then, Luo Jian discovered that almost the whole diary was written by the girl while the other diary writer either drew some inexplicable lines or left itpletely nk. This made Luo Jian ufortable.

    But this female corpse...... it seemed that Xiao YaXuan did not care about that at all. She also tried to find various excuses to persuade herself as to why the other party did not write the diary entries properly. For example, she said that the other party was veryzy, and they were only awake for two hours a day and spent the rest of the time sleeping. When the other party was awake, there were endless tasks that they had to aplish. Other bizarre reasons were also mentioned, like the other party being a night owl, etc, etc.

    In short, Luo Jian was rather speechless as to what she was doing.

    The speechless Luo Jian felt the strangeness of the whole situation. He felt that the person who wrote the exchange diary with Xiao YaXuan was not the 35<sup>th</sup> person who had disappeared, but it seemed that the other party clearly was as well. If he were, he would also be a student of the same ss. If the person agreed to write the exchange diary, they should be a close friend. But in Xiao YaXuan¡¯s entries, she did not write about the close friend or any interactions between them.

    For example, he expected that they would usually go to dinner together, read books, and do homework together, and she would describe: <i>where I went with you today and what I did</i>. However, Xiao YaXuan didn¡¯t mention such words and phrases. From beginning to end, she only mentioned what happened in her life. This gave Luo Jian the strange feeling that Xiao YaXuan and the person who wrote the exchange diary with her were almost like people who had belonged to two different worlds.

    Apart from this diary, there was no other way ofmunicating with the other party.

    Of course, from Xiao YaXuan¡¯s diary, Luo Jian found that she was a very quiet girl. She was introverted and poor atmunicating with others. This seemed to cause a rift between her and the other girls in her ss, leading to her being alienated and isted by others. But her academic performance was very good. Luo Jian did not know much about her family background because she only used a few words to describe it. It seemed that her mother died early, her father was a gambling addict, and her grandfather was seriously ill. Her family situation was not good.

    The diary was very thick, and Luo Jian read through the entries one by one carefully. Anyway, time did not flow in the illusory secret chamber, so he had a lot of time to study the diary. After he read half of the whole book, he realized that almost all the entries were of Xiao YaXuan talking to herself about her everyday trivial happenings. At the beginning, the other diary writer would scribble a few rough lines, but towards the end, their entries are all nk.

    Luo Jian looked at the poor little girl writing to herself patiently, but when he was half-way through, things seemed to have changed. In the diary, the girl repeatedly mentioned her father¡¯s car ident, her grandpa¡¯s serious illness and how she worried about him, and the frequent advances of the homeroom teacher. Before, he just bought all kinds of clothes and gifts for her, but now he even took the initiative to transfer some money to her.

    From this point onward, Luo Jian could easily see the ups and downs of the girl¡¯s mood. Her originally beautiful little words have be impetuous. The sentences she wrote were filled with desperation. She frequently started to write sentences like ¡°I feel too tired to carry on living¡± or ¡°I want to go somewhere far away and nevere back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid she wants to die,¡± Luo Jian sighed. She was a girl of about 17 years old and had not gone to university. Shecked the protection of her parents and the apaniment of friends, and her ssmates isted her while a teacher who was old enough to be her father often harassed her sexually. Most importantly, she carried the heavy burden of her family, so at such a sentimental age, it was probably normal to think of wanting to die.

    Luo Jian felt that it was a pity and continued to flip through the diary. The speed at which he turned the diary¡¯s pages became faster. Although the words were written in reverse, he quickly adapted after reading it for a while. When he reached the second half of the diary, he found that the main event wasing.

    [February 26, rain. What should I do? I did something wrong. Those girls came to find trouble with me again. They called me a bitch. I said I wasn¡¯t. They pped me in the face, and one of my ears was beaten until deaf. It felt very painful at that time, so I pushed the girl who hit me hard. She fell down the stairs. But I didn¡¯t mean to do it. I don¡¯t think I used that much strength, so how did she fall down?]

    [The people in the ss looked at me with strange expressions. The homeroom teacher took me into his office again, but it was so terrifying. He put his hands under my clothes. I can¡¯t stand it. Someone help me, please!]

    Luo Jian frowned after reading this entry. He immediately turned to the next page. This time, unexpectedly, the other party who was writing in the diary had finally given a response for the first time. A few scrawled and crooked words were written:

    [Nobody can save you except yourself.]

    ¡°F*ck his sister!¡± After reading this part, Luo Jian felt a little agitated. He wished that he could drop the diary on the ground and trample on it hard. But after grinding his teeth, Luo Jian gave up this kind of indignant behavior. He was affected emotionally by the diary entry. No matter whether the happenings in the secret chamber were real or fake, whether the oue was good or bad, Luo Jian was not able to interfere.

    Luo Jian could only continue to the next page and keep on reading the diary:

    [February 28, rain. That day, the girl went to the hospital because her leg broke. She asked me to pay for her medical expenses, but I have no money. Finally, the homeroom teacher paid for me, andter he took me to the hotel. I don¡¯t think I can manage to dodge it this time.]

    [Father and grandpa are both hospitalized. There is no money at home. Yes, you are right. No one can save me except for myself. I need to learn to be more mature. It¡¯s just my body. I just need to spend a few nights with others. As long as I have money, I can survive.]

    [But I still feel sad, sad, sad, sad...... Do you think I will die?]

    After reading this entry, Luo Jian felt mentally perturbed. He was in a strange and irascible mood. He quickly turned to the next page. This time the other person had a response again. A few words were scrawled:

    [You will die]

    ¡°Your mother! Can¡¯t you even bother to write with punctuation?!¡± Luo Jian finally could not help but throw the diary out of his hand! Reading about how this tragic history unfolded was simply draining away his life! After being depressed for a long moment, Luo Jian had to go pick up the diary again and continue reading it!

    T/N: Thank you so much for the Ko-Fi support, Anon, Anon and Kiya. The bonus EIC Ko-Fi goals chapters will be uploaded on Mon, Weds and Fri next week. Please look forward to 3 extra chapters :3!

    **Please note: I will be closing EIC Ko-Fi goals now to stockpile some chapters, and goals would be closed from now till 17 Jun 2020. I.e. If anyone supports a Ko-Fi when ko-fi goals are not open, it would not count towards an extra chapter!

 Chapter 47 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 47 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (VI)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    [March 2, rain. My ssmates are looking at me more and more strangely. They often resort to petty little tricks such as throwing away my textbooks and homework, taking away my stool, and writing strange words on my desk. I usually choose to ignore them because if I take their words seriously, I¡¯ll only hurt myself.]

    [But there¡¯s a guy who goes too far. He scolded me for being cheap and touched my leg with his hand. I gave him a p. Unexpectedly, these boys are socking in quality. He kicked me with his feet. He not only kicked me by himself but also encouraged other boys to kick me too. It hurt so much that I almost fainted. Finally, the homeroom teacher arrived. Oh, this old man finally acted like a man for once. Heshed every one of those disgusting boys with his teacher¡¯s pointer.]

    [He also carried me into the hospital. He gave me a ring in the hospital and asked me to wear it on my left hand. I think I¡¯m indifferent to it. I¡¯ll just wear it.]

    [My love, when will I die?]

    The other person did not respond after Xiao YaXuan¡¯s diary entry on this date. Luo Jian looked at the following contents. Almost all the entries were about the ssmates bullying her and how the means of bullying varied. They not only beat and scolded her, but they also locked her in enclosed ssrooms or curriculum material rooms and usually kept her locked up for one night or even one to two days.

    It could be seen from this girl¡¯s writing that one by one, her ssmates started to behave abnormally or to act like lunatics who seemed to take pleasure in bullying her, and their means to do so were extremely despicable. After going through the whole diary, Luo Jian reached thest entry. He saw that Xiao YaXuan penned thest diary entry of her life with shaky and twisting writing.

    [April 4, rainstorm. I think they are all crazy, or maybe I am also bing crazy and following their footsteps. I don¡¯t know why I have the terrible feeling that maybe this will be thest time I write a diary entry. I think my life is probably notplete. Itcks a lot of important things, but I¡¯ve already run out of chances to fill it up.]

    [I know I¡¯ve been deceiving myself. You¡¯re no longer in this world, but I¡¯ve been pretending that you¡¯re still there, pretending that you¡¯re still sitting in that empty seat, pretending that the reason you won¡¯t reach out a helping hand to me is because you¡¯re sleeping. I¡¯ve been using the notes you¡¯d written in your textbook to imitate your handwriting and buying two mobile phones to send messages to each other to simte everything we used to do. I thought that you had always remained there and that you didn¡¯t leave, but in fact, I know very well that you¡¯ve long been gone.]

    [How pitiful. I¡¯m so desperate just because I used to be happy.]

    [So this is goodbye.]

    As the diary entry ended here, the remaining pages that Luo Jian flipped through were nk. Luo Jian hesitated for a moment. Now his thoughts were nk. Thest diary entry revealed the most important information. It was so important that Luo Jian was scared out of his wits immediately.

    That is to say that the 35th student&#k2026;&#k2026; the person does not exist!

    No, maybe the student once existed and maybe there were originally 35 students in this ss, but one of them seemed to have met with an ident or something of the like. In other words, he died and left! His departure not only made his family sad but also made his girlfriend, Xiao YaXuan, miserable. So Xiao YaXuan wrote this diary to contain her grief and pretended that her lover was still there.

    It was not known if this student¡¯s death was the beginning of everything, but it obviously made Xiao YaXuan and her whole ss fall into a strange panic-stricken mood, which led to various conflicts. Atst, the misunderstandings between them became more severe, so all kinds of things happenedter.

    But in fact, all this was not the main point. The main point was...... there is no 35th student at all!

    Luo Jian held his forehead and sat on the ground with his back against the wall. He could not hold the diary in his hand anymore. It fell to the cold concrete floor with a ttering sound. Many thoughts circled through his mind, and he did not understand what was going on.

    Since there was no 35th student, how on earth could Luo Jian find the 35th person who disappeared? If they could not be found, how could Luo Jian identify the real and illusory secret chambers and doors?

    Which door was the real exit?

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Luo Jian shook his head and refuted his idea. He calmed himself and began to analyze in aposed manner: ¡°The 35th student must exist. Otherwise, the secret chamber would not explicitly ask me to find the person in the hint. So even if the diary says that the person was actually imaginary, I have to believe that the person exists. ¡±

    ¡°Since the person exists, I will be able to find him sooner orter.¡± Luo Jian tapped his fingers and began to think: ¡°There are still many questionable areas. I need to organize my thoughts. First of all, since Xiao YaXuan pretended that her boyfriend was still there in her exchange diary, I¡¯m afraid that the scrawls and the scratches, along with the one or two sentence replies, were all her work. She was imitating the handwriting of the dead person.¡±

    ¡°Secondly, her diary basically summarizes the whole process of what happened. On the surface, the girl was probably raped in turns by many people, and the cause of the teacher¡¯s death was also due to torture. He was subsequently hung up on the ceiling. The causes of death of these two people were the work of the remaining 33 students in the ss. However, why did the remaining 33 students die? And they all died strangely with no scars on their bodies, and almost all of them were sitting in their seats¡ªor, of course, someone might have ced them back into their seats after they died.¡±

    Who killed the rest of the students in the ss? Who was the real murderer? Luo Jian was afraid that finding the murderer was the problem he needed to face this time. As Luo Jian thought about it, he sighed again. He reached out and picked up the diary that had fallen on the ground. Then, unexpectedly, a piece of paper fell out, possibly from an inner pocket of the diary.

    Luo Jian picked up the note. This note was not printed with purple patterns like the papersmonly used in the secret chamber but seemed to be a corner torn from an exercise book. Luo Jian was very familiar with the contents:

    [One side is one side, one side for one side, a left hand exchanged for a right hand, your face is my face.]

    Of course, the words on this note were also reversed. Also, the handwriting was very familiar. After looking at it for a long time, Luo Jian realized that it was Xiao YaXuan¡¯s imitation of her boyfriend¡¯s handwriting...... or the handwriting of the 35th person who had disappeared.

    After reading the note repeatedly, Luo Jian did note to any new revtions. He turned to look at therge mirror ced in the hollowed-out wall, which still reflected the view of the whole secret chamber clearly, but not his face.

    Luo Jian thought for a moment and took out from his pocket the small mirror, which had been broken into pieces and pieced back together with transparent glue. The small mirror reflected Luo Jian¡¯s face, but because the mirror itself was broken, the reflection of Luo Jian¡¯s face was also broken.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Luo Jian said: ¡°Since the ckboard in the illusory chamber can be removed, so can the ckboard in the real chamber.¡±

    As his thoughts shifted to that, Luo Jian read the ¡®transmission phrase¡¯ once again. But nothing happened. He had momentarily forgotten that the transmission phrases had to be read in reverse, so he read it again, but backwards. Then, his vision blurred. The whole scenery of the secret chamber flipped backwards, and the smell of corpses rushed at him. He looked at the time on the cellphone: 14:24.

    Time had started to flow again. There were about 40 minutes left.

    Luo Jian did not dare to dy any longer. He immediately ran to the ckboard at the back of the ssroom and pushed it hard with his hands. It was loose and, as expected, could be removed. Luo Jian¡¯s strength had recovered a lot, and he kicked the whole ckboard down somewhat violently, imitating the way the stalker had removed the other ckboard.

    Behind the ckboard was a simrly hollowed-out wall, and in the wall, there was a big mirror, along with a diary. It was exactly the same as the diary he found previously, but the words were written in the correct manner. As for the mirror, Luo Jian stood in front of it and was horrified when he found that his face was not reflected in the mirror.

    The reflection of the big mirror showed the chamber filled with still corpses. The world reflected in the mirror did not have any living persons or Luo Jian.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t I see my face?¡± Luo Jian did not understand. The little mirror in his hand could clearly reflect his face. What was wrong with the mirror, or did the problem lie with Luo Jian himself?

    ¡°That¡¯s right, it should be that way.¡± Looking at the mirror, Luo Jian seemed to realize something at this moment, and he murmured: ¡°I originally didn¡¯t exist in this secret chamber, and since I don¡¯t exist, the mirror won¡¯t reflect me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t exist...¡± Luo Jian continued to murmur, ¡°I don¡¯t exist...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t exist...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t exist!¡±

    Luo Jian retreated a step backwards. He still could not see his reflection in the mirror, but Luo Jian seemed to realize something terrible. For a while, he was deathly pale. He stepped backwards several times until he identally stepped onto the fragments of one of the corpses on the ground. It made a cracking sound, which helped slightly snap him out of his reverie.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I don¡¯t exist in this secret chamber, just like the 35th person who disappeared...... Perhaps, this damned secret chamber has been set in this way since the beginning. I am the 35th student! ¡±

    Luo Jian thought of many details that he had ignored. For example, when he first woke up in the secret chamber, he was sitting on the empty seat of the missing student! Also, every single word and phrase of the poem on the ckboard was written clearly: one side is one side, one side for one side, a left hand exchanged for a right hand, your face is my face. The meaning behind the poem was obviously ¡®substitution¡¯ and ¡®interchanging¡¯!

    T/N: There would be a bonus EIC ko-fi goals chapter release tomorrow, weds and fri, please look forward to it! I tried to keep Xiao YaXuan¡¯s writing style as I trante, so there might be a difference in style between the main text.

    Hehe, have most of you here have an idea of how Luo Jian would escape from this secret chamber?

 Chapter 48 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moonâ€™s Reflection In The Lake (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 48 - Escaping From Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake (VII)</h4>

    <i>Thank you Anon and Kiya for the Ko-Fis¡ªBonus chapter (1/3)</i>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    If I am the 35th student, how can I escape from here?

    Luo Jian swept his eyes around the chamber and suddenly felt sadness surge up from his heart. Clearly, he¡¯d gathered the keys and grasped the final victory, but he still did not know how to get out of the secret chamber. The cold mahogany door seemed to beughing at his ignorance. Luo Jian was a little flustered. He went to the front door of the ssroom and touched the keys in his two pockets.

    In his left hand was the key to the real secret chamber. In his right hand was the key to the illusory secret chamber.

    Which key would match the door in front of him?

    Or was there something he did not take into ount or any puzzle he did not solve? Luo Jian turned his head and nced at the whole secret chamber. That¡¯s right! Who killed all the students in the ssroom?

    Luo Jian had ced the teacher¡¯s body on the podium. He moved it and ced it beside the female corpse. These two bodies were the only intact bodies in the whole ssroom. The rest were chopped into pieces by Luo Jian. Luo Jian looked at these two bodies for a long time and sighed sadly.

    Luo Jian thought for a long moment, but he could not make out anything. He could only return to the big mirror and picked up the diary. It was not much different from the other diary he had found. It appeared the same except for the words in it, which were written in the correct manner. Luo Jian turned to the back of the diary, to thest entry. The shaky handwriting and words were filled with despair. Luo Jian¡¯s eyes rested on thest sentence:

    [So this is goodbye.]

    Luo Jian unconsciously repeated this sentence, and suddenly there was a thought that appeared in his mind, just like a sh of inspiration, which allowed him to understand something at that moment. Luo Jian flipped through the diary again. He had read most of the diary¡¯s contents. From beginning to end, the girl was narrating her personal life and the whole unfolding of the tragic history. She sometimes talked to her imaginary boyfriend, but she never mentioned the boyfriend¡¯s name.

    But it seemed that it was not quite right. Since it was a person she loved deeply, how can she not even write their name at least once? Since they were a couple, there should have been a certain nickname that they used to call each other or mentions of things like love keepsakes they had exchanged, beautiful memories, etc. In such a thick diary, there should be at least one or two sentences that mention these things! But...... But Xiao YaXuan did not write anything like this! She did not even mention a word of it!

    ¡°It¡¯s not quite right.¡± Luo Jian looked through the diary over and over again. His eyebrows wrinkled. Thest diary entry had implied that Xiao YaXuan was just pretending that her boyfriend was still alive. But when he read through the whole diary, what herst sentence implied was inconsistent with the contents of the rest of the diary. Knowing this, Luo Jian felt that Xiao YaXuan was not writing an exchange diary with an ¡®imaginary boyfriend¡¯!

    Xiao YaXuan had once pretended that her boyfriend was still alive, thought that there was still someone sitting in the vacant seat, used two cellphones to send text messages to each other, and imitated her boyfriend¡¯s handwriting. However, Luo Jian felt that Xiao YaXuan was not writing an exchange diary with her ¡®boyfriend¡¯. She was writing with another person, a person who came from her fantasies.

    ¡°Dual personalities?¡± He murmured and stood up with the diary in his hand. He moved to stand in front of the big mirror.

    ¡°The 35th person does exist,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°It¡¯s just that this person doesn¡¯t exist in the real world. In a way, he is like me. He does not exist in this world. Nobody can see him. He can¡¯t be seen in the mirror. He is Xiao YaXuan¡¯s second personality, or rather...... he is more like a ghostly existence, a will, or they may even be a feeling of resentment.

    ¡°Xiao YaXuan ced this resentment in the mirror¡¯s world, which is an imaginary world, and thus formed this double-sided secret chamber.¡± Luo Jian thought through this issue very seriously. He kneaded his temples subconsciously. He came up with a very bold idea that honestly shocked him to his core.

    ¡°Let¡¯s suppose that...... and assume...... when I was sent into the secret chamber, I was set as the ¡®35th person,¡¯ so I am the ¡®existence¡¯ formed by Xiao YaXuan¡¯s resentment!

    Luo Jian spoke to himself and exined his hypothesis step by step. But the more he imagined it, the more cold sweat trickled down his body.

    ¡°Since I am the one who doesn¡¯t exist, the ce where I was supposed to appear in the beginning is definitely not the real secret chamber! Since ¡®I¡¯ am an illusion, ¡®I¡¯ can only live in the mirror. ¡®I¡¯ am a mirror being who can only live in the mirror, so from the beginning when I woke up sitting in that empty seat, I did not exist in the so-called ¡®real secret chamber.¡¯

    ¡°That is to say...¡± Luo Jian raised his head and looked around again. There were corpses, pools of blood, decaying corpses, desks, and chairs lying all around him. Luo Jian had always thought that this was the real secret chamber, but he was wrong. ¡°Here is the actual illusory secret chamber, and the other secret chamber that I enter through the mirror is the real secret chamber!

    ¡°The reason why all the things I see here are ced in the ¡®correct¡¯ manner and the words were also written in the ¡®correct¡¯ way is because, like the mirror, my whole body is a flipped reflection. I would naturally deem what I can see in the mirror as normal, but what I see in the real secret chamber should be reversed!

    ¡°I understand now.¡± Luo Jian took out his cellphone, and the time on the cellphone continued to flow. Luo Jian understood the matter this way: ¡°I understand that the time in the secret chamber does not flow because time stops flowing in all secret chambers, and the three-hour time period is there simply as a concept. It is meant to tell me when the secret chamber will disappear. And when it disappears, I will die.

    ¡°When I ¡®exist,¡¯ the so-called ¡®time¡¯ will flow.¡± Luo Jian smiled hideously. ¡°Only when I am in the illusory chamber, can I be regarded as ¡®existing.¡¯ Therefore, for me, the illusory chamber is the real chamber.

    ¡°Then how can I judge which door is the real exit?¡±

    Luo Jian staggered to the pile of corpses. He finally realized that the students in this group were killed by someone, and that person was Luo Jian. Indeed, Luo Jian had picked up his knife and chopped them all into pieces. Therefore, the killer is Luo Jian.

    ¡°They are f*cking setting me up.¡± Luo Jian¡¯s face turned ashen. He was not sure if he had killed a group of living people or if they had already been dead. But after all, this was the world in the mirror, so these people could not be considered alive.

    Luo Jian still did not know which door was the correct door and which key was the right key to use. Now he felt a little confused. He found a chair and sat down to try to clear his mind. But at this moment, the cellphone in his pocket suddenly rang.

    The sudden ringing startled Luo Jian. It sounded especially frightening because he was in an empty ssroom. Luo Jian hurriedly took out the cellphone. It was actually not a text message but a call!

    There was no phone number provided. Luo Jian¡¯s hands shook. He hesitated for a second, carefully pressed the answer key, and then ced it to his ear.

    When the call connected, Luo Jian heard some noises. It seemed that there were many people arguing and fighting. There was also a very heavy breathing sound, apanied by choking, which sounded repeatedly in his ear. Luo Jian was frightened by these strange sounds, and they made him shiver incessantly. He wanted to ask who was calling him, but someone started to talk on the other end.

    ¡°Help...... Please help me....... ¡±

    It was a female¡¯s voice. It sounded weak and in pain as it reverberated in Luo Jian¡¯s ear.

    Luo Jian¡¯s face was white, and he could not speak for a moment. He could only remain silent.

    There was a lot of noise on the other end of the call as if someone was arguing. There were many people arguing. Luo Jian could only hear some words and phrases such as ¡°Are you crazy to do such a thing?,¡± ¡°She¡¯s dying,¡± ¡°Quick, stop it!,¡± etc. The other people were screaming and shrieking, and they seemed like they had started fighting; just by listening to the sounds, Luo Jian was able to imagine the tragic scene unfolding.

    At this time, the female voice spoke again, with a voice that sounded like when she was dying. She murmured: ¡°I forgot..... You can¡¯t help me..... But please...... Please shatter it...... Please shatter it...¡±

    When the female voice spoke to this point, the whole call ended abruptly. Luo Jian felt lifeless for such a long time before removing the cellphone from the side of his ear.

    Shatter......? What should he shatter? Luo Jian thought as he raised his head to look at the huge mirror in the secret chamber. When he walked in front of the mirror, it did not reflect him. No matter in the real chamber or the illusory chamber, the mirrors could not reflect him. But if he shattered the mirror, could he escape from here?

    Furthermore, which mirror should he shatter?

    No, for Xiao YaXuan, the mirror she wanted to shatter should be the one in the real secret chamber.

    Luo Jian thought for a while, took out the transmission mirror, and read the transmission phrases again. His vision blurred, and he was suddenly transported to the secret chamber where everything was ced inplete reverse. The time on his cellphone stopped at 14:30. He had half an hour left.

    And since he now knew that the reversed secret chamber was real, the secret chamber that had everything ced in the correct manner must be illusory.

    Luo Jian went to the mirror and knocked on it with his hand, but there was no sound. He took a deep breath and drew out the knife, which the stalker had given him. He stabbed it hard at the mirror, and the mirror immediately split into pieces. Luo Jian subsequently pulled out the knife, and the mirror shattered with a crash.

    But what Luo Jian did not expect was that there was something behind the mirror. It was a piece of printed paper with purple patterns and was nailed to the wall behind the mirror.

    Luo Jian immediately pulled down the note and looked at it carefully. The note was written with a beautiful ink pen. It wrote:

    [Dear Mr. Luo Jian:]

    [You do not have much time remaining, and you may or may not truly understand the meaning of reality and illusion. However, you should know that sometimes, even if something is fake, as time passes, the value of it will rise, and it will also be something real.]

    [A lock can have many keys, but a key can only open one lock.]

    [With that, all the hints are provided. Good luck.]

    ¡°A lock can have many keys, but a key can only open one lock! Hahaha! I¡¯m such a f*cking fool!¡± Luo Jian smiled bitterly. He rubbed his temples hard and sneered at himself, ¡°I¡¯m really f*cking stupid. It¡¯s such a simple concept, but I only understood it now! I don¡¯t have to think about which is the real door!

    ¡°Regardless of whether I¡¯m in a real or illusory chamber, the key is exactly the same as the other. Is there any reason why the door can¡¯t be opened? It¡¯s just that one door is in reality, and one door is in the illusory world. Since I want to go back to the real world, I naturally need to open the real door. As for which key to use, is it still not clear now? The key I found here can only open the door here!¡±

    In his left hand was the key to the real secret chamber. In his right hand was the key to the illusory secret chamber...... No, it should be reversed. The left hand held the key to the illusory chamber, and the right hand held the key to the real chamber!

    Luo Jian naturally took out the key in his right pocket, and without any hesitation, he directly inserted it into the keyhole on the door. Then, with a click, the door unlocked.

    Luo Jian then grasped the door handle and slowly turned it, but he could not help but stop moving. There was cold sweat on his back. He hesitated again at this moment. Perhaps he was wrong? What if he made a mistake? What if everything waspletely different from what he thought, and he had opened the wrong door?

    The secret chamber never abided bymon sense and never followedmonly epted principles. If Luo Jian opened the wrong door here, he may end up in a strange ce, such as the endless darkness behind the door. He may bepletely swallowed by the darkness or left to drift in it forever.

    Should I give up and return to check through what I can again?

    Luo Jian let go of the doorknob, left the key in the keyhole, and allowed the door to remain closed. He took a step back. He felt that he should go to the other secret chamber again. There must be something else he missed. Now, he was standing at a crossroads. If he made a wrong choice here, Luo Jian would not be given another chance.

    Luo Jian took a step back again, but he shook his head. He held the door handle again. ¡°I can¡¯t retreat. This secret chamber is testing my resolution, so when standing at a crossroads, I must be decisive.¡±

    I must be decisive!

    Luo Jian clenched his teeth and opened the door.

    T/N: I love reading the conjectures you guys have. As for XY¡¯s role in this arc......Kitty and I had a conversation about it. Here¡¯s an excerpt that I find particrly hrious:

    <i>Kitty: he¡¯s just there to check on his wife lmao</i>

    <i>Kitty: But XY just drops in for some affection and leaves</i>

    <i>Fleur: he¡¯s like good luck im just here to do the deed</i>

    orz Like many of you guys here, I love reading unlimited flow stories but unfortunately... If I were to be in them, I¡¯ll probably be like the first cannon fodder to die. *sobs*

    Anyway, this chapter is thest chapter of this arc!!

 Chapter 49 - Return Home

    <h4>Chapter 49 - Return Home</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    <i>Thank you, Kiya for the Ko-Fis¡ªBonus chapter (2/3)</i>

    ¡°Hey, brother, why are you back so soon?¡± Ying was still sitting in the same ce, dazedly looking at a close-by corpse of a monster, which he could not identify. Momentarily, he felt the space behind him waver. Looking back, he saw Xing Yan breaking open the space¡¯s door anding in.

    The sky of the Crimson Asura Realm still remained the same shade of blood-red. The fighting and mourning here never stopped. Day by day, the tragic process repeated, regardless of whether you were dead or alive, whether you were sad or happy. If you came in here, you would never leave.

    Ying himself could not remember how long he had stayed in this space. He had long lost the concept of time. He had also forgotten the appearance of the real world. He had forgotten his rtives, friends, and lovers. He had once struggled in order to leave. Now, he could onlyment and gaze at the skies depressingly since he had chosen to give up.

    ¡°The secret chamber gave me an urgent task, so I came back ahead of time.¡± Xing Yan went to Ying¡¯s side and looked down at the dagger in his hand. The de became very flexible in his hands, and he swung beautifully in an arc. Noticing Xing Yan¡¯s action, Ying suddenly frowned and said, ¡°This is not your knife.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is not.¡± It seemed that Xing Yan was a little fascinated as he touched the de. The ck body of the knife was very beautiful. Under the bright red sky of the Crimson Asura Realm, a bloody light reflected off it. Evil, yet ever so stunning.

    ¡°Although it looks simr to your knife, this is not your original weapon. Xing Yan, have you lost your weapon?¡±

    ¡°No, I just gave it away.¡±

    At once, Ying was a little surprised. He raised his unkempt head and nced at Xing Yan: ¡°Gave it away? You can give your weapons to someone else? ¡±

    ¡°Of course you can.¡±

    ¡°How is it possible? How can you give your weapons to someone else?¡± Ying did not understand. It was normal that he does not understand. This was a rule of the secret chamber: Personal weapons were unique. Regardless of how close two people were to each other or how blood rtions bound them such that their lives were connected as one, weapons could not be shared.

    However, Xing Yan did not answer Ying¡¯s question. He thought for a long time and stared at the de in his hand. He suddenly smiled and said something difficult to understand: ¡°Of course I can¡¯t use other people¡¯s weapons.¡±

    Ying did not understand what he had said very well and did not bother to get entangled in this issue. Whomever Xing Yan wanted to give the weapon to was his own business, so he asked Xing Yan, ¡°What task has the secret chamber given you?¡±

    ¡°The oracle has appeared, and the secret chamber told me to extinguish his life.¡± Xing Yan seemed to sneer. He put the knife away, turned his head to look at Ying, and continued: ¡°By the way, is what I ced by your side still here?¡±

    ¡°Why? You want me to return it? ¡± Ying seemed to be confused and said, ¡°But this thing is useless to you now.¡±

    ¡°I just want to know if it¡¯s still there,¡± Xing Yan replied.

    ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡± Ying shook his head. ¡°Since it was broken so thoroughly, it quickly dissipated. The soul is such an ethereal thing that I don¡¯t know where it would have floated to.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s terrible.¡±

    ¡°Why would you think about this suddenly?¡±

    ¡°No reason, but I suddenly thought of those dark days.¡± Xing Yan did not seem to want to say more, nodded to Ying, and said, ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡±

    Ying did not say much and just smiled at Xing Yan, ¡°Come back alive.¡±

    ¡ª

    How fortunate. I am still alive.

    The sky outside the window had turned a little grey.

    Luo Jian opened his eyes ignorantly. It seemed that the fact that he could return alive to his world made him feel happy and amazed. After a long time, Luo Jian confirmed that he was indeed in his room, not in the silent ssroom full of corpses. There were no terrifying slips of damn paper, and there were no ghosts floating around all the time.

    Luo Jian was lying on his bed. Any difort or bloody wounds on his body had disappeared. His knife appeared the same. He held it in the palm of his hand and ced it by his side. However, if one looked at it carefully, they could see that it was not his original knife.

    Luo Jian felt dizzy as he got up from his bed. He was still wearing the dark bluebat suit. The quality of the suit was very good, the material was thick andfortable, and he did not feel any difort wearing it to sleep on his bed. However, it was summer now, so he would naturally feel hot and stuffy wearing this type of clothes. Luo Jian undressed and went into the bathroom in a hurry. By the time he came out, the sky had brightened.

    Although he spent a night risking his life escaping from the secret chamber, he was unexpectedly in good spirits. He went to the fridge, dug out a jar of icy water, and gulped it down. Then, he pulled down the printed, patterned note on the door of the fridge and lowered his head to look it over. The contents of the note were as follows:

    [Dear Mr. Luo Jian:]

    [The single-yer secret chamber experience has ended. This was yet another thrilling experience, but your journey has not ended. After about four days, you and your partner will enter a grand and morous secret chamber again. Please make ample preparations and keep up your good mental state. In addition, your reward is in your desk.]

    [With that, good luck.]

    Luo Jian tore up the paper and threw it into the garbage can. He spent a while in the kitchen and had breakfast. Then, he went back to his room and searched through his desk. There were indeed several things in the drawer: a cross and two books that appeared a little aged. What was written on the books¡¯ covers were: The Basic Sabre Techniques of a Disguiser and The Basic Mental Techniques of a Disguiser.

    He did not have much to say about the books on sabre techniques and mental techniques. Luo Jian picked up the cross and said, ¡°What¡¯s the use of this damned thing?¡±

    The pendant was metallic silver in colour. It looked like thosemon ornaments sold at the market. For a while, Luo Jian could not figure out what it was used for. He did not think much about it and took the pendant to wear it on his neck. The two books were stuffed into the drawer. He still had to go to work today, so he did not have much time to think about these things.

    Before going out, Luo Jian put away the bluebat suit. He thought about it and decided to throw it into the washing machine to let it spin in the wash. In the secret chamber, Luo Jian had stained all of his clothes with corpse water and blood. Although after returning from the secret chamber, all the traces had disappeared, Luo Jian still felt ufortable thinking about it. He also looked at his bed, pulled off the bed sheets, and decided to throw those things inside the washing machine as well.

    But after pulling off the bed sheets, Luo Jian¡¯s face suddenly turned red. He thought for a moment, and with his mind filled with doubts, he said to himself: ¡°In other words, after escaping from the secret chamber, all the wounds on my body will be healed, even that ce...... It doesn¡¯t seem to hurt...¡±

    After that, Luo Jian started to think in a strange manner: ¡®Am I still a virgin now? This is so strange. After escaping from the secret chamber, all the scars on my body have disappeared. It feels like I have not done that thing at all. Do I really need to try it in the real world? Or rather......¡¯

    Luo Jian shook his head with all his might. Doing this kind of thing would be too unruly. It was better not to think so much and let nature take its course......

    So Luo Jian took his clothes and bedsheets and went into the bathroom. The washing machine was quite big, and everything could be stuffed in. After putting thebat suit into the washing machine, Luo Jian paused for a while. He took the clothes back out and searched through its pockets. Some special props could be taken out of the secret chamber. Although Luo Jian did not think he could be lucky every time, his luck was still clearly very good.

    There was one object present in the pockets of hisbat suit.

    ¡°Mirror...¡± Luo Jian¡¯splexion did not look too good. What he managed to find in his pockets was the cracked mirror used for ¡°transmission.¡± Currently, the mirror remained in its cracked state. The surface had been put together with transparent glue, and it clearly reflected Luo Jian¡¯s face.

    After experiencing this bizarre secret chamber known as Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake, Luo Jian held a deep feeling of resentment towards mirrors. He thought that it represented a dangerous omen, especially in the case of broken mirrors. Wasn¡¯t there an old saying? ¡®A broken mirror is hard to be pieced together again.¡¯ It usually meant that the rtionship between husband and wife or rtives and friends was broken.

    Although he did not think such a prop was very useful, Luo Jian still ced it on his body and walked out while holding hispany¡¯s information in his hands. Luo Jian started his ordinary day as per usual, but when he arrived at thepany, he found that today¡¯s atmosphere was slightly different.

    Luo Jian worked in a small enterprise, and it was a chain hotel. The scale was notrge, but the performance of thepany had been steadily improving. Luo Jian was not a high-ranking employee. When there was not enough staff and a certain hotelcked manpower, the boss of the managers overseeing the hotel would always call Luo Jian and tell him to go to a particr branch in order to work as a temporary store manager, manager, waiter, cleaner...... etc. Of course, in fact, Luo Jian always felt that it did not matter what his job was as long as it could allow him to eat his fill.

    But now, Luo Jian met with the worst situation he had ever been in. As soon as Luo Jian¡¯s boss called him to the office, he smacked the table, handed over an attendance sheet, and said solemnly: ¡°Your attendance rate is unbelievably low this month.¡±

    Luo Jian replied, also with a serious face: ¡°Sir, my rheumatism recurred again.¡±

    ¡°F*ck your sister, how old are you to have rheumatism? Who are you trying to lie to! ¡± The boss, who had a beer belly, smacked the table again. The cups,puters, and other objects on the desk kept shaking with his smacking. Luo Jian shivered to fit the atmosphere. At this, the boss coughed twice, squinted at Luo Jian, and said, ¡°You are fired.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Luo Jian was immediately dumbfounded. ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve only been absent for two days. Are you going to dismiss me because of this?¡±

    ¡°Attendance is very important!¡± The boss with a beer belly immediately opened his mouth, and his saliva flew out like shooting stars. Luo Jian subtly backed away a little bit to escape the area of attack of the boss¡¯s saliva. Atst, he shook his head regretfully and went to the finance department to get the final sry of this month and left thepany suavely.

    In fact, it wasmon for Luo Jian to lose his job. He often changed jobs; he was either dismissed or left of his own ord. Luo Jian felt that this was a little strange. Generally, he could not stay in the same working environment for more than one year. After working there for one year, he would be dismissed in various strange ways, or he would feel like he did not want to work there anymore. Hence, he would quit the job.

    Up to now, Luo Jian had changed jobs three or four times. At the beginning, he worked as a supermarket delivery man, driving a pickup truck around. Later, he worked as a librarian in the library for another year, then as a courier, and then he came to thispany. Actually, these jobs were totally different from Luo Jian¡¯s area of study in his major.

    Luo Jian¡¯s university had a super unpopr major, criminal psychology.

    ¡°I might be more suitable to be a detective.¡± Luo Jian flipped through his resume and smiled helplessly. In particr, he also knew an arms enthusiast who seemed to know many high-ranking figures in the police force. Through this connection, Luo Jian stood a real chance at being a detective.

    But it was just a matter of imagination. He calcted how much money he had in his ount and thought that it wouldst a long time. It would be enough until he found his next job.

    Luo Jian was used to saving money. He had started to work odd jobs in high school and took various part-time jobs when he was in university. Therefore, he was morefortable when he entered society. Even if he almost broke off ties with his family, it would not have an extreme impact on him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I should go pay a visit to Father and Mother.¡± It just so happened that he¡¯d lost his job now. He had not contacted his family for so many years. Luo Jian thought that it was time and his parents¡¯ anger would probably have cooled down. Now was the right time to return.

    T/N: I would like to ask...do you guys feel that LJ is still a virgin or not a virgin??

    <del><i>Or...is he a virgin in the real world, but not a virgin in the secret chambers? Hoho, sorry, your unreliable trantor here was wondering this as she was tranting this chapter.</i></del>

 Chapter 50 - Punishment

    <h4>Chapter 50 - Punishment</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    <i>Thank you, Kiya for the Ko-Fis¡ªBonus chapter (3/3)</i>

    Luo Jian was born in a small county. His family was rtively poor at that time, but his parents had some social connections. They had enough that they had no problems putting three meals on the table. However, Luo Jian could vaguely recall that he was ill when he was a child. He had been very sick. He could remember seeing his parents crying. Later, he was sent to live with his grandmother in the countryside to recuperate and stayed there for a period of time.

    But those memories were too unclear. He only remembered that his grandmother lived in a yellow mud-brick house, and there was an osmanthus tree by the door of the house. During its blooming season, the flowers were very fragrant. There were alsorge fields and mountains in the distance.

    Luo Jian remembered that his grandma made sweet osmanthus cake, and the sweet and greasy taste seemed to remain in his memories. He remembered that his grandma had once taught Luo Jian how to make those cakes, but now, Luo Jian had forgotten everything. After his grandma¡¯s death, such craft seemed to be a lost art.

    Ah, that¡¯s right. Luo Jian still remembered someone whom he seemed to have known from the small vige in the countryside. It was a man, but he couldn¡¯t remember who he was. His memories seemed to be disjointed: sometimes the memory was present, sometimes the memory was gone. But that was clearly the most memorable part of his childhood.

    Luo Jian¡¯s hometown was not far from where he used to work. Travelling there by bus would take just a little over two hours. After leaving home, Luo Jian had thought of going back many times, but he was deeply afraid of something and became hesitant. But the more Luo Jian hesitated, the longer he dragged out returning, and the less courage he had to return home. As a result, he ended up dragging on many years before returning.

    ¡°I¡¯m so f*cking unfilial,¡± Luo Jian said to himself. Although he had been sending money to his mother¡¯s ount on time every month since he started earning money, he had not been home for so many years, and he did not know how to face his parents when they met. Luo Jian was afraid. Even if he was already on the vehicle to return home, he did not feel at ease.

    ¡°Oh, right. I have to pay a visit to Ah Lan¡¯s parents.¡± Luo Jian thought of the recent happenings and also thought of Feng YuLan, who was currently missing. Luo Jian frowned, worried. He did not know how Feng YuLan was doing.

    ¡ª-

    While Luo Jian was taking the bus to return home, Feng YuLan¡¯s situation was not optimistic.

    Feng YuLan roughly knew that he was in a basement without windows, and there was only one door here. The basement was full of medical equipment. He lied on a sickbed, covered with a thick quilt and with an oxygen tube inserted in his nostrils and mouth. There was a hanging bracket by his left side with several bags of bright red IV drips. The IV needle was in his arm, and strange fluids were being pumped into his body. All this made Feng YuLan feel strange and queer.

    On his right was a cardiometer, which showed his heart rate, and beyond this cardiometer, Feng YuLan could clearly see an operating table. It seemed that someone had just finished using the operation table, and there were still some blood stains on the ground that had yet to be cleaned.

    There was a strange smell in the air; it was the bizarrebination of disinfectant and blood.

    Feng YuLan wanted to move, but when he raised his arm a little, he felt a searing pain shoot through part of his core and almost fainted. Therefore Feng YuLan had to settle down a little bit and lie on the bed motionlessly. He could only open his ck eyes wide to try to observe the surrounding environment.

    I should have not died, Feng YuLan thought, but where is this?

    Hisst memory was a little fuzzy. He seemed to remember that he was talking to Luo Jian, but he could not remember what he said for a while. In a trance, Feng YuLan felt that he had a dream. In the dream, there had been someone talking to him all the time. He said, ¡°Endure for a little longer and survive.¡±

    This sentence seemed to have been repeated many times by that person, and it almost became his belief.

    So Feng YuLan survived. He was able to lie here, open his eyes again, and breathe air.

    Feng YuLan daydreamed for a while. Suddenly, he heard the basement¡¯s door being pushed open with a long creak. Feng YuLan closed his eyes in a hurry, but the cardiometer beside him honestly reflected the change in his heart rate.

    However, Feng YuLan did not intend to open his eyes and adamantly closed his eyes. He heard footsteps, and someone approached him slowly. After a while, Feng YuLan clearly felt a hand touch him and rest on his forehead.

    ¡°Still have a slight fever,¡± someone said. The voice was very familiar. Feng YuLan tried to recall who the voice belonged to, but he could not remember.

    ¡°Are you awake?¡± The voice continued talking.

    Feng YuLan did not respond to him and kept his mouth closed.

    The other person seemed to beughing. The voice sounded little ted but also carried a sense of fatigue that could not be hidden. ¡°You¡¯d better sleep. Your operation has just ended, and your body is still very weak.¡±

    Feng YuLan finally could not help it. He opened his eyes to see what the man looked like, but as soon as he opened them, the other side moved his hand from Feng YuLan¡¯s forehead to his eyes, covering Feng YuLan¡¯s vision.

    Feng YuLan asked him, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°......I am Duan Li.¡±

    ¡°Duan Li...?¡± Feng YuLan¡¯s memory was so muddled that he didn¡¯t remember who Duan Li was. He frowned and continued to ask, ¡°Did you operate on me?¡±

    ¡°No, I have a friend who is a doctor.¡±

    ¡°Am I ill?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are very ill.¡±

    ¡°Then when can I get better?¡±

    ¡°Soon.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± Feng YuLan felt a little helpless and said, ¡°Can¡¯t I see you?¡±

    It seemed that the other party hesitated for a while. After a long time, he moved his hand away from Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes. Feng YuLan could see the other party¡¯s face when he turned his head a little. With one nce, Feng YuLan¡¯s eyebrows tightly scrunched, and he said, ¡°It¡¯s...... It¡¯s you? ¡±

    Actually, Feng YuLan¡¯s memories were pretty chaotic. At present, this person looked very familiar, and it was a kind of familiarity that hemonly associated with hatred. But for a while, Feng YuLan could not figure out who the other person was.

    Duan Li thought that Feng YuLan was disgusted with him. He turned his head quickly and did not look at Feng YuLan directly. His cold voice did not give away his emotions. In such a tone, he said, ¡°You should sleep. You cannot eat when your internal organs are damaged, and you can only have fluids. I¡¯lle to see youter, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    After he finished what he was saying, Duan Li wanted to leave, but Feng YuLan suddenly reached out and grabbed Duan Li¡¯s wrist. Duan Li was a little stunned and turned to look at Feng YuLan. Feng YuLan frowned tightly and stared at Duan Li. His fingers dug deeply into Duan Li¡¯s flesh, and it seemed that Feng YuLan was using all his energy to do it.

    ¡°It¡¯s you...!¡± Even though his memories were still quite jumbled, Feng YuLan seemed to realize something. He gave Duan Li a deadly re as he gnashed his teeth in anger and spit out each word. Duan Li was silent for a while. He slowly broke away from Feng YuLan¡¯s hand. Feng YuLan did not have much strength left and was not able to catch him again, so he could only re at Duan Li maliciously.

    ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Duan Li suddenlyughed, moving closer to Feng YuLan and reaching out to touch Feng YuLan¡¯s hollowed cheek. Poor Ah Lan was injured and sick. He was so emaciated that he did not have much meat in his little face.

    Duan Li did not know if Feng YuLan was upset. Suddenly, he lowered his head and kissed Feng YuLan¡¯s eyelids. Feng YuLan could not help but close his eyes, and he felt that his eyelids were wet and itchy. He was upset and groaned. Seeing this, Duan Li did not intend to give up. He kissed all over his face and moved his lips to the side of Ah Lan¡¯s mouth. At this action, Ah Lan¡¯s anger rose from the depths of his heart, and his malicious intent grew as his courage spiked. He bit Duan Li¡¯s lips fiercely, and a bloody taste filled Ah Lan¡¯s mouth.

    Duan Li merelyughed and caressed Ah Lan¡¯s neck with his fingers. Ah Lan suddenly felt shocked since his body under the quilt did not seem to be dressed. His clothes might have been stripped off during the operation. All of a sudden, Ah Lan felt emboldened, so he raised the only hand that could move and pushed Duan Li hard. He thought Duan Li would not give up, but he unexpectedly released Ah Lan immediately.

    ¡°Did I crush you? Is it ufortable?¡± Duan Li was very concerned. His actions scared Ah Lan so much that cold sweat was rolling off his body. The sheets under his body were soaked by his sweat.

    ¡°You...... You...... You stay away from me!¡± Ah Lan¡¯s heart felt a little ticklish, and it was a pity that he could move for the time being. Otherwise, he would definitely jump three meters away and try to be as far away from Duan Li as possible.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. You need to sleep,¡± Duan Liforted him and tucked him in.

    Did this guy get hit by a car? Or was his head filled with water? There was definitely something wrong with him! Inwardly, Ah Lan wasining incessantly. Although his memories were a little muddled when he woke up in the beginning, he now began to remember what had happened. This fool Duan Li was a demon that did not even bat an eye while killing people. When the hell did his personality change? There must be something wrong. It must be a conspiracy!

    Ah Lan, Ah Lan! Feng YuLan said to himself inwardly, You must not be cheated by the good looks that this fool has! You must find a way to escape from the devil¡¯s ws and run towards a better tomorrow!

    Duan Li looked at Feng YuLan¡¯s face. As he looked at it, he felt that it was somewhat funny. He lowered his head and kissed Feng YuLan¡¯s nose. He grabbed his hand and put it under the quilt. ¡°Go to sleep,¡± he said.

    Ah Lan was really tired. He was too weak, and his eyelids became heavy. Muddleheaded, he could only close his eyes. Within two minutes, his breathing became stable. By his side, Duan Li watched him for a long time. He suddenly took out a thick book from some unknown ce. It was Ah Lan¡¯s grimoire. Duan Li looked at it and ced the book by Feng YuLan¡¯s bedside.

    After that, Duan Li sighed. From his pocket, he took out a piece of paper, which was printed with purple patterns. The paper caused worry to rise up from the depths of his heart, because on it, the contents were as follows:

    [Dear Mr. Duan Li:]

    [Your wit has freed you from the fate of a NPC. Congrattions on bing a yer again. You will join the team of Luo Jian and co. and continue to wander the magical secret chambers. Despite this, I cannot agree with your opportunistic behaviour, so the following punishment will be imposed upon you¡ª]

    [In the next secret chamber, you and your team will be forced to enter the ¡®Chaos Chamber Battlefield¡¯ together with other teams. However, there is an insufficient number of yers in your team, so the secret chamber will automatically equip your team with a strong partner.]

    [We will not allow any yer to vite the rules, regardless of the oue.]

    ¡°This is a f*cking threatening letter.¡± Duan Li shredded the paper and came to Ah Lan¡¯s side again, staring at him in a daze.

 Chapter 51 - Family

    <h4>Chapter 51 - Family</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Before returning home, Luo Jian brought with him all the important things that he could. His weapons, his battle suit, and his taskpletion prize were all packed into a big backpack. Although he did not know whether his parents would let him in, it was still necessary to be well-prepared.

    Then, with a big bag on his back, he took the bus home. About two hourster, he arrived at his destination, a small town. The town was remote and not prosperous, but it had arge poption.

    Luo Jian remembered that he was born in this small town. ording to what his mother had told him, there was only one hospital in the town back then. If anyone was ill, they would head to the hospital to register there, so the wards were always full. Luo Jian was born there. Sometimes, when the hospital was overcrowded, there would be five or six pregnant women in the delivery room altogether, so the nurses were very busy. Luo Jian¡¯s mother had given birth without medical attention, and Luo Jian waspletely unattended to.

    Luo Jian was not fussy or noisy. The process of giving birth to him was very smooth; he popped out of his mother¡¯s stomach in an instant. Although he seemed to be very healthy at birth, when his family brought him home, he grew up with numerous illnesses. Although he often became sick, he also recovered from the illnesses very quickly. In a few days¡¯ time, he would be able to scream, mess around, and run everywhere again.

    Who did not want to y and was not curious when they were a child? Luo Jian also acted like this. He would draw strange graffiti on the wall, squat in the grass and dig earthworms, and fight with his friends. Luo Jian did not go to the kindergarten. His mother taught him to speak and read one word at a time. Later, he went to primary school. It was unknown when he met Ah Lan, who was in the same ss. He found that he was not only ssmates with Ah Lan, but they were also neighbours. Thus, their rtionship got better. Day after day passed, and they grew up. They saw all kinds of things in the world together, until today.

    Alone, Luo Jian thought about the past events in his life. He walked past a long road, took a public bus, and journeyed for about ten minutes before finally arriving at his former home, where he had grown up from a kid to an adult. However, Luo Jian had not returned here for many years.

    It was a dpidated residential building. He climbed the narrow stairwell to the second story, turned left, and arrived at the door to his house.

    Simr to what it was like in the past, the door was stained with rust, and there were couplets and banners stuck on the doors. On the walls, someone had used a nk pen to write down some illegal advertisements, such as ¡°Want redits?: xxxxx,¡± etc. Stupidly, Luo Jian stood in front of the door for a long time. He took a deep breath, and when he was just about to reach for the door, there was a sound from the staircase behind him.

    ¡°Is...... Is that Ah Jian?¡±

    Luo Jian shivered momentarily, turned his head to look behind him, and cried out with much difficulty, ¡°Grandpa Wu.¡±

    It was the old man who used to live above him. His children had left home to search for sess. The old man used to have a wife, but she had passed away a few years ago. Now there was only the old man left. Luo Jian used to have a good rtionship with this Grandpa Wu. Since the old man lived alone, there would always be some inconveniences. Luo Jian would go to Grandpa Wu¡¯s house to help him clean the floor and sanitize his house when he had time, and Grandpa Wu would prepare some snacks for him as thanks.

    The old man supported himself on his cane, shook his head, and sighed: ¡°Thisd, why did you wait until now to return? What have you been doing in thest few years?¡±

    Luo Jian hesitated for a moment and decided to ask him, ¡°Are my parents here?¡±

    Grandpa Wu just sighed and shook his head: ¡°You¡¯re toote, toote.¡±

    Luo Jian felt his heart turn cold for a long moment, and he immediately worried restlessly, ¡°Toote? Did something happen to my family?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, nothing,¡± Grandpa Wu shook his head, ¡°Your parents went to your uncle¡¯s house to stay for two days. They had just left before you returned.¡±

    ¡°My uncle?¡± For a while, Luo Jian did not know whether to cry orugh. He finally got up the courage to go home, but his parents were not here. He could only remain still and was at a loss for a long time. Next to him, Grandpa Wu seemed to understand what Luo Jian was thinking. He was very d that Luo Jian hade back. He said with a smile, ¡°Would you like toe to my house and sit for a while?¡±

    ¡°No...... I have something else to do... ¡± Luo Jian shook his head and refused, but then he asked Grandpa Wu uneasily, ¡°Do you still live alone, old man?¡±

    Grandpa Wu seemed to recall something that made him happy, and he smiled brightly. He said, ¡°My son came to apany me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Luo Jian was relieved and said to Grandpa Wu, ¡°I¡¯ll make a trip to my uncle¡¯s house, so I won¡¯t stay to chat with you, then.¡±

    Then, Luo Jian said goodbye to Grandpa Wu and thought about going to his uncle¡¯s house. Luo Jian¡¯s family had very few descendants. Almost all his elders died of illnesses or idents. Apart from his parents, only Luo Jian¡¯s uncle and his family were left in his family. Unfortunately, his uncle¡¯s wife was also killed in a car ident. Their only son, Luo Jian¡¯s cousin, had disappeared more than ten years ago. At the time, he was only 15 years old.

    When his wife died and his son disappeared, his uncle was depressed for two years and did not get married again. Instead, he ced all his energy in his career and opened a shop. His uncle¡¯s business was getting more and more popr and became a leader in the industry.

    His uncle¡¯s house was not far from here and was only two blocks away. Luo Jian strolled slowly with his head down and a big bag on his back. However, just as he was walking across the street, Luo Jian met something unexpected. He saw a man in a ck hooded sweater and ck jeans. He was tall, slender-looking, and had a big guitar bag on his back. He walked towards Luo Jian with his head down. Luo Jian could not see what the man looked like under his hood, but Luo Jian suddenly felt his heart race.

    It was quite a strange phenomenon.

    With a big bag on his back, Luo Jian stopped and turned back to look at the man who passed by. His back looked very familiar but also felt so foreign. Luo Jian nced at his eyes, but the other party soon disappeared within the vast crowd. There was no appropriate reason for him to question the man, so he shook his head and thought that he probably imagined the familiarity of the man¡¯s back.

    When he got to his uncle¡¯s house, Luo Jian hesitated for a long time before reaching out to knock on the door. He anxiously waited for a while. When the door opened, Luo Jian did not even dare to look up to see who opened it. For a long time, no one spoke. After a few moments, Luo Jian suddenly felt a big hand press on his head and rubbed it twice. Then, he heard someone loudly holler, ¡°Old fogey! Your son is back!¡±

    In response, Luo Jian pursed his lips, raised his head, and called out to his mother.

    Luo Jian¡¯s father, Luo YuCheng, was a soldier in his youth, but he retired from the army after a few years due to an injury. Luo Jian¡¯s mother, Ning Xia, used to study traditional Chinese medicine. However, her generation must havemitted an evil since all her rtives passed away. There were no longer any descendents that she could pass down her family¡¯s knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine to.

    However, Luo Jian¡¯s mother was a reasonable person and did not think her son¡¯s homosexuality was bad. At most, she had been troubled over it for two days, epted the situation suddenly, and moved on. She decided to let her son do whatever he liked. All was good as long as he was safe and happy.

    But Luo Jian¡¯s father did not think the same. He had raised Luo Jian from a young age with no apparent issues and thus could not figure out how his son became homosexual. Therefore, he firmly opposed it. He thought that as long as he found a girlfriend for his son, and as long as Luo Jian believed that men should be with women, all problems would be solved.

    In those years, these issues caused Luo Jian¡¯s family to argue so much that the house was almost turned upside down. However, Feng YuLan, this fool, was a young master who was too free, and he also came to take part in the argument. He insisted that he was Luo Jian¡¯s lover, so the two families quarrelled and did not reconcile for a long time. Then, Luo Jian and Ah Lan acted like lunatics and left home. Of course, in the eyes of their parents, what they did was ¡°elope.¡±

    Luo Jian also asked Feng Yn why he wanted to ¡°elope¡± with him. Ah Lan was extremely optimistic regarding the issue and said, ¡°You¡¯re my good brother. Naturally, I should stay with you.¡±

    But Luo Jian obviously did not believe such a perfunctory reason. Under Luo Jian¡¯s endless questions, Ah Lan said the truth with a bitter smile: My parents wanted to force me to marry a girl I did not know. I did not want to marry, so I left with you.

    Some issues wereplicated at the start but ended simply.

    Four or five yearster, when he saw his parents again, no one mentioned that day again. Luo Jian¡¯s mother scanned Luo Jian¡¯s body, frowned, and said, ¡°Son, why have you be thinner?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t be thin. This is called having muscles!¡±

    ¡°Where are the muscles? Why can¡¯t I see them?¡±

    ¡°Of course you can¡¯t see it because it¡¯s blocked by my clothes.¡± Luo Jian took his mother¡¯s hand and thought that his old parents had more wrinkles and white hair now. Time and tide wait for no man. They would send one into old age in an instant. The lost years could never be returned. It had been many years since hest saw his parents, and he could not help but burst into tears when he thought of it. He only med himself for being too stupid and stubborn. Why did he note back earlier to see his parents?

    ¡°Thisd, at longst, you remembered toe back.¡± Luo Jian¡¯s father pulled a long face but had a gentle tone. He came to rub Luo Jian¡¯s head and said with a wry smile, ¡°The child has grown up and doesn¡¯t heed our words.¡±

    Luo Jian was speechless and could only lower his head. Fortunately, his father did not badger him. After that, he pulled Luo Jian into the house. His parents surrounded him and sat down. Seeing that they nned to interrogate him about what he had done for the past few years, he was also ready to answer all their questions. However, he did not expect that his mother would ask such a question as soon as she opened her mouth.

    ¡°Luo Jian, how are you and Ah Lan doing?¡±

    Luo Jian was embarrassed for a moment, considered for a long time, and said with a wry smile: ¡°Dad, mom, Ah Lan, he...... We¡¯re not in that kind of rtionship.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s parents looked at each other and seemed to realize that their son was embarrassed by the topic, so they did not continue to pry but started to ask other questions intermittently, such as: How was he doing? Did he have enough money to spend? What kind of friends had he made? What did he want to do?, and so on and so forth. They asked these sort of trivial questions.

    Their conversation seemed to carry on forever. When it was time for supper, his uncle returned. When he entered the door, he seemed to be stunned. He turned to look at his father and asked, ¡°Ah Jian is back?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s father shook his head helplessly. ¡°Thisd couldn¡¯t support himself outside and came back crying for his mother.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s uncle, Luo JinCheng, was the eldest brother of Luo Jian¡¯s father. It was said that he had done something illegal in the past and spent a year or two in prison, but his parents did not tell him the whole story. Now, the old man was just an ordinary, honest man who lived a life where he only traveled to two ces: his workce and his home.

    After having dinner at his uncle¡¯s house, Luo Jian asked his parents why they hade to live in his uncle¡¯s house. When he mentioned this, his father¡¯s face suddenly turned blue, and he said, ¡°It¡¯s an odd issue to speak of.¡±

    ¡°Odd?¡± Luo Jian was curious. ¡°Tell me. Maybe I can help to solve it.¡±

    ¡°Someone seems to have been watching your uncle recently.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Luo Jian was a little surprised and said, confused, ¡°Uncle shouldn¡¯t have caused any trouble outside! Why would he be watched?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it can be considered ¡®being watched,¡± his uncle interjected at this time. With a frown, he said, ¡°It¡¯s just that recently, it felt like I was being watched by someone. When walking on the street, I feel that someone is always staring at me, and it makes me feel strange and ufortable.¡±

    Kitty: If any of you guys are involved in/in areas affected by the racial unrest and protests going on recently, please make sure you stay safe! Things are getting dangerous out there.

    T/N: If Ah Jian & Ah Lan were together, who do you guys think would be the gong & the shou? And yes, like what Kitty said, please stay safe everyone!

 Chapter 52 - Space

    <h4>Chapter 52 - Space</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Luo JinCheng, Luo Jian¡¯s uncle, was nearly 50 years old. He was five or six years older than Luo Jian¡¯s father, but he still looked very young. When Luo JinCheng was young, he didn¡¯t know anything about the world and had a sense of rebellion in his bones. He fooled around with a group of friends who were neither fish nor fowl andmitted a minor crime, so he spent two years in prison.

    When he came out, he was finally enlightened and decided to settle down. He married a wife and had a son.

    However, the Heavens seemed to think that they were not done tossing his fate about. His wife died in a car ident when his son was five years old, and his son disappeared when he was fifteen years old. He had disappeared without a single trace, leaving not even a strand of hair.

    Luo JinCheng was deeply hit by these incidents, which urred one after another. He had copsed after suffering these series of setbacks for many years. He felt that he was no longer young and did not want to marry again. Instead, he used his life savings to open a liquor and tobo grocery store. However, he did not expect that the business would end up doing so well and be so prosperous.

    Thinking of it this way, he would not have to worry about being taken care of in hister years. However, the one thing Luo JinCheng had not given up yet was finding his son.

    Back then, he had posted disappearance notices on every street and sent millions of messages over the inte to publicize them. The door to the Public Security Bureau was almost broken down by Luo JinCheng running over and stepping on it so often. However, the results disappointed Luo JinCheng.

    Luo JinCheng¡¯s son, Luo Feng, was 15 years old when he disappeared. A few days before he disappeared, he was often with his paternal cousin, Luo Jian, who was only nine years old at that time.

    Due to Luo Jian¡¯s serious illness as a child, the doctor asserted that Luo Jian could not live to be ten years old. Also, his family could not afford his hospitalization fees and medical treatment. His parents could not care for their child because they had to work, so they sent their child to their hometown in the countryside for recuperation, handing him over to his grandmother, who was still alive at that time.

    In addition, his uncle sent Luo Feng, Luo Jian¡¯s cousin, along with him. The 15-year-old was a young, strong man who would be able to help with some work and take care of his cousin.

    Unexpectedly, after spending half a year or so in the countryside, little Luo Jian¡¯s condition gradually improved. Just like the miracles on TV, the child lived on despite other people saying that he could not be saved, and he even led a pretty good life.

    Unfortunately, Luo Jian¡¯s paternal cousin mysteriously disappeared one day in the afternoon. He disappeared into the deep forests and mountains of the countryside, and thest person to see him was Luo Jian. Unfortunately, at that time, Luo Jian was still rtively young, and the nine-year-old him did not have much of an impression regarding this.

    When the adults asked him, Where is your elder brother?

    Nine-year-old Luo Jian replied, My brother said he is going to a ce far away and he would return at dinner time.

    But when dinner time arrived, Luo Feng never came back.

    After many twists and turns in the past few decades, Luo Jian had grown up. In recent years, he had been very healthy, and he had an even better physique than his peers. The serious illness left no seque on him and even caused Luo Jian to be healthy in a way that was above and beyond logic.

    Luo Jian¡¯s uncle, Luo JinCheng, patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°If my son was still here, the atmosphere here would surely be more lively.¡±

    The Luo family could have been a big family. Perhaps the Heavens had refused to answer their prayers, but for some reason, all their rtives had either died or disappeared. Today, their family was left with only a few older members and a single young one, Luo Jian. And this atmosphere made people feel even more depressed.

    ¡°At least you can leave a descendent for our Luo family, ah,¡± Luo Jian¡¯s father sighed with regret and gazed at him with an exasperated expression due to Luo Jian not living up to his expectations.

    Luo Jian bowed his head in shame.

    He really did not know how to change his sexual orientation. So far, Luo Jian had never been interested in any girl. Towards beautiful females, Luo Jian purely felt that they looked fine, but conversely, seeing...... Luo Jian shook his head casually as he suddenly thought of Xing Yan.

    The stalker¡¯s body was very good. He had strong muscles and a long physique. Just by touching his body, Luo Jian felt like he loved it so much that he could not bear to part with it. He had the type of body that would definitely make anyone drool, and just thinking about it caused Luo Jian to feel an irresistible urge to touch it.

    Luo Jian could not think about it more. He reached his hand out to pinch his thigh and humbly listened to his parents¡¯ teachings. Although his parents used stern words, they were very considerate and cleaned up a room for Luo Jian to live in. Luo Jian¡¯s mother made his bed, and then she picked up little Luo Jian and kicked him in. In passing, she told him to take a bath and go to bed on time.

    When it was time to go to bed at night, Luo Jian felt that it was slightly difficult to fall asleep. He dug out the rewards the secret chamber had given to him: the books on the basic sabre and mental techniques of the disguiser. He licked his lips and flipped the books open to read.

    After reading through the books, Luo Jian felt a very magical feeling all of a sudden.

    The two books on basic sabre and mental techniques were very thin. When he opened the books, Luo Jian found that the words inside were in anguage that Luo Jian could not recognize. The words appeared simr to the text of certain ancientnguages but looked moreplicated than them. However, what was more amazing than this was that although Luo Jian could not read it, he could still understand the meaning of the text. It felt as if the knowledge obtained from the two books had materialized in his consciousness. After flipping the books open, this knowledge and power flowed through his eyes and charged straight to his mind. Using such a direct technique, the books forced Luo Jian to understand their contents!

    It was as if Luo Jian was possessed. In a daze, he flipped through the books in his hands page by page until the end. When he turned thest page, the books naturally and slowly disappeared. They scattered into light particles and vanished in the air.

    When Luo Jian felt his spirit return to his body, big sweat droplets were trickling down his face. It was as if he had just finished a 1,800 m sprint; he was as tired as a dead pig andy on his bed for half a day without being able to move.

    He could not help butugh.

    ¡°The disguiser? So that¡¯s how it is,¡± Luo Jian buried his face in the pillow and muttered to himself.

    The sabre and mental techniques of the disguiser were actually skills given to Luo Jian. As long as Luo Jian held his weapon, he could use the mental technique to make the weapon invisible. That is to say, he could make his weapons appear ¡®invisible¡¯ to others.

    Of course, because the technique was very basic, the invisibility could onlyst five minutes at most. When maintaining the ¡®invisible¡¯ state of his weapon, if the basic sabre technique was used in coordination with the mental technique, Luo Jian¡¯s attack would essentially be invisible, and others would only be able to feel the movement of the air due to the swinging of his de. It could be said that...... this was the best skill for assassination.

    ¡°This kind of skill is just used for killing others.¡± Luo Jian took out his knife and ced it in the palm of his hand to y with. He tried to act in the same manner as described by the mental technique, but the result was naturally failure. It seemed that he needed to practice it. His initial attempts of using the technique had all failed.

    However, there was not much time left for Luo Jian. In another two days, he would be experiencing another hair-raising secret chamber experience, and its difficulty would have increased drastically. Luo Jian did not know what kind of situation he would be facing in the chamber. Thus, Luo Jian must quickly and skillfully learn all the skills that can improve the probability of him surviving the chamber.

    Other than the mental technique, the cross pendant of the disguiser was a puzzle that also made Luo Jian troubled. The cross looked very ordinary, and it appeared just like the small ornaments sold in the market. Luo Jian tried to wipe his blood on it, but his efforts were futile. He tried to lightly cut it twice with his knife, and he realized that he couldn¡¯t even leave a scratch on the pendant.

    Luo Jian, who did not find any use for it, could only wear it on his neck temporarily. Shortly after, he dug out thest of the spoils of war from the Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake secret chamber, the broken little mirror.

    ¡°What is the use of this mirror?¡± Luo Jian poked the mirror. The poor mirror was shattered to the extent that its original form was hard to recognize. The transparent glue on it was about to peel off, so Luo Jian pulled out a transparent glue and stuck a newyer on it.

    After that was done, Luo Jian ced the mirror in his hand. After thinking, he unconsciously read the ¡°transmission phrase¡± again.

    The so-called ¡°transmission phrase¡± was the poem that Luo Jian saw on the ssroom¡¯s ckboard in the Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake secret chamber.

    ¡°One side is one side, one side for one side, a left hand exchanged for a right hand, your face is my face.¡±

    His consciousness blurred, and in an instant, he felt like he was a trance and lost consciousness. When Luo Jian opened his eyes, he was surprised to find himself in the Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake secret chamber!

    In that ssroom!

    However, unlike before, this ssroom looked normal. There were no corpses filling the ssroom, no desks and chairs spread messily around the floor, and there were no inexplicable words written on the ckboard on the podium. There were also no big words written in blood on the ckboard at the back of the ssroom.

    Luo Jian circled around the ssroom. The desks and chairs were all in order. There were no books or any other objects in the drawers, and it was as if they had never been used. The ckboard and podium also seemed to be new. The windows remain sealed, but the curtains were hung up properly.

    The entire ssroom was very clean. The ground seemed like it had been cleaned¡ªor perhaps no one had evere in¡ªand it felt like not even dust could enter this space.

    Moreover, there were no doors in this ssroom. The ces where the front and back doors originally stood were just a wall. There was no exit at all.

    This ssroom was very simr to the Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake secret chamber Luo Jian had experienced before, but it also seemedpletely different. Luo Jian stood in the ssroom, holding that little mirror in his hands, for a very long time. He lowered his head to look at the mirror in his hand. An idea popped into his mind: ¡°Could it be that...¡±

    Luo Jian read the ¡°transmission phrase¡± in reverse. Sure enough, after a bout of dizziness, he appeared in the guest room that his uncle had prepared for him again.

    ¡°This is a f*cking carry-on space!¡± Luo Jian was a little excited, but he soon calmed down. ¡°But...... The space is not very big. It is the size of a ssroom. And to use it, you must read the ¡®transmission phrase¡¯ to this shabby mirror.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Luo Jian touched his chin again. ¡°It has its pros: if I am in danger, it seems like I can hide in this space. I just don¡¯t know if I can bring other things or living creatures into it.¡±

    Once Luo Jian thought about it, he tried it. He found that he was able to bring a lot of things in, time in the space would not flow, and things in the space would not turn bad, meaning that he could store a lot of food there.

    The only drawback was that Luo Jian seemed to be unable to bring other living creatures in. He tried to take in the canary that his uncle raised, but when he carried the birdcage in his hand, he was not able to enter the secret chamber space.

    T/N: Xing Yan¡¯s body (*£þii£þ) *wriggles eyebrows*

 Chapter 53 - Specter

    <h4>Chapter 53 - Specter</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Luo Jian decided to help his uncle find the real culprit who was secretly spying on his uncle. He put his n into action the next day. He began to follow his uncle 24 hours a day, from his routine of eating and sleeping and from morning to night. His actions were pretty crazy, but Luo Jian¡¯s parents had not seen their son for a long time and missed him really badly. Therefore, they allowed him to indulge in whatever he was doing and let Luo Jian freely do what he wanted to.

    Although his uncle did not like the 24-hour surveince, he did not refuse it outright. Therefore, after tailing his uncle, Luo Jian actually discovered some problems.

    His uncle¡¯s usual work involved looking after his shop. Since he was getting older, his movements were inflexible, so he hired a student who was on holiday to help him look after the shop. When the work was shared, there was not much to do. When he was free, he could read books, raise flowers and nts, and raise canaries. Overall, his life was quite leisurely.

    Luo Jian spent most of the day with his uncle in his shop. He walked around for a while and did not find any strange people or objects. Luo Jian was rather trusting of his intuition. Although he had not experienced a great number of battles, people who had experienced life and death always had incredible temperaments. They possessed certain amazing innate characteristics that allowed them to see through some issues, even though they could not tell what exactly the feeling was.

    Nothing happened in the morning, but in the afternoon, Luo Jian noticed some abnormalities that no one else had discovered. He found that someone was actually spying on his uncle, or to be exact, on his uncle¡¯s shop, and that the person was rather good at hiding. Although Luo Jian felt someone eyeing him from the dark and knew he was being watched, Luo Jian could not determine the specific location of the other party or find them.

    But Luo Jian was not particrly worried because he could not feel malice from the person who was eyeing them secretly.

    However, it did not feel good to be constantly watched in this way. Luo Jian thought about it and decided to catch the person that was secretly monitoring them. He raised his hand as a greeting to his uncle and left his uncle¡¯s shop alone. Then, he walked straight down along the street. At first, he still felt someone watching him, but after walking quite a distance from the shop, the feeling vanished.

    Subsequently, Luo Jian hopped on a bus and took a trip around the town. After riding around, he went back near his uncle¡¯s shop again. He found a public bench on the side of the road and sat down. He held a book¡ªhe did not remember which bookstore he bought it from¡ªto act as if he was reading it, but he was actually observing secretly.

    After sitting on the bench for about half an hour, Luo Jian silently counted and found four suspicious targets. There was a restaurant directly opposite his uncle¡¯s shop, and there was a man sitting near the door the entire time. The man looked toward his uncle¡¯s door from time to time, but after observing him for a while, Luo Jian found that he may just be thinking about whether to buy a pack of cigarettes from his uncle¡¯s shop.

    Of course, this was just his spection.

    The second suspect was a young woman who had been walking back and forth along the street. Luo Jian saw that she had intermittently been walking around, from here to there, several times. Of course, it was possible that she was just walking back and forth while waiting for someone.

    The third one was a little boy with an umbre. He looked to be the age of eleven or twelve, and he stood under the traffic light on the street corner and stared incessantly at his uncle¡¯s shopfront. Generally speaking, Luo Jian¡¯s vignce toward the child should have been the lowest, but the child¡¯s eyes looked a little strange. Also, the strangest thing about the child was that he was carrying an umbre around on such a sunny day, so Luo Jian divided his attention to pay heed to him.

    The fourth one was the most suspicious because Luo Jian seemed to have seen him before. His back view was very familiar. The tall man in ck seemed to be about the same age as Luo Jian. He kept his head lowered and even wore a hoodie. He carried a big guitar bag and sat on a public bench by the side of the road like Luo Jian. Although he did not nce at his uncle¡¯s shop door from time to time, he always remained seated there, motionless.

    After a short moment of consideration, Luo Jian thought that it was not possible to solve the problem by dragging it out this way, so he stood up and walked toward the man with the guitar bag.

    The man seemed to notice Luo Jian¡¯s approach, but he did not give any response. He still kept his head down. The hood of his top was wide and covered half of his face. As a whole, the man appeared to be very staid. Only when Luo Jian came to stand in front of him did the man then give a little reaction¡ªhe raised his head slightly.

    However, he merely raised it a little, so Luo Jian still could not see his facepletely. All he could see was his thin lips and chin. His face¡¯s outline was as sharp as a knife.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± The man took the lead in speaking. To Luo Jian¡¯s surprise, the voice sounded familiar.

    ¡°I would like to ask you something.¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±

    Luo Jian thought about it for a long moment and said straightforwardly: ¡°Are you spying on the shop on the corner of the street?¡±

    The man seemed to smile, and his mouth curved: ¡°Why would I want to spy on that shop?¡±

    Luo Jian was unconsciously relieved and replied: ¡°Then, I¡¯m sorry. I made a mistake.¡±

    When he was done speaking, he turned to leave, but just as he took a step forward, the man behind him voiced out, just as Luo Jian had expected: ¡°You actually believed what I said that easily?¡±

    Luo Jian paused, took a deep breath, and turned his head to look at him. ¡°So tell me, who are you actually?¡±

    ¡°Who am I?¡± The man shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean? I don¡¯t understand.,¡± Luo Jian frowned.

    ¡°Looking at you, you are probably one of those secret chamber yers.¡± The man suddenly blurted out something shocking.

    Luo Jian was immediately frightened by him and hesitated for a while. ¡°How can you tell?¡±

    ¡°Because you can see me.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± Luo Jian was even more surprised by what he said and asked, ¡°Can¡¯t anyone else see you?¡±

    ¡°Of course they can¡¯t see me because I¡¯m the secret chamber¡¯s specter,¡± the man said something that Luo Jian could not understand and that made Luo Jian puzzled. He could not help asking, ¡°What is the secret chamber¡¯s specter?¡±

    ¡°yers who have a lifetime contract with the secret chamber,¡± the man replied to Luo Jian, ¡°The yers who wander in the secret chambers forever and are deprived of their right to return to reality are the secret chamber¡¯s so-called specters.

    ¡°The specters can¡¯t ¡®return to reality¡¯...... Ah, in fact, they can return, but they will be deprived of their sense of existence, and they will be like a real specter. No one can see or hear them. Even if you interfere with others¡¯ movements, no one will notice the abnormality.¡±

    For the first time, Luo Jian felt that the secret chamber was filled with plenty of things that he did not know. This was the first time that he heard of the ¡®secret chamber¡¯s specter.¡¯ Prior to this, Uncle Boss did not exin this to him. Luo Jian subconsciously wanted to know more, so he just sat beside the man and asked him, ¡°Can you tell me more?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s not as if it¡¯s some valuable information.¡±

    ¡°What happens when you sign a lifetime contract with the secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°A lifetime contract stiptes that the secret chamber will fulfill one wish, any wish you want, but the price is to lose the opportunity to ¡®escape.¡¯¡±

    ¡°The opportunity to escape?¡±

    ¡°Yes, to escape. To escape from the secret chamber forever, without needing to go through the suffocating narrow spaces anymore, and truly return to reality.¡±

    Luo Jian was surprised and looked at the man incredulously: ¡°What¡¯s your wish? What made you willing to pay such a huge price?¡±

    The man seemed to smile again and shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t remember?¡± Luo Jian did not quite understand. He wondered: ¡°Such an important wish, shouldn¡¯t you remember it?¡±

    ¡°The lifetime contract will deprive yers of their ¡®reality.¡¯ What I experienced in the real world will be gradually forgotten by me, and that is what happened when I was younger. I was very young at that time.¡± The man said, ¡°What kind of wish I had...... It was probably realized a long time ago, but I have stayed in the secret chamber for too long and gradually forgotten many things. I have already lost the opportunity to escape from the secret chamber. Right now, the only thing I want to do is to live on.¡±

    ¡°How long have you been wandering in the secret chambers?¡±

    ¡°Nearly 20 years ago, I first came into contact with the secret chamber when I was about 10 years old, and this year...... I¡¯m in my thirties.¡± This man¡¯s age did not quite match his appearance. Based on his appearance, Luo Jian thought that at most, he would be a young fellow in his twenties.

    However, after staying in the secret chamber for 20 years, what exactly did he go through? Luo Jian had to enter two or three secret chambers in a month, and if he had to experience it for twenty years...... This made Luo Jian exim, ¡°Heavens, how many secret chambers have you experienced?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said that I can¡¯t remember it clearly.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you spying on my uncle¡¯s shop?¡±

    The man paused and turned his head marginally to look at Luo Jian, and the broad hood was slightly pulled down. This time, Luo Jian was able to see the man¡¯s face clearly. The face appeared handsome and dignified, but just by looking at it, it felt even more familiar to him. Luo Jian gazed at him in shock for a long time, and he seemed toe up with some guesses. He could not help but feel a surge in his emotions.

    The man merely turned around to look around at his uncle¡¯s shop front and said: ¡°Is that your uncle¡¯s shop?...... It¡¯s nothing, just that your uncle...... Are we familiar with each other before? I can¡¯t recall. I think if I look at people I am more familiar with, I might remember past events, but this seemed to be useless as well.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s theory gradually took shape. He suddenly grasped the man¡¯s wrist and interrogated him: ¡°Do you remember your former name? The name you used in the real world!¡±

    The man paused for a moment, gave Luo Jian a nce, and said, ¡°I forgot.¡±

    His spections could not be confirmed? Luo Jian gnashed his teeth. He was unreconciled and continued questioning: ¡°Do you remember your real world¡¯s home address?¡±

    ¡°I forgot.¡±

    ¡°What about your friends and rtives?¡±

    ¡°I forgot.¡±

    ¡°What about what you¡¯ve done? What about the people important to you? People that you love and like?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s useless...... I forgot it all. ¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly reached out and pointed to his uncle¡¯s shop front. He pointed to his uncle who was sitting inside: ¡°Then why do you think my uncle is familiar?¡±

    The man was silent for a while. He smiled and said: ¡°He feels familiar, but it does not mean that I remember him.¡±

    The man turned to look at Luo Jian again and said, ¡°You should also forget me too. If he is your uncle, you might be rted to me, but I won¡¯t be able to remember who you are. I¡¯m the secret chamber¡¯s specter. Specters are the people who have died. In this world, I am already dead.¡±

    T/N:

 Chapter 54 - Prelude

    <h4>Chapter 54 - Prelude</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°Live on well.¡±

    After the man finished saying that, he left. When he left, he didn¡¯t make a sound, and even when he walked away, his actions did not cause any noise. Soon, he disappeared from Luo Jian¡¯s sight, leaving him sitting on the public bench. Before that, in the eyes of others, when Luo Jian was talking to that man, it appeared to them as if he were talking to himself instead. It caused many people to take a second nce at him, but they merely took an extra look and continued, leaving Luo Jian sitting here alone with his heart filled with grief.

    ¡°A wish?¡± Luo Jian uttered to himself.

    The secret chamber implemented harsh restrictions on yers in the real world. Other than the newbies whose strength was not up to par, the expert yers¡¯ strength was severely reduced in the real world, and the weapons that only the yers could use were also greatly restricted. Moreover...... many items that could be used in the secret chamber could not be used in the real world. Of course, there may be some exceptions, but Luo Jian did not know of any.

    Props that were beyond the current scientific standards that humans have found or invented and those that did not conform to the naturalws of the real world were the so-called surreal things that could not be used.

    At that time more than ten years ago, medical treatment was not as developed. Terminal illnesses were considered fatal. They were determined and predestined. Luo Jian was supposed to experience that cmity, and originally, he should not have been able to live until now. However, he survived, and someone traded their life for Luo Jian¡¯s.

    It was like the members of the Luo family were all cursed. The people who should have died passed away. The people who should have been injured were injured. At the end, all that was left after the curtains fell and the audience dispersed was the cooled tea and the person gone.

    Luo Jian did not know how to describe his mood at the moment. He felt as though his body weighed a ton. Thus, he sat in the public bench for a long time. Then, he stood up and walked slowly toward his uncle¡¯s shop front. However, just after entering the shop and greeting his uncle, Luo Jian¡¯s entire body could not help but stiffen.

    That feeling of someone monitoring them had not disappeared!

    There was more than one person watching them!

    Luo Jian subconsciously turned his head back to look outside of the store. At a nce, he saw the little boy with an umbre under the traffic light. He slightly tilted his head. His strange eyes seemed to be shining with red light as he stared directly at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian felt that his heart seemingly jumped once, and as he was about to stride out, his uncle seemed to notice that something was not right with Luo Jian. He called out to him, but Luo Jian turned a deaf ear to what he said. Shortly after, a big truck drove past on the road and blocked Luo Jian¡¯s gaze at the boy. After the truck slowly drove away, there were no traces left of the little boy under the traffic light.

    Luo Jian¡¯s goal of approaching his target had to be put to a stop. In a daze, he looked around for a while. People came and went on the street. A toddler headed toward them and drilled into the crowd. Naturally, the child disappeared without trace. Luo Jian could not find the boy, and his heart was suddenly filled with an ominous premonition.

    ¡°What happened?¡± His uncle ran out of the shop, stood behind him, and asked. In passing, he followed the direction of Luo Jian¡¯s gaze to sweep a look over their surroundings.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I probably mistook it for something.¡± Luo Jian did not know how to exin what had happened. He could not possibly tell his uncle that he felt a sense of crisis from a small kid, right? However, Luo Jian honestly thought that the little boy looked very ominous. He was wearing a grey short-sleeved shirt and a pair of grey shorts. His hair seemed to be a little long because he did not take care of it. Looking from afar, Luo Jian thought he was a girl, but when he looked at him closer, he could clearly identify his gender. He was holding a blood red umbre&#k2026;&#k2026; It was a bright red and did not have any patterns on it.

    ¡°Uncle, can I stay with you during this period of time?¡± The foreboding premonition caused Luo Jian to worry that his rtives would be affected by it. He thought that until the problem was resolved, he could not and would not leave his parents and rtives.

    Luo Jian¡¯s uncle did not object. He was very happy and was constantly smiling: ¡°Of course you can. My house is quiterge and I was the only one staying in it every day, so the ce felt strangely deste. With many people there, it will be so lively, and it¡¯s good for the ce to be lively!¡±

    While he talked to his uncle, Luo Jian unconsciously nced back at the traffic light located at the intersection. It was as if the boy was still standing there.

    ¨D¨D

    As Luo Jian was obediently guarding his rtives¡¯ house and eating delicious spicy food, ignorant of his friend¡¯s situation, Feng YuLan stared at the man in front of him with a twisted face.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to drink porridge.¡±

    ¡°You can only have a liquid diet now.¡±

    Feng YuLan felt that his temples were constantly pounding, and this sensation made him feel that in his head, he could constantly hear a buzzing sound. He straightforwardly decided that since he had started arguing with him, he would carry on arguing until the end: ¡°Just let me starve to death then.¡±

    Thus, Duan Li took out a syringe. A transparent fluid was swaying inside the syringe.

    ¡°Wait! What the hell are you trying to do?!¡± Feng YuLan still held a lingering fear towards syringes.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t eat. I¡¯ll give you a nutrient injection.¡± Duan Li was very calm. He waved his ¡®weapon¡¯ in front of Feng YuLan. The sharp needle was as long as a finger, and the sight caused Feng YuLan to shiver incessantly.

    ¡°In that case, I will choose to drink the porridge......¡± Feng YuLan resigned to his fate and obediently brought the bowl closer to him. With a gulp, he downed the contents of the bowl. When he finished eating, Duan Li was very considerate and took out a handkerchief to wipe Ah Lan¡¯s mouth. Although the porridge tasted a little nd and he did not know what ingredients were used to cook it, the porridge smelled quite fragrant. Feng YuLan had to admire Duan Li in this aspect...... He did not expect that this fool could cook!

    Contrary to what Feng YuLan had expected, Duan Li, the perverted murderer, was actually good at managing the household these days. After the operation, Feng YuLan had been moved to the second-floor bedroom with a French window that provided the room with good lighting. Although Ah Lan had not left this clean,fortable, and small room, just by looking out the window...... it looked like he was in a fancy vi?

    Feng YuLan was forbidden to get out of bed. Truth be told, he did not have the strength to walk anyway. His limbs and entire body felt as if they were soft. After the operation, the wound was still aching slightly. Feng YuLan recalled the situation before he came here. He seemed to be in a very bad condition. He had used a power that was far beyond what he could do. It was a good thing that he did not die on the spot, but......

    ¡°Where¡¯s Luo Jian? What did you do to him?¡± Ah Lan was really worried about his good friend Luo Jian, so he asked Duan Li that question.

    ¡°You are very concerned about him?¡± Duan Li did not show much of an expression, and Feng YuLan was not willing to pay attention to his expression. Duan Li¡¯s half-angelic, half-devilish appearance caused Feng YuLan to be a little frightened.

    ¡°Of course I am concerned about him.¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured. Your friend is luckier than you.¡± Duan Li took away the porridge bowl that Ah Lan had finished eating from and ced it on the table. Then, he approached Feng YuLan and urately kissed him on his lips.

    Feng YuLan immediately blushed. He reached out to push him away, but his weak limbs had no strength. Also, these days he was a little used to it. Duan Li this stupid fool had gotten closer to him and kissed him without any reason, and since he could not resist, Feng YuLan could only passively ept his actions. The manly kiss was filled with aggression. As Feng YuLan was in a trance, he came up with a good idea.

    At the end of the short kiss, Duan Li reached out and rubbed Ah Lan¡¯s head, making his hair messier.

    Feng YuLan squinted his eyes as they shed with a calcting light. He opened his mouth to ask, ¡°Why are you constantly kissing me?¡±

    Duan Li licked his lips and said, ¡°I¡¯m interested in you.¡±

    ¡°What kind of an interest do you have in me?¡±

    Duan Li became even more straightforward: ¡°I want to do you.¡±

    Feng YuLan had really wanted to act out a frightened expression, but he found that he was very calm and answered him simrly and straightforwardly: ¡°You have already done me.¡±

    ¡°Halfway through doing you, I was interrupted, so it wasn¡¯t enough.¡±

    F*ck this bastard! He¡¯s too unruly and doesn¡¯t even have a lower limit! Feng YuLan was cursing andining inwardly, but he remained solemn on the surface. He started to argue with Duan Li, who wascking in moral principles: ¡°You piece of shit, that is called rape!¡±

    ¡°I merely wanted to rape you.¡±

    F*ck! I want to beat him up so much! Feng YuLan¡¯s expression twisted, and he said with a grim smile, ¡°Fine. I can¡¯t defeat you anyway. If you want to do me, I¡¯m fine with it, but you have to pay the price.¡±

    Duan Li cocked his head to one side and seemed to be thinking of something. He remained silent for a while. He leaned over to touch Feng YuLan¡¯s little hand. Then, he ced Ah Lan¡¯s cold hand under the quilt. This action somehow made Feng YuLan feel deeply touched. He only heard Duan Li reply, ¡°What kind of price do you want me to pay?¡±

    ¡°I want you to meet all my demands! Even if I want the moon in the sky, you have to get it for me!¡± Feng YuLan spoke without thinking. He exaggerated his demands to purposely make things difficult for him.

    But unexpectedly, Duan Li gave him a smile: ¡°As long as it is something I can aplish, I will satisfy you.¡±

    Feng YuLan felt it was a little unbelievable: ¡°You really agree to it?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    Feng YuLan suddenly harrumphed coldly, ¡°Alright, I need you to do something now.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Let me give you a beating!¡±

    Duan Li smiled even more brilliantly, spread out his hands, and said, ¡°Sure, as long as you have the strength to hit me.¡±

    Damn his mother! How dare he look down on me! Wait and see if I will beat you to death! Feng YuLan felt a bout of anger rising up from his chest and no matter how he tried, he could not push it down. New and old feelings of hatred all surged up at once. He continued to hum, ¡°Come here and bring your face closer to me.¡±

    So Duan Li did as he was told. Then, Feng YuLan reached his ws out just to punch him in the face, but he obviously overestimated his physical strength. Feng YuLan was so weak due to his condition...... that he could not even lift his ws......

    Damn, I don¡¯t have the strength to beat him. Momentarily, Feng YuLan felt frustrated and exasperated, and his face turned red one moment and white the next. Seeing this, Duan Li felt it was a funny sight. He reached out and grabbed Ah Lan¡¯s paw. He rubbed his hand in his palms and said, ¡°Once you are well, you can give me a beating.¡±

    Feng YuLan let out a harrumph as he turned his head right and left. He suddenly smiled strangely: ¡°Perhaps I will be able to beat you up soon. Didn¡¯t you and I sign that bullshit contract to get rid of your NPC status? You were forced into my team by the secret chamber. Surely, you will enter the next secret chamber with me. ¡±

    Duan Li smiled helplessly, ¡°You appear to know nothing at all, but in fact, you know everything.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Feng YuLan immediately becamecent, and his tail almost rose to the sky in response.

    Duan Li nced at him smiling, and as if he could not help it, he approached Ah Lan again and blocked his ruddy lips.

    T/N: We are beginning the next arc in the next chapter!

 Chapter 55 - Burial Grounds (I)

    <h4>Chapter 55 - Burial Grounds (I)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    The humid air, filled with the smell of decay, had some sort of scent that was vomit-inducing. He could hear water dripping but did not know where it came from. The sound echoed in his ears. The sound was seemingly transmitted from far away, and yet it seemed to sound right beside his ears.

    Luo Jian opened his eyes and found that darkness covered the surroundings in front of him.

    No, urately speaking, there were still specks of light. To be precise, the light source was phosphorescence, which gave off a cold, weak light.

    Phosphorus oxidizes slowly in the air. When the heat umted on the surface reaches 40?C, it will spontaneouslybust. Part of the energy from thebustion will be released in the form of light energy. This is the reason why phosphorus can emit light in the dark. This is called ¡°phosphorescence.¡±

    In ancient times, some people could see weak light specters in tombs and cemeteries and thought it was ¡°will-o¡¯-the-wisp,¡± but it was actually also a kind of phosphorescence. Simrly, modern people analyzed the necessary conditions and principles of phosphorescence and were also able to use phosphorescent materials to make artificial night pearls.

    But this type of light was too weak. Luo Jian¡¯s entire body was submerged in pitch-ck darkness, so he subconsciously focused his vision on the faint, cold light. He carefully and slowly climbed up from the ground. When he touched the ground, he found it seemed to be covered by small, wet, and smooth rocks. The area he was in was windless, and the air felt extremely thin.

    Luo Jian felt that he was probably in a narrow cave because after he stood up and touched the walls on either side of him, he realized he was surrounded by rocks. He calmed down a little and subsequently slowly stepped forward toward the faint and cold light.

    Yes, that is right. Luo Jian was now in a secret chamber.

    Luo Jian had been living in his uncle¡¯s house and monitoring him for 24 hours a day, as per normal. But these days, nothing happened to his uncle. The strange little boy with an umbre never appeared again. Everything developed toward a good direction. The day when he was supposed to enter the next secret chamber arrived naturally. That night, after Luo Jian made his preparations, he went to sleep.

    As soon as he woke up, he appeared in this narrow cave.

    The first thing that Luo Jian would do whenever he entered a secret chamber was to look for the printed note. Luo Jian had no night vision, so he could only walk toward somewhere with light. Soon, Luo Jian found that the light source was a small stone on the wall. The stone emitted a weak, blue, cold light and appeared quite beautiful. He could not help but stretch out his hand and dig the stone out from the wall.

    After breaking the stone off, Luo Jian found a piece of paper stuck to the stone. It was a printed paper with purple patterns. The contents of the paper were as follows:

    [Dear Mr. Luo Jian:]

    [Wee to the ¡°Burial Grounds¡± secret chamber. This is an ancient tomb that has not been discovered by anyone. Moreover, it is connected to an underground karst cave that has also not yet been discovered. The terrain here is like abyrinth, and asionally there are magical ¡®living creatures¡¯ that will make an appearance here. Please be mindful of your personal safety and find yourpanions as soon as possible.]

    [Simrly, this is also the ¡®Chaos Chamber Battlefield¡¯ prepared for the ¡®Team Battle.¡¯ If you kill any person from the enemy team, you will get a huge reward. If you are the first to escape from the secret chamber, ahead of the enemy team, your team will win, and all members will receive special rewards. The team that fails will be punished, and the remaining survivors of the failing team will enter a punishment chamber.]

    [in addition, if you destroy the enemy team, you and your team will also be regarded as ¡®victors,¡¯ but you must escape from the secret chamber to get the rewards. If you cannot escape sessfully, all of you will stay here forever.]

    [Due to the special nature of this secret chamber, there will be no time limit for the secret chamber allocated for team battles, and yers who cannot escape will stay here forever. Besides that, we cannot provide you with the exact clues and hints regarding the exit. You can only get a quarter of the clues. Maybe killing the enemy yers will give you an unexpected surprise.]

    [Hint: Portrait of Tomb Owner]

    [PS: The number of members in your team is less than five. For the sake of fairness, the secret chamber has recruited a strong partner for you, whose codename is ¡°The Oracle.¡± Please find yourpanions as soon as possible because the loners are always the ones being hunted.]

    [With that, the hints are all provided. Good luck.]

    After reading the note, Luo Jian was silent for a long time, and only one sentence echoed in his mind: &#k2018;F*ck, what the heck is happening??!!!¡¯

    F*ck, why had it be a team battle?! Even if you wanted to raise the difficulty of the secret chamber, why did the difficulty soar to this level!!! How many times did Lao Tzu escape from the secret chamber in total?! Wasn¡¯t it said that the team battle mode would only be unlocked after the team gathered five people and there were two or three senior members who had experienced five or more secret chambers?!

    ¡°And obviously our numbers aren¡¯t enough!!¡± Luo Jian wanted to curse. ¡°Even if whatever that person¡¯s name is has been recruited...... What is his name, Oracle? Ah Lan and I, as well as that unruly Duan Li...... we would only have four members?! It¡¯s obvious that the chamber is f*cking with me! Even if it really is f*cking with me, it should at least recruit one more member to gather the minimum of five members for my team. AHHHHH!¡±

    Luo Jian was holding the shimmering stone in one hand and the note in the other. His mind was very confused now. He squatted down since he felt a little numb and sat on the ground with a pale face.

    ¡°That¡¯s not right. Even if the secret chamber doesn¡¯t act ording to logic, it wouldn¡¯t arrange such a ridiculous team battle. Previously, Duan Li used that contract to force Ah Lan to establish a symbiotic rtionship with him, and he became our team member. This made our team grow to three members, and the difficulty of the secret chamber would increase, but it¡¯d be impossible for us to unlock a team battle when we do not have enough members......¡±

    Luo Jian bit his lips and began to think: ¡°Maybe it was due to Duan Li¡¯s influence. Arge part of what has happened is because of him, but the team member who joined temporarily is also very problematic. The secret chamber only arranged for him to join. Unless... could it be that his strength alone would be equal to the strength of two members? And Oracle, what kind of damned codename is this? Why does this name feel so ominous to me......¡±

    After deliberating about the issue for a long time, Luo Jian still could not figure it out, so he flipped over the note in his hand, turned it around, and continued to read:

    [Probably in an era very long ago, there was a group of backward people located in a remote area that believed in a type of god. They believed that their God was attached to the head of their n. They offered the head of their n as a sacrifice and built a huge andplex tomb filled with various living offerings, food, cloth, and metal tools. In every generation, the n head¡¯s final destination was the tomb. That was until one day, when the door to the tomb could no longer be opened again.]

    [Thousands of years passed, and the tomb was buried deep in the ground. The entrance and exit have disappeared without trace, and until now, it remains undiscovered.]

    ¡°It is probably a very ancient tomb.¡± It was impossible for Luo Jian to enter the tomb and rob it without any archaeological experience, but things like the tomb sounded bloodcurdling. Luo Jian naturally remembered the resurrecting corpses that he had met before. It seemed that zombies and other simr creatures were unavoidable, and he also did not know whether there would be other monsters.

    Luo Jian had seen a series of films...... regarding tomb raiding. A couple more movies were produced after the first as sequels, but it was a pity that Luo Jian didn¡¯t even finish the first one. If he had known earlier, he would have watched more of it. Although it only had rudimentary knowledge, at least he would have some practical knowledge.

    Luo Jian regretfully felt that nothing could be done regarding that. He put the note into his pocket and began to observe whether there was anything around him that he could use. Although the light emitted by the stone in his hand was weak, it still lit up the area around Luo Jian.

    He was in an aisle narrow enough that only one person could walk through. The tomb was not very well built. After all, it was made long ago. There were many cracks in the rock above his head, and it felt like it could fall at any time. After ncing up, Luo Jian felt a little terrified.

    He could walk forward or backward in the narrow passage, but there was absolute darkness in both directions. Luo Jian stood in the middle with a stone that did not emit much light. His heart was filled with chills.

    ¡°Should I f*cking walk toward the front? Or toward the back?¡± Luo Jian muttered to himself. His forehead was sweating. This darned ce was really too dark. Except for the small stone in his hand, he did not see even a hint of another light source. It was too urate to say that it was so dark that he could not see his hand in front of his face.

    In particr, Luo Jian was not sure if a strange living creature would suddenly pop out from nowhere. That would definitely scare anyone to their death.

    ¡°Oh right, is it better to use a shlight here?¡± It suddenly urred to Luo Jian that he still had a ¡®personal space¡¯...... Ah no, actually it should be called a ¡®carry-on secret chamber.¡¯

    He did not know if it could be used here. Luo Jian had already filled the secret chamber with all kinds of necessities in advance, including medical equipment, food, water, rope, exploration tools, mountaineering tools, a set of clothes to change into, and even tents. Anyway, all kinds of things that Luo Jian could think of had been thrown in.

    Now, it was time to try whether the ¡®carry-on secret chamber¡¯ could be used. Therefore, Luo Jian began to search through his pocket, dug out the broken mirror, and read the transmission phrase, and suddenly he felt a bout of dizziness. Luo Jian had appeared in the familiar ssroom.

    ¡°I seeded!¡± Luo Jian cheered and ran to the corner of the ssroom, where there were disorderly items piled up as high as a mountain. In the pile, he found a shlight and two batteries. After brief consideration, he found a bag and stuffed a pack of choctes into his pocket.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to see if it works.¡± Luo Jian read the transmission phrase backwards, and he returned to the dark passageway again. He lowered his head and saw that the shlight was still in his hand. After touching his pocket, he found that the chocte was also still there.

    ¡°It works!¡± Luo Jian¡¯s mood soared, and he quickly turned on the shlight. This time, the light became bigger. However, the tunnel was very long, and the light could not shine to the end of the walkway. Luo Jian swallowed his saliva and headed forward.

    After walking for a period of time, perhaps about 10 minutes, Luo Jian suddenly felt a bad premonition. How could this narrow passage be so long? After walking for quite a distance, the passageway was still pitch ck. There was no sound at all. It was deadly quiet. Luo Jian stopped and looked back. Behind him, everything was pitch ck.

    At this time, if he heard footsteps behind him...... In such a contained environment, Luo Jian could not help but start to daydream and make blind conjectures to create a horrifying scene. For example, while he was walking, a hand would suddenly touch his back, strange ck shadows, and other horrible things he imagined......

    Just as Luo Jian was imagining such horrible scenes, it was as if his imagination had be real. There were footsteps in the passageway that sounded from behind him!

    When the footsteps sounded, Luo Jian still felt it was a little unbelievable. First, he was given a scare. Cold sweat constantly trickled down his back. He began to think about what to do next. Should he run straight ahead? But what if there was something ahead of him?

    But maybe...... Could the footsteps belong to one of hispanions? For example, maybe it was Feng YuLan?

    No, that is not right! Something is wrong! Luo Jian listened carefully to the ¡®ta, ta, ta¡¯ footsteps that were approaching. It did not sound like the footsteps of a normal human being, but rather, it sounded as if one of his feet wasme and being dragged along by the other. It made an abrupt, strong sound that was shortly followed by the sound caused by the friction of the dragging foot.

    Would any of hispanions walk like this? After thinking, he finally could not help it, and his fear made him absent-minded. However, he still turned off his shlight sensibly. He held only the shining stone with one hand and touched the wall with the other. He rapidly forged ahead, only hoping that he remained as far away as possible from the unknown creature behind him.

    T/N: This is a very, very, very long arc. To be precise, this is where the main plot unfolds, and the chapters prior to this chapter are all considered the beginning, in my opinion. We¡¯d have many, many chapters regarding the burial grounds (about a quarter of the novel), so please brace yourselves! :3

    Also, EIC Ko-Fi goals are opened again! Feel free to support for extra chapters, currently, we have about 10 chapters to offer for Ko-Fi goals.

 Chapter 56 - Burial Grounds (II)

    <h4>Chapter 56 - Burial Grounds (II)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    The passageway was particrly long. It was so long it made Luo Jian feel a little desperate. No matter how far he walked, the passageway ahead still stretched forward endlessly.

    But the footsteps behind him were getting closer. Luo Jian could not understand how the other party seemed to be able to walk faster than him when the other had oneme leg. The footsteps were getting closer and closer! The creature was but a short distance away from him! He was so scared that he left all his doubts behind and stretched his little legs to quickly run. However, within two minutes of running, a hand suddenly stretched out from the side and caught Luo Jian by his shoulders!

    Luo Jian was so scared that his whole body shivered. He didn¡¯t even get to utter a sound before someone covered his mouth and nose. After that, he was dragged into a pitch-dark hole! The frightened Luo Jian opened his eyes wide and heard a voice in his ear: ¡°Don¡¯t make a sound!¡±

    This voice was very familiar. It was so familiar that tears coursed down Luo Jian¡¯s cheeks; it was Feng YuLan!

    ¡°Why are you here, Ah Lan?¡±

    ¡°No time to exin.¡± Feng YuLan suddenly took away the shining stone in Luo Jian¡¯s hand, stretched half of his body out of the small hole, and immediately threw the stone as far away as possible. Then, at this time, Luo Jian noticed that there were some small holes in certain spots on the lower parts of the wall. In the long passageway that seemed to stretch on endlessly, the holes had the capacity to hold one or two people within. The entrances of the small holes were rtively low. Especially in such a dark environment, it was easy to overlook them. Luo Jian had walked such a long distance and actually did not notice them.

    After Feng YuLan threw away the stone, he opened his mouth to read a few obscure incantations. Shortly after that, a faint light formed on his left hand. With his left hand, Feng YuLan gave a single-handed wave toward the entrance of the small cave. After that, Luo Jian clearly saw that there was ayer of transparent film at the entrance of the small cave that they were in. It appeared to be a protective cover.

    Just after Feng YuLan cast the spell, the footsteps that had been following Luo Jian neared. When Feng YuLan recited the spell, the faint light had disappeared. The whole cave was dark. Both of them held their breaths. Hearing the footsteps that reverberated in their ears, they listened as the limping footsteps continued onwards and walked past the small cave where they were hiding. The creature paused for a while, but it did not seem to discover anything unusual. Then, it continued forward again.

    After a long time, the footsteps could not be heard anymore, and Luo Jian heard a sigh from Feng YuLan and then heard a spell. Soon, a small ball of light appeared in Feng YuLan¡¯s palm, illuminating the entirety of the narrow space.

    ¡°Magic is so convenient.¡± Luo Jian nced at the small light ball in Feng YuLan¡¯s hand with envy and jealousy.

    ¡°Don¡¯t envy me; the Heavens are fair,¡± Ah Lan shrugged and handed Luo Jian a small note. Luo Jian lowered his head and saw that it was Ah Lan¡¯s small note given by the secret chamber. The content on the note was almost the same as Luo Jian¡¯s, but the contents on the back were totally different. It read as follows:

    [Thest one sent to the tomb was a stranger who was forcibly dragged into the tomb by this n. He was an outsider who was a deserter on the battlefield. He had fled to the ce where the nsmen would gather and was isted and ignored by the nsmen. They rejected the outsider, believing that he foreshadowed something ominous. Thus, they pushed the deserter into the tomb and asked him to serve as the funeral apaniment of the n heads.]

    [The spirit of the funeral apaniment cannot rest in peace. He wanders the tomb day and night.]

    After reading the note, Luo Jian abided by the good habit of exchanging information and showed his note to Feng YuLan. After that, the two men cooperated tacitly and began to discuss countermeasures. Luo Jian took the lead in asking: ¡°Do you know...... what that was? ¡±

    Luo Jian was referring to the creature that made the strange footsteps, and Feng YuLan also understood what Luo Jian meant and answered, ¡°It¡¯s not human.¡±

    ¡°How do you know? Have you and that creature met?¡±

    Ah Lan nodded. ¡°When I woke up, beside me was a stagnant pool. I didn¡¯t know whether it was for funerary objects or other purposes. There were several pots that were half a person high and sealed by lids. Moreover, on top of each lid, there was an altarmp. One of the fivemps was actually lit.¡±

    ¡°What happened afterward?¡±

    ¡°Afterward? Of course, I was curious. Naturally, I wanted to see what was in the pots, so I opened them one by one in the order of left to right,¡± Feng YuLan said regretfully and shook his head, ¡°If I had known earlier on, I wouldn¡¯t have opened them.¡±

    ¡°What was in them? A corpse?¡± It could be said that Luo Jian had already met countless corpses, and ording to the general development, whatever was ced in a tomb would not be anything good.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It was a corpse. It was the corpse of a child. It was very small and curled up inside. It was still soaked in some strange liquid. How disgusting. Every pot I opened contained this kind of corpse until I opened thest pot, where the altarmp was lit. After I ced the altarmp somewhere else, before I reached out to lift the lid, the lid opened on its own, and a hand stretched out from it! I was so scared that I kicked the pot with my feet and turned it over. As a result, the pot broke, and one of them climbed out...¡±

    Feng YuLan paused for a moment after he spoke to this point. It seemed that it was hard for him to describe what had urred. He organized what he was about to say next and continued, ¡°In other words, I don¡¯t know how to describe it, but it¡¯s a monster. It seemed to be a creature made of all kinds of different people¡¯s limbs pieced together. Its hands and feet are not of the same length. It can only hobble as it moves forward. But the speed of this guy is very fast. It can¡¯t see but is very sensitive to light and sound.¡±

    ¡°Light and sound?¡± Luo Jian rubbed his chin as he thought. Suddenly, he said, ¡°Now, since we are holding a conversation this way, will it be able to hear us?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Feng YuLan pointed to the entrance of the cave. ¡°I casted a ignore spell and a silencing spell.¡±

    Luo Jian was more envious and jealous: ¡°That was why I said magic or whatnot is so convenient.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t envy me. I have almost no offensive incantations.¡± Feng YuLan shook his head regretfully. ¡°And my constitution is also very weak, so I¡¯m unable to be part of the fighting force.¡±

    Luo Jian smiled in relief: ¡°Conversely, I think that in this sort of game which requires us to escape from a secret chamber, what is needed most is notbat effectiveness.¡±

    ¡°Alright, what you have said all made sense, so what do we do next?¡±

    ¡°Find someone; we have to find the rest of ourpanions, though I¡¯m reluctant to do so.¡± Luo Jian thought of Duan Li and gnashed his teeth in hatred. He felt that he had not gnashed his teeth enough when he heard Feng YuLan suddenly speak shocking words.

    ¡°If you¡¯re talking about Duan Li, I know where he is.¡±

    Luo Jian raised his head, feeling baffled. ¡°Did you meet him before you met me?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then how do you know where he is?¡±

    Feng YuLan seemed to think of something, and he also gnashed his teeth in hatred. He grinned and said, ¡°I know where he is, but I don¡¯t know why the hell I do.¡±

    ¡°Gosh, you¡¯re simr to me......¡± All of a sudden, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but touch the ouroboros mark on his neck. Through this imprint, he could feel Xing Yan¡¯s existence from time to time. Although he did not know how to describe it in words, it felt magical, as if he could feel the body temperature of the other person.

    ¡°What¡¯s simr?¡± Feng YuLan did not know what urred. Thus, after hearing what Luo Jian said, he was confused.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Luo Jian shook his head and subconsciously concealed the truth.

    The two men then left the cave. Luo Jian picked up the shining stone again. Then, they headed in the opposite direction of where the monster was heading. Feng YuLan led the way. He did not use magic to illuminate the way because it took a lot of energy. Therefore, they used Luo Jian¡¯s shlight, and after leisurely walking for a long time, they returned to where Luo Jian woke up in the beginning.

    ¡°This is where I got this shining stone.¡± Luo Jian felt for a dent in the rock wall.

    ¡°It should be phosphorite. Do you think this thing would be a useful prop?¡±

    ¡°Small details determine sess or failure, and the less obvious things may be more useful.¡± Luo Jian ced the stone into his pocket, and in the dark, his pocket appeared shiny and translucent.

    ¡°What you just said is right, so like you, I brought an interesting thing, too.¡± Feng YuLan seemed to be very happy. He took out a small object from his pocket. Luo Jian nced downward and looked at it carefully. It was actually an altarmp! And it had actually shrunk down to the size of a thumb and became a small ything.

    ¡°This is the altarmp that was ced on the pot that the monster drilled out from. I put out the light, and it shrank.¡± Feng YuLan was immensely proud. Luo Jian also looked at him in surprise and guessed, ¡°It¡¯s a shrinking spell, right?¡±

    Feng YuLan nodded: ¡°There are many incantations in the grimoire, and I selected some that are practical and easy to learn, such as the floating spell, shrinking spell, luminous spell, silencing spell, deformation spell...... However, if the object is toorge, I can¡¯t make it smaller. It¡¯s the same for the floating spell. If something is too heavy, I can¡¯t make it float, but what¡¯s magical is that I can make my body float. ¡±

    ¡°Can you make me float?¡± Luo Jian suddenly said.

    Ah Lan shook his head regretfully, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do it now, but I will be able to do it in the future.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Luo Jianughed, pointed to themp in Ah Lan¡¯s hand, and said, ¡°After you took thismp, the monster ran out, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Luo Jian was absorbed in his thinking. He touched his chin and suddenlyughed, ¡°Then, let¡¯s light it up and carry themp as we walk.¡±

    ¡°That seems like a good idea.¡± Ah Lan seemed to agree with him. Following that, he waved his hand to restore themp to its original size. However, after a brief pause, he said to Luo Jian, ¡°Can you light it?¡±

    Luo Jian raised his head in surprise. ¡°Didn¡¯t you learn an igniting spell?¡±

    Feng YuLan¡¯s head was full of ck lines: ¡°What the heck is the igniting spell?! Don¡¯t make up some inexplicable spells in your mind, and don¡¯t impose these inexplicable spells on me!! The spells are not omnipotent!¡±

    After Feng YuLan finished cursing, Luo Jian immediately turned his head and made an unfathomable expression as he muttered to himself, ¡°I miscalcted!¡±

    Of course, they did not continue this silly bantering. Luo Jian obediently went to his ¡®carry-on secret chamber,¡¯ found the two lighters, and lit themp.

    The altarmp was an object that was an allusion to the ancient times. One would ce amp that would not go out in a tomb, and it would serve to illuminate the way forever and help the dead. However, if it was extinguished, the sky and the earth would descend into darkness, and ghosts and other monsters would make an appearance. Under the cover of darkness, they would attack living creatures. Generally, the altarmp would not be able to be extinguished. After themp was lit, it would need to continue to burn until the oil evaporated and themp was dry.

    T/N: On a side note, ording to what my dad had said in the past when conducting Taoist funerals, the altarmp needed to be kept lit for 49 days when someone had passed away, so the person that passed away could find their way back home. If it¡¯s not lit, the person would be lost... (I can¡¯t remember what else he said...but generally it doesn¡¯t bode well for the spirit to rest in peace).

 Chapter 57 - Burial Grounds (III)

    <h4>Chapter 57 - Burial Grounds (III)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Since Feng YuLan had put out the altarmp, he should be the one to light it. After lighting themp, Feng YuLan naturally needed to walk in front as they explored the pathway ahead of them. Regardless of whether they headed forward or backward, the pitch-ck passageway seemed to stretch on endlessly, causing Feng YuLan to be afraid. From time to time, he had to turn back and look at Luo Jian. After the two people walked for a period of time, Ah Lan finally could not stand it! He suddenly stopped, grabbed one of Luo Jian¡¯s arms, and ced the other¡¯s hand on his left shoulder.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Luo Jian did not know why Feng YuLan did that.

    ¡°ce your hand on my shoulder and follow me.¡± Feng YuLan was very serious about this. He raised up the hand holding the altarmp, which was emitting a dim light.

    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Luo Jian was even more confused with Ah Lan¡¯s behaviour.

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s because of you!¡± Ah Lan raised his eyebrows andined in dissatisfaction, ¡°Luo Jian, when you walk, you do not make any sound! As I continue walking ahead, I suddenly feel that there is no one behind me. It¡¯s horrifying!¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± Luo Jian realized this muchter than Feng YuLan and scratched his head, ¡°Is there no sound when I walk? I didn¡¯t realize it myself.¡±

    ¡°No! Wait......¡± Luo Jian suddenly thought of something. He frowned and said, ¡°Speaking of which, Ah Lan, when you walk, you didn¡¯t make a noise either.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t notice it. That is impossible because I¡¯m not a martial arts expert. How is it possible that I don¡¯t make any sound when walking?¡± Feng YuLan expressed his doubts and stomped hard on the ground with both feet. After he did that, the two people suddenly discovered a terrible finding at the same time. They froze on the spot! The dim yellow light emitted by the altarmp shone on two people¡¯s pale faces!

    ¡°There is no...... no sound......¡± Luo Jian shivered and gazed at Feng YuLan, who was as stiff and shocked as he was.

    ¡°There are no...... no footsteps......¡± Feng YuLan replied, following what Luo Jian had said. This time, the two people fell into a terrible silence at the same time.

    It seemed that Feng YuLan could not believe it. He stepped on the ground again and even trotted back and forth with the altarmp. However, after various tests, they had to believe that their footsteps produced no sounds. Even when they walked or ran, the passageway stayed very quiet. It was a type of silence that felt like...... it could swallow any noise they made.

    ¡°When did the sound of our footsteps disappear?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember. It seems...... that there were no sounds in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not scientific. If walking doesn¡¯t produce sounds, how can you hear me when I speak?¡± Feng YuLan was very confused about this.

    ¡°Everything in the tomb is very peculiar. Maybe this passageway is specially made to swallow the sounds of footsteps?¡± Luo Jian followed Ah Lan in specting.

    However, Feng YuLan retorted, ¡°But we could all hear it, right? The footsteps of that monster.¡±

    Luo Jian asked suddenly, ¡°Feng YuLan, did you really see what happened clearly? What did that monster look like?¡±

    Feng YuLan began to think about it hard and described the situation in more detail: ¡°I kicked the pot down, and it fell on the ground and shattered. The liquid in it spilled all over the ground, and there was arge mass that wriggled out from the pot. Since the surrounding environment was very dark, I couldn¡¯t see clearly. I simply thought that it was a human-shaped thing, so I picked up the altarmp beside me to take a clearer look at it...... After a closer look, I saw the legs of the monster. One was longer, and one was shorter. The shorter one looked like a child¡¯s leg. The long leg was extremely twisted in a spiral-like shape, as if it was a towel that was wrung dry.

    ¡°When I wanted to look further up at the monster¡¯s face, it seemed to be frightened by themp¡¯s light. At that time, the monster suddenly shifted rapidly and mbered up. It moved at an extremely fast speed! In an instant, it escaped and ran out of my line of sight. Besides that, it also slithered right by my feet. At that time, I was given a shock. I didn¡¯t have a firm grip on themp in my hand, and the light was extinguished when it fell on the floor.

    ¡°After that, I didn¡¯t light up themp, and the monster didn¡¯t react to my actions. But when I made a little noise, I could feel somethinging at me, so I tried my best to dodge it. After that, I was in a muddle and fumbled out of the ce. When I came out, what appeared before me was the long passageway.¡±

    A long time after Luo Jian listened to this, he frowned. He said, ¡°Forget it; I can¡¯t figure out what the monster is. Even if our footsteps don¡¯t make noise, it¡¯s fine this way. Let¡¯s continue moving.¡±

    Thereafter, the two people kept walking, one in front and one at the back. Feng YuLan continued to walk ahead with the altarmp, and Luo Jian followed after him. As Ah Lan previously requested, he ced his hand on Feng YuLan¡¯s shoulder. They walked for such a long time that their feet were sore. They chatted quietly as they walked to relieve the fear of darkness and the sense of suffocation that the secret chamber brought to them.

    ¡°Ah Lan, do you really know where Duan Li is?¡± Both of them were exhausted and a little tired, so they decided to sit beside the altarmp and rest. Luo Jian estimated that they had walked for more than an hour! However, what made it horrifying was the fact that even after walking for more than an hour, they were still in this tunnel!

    ¡°I can feel his existence, and he¡¯s moving. He¡¯s probably moving in our direction, but somehow, even though I can feel that he¡¯s a short distance away and regardless of how far we walk, it feels as if there¡¯s still quite a distance to go. It¡¯s as if we¡¯ve been making rounds around the same ce.¡±

    Luo Jian pped his thigh and said, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. We have been making rounds around in the same ce...... What is the colloquial term for it? We¡¯re going around in circles?!¡±

    ¡°Going around in circles?¡± An idea shed through Feng YuLan¡¯s mind. He said, ¡°Yes, we are going around in circles!¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to unravel this?¡± Luo Jian looked at Feng YuLan¡¯s unfathomable expression. It seemed that he had a solution to it.

    ¡°There are some spells in my grimoire simr to it,¡± Feng YuLan said. Out of nowhere, he took his grimoire out and started flipping through it. As he was turning the pages, he said, ¡°It¡¯s like a border. Make a border around a piece ofnd and set it as an enclosed space. Thisnd will then be separated from other spaces. For this sort of spatial skill, a low-level type would be a trick that deceives the eye, but if one of the highest level is set up, it can separate time and space. Although it sounded like a very awesome skill, I have yet to even learn even the lowest level.¡±

    ¡°Then will you be able to unravel it?¡±

    ¡°No. Although the space we are circling around is simr to something like a border, the essence of it is different,¡± Feng YuLan exined and finally shook his head regretfully.

    They were silent for a while. Luo Jian helplessly said, ¡°If we go on this way, we¡¯ll probably have to walk around the tunnel until we die. Therefore, we can employ a violent and direct method.¡±

    ¡°What method?¡±

    ¡°We can just kill that monster.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a violent and direct method, but are you sure we can do it?¡± Feng Yn calmly began to analyze with Luo Jian, ¡°This secret chamber is a team battle secret chamber. Previously, I asked Duan Li to tell me some relevant information. Therefore, right now...... Are you clear on how much the difficulty of the chamber has been raised?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am clear on it,¡± Luo Jian frowned deeply. ¡°There needs to be a team of five. Only when there are two or more seniors who have experienced five games or more will the team battle unlock, and this must be recognized by the secret chamber. In here, we will encounter enemies and creatures of different levels.¡±

    ¡°We have a very low chance of getting rid of it!¡± Feng YuLan was a little agitated and said, frustrated, ¡°We are not seniors, our bodies are not imbued with great strength, and we don¡¯t even have the most basic knowledge about our enemies! What¡¯s worse is that in this secret chamber, we are trapped with a monster in a ce that we have been circling around since the beginning!¡±

    Luo Jian feebly shook his head. ¡°But there is no way out. No one wille and save us! Do you want to be stuck here, waiting for our deaths?¡±

    Feng YuLan was agitated and walked back and forth in the passageway. Suddenly, he paused and looked at Luo Jian. ¡°No, someone wille and save us.¡±

    Luo Jian raised his head and gazed at him. ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Duan Li.¡± Feng YuLan smiled: ¡°Since I can feel him, he naturally knows where I am, too...... However, even after being trapped for over an hour, we still don¡¯t see that bastarding. Maybe he¡¯s also entangled by something.¡±

    Luo Jian still bore a grudge against Duan Li. He frowned as he looked towards Feng YuLan: ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we be too dependent on outsiders if we wait for others to rescue us? You know that guy¡¯s not a good fellow.¡±

    Feng YuLan returned to where he sat previously, next to Luo Jian. He raised the corner of his mouth and gave a cold sneer: ¡°In this sort of situation, we should use everything at our disposal, and...... he is now a member of our team. He has signed a symbiotic contract with me. He has no other options but toe and save me. Thus, let¡¯s trust him a little.¡±

    ¡°But I still don¡¯t think we should stay here, waiting for our deaths.¡± Luo Jian reached for his short de and stroked the tip of it with his fingers: ¡°How about we try it? Killing that damn monster. ¡±

    Feng YuLan tilted his head: ¡°Alright, it¡¯s worth a try.¡±

    After that, in order to determine what they should do, Luo Jian and Feng YuLan discussed how to kill the monster. The first step was to determine the division ofbour. The main output of the damage could only be dealt by Luo Jian, and Feng YuLan would naturally act as the bait.

    Since the division ofbor was clear, how should they attract that monster? Feng YuLan thought about it and decided to put out the altarmp in his hand. He turned on Luo Jian¡¯s shlight instead. They turned around and went back in the direction where the monster had gone. Along the way, Feng YuLan knocked on the wall with stones that he had picked up from somewhere. Interestingly, although the sound of footsteps disappeared, the sounds of talking and knocking did not.

    Soon afterward, they heard footstepsing from right ahead of them. It was the sound of something dragging. With the apaniment of that sound, the dark passageway gave off a scalp-tingling sensation. Luo Jian and Feng YuLan looked at each other. Luo Jian merely said softly, ¡°Stay where you are and don¡¯t move.¡±

    After he said that, Luo Jian removed all the shining objects on his body and gave them to Feng YuLan. He crept back until his whole body was hidden in the dark. He had already drawn out his knife, and he decided to perfectly unleash the skills obtained in thest secret chamber at this moment. He needed to seed.

    As for Feng YuLan, he did not know when he fell into a state of calmness simr to Luo Jian¡¯s. There were no signs of fear on his face. He had added various defense and ignore spells to Luo Jian. The grimoire floating in his hand radiated a brighter and more intense light. And just in front of them, the prey stepped into the hunters¡¯ trap.

    The monster¡¯s footsteps were closing in.

    Feng YuLan squatted slowly. He half-knelt on the ground with his grimoire still floating around him. The grimoire automatically flipped through the pages, and big words that no one but him could see appeared on it:

    [I¡¯ll initiate the defense for you, but it¡¯s better for you to not forcefully face it head-on.]

    Feng YuLan closed his eyes and did not speak.

    As for Luo Jian, he stood quietly in the dark behind Feng YuLan.

    T/N: Thank you Miya for the Ko-fi!

    Thank you, everyone, for the kind support given and for reading andmenting as well!

 Chapter 58 - Burial Grounds (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 58 - Burial Grounds (IV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Feng YuLan was standing closer to the monster, so he could see the monster in front of him clearly.

    This thing...... It used to be...... a woman.

    Her hair was very long, so long that it dragged on the floor. Her appearance was beyond recognition. Some flesh still hung on half of her face while the bones of the other half were exposed. Her eyes were dark hollows; it was unknown how long her eyeballs had been gone. She giggled, as if she wasughing at Feng YuLan.

    Her torso looked as if it was pieced together from assorted body parts. One of her arms was long while the other was short. There were some cloth strips hanging on her body that may have been clothes in the past. She walked with a limp and at a slow speed. What was amazing was that only the sound of her footsteps could be heard when she walked. She hunched over and crawled as if she was some kind of reptile, lying on the ground and slowly approaching Feng YuLan.

    Feng YuLan was unable to maintain his calm. He felt a little restless, so he took a deep breath and started to recite the spell. This was the only offensive spell that he knew at the moment, and it seemed more like an area of control spell used in certain games?

    The monster crawled closer towards him. At first, it seemed to be alert, but very soon, it could not bear it. She felt neither Luo Jian¡¯s existence nor his killing intent. In front of her eyes, there was only Ah Lan, her delicious food. She approached Feng YuLan without hesitation. When she sped up, Luo Jian, hidden in the dark behind Feng YuLan, fiercely charged ahead, and at the same time, the monster jumped onto Ah Lan! At this critical moment, Feng YuLan finished reciting the spell, spread his right hand as he aimed at the monster, and in a neither loud nor soft voice recited: ¡°Enhance gravity!¡±

    All of a sudden, at that moment, the monster, which was originally light, was easily pulled down by the strong gravity that assaulted her! She sprawled on the ground with a thump and could not get up for a second or two! In these one or two seconds, Luo Jian jumped up and leaped over Feng YuLan. In passing, he also stepped on Ah Lan¡¯s shoulder to give himself a bit more of a boost and jump directly onto the monster. The sharp, short knife stabbed into the monster¡¯s head.

    The monster twitched twice and stopped moving.

    The whole hair-raising process took less than half a minute, but Luo Jian and Feng YuLan¡¯s whole bodies were covered in cold sweat. Luo Jian immediately withdrew his knife and jumped down from the monster. With his feet, he pushed the monster¡¯s body, which was motionless and seemingly dead. Luo Jian sighed in relief and said to Ah Lan, who was nearby, ¡°This was unexpectedly easy.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I thought I¡¯d at least get hurt or something.¡± Ah Lan had not yet recovered from the incident; his face was still a little pale.

    Ah Lan¡¯s overly pale look made Luo Jian uneasy, so he went to Ah Lan to try tofort him. The distance between the two men was five or six steps. However, Luo Jian only took two steps when he suddenly felt a chill from behind him. Almost at the same time, Feng YuLan¡¯s face whitened. He stepped forward and shouted, ¡°Behind you, Ah Jian!¡±

    Luo Jian turned his head around immediately and was shocked to find that the monster, which had fallen to the ground, had stood up again. She had a hole in her head, and the bone was cracked open. Her entire head was split in two, with a crack that was a finger wide. A strange smile hung on her mouth, and she didn¡¯t make a sound. However, she had already rushed right in front of Luo Jian!

    At that moment, Luo Jian could not react in time at all, so he was directly knocked down by the monster. The long and short ws were thrust deep in the flesh of Luo Jian¡¯s shoulders. When he fell to the ground, Luo Jian opened his eyes wide and saw that the monster had opened her mouth widely towards him. She had a pair of sharp teeth, akin to a beast. It seemed that she also wanted to bite a hole in Luo Jian¡¯s head.

    Luo Jian wanted to move, get out, and fight back. However, the monster¡¯s strength was shocking, and he was unable to struggle under its strength. Thus, he could only look at the monster in horror as she moved closer to him. At that moment, Luo Jian felt that he might die here.

    But he did not. In the next second, Feng YuLan had already rushed over. He grabbed Luo Jian¡¯s neck, dragged him into his bosom, and punched the monster¡¯s chin with another fist. As he was not strong, he was naturally unable to send the monster flying, but the monster¡¯s hatred turned toward him. The monster abandoned the fatty meat under her body and angrily grabbed Feng YuLan with one w!

    However, Ah Lan seemed to feel no fear. He found and used his grimoire to block the attack! Just as the tip of the monster¡¯s w touched the cover of the grimoire, the book suddenly glowed, and a transparent, shiny, semicircr shield appeared! And this shield was tremendously strong! It actually caused the monster to bounce away directly! The monster seemed to be swept by the wind and rolled five or six meters away! It fell into the darkness far away.

    Feng YuLan did not dare to dy, so he pulled Luo Jian up, turned around, and ran. Stumbling, they ran faster and faster as if the monster was still chasing after them. However, Luo Jian and his friend were also very clear that no matter how long they ran, they could not run out of the tunnel.

    After running for a while, they felt that they could not move anymore. The two people finally stopped and fell to the ground to gasp for breath. Both of them were badly shaken and unable to speak for a while. After a while, Luo Jian raised his head to speak to Feng YuLan: ¡°That¡¯s a good move you used there; what was it?¡±

    ¡°That...... can only be used once.¡± Feng YuLan heaved twice. He regretfully felt for his weapon. It seemed that the grimoire could not float in the air anymore. It could only be held by Feng YuLan. ¡°My weapon seems to be able to umte power and block a fatal injury for the master, but it will take four or five days to recover after that.¡±

    Luo Jian could not help but look at his dagger. ¡°Could mine do that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You have to explore that yourself.¡± Feng YuLan was not in a good mood and kept his head down. After a while, he raised his head suddenly and looked at Luo Jian. He rushed forward to grab his arm: ¡°Are you hurt? Let me see.¡±

    The monster¡¯s sharp ws had scratched Luo Jian¡¯s shoulders, and they were now badly mutted. However, Luo Jian was not in pain; he just felt the wound was a bit numb. However, he noticed that Feng YuLan¡¯s right hand was also badly wounded. He frowned worriedly: ¡°How did you also get an injury on your hand?¡±

    ¡°When I punched the monster with my fists...... Her teeth were so sharp that my hand was scratched.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s frown deepened, and he grabbed Feng YuLan¡¯s wrist to see his injury. Since he was only scratched, the wound was not deep. However, the hurt area was veryrge. Half of the skin on the back of his hand had been scraped off, and he had lost quite a lot of blood. There were also some ck marks around the wound. Luo Jian suddenly thought of something, and he was somewhat frightened. He raised his head to ask Ah Lan, ¡°Ah Lan, does the wound hurt?¡±

    When Feng YuLan was asked that question, he was stunned, and he looked at his hand before shaking his head: ¡°It¡¯s not very painful. Just a bit numb...¡±

    As they spoke, the two people were stupefied at almost the same moment. They raised their heads to look at each other, and at that moment, they tacitly agreed, ¡°It¡¯s numbing! It¡¯s poison!¡±

    ¡°What should I do? My treatment seems to have no effect!¡± Ah Lan panicked! He immediately cast the primary healing spell for Luo Jian, but it only helped to slowly stop the wound from bleeding while the poison kept spreading. When he ripped off Luo Jian¡¯s clothes, he saw that his shoulder had a big ck patch, and it was starting to spread through his blood vessels into the rest of his body.

    Luo Jian seemed to be a little dazed. He had a nk expression on his face and did not speak. He simply sat against the wall and appeared to be in a trance. The poison seemed to be spreading rapidly because of their frenzied running moments ago. Feng YuLan was anxious. He did not know what kind of poison it was, but it would definitely kill Luo Jian!

    Feng YuLan kept flipping through the pages of the grimoire in a hurry and asked continuously, ¡°Tell me, tell me! Is there an antidote spell! Do you have it!¡±

    A few big words appeared on the grimoire:

    [There is, but you won¡¯t be able toprehend it now!]

    ¡°Even if I can¡¯tprehend it, I have to!¡± Feng YuLan took a nce at Luo Jian. He was scared to find that Luo Jian had closed his eyes at some point. The ck patch had spread to his chest and was approaching his heart.

    ¡°No! Tell me the spell! Tell me the spell now!¡± Ah Lan felt so anxious that he jumped to his feet. He held the grimoire and moved to Luo Jian¡¯s side. He pushed him hard: ¡°Ah Jian! Wake up! Don¡¯t sleep! Once you fall asleep, you can never wake up again!¡±

    A long andplex spell appeared on the grimoire. The long string of words made people dizzy just from looking at it. Normally, Ah Lan would never learn such aplex spell, but he could not afford to care about that at the moment. He ced his hand on Luo Jian¡¯s shoulder and read one word at a time. He forced himself to calm down and to properly pronounce every syble. To use magic is to use the power of words. The more urate the pronunciation and the stronger the will of the user, the better the effect of the spell would be.

    But Feng YuLan had overestimated himself. No matter how many times he recited the spell, even if he was dizzy from the spell consuming a lot of his mental energy, the poison kept spreading, and the ck patches on Luo Jian were still expanding. Although the speed had slightly decelerated, no matter how much it had slowed down, the cast spell was still useless.

    ¡°How can it not work?!¡± Feng YuLan did not understand. He questioned his grimoire, and it could only give him an answer faithfully.

    [This is a high-level spell. At your current caliber, you are unable to use it. At best, it can only slow down the spread of the poison.]

    [Nevermind this; you need to check out your own situation!]

    ¡°My situation?¡± Feng YuLan was stunned for a while. He looked down at his injured right hand. He was so worried that he did not realize it, but the poison in his hand was also spreading at a very fast speed! Now, it had spread to the shoulder, and his entire right arm was ck!

    Feng YuLan suddenly felt a little dizzy and faint. His limbs were weak, and he suddenly fell to the ground. He did not know that his expression was just like Luo Jian¡¯s: a little lifeless with vacant eyes.

    But the pages of his grimoire were still flipping:

    [Wake up! Use the spell on yourself! All auxiliary spells are twice as effective when cast on yourself inparison to others!]

    ¡°Ah......¡± Feng YuLan also understood this, but in fact, it was not much better even if it was twice as strong, right? It would just make the poison spread slower. Nevertheless, the desire to live willed Feng YuLan to not give up.

    Hey on the ground and slowly reached his hand out. However, just as he was reaching for his grimoire to touch it, when he was halfway there, he couldn¡¯t move any more and could hardly make a sound. His vision was blurry, and he could only utter onest sentence: ¡°It¡¯s truly...... truly a bad situation...¡±

    In the dark tunnel, two people were motionless. One was sitting against the wall and the other was lying on the ground. After a minute, the terrible poison had spread through their entire bodies. At this moment, Luo Jian¡¯s arm moved...... Ah no, it should be said that the snake around his arm moved.

    The snake was quite fascinating. Ever since the stalker had given it to Luo Jian, it had always stayed wrapped around his wrist and refused to unwind itself. No matter how the snake ate, slept, bathed, or went to the bathroom, it remained small. It was very thin and long and couldn¡¯t be seen where it looped around his wrist when he covered it with his sleeves.

    At first, Luo Jian felt that he should give it something to eat. Later, he found that it would not eat anything. Instead, from time to time, it would bite his arm, and it felt like it was sucking his blood. The snake usually did not move. No matter how he tossed or turned the snake around, it would not move. It closed its eyes as if it was hibernating.

    But at this time, it moved. When both Luo Jian and Feng YuLan were unconscious, the small, thin, and long snake with ck and white stripes crawled out. First, it climbed up Luo Jian¡¯s arm and moved to his shoulder, and after that, it circled around Luo Jian¡¯s neck as it spit out its forked tongue. It opened its mouth wide, exposing its two sharp teeth, and bit down on Luo Jian¡¯s neck fiercely.

    After a while, the ck poison that had spread all over Luo Jian¡¯s body quickly disappeared. However, at that moment, Luo Jian was not yet awake, so the little snake squirmed down from Luo Jian and slithered to Feng YuLan¡¯s side. It wrapped around his neck as well and, like with Luo Jian, it bit his neck.

    After biting them, the snake crawled away contentedly with its stomach bulging as if it was full. It even seemed to burp. After eating its fill, it went up onto Luo Jian¡¯s arm, circled around him again, and fell asleep.

    T/N: Kitty & I would be bringing you guys an extra chapter per week in addition to 2 chapters/week. (We¡¯d have 3 chapters a week in total now!)

    For now, chapters will be released on Fri, Sat & Sun!

 Chapter 59 - Burial Grounds (V)

    <h4>Chapter 59 - Burial Grounds (V)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Oh, how lucky am I; there¡¯s two people lying here.¡±

    After Luo Jian and Feng YuLan had fallen intoas in the long, dark tunnel, a man suddenly appeared.

    That¡¯s right, this man belonged to the enemy team. His clothing style was a little bizarre. His hair was very long, kept at waist length, and naturally curly. The makeup on his face looked strange¡ªhe had patted on pale powder as the base, and his lips were painted bright red. He also had a little red nose; he was dressed as a typical clown. His facial features were not Asian, so he may be of a mixed-race. He also wore a tall hat that was very tattered.

    His clothes are also shabby. His coat was thick but had several holes on it. There were also holes in his ck pants. His calves were wrapped with ck bandages. Notably, he was barefoot and did not have shoes on.

    For the time being, this uninvited guest shall be known as ¡®Clown¡¯ because of his very ludicrous clown makeup. Of course, he was not someone with a heart of gold. The way he gazed at the two people on the ground was akin to looking at two pieces of fatty meat.

    As for how Clown showed up here? It could not be exined with merely a few words. Generally in team battles, when all yers were arranged to enter the secret chamber, they were 100% divided. Everyone was separated. Each yer would be assigned to a different corner of the secret chamber and thrown in it randomly.

    If one was lucky, there may be a team member within the vicinity. However, if one¡¯s luck was extremely poor, they may be thrown into the enemy¡¯s encirclement. Of course, this situation was rare. After all, the ¡®secret chamber¡¯s will¡¯ was very kind. It would not throw someone into a ce where they would definitely lose their life. At any time, it would leave a window open for them.

    Clown may have been a little unlucky. Soon after he woke up, while he was confused and stumbling around the tomb, he identally entered a tomb vault. After opening the coffin inside, he found that there was a man lying in there, and he seemed to be a member of the enemy team. But at that time, Clown thought that he was very lucky because he found that the poor enemy had not woken up yet, and there was a note on the vault¡¯s walls specially left for the enemy by the secret chamber. So Clown immediately picked up his weapon to kill the enemy......

    But before the knife fell, the enemy suddenly opened his eyes. A tang sword shed out of nowhere and suddenly arrived next to Clown¡¯s neck, and if the sword had moved closer, it would have sent his head flying.

    However, Clown was not a newbie to the secret chambers. Naturally, he would not be nervous because of such an issue. All he had to do was to calmly engage in a fight, kill the enemy, and get the rewards. But what he did not expect was that the other party was calmer than him.

    Clown soon realized that he could not defeat the enemy in the coffin since the power threshold of the enemy was way above his. Thus, Clown quickly made the decision to escape. He was very good at escaping. Many yers in the secret chamber were good at escaping. They all found out that in the secret chamber, escaping was the best choice.

    Thereupon, Clown seeded. He kept circling around in theplicated and disorderly pathways of the tomb and sessfully got rid of the enemy. But the next thing he knew, he had inexplicably entered a small space border, which seemed to be a mechanism from when the tomb was built. ording to the ancient saying, this type of space border was known as an ¡®array¡¯.

    In order to crack the array, Clown quickly found its core beside a pool. However, the five pots had all been opened, and one of them was cracked. Only by killing the escaped monster could the core of the array be broken.

    Therefore, while searching for the monster, Clown naturally found two newbies who had copsed on the ground.

    Clown was more alert this time. In order not to repeat the tragedy of being chased and almost killed, he first took out a long, thin bamboo stick from somewhere and stretched it out to poke Luo Jian, who was closer to him. Poor little Luo Jian was poisoned. Although the poison had been eaten up by his snake, he was unable to wake up for a while because of his paralyzed body and mind. Even if someone stabbed him with a bamboo stick, he would have no response.

    Clown licked his red lips and felt that this time, he might have picked up a great bargain. He took out his knife and decided to ughter these two fat sheep.

    Clown used to be a surgeon. It must be said that although their upation enabled them to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, doctors, especially surgeons, were the type of people who would be more cold-blooded rtive to others. After all, they cut people up with knives all day long. They could kill people if they were not careful enough. Their awareness of death was much higher than that of ordinary people.

    Consequently, the weapon given to Clown by the secret chamber was also a scalpel, which was extremely consistent with his nature.

    But as mentioned prior, Clown was a rtively unlucky guy. When he squatted beside Luo Jian and was about to raise his scalpel to cut at an artery in Luo Jian¡¯s neck, a voice came from behind him. The voice sounded so cold and piercing that it made his hairs stand up.

    ¡°Do you like blood?¡± Duan Li emerged silently behind Clown without making a sound. He appeared out of nowhere and,pared to ghosts and gods, he acted swifter and more purposefully. Duan Li¡¯s outstretched hand rested on Clown¡¯s shoulder, terrifying Clown so much that he shivered.

    He was only surprised for a moment. More experienced yers had shocking and adaptive qualities. All of them had a strong desire to survive. In the secret chamber, they werepeting: Who was more determined to survive and could break the spirits of the others?

    ¡°I can¡¯t seem to get rid of you.¡± Clown felt for his hat and pulled the brim down, shrouding half of his face in darkness. He turned around and smiled at Duan Li. His face was painted with extremely exaggerated clown makeup. When he smiled, his lips seemed to fracture, and the cracks extended over the rest of his face to the tips of his ears. The visual effect was absolutely horrifying!

    But if there was apetition as to who was more frightening, Duan Li would never lose to anyone. Duan Li was used to wearing masks when fighting. Because of his disfigurement, he wore all kinds of masks, such as the green ghost mask with ferocious fangs, the cunning and treacherous-looking fox mask, the eagle mask with a sharp beak, or...... a pure white mask with no facial features.

    After turning around and seeing a face without features, Clown was given quite a fright. Subconsciously, the scalpel in his hands wavered. His scalpel could also be used as a throwing knife, and he had a skill of automatic recovery. That was to say that his scalpel could be thrown endlessly, especially since...... he had a lot of scalpels.

    However, Duan Li did not pay attention to his attack at all. With a mere wave of his tang sword, the thrown scalpels were all blocked. Clown also realized that he definitely could not beat the other party. After numerous twists and turns in his thoughts, he developed a n. With a grin, he suddenly fished the poor little Luo Jian up as a shield with his arm.

    ¡°Is this yourpanion?¡± Clown grabbed Luo Jian by his neck, and hey a scalpel across his neck. He grinned as he stared at Duan Li. ¡°Let¡¯s have a fair trade: you let me go, and I let him go, alright?¡±

    Duan Li hummed and sneered as he moved towards Clown. From under the mask, the voice coldly said, ¡°In fact, you can also choose to kill him.¡±

    Clown felt his heart was in knots, and he suddenly was a little afraid. He could not help but step back to steady his spirit and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t he yourpanion?¡±

    ¡°Did you know?¡± Duan Li did not answer but replied instead, ¡°In the secret chamber, I used to have a famous nickname. I was called the ¡®Faceless Man¡¯. Because I always wear a mask, no one knows what I look like. Of course, the main reason is that I like to sneak into teams, gain the trust of the team members, and stab them in the back. No one was able to catch a glimpse of my face. That is why they call me the ¡®Faceless Man¡¯.¡±

    Duan Li spread out his arms and looked at Clown: ¡°Do you think I care about the life of a so-called team member?¡±

    After Duan Li finished speaking, he pulled his tang sword out of its sheath. After such a threat, Clown felt even more unsure. Even worse, Clown felt that he had heard the nickname of the ¡®Faceless Man¡¯ before and that name had even been mentioned by his team captain. Thus, he gnashed his teeth and hesitated even more. Luo Jian, who was in his arms, was in aa, so he needed to use the strength of his whole body to hold him. He feared that even if Luo Jian was used as a shield, the other would be nothing but a burden.

    As he was hesitating and still unsure, Duan Li had already unsheathed his sword and stabbed forward, and hepletely did not care about Luo Jian, who was in front of him. He directly thrust his sword towards Clown. After taking a look at the way he acted, Clown knew that this terrible pervert would stab him along with his teammate! He nned to stab them into a two-man kebab!

    Clown was so scared that he threw away Luo Jian who was in his arms, turned around, and started his frenzied escape. He jumped a few meters away and quickly disappeared into the darkness. Duan Li was toozy to chase him. He gazed down at Luo Jian, who had fallen on him. His stab was just to scare Clown. Naturally, he would not really stab Luo Jian.

    Duan Li curled his lips and picked up Luo Jian to allow him to lie on the ground. Then, he jumped to Feng YuLan¡¯s side. The treatment between the two people was totally different. He picked up Princess Ah Lan and sat down on the ground. He still felt uneasy, so he began to check his body. Cough, more urately speaking, he just ced his hand under Ah Lan¡¯s clothes.

    After feeling around, he concluded that there should not be any problems. He felt that they should not stay in this dark ce any longer. Then, he looked at Luo Jian, who was lying by his side. He carried Feng YuLan on his shoulder, used a hand to carry Luo Jian by his waist, and swaggered around in the tunnel. He carried two men who were over 1.7 meters tall and weighed sixty or seventy kilograms as if it was an extremely easy feat.

    What was more shocking was that Duan Li easily left the array that Luo Jian and Feng YuLan clearly could not walk out from. He merely circled back and forth strangely in the tunnel, and then he appeared in an unknown pathway of the tomb.

    In fact, he waspletely ignorant of the structure of the tomb, but he clearly knew things like the array. His weapon was an ancient tang sword, which meant that the secret chamber had conferred upon him the role and skills of a chivalrous swordsman from ancient times. Therefore, every time he entered the secret chamber, the rewards he got reflected the quintessence of ancient Chinese culture, such as Daoist magic and the eight trigrams.

    Therefore, he had learnt how to set arrays, swordsmanship, circling qi, and levitation, and he was good at using poison. His hobbies were raising some kinds of peculiar poisonous nts and ying Gobang. Of course, his favorite hobby was to chop people up...... This was totally inconsistent with the role of a chivalrous swordsman that the secret chamber had assigned him.

    However, Duan Li was a rational person. When necessary, he could rationally control his horniness.

    For example, Feng YuLan was now lying in front of him defenseless. He was not barbaric enough to tear up the clothes of this poor little thing and trample him over and over again for over hundred times. Although Duan Li really wanted to do it very much......

    T/N: We learn more about Duan Li in this chapter. Duan Li...I really can¡¯t imagine him being chivalrous. What was the secret chamber¡¯s will thinking when they assigned him such a role?

    Kitty: Honestly same? Chivalrous is thest thing I think of when I think about Duan Li..

 Chapter 60 - Burial Grounds (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 60 - Burial Grounds (VI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    After being unconscious for about 10 minutes, Luo Jian was the first one to wake up and sat up in a daze. At one nce, he saw Duan Li pressing his body onto Feng YuLan¡¯s. With one hand, he was haphazardly tearing Ah Lan¡¯s clothes, and with the other hand, he was kissing and touching Ah Lan all over. His actions were extremely fierce, like an evil beast that was devouring a small animal!

    This terrible scene that Luo Jian saw immediately scared him. He jumped up from the ground and angrily hollered at Duan Li, ¡°Stop it!¡±

    Duan Li turned to look at Luo Jian. He did not have a good expression on his face, but he did not say anything. He actually obediently removed himself from Feng YuLan¡¯s body. However, he did not intend to give up his ownership of Ah Lan so easily. He immediately ced Feng YuLan in his bosom and stared at Luo Jian warily.

    ¡°Although you have signed whatever dogshit kind of symbiotic contract, it doesn¡¯t mean that Ah Lan belongs to you.¡± Luo Jian decided to earn some human rights for his brother, so he said to Duan Li, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are actually thinking or what you think of Ah Lan. Although I am unwilling, we are still a team now. So...... please at least treat Ah Lan as your equal and respect him.¡±

    Duan Li did not answer Luo Jian¡¯s words. He squinted at Luo Jian and suddenly stretched out his hand to pull the mask on his head and put it on his face.

    Luo Jian also did not know if Duan Li had listened to him or not, but he did not want to care about this stupid fool. Instead, he turned around and looked at his environment. There were three big coffins in a narrow tomb vault. There were no funerary offerings. Some inexplicable pictures were carved on the wall, and it seemed a series of carvings that told a story. But Luo Jian could not understand them. The pictures drawn were too abstract.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about tombs, but this should be a tributary tomb vault.¡± This time, Duan Li suddenly opened his mouth and spoke in a proper way. However, Luo Jian¡¯s first impression of him was not good, and he felt that Duan Li was not trustworthy. Therefore, Luo Jian asked, ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°I opened the coffins and saw that all three of the corpses were forcefully stuffed into them. They were struggling before they died.¡± Duan Li hugged Ah Lan and shrank in a corner of the room. From time to time, he would touch strands of Ah Lan¡¯s hair. He looked very happy, as if he was ying with arge toy.

    Thus, Luo Jian could only go to the area near the coffins. He found that the coffins had indeed been opened, and by chance, the opening revealed the corpse¡¯s head. All that remained of the corpse was white bones. When the person died, he was in a distorted position. All his limbs were pushing against the lid of the coffin, and it seemed that the person wanted to push the lid up. The people in the three coffins were all in a simr situation; all the deceased appeared to have remaining grievances when they died.

    ¡°How cruel...... to send someone to be buried with the dead....... ¡± Luo Jian felt a little sad and sighed regretfully.

    ¡°It¡¯s just this, yet you feel it¡¯s cruel? Newbie, I¡¯m afraid you haven¡¯t seen anything crueler than this,¡± Duan Li teased sarcastically. Since he was wearing a mask, Luo Jian could not see his expression, but he could also imagine Duan Li¡¯s disdainful expression. He did not want to fight him and was toozy to argue with him. He continued to walk in the narrow pathway of the tomb.

    After that, Luo Jian found that there was no way to get out of the tomb vault, and on all four sides were barren walls. He could not help but ask Duan Li, ¡°How did we get in?¡±

    ¡°I brought both of you in here.¡± Duan Li continued to fiddle with Ah Lan, who was in his embrace.

    ¡°I mean&#k2026;&#k2026; Where¡¯s the exit?¡± Luo Jian remembered that he had been in a tunnel that he could not walk out of. ¡°How did we get out of that tunnel?¡±

    ¡°Naturally, I was also the one who brought both of you out of there.¡± Duan Li seemed to be impatient with Luo Jian¡¯s many questions and said, ¡°Also, you don¡¯t need to walk back and forth around here. Take a rest first. Aren¡¯t you hurt?¡±

    Luo Jian felt sharp pain in his shoulder, so he found a ce to sit down and began to check the wound on his shoulder. What was strange was that he still remembered that the monster was poisonous. After being scratched, he should have been poisoned and would slowly be unable to move. But now, Luo Jian felt that except for the pain in his shoulder, there were no other abnormalities in his body.

    Did Duan Li save them? Luo Jian could not help but look up at Duan Li, who was sitting at a distance not far away from him. Duan Li had no time to deal with Luo Jian. He had been joyously teasing Ah Lan, who was in his arms. Ah Lan was sleeping very soundly as he curled up in Duan Li¡¯s embrace. Perhaps it was instinctive, but both of his hands moved to wrap around Duan Li¡¯s waist.

    Luo Jian¡¯s frown deepened. Thereafter, he did not ask Duan Li if he was the one who had detoxified them, too. Then, Luo Jian decided to go to enter his carry-on secret chamber and get some medical supplies. Duan Li was also there, but he was toozy to worry about him. He took out the small mirror and went into his carry-on secret chamber.

    Unexpectedly, Duan Li was not surprised to find that Luo Jian had suddenly disappeared. He just smiled sarcastically: ¡°Indeed, he¡¯s a newbie.¡±

    After a while, Luo Jian came back with a big backpack containing some medical supplies, food, and water. He first bandaged the wound on his shoulder. Then, he recalled that Ah Lan¡¯s right hand was also hurt, so he took the medical bag and moved in front of Duan Li.

    Duan Li raised his head and looked at Luo Jian, who strangely felt ufortable. So long as Luo Jian thought that he would have to face this disgusting pervert in the secret chambers in the future, Luo Jian felt very ufortable. This was especially the case when his family¡¯s Ah Lan was in the hands of the other party. It was almost as the other party had a bargaining chip in their hands, which made him wish that he could send this fool to his death with a gunshot.

    ¡°I say, you...¡± At this time, Duan Li suddenly opened his mouth, tilted his head, and said, ¡°Newbie, you should not use this thing in front of others unless you can absolutely trust the person. This thing is not like a backpack in a real game that can be bound to the owner. As long as they master the way to use the key prop and passwords, anyone can easily steal your prop from you.¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s words made Luo Jian still for a while, and he could not help say, ¡°You know...... about the carry-on secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I know about it? Among veteran yers, almost everyone has one, and of course, there are people who have an extra one as well. Naturally, I also have it.¡± Duan Li suddenly showed his left hand to Luo Jian, and a jade ring on his forefinger shed in front of Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt he was so stupid. He always thought that it was quite miraculous to be able to obtain a carry-on secret chamber, but he did not expect that among all yers, it was such amon prop. Bute to think of it, it was reasonable that what he could get in the secret chamber, others would naturally also be able to obtain.

    ¡°Alright then, thank you for reminding me.¡± Luo Jian helplessly shook his head as he crouched down and looked at Duan Li: ¡°How long are you going to hug him? Can I have Ah Lan back?¡±

    ¡°Leave the dressing of his wounds to me.¡± Duan Li seemed to have heard Luo Jian¡¯s words but refused to heed them. He straightforwardly took the medical bag from Luo Jian¡¯s hand and picked Ah Lan¡¯s small hand up to bandage his wound. He moved skillfully as he wrapped Ah Lan¡¯s hand into a zongzi. Shortly after that, Ah Lan woke up.

    When Ah Lan woke up, he was very confused. When he first opened his eyes, he saw Duan Li. His hands instinctively stretched out to hug him and to rub against his waist, but one was wrapped into zongzi. It was inconvenient for him to move this hand. Therefore, Ah Lan frowned and looked at his zongzi hand, muttering, ¡°Who was the one who had such a bad technique in bandaging that they wrapped my hand into this?¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s face turned ck. At this time, Luo Jian sneered, and immediately, Duan Li red at Luo Jian fiercely and viciously. However, Luo Jianpletely ignored the look in his eyes and beckoned Feng YuLan with his hands to ask him toe over to him. Ah Lan obediently pushed his way out of Duan Li¡¯s arms and threw himself onto Luo Jian.

    ¡°How obedient. I¡¯ll re-bandage it for you.¡± Although Luo Jian had a wound on his shoulder, he had a good physique, and his wound would recover quickly. He did not think it was inconvenient for him to move around even with his injury. He flexibly took Feng YuLan¡¯s zongzi hand and bandaged it so that it was in the original shape of his hand, using new pieces of bandages. Luo Jian carefully wrapped Ah Lan¡¯s hand all the way from his palm and the back of his hand to his fingertips.

    In fact, Luo Jian was taught this technique for dressing wounds by his mother. His mother¡¯s ancestors were born into a family that dabbled with traditional Chinese medicine, so he was familiar with all kinds of traditional Chinese medicines. Unfortunately, the knowledge and skills had almost been unable to be passed down in this generation, and no matter how one tried to learn, the knowledge and skills were just subpar. When he was a student, he had wanted to go to medical school, but because of various reasons, he had chosen to give up.

    After Luo Jian wrapped Feng YuLan¡¯s hands, Ah Lan just wanted to stretch out his hand to inspect Luo Jian¡¯s incredible dressing technique, but Duan Li, who was behind him, suddenly reached out his hands and carried Ah Lan away. Ah Lan blinked and did not struggle. He looked around and said, ¡°How long have I slept?¡±

    ¡°About half an hour,¡± Duan Li answered. ¡°From the moment I brought you here.¡±

    ¡°Alright...... So.¡± Feng YuLan turned to look at Luo Jian: ¡°Lord Captain, please decide how we should proceed.¡±

    ¡°Captain? Me?¡± Luo Jian pointed at himself.

    ¡°Who else if not you?¡±

    ¡°Wait...... Is the captain decided like this?¡± Luo Jian recalled what Uncle Boss said: After forming a five-man team and unlocking team battle mode, the captain would be decided by the team members themselves. As long as there were more than three people who considered someone as the team captain, the secret chamber would acquiesce that the person was the team captain. It was not necessary to submit any application, and the secret chamber would directly entrust the authority of the team captain to that person.

    ¡°Who told you to be the first person to form the team? Therefore, I feel that you should be the captain.¡± Feng YuLan spread out his hands and put on an expression that said he intended to shirk responsibility.

    ¡°It¡¯s obviously unscientific. Fundamentally, I didn¡¯t invite you to be a yer on purpose.¡± Luo Jian indicated that he was very innocent.

    ¡°That is to say that you want Duan Li to be the team captain?¡± Feng YuLan shrank into Duan Li¡¯s embrace and pointed with his chin.

    ¡°No! I firmly disagree!¡± Luo Jian refused immediately.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s decided. Isn¡¯t this issue easily settled?¡± Ah Lan continued to spread out his hands to show that he was at ease.

    ¡°Alright then, can I make my first order as captain?¡± Luo Jian frowned and stared at Duan Li: ¡°Duan Li, you let him go! Isn¡¯t it improper to constantly hug him? My family¡¯s Ah Lan is not your toy!¡±

    (T/N) Fleur: This chapter, we see more of their team dynamics.

    Kitty: They¡¯re already a mess, and we¡¯re still missing two members!

    Fleur: Yea. One¡¯s missing and they don¡¯t even have an extra one and they¡¯re still fooling around

    <strong>Announcement:</strong> EIC¡¯s 20th tranted chapter has been officially published first on CG and we now have an EIC Channel in CG¡¯s discord server! Join us in discussing EIC in EIC¡¯s channel (and head to CG¡¯s server to discuss anything rted to BL as well)

 Chapter 61 - Burial Grounds (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 61 - Burial Grounds (VII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Let¡¯s not think about anything else right now and decide on two main objectives. First, we should follow the clues to find the main tomb. Second, we should find our new teammate.¡± Luo Jian rubbed his chin as he thought. He nced at Duan Li and said to him, ¡°You also should have had a note when you woke up, right? Can you show me?¡±

    Duan Li looked back at Luo Jian, waved his hand, and handed over the printed paper. Luo Jian took it and read it. The content was very simr, but there were still some differences. At least this time, Luo Jian finally understood the reason why he had directly unlocked team battle mode despite the number of people in his team being insufficient.

    ¡°Dear Mr. Duan Li.¡± While taking a look at it, he read it aloud. Luo Jian said with a wry smile, ¡°Congrattions on entering the chaos chamber battlefield. We wee you back as a yer. Since your strength is very inconsistent with your team¡¯sprehensive strength, the secret chamber has taken extreme measures to improve your team¡¯sprehensive strength at the highest efficiency. Your team will get huge rewards after this team battle, but whether you can be the winner depends on your fortune.¡±

    Luo Jian flicked the note in his hand, and his eyes fell on Duan Li: ¡°It seems that the reason why we can open up the team battle mode is you.¡±

    Duan Li also smiled: ¡°No, no, no, it¡¯s not only because of me, but also because of that ¡®Oracle¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what exactly the ¡®Oracle¡¯ is?¡± Luo Jian slightly frowned. It seemed that a lot of useful information could be procured from Duan Li.

    ¡°Of course, because I...... Once upon a time, I was also someone with the title¡ªOracle,¡± Duan Li said. He seemed to recall something, and his tone carried a tint of regret: ¡°The Oracle is a title given to the strongest yers by the secret chamber. If your strength is at the peak and the secret chamber recognizes it, you will be able to obtain that title.¡±

    ¡°The strongest?¡± Luo Jian and Feng YuLan said the same words at almost the same time. Then, they both stared at Duan Li in a different light.

    Duan Li waved helplessly: ¡°With what kind of eyes are you looking at me? Even now, when I¡¯ve turned back into a yer and returned to the secret chamber, the secret chamber will give me the title of the ¡®Oracle.¡¯ That is to say, there are two Oracles in our current team. This is also the reason why we could directly open up the team battle even though we are short in numbers. The two of you are basically equivalent to cannon fodder, so there is no difference between having you as teammates or doing without you.¡±

    ¡°F*ck! Cannon fodder! Then, from the very beginning, didn¡¯t we get implicated to enter this secret chamber because of you?¡± Luo Jian suddenly felt that his life was hopeless and his future was dark.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, cannon fodder,¡± Duan Li consoled, ¡°I¡¯ve dealt with a person from the enemy team before. He¡¯s not my opponent at all, so I¡¯ve estimated that the total strength of the enemy team should be equal to thebined power of two Oracles. As for the two of you, your power value is negligible. Both of you are merely cannon fodder.¡±

    This time, Feng YuLan finally could not bear it. He stared at Duan Li with a ck face: ¡°Even so, it is not necessary for you to mock us for being cannon fodder.¡± With that, Feng YuLan pulled off Duan Li¡¯s mask, grabbed his cheeks, and began to pull them.

    Duan Li did not have any objections regarding Feng YuLan¡¯s actions, but this hindered his speech, so he grabbed Ah Lan¡¯s two ws and embraced him. Then, he smiled proudly at Luo Jian. This action of his almost angered Luo Jian to the point of raising his knife to disfigure the other half of Duan Li¡¯s face.

    However, Duan Li soon became serious and said to both Luo Jian and Feng YuLan, ¡°Now, I have a very important thing to say. Listen carefully¡ªonce a yer is crowned as the Oracle, the secret chamber will open hell mode for this yer.¡±

    ¡°Hell mode? What is that?¡± Ah Lan looked up and asked.

    Duan Li pondered for a while and replied, ¡°After bing the Oracle, every secret chamber experience will be a team battle. Even if you are alone, you will be forced to join a certain team. In addition, more than two stalkers will be sent to hunt you. If you can easily escape from them, their numbers will increase.¡±

    Hearing this, both Luo Jian and Feng YuLan were shocked, and Luo Jian said, ¡°Heavens, this is more than being implicated. It¡¯s like we¡¯re being cheated and sent to hell as a result! ording to what you say, aren¡¯t there four or more stalkersing to kill us because we have two Oracles in our team?¡±

    Duan Li, with a dignified look, replied, ¡°To be exact, they¡¯re noting here to chop you two down, but to cut down me and our lovely new teammate, whom we have never met before. However, both of you will be somewhat implicated, and we also have to divide some effort to deal with the enemy team, so I can only say that we are in a very dangerous situation.¡±

    Luo Jian could not help but bite his lower lip and be flustered. Obviously, his mind was in a state of confusion, but he tried to calm himself down and said, ¡°Well, let me ask you a question first.¡±

    ¡°Sure, ask away.¡±

    ¡°The Oracles will automatically unlock hell mode, but it won¡¯t be open forever, right?¡±

    ¡°No, hell mode will end after about three team battles,¡± Duan Li answered, ¡°This type of hell mode is actually a test for the Oracle, to assess whether they have the ability to pass the final secret chamber test.¡±

    ¡°The final chamber test?¡±

    Duan Liughed. He seemed to be very ambitious as he replied, ¡°The test to find out whether one can return to reality. There will be no need to escape from the secret chambers again and no need to enter these bullshit spaces again and again. This is the final secret chamber test. As long as I pass thisst test, I canpletely return to reality.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you mean that you have previously experienced this test before?¡± Luo Jian suddenly recalled that Duan Li had called Xing Yan ¡®captain.¡¯ He immediately understood something and asked, ¡°I thought I heard that your former team was destroyed. Is it because of this...?¡±

    Duan Li was silent for a while and took a deep breath. He slowly said, ¡°Long ago, when I was a yer, I was in a very good team, and all five of us were experts. I could say that...... of the five people, we were all Oracles.¡±

    Duan Li took a nce at Luo Jian and smiled: ¡°The Stalker you are acquainted with, Xing Yan, was the captain of this team. That was our crowning moment. We had experienced three extremely chaotic team battles. When we were about to face the final challenge, we lost. Thest Stalker that the secret chamber sent was powerful to an extremely terrifying extent. In thest team battle, our whole team was crushed. I was lucky to escape the fate of being made a Stalker by the secret chamber because I held certain special props. However, I still couldn¡¯t escape the punishment for failing, so I became the way you saw me before.¡±

    ¡°If so, why did you sign this symbiotic contract with me?¡± At this time, Feng YuLan suddenly opened his mouth. He frowned and broke free from Duan Li¡¯s arms as he indicated that he did not understand: ¡°It was because you could gain the chance to be a yer again and redo what you failed previously, wasn¡¯t it? But surely, you don¡¯t want your team to be wiped out again, right? Unless you have another prop that will help you escape the punishment of being killed?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Then why?¡±

    Duan Li took a look at Luo Jian and Feng YuLan and said, ¡°The reason why I made the decision to be a yer again is because of the two of you.¡±

    ¡°Us?¡± Luo Jian and Feng YuLan looked at each other: ¡°As you said before, we are just cannon fodder.¡±

    ¡°No, you are variables.¡±

    It seemed that Duan Li did not want to continue talking about it. He stood up and said to Luo Jian and Feng YuLan: ¡°In fact, you don¡¯t need to worry. Because you are newbies, you can¡¯t always be on the same team as the Oracles, and you can¡¯t follow me to the final test. Therefore, the secret chamber may forcibly separate me from you next time, and the symbiotic contract will naturally also be dissolved. You will soon return to experiencing the proper secret chamber scenarios. As for me, I will have nothing to do with the both of you.¡±

    Feng YuLan felt that the situation had be even more inconceivable. He immediately stood up and angrily questioned Duan Li, ¡°That is to say, I am only your temporary chess piece? I¡¯m just a springboard you used to return to the secret chamber?¡±

    Duan Li did not speak. He reached for the mask on his head and put it on again. Then he answered, ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°Then...... What you said to me before is all but a joke?¡± Feng YuLan became furious suddenly, reached out, and grabbed Duan Li by his cor. All this happened so suddenly that it was unreasonable! But Feng YuLan seemed to have a hunch. He knew that Duan Li¡¯s purpose was not ordinary. How could a newbie like him, akin to a new-born calf, enter his line of sight?

    Duan Li lowered his head, looked down at Ah Lan, and smiled. He closed the gap between them and kissed him in front of Luo Jian! This sudden move made Ah Lan so frightened that he could not move and also gave Luo Jian a scare. When Duan Li finally loosened his grip, neither of them hade back to their senses.

    ¡°Only this is true,¡± Duan Li said.

    After a period together, although the team was full of discontent, the three people set out, temporarily together. Following Duan Li¡¯s suggestion, the three people decided to go to the main tomb vault first. They left the small tomb vault and began to advance through the intricate andplicated tunnels in the tomb.

    Duan Li had said: ¡°We don¡¯t know who the new teammate is or what kind of strength he has. He may cause us more trouble, so don¡¯t worry about him first. It¡¯s more logical to find out all information and clues while we can at this point in time.¡±

    Luo Jian had agreed with what Duan Li had said. Feng YuLan did not have any objections, so the three people set out. The tomb was veryrge, and the terrain wasplex. The three of them did not know where exactly the main tomb was. However, Luo Jian noticed a clue from Duan Li¡¯s secret chamber note because the content on the back of his note was as follows:

    [After thest funeral apaniment was forced into the tomb, the entire n disappeared overnight. After that, the seasons passed, star signs changed, the hills trembled, and mountains swayed. The entrance of the tomb was sealed by falling stones. No one could enter or exit.]

    The implications of this paragraph made people wonder many different things. Luo Jian then asked Ah Lan, ¡°From all the clues we have at present, can you guess who is the owner of this huge tomb?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the poor n heads who were sent to the tomb as tribute and buried alive?¡± Ah Lan also began to think.

    Duan Li cut in with a sentence: ¡°I think what Luo Jian wants to ask is who was the tomb built for at the very beginning?¡±

    Ah Lan seemed to understand something at that moment, but he still felt puzzled: ¡°Let¡¯s organize our minds and start from the beginning of the situation. At the beginning, this group of people all believed in a certain God and thought that the God attached themself to the n head. Moreover, they took the n head as a funeral apaniment. But just merely thinking about it this way, it¡¯s very illogical. If the God was attached to the n head, why did they treat him like a funeral apaniment and bury him while he was still alive? It appears as if they wanted their God to die.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it was a God of death,¡± Duan Li interrupted again.

    Luo Jian put forward his idea: ¡°I think that no matter what God these bullshit nsmen believed in or why they wanted their God to die, we can conclude that this tomb was built for that God.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the God¡¯s tomb.¡± It seemed as if Ah Lan was muttering to himself.

    But what Feng YuLan did not know was that his words immediately added a terrifying and mysterious brilliance to the huge andplex tomb.

 Chapter 62 - Burial Grounds (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 62 - Burial Grounds (VIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    In order to find the main tomb, Luo Jian¡¯s group of three began to blindly walk around in the huge tomb without realizing it. To avoid getting lost, they would leave marks in some hidden ces for every period of time they had walked, such as knife carvings of crosses on corners of the wall.

    Sometimes, small sounds would reverberate through the tomb tunnels. Luo Jian and Duan Li could hear them because their senses were very sensitive, but Feng YuLan did not notice them. When he asked what kind of sounds Luo Jian heard, Luo Jian replied, ¡°It¡¯s like the vibrating sound when some mechanism starts up.¡±

    It was very dark in the tomb. The altarmp that Feng YuLan had was identally left behind, so Luo Jian took out a shlight to lead the way in front. They went through several vaults for funeral apaniments, all of which were tomb vaults. There were two hidden doors in each tomb, and when opened, one was the entrance while the other led to the next tomb. But after passing through several consecutive tomb vaults, Luo Jian found the cross mark he had engraved about ten minutes ago in a familiar corner of the wall.

    ¡°We¡¯re going around in circles again,¡± Luo Jian said to Duan Li and Feng YuLan, and he asked Duan Li, ¡°How did you take us out of that long and dark passageway that seemed impossible to get out of?¡±

    ¡°That was an ancient array. Even if I exined it, you wouldn¡¯t understand the specific principles behind it, but I had learned some skills rted to it. Additionally, that array was very easy to escape from, so it could be resolved,¡± Duan Li indicated in this way.

    Therefore, Luo Jian thought about it carefully and asked again, ¡°What about now? Are we trapped in another array?¡±

    Duan Li did not reply as he moved around the tomb. Through the hidden doors, he walked around the six tomb vaults. The six vaults were almost identical, each with three coffins and painted carvings on the walls. After circling around the vaults, he returned to the starting point. Unlike before, the narrow passageway that they had been trapped in had disappeared.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that we are in another array. It seems that there are many arrays in this tomb.¡±

    ¡°Then can you crack it?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Duan Li replied, ¡°The array is made up of many instations with the same elements. For example, the array in ancient times was made up of hundreds of soldiers. The array used people as elements to form itself. If the enemy was surrounded by the array, they would all be wiped out. Simrly, we are also trapped in such an array. Unless we can find a breakthrough point and destroy it, we will be trapped here forever.¡±

    ¡°Array or whatever...... sounds like a magic field.¡± Feng YuLan listened to Duan Li exin the origins of the array, but it was obvious that Ah Lan was not interested in it. He also followed Duan Li around the tomb and looked at the mural on the wall for a long time. He casually said, ¡°Speaking of which, this picture looks like a magic field.¡±

    With what Ah Lan said, Luo Jian also became interested in the depiction on the wall. He jumped over and stared at the mural with Feng YuLan. The image on the wall was messily drawn. It seemed that it was telling a story and asionally had something rted to the array in it. The three people were extremely intrigued by this depiction. They began to guess the meaning of the mural one after another.

    ¡°This seems to be a story about a monster. Let me sum it up.¡± All three of them had guessed simr narratives with few differences, so Luo Jian sorted out their ideas and began to tell the story depicted by the murals from the beginning to the end.

    ¡°The first picture appears to depict a scene in which many people die of hunger.¡± Luo Jian stroked the mural on the wall with his hand. In ordance with the order of the pictures, the first picture showed a scene with many skinny people falling to the ground one after another. The meaning the picture tried to express was also obvious. These people were thin like bamboo poles although they were drawn abstractly.

    ¡°The second picture shows an abandoned baby.¡± Luo Jian went to the next image. It was a child still in infancy with a very abstract forest painted next to it. The mural was a little fuzzily drawn, but it could still be seen clearly.

    ¡°The third picture shows the abandoned baby and a...... well, a beast?¡±

    ¡°The beast was not very well drawn. It has a wolf¡¯s body, but it looks like it has a ghost for its head,¡± Feng YuLan began to evaluate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s treat it like the painting is of an abandoned baby and a ghost.¡± Luo Jian pointed to another mural: ¡°It seems that the ghost picked up the abandoned baby and raised him as his own child, so the next mural depicts a man in animal skin.¡±

    ¡°But this man¡¯s face was also drawn to have the terrifying appearance of a ghost.¡± Feng YuLan once again put forward a brief exnation: ¡°Could it be that the ghost upied the body of the abandoned baby, so it grew up to be a ghost with a human body?¡±

    ¡°That is a possibility,¡± Duan Li chimed in eventually, ¡°Both of you, think about it: what kind of people would carve these murals?¡±

    ¡°Probably the people of ancient times,¡± Luo Jian and Feng YuLan voiced out at the same time. This was a very ancient tomb. The only people who were willing to carve murals in the tomb were the ancients. As for which dynasty it was from, they did not need to analyze this at the moment.

    After that, Duan Liughed. Although his mask was on and his smile could not be seen, his tone suggested the hints of a smile: ¡°The technology of the ancients is not as developed as modern times. For things they couldn¡¯t understand, they would think that it¡¯s monsters and ghosts. In fact, this story is very simple. It¡¯s the story of an abandoned baby being raised by wolves. What would the child be like if they were raised by wild beasts?¡±

    ¡°The child wouldn¡¯t speak.¡± Luo Jian put forward the first characteristic, thought it over, and said, ¡°Maybe the child would learn to howl like a wolf.¡±

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t walk like ordinary people. Like a beast, the child would be on all fours and agile.¡± Feng YuLan also added, ¡°Maybe the child would have fangs. When killing prey, the child would definitely bite the neck with his mouth.¡±

    Duan Li said, ¡°Both of you are able to conceptualize all these things, but in the eyes of the ancients, it may have been a more difficult thing to understand. They would only think that this man was very vicious, and they would think that he was just like a ghost. Therefore, they have drawn him to have the terrifying appearance of a ghost.¡±

    ¡°After that, disaster struck, and because of his hunger, the ghost began to eat people.¡± Duan Li naturally pointed to the next mural, which depicted a ghost biting a man¡¯s neck.

    ¡°People naturally felt scared, so they began to hunt down this ghost.¡± The next mural showed a lot of people surrounding the ghost.

    ¡°The people seeded in catching the ghost. They tied him to a stake and piled firewood around him to burn him to death.¡±

    ¡°And then...¡± Duan Li seemed to feel puzzled, too, because there were no murals after this one. Thest picture only showed the ghost tied to a stake and someone around him taking up a torch. But there was no follow-up mural to show whether the ghost had been burned or not.

    In addition to the story told by the murals, there were only those circr arrays, which were simr to the set up of a magic field. Although Feng YuLan said that they looked like a magic field, he thought it also looked like a totem or something like that.

    ¡°The story of the mural did not have a proper beginning or ending, and...¡± Luo Jian thought of yet another possibility, and he said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the story of the owner of the tomb? Could it be that the tomb was built for the ghost?¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t the note given by the secret chamber say that they believed in some kind of God? How could a savage raised by a wolf be enshrined as a God?¡± Ah Lan frowned and could not understand. However, he was very interested in the array formation in the mural. He took out his grimoire and a pen from somewhere. With several strokes, he copied the array formation ording to the mural.

    ¡°Since when were you so good at drawing?¡± Luo Jian immediately noticed this scene and indicated his disbelief. He remembered that the things Ah Lan drew in their childhood was very crooked. He was the kind of person who would try to draw a square and end up with a circle.

    Ah Lan waved his grimoire. ¡°It¡¯s not that I have great skills. It¡¯s this book of mine that has great skills.¡±

    After Ah Lan said that, Luo Jian and Duan Li turned their heads at the same time and eyed Ah Lan with very profound looks.

    Ah Lan had a baffled expression on his face, but he did not care and continued to copy the array. The three men walked around the six tomb vaults continuously. Then, they found that the decorations and murals of each chamber were almost the same. Although there were some deviations in detail, there was not much of a difference, and no matter how many times they had circled around the tomb vaults, they could not walk out of this strange array.

    ¡°What else did we not consider?¡± Luo Jian did not believe that there was no way out. He began to think about themon points of the six vaults. However, even when his brain malfunctioned, he could not figure out what he did not consider. He gave up, turned to Duan Li, and asked, ¡°How did you bring us into this ce previously? Is it through any door?¡±

    Duan Li pointed to the hidden door in the tomb vault and said, ¡°This is the door. Aftering out of the dark passageway, we came to this tomb vault. But when we tried to backtrack to that pathway, what appeared was not the passageway that we saw before, but another tomb vault.¡±

    Luo Jian was a little puzzled: ¡°You mean you found a hidden door in that narrow passageway, opened the door, and entered this tomb vault. But when you wanted to go back to that ce, when you opened the door again, it did not lead to the original passageway but led to another tomb vault that was identical to this tomb vault.¡±

    ¡°It feels like the tomb is constantly shifting.¡± Ah Lan was still staring at the tomb vault¡¯s array formation. After circling around six simr tombs consecutively, he returned to the original tomb vault where he started and found something strange.

    ¡°Ah Jian, the array formation is different now.¡± Feng YuLan suddenly reached out and pointed to the array formation on the mural.

    ¡°What¡¯s different?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s different from what I copied.¡± Feng YuLan took out his grimoire and took out the page onto which he had copied the array formation. Luo Jian went to have a closer look and immediately found the differences. Although the two array formations were very simr, if one looked carefully, one would find that the patterns on the mural had changed.

    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s something wrong with it!¡± It seemed that Luo Jian thought of the way to solve it. He immediately opened his eyes wide and looked at the array formation on the wall. The circr array formation was engraved. A sharp tool was used to carve into the wall, forming grooves on the wall. The depressions were also very deep. Luo Jian pressed his hand to it and found that his fingers could fully extend into those dents.

    It may have been a coincidence, but the patterns depicted in the array formation allowed Luo Jian to put all five fingers into five small round holes. At this point, Luo Jian hesitated a little, but since he was in for a penny, in for a pound, he continued to ce all five of his fingers into the round holes. After that, he clenched his hand tightly and tried to shift the holes to the left, but the array formation remained still.

    Therefore, Luo Jian changed to the other direction and turned it to the right. This time, he seeded. The array formation made one and a half turns. At that moment, the pattern of the array formation waspletely restored to the pattern of the array formation that Feng YuLan had copied originally!

    After that, the three people, Luo Jian, Duan Li and Feng YuLan, seemed to feel the sound of a mechanism vibrating under their feet at the same time.

 Chapter 63 - Burial Grounds (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 63 - Burial Grounds (IX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    When the mechanism activated, the three people nced into each others¡¯ eyes in surprise. Duan Li was the first to move. He headed to open a hidden door. As they expected, beyond the hidden door was no longer a familiar tomb vault, but a dark passageway. It appeared endless, and they did not know where it led.

    ¡°It¡¯s a mechanism.¡± Duan Li immediately stepped through the hidden door and walked into the passageway. He took out a shlight and shone it into the depths of the passageway. It seemed endless, and he could not see where it led. When he shone the shlight on the walls of the dark passageway, he found some mounted torches, but the lights were extinguished. This passageway was obviously not the same as the passageway that Luo Jian was trapped in before.

    ¡°There is no danger.¡± Duan Li checked around a little, turned around, and squatted at the side of the hidden door. He waved and indicated for Luo Jian and Feng YuLan toe over there quickly. Then, Luo Jian pushed Feng YuLan to let him go first.

    The hidden door in the tomb wasparatively narrower than normal, and only one person could pass through it at a time. Also, because the hidden door was fixed in a lower corner, one generally had to squat down to crawl through! Every time Luo Jian passed through the hidden door, he silentlyined about it, and he had no idea why the people who built the tomb conceived of such a troublesome hidden door.

    But soon, Luo Jian knew why the hidden door was built in this way.

    At that moment when Feng YuLan passed through the hidden door without trouble, when he also squatted on the opposite side to beckon for Luo Jian toe over, when Luo Jian just squatted......! Suddenly, he heard the vibration sound of the mechanism underground start once again! And right as he heard the sound, the hidden door suddenly fell automatically! Luo Jian watched as the hidden door closed quickly. Feng YuLan, who was on the opposite side, only had time to reach out and shout at him. After that, the thick hidden door shut firmly.

    Luo Jian waspletely shocked by the sudden action. Instinctively, he immediately tried to open the hidden door. There was something like a button on the side of the hidden door. Every time someone pressed it, the hidden door would open. After every team member had passed through the door, they could close the hidden door themself by pressing the button on the opposite side.

    If the door was deliberately left open, it would automatically close after a few minutes.

    However, Luo Jian had not met such a situation before, where no one had touched the mechanism and the door would automatically close! Luo Jian, of course, desperately pressed the button on the wall to try to make the hidden door open again, but for some reason, the hidden door¡¯s mechanism became extremely slow. Regardless of how many times Luo Jian pressed the button, the door remained firmly shut. It was only when the vibration of the underground mechanism that Luo Jian heard stopped that the door opened with a rumble.

    However, behind the open door, there was neither Feng YuLan and Duan Li, nor was there a new dark passageway! It was an area that Luo Jian was extremely familiar with; it appeared to be an exact replica of the tomb vault Luo Jian was in.

    It was exactly the same as what Luo Jian had seen previously: the three coffins were ced side by side, and the murals on the wall still told the story of the evil ghost. Luo Jian understood that he had returned to the terrible array once again. He returned to the six tomb vaults that were ced in an infinite loop.

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± At this moment, Luo Jian was a little frightened. Although the number of secret chambers he experienced was considered not little, he was still inexplicably scared of this situation because he was suddenly alone and Duan Li and Ah Lan were missing. There were only the three coffins apanying him in the pitch-ck tomb.

    Luo Jian swallowed his saliva. He felt that he could not remain here to wait for his doom. He remembered the vibration sound that could only be heard when the strange mechanism was activated. Because of this sound, the hidden door suddenly closed automatically. Even after much thinking, Luo Jian did not understand what had urred.

    Therefore, he went back to the mural and looked at the circr array formation that was needed to use the mechanism. At this time, Luo Jian found that the array formation had reverted to its original formation. Previously, after Luo Jian turned the array formation, there was a new passageway behind the open hidden door. However, the open door closed within a few minutes, and the array formation automatically turned back. After looking at the array formation for a long time, Luo Jian thought that if he turned it again, he might be able to find Ah Lan andpany.

    After his interest was aroused by this idea, Luo Jian immediately ced his hand in it and tried to turn the array formation again. But this time, Luo Jian found that he could not turn it to the right, but he could turn it to the left. The rotation of the array formation was in a different direction than before.

    After turning the array formation to the left for one and a half rounds, there was the sound of the vibration that came from the starting mechanism underground. After the sound stopped, Luo Jian ran to open the hidden door again. Sure enough, after opening the hidden door, there was a passageway that seemed to stretch endlessly, but he didn¡¯t see Duan Li and Feng YuLan. After a moment of hesitation, Luo Jian crawled through the hidden door and entered the dark passageway.

    Not long after Luo Jian climbed through the door, it closed, apanied by the sound of mechanism starting.

    ¡°What is actually happening in this damned ce?¡± It seemed that Luo Jian could not open the hidden door again after it was closed. Because he could not find the button that opened the hidden door, he had to follow the passageway, but after walking for a long time, he still did not see the way out. When he identally kicked something with his feet, he took out a shlight to shine on the ground and found that he had kicked an altarmp.

    A very familiar looking altarmp.

    Luo Jian felt a chill that permeated his entire body. He squatted down, picked up the altarmp, and studied it carefully with the light of the shlight. He was shocked to find that this was the altarmp previously left behind by Feng YuLan! After they were poisoned by the monster, Duan Li took them away and left themp here.

    This was the passageway where they walked around in circles and met that monster!

    ¡°Darn, I¡¯m back here again.¡± Luo Jian was emitting cold sweat, and the shlight in his hand began to tremble unconsciously. The round light shook on the wall. Now he had no way back. There was a terrible monster wandering in this passageway, which he had been trapped in. Maybe the enemy team member that Duan Li had mentioned before was also here.

    What to do? What should I do? Luo Jian¡¯s brain was filled with these questions as he mulled over it. He was not Duan Li. He did not know how Duan Li escaped from the narrow passageway. He could not return to the tomb vault with three coffins and murals. Luo Jian had lost all his teammates now. He was alone and had to face an unknown enemy in the depths of the darkness.

    There was absolutely no way to retreat. If one was afraid but did nothing about it, they would only continue to grow even more afraid. Luo Jian thought about it and decided to put out the light of his shlight. He took out the first phosphorite from his pocket. He remembered Ah Lan said that the monster was very sensitive to light and sound. At this time, it was best to reduce his sense of existence. After doing all that, Luo Jian slowly walked on.

    This passageway remained in the state that made whoever was in it to walk around in circles. After walking for a long time, Luo Jian realized that the sound of his footsteps was gone again, but he was not as surprised as when he realized it the first time. He tried to hold his breath as he gripped the phosphorite in his hand. He used a hand to support himself on the wall as he walked slowly forward. About ten minutester, Luo Jian arrived at the ce where Feng YuLan first woke up. It was an area with a pool of water and five big pots.

    As Feng YuLan said, all five pots were opened. One of them was broken. Strange ck liquid spilled out and all over the ground, and much of it had flowed into the pool. The pool upied arge area, and under the shroud of darkness, the water in the pool was also ck.

    The pool was probably specially designed to be in the tomb because they knew there would be groundwater. In this humid environment, there was the possibility of water condensing in the tomb. When the tomb was built, these kinds of cisterns and water diversion channels were specially built. In addition, Luo Jian saw what the slip of paper mentioned: this tomb was connected to an underground cave. There was not much to say about having an underground cave here, but there must be an underground river or something simr. Maybe the cave could even be connected with the river outside......

    ¡°If I follow the current, I may be able to go out.¡± Luo Jian was enlightened and immediately squatted beside the cistern to see the direction of the water flow. The pool was not big, and the water did not seem to be stagnant. The water formed a small whirlpool as it moved, and sometimes water would ssh out and stter all over the ground. Luo Jian expected there to be a channel under the pool for the water, but where did the channel lead to? The passageway was neither big nor long. Was there enough space for a person to swim in it? If he could note out to take a breath, Luo Jian would drown.

    Luo Jian squatted beside the reservoir and hesitated for a long time. During the time he was hesitating, something unexpected happened again! Once again, Luo Jian heard a sound from behind him. It was the sound of a pot shattering. When he decisively turned back to take a look, he found that of the four intact big pots, one of them had shattered somehow. The liquid in it was immediately spilled all over the floor, and something that looked like a ck meatball fell out from it.

    This unexpected incident scared Luo Jian so much that he felt cold and all his hairs stood up. He immediately took out his knife and squatted at the edge of the pool, looking around cautiously. The light of the phosphorite was too weak, so Luo Jian, who had be used to the darkness, gradually began to learn not to judge what urred with merely his eyes. He was extremely focused as he listened to all of the surrounding noise, to take in small and even more miniscule noises.

    Just when he felt so nervous that the hand holding the knife began to tremble, his keen intuition felt that there was somethinging at him from the right at a speed that no human could match. Although it was too dark for him to see clearly, he felt something akin to a murderous intent, so he swung his knife to resist it!

    Luo Jian felt that his de really had blocked some kind of attack, but it didn¡¯t matter what it was because when that thing charged over, the force of its collision was very strong. Although Luo Jian resisted the attack, his stance was unstable, and he was directly knocked backward toward the pool of ckened water behind him.

    Water is something gentle, but simrly, it can also be something cold. When the water rose over his head, Luo Jian seemed to be able to clearly feel death itself. The God of death waved his cold sickle and mercilessly reaped all forms of life.

 Chapter 64 - Burial Grounds (X)

    <h4>Chapter 64 - Burial Grounds (X)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian failed to resurface.

    He felt that the water in the pool was extremely heavy as it soaked his clothes, and his body seemed to be made of lead. No matter how hard Luo Jian moved his limbs, the surface of the pond above his head got further and further away from him.

    If this goes on, I will drown.

    There was only this thought in Luo Jian¡¯s mind. He did not know how deep the pool was or whether there was a channel under the pool diverting water somewhere else. Even if there was, the risk of swimming through the diversion channel was too great. Luo Jian did not have the courage to gamble with his life. But at this point, even if he did not want to, he could only take the risk.

    The water was so heavy that Luo Jian could not float up at all but just sank down. There was a strange smell in the water. Luo Jian was afraid; the water wouldn¡¯t be poisonous, right?

    When Luo Jian was struggling in the water, the phosphorite he kept on his body dropped out. In the water, the light of the stone became more exuberant. Its light shone around him, giving a dark-blue hue to his surroundings. Luo Jian, who was suffocating, reached his hands out to grab the stone, but the stone floated further and further away, perhaps due to the water flow speed.

    For some reason, Luo Jian felt an impulse emerge. Risking his life, he swam in the direction of the stone. In a trance, Luo Jian felt as if he had swum into a water-filled tunnel, which was the very narrow water diversion channel. Luo Jian used the wall as a guide in the water-filled tunnel to swim forward. The phosphorite also swayed along with the waterflow. Luo Jian tried to catch that stone, but no matter how hard he tried, he was not able to grab it.

    Luo Jian also did not understand why he was so persistent in trying to catch the stone, but he felt ufortable if he did not catch it, so he swam and swam through the water-filled tunnel with all his might. Following the stone, he swam forward all the way. The water began to flow more rapidly for some reason. The moment Luo Jian got careless, he was pushed by the waterflow to move forward quickly. In his confusion, he seemed to feel that he finally caught that darned phosphorite that was floating around. His consciousness faded due to asphyxiation and other reasons.

    When Luo Jian woke up, he seemed to have washed ashore, his whole body ** lying on the edge of another pool, still holding the phosphorite tightly. Luo Jiany on the ground for a long time with half of his body still immersed in the water. After a long time, he slowly got up and climbed out of the pool.

    The clothes and everything on his body were soaked, and he felt extremely heavy. He coughed twice to force some water out from his lungs, spit out a few mouthfuls of saliva, and ran his fingers through his hair that had stered to his forehead. After all that was done, he was finally in the mood to observe the surrounding environment.

    Luo Jian found that he was no longer at the pool he had formerly been at. He was afraid that he had been led by the water current along the water diversion channel in the pool to another ce. This one had another pool, but there were no five big pots in his vicinity. A huge stone gate faced Luo Jian instead.

    There were two statues of a dragon and a tiger on the left and right sides of the stone gate. The mouth of the dragon statue held a luminous pearl. The body of the dragon was coiled into a circr shape, and its eyes were closed in rest. The mouth of the tiger statue also contained a luminous pearl. It was crawling on the ground and had anguid look. In this way, the statues made up a scene of a crouching tiger, hidden dragon.

    In the middle of the two statues, the huge stone gate was as high as three meters. The gate was carved with extremelyplex patterns, and it seemed that the gate was also iid with the same stone as the phosphorite in Luo Jian¡¯s hand. They all emitted a faint blue light, illuminating the whole stone gate.

    Luo Jian exhaled a long breath and approached the stone gate. He did not know what kind of ce this was, but the gate appeared majestic. Could it be the main tomb vault of the tomb? As he thought of this, Luo Jian went to the stone gate and carefully observed the patterns carved on it.

    The patterns on the stone gate appeared almost the same as the pattern of the array formation Luo Jian had seen before in the six tomb vaults. The only difference was that the small holes in the gaps of the array formation were iid with luminous phosphorite. No, one of the holes was empty. There was no phosphorite in it.

    After seeing the empty hole, Luo Jian subconsciously took a look at the stone in his hand and murmured, ¡°Is this a coincidence?¡±

    But whether it was a coincidence or not, Luo Jian thought it was worth a try, so he clenched the phosphorite in his hand and nned to simply ce the stone into the empty hole. But soon, Luo Jian found that the array formation on the stone gate was too big. The empty hole was located at a height higher than the top of Luo Jian¡¯s head. Luo Jian could not reach it even if he straightened both his body and arms, so he looked left and right to search for a stone that could elevate him.

    However, when he was looking for a stone to stand on, he unintentionally took a nce at the dragon and tiger statues to both sides of him. That made Luo Jian suddenly jump up in shock because he found that the two statues had moved!!

    The dragon statue no longer had the appearance of closing its eyes. Its mouth still held the luminous pearl, but now it had raised its head. It opened its eyes wide to gaze at where Luo Jian stood! As for the tiger statue, it simrly moved. It was no longernguidly crawling on the ground but had twisted its head to stare at Luo Jian. Both statues on his left and right were staring at Luo Jian in this way.

    Luo Jian was really scared at this time. After taking a glimpse at the dragon statue on the left and the tiger statue on the right, he remembered that the two statues had not looked this way earlier! Were his eyes ying tricks on him? What happened? Could the statues move?!

    All at once, Luo Jian felt an ominous premonition in his heart. Now, he could not afford to look around for any stones that he could use to elevate him. He jumped and forced the phosphorite into the array formation on the stone gate. Just as the stone was inserted, Luo Jian heard the vibration sound of a mechanism starting underneath the ground again. As the stone gate moved, dust scattered all over, and the gate in front of Luo Jian opened with a rumble!

    The stone gate had merely lifted a little, leaving a gap that was neither too big nor small, but justrge enough for a person to enter. Inside, it was pitch-ck, and nothing could be clearly seen. Luo Jian took out the shlight from his pocket. It was thanks to the high level of technology that the shlight he carried into the secret chamber was waterproof.

    Luo Jian first shone his shlight through the gap of the stone gate, but it was really too dark inside. He had a feeling that the light illuminated by the shlight could not permeate the darkness. The unknown area beyond the stone gate made Luo Jian¡¯s heart surge with apprehension. For a while, Luo Jian hesitated, standing in ce, and refused to move.

    But when Luo Jian looked at the statues on the left and right sides of him again, he was surprised to find that the statues had moved again while he was not paying attention. The tiger statue had stood uppletely. It not only stared at Luo Jian but also bared its teeth while raising one w to make a kind of swiping movement towards him.

    He turned around to take a look at the dragon statue on his left. Its body was no longer curled up. The upper part of the dragon¡¯s body was actually suspended. It was almost as if it was about to lunge towards Luo Jian at any time.

    Luo Jian was given a bad fright by the two statues. At the moment, he did not hesitate any longer. He immediately entered the stone gate with his shlight. The mechanism of the stone gate was unknown, but after he entered, the door automatically closed. When he entered, the two statues returned to their original states where he could not see.

    After entering the stone gate, Luo Jian, with the aid from the light of his shlight, found himself in a very wide space. He was in a huge square tomb vault with a width of more than 10 meters. There was a rtively high tform in the middle of the tomb. It seemed that there was a coffin on the tform. There were stairs around the tform that could be used to climb up. Around the stairs, there was a circr, embellishedmpstand. On it, only a single altarmp was lit, but the rest of the altarmps were all extinguished.

    Luo Jian was located beneath the tform, and other than this rtively high tform, Luo Jian saw many objects simr to terracotta warriors, that is, ancient tomb statues, which were made by firing ceramics. But it was not appropriate to say that these were terracotta warriors and horses because these statues were not carved into soldiers and carriages, but into bizarre forms like monsters.

    There were big and small evil spirits, demons, and monsters of various colors. Some appeared to be like small children, and their four limbs looked like a children¡¯s. They had very sharp faces, and each had only one eye. They carriednterns in their hands. Some of them were veryrge, monster-like creatures. For example, there was a statue with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a horse. On the horse¡¯s back, there were eagle wings, but its tail was shaped like a snake¡¯s. Luo Jian also saw other creatures in animal forms. Another had a human body and the head of a cow or a horse, and in its hands, it brandished a long spear and a big knife.

    These monsters looked very ferocious with weapons in their hands. It appeared as if they were ready to attack at any given time.

    Luo Jian had not gone to see the terracotta warriors or anything like them. He had only used theputer to see the images of the terracotta warriors. However, with the mere sight of this astounded him. The huge terracotta warriors in the tomb were very orderly ced, and each of them looked different and life-like. Therefore, Luo Jian had the thought that if he had time, he would go to the mausoleum of the Qin dynasty¡¯s first emperorto see the terracotta warriors.

    But just now, Luo Jian, who was in an unknown tomb, saw something more shocking.

    There were not a lot of tomb statues of these monsters. After a detailed counting, there were more than 50 such statues here. But some statues were huge and upied arge area. All these statues focused their gazes in the same direction, which was at the tform located in the center of this huge tomb.

    ¡°No doubt, this is probably the main tomb vault.¡± Luo Jian scurried through these statues of different sizes with a shlight and slowly walked towards the tform in the center of the tomb. The tform was very high, and Luo Jian could not see the coffin that was ced above, even with his head raised.

    But Luo Jian intended to seek the truth, so he walked up the stairs of the tform carefully and approached the coffin that was located at the highest point of this room step by step. Luo Jian was afraid that what was in the coffin may be what the slip of paper had mentioned...... the god that the nsmen believed in.

    But Luo Jian still had some doubts. Could he have reached the main tomb vault so easily? Although he and Feng YuLan had been trapped together due to various mechanisms for a long time and almost died of poisoning, Luo Jian originally thought that he would have to go through many more obstacles to reach the main tomb vault. Or perhaps...... this may not be the main tomb vault?

    While taking some time to thoroughly ponder this, Luo Jian had already stepped onto the high tform ande in front of the coffin.

    Luo Jian found that the coffin was not made of ordinary wood. It was a sarcophagus with decorative patterns carved on it. To his surprise, it seemed that someone had opened the sarcophagus because the lid of the coffin had been moved, and a slight gap was shown. It could vaguely be seen that the inside was pitch-ck.

    ¡°Could it be that someone arrived here first?¡± Luo Jian ced his hand on the coffin. It was normal that he thought this way. In this huge tomb, there was not only Luo Jian andpany but also the people from the enemy team. Luo Jian clearly knew that the enemy team was probably different from his team in the sense that they were probably not a temporary team. Instead, they were a team with tacit cooperation. Their mobility levels and critical judgment would be far above Luo Jian¡¯s team.

    But Luo Jian still had the mentality that he was lucky. He pushed the lid of the sarcophagus hard. The lid of the sarcophagus was very heavy; it was about several hundred jin. Luo Jian pushed hard at the lid of the sarcophagus for a long time and was finally able to push the lid of the sarcophagus mostly open. Then, he used a shlight to shine light into the sarcophagus. After illuminating it, Luo Jian¡¯s face suddenly ckened.

    Xing Yan gazed at him with a pair of red rabbit eyes.

    ¡°Why the hell are you in the coffin?!¡±

 Chapter 65 - Burial Grounds (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 65 - Burial Grounds (XI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    <i>Thank you Miya and Somebody for the Kofi¡ªBonus chapter. </i>

    <b>Slightly NSFW, dub-con. </b>

    There was a stalker in the coffin. If ordinary yers encountered this situation, they would be scared to death. It was a pity that Luo Jian was not an ordinary yer. Because when the stalker saw Luo Jian, he extended his ws towards him, grabbed his shoulder, and dragged him directly into the sarcophagus.

    The coffin was so big that it could contain two people lying side by side. It was about one meter high and nearly two meters long. After being dragged in, Luo Jian was forced to turn over. Xing Yan pressed onto him, bent his head, and nibbled at Luo Jian¡¯s lips.

    ¡°Sob, sob......¡± Luo Jian sobbed twice to protest, but his protests had never been effective in front of Xing Yan. Xing Yan was obviously excited. His tongue slipped into Luo Jian¡¯s mouth as he licked all around the interior. He insisted on entangling his tongue with Luo Jian¡¯s little one. Luo Jian was kissed until he was confused and disorientated. His hands instinctively embraced Xing Yan¡¯s back, and the two men stuck together in a very intimate position.

    <details><summary>Click here to see the NSFW Content</summary>

    Obviously, kissing was not enough for him. Naturally, Xing Yan¡¯s ws did not stop to rest. One w reached into Luo Jian¡¯s clothes to touch his chest. He found one of Luo Jian¡¯s buds and cruelly pinched it with a strength that was neither too strong nor too weak. Luo Jian was immediately stimted by his action. His body struggled involuntarily, and his hands pushed Xing Yan away as he tried to maintain some distance between them.

    But Xing Yan did not relent or let go. His lips kept nibbling at Luo Jian¡¯s mouth, trying his best to suck the saliva from within. Shortly after, his fingers pulled open the zipper of Luo Jian¡¯s clothes, and he used a little force to take off the other¡¯s coat. Luo Jian had just recently climbed out of the water so the clothes were all **. Xing Yan was obviously very dissatisfied with this, so he ripped Luo Jian¡¯s shirt away and began to pull his pants open.

    ¡°You... Stop......¡± Luo Jian¡¯s resistance was futile, and he was now too heartbroken for tears. What did this fool think this ce was? This was likely the main tomb room. At any time, someone else maye in. What¡¯s more, he wanted to do it directly in the sarcophagus? The thought was too stimting!

    Feeling aggrieved, Luo Jian was not willing to cooperate. Therefore, he held on to his pants tightly and refused to let go. After trying for a long time, Xing Yan still did not manage to pull his pants off. Seeing that Luo Jian refused to cooperate, he did not continue to pull at his pants.

    But Xing Yan did not want to stop. He changed the way he acted to coax Luo Jian. He grasped Luo Jian¡¯s waist and rubbed here and there. He kissed him on one side of his face and then the other. He purposely gazed at Luo Jian with pitiful eyes.

    Although the stalker could not speak, the tattoo that was branded on both of them made Luo Jian feel the yearning of the other party. Luo Jian felt a little softhearted, but at that moment when he hesitated, Xing Yan lunged at him ferociously once again. Before Luo Jian could react, his pants had been ripped off by that hateful stalker!

    ¡°You bastard!¡± Luo Jian got so furious that he yelled, but at the next second, Xing Yan closed the distance between them and blocked his lips. Luo Jian was pressed into the coffin as he was kissed to the point where he was all muddled and delirious. In a trance, he found that Xing Yan had stretched out one hand and grabbed the lid of the coffin. The lid weighing several hundred jin was pushed by just one hand. Xing Yan sessfully moved and closed the lid of the coffin with one hand. The interior of the sarcophagus instantly became dark.

    All Luo Jian could see was pitch-darkness. With his loss of vision, the narrow space of the coffin made Luo Jian feel strangely tense. In the dark, he felt Xing Yan kiss the corner of his mouth and then all the way down to his neck. He stroked his body wantonly with both of his hands. Although his actions were clearly gentle, it only made Luo Jian afraid of getting raped.

    Xing Yan¡¯s hands moved downward to Luo Jian¡¯s lower part and meticulously caressed it through his underwear. The thin cloth could not prevent Luo Jian from experiencing that kind of inhuman pleasure, so he shrank into a ball and huddled into Xing Yan¡¯s body as he kept shivering.

    Xing Yan despicably started to lick Luo Jian¡¯s ears. He bit his earlobes and searched for all the ces that would stimte Luo Jian. Previously, when Xing Yan kissed him, Luo Jian felt that he had gotten hard. He felt that his lower part was swelling badly. However, Xing Yan was not in a hurry. He was still prolonging the forey.

    At this point, Luo Jian could no longer resist. He was now more troubled over the fact that he still had not brought anything for lubrication. Although he had prepared that thing in his carry-on secret chamber...... Well, do not ask him why he prepared this thing in advance, but in any case, he had made preparations. But even if he had prepared it, it seemed that he had no chance to take it out from the chamber now. Moreover, his mirror was in his coat pocket, and his clothes had been ripped away by Xing Yan a long time ago.

    Luo Jian was caught up in the thought of suffering the tearing pain once again, but suddenly, he felt Xing Yan rub his private area with cool fingers. It seemed that Xing Yan¡¯s fingers were smeared with some slippery liquid, which was cold and felt like lube, but Luo Jian felt that the ces where he touched him were boiling hot.

    Xing Yan started kissing Luo Jian again, and while kissing him, he started to stretch him. Luo Jian felt his fingers entering him one by one. He was frightened and surprised. He was surprised that this fool had been enlightened and knew that he had to lubricate Luo Jian. As he thought of this, Luo Jian¡¯s face reddened unconsciously, but before he could take a breath, Xing Yan suddenly took out his fingers, pushed his hard object in, and barged into him.

    Luo Jian hugged Xing Yan¡¯s shoulders with both hands and moaned in pain. Xing Yan came closer to kiss him again, drawing his attention away from the pain. Then, Xing Yan waited a few moments to allow Luo Jian to adapt to him before he slowly started to move inside Luo Jian.

    After that, Luo Jian was ashamed to find that with just the act of insertion into him, he actually came. Xing Yan was not willing to touch his front organ, but he allowed Luo Jian to ufortably wriggle his body. When Luo Jian wanted to touch his organ, Xing Yan insisted on grabbing his hand and intertwined his fingers with all ten of Luo Jian¡¯s fingers.

    ¡°You bastard...... Bastard...¡± After being ravaged so fiercely, Luo Jian was extremely miserable. He struggled to escape from Xing Yan¡¯s lethal weapon, but every time Xing Yan pushed it into his deepest core. Xing Yan¡¯s movements became more and more intense. In the narrow and suffocating coffin, it made Luo Jian delusional. He felt as if he was being bullied by a terrible devil.

    In bewilderment, Luo Jian began to cry. He could not escape but was tightly held by Xing Yan. Xing Yan¡¯s movements became more and more ferocious. In a trance, Luo Jian felt like he was going to break. He fell into unconsciousness after because he could not catch his breath. His awareness seemed to fall into the sea of clouds. Somewhere high enough that was not too cold, he was being moved up and down. This sort of feeling struck great trepidation in his heart.

    </details>

    Luo Jian did not know how long he slept. When he woke up, he found that his surroundings were pitch-ck, and he felt a dull pain as if his body was shattering into pieces. It seemed that he was ravaged for a long time. When he felt around his body, he found that he was well-dressed now...... but it seemed that he was not dressed in hisbat suit, which he was originally wearing.

    Moreover, the cuff of this garb was very wide, and the cor of the clothing was embroidered with patterns as if this was a set of ancient clothes. Also, as Luo Jian felt around his head, it seemed that he was wearing a hat.

    Did Xing Yan change my clothes for me? Luo Jian was confused. He thought that he might still be in the sarcophagus, so he reached out to push the lid that was over his head. However, Luo Jian was so weak now that when he raised his hands halfway, his hands fell down again. He took a deep breath and felt a little suffocated. It was probably because the coffin was sealed, so there was no oxygen circting in it. This made him feel like it was hard to breathe here.

    His body was throbbing in pain, so he did not have the strength to move. With the decline in oxygen levels, he began to feel giddy. Luo Jian felt a little helpless as he remained here all by himself since Xing Yan was not around. He was the only one in the deserted and spacious sarcophagus.

    Have I been abandoned?

    Luo Jian could not help but wonder. Although this conjecture made Luo Jian feel a little sad, he was also mentally prepared for the possibility.

    After all, Luo Jian knew that Xing Yan was a stalker, and just like everyone around him had said, he was a horrible and irrational killing machine. How could a stalker like a yer? How could he like a newbie who was so powerless?

    He should not have had that kind of feeling in the first ce.

    Luo Jian closed his eyes, and he regrettably felt upset. But Luo Jian did not want to die. Being trapped in a sarcophagus and suffocating to death was not what Luo Jian wanted. He braced one hand against the ground and pushed the lid of the coffin with the other hand, trying to prop the lid of the coffin up with the strength of his body. But when Luo Jian had yet to use his strength, he suddenly heard a voice travelling from outside the coffin. Someone was talking.

    ¡°Is this the main chamber?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we would have to get here by going through the water route.¡±

    ¡°These tomb statues are really spectacr. But why are all the statues carved into monsters? ¡±

    ¡°Because this is the tomb of the ghost.¡±

    When Luo Jian heard the voices, he paused momentarily. After some deliberation, he suddenly decided to honestlyy down in the coffin again. In passing, he tidied up his clothes. When he finished neatening his clothes, he felt something on his hand, which appeared to be a scroll. After considering, Luo Jian ced the scroll on his chest and held it tightly as his hands ovepped it.

    He did not know if this scroll had any mysterious use, but when he held it, Luo Jian felt strangely calm. It was a sort of calmness that he felt inwardly, but he really felt that he was being too calm. He was so calm that Luo Jian felt that he had even stopped breathing.

    After that, Luo Jian was well-behaved and closed his eyes. When he closed his eyes, he heard a few footsteps that sounded from outside the sarcophagus apanied by someone saying, ¡°Open it!¡±

    Within a few seconds, Luo Jian heard the sound of the lid of the sarcophagus being moved. He could feel the light shining in from outside the sarcophagus. The light was very dazzling, shining through his eyelid and reflecting on his retinas. However, Luo Jian kept his eyes closed and did not dare to move because he realized a very grave issue.

    These people who were talking outside the sarcophagus were probably the people of the enemy team. They had gathered all their team members and found the main tomb vault! And they had walked up to the tform and opened the tomb owner¡¯s coffin, but the problem was that Luo Jian was in this coffin! He did not want to recall it...... but he was in the coffin making love with a stalker.

    At this time, Luo Jian realized the approaching danger. He was not the opponent of the five people in front of him. If he were to have a direct face-off with them, he would definitely be shredded into pieces. Although Luo Jian did not know the odds of sess, he had to at least try.

    That¡¯s right. Luo Jian realized that he now may have been changed into a set of ancient garbs by the stalker. If so, could he cosy as the tomb owner who was supposed to be in this coffin? Although Luo Jian knew that there was a big difference between the living and the dead, he did not have any other countermeasures.

    T/N: *ehem* this chapter is a coffin y(?) chapter?

    Thank you Somebody for the Kofi! <3

 Chapter 66 - Burial Grounds (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 66 - Burial Grounds (XII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The sarcophagus was opened, and a beam of strong light shone onto Luo Jian. At that moment, Luo Jian was very nervous. He was afraid that they would spot any ws, so he had to work hard to hold his breath. Unconsciously, he internally began to run through his mental technique, the mental technique of the disguiser. This was originally a mental technique used in battle that would make his weapon invisible. But now, Luo Jian was very nervous and afraid of them spotting ws. Naturally, he subconsciously wanted to divert their attention, so he began to run through his mental technique repeatedly.

    Maybe what he was doing was self-defeating. The mental technique of the disguiser really had the effect of helping him hold his breath and feign death. Therefore, when the lid of the coffin was opened and several people of the enemy team gathered around Luo Jian to inspect him, they did not realize that the person lying in the coffin was actually alive and started a discussion around Luo Jian.

    ¡°Boss, is this the owner of the tomb?¡± The first speaker was a man. If Luo Jian could open his eyes, he would find that he was a brawny man who was eight feet tall. As for his looks, he appeared a little naive and carefree. Since his name was unknown, he was temporarily named ¡®Brawny¡¯.

    The boss that Brawny called out to was naturally the team leader. He was a gloomy man with long waist-length hair and wore what seemed to be a set of ancient European aristocratic clothes. His fingernails appeared old, long, and ck. His face was pale-white and bloodless, but there in the depths of his eyes, a blood-red light shone through. At first nce, he looked like a vampire that had just climbed out of the cemetery.

    The vampire boss didn¡¯t answer the strong man¡¯s words. Instead, the woman with ck, long, straight hair beside him spoke. She nced at Luo Jian in the sarcophagus and smiled: ¡°It¡¯s a handsome boy.¡±

    The long-haired woman dressed in a ssical oriental style. In the gloomy tomb, she unexpectedly wore a red cheongsam. She had luscious bangs, and her hair was long and ck. She had put on some light makeup, and her eyes appeared extremely charming. As they stood beside each other, this woman and the vampire leader formed a sharp contrast between two cultures, but they appeared quite harmonious this way.

    ¡°It¡¯s clearly a dead man, but the body hasn¡¯t rotted. Will it wake up in the next second?¡± The long-haired woman approached the coffin and reached out a hand to touch Luo Jian¡¯s cheek. Luo Jian¡¯s senses were very sharp as he was feigning death. Naturally, he could feel the woman¡¯s actions. Poor Luo Jian did not dare to move but secretly ran through his mental technique in even more of a frenzy.

    Obviously, the woman did not just want to touch Luo Jian¡¯s face. She felt around his face all the way down to his neck. Luo Jian realized that she was feeling his pulse. His heart suddenly became cold. Just as he wanted to open his eyes, he felt that she had removed her hand. She concluded, ¡°The body is cold, and there¡¯s no pulse. This person is really dead.¡±

    His body was cold? Luo Jian was puzzled. His first thought was whether this woman was helping him in his pretence. But when he thought about it, he realized that could not be true. Why should the other party help him in concealing the truth? When Luo Jian felt that he could notprehend what was urring, he suddenly realized a problem. Before that, he was so tense that he never realized that his body really was cold!

    The hands that were folded on his chest could not feel any warmth at all. Luo Jian felt as if his body¡¯s temperature had suddenly and dramatically been reduced from 37 ¡æ to only about 10¡æ. It waspletely in line with the temperature of the tomb and sarcophagus! At the same time, Luo Jian also felt that his heart rate was greatly reduced as well; it was not beating very fast. Instead, his heartbeat was very calm and seemed as if it were about to stop beating.

    Luo Jian did not quite understand why. He thought for a while, and ultimately, he could only attribute all these urrences to the mental technique of the disguiser, which he had been frantically running through his mind. Regarding this, Luo Jian had made the right guess. When holding weapons, the mental technique could not only make his weapons invisible but also allow Luo Jian to form a kind of disguise that fully integrated into the surrounding environment.

    It could hide any traces of life, reduce the frequency of one¡¯s breathing and heartbeat, reduce the temperature of one¡¯s body, decrease the biological characteristics to the greatest extent, and weaken one¡¯s sense of existence. He became like a stone on the side of the road. Luo Jian, who held all these characteristics now,y in the coffin, and naturally, others would view him as a person who had died.

    Not to mention, in fact, the stalker also did something to Luo Jian. Otherwise, the enemy team was basically all seniors. Would this woman, who had touched Luo Jian at such close range, not be able to feel his heartbeat? Wouldn¡¯t she feel that Luo Jian was actually feigning death?

    With this in mind, Luo Jian was relieved and continued to pretend, and at the same time, he pricked up his ears to listen to what these people were discussing. Luo Jian kept his eyes closed and could not see how many people were there, but when he listened to them, it seemed that there were only three people present here. In fact, there were two members who had not met up with the team and were still wandering around in this huge tomb.

    When the three people reached the main tomb, they began to discuss how they should proceed next in front of Luo Jian. They did not know that the enemy team¡¯s captain was lying in front of them and eavesdropping! Luo Jian really did not know how to describe his current situation. He was nervous and happy, but he did not dare stop running through his mental technique even for a brief moment, for fear of exposing his ws.

    While Luo Jian was bing increasingly nervous, the enemies began talking. Luo Jian could hear three different voices that were in the discussion. At the beginning, he heard the female voice say:

    ¡°What is our purpose?¡±

    ¡°Escape from the secret chamber?¡± It was Brawny who spoke. In general, the vampire team captain had only uttered a few words. His sense of existence seemed to be lower than that of Luo Jian.

    ¡°No, no, no, you are wrong. We should not only escape from the secret chamber, but also escape from it faster than the enemy and leave before them so that we are the winning team. If we are lucky enough, we can kill one or two enemies and obtain huge rewards.¡±

    The woman clearly defined their goals and delivered a speech: ¡°However, the note left by the secret chamber has made it clear that the opposing team has less than five members. Therefore, the chamber supplemented them with more than one Oracles! I think all of you know what an Oracle is and what kind of trouble they will pose. Although stalkers will not purposefullye at us, it¡¯s possible that we will be affected. We must avoid this situation. So, I will make it clear now: Don¡¯t be greedy for any easy gains, and don¡¯t focus on killing the enemy! We can only be winners if we find the exit faster than them!¡±

    Luo Jian could not help but cheer when he heard what she said. In his opinion, this woman¡¯s line of thought was very clear, and she had a good grasp on the actual situation. She knew how to advance and retreat, as well as how to preserve themselves. The person definitely yed the role of a strategist in their team.

    Of course, their conversation had not ended yet, and the woman continued: ¡°The tomb gave us the hint that we can only find the exit after crossing the bridge. I have spected before that this is a secret chamberposed of a tomb and an underground karst cave. We first appeared in the tomb, so the opposite side of the bridge is the underground karst cave.¡±

    ¡°If we want to go to the underground cave, we have to find the bridge connecting the two ces, right?¡± The vampire team captain finally chimed in. His voice was very cold. Just by hearing his voice, Luo Jian felt as if his whole body turned cold. At this time, the vampire team captainughed: ¡°Then to go to the bridge, we have to find the map of the tomb.¡±

    ¡°But this is very strange......¡± Brawny seemed to be a straightforward person. He did not know how to think out of the box when he faced a problem or when he was confused. Therefore, he asked, ¡°How do you know that there will be a map of the tomb in the main tomb vault?¡±

    ¡°If there is no map, there will be something else that would be useful. In short, the tomb vault is definitely there to guide us. The tomb is toorge, and there are mechanisms and monsters everywhere. There is no person or prop in our team that can guide us, so there will be a map in the tomb, and the most likely ce where it would be is in the main tomb vault.¡±

    While listening to their conversation, Luo Jian began to think about the clues left by the secret chamber. The portrait of the tomb owner? Could it be a map? Luo Jian mulled over it and thought that what the woman had said was right. There was no one in Luo Jian¡¯s team who could guide the way. They did not know what the new Oracle¡¯s ability was like, but to arge extent, it did not seem that he could.

    ording to the clues given by the secret chamber to the two teams, Luo Jian felt that the secret chamber was very lenient with his team because the message on Luo Jian¡¯s note directly pointed out the tomb owner¡¯s portrait and suggested that Luo Jian needed to go to the main tomb vault, while the enemy team¡¯s clue had only the bridge. Although it also indicated that the underground cave opposite the bridge was the location of the exit, it also required the enemy team to work hard to figure out how to get to the bridge.

    Now, the problem was that Luo Jian knew that he had to look for the tomb owner¡¯s portrait, but this group of people did not know. They came here just to look for the ¡®map¡¯ that possibly existed.

    Of course, where was the map? Luo Jian doubted momentarily and suddenly clenched the scroll in his hands unconsciously.

    Yes, Luo Jian had a scroll in his hands now. It was not known if the stalker had intentionally left it here, but the problem was that this was a scroll! Generally, ancient scrolls contained portraits and calligraphy. Although Luo Jian did not know what the scroll was for, he knew that it might be the portrait!

    As he thought of this, Luo Jian could not wait to open the scroll, but he was not able to move now. Due to his sensitivity towards light, Luo Jian knew that the sarcophagus he was lying in was still open. The people of the enemy team seemed to be standing beside the sarcophagus. Luo Jian did not know where they were standing, but their voices rang out almost in his ears. Luo Jian could even feel the sarcophagus vibrating a little, which showed that one of them was either still leaning on the sarcophagus or sitting on its edge.

    He was in a horrible situation. The three enemies were close at hand. Any action that Luo Jian performed would be detected by them. Luo Jian could not even open his eyes to observe his environment, and it was easy for him to be attacked while hey in the sarcophagus. ording to Luo Jian¡¯s estimation, the lid of the sarcophagus was only half open; only the upper part of his body was exposed, and the lower part of his body was covered by the lid. This made it very difficult for Luo Jian to escape!

    Moreover, he had the scroll in his hands. This was a very obvious target. Sooner orter, they would find out and take away the scroll. At that moment, it depended on what choice Luo Jian made. Should he feign death and allow the group to easily take away the scroll for the sake of self-preservation or simply counterattack them?

    T/N: Double chapter releases today because I did not update yesterday.

 Chapter 67 - Burial Grounds (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 67 - Burial Grounds (XIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    While Luo Jian was struggling internally over the issue, the current situation changedpletely.

    Luo Jian heard a very loud sound. It was the sound of the mechanism starting up. The sound was so loud that the ground seemed to shake. When Luo Jian was in doubt, he heard what the three people in the enemy¡¯s team had said. The woman mentioned, ¡°The door of the main tomb vault is going to open. Someone is going toe in.¡±

    After that, the vampire team captain said, ¡°Cover the coffin, extinguish the lights, and let us hide.¡±

    The three people carried out themands rapidly. Luo Jian immediately sensed the light source in front of him disappear. He heard the sound of the sarcophagus being covered again, apanied by the slight vibration of the sarcophagus, but Luo Jian stilly still. When he could not hear the footsteps of the three people, Luo Jian finally dared to open his eyes again.

    What he could see was still pitch-darkness, and there were no forms of light sources in the sarcophagus. He was obviously enclosed in this sealed and narrow environment, but Luo Jian sighed in relief unconsciously. The act of feigning death had really ced him under a mountain-like pressure. After he recovered from his nervousness, Luo Jian found that his cold sweat had wet his back, and his thick ancient garbs made him a little ufortable and hot.

    Now, what should he do now? As heid in the sarcophagus, Luo Jian began to think. Moments ago, after listening to the discussion of the three enemies, it seemed that someone opened the door of the main tomb vault again. Luo Jian could not help but think about the huge stone gate and the tiger and dragon statues beside it.

    Who would open the door this time? Luo Jian thought that there were only a few possibilities. The first was that the three enemies¡¯ remaining team members had been found just now. The second was that Luo Jian¡¯s team members had found this ce. The third was that the stalkers had found this ce.

    Luo Jian was afraid that he would meet more than one stalker in this team battle.

    As Luo Jian thought of this, he felt extremely troubled. If Feng YuLan and Duan Li found the main tomb vault, it would be the best scenario in Luo Jian¡¯s opinion. But the possibility was very low because when Luo Jian had separated from Feng YuLan and Duan Li, he remembered that Feng YuLan and Duan Li had gone into another passageway.

    Even if Feng YuLan and Duan Li knew that they needed to go to the main tomb vault, he was not assured that they would be as lucky as Luo Jian. He chanced upon the water route identally and was directly washed up in front of the gate of the main tomb vault by the current! Along the way, he transcended all possible mechanisms and traps as if the horse he was riding on was merely following the lights.

    The chances of meeting a teammate were very low. Luo Jian knew that. Therefore, he could not remain here without doing anything. He unconsciously started to touch everywhere around him. The stalker had helped him change into a set of ancient garbs and put on a big hat on Luo Jian. However, the hat should not really be called a hat. In ancient times, this headwear was known as Futou. It was a soft woven hat made of ck yarn that was worn wrapped around the back of one¡¯s head. The headwear was slightly sticking up and tilted forward a little; two ribbons were tied at the front and two hung at the back of the neck. The ribbons could be either long or short. There were three or five styles. At the beginning, there would be a small amount of cropped hair revealed outside the hat. Gradually, the amount of cropped hair it showed increased. Futou originated from the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the headwear had gradually be fixed and unchanged in the early Sui and Tang Dynasties.

    This kind of Futou was originally used by ancient men to tie their hair up, but Luo Jian didn¡¯t have long hair, so when the stalker had ced him into the costume, it seemed that he stuffed some cloth into it specifically to prop up the hat. However, this made Luo Jian¡¯s head feel particrly ufortable. Thus, he pulled the tightly wrapped soft hat off.

    After that, something seemed to fall out of the hat. Something fell on the soft couch in the sarcophagus with a gu lu gu lu sound. After searching for it for a long time, Luo Jian found a small cylindrical object. He pressed the object here and there. Suddenly, a beam of light shone around the sarcophagus. Luo Jian lowered his head down and saw that the object in his hand was a small, palm-sized shlight.

    ¡°This shlight&#k2026;&#k2026; it¡¯s mine.¡± Luo Jian studied the small shlight. It was the same model as the one he had put in hisbat suit to use, but now it was tucked into his hat. Therefore, it was obviously left behind by the stalker for him to use. The stalker seemed to have taken away every piece of Luo Jian¡¯s clothes, including the water, food, shlights, and the small mirror that was his carry-on secret chamber.

    Therefore, Luo Jian was currently impoverished. Except for the weapon he could summon, it seemed that even his underwear had been snatched away from him. Regarding this situation, Luo Jian felt extremely helpless. He really did not understand what Xing Yan was thinking. He just had to insist on changing his clothes and stuffing him into this narrow coffin.

    ¡°Wait, in the coffin?¡± Luo Jian took the small shlight and shone through the sarcophagus. The inner space was reallyrge. Luo Jian could even roll around in the sarcophagus. Soft cushions were ced in it for the dead to lie on. It seemed that some personal relics of the dead were also ced in the coffin.

    Luo Jian found a jade pendant under a soft pillow. It was the kind of jade pendant that one would carry around everywhere. But it seemed that this jade pendant had broken, and only half of it was threaded on a thin string. Luo Jian wore the jade pendant around his neck and stuffed it under his clothes.

    Shortly after, Luo Jian continued to search for relics in the sarcophagus. This time, he felt a sword under the cushion. A ck sword. The hilt and scabbard were pure ck, and the sword had no decorative pattern. Luo Jian tried hard to unsheathe the sword, but it was as if he had met with a resistance. The sword stayed tightly in the scabbard and refused to show its de.

    Luo Jian could not pull out the sword and did not bother with it. He ced the sword aside. After that, he rolled up the entire soft cushion in the sarcophagus. Following that, Luo Jian discovered a major secret. He found that there was a door under the soft mat in the sarcophagus!

    Yes, there was a door in the sarcophagus, simr to the kind of hidden door that Luo Jian previously saw in the tomb vaults. On the small door of the sarcophagus, there was also an array formation mechanism. Luo Jian was familiar with the array formation, so he started to turn it. If he could not turn it to the left, he would turn it to the right. After turning the array formation, the hidden door vibrated slightly and opened.

    The hidden door revealed a stairway that only one person could pass through at a time.

    Luo Jian tugged at his clothes, which were inconvenient when he had to get things done, and shone the small shlight lower. The stairway beneath the hidden door was very narrow and dark. Just by looking at it, Luo Jian felt it was like a stairway to hell. It really gave him the creeps.

    But after deliberating, Luo Jian made his decision. If he remained in the sarcophagus, sooner orter, someone would realize something was not right. But if he went down there, he may find another way out. Since Luo Jian was not willing to wait for death, he naturally started to act. He took with him all the valuable things found in the sarcophagus¡ªthe jade pendant, sword, and scroll. Luo Jian had just opened the scroll to take a look at it. He confirmed that it was a scroll painting, and it was a portrait of a man. But Luo Jian had no time to study the scroll. Naturally, he brought everything he could.

    Luo Jian entered the stairway through the hidden door, but he was worried. Before going down the stairs, he pulled at the soft cushions in the sarcophagus and smoothed it out so that the hidden door would be covered. Shortly after Luo Jian went down the stairs, the hidden door closed automatically.

    However, before the hidden door closed, Luo Jian heard some noise from outside of the sarcophagus, seemingly from somewhere far. Someone was talking, and there was the sound of hurried footsteps. The sound was too vague. Luo Jian only hesitated for a moment before he continued walking down.

    The stairway under the hidden door was very narrow and dark, and he had no idea where it would lead. It was very inconvenient for Luo Jian to continue walking down because the hem of the ancient dress on his body was very long, and it was the kind of clothes that dragged on the ground. Luo Jian kept stepping on his clothes when walking. He had to lift up his garb to continue ahead, simr as to how one would lift a skirt.

    ¡°Darn, why the hell did he dress me up into such meddlesome clothing?¡± As he went down the stairs, Luo Jian murmured discontentedly, but he didn¡¯t dare to rx his vignce. The stairs were so long that he did not reach the bottom for a very long time. However, Luo Jian could not stand the troublesome ancient clothes. Therefore, he took out his knife, tugged his clothes, and swung his knife down to cut off several sections of cloth. Following that, the hem of Luo Jian¡¯s clothes became ragged, revealing Luo Jian¡¯s legs, which wore ck boots.

    After the clothes were cut shorter, it became convenient to move. Shortly following that, Luo Jian looked at his wide sleeves and simply cut the sleeves, turning the clothes into a short-sleeved ancient garb. However, one sleeve was longer, and the other was shorter. The shortened sleeves exposed Luo Jian¡¯s arms and elbows.

    However, after the sleeves were shortened, Luo Jian felt that his arms felt particrly cold. After all, the temperature of the tomb was very low. The normal temperature of the tomb was only about 10 degrees, so the tomb felt really chilly to him. Therefore, Luo Jian picked up a piece of cloth from the ground and tied it around his two arms as if he were bandaging them. This not only kept him warm but also would prevent scratches.

    After cutting his clothes, Luo Jian continued to walk down the stairway. After about ten minutes, the stairway finally ended, and another stone gate appeared in front of Luo Jian. However, the stone gate was much smaller. There were no statues on either side of the stone gate to guard it. Seeing the gate, Luo Jian heaved a sigh of relief. Just as he was going to study how to open the door, Luo Jian heard voicesing from above him in the stairway.

    Luo Jian instantly raised his head up to look toward the top of the stairway. It was pitch dark, but Luo Jian vaguely heard the sound of the mechanism starting mixed with the sound of someone speaking. It seemed that the hidden door in the sarcophagus had been found, and someone wasing down!

    Inwardly, Luo Jian felt a chill in his heart and the imminence of a crisis. He immediately began to study how to open the door in front of him! There was another array formation mechanism on the top of the stone gate, but when Luo Jian turned it to the left, it did not respond. When he turned it to the right, it did not respond either. Luo Jian felt anxious and kicked the stone gate twice, but this action of his was useless. The stone gate was still tightly closed and remained unopened.

    At this time, Luo Jian heard the footstepsing down from the stairway. Someone hade down! And there was the sound of more than one set of footsteps, which showed that there was more than one personing down! At once, Luo Jian became nervous, and his heart began to beat violently. A sense of dismay slowly spread inwardly. He circled around twice on the spot, and he couldn¡¯t think of any countermeasures at the moment.

    Luo Jian tried to force himself to calm down. He closed his eyes and opened them after several moments. Ignoring the approaching footsteps, he began to look at the stone gate in front of him again. There was nothing notable about the stone gate apart from the array formation.

    Luo Jian calmed down and looked at the array formation on the stone gate carefully. Then, he found that there was a huge defect in the array: There was a missing corner on the array formation. It felt as if it had been deliberately wrecked. This seemed to be the reason why the mechanism could not be started. After that, doubts befell Luo Jian. Since the mechanism was destroyed, the door probably could not open. If it could not open, how would Luo Jian escape?

    The sound of footsteps in the stairway became clearer, asionally apanied by the sound of someone talking. Luo Jian knew that they might have found the cloth he had dropped when cutting his clothes. At this moment, Luo Jian¡¯s body started to emit cold sweat again, and his palms were also sweaty. He stared at the broken mechanism on the door, and for the first time, he felt there was nothing that could be done.

    What to do? What should I do?

    The footsteps in the stairway were getting closer and closer, and the voices of several people were heard. Luo Jian heard a very familiar female voice, the voice of the woman in the enemy team he had heard while lying in the coffin! Luo Jian immediately realized that the man who had just opened the door of the main tomb vault was one of the two remainingpanions of the enemy team!

    Luo Jian turned the light of his small shlight off and backed up against the stone gate. He looked up at the dark stairway. Now, the stairway was no longer pitch ck. Luo Jian could vaguely see a little lighting from the top of the stairway. The light came from a shlight that was shining its light everywhere. At the moment, Luo Jian felt extremely desperate.

    What would happen if the enemy found him?

    Luo Jian smiled bitterly. Did he still need to ask? Naturally, he would be killed.

    At this moment, Luo Jian realized that the secret chamber was really such a cruel ce. People ughtering one another was brought into in sight. The chamber bloodily stripped away all pretence and ced all the ugliest and sinful personifications of mankind into their line of sight without bothering to hide or disguise them.

    But it was precisely because of this that the reality would always cause people to lose all hope.

 Chapter 68 - Burial Grounds (XIV)

    <h4>Chapter 68 - Burial Grounds (XIV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    At that very moment, Luo Jian thought that he was surely going to die. The footsteps of those people were close at hand. This time, even if he held his breath like earlier, he had no idea how to deceive them again. Luo Jian¡¯s heart shook, and he leaned on the stone gate and did not move. Since the stone gate could not be opened, the stairway tunnel was a dead end. Luo Jian had to make some preparations for when he was discovered.

    He did not have any other alternatives.

    But at this moment, Luo Jian, who was leaning on the stone gate, suddenly felt an inconceivable vibration against his back.

    Luo Jian had indeed made the right guess. When the main tomb vault was opened a second time, it was the remaining enemy team members who had made their way here. But there were not two of them. Only ¡®Clown,¡¯ who had seen and fought with Duan Li before, returned to the team, and one of their team members was still missing.

    However, the vampiric team captain did not care about his team members¡¯ lives or deaths. When they opened the sarcophagus in the main tomb vault again, they found that the body lying in the sarcophagus, which was Luo Jian, had disappeared mysteriously, and only a soft hat was left behind in the sarcophagus.

    In the face of this situation, as the strategist of the team, the long-haired woman immediately started specting. She said, ¡°If it¡¯s not someone who had a method to carry the corpse away, then the corpse has escaped, or...... perhaps it wasn¡¯t a corpse in the first ce. ¡±

    The straightforward Brawny immediately expressed his opinion: ¡°But you touched the body with your hands before. There was no pulse.¡±

    After Brawny spoke, the vampire team captain suddenly reached out a hand and ced it on Brawny¡¯s shoulder. It could be seen that even the pale man¡¯s hands were emaciated and white. The hands were not only skeletal, but they were also icy cold. His nails were as sharp as des and made the bigrade of his, who was a head taller than him, shiver.

    ¡°Some people are still alive, even without a pulse. Like me.¡± The vampire team captain¡¯s voice was particrly low. His eyes reflected a shade of strange red light. Under his eyes, he had deep eyebags. He seemed to be smiling, but in moments like this, his mouth curved up into a terrifying smile and made people¡¯s blood run cold.

    Brawny seemed to be frightened by his team captain. He did not dare to voice out his concerns sincerely and honestly, but Clown, who had just joined them, was very lively. He flipped open the sarcophagus¡¯s cushion and soon found a small hidden door inside. Clown childishlyughed right at that moment: ¡°It seems that I found the reason why the body disappeared.¡±

    ¡°Alright, we can try to open it and head down to have a look,¡± the long-haired woman said, instructing the clown to open the hidden door in the sarcophagus. Under the hidden door was the stairway that Luo Jian had entered previously. Even under the light of the shlight, nobody could estimate how deep the deep, deste, and narrow stairway was. The long-haired woman suggested that one member stay in the main tomb vault while the others head down through the hidden door to check out the situation.

    And of course, the man left behind was Brawny, who had a tall and muscr build. The reason was that he was veryrge, and only one person could pass through the hidden door at a time. The stairway under the hidden door was also very narrow. If Brawny went in, he would have to walk with his back bent.

    Therefore, Brawny was left behind. The long-haired woman, Clown, and their vampire team captain went down the stairway. They did not encounter any danger along the way. However, halfway through, they found the pieces of cloth cut off by Luo Jian, and the long-haired woman recognized them as pieces of the clothes worn by the corpse that hadid in the sarcophagus.

    ¡°Why cut off the clothes?¡± Clown was very puzzled when he heard about the corpse in the sarcophagus.

    After thinking about it, the woman suddenly sneered and said, ¡°Let me make some assumptions here. If the corpse we just found in the sarcophagus is really the corpse of the tomb owner, then he should be one of the ancients.¡±

    ¡°That goes without saying.¡± Clown wiped the make-up on his face that had smeared onto his clown costume and continued, ¡°Although there is no exact exnation given by the secret chamber, this tomb was definitely built more than a thousand years ago. It¡¯s unnecessary to figure out which year it was exactly, but the dead people buried here are definitely the ancients.¡±

    ¡°Although the secret chamber does not follow regr principles, the frequent tricks it ys with the resurrection of the dead can not be considered new, but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen the resurrected dead cutting off their clothes.¡± The woman squatted down and picked up a piece of clothing from the ground.

    The vampire team captain, who had understood the meaning behind his words, asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    The long-haired woman was worthy of her title as the star strategist of this small team. She opened her mouth and describe Luo Jian¡¯s situation immediately and exactly:

    ¡°If the corpse is really an ancient, then he must be very used to this type of garb with wide sleeves and long hem. On the contrary, if a modern man is wearing such aplicated outfit, he will walk one step at a time and stumble. He must also be very flustered and anxious to escape. This kind of impeding dress is a hindrance to him. But the temperature of the tomb is very low. If he has no other clothes to change into, he will not take off his clothes that easily. The only way is to cut the pieces off the sleeves to shorten them and remove the impeding cloth so that he can move freely.¡±

    ¡°That is to say, the corpse that we saw previously was actually someone who was pretending to be a corpse?¡± The vampire team captain licked his lips as if he was interested in this matter: ¡°How interesting. Someone actually feigned death in front of us, and even I didn¡¯t realize it.¡±

    ¡°The only reason why this person pretended to be dead in front of us was because he is afraid of us and knows that he won¡¯t be able to fight us. This means that he is likely to have no other aid. He is alone¡ªthat is to say, we have found a lovely little solitary prey.¡± The long-haired woman narrowed her eyes, and she was mystically able to urately guess the dilemma that Luo Jian was facing at this moment. One could catch a glimpse of her terrifying intelligence and ability to specte with what she said.

    ¡°No matter what the situation is, if we continue to head down, we will definitely meet the cute little prey, right?¡± Clown was very excited and immediately took the lead to walk ahead of the woman, but after walking for a while, the clown could not help but stop.

    ¡°Dead end,¡± Clown said. When they headed down to the end of the stairway, in front of them was a barren wall. There was no door or exit. Nothing was there.

    ¡°That¡¯s not quite right.¡± The vampire team captain stood behind the long-haired woman and held the shlight to shine at the shadows of the stairway. The light could easily light up the narrow space. There was nothing else in the suffocating stairway except for the people present.

    ¡°This is impossible. We walked all the way down, and we did not find any other hidden doors or the like. This is the only way out. Did the fellow who pretended to be a corpse vanish into thin air?¡± The woman frowned doubtfully. She carefully thought through the whole issue with her hands sped to her chest and looked at the bare wall at the end of the passageway from time to time.

    ¡°There must be a hidden door,¡± The long-haired woman said.

    ¡°He¡¯s not gone. He¡¯s still here.¡± The vampire team captain coldly snickered and said, ¡°I can smell the scent. Besides us, there was someone here just now.¡±

    ¡°But there¡¯s nothing here.¡± Clown took his shlight and moved it here and there. The light of the shlight followed his swinging motions. Clown had a casual and bold personality, and the narrow stairway seemed to make him ufortable. He jumped to the dead end and touched the wall, trying to find out where the mechanism could possibly be.

    But after touching and searching, the clown did not find the mechanism but stepped on an object that was left behind on the ground. Then, the clown picked it up to have a look at it. It was a small shlight.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shlight,¡± Clown said to his other two teammates. The three looked at each other, and the womanughed, ¡°Perhaps we will find the corpse that we are looking for behind the wall.¡±

    After the woman spoke, the three people looked at the bare wall at the end of the passageway almost at the same time.

    Just as the woman had said, Luo Jian really was standing behind the wall. He was only one wall away from the three enemies. He firmly bit his lips and did not dare to even breathe.

    Because at that moment when Luo Jian thought he was definitely going to die, the stone gate behind him was activated in an unique manner. The door had not ¡®opened;¡¯ the entire wall ¡®flipped.¡¯ Since Luo Jian was leaning against the stone gate at that time, when the wall flipped, he was also flipped along with it. He ingeniously entered another mystical tomb vault from the stairway tunnel.

    However, at this moment, Luo Jian was not in the mood to look at the tomb vault he was in. He only focused on the voices he heard from the other side. Those enemies were talking behind the wall that separated Luo Jian from them. Luo Jian knew that he was not out of danger yet, and even his current situation could only serve to throw Luo Jian into more danger.

    Luo Jian did not know how the wall-turning mechanism activated. At that time, he simply leaned back against the stone gate, and he did not press any button or touch any strange parts of the mechanism. Then suddenly, the wall flipped over. Even the stone gate that Luo Jian was leaning on turned over. The gate worked the same way as a revolving door that was built in modern buildings today.

    Luo Jian did not have much time left. He had to escape from the tomb vault immediately before the enemies found out how to activate the mechanism. Therefore, Luo Jian immediately circled around the small tomb vault.

    This vault was totally different from the huge main tomb vault that Luo Jian had seen previously. Now, he was in a very narrow space. It felt like the sort of treasure room that was usually ced at the end of a hidden passageway. Although the small tomb vault was really tiny, it was filled with all kinds of treasures and ceramics. Coins were scattered all around the vault; there were several boxes containing gold and silver, exquisite jewelry, essories, and weapons; and there was even a row of bookshelves filled with old books. There were not only paper books, but there were also old ones made of bamboo and carved into wood. Luo Jian even saw some of the shelves had gorgeous ancient women¡¯s garbs hung on them.

    What was even more amazing was that Luo Jian had dropped his only shlight, which could be used as a light source in the dark, outside, but in this treasure cavern, Luo Jian did not feel that the vault was dark. All the objects could be clearly seen! After observing for some time, Luo Jian found that the wall was iid with many kinds of phosphorite simr to the one Luo Jian had previously obtained. There was not only phosphorite but also many luminous pearls.

    No wonder the room was so bright.

    Luo Jian had turned several circles in this treasure house. These delicate and valuable things were ced neatly. However, it may be because of the movement of the floor or due to certain small-scale earthquakes, but no matter how orderly the things were ced in this small vault, there were also many objects that fell messily onto ground. The fragile ceramics had shattered into tiny pieces so small that it could no longer break.

    It was a pity that Luo Jian had no interest in these treasures at all. He simply circled around to look for a way out, but he did not know if the heavens were against him. Luo Jian could not find any other hidden doors in this treasure cavern except for the wall that could be turned over! In other words, this was a dead end!

    The enemies outside the wall seemed to be discussing something. From time to time, their voices would travel to Luo Jian¡¯s ears. Although he could not clearly hear what they said and did not know what they would do next, Luo Jian was still restless.

    Soon after, Luo Jian began to fret. It should be said that he was already very anxious. He circled around the treasure cavern impatiently as he kicked a few pieces of pottery on the ground and destroyed several precious antiques. But while he was kicking, it seemed that Luo Jian had kicked a hard object, which hurt his feet for quite a while. He lowered his head and nced at it. It was a statue ced on the ground.

    Another statue.

    Luo Jian frowned. He had seen many magnificent statues in the main tomb vault before, but he had always wondered why they were all statues of ghosts and monsters. Didn¡¯t the note say that this was a tomb built by some nsmen for the gods they believed in?

    But as a matter of fact......

    Luo Jian thought of what the enemies had previously discussed. They seemed to have said that this was the ghost¡¯s tomb.

    But why? Why did the enemies think this was the ghost¡¯s tomb? And Luo Jian had always thought it was the god¡¯s tomb. Did this have anything to do with the story depicted by the murals on the walls?

    Luo Jian could not infer anything from the few clues he had now. Due to him being overly anxious, however, he was able to calm down. He lowered his head and squatted down as he tried to pick the statue up from the ground. But when Luo Jian used his strength to yank at the statue, he found that the statue waspletely fixed to the ground.

    The statue was very small. It was a smaller variant of the ghost-headed, wolf-bodied statue. The wolf had a green, ghost-like face with ferocious fangs. Just looking at it would cause people to tremble.

 Chapter 69 - Burial Grounds (XV)

    <h4>Chapter 69 - Burial Grounds (XV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    However, since the statue was fixed to the ground, did it mean that it was a mechanism? Or was it some kind of switch? There may be a hidden door in this mystical treasure cavern. He immediately knelt on the ground and tried to rotate the little wolf statue that had a green face and ferocious fangs, but the statue remained fixed. No matter how hard he tried, it stayed fixed to the ground.

    At that very moment when Luo Jian was at a loss, the situation he was facing changed. Suddenly, Luo Jian heard the enemies, who were separated from him by that wall, take any action. There was a loud knocking sound that came from the other side of the wall, and it sounded just someone was hitting the wall with a sledgehammer! The thump, thump, thump sound could be heard!

    Luo Jian was so frightened by the deafening sounds that he turned to look at the wall. Luo Jian was not sure how to trigger the revolving door mechanism. At that time, he had merely leaned back against the stone gate and felt its slight vibration. After that, the whole wall flipped over.

    If those enemies outside the wall had discovered this mechanism and also found the way to activate it, their goal right now would not be to destroy the wall by force, but rather to start the mechanism and flip the wall.

    That was to say, Luo Jian still had a few moments to find the hidden door that may exist in the treasure cavern and escape from this narrow space before the enemies destroyed the wall.

    But here was the problem.

    Luo Jian lowered his head and nced at the small statue that remained as unmoving as a mountain in his hands.

    He was absolutely sure that the statue was the mechanism to open the hidden door! The reason why he was so sure was that he just circled around in this small treasure cavern and found that everything here was covered with a thickyer of dust. No matter whether it was the clothes on the shelf, ceramics, gold and silver treasures, or other things, all of them were covered with a thickyer of dust. However, only this little statue appeared clean...... No, it was not correct to describe it as clean; It was better to describe it as something that someone had used!

    It was as if before Luo Jian came to the treasure cavern, someone hade in and used the mechanism of the statue to open some door! As a result, some of the dust on the statue was wiped off.

    Luo Jian thought that when he had identally kicked the statue, the dust on the statue scattered. But when he tried to move the statue with his hands, he found some traces of human touch on the statue. Because of these traces, Luo Jian was quite sure that someone dide into this small treasure cavern before him.

    Just how could he activate the statue¡¯s mechanism? Who came in first before Luo Jian and activated the mechanism? Sadly, Luo Jian had no time to guess on the identity of the person who had entered this treasure cavern.

    He turned his head again to look at the wall that was being pounded violently on. As a result of being hit continuously, cracks had begun to appear on the wall, and small stones had fallen out of the cracks and onto the ground. With a tter, stones scattered all around the ground. Luo Jian also heard the loud voices of the enemiesing from the opposite side of the wall. They were very bold and decided to use whatever means they had to forcibly destroy the blockade in order to find Luo Jian!

    Luo Jian¡¯s back was drenched with cold sweat. He tried to ignore the sound of the pounding on the wall and carefully observed the statue on the ground. He tried to rotate the statue to the left and to the right, but it did not work. He also tried to press the statue down or pull it up, but that did not work.

    Luo Jian swallowed a mouthful of saliva, climbed up, and fell t on the ground beside the statue. Although the treasure cavern was illuminated by phosphorite and luminous pearls, it was still quite dim. Therefore, Luo Jian casually plucked a small luminous pearl from a nearby metal appliance to illuminate the statue in front of him with its light. Luo Jian had to carefully observe the statue and find out what would allow him to activate the mechanism.

    Luo Jian would only be able to survive in this manner.

    Under the light of the luminous pearl, Luo Jian found that this statue was very delicate. Its height was only about 30 cm. It was a statue of a ghost-headed, wolf-bodied creature that Luo Jian did not know the name of standing on a mountain. This animal had a ghost face, and its head was raised high as if it were a lone wolf howling at the moon.

    Luo Jian stared at the statue for a second, and all of a sudden, it seemed that Luo Jian realized part of what the statue was trying to imply! He turned around, raised his head, and looked at the other wall. This wall was covered with calligraphies, paintings, and the like. All kinds of colorful calligraphies and paintings were hung neatly on the whole wall.

    Yet, Luo Jian¡¯s line of sight unconsciously stopped at one of the huge paintings.

    Yes! In front of this immobile, ghost-headed, wolf-bodied little statue that was facing upwards and making a howling motion was this painting! The statue was indeed a mechanism, but it was only a hint that indicated the location of the exit!

    Shortly after, Luo Jian looked at the extremely huge painting. It hung vertically on the wall and was about two meters long and one meter wide. There was a big moon in the painting, and under it, there was a pack of wolves and...... a woman who was cornered by wolves on the edge of a cliff. The woman was at wits¡¯ end while standing at the edge of the cliff and holding her baby girl.

    For a moment, from the contents of the painting, Luo Jian felt something within him stir. It reminded him of the murals he had seen in the tomb vaults that he was previously in and the stories depicted by the murals. At that time, Luo Jian thought it was just a story of an abandoned baby raised by the wolves, but in fact, the story seemed to be different from what he¡¯d thought. For example, the baby¡¯s mother did not abandon her.

    There may have been many versions of the story, such as the pair being driven into a desperate situation by a group of hungry wolves. In order to prevent the wolves from eating her child, the mother ced the baby on the edge of the cliff and charged towards the wolves herself. It was also possible that the mother abandoned the baby and jumped off the cliff by herself, or that she had held the baby and jumped off the cliff together.

    But regardless of the versions of the story, its end was most likely that the mother had died and the baby was raised by the wolves.

    As for why the wolves would raise a human child, one could only admire nature because of how incredible it was.

    Luo Jian took a deep breath and did not continue to stare at the painting. He headed closer to the edge of the painting, reached out, rolled the painting aside, and found that behind the painting was a rectangr entrance hole that could fit one person. It was pitch-ck inside and seemed to be another tunnel, but simr to his past experiences, he did not know where the tunnel would head towards.

    ¡°No hidden door, just a tunnel¡¯s entrance?¡± Luo Jian frowned, but at this moment, he had no time to waste. The wall had almost been destroyed by the enemies, and Luo Jian felt d that the walls in this tomb were very solid and thick. No matter how the earth trembled and the mountain swayed, this ancient tomb had remained here for a thousand years and still had yet to copse. It must be said that the structures that the ancients built...... were quite miraculous.

    Without dying further, Luo Jian immediately climbed into the tunnel behind the painting and, in passing, released his grip on the painting, fixing it so that it would not sway. Just as Luo Jian finished doing this, he heard the sound of the wall copsing. It seemed that those enemies had finally destroyed the wall and chiseled a big hole into it! But because there were so many cracks in the wall, the whole wall copsed!

    The copse of the entire wall seemed to have caused some changes in the tomb. Deep underground, the sound of a mechanism activating could be heard and was apanied by faint vibration, as if there was an earthquake.

    Luo Jian was a little thankful that due to the wall¡¯s copse, the treasure cavern might bergely destroyed, and many things in it would be covered by stones and rocks. To some extent, it would pose as obstacles for the enemies outside. In other words, since the wall was smashed into smithereens, these people could not enter the treasure cavern for the time being.

    On the other hand, if Luo Jian did not discover the tunnel behind the painting, it was likely that he would have died quickly if he was smashed under the falling rocks and stones the moment the wall copsed.

    Luo Jian did not dare to remain here any longer. When the wall copsed, the paintings hanging on the other wall did not seem to be affected much by it. However, Luo Jian, who remained behind the painting, swallowed a mouthful of saliva,id on the ground in exhaustion, and was careful not to make any sound.

    Following that, after entering the passageway, Luo Jian climbed deeper into the tunnel! This tunnel was very small. How small was it? It was so small that Luo Jian could only crawl like a caterpir as he moved forward!

    Luo Jian had no shlight this time. The narrow and cramped tunnel was dark. Fortunately, he had previously dug out a luminous pearl in the treasure cavern. Although it did not shine brightly, it was better than not having it. The pearl was also not too big, so Luo Jian was able to hold the pearl by grasping it with his lips. Therefore, he simply bit down on the luminous pearl as he held it in his mouth. With his hands on the ground, he started to move forward slowly.

    After crawling for some time, it seemed that the enemies outside had entered the treasure cavern, because Luo Jian heard footsteps and coughs. Luo Jian spected that the dust might have scattered too much when they smashed the wall, and that had hindered their vision. But as for when they would discover the tunnel behind the painting, Luo Jian was not in a position to make such spections.

    Luo Jian needed to crawl faster and get out of the narrow tunnel as soon as possible. But it was really too narrow here. The more he climbed forward into the tunnel, the more depressed he felt. Also, he might have been mistaken, but Luo Jian felt that the narrow tunnel was getting smaller and smaller. When he had crawled in earlier, he felt that the tunnel was not so cramped, but as he crawled deeper, Luo Jian felt like his body was being pressed down by rocks in all directions.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± Luo Jian did not know how long he had crawled. He spit out the luminous pearl and nced at the depths of the tunnel. It was pitch-ck.

    It wasughable that the tunnel really had be narrower. Now, Luo Jian could not even turn his head to look back. He did not know whether the enemies had climbed into the tunnel like him or whether those people had even found it behind the painting.

    ¡°What should I do? This tunnel is getting narrower and narrower. If I continue to crawl forward, I may get stuck in it and be unable to move. But I cannot retreat. Behind me, there are enemies waiting for me.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s face was covered with sweat, and he started taking heavy breaths. It might be because the tunnel was too narrow, but Luo Jian felt like there was no airflow. Luo Jian found that he was experiencing slight hypoxia symptoms, which included his feeling dizzy, and he started to ck out.

    ¡°No...... No...... ¡± Luo Jian shook his head hard, hung his head lower, and bit the back of his hand to keep himself awake using pain. He knew that he could not retreat. Even if he really was stuck in this tunnel, Luo Jian could not retreat.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can go out. Luo Jian, didn¡¯t you realize it just now? Someone hade to the treasure cavern before you. He also found the tunnel behind the painting, and he should also have climbed into this tunnel. I just need to crawl forward...... forward... ¡±

    Luo Jianforted himself as he continued to crawl. After crawling for a long while, he had to stop because something in front of him blocked his way. The luminous pearl in his hand illuminated both the thing in front of his eyes and also his pale face.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna die...... gonna die......¡±

    Luo Jian stared at the corpse in front of his eyes, dumbstruck. Cold sweat flowed down his forehead. At this very moment, Luo Jian almost stiffened in shock!

    Yes, in the tunnel that became narrower as one crawled deeper into it, a corpse blocked Luo Jian¡¯s way!

    He could not see the face of the corpse or even its upper body because this corpse was blocking the tunnel. He only saw the legs and shoes of the corpse! Due to its rotting, only white bones were left of the corpse. The clothes and pants that it wore did not look like what any modern person would wear, so it might be a tomb robber who hade in previously or a dead funeral apaniment who was sent into the tomb. He had crawled out of the coffin and wandered around looking for an exit, but he ended up stuck in the tunnel and died here.

    But no matter what had urred, for Luo Jian, the presence of the corpse here meant that yes, the end of the tunnel would be a dead end!

    The corpse was blocking Luo Jian¡¯s way. Ah...... perhaps in front of the corpse, there would not be any space to crawl! But he could not retreat. Luo Jian did not know how long he had crawled in this tunnel, but it may not be that far from the treasure cavern. He could still vaguely hear someone¡¯s voice! What should I do? This...... he waspletely being driven up against a wall.

    T/N:

    <strong>Announcement: </strong>CG is hosting another giveaway¨CAlmost 5,000 Summer Party to celebrate CG almost reaching 5000 members on discord! The theme for this giveaway is <strong>summer. </strong>

    To join, you can:

    Write a NU review on any CG novels (ongoing, dropped orpleted). 3 winners of this category would be chosen, and they¡¯d receive 1 month of discord nitro. <Limited to 1 entry/person>,Create a fanart of any CG novels (ongoing, dropped orpleted). There would be 1 grand prize and 2 runner ups. Fanarts can be NSFW, but the bits must be censored,Write a fanfiction of any of the CG novels, (ongoing, dropped orpleted) and publish it on AO3. There would be 1 grand prize and 2 runner ups.

    Submission dateline: Aug 20, 2020, 11:59PM, (+8GMT)

    Please read this for more details, or alternatively, you can head to CG¡¯s discord #cg-5k-event-channel for more details!

    <i>(If you liked EIC, you can leave EIC a review on NU to join the giveaway as well )</i>

 Chapter 70 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (I)

    <h4>Chapter 70 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (I)</h4>

    <strong>Warning: This chapter may be ufortable to those who are ustrophobic, or may trigger ustrophobia problems. Please read with caution! </strong>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°I¡¯m so f*cking stupid.¡±

    Luo Jian wanted tough at himself. He held the luminous pearl tightly in his hand and used so much strength that he almost crushed it. Luo Jian really thought he was stupid. When he had first found the tunnel behind the painting, Luo Jian should have understood that the painting depicted a woman driven to the brink of desperation, but he just had to foolishly head into this ridiculous tunnel.

    How great. Now, he was really being driven to the brink.

    ¡°Desperation?¡± Luo Jian suddenly asked rhetorically. It seemed as if he thought of something, so hey in the narrow passage for a long time. However, he could not move forward or backward now, so he was at a loss and stared at the luminous pearl in his hands. He was in such a closed-up, narrow tunnel that air could not flow smoothly. The narrower the environment was, the greater the mental pressure it caused.

    Therefore, he soon found that his vision was cking out, and he had difficulty breathing. He realized that if he did not escape from this tunnel, he really might suffocate to death.

    Like the corpse in front of him, he would be stuck in the tunnel and rot into a pile of bones.

    Luo Jian did not want to be a pile of white bones or die. Therefore, he was facing a dilemma at the moment. He could either stay in this tunnel to wait for his death or retreat and crawl out.

    Therefore, Luo Jian retreated. He ced the luminous pearl into his mouth again and began to crawl backwards uneasily. Since there was no way to turn around in such a narrow space, he could only use his butt to lead the way, but he had not even crawled two meters yet when Luo Jian suddenly heard some voicesing from behind. Someone said loudly, ¡°There is a tunnel here!¡±

    After that followed the sounds of indistinct twittering and chattering. Shortly after, Luo Jian seemingly heard someone crawl into the tunnel with a rustling sound and the sound of friction.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go in alone!¡±

    Luo Jian softly swore. Just by listening to the noises, he was sure that the enemy was already less than 10 meters away from him. He was 80% sure that the group of enemies had found the tunnel behind the painting, and one of them had already started to crawl in to explore the tunnel. At this point, if Luo Jian continued to retreat, he would meet his death.

    But he could neither retreat nor move forward. Luo Jian continuously shed cold sweat. How could he escape from here? Could it be that he would die here?

    For a while, Luo Jian found it hard to remain calm. While he was dazedly in a state of panic, he began to feel afraid. He heard the voices of the enemies behind him. He felt like his heart was being cut into a thousand slices. Luo Jian had no choice but to suck in a deep breath and close his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes.

    He began to tell himself, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t panic.¡±

    ¡°There must be something I haven¡¯t found.¡±

    He did not retreat any longer but continued to crawl ahead. He crawled back to the ce where he had found the corpse. The corpse still stuck there. The tunnel was very narrow, and he could only see the legs and feet of the corpse. Without thinking much about it, Luo Jian reached out and grabbed the corpse¡¯s ankles. He tugged at it hard, but he could not move it. The corpse was tightly stuck.

    Therefore, Luo Jian pressed on the corpse¡¯s foot again and pushed it forward, but his actions were useless. Moreover, with his pushing and tugging, he had instead pulled out the leg bones of the corpse.

    But Luo Jian was not willing to give up, and he was still adamantly saying to himself, ¡°There must be some hidden door and other tunnels in this ce.¡±

    Thus, he used his hands to feel all around the narrow tunnel. He checked the rocks and sharp stone edges all around him, but he found nothing. Instead, the enemy behind him was getting closer and closer.

    Luo Jian swallowed a mouthful of his saliva, and a bad feeling in his heart started to grow. He stared at the corpse in front of him and thought for a long time. Somehow, inspiration struck, and he suddenly thought of a good idea.

    Once Luo Jian came up with the idea, he acted upon it. Once again, he grabbed the leg bones of the corpse and pulled them down using much strength. The corpse was basically a pile of bones, and after he pulled the bones out, with much effort, he forced himself to make some space in the narrow tunnel and ced the bones on a protruding rock behind him.

    Following that, starting from the leg bones, Luo Jian took off the bones of the corpse one by one and threw them all behind him until they were piled up into a small mountain of bones. Since the tunnel was very narrow, the pile of bones blocked the tunnel behind Luo Jian. When Luo Jian finally reached the skull, he found that the bone was too big to be stuffed behind him, so he took out his short de and chopped the bone into tiny bits and pieces.

    Atst, Luo Jian dragged the clothes on the corpse and casually threw it onto the pile of bones. Just like this, the whole corpse was chopped into pieces by Luo Jian, and the road ahead that was originally blocked by the corpse appeared while the path behind Luo Jian was blocked by the bones.

    ¡°When pushed to the brink in any situation, the secret chamber will always leave an unexpected way out for yers. As for how to find the way out, one simply has to put aside habitual thinking and observe the situation from another angle.¡±

    This was the advice that Uncle Boss, the newbie mentor, once gave to Luo Jian.

    ¡°Fortunately, only the bones were left. If they were notpletely rotten, it would be difficult to chop them up.¡± Luo Jian pressed down his trembling hand, his face carrying an ambiguous smile that was either sarcastic or joyful. Luo Jian continued to hold the luminous pearl in his mouth and began to crawl forward.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the enemies that were tailing me will think of retreating when they see the pile of bones.¡± Luo Jian mulled it over as he crawled: ¡°When I saw the corpse previously, I really thought that the road was blocked, and with that narrow tunnel, I felt the oppressive mental pressure as well. Therefore I started to think of retreating, but I¡¯m afraid that the senior who is tailing me will only be temporarily blinded.¡±

    ¡°Therefore, I¡¯m not out of danger yet. I have to crawl out quickly.¡±

    Luo Jian deduced that the corpse might have been a little fat before he died because when he crawled through the tunnel where the corpse was stuck, he felt the space was extremely narrow. His head could pass through, but his shoulder was stuck. He was so badly stuck that the skin and flesh on his shoulders had torn, but he still could not pass through. Luo Jian was a little anxious. He took his knife out and used it to grind at the rocks. Atst, he managed to slightly chip off a piece of stone to sessfully allow the upper part of his body to pass through.

    Men¡¯s bodies are broad shouldered. Since his shoulders had passed through, there would not be a problem for the lower part of his body. While Luo Jian was wriggling around to push his body forward, he suddenly heard a voiceing from somewhere nearby behind him.

    ¡°Damn it, there¡¯s a pile of bones here.¡± It was a man¡¯s voice, but it was not the voice of the vampire captain or the woman that Luo Jian had heard before. Aside from hearing that voice, it seemed that there was also the sound of something like a walkie talkie since he heard a tittering signal sound.

    The enemy, who was nearly five meters away from Luo Jian, made him so scared that he almost swallowed the luminous pearl in his mouth. Up until now, Luo Jian was focused on chopping the bones to block the tunnel that he had ignored the rustling sound that grew increasingly closer. Unknowingly, the enemy was already close at hand.

    He had to move faster!

    Luo Jian could not continue to deliberate any longer. He immediately crawled forward. While crawling, he also paid attention to the enemy¡¯s situation behind him. The enemy was blocked by the bones and was using wirelessmunication to talk to his teammates. Since the enemy was very close to him, the echoing sound was very loud. Luo Jian could hear every word clearly.

    ¡°Keep crawling ahead.¡± It was the voice of that woman.

    ¡°I said that there is a pile of bones here. There is no way ahead.¡±

    But the woman insisted, ¡°I said, keep crawling ahead!¡±

    ¡°How can I crawl ahead? This tunnel is too narrow. My body is squeezed so tightly by the surrounding rocks that there isn¡¯t even a gap. I can¡¯t crawl through this pile of bones!¡± Obviously, the enemy behind Luo Jian was a little angry and began to argue with his teammates.

    The woman on the opposite side of the wirelessmunication device sneered, ¡°Then you should smash the bones and grind them to pieces so that you can squeeze through!¡±

    ¡°Tsk.¡± Obviously, the enemy was very irritated, but he did not dare to disobey the woman¡¯s order. After turning off the device, Luo Jian heard the man talking to himself, saying, ¡°Wait until that damn b*tch falls into my hands. I¡¯ll definitely f*ck her to death!¡±

    As soon as he was done speaking, he began to pick at the bones like Luo Jian had done previously. In such a narrow ce, the enemy did not seem to have anyrge weapons. As Luo Jian crawled forward, he suddenly found that the tunnel became brighter. Although he could not turn his head around in the narrow tunnel, he could see the reflections caused by the fire light, and he immediately understood! The enemy was burning the bones!

    Certainly, burning the bones would be the fastest way to turn the pile of bones into a heap of powder. In this narrow tunnel, only the corpse was mmable, and since the surroundings were rocks, the enemy did not have to worry about the fire spreading.

    Luo Jian felt more anxious now. Although the other party may not see Luo Jian for a while due to the fire between them, the distance between them was not far. After the fire was extinguished, the other party would be able to directly charge towards Luo Jian. Moreover, in this environment, it was difficult for Luo Jian to make a counterattack¡ªhe could not even turn his head and look towards his rear!

    He could only move on.

    Luo Jian had to continue crawling, and after moving through the narrowest part of the tunnel, he found that the surrounding passage seemed to be wider and wider. It was not as narrow as before, but Luo Jian soon crawled to the end. This time, it was not a body that blocked Luo Jian¡¯s way but a real rock wall. However, after observing his surroundings, Luo Jian soon found there was actually another passageway above his head.

    Luo Jian arduously managed to flip his body around. Although the tunnel had be a little wider, his movements were still heavily restricted. After he turned over, he held onto the passageway above his head with his hands and moved his body up a little bit. Then, he sat up slowly and continued to head up. Because the passageway above him was straight, Luo Jian could stand up instead of crawling in the narrow tunnel.

    After that, he ced his hands and feet against the rock walls of the passageway and began to move up bit by bit. The vertical passageway was wider than the tunnel he had passed through previously. Although it was harder to crawl in it, at least Luo Jian felt it was less suffocating. Luo Jian could even lower his head to look downwards. If he could still see light due to the fire, it meant that the enemy had yet to finish burning the bones.

    However, after crawling for a small distance, Luo Jian suddenly paused. He raised his head and looked at the upper part of the vertical passageway. It was also pitch-ck, and no one knew where it led to. After that, Luo Jian lowered his head again and looked at the faint firelighting from the passageway below him.

    The firelight illuminated Luo Jian¡¯s face and the slightly ferocious expression on it.

    Although it might be a little troublesome for him to move at this angle, the other party certainly could not move freely. Also, it seemed that there was only one enemy, so the probability of sess was extremely high.

 Chapter 71 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (II)

    <h4>Chapter 71 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (II)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    But the problem was whether Luo Jian was mentally prepared to take someone else¡¯s life.

    Luo Jian felt that life was very valuable. He had been educated for more than 20 years on how to be a good citizen who abides by thew. Do not hurt people¡ªhis parents had repeatedly exined, educated, and engrained this concept into him, and it had be deeply rooted in Luo Jian¡¯s heart.

    It was no exaggeration to say that Luo Jian was a very upright, kind, and loving man.

    But even though he was kind, it did not mean he was stupid. He did not mind being selfish and cruel when his safety was threatened. Moreover, in such a cruel environment, no matter how much kindness Luo Jian had, it would not allow him to live on. Luo Jian must strive for his right to live.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. You¡¯ll have to do this someday anyway.¡± Luo Jian held his knife tightly, took a deep breath, and murmured to himself.

    It was Clown who had climbed into the narrow tunnel with Luo Jian. He had two other teammates waiting outside. One was the vampire team captain who remained silent and had no expression, and the other was the long-haired woman who had a cool, noble appearance and was pointing out the mountains and seas.

    Although Clown was also a member of the team, it had not long since he had joined the team. In total, he had only experienced two secret chamber escapes with the team. The vampire captain¡¯s team originally had five members, but one of the core members had died in an ident. The new blood added to the team was Clown, who appeared here right now.

    Clown was very dissatisfied with the team he was in. He was not a rookie in the infinite chambers. He had worked alone before, and his way of survival was to remain cautious. He would not easily allow himself to fall into danger. Although he may lose many opportunities and some evident rewards in the secret chamber, as long as he could live on, Clown did not mind how much loss he suffered.

    However, after joining this team, Clown could not help but risk his life many times. The reason was that these team members regarded him as an outsider and a heaven-sent cannon fodder.

    He would rather not rely on the vampire captain. Although this guy clearly bore the title of captain, he rarely spoke out. He neither spoke nor fought much. He usually stood aside and looked on coldly, asionally uttering a word or two of advice.

    Clown¡¯s view of the captain was unfathomable because he had never seen the real appearance of the team captain. The strange style and clothes of the vampire captain appeared very conspicuous in the crowd, but sometimes it was very easy to ignore his existence when he was standing in the dark.

    It was the long-haired woman who really gave orders in the team. She had always appeared with long hair, donning a cheongsam and wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes. Clown really did not understand¡ª when walking in such a rugged tomb, did her feet not hurt? But Clown had to admit that this woman was really powerful. She had a kind of inexplicable, terrible intuition and extremely excellent analytical ability. No matter what happened, her strategies could turn cmities into blessings.

    For example, right now.

    The pile of bones in front of him was just about to finish burning. The walkie talkie in his bosom sent out a twittering signal sound again. When Clown picked up and answered, he heard the voice of the long-haired woman. She lowered her voice and asked, ¡°Is your walkie-talkie on amplification mode?¡±

    ¡°Yes, how did you know?¡± Clown also unconsciously lowered his voice.

    ¡°I heard the echo...... Turn off the amplification mode!¡± the woman said angrily, ¡°Do you want our conversation to be heard?¡±

    ¡°Is this ce really...?¡± Clown indicated he did not believe it, but he obediently turned off the PA.

    ¡°Listen, now, do what I say! Plug the earphones into the walkie talkie...¡± The woman interrupted Clown¡¯s words, but her next words were softer. Clown had to take out his earphones and connect them to the walkie talkie, and then he ced the walkie talkie back into his bosom and inserted the earphones into his ears. There was also a tiny microphone on the earphones¡¯ wire that allowed Clown to talk and answer.

    After Clown put on the earphones, the woman continued to say, ¡°Are the bonespletely burned? Just reply using one word!¡±

    Although Clown was discontent, he still reluctantly raised his head up to look at the bone pile that was still emitting sparks in front of him and replied, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Okay, when it has finished burning, you should first use a shlight to observe the passageway in front of you and inform me of any situation.¡±

    Clown was really confused and asked, ¡°Why do I have to do this?¡±

    Thereupon the woman replied through the earphones, ¡°If you see a corpse, not a pile of bones, we don¡¯t need to be so vignt.¡±

    Clown seemed to suddenly grasp what she meant, quickly took out his weapon¡ªthe scalpel¡ªheld his breath, and stopped talking.

    Through the earphones, the woman continued to talk: ¡°The part of the tunnel you¡¯re at is very narrow and you can¡¯t even turn around, let alone effectively defend against someone! If this tunnel ispletely straight, the enemy may not want to attack you because his situation is the same as yours. Since he cannot turn around to defend against you, he will definitely climb forward until he reaches the exit.

    ¡°But if this tunnel is not carved in a straight line or has any spacious areas where one can turn around, he will definitely want to ambush you there. If you pop your head out to look ahead, it may be cut off by someone at that moment. The situation you are in is very dangerous, so you must be careful.¡±

    When Clown heard this, he lowered his voice and replied, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say this earlier?¡±

    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t realize it previously,¡± the woman straightforwardly admitted without any hint of guilt, ¡°Until you said there was a pile of bones in front of you.¡±

    Although he had been very dissatisfied with this woman, at this moment, Clown¡¯s opinion of her suddenly improved. This sort of wisdom and adaptability was not something he had.

    But the woman was toozy to pay attention to what Clown was thinking and continued, ¡°After the bones havepletely burned, continue to crawl forward. Remember to pay attention to your left and right to check for areas where one can turn. Do not hold yourself back; If you feel anything, do everything you can to attack......¡±

    The woman¡¯s voice suddenly halted when she had yet to finish speaking! Her voice had stopped very abruptly. It felt as if time suddenly halted and everything remained still. The atmosphere became so quiet that people would feel flustered! Clown waited for a while but did not hear what else she had to say. He became flustered and called out twice, ¡°Hello? What happened?!¡±

    The other party¡¯s walkie talkie didn¡¯t seem to be off. Clown could hear some subtle electronic sounds and heavy breathing. After a while, Clown heard an even softer voiceing from the woman: ¡°We are under attack! Retreat for the time being! Don¡¯te out; keep going forward!¡±

    Clown¡¯s good tactical awareness made him not ask more questions. In team battles, all sorts of strange situations could ur. He did not want to divide his attention to care for his teammates¡¯ situation. Therefore, he simply turned the radio off and put away his earphones, and after the bones were burned, he bit his weapon with his mouth and took out the shlight to illuminate the road ahead. The shlight emitted a limited amount of light, but when using it, Clown could clearly see the road ahead.

    And Luo Jian, who hid himself not far away from him, felt something wrong now.

    Moments ago, he could no longer hear the conversation between the enemy and his team members clearly. The enemy seemed to have turned off the walkie talkie¡¯s amplification and turned the volume softer. Luo Jian could only hear a single word. These actions made him feel uneasy immediately, and because of this, he even thought of retreating. However, after much deliberation, he realized that in this sort of vertical tunnel, it would not be easy for him to climb fast. No matter what, Luo Jian still had to face the enemy. Since a confrontation could not be avoided, it would be better for him to lurk here as he waited for an opportunity.

    The firelight in the narrow tunnel had vanished, and Luo Jian hid the luminous pearl. He stuck himself in the vertical tunnel in an awkward position, holding his feet and back against the wall to fix himself there, and stared downwards, waiting for the enemy to appear in order to stab a knife towards his back.

    Luo Jian soon heard the sound of scuffling and friction and saw the light emitted from the shlight. Therefore, he clenched his teeth and his weapon, activated the mental technique, and concealed his breath silently.

    He bided his time just for this moment.

    It was very dark in the tunnel, but Luo Jian was used to being in the dark. He was so focused at that moment that he seemed to have night vision. Even in the extreme darkness, Luo Jian was not afraid of it. He simply imagined what would happen next again and again in his heart. In any case, Luo Jian had to calmly face it.

    Luo Jian heard the sound of the enemy breathing along with the sound of friction due to the enemy¡¯s crawling. Soon, Luo Jian saw a man crawling out of the tunnel below. The man held a shlight and used it to illuminate the wall in front of him. He mumbled regretfully, ¡°There is a wall here.¡±

    Luo Jian was right above the enemy¡¯s head at this moment. He could unhesitatingly release the strength propping him on the wall and allow his body to hit the enemy¡¯s head. This was a great opportunity, but Luo Jian did not do it because he temporarily decided to change his strategy.

    Moments ago, the enemy had turned off the walkie talkie¡¯s amplifier and deliberately lowered his voice to speak, which alerted Luo Jian and gave him a bad feeling. This premonition made Luo Jian understand that he could not rashlyunch an attack. He had to jump down from the dark at the moment when the enemy lowered his guard so as to defeat the enemy sessfully!

    And just like the foreboding that Luo Jian felt, the enemy seemed to have known that there was a hole on top of his head. Just when he stretched his head out, he did not look upwards, but his hands swiped out and two scalpels flew out. He threw the knives directly toward the tunnel above him!

    Of the two scalpels, one hit the wall of the tunnel while the other brushed past Luo Jian¡¯s leg. Luo Jian¡¯s left leg was slightly scratched, and he suddenly felt his leg be a little weak. His forehead was trickling sweat, but he remained silent.

    Clown turned over and took his shlight to illuminate the tunnel above him. It was pitch-dark there, and there was nothing where the light had shone.

    ¡°No ambush...... There will also be times where that woman is wrong?¡± Clown saw that there was no one waiting to attack him above him. Although he was confused, he sighed in relief, put away his weapons, held the shlight with his mouth, sat up against the wall, and wanted to climb into the tunnel above.

    However, just as he sat up straight, he suddenly felt that there seemed to be a small stone that fell on his head. Clown subconsciously reached up, touched his head, and felt a small stone. He looked at the stone in his hand doubtfully and subconsciously looked up.

    There was a sh of cold light in front of him.

    There was no sound, no breaths, and not even a glimpse of the enemy¡¯s face. Clown opened his mouth wide, and the shlight he was holding in his mouth fell andnded on his clothes. The shlight was obviously the small shlight that Luo Jian had used before.

    Yes, Luo Jian had changed his strategy after seeing the other party use the shlight to illuminate the way ahead.

    The small shlight was easy to carry because it was small and light, but the time it could remain lit was not too long. This was because Luo Jian had bought a shoddy product, and the products of this brand he had bought could onlyst for an hour and a half. When the time limit was up, the light would start to weaken. As it was too dark here, the weak light would not be able to shine too far into the tunnel.

    Therefore, as long as Luo Jian could climb up higher into the tunnel, the enemy would not be able to see him with the illumination of the shlight.

    When the enemy did not find him, he would rx his vignce. Then, when he tried to climb up from the tunnel below, Luo Jian would just need to slide down closer to the enemy to swipe off the other party¡¯s neck cleanly.

    But Luo Jian made a mistake.

 Chapter 72 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (III)

    <h4>Chapter 72 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (III)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian had made a fatal and low-level mistake, but it was also a mistake that every novice could make. Other than those natural-born, cold-blooded perverts and inhuman lunatics, every newbie would have a moment of hesitation when trying to kill a person who was truly alive, who was perfectly fine and of the same kind. This was exactly the most fatal mistake one could make in a battle.

    The fear you would feel when you killed was the same fear the victim would possess when you killed them. This feeling would change you from an ordinary person to a murderer. It also meant that from this moment on, your outlooks on life and the world as well as your values had beenpletely refreshed, and you could never have that naive and optimistic attitude you once held again. All of this reminded him of a saying that Duan Li once said: A murderer should be aware that he could be killed at any time.

    How much one could understand from that determined how long they could walk on that road.

    Luo Jian clearly did not understand that, so he made this fatal mistake. When he was stabbing his de forward, he unexpectedly reduced some of the strength he used. The enemy¡¯s reaction was very fast, and his head was slightly drawn back. Therefore, Luo Jian¡¯s knife only managed to make a shallow cut on the other¡¯s neck, and this little amount of blood drawn was not a fatal blow.

    At this moment, Luo Jian felt the unspeakable fear. He missed the best opportunity to strike the deadliest blow possible to the enemy. It was only because he still held a ridiculous sense of justice in his heart that he pulled away his weapon at thest second. However, he also knew clearly that in the terrifying secret chamber where people would eat you alive and not even spit out your bones, mercy and kindness would only cause him to die faster.

    Luo Jian felt somewhat regretful. Inwardly, his feelings were a mess, but he could not stop his movements at this moment. The de in his hand turned to attack the enemy again, but this time, the enemy had already calmed down from the panic he¡¯d felt when he was first attacked. Even if he could not move while sitting, he could still resist Luo Jian¡¯s attack very well. His scalpel and Luo Jian¡¯s short knife were locked in a stalemate. At that instant, neither of them could overpower the other.

    The faint light from the shlight, even if it was weak, was enough to illuminate their faces. Luo Jian stared at Clown¡¯s face, which was painted with strange makeup, at close range, but he did not have any idle time to be surprised. He was above Clown¡¯s head at the moment. His legs were against the wall and his hands were holding the knife, but almost all his strength and weight were on his own knife.

    But the enemy seemed calm andposed. He held a scalpel with his right hand and resisted all of Luo Jian¡¯s strength. At the moment, Clown suddenly gave him a wry smile, stretched out his other hand, and touched Luo Jian¡¯s neck.

    Clown¡¯s fingers were cold, and his fingernails were sharp. Luo Jian felt a little prickly pain on his neck, and goose bumps rose on his back. He could not tell whether he was flustered or frightened, but he could hardly speak at that moment.

    No secret chamber that Luo Jian had experienced before couldpare to what he was experiencing now. He was both calm and scared, and the twoplex emotions were intertwined, causing even his heart to tremble. He was calm because he knew that the gap between himself and his opponent was so big that the opponent could resist Luo Jian¡¯s full strength with one hand. Therefore, Luo Jian knew that the person who appeared in front of him was a real senior, a master who had been thoroughly tempered by the abyss, and was a terrible existence that Luo Jian could not resist now.

    Therefore, Luo Jian felt fear. The god of death was creeping closer to him. He had not even felt so scared when he was attacked by Xing Yan in the secret chamber for the first time! Therefore, Luo Jian regretted that he had bitten more than he could chew when he decided to deal with such an enemy. And even more so, he regretted that he had missed the only chance to kill the enemy.

    ¡°You just missed the best opportunity.¡± But Clown suddenly spoke with a ferocious smile on his face, making the strange clown makeup on his face appear extremely ugly: ¡°If you were not soft-hearted moments ago and did not hesitate, with the fastest and most ruthless means, your strength could have definitely cut off my head in one stroke. No matter how skilled I am, I cannot stop when death arrives.¡±

    Luo Jian could not speak. He had nothing to say to rebuke him. He did not have the strength to turn the tables around from his defeat.

    ¡°You¡¯re probably still a rookie since you hesitated to deal with the enemy. I¡¯ve only seen it in thosementable andpassionate neers.¡± Clown seemed to have some doubts: ¡°But it¡¯s strange. Since when was the team battle so easy for neers to join? And your strength is still quite weak.¡±

    After Clown said that, it seemed that he intended to intimidate Luo Jian. Clown put his hand on Luo Jian¡¯s neck, and a scalpel appeared out of nowhere. The cold de rubbed against Luo Jian¡¯s skin, but it did not cause any harm to him.

    ¡°Do you know this? The human carotid is here...... it ends here.¡± Clown used the back of the scalpel to press somewhere on Luo Jian¡¯s neck and smiled: ¡°If I cut into the artery quickly, you will be like a big fountain; the blood will spurt out to a height of more than five meters, and in less than a minute you will die of massive blood loss.¡±

    ¡°Stop the bullshit. Either kill me or wait for me to kill you,¡± Luo Jian suddenly said in a low voice.

    He suddenly felt that he was no longer so afraid. It was as if his fear had reached the maximum level possible and conversely dissipated. Luo Jian thought that since he had failed, he had to bear the consequences of failure. Even if that was what he feared most, he had to bear it.

    Clown did not seem to be in a hurry to do anything to Luo Jian. He just sneered at him, ¡°You, keep climbing.¡±

    What he said surprised Luo Jian a little. He uncertainly looked at Clown.

    ¡°If you die here, your corpse will get in the way. It¡¯s troublesome.¡± Clown did not want to burn another corpse. The fire would exhaust the little oxygen that remained in this tunnel and always attracted other people¡¯s attention. In this narrow environment, Clown did not want to be a sitting duck. His conversation with the woman just now proved that his team members could not provide support to him from the rear.

    Since Clown could not retreat, he could only move forward. It was not convenient for Clown to kill Luo Jian now. In such a narrow ce, he could not move the body at all. And coincidentally, Clown¡¯s carry-on secret chamber was in the hands of his team members, so he could not temporarily move the corpse elsewhere.

    Therefore, with the idea of moving forward, Clown decided to climb out from the tunnel first and instructed Luo Jian to climb up before him, treating him as cannon fodder. Luo Jian just looked at Clown and did not raise any objections. He put away his weapons and began to climb up. Thispletely straight and vertical tunnel was very difficult to climb up. Luo Jian stuck his body against the walls and slowly climbed up. Clown stayed a little distance below Luo Jian as he followed Luo Jian at neither a fast nor slow pace.

    Just now, the two people who attempted to kill each other began to act together for their own interests, so the atmosphere between them was heavy and terribly silent. Except for Clown¡¯smands, which were given from time to time, they did not converse, and Luo Jian did not speak a single word.

    The vertical tunnel was very long, but in this strange silence, the two quickly climbed to the top. Luo Jian found a hidden door over his head with the familiar rotating array formation mechanism. When Luo Jian touched the mechanism, something within him stirred, and he subconsciously nced beneath him to take a look at Clown.

    Clown also paid close attention to Luo Jian¡¯s actions. When he stopped, Clown asked, ¡°Why are you not climbing?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve reached the top,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°There is a hidden door...... Should I open it.......?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t move! If you move, I¡¯ll blow your head off!¡± Clown suddenly raised his voice and spoke sharply. He was really not bluffing. Clown could use the scalpel as a concealed weapon like Xiao Li¡¯s flying knife, and his knives could also be infinitely recycled and used. In theory, he could constantly throw infinite knives and instantly use the throwing knives to poke Luo Jian¡¯s head into a sieve.

    After hearing this, Luo Jian stopped moving and stayed still. Clown opened his mouth and bit a scalpel. Then, he first took a shlight to shine on Luo Jian. There was a hidden door over his head that was just the right size for one person to pass through.

    Clown climbed a little further up and slowly approached Luo Jian¡¯s body. The two people, one located higher up and one lower down, were locked in a stalemate. Luo Jian did not move but looked at the array mechanism of the hidden door he found. He suddenly pulled out a cold smile.

    How high was this almost-vertical tunnel? Luo Jian was very clear on that since he had climbed up all the way. It was about 20 meters, which was about six or seven stories high. It was a very dangerous height. If he fell straight down, even if he did not end up dead, he would end up crippled.

    ¡°You better note up with any stupid ideas. Even if you want to kick me down at such a height, I will immediately cut your throat with a flying knife.¡± Clown seemed to see through Luo Jian¡¯s idea immediately and began to threaten him with the use of force.

    ¡°It sounds like you are quite skilled.¡± It was unknown whether Luo Jian was being sarcastic or not, but his tone did not carry any hint of goodwill.

    ¡°I¡¯m a surgeon.¡± Clown propped himself up against one wall with his left leg and another with his right. He remained upright as he did a split so that he could use both hands to hold his knives.

    ¡°I know every weakness of the human body. As long as my scalpel is in my hand, I can tear a big, living man into pieces within seconds.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? How incredible,¡± Luo Jian suddenlyughed. He suddenly made a bold and unusual move; he threw out his luminous pearl. Since the luminous pearl shone in the dark, Clown was immediately attracted to that light, and at this moment, Luo Jian suddenly rxed. He no longer forced his tired muscles to continue to prop himself between the walls. Instead, he rxed his body and allowed himself to fall freely!

    At the same time as he fell, Luo Jian took out his knife and stabbed Clown directly. This time, Luo Jian was no longer afraid, no longer fearful. Death could not shake his determination and firm understanding. He had once felt confused and helpless because of this terrible secret chamber, which forced him to proceed without knowing his destination.

    His will and his thoughts had once wavered. He could not locate the meaning of his existence because the secret chamber was so terrifying that fear once upied the entirety of him......

    But at this moment, Luo Jian was no longer at a loss.

    If Luo Jian did not take the initiative, then he would always have to remain where he was currently. What could he do here? Wait for someone to help him? Act like he did previously and hope for the stalker who had been chasing him around to appear at this critical moment?

    He had been too na?ve.

    ¡°What a fool!¡± Clown also noticed Luo Jian¡¯s suicidal way of attacking and raised the scalpel with a sneer. Luo Jian was a rookie who had overreached. As a surgeon, Clown was very good at dissection, and this skill of his was also recognized by the secret chamber! This skill allowed Clown to instantly tear others apart, limb from limb, and from the internal organs to the bones, he could cut them all into equal sizes.

    But the side effects of this skill were grievous. Generally, Clown did not really want to use it. He had originally wanted to give Luo Jian an easier way of death after climbing out, but since the other was in a hurry to seek death, no one else was to me.

    It was just that there was a lead time to use any skill. Clown must first resist Luo Jian¡¯s attack, and after that, he would then be able to use the skill. Therefore, Clown wanted to block Luo Jian¡¯s knife first. To be honest, Clown always thought that the rookie¡¯s weapon was a little strange. Although it looked like an ordinary short knife, it carried a very strange aura on it.

    However, there was no time for Clown to think so much. When he wanted to swing his scalpel to resist Luo Jian, he found out something terrible in the next second. He found that...... Luo Jian did not have a knife in his hand! Neither of his hands were holding a knife! Was it possible that he did not use his weapons to attack him at all?

    Luo Jian really was attacking him in a suicidal way. When Clown swung his scalpel to fight back, Luo Jian directly reached out his left hand and grabbed Clown¡¯s de with his bare hand. The sharp knife directly prated his left hand and cut through Luo Jian¡¯s palm and the back of his hand. Luo Jian simply grasped Clown¡¯s right hand with this left hand!

    At this time, Luo Jian had almost entirely stered himself on Clown¡¯s body. Clown had to bear the weight of two people by himself, so his legs and feet, which were stuck against the wall, were sliding. The sense of falling made Clown panic! His right hand had been seized by Luo Jian, and he subconsciously stabbed the scalpel in his left hand into the wall as he tried to stop himself from falling, but at the same time, Luo Jian also extended his right hand.

    His right hand was clearly empty, but the shape of it seemed like he was holding something. His hand swung directly toward Clown¡¯s neck at a speed that Clown almost could not respond to in time.

    ¡°You taught me this. Cut the carotid,¡± Luo Jian suddenly uttered in a low voice.

    ¡°F*ck me!¡± Clown also had a sense of what was going to happen. He decided to simply not stop himself from falling. He loosened his legs and hands, and since he was still an extraordinary senior yer, he did not fret when he fell into such a predicament. He sent a scalpel flying out at a rapid speed, and since there was no time to use any skills, at this moment, only the simplest and the most direct way could achieve his intended purpose in the most effective manner.

    Therefore, when Luo Jian tried to cut Clown¡¯s throat, Clown also carried out the same movement! They werepeting to see who would be faster than the other.

    In the deep tunnel, the two figures fell down at a crazy speed as their shadows ovepped. They held no hatred against one another but had to carry on battling; only in death could they rest.

 Chapter 73 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 73 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (IV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Feng YuLan bit his lips, remained standing still, and refused to move.

    There was only one reason why he refused to move: Duan Li, who was in front of him, blocking his way.

    Ah Lan took a step to the left, and Duan Li followed him to the left; Ah Lan took a step to the right, and Duan Li still followed him to the right. In other words, he would block the road by standing in front of Ah Lan regardless of where he walked.

    Even though Feng YuLan was angry, he did not say anything. He recoiled backwards, but a wall was behind him. He could only open his eyes wide as he saw Duan Li approaching him.

    ¡°We agreed previously! You can¡¯t keep touching me!¡± Poor Ah Lan used reason to rebuke his actions. However, Duan Li was a pervert and a maniac; he did not pay attention to what the other said. He ced his hand against the wall and began to feast. Ah Lan calcted that they had been in thebyrinth-like underground passageway for a long time since they were separated from Luo Jian. During this period, the abnormal and crazy Duan Li insisted on nibbling Feng YuLan¡¯s body every few minutes.

    ¡°You bastard!¡± Ah Lan was so angry that he raised his foot and kicked Duan Li fiercely. However, his weak body could not put much strength into his kick. Duan Li allowed him to kick him as he liked as his actions grew more brazen. He embraced Ah Lan as he bit Ah Lan here and there, and he especially liked to bite his mouth and lips. He not only bit but also licked him, causing Ah Lan¡¯s lips to be red and swollen.

    Feng YuLan had no choice but to put on a nk face as he allowed Duan Li to bite him. Finally, he was able to see the situation clearly. Duan Li imed to be the whatever shitty oracle and one of the top yers of the secret chamber, but f*ck his mother, he was probably farting out some bullshit. This fool was a beast in an animal¡¯s skin. Anytime and anywhere, he would go into heat. If he was happy, he would want to press down on Ah Lan. If he was not happy, he would also want to press down on Ah Lan. The promise they had made beforehand had long been thrown away to the Pacific Ocean.

    ¡°Stop kissing me. Let¡¯s try to think of a way to get out of here first!¡± Feng YuLan covered his face and felt too listless to even curse. Duan Li acted as if he did not hear what Ah Lan said as he gazed at Ah Lan¡¯s face with a smile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We can go out when the time is up,¡± Duan Li said carefreely and contentedly, not feeling even the slightest hint of unease.

    ¡°You¡¯re not worried, but I¡¯m worried! Luo Jian, he¡¯s alone now. We should be finding him instead!¡± Feng YuLan still could not put his heart at ease. After separating from Luo Jian, Ah Lan tried very hard for a very long time, but he could not open the hidden door again. He could only helplessly seek another way out. But this dark underground passageway was like a maze. After walking for a while, he was met with around seven or eight different entrances. He could not tell which one was the exit at all.

    ¡°This secret chamber is totally different from the previous one. I feel that there are not many clues. We¡¯re going around in circles in confusion.¡± Feng YuLan thought it was strange that in the secret chamber that he and Luo Jian had experienced before, they had found many clues such as props, diaries, and the like, but there was nothing here. There were only mechanisms that were set up in a disorderly way and passageways that formed a maze in this tomb.

    And the only one who seemed to be reliable...... Feng YuLan turned his head as he eyed Duan Li. Duan Li was staring at him without blinking. It looked like he was almost drooling. Feng YuLan felt very weak all of a sudden and once again covered his face. He ridiculed, ¡°You definitely came out from some mental hospital!¡±

    ¡°How did you know?¡± Duan Li put on an expression of shock as if someone had guessed something about him correctly: ¡°I was indeed diagnosed with intermittent psychosis before and sent to a sanatorium for a while.¡±

    ¡°F*ck, it¡¯s actually true!¡± Feng YuLan became even more upset. How tragic! He had to stay with a maniac!

    Duan Li did not understand Feng YuLan¡¯s sadness at all. He thought that Ah Lan was afraid, so he rubbed Ah Lan¡¯s small head: ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid; I¡¯ll protect you.¡±

    Therefore, Ah Lan raised his head and looked at Duan Li. While Ah Lan was struggling whether to believe in this madman¡¯s words, Duan Li suddenly reached out and picked up Ah Lan directly, not only hugging but also carrying him on his shoulder. This action was quick and decisive, and the look in his eyes became sharp and serious at that moment.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Feng YuLan was not surprised. The uracy of his intuition was no less than that of Luo Jian. Naturally, he felt that something had happened.

    ¡°Something bad ising after me,¡± Duan Li said as his tone carried hints of excitement, ¡°It seems that this time, they are here rtively quickly. It¡¯s a stalker.¡±

    ¡°Stalker?¡± Feng YuLan immediately thought of the stalker he had met on the ghost ship with Luo Jian.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to meet four stalkers this time, aren¡¯t we?¡± Feng YuLan had an ominous premonition. He also thought of what Luo Jian had exined to him before: The stalker was a terrible existence. He could not help but ask, ¡°Are all stalkers difficult to deal with?¡±

    Duan Li shook his head and denied Feng YuLan¡¯s statement, ¡°No, in my opinion, stalkers are not difficult to deal with.¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t you say...... that stalkers were the most powerful yers, and they died because they failed to escape from the secret chamber and thus were made into stalkers by the secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°Fool,¡± Duan Li said with a smile, ¡°You said that stalkers ¡®were the most powerful yers,¡¯ nothing more.¡±

    This sentence immediately made Feng YuLan enlightened, and he said: ¡°Could it be......¡±

    ¡°Human beings are terrifying creatures, especially in the chambers where life and death are present every day. Here, the progress of human evolution is unimaginable. For all yers, those who die because of failure are losers! Even if one once held the title of the ¡®most powerful,¡¯ and even if he was resurrected by the secret chamber and became a stalker! This is a fact that the secret chamber cannot alter!¡±

    Duan Li spoke and drew out his own tang sword, the sharp de shining with silver light, ¡°Maybe towards newbies like you, the stalkers are a terrifying existence. And there are still some rumors spread among the lower-level yers that when you meet a stalker, the chance of dying is 100%, but this is just a joke for us high-level yers.

    ¡°Even me. I almost became a joke.¡±

    Duan Li always remained vignt. He carried Feng YuLan on his shoulder and walked backward step by step as he retreated. He keenly sensed that there was something agile in front of him that was approaching rapidly, and with each step the thing took, a strange smell of blood would waft forward. Duan Li took a deep breath. He had not felt this tension and excitement when danger was approaching for a long time.

    Duan Li needed to find a rtively open space to face off with the enemy, and it was really hard to fight with Ah Lan. Therefore, when he saw a dark shadow charging toward him, without thinking, Duan Li swung his sword forward. The de formed an invisible knife edge and roared towards the enemy directly with unparalleled strength.

    After that, Duan Li carried Feng YuLan directly, turned around, and ran. Every time he passed a certain distance in the maze-like passageway, there was a rtively open space, and it appeared to be a type of lounge. Duan Li took Ah Lan directly to the wide lounge and allowed him to find a ce to hide.

    The lounge looked like a very wide tomb vault, but there was no coffin here. Instead, there were several different new entrances. Duan Li found a random entrance which would help Ah Lan hide in the darkness. Other than that, he warned Ah Lan, ¡°Nevere out unless I call you.¡±

    After allowing Ah Lan to hide, Duan Li went to the center of the room and stared at the entrance of the passageway they entered through moments ago.

    The enemy¡¯s speed was very fast, and he soon appeared in front of Duan Li. Ah Lan hid in the dark and quietly raised his head up to observe the battlefield. This newly-appeared enemy should be a stalker. He looked no different from ordinary yers. His short hair carried hints of brown, he wore ck trousers and outerwear with a pair of greyish-ck leather boots, and the cuffs of his clothes were tied up with ck cloth. The weapon that he used was actually a bo-staff.

    The only difference between him and an ordinary yer was the colour of his bright red pupils and his expressionless face, which looked as rigid as a stone carving.

    The stalker did not speak. Seeing Duan Li, he rushed up with his bo-staff tounch his attacks. He did not hesitate in his actions, and he moved like the wind. But throughout the whole process, he did not make any sound. He was so quiet that it gave people goosebumps.

    Was this a stalker?

    Feng YuLan felt a little weird. He could not help butpare Xing Yan, the stalker he had seen before, with the stalker in front of him. He felt that something was really wrong.

    There was something different between them.

    The moment he saw this stalker, the first and only impression Feng YuLan had of him was...... he was just like a robot!

    It was not an exaggeration. Feng YuLan really felt like he saw a robot! This man did not have the aura of a living person but was still alive, and this made Feng YuLan ufortable.

    Therefore, he flipped open his grimoire. His grimoire also gave the followingments:

    [A stalker is an existence...... that is not human. It also has no soul.]

    ¡°No soul...¡± Feng YuLan silently murmured.

    Something feels wrong. Feng YuLan immediately could not understand. When he was with Luo Jian, the stalker he met on the ghost ship did not look like he had no soul?! Although Luo Jian lied to him and said he had a misconception about what had urred, Feng YuLan really saw it! That fool was awfully excited when he brought his family¡¯s Ah Jian into his embrace to kiss him!

    ¡°Wait, could it really be that what I saw was an illusion?!¡± Feng YuLan had an unfathomable expression as he rubbed his chin. He was not able to understand, so he turned his attention to the battlefield in front of him. Duan Li and the stalker were locked in an unrestrained confrontation.

    In fact, Feng YuLan did not understand what was urring in the battle. The speed of these two people was too fast, so Feng YuLanpletely could not react to what had happened. He was a mage and better at long-range attacks and giving buffs. Therefore, Feng YuLan looked at the two men who had been fighting for a long time and suddenly touched his grimoire. In a low voice, he said, ¡°Is there...... a spell that could give a buff to someone in a battle?¡±

    His grimoire found a few spells. The first statement was an impressive spell:

    [For those who specialize in close range battles¡ªAsura¡¯s blessing: within a certain time and area range, physical strength, attack power, speed, and neural response are heightened; the range and how long the heightened attributes will increase depends on the ability of the spellcaster.]

    [This spell is an area of effect spell. Specify the location and range. yers can enjoy this blessing when they enter the range.]

    After he took a glimpse at the spell¡¯s effects, Feng YuLan nodded and thought it was worth a try, so he closed his grimoire, drew a circle in the book, and whispered the spell for a long time. When he finished reading the spell, he pointed to where Duan Li and the stalker were battling! Following that, Duan Li found that there was an extremely weak and blurred circle of light that appeared on the battlefield. It was about five meters in diameter. After entering the circle of light, Duan Li felt that his senses were slightly heightened.

    The emergence of this circle of light brought about a favourable turn to Duan Li, who had been locked in a stalemate. The stalkers were all killing machines that wanted wholeheartedly to kill the yers. To put it simply, all their actions were carried out in order to cause harm to the yers. They had no feelings or fear; they simply could only keep on battling. Straightforwardly said, theycked a brain, and even if one set up a trap for them, they would just jump into it.

    Actually, it was rtively easy if one wanted to escape from this type of killing machine. One would just have to set something up to trap them. However, the stalkers were all very powerful. Even if they were trapped, they would be able to quickly escape from it.

    If Duan Li did not want to be hunted down by the stalkers in the secret chamber, the best way was to ¡®kill¡¯ these stalkers. In fact, stalkers did not die. Even if they died in the secret chamber, the secret chamber would revive them again, but they would have to wait for the next secret chamber to be opened to be brought back.

    Duan Li was one of the most powerful yers. Although it took him some time, he killed the stalker in front of him. After he activated his second skill, he straightforwardly cut the enemy apart at the waist. Feng YuLan, who was hiding in a corner, did not have the courage to look at the bloody scene. It seemed that Duan Li was too excited after he killed the stalker, and with his body soaked in blood, he charged directly towards Feng YuLan!

    Ah Lan¡¯s face turned pale with fright. Although he wanted to run, he was knocked down by Duan Li. He shrank into a ball pitifully. The pitiful small chick was picked up by Duan Li and carried up. Duan Li did not like that Ah Lan was walking too slowly, so he decided to carry him as he walked. However, Ah Lan was upset and raised his head to look at the corpse of the stalker, which was torn apart on the ground.

    ¡°Is he really dead?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± Duan Li trusted his capabilities very much.

    ¡°No, I just think that the whole process seemed to be carried out too smoothly.¡± Ah Lan frowned. This whole process had really happened too simply this time. The other party had chased them here and had just been killed this way. No matter how he thought, he still felt that something was not right.

    ¡°Now that you mention it, it seems that the whole process was too smooth-sailing.¡± Duan Li seemed to feel that there was something strange about it, too. He turned around and looked at the corpse of the stalker who was killed just now. However, just at that moment when he turned his head to look at the corpse, Feng YuLan, who was being carried on his shoulders, suddenly felt his heart palpitate. His face suddenly became grey, and he raised his hand up straight and delivered a fierce blow to Duan Li¡¯s neck!

    Ah Lanpletely did not have a physique for fighting. Naturally, his strength was not enough to hurt Duan Li. Moreover, Duan Li had tough defensive capabilities. His skin was rough, and his flesh was thick. However, Duan Li felt a slight pain on his neck immediately after being hit by Ah Lan¡¯s karate chop. One could only imagine how much strength he used!

    Therefore, at first, Duan Li did not think about why Feng YuLan would hit him but thought that Ah Lan unexpectedly used so much strength! The bones of his hand must have broken! Thus, Duan Li immediately took Feng YuLan into his arms and grabbed his hand: ¡°Are you crazy? With just your measly strength, even if you hit me, I won¡¯t feel pain, but your hand will be wasted!¡±

    Feng YuLan remained silent and unexpectedly did not struggle. His bright red eyes stared at Duan Li, and he did not have any expression on his face.

    Duan Li stared at him for a while. Following that, he raised his head to nce at the corpse of the stalker not far away from him. Nothing had changed.

    ¡°A soul shift......¡± Duan Li eyed Ah Lan and whispered to himself.

 Chapter 74 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (V)

    <h4>Chapter 74 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (V)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    It was a duel that involved magic and not just a simple duel.

    Feng YuLan understood this even faster than Duan Li because he had taken on the main role in this duel. When he stood on the battlefield between reality and hell, the world was ck and white, thews were all reversed, and all the rules that should have been obeyed were smashed.

    But in the very beginning, the surroundings were pitch ck.

    At first, Feng YuLan felt like he was in a patch of dense forest that was extremely dark. He looked up and could barely see the sky. Far away, there were two white lights in the gaps between the branches and leaves. It was unclear whether it was sunlight or moonlight; the light was so pale that it felt lifeless.

    All around him were trees with huge and strong trunks, dry leaves that nketed on the ground, and soil on the ground that he felt was slightly soft when he stepped on it. In the distance, there seemed to be the sound of running water, wind, and insects. Within the quiet of the night, a trace of horror could be felt.

    When it was very quiet, Feng YuLan heard a crow¡¯s cry. It had a monotonous tone.

    ¡°Monochrome world.¡± While Feng YuLan was puzzled by the environment he was in, someone suddenly spoke. He turned around and found that there was a person standing beside him. However, Feng YuLan previously did not see that a person was standing beside him. Thus, this naturally surprised him.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± It was too dark in the forest. Even as Ah Lan tried hard to adapt, all he could see with his naked eyes was ck, white, and grey. He could only see the ck outline of the people near him. It was as if colours had been extracted from everything around him and the entire world had really be a monochromatic world.

    ¡°I am you,¡± the man answered Ah Lan¡¯s question with hints of augh in his tone. The voice sounded familiar.

    The other party¡¯s answer sounded funny, but magically, Ah Lan did not doubt it. He found that he didn¡¯t think his answers were dubious or suspicious! He even nodded and said without hesitation, ¡°You are me.¡±

    The other party merely smiled.

    Ah Lan frowned and thought, then said, ¡°Since you are me, what should I call you?¡±

    ¡°You can think of me as your shadow, so call me Shadow,¡± Shadow said to Ah Lan. Then he held out his hand and grasped Ah Lan. Ah Lan only felt that something cold was attached to his wrist, which made him shiver uncontrobly.

    ¡°Well...... Shadow...¡± Ah Lan asked as he shivered: ¡°Do you know where this is?¡±

    Compared to the tomb located deep underground, this patch of forest was slightly brighter, but the lighting here was too pale and cold. It did not give out any feelings of warmth. It was wet and cold here, and Ah Lan felt that this patch of forest was even scarier than the tomb.

    ¡°This is limbo.¡± Towards Ah Lan¡¯s doubts, Shadow answered him sincerely, but instead, Feng YuLan felt even more confused and frowned: ¡°Limbo? What is that? ¡°

    ¡°The edge of hell.¡± Shadow pressed Ah Lan¡¯s wrist, and his tone became gentler: ¡°Aren¡¯t you an English major graduate? What we should know is that this word can refer to a prison, and it also has the meaning of hell. Theologically, it refers to the location of those souls who are too transient and thus are unable to enter the real hell where souls belong, which is also called the edge of hell.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I know that, but what I don¡¯t understand is...... Why am I here?¡± The words of Shadow made Ah Lan confused. He scratched his head and said, ¡°I should be in the tomb. How did I appear in the forest? What¡¯s more, you say that this is the edge of hell, so do you mean that I¡¯ve half stepped into hell and I¡¯m going to die?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. You¡¯re not dead.¡±

    ¡°Then why am I here?¡±

    ¡°Because your soul has been driven out.¡± Shadow smiled and looked very optimistic regardless of the mood of the listener. Feng YuLan had an expression that showed he was on the verge of breaking down. He pointed to his nose and said, ¡°My...... My soul? Was driven out?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It seems that your soul has been driven out by the stalker¡¯s skill. That is, your soul is currently ¡®homeless¡¯! And because...... all burial grounds are the best entrances to hell from the human realm, but you are alive and could not be sent to hell, so you arrived at the border of reality and primal chaos¡ªthe edge of hell.¡±

    The Shadow¡¯s exnation made Feng YuLan feel a little cold inside. He murmured, ¡°Mommy, I just died and came back to life, and aftering back to life, I¡¯m going to die again. Exactly how much suffering will I have to go through before this ends?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It might be a good thing,¡± Shadow said. He patted Ah Lan¡¯s shoulder tofort him: ¡°Now that you are here, it¡¯s time to shape how your ability develops in the future.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed?¡± Shadow said, ¡°The range of magic spells you use is too varied. They can be used as buffs or there are spells where you can act as a wet nurse. Sometimes, you can also cast one-time explosive spells. Learning that many spells of different ranges will obviously affect your progress, so if you want to be strong, you have to abandon what you don¡¯t need and specialize in one type to step onto the right track.¡±

    Feng YuLan listened to Shadow, thought what he said was very reasonable, nodded, and said, ¡°So what should I do?¡±

    ¡°You simply need to think about what you want to specialize in. Do you want to be a mage with powerful attacks and explosive power that can kill enemies instantly and HOLD the whole battlefield? Or stand in the back of the team silently, always taking up the duty of protecting your teammates? As long as you have decided on this, the road you walk on will naturally be smooth.¡±

    ¡°This...¡± Feng YuLan was obviously unable to make such a critical decision instantaneously. He shook his head and said to Shadow, ¡°Right now, I¡¯m not able to clearly think about it, and...... shouldn¡¯t we think about how to get out of this ce right now? ¡±

    ¡°You want to go out?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°First of all, I can tell you that there are only two exits to this ce: one to reality and one to hell. We don¡¯t know which direction leads to which, so we are unable to move forward. If we head in the wrong direction, we will end up in a state from which we will never be able to return. It¡¯s better to stay here obediently and let your teammates outside try to kill the stalker. As long as the spellcaster dies, your body will naturally call out to your soul, and you would be able to return easily.¡±

    Feng YuLan shook his head: ¡°But are we waiting for our deaths here? If Duan Li can¡¯t kill the stalker, am I really going to hell?¡±

    Feng YuLan refused topromise. The dark forest constantly made him feel uneasy. If he remained in ce, he felt his whole body be cold. Therefore, Ah Lan began to walk around aimlessly with Shadow. However, his line of sight was constrained since the trees and other things were all colored in ck, grey, and white. asionally, as he was walking on the rough grass patches that had grasses as sharp as a knife¡¯s edge, there would be a half-rotten corpse filled with maggots beneath his feet that he stepped on. Flies flocked around the corpse. The abominable scene looked like it came straight out of a horror anime.

    This time, Feng YuLan finally believed that this ce may really be the ¡®edge of hell¡¯ as Shadow had said because it was strange that there was the buzzing of the insects but no chirping of birds...... No, he could hear one or two crows croak asionally, and it was as if there was a regrity in the crows¡¯ croaking. This felt extremely strange.

    This was not all. Although one could see light in the forest, one could not distinguish day from night. All the objects in sight were indistinct. It seemed like a scene one would see in a dream, yet it appeared so real that it was terrifying.

    After walking silently for a while, Feng YuLan only heard his footsteps and turned back to look at Shadow. He felt as if Shadow was floating and not standing on the ground. Then, they walked for a long time. Actually, Ah Lanpletely did not feel the passage of time. He felt that in this strange forest, his sense of time seemed to be weakened to the minimum. No matter how long they walked, it seemed to him that only a brief moment had passed.

    He heard the crow¡¯s cry again, but after Ah Lan looked left and right, he was surprised that he could not even see the crow¡¯s shadow.

    On the other hand, there were several corpses hanging on trees. There was a strange, white silk thread that appeared like a spider¡¯s that had wrapped around the corpse. Layers andyers entwined around it until it looked like a huge cocoon. After Feng YuLan raised his head and took a few nces, he felt his back turn cold. Shaking his head, he absentmindedly walked forward.

    After a while, Ah Lan saw a ck figure sitting under a huge tree. He came closer to him to take a look. It was actually a middle-aged man who was handcuffed, had his feet shackled, and wore ragged clothes. However, because of the dark surroundings, he could not clearly see the middle-aged man¡¯s face.

    Ah Lan asked him, Who are you? Even after asking for a long time, Ah Lan did not get an answer. The man absentmindedly sat there and remained motionless.

    Shadow suddenly said, ¡°It¡¯s probably the soul of a funeral apaniment who was buried in the tomb. I don¡¯t know why he was not sent to heaven or hell, but in the end, he was shackled here.¡±

    Ah Lan used a strange expression to nce at Shadow: ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°After your soul was driven out, you were sent directly to this patch of forest. It can be seen that the edge of hell is connected to that tomb. Let¡¯s look around. Maybe the secret chamber has left some clues here.¡±

    ¡°Do you realize that the edge of hell can also be seen as a secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°A secret chamber within a secret chamber.¡± Shadow held out a finger and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s just like a game. When you were sweeping the field, you unlocked a hidden quest. Now, you can say that this ce is within the hidden quest!¡±

    Hidden quest? Feng YuLan seemed to be somewhat enlightened. He simply stopped asking about the middle-aged man in front of him. He reached his hand out and touched the man¡¯s pocket. The middle-aged man was wearing a ragged and old suit with a pocket on his pants. Feng YuLan found a calligraphy brush that had lost all its hair and apact-sized book. He opened the book and found that the book was filled with words that Ah Lan could not decipher.

    ¡°Can you read ancient scriptures?¡± Ah Lan asked Shadow, who was beside him. Shadow shook his head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t read the words, but there are pictures in it.¡±

    ¡°Let me see what¡¯s drawn...... Well, it¡¯s a wolf that had a ghost head.¡± Feng YuLan¡¯s face turned a little ck: ¡°It¡¯s this again. I saw this in the six tomb vaults that we were circling around. What exactly does the ghost-headed, wolf-bodied person represent?¡±

    ¡°Obviously, it represents the ¡®ghost.¡¯¡±

    ¡°But the note that the secret chamber gave us said that the people believed in a god, so why the hell would they draw so many pictures of a ¡®ghost¡¯? It seems more like they were building a tomb for the ghost,¡± Feng YuLan said while flipping through the small book in his hand. In the process of turning through the pages, a piece of paper fell out from thepact-sized book.

    Feng YuLan was stunned for a moment. He picked up the paper and found it was the usual piece of paper printed with purple patterns that the secret chamber used!

    And what was amazing was that the surroundings were clearly monochromic. Even the leaves and grass that should have been green were in shades of ck and white. However, only this printed paper had colour. The purple print on it clearly disyed a beautiful color under the pale and cold light.

    The note read:

    [Dear adventurer:]

    [Wee to the secret chamber within the secret chamber, the hidden secret chamber¡ªthe edge of hell.]

    [Surely, you already know that this is a forest that you are unable to walk out of. This is the boundary between life and death. All lost souls wander here. There are only two exits. One leads you back to your teammates and the other towards the embrace of the god of death. Unfortunately, if you see this note, it means that you do not have much time left. You have about two hours, during which you have to escape from the forest.]

    [But I would like to solemnly inform you that there is no tool to tell time in this patch of forest. If you cannot escape from the forest within this limited time given to you, I¡¯m afraid that by then, the gates of hell will definitely have its doors wide open for you.]

    [Hint: Pay heed to things that act regrly.]

    [With that, good luck.]

    Feng YuLan bit his lips and turned the note over. On the back of the note, the contents were as written:

    [The souls that were buried alive are not willing to reincarnate, and they remain in the blurred boundary between life and death. In order to break up the hundred-year dispute between the ghost that is being hated and the god that is being yearned for, the people have decided to bury them underground together for the sake of mutual containment to achieve eternal life!]

    Feng YuLan did not even blink as he read the entire paragraph. He paused momentarily, seemingly a little shocked. He said, ¡°Could it be that this underground tomb...... is a...... joint tomb...... for a ghost and a god?¡±

 Chapter 75 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 75 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (VI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°It¡¯s the cawing again.¡± Feng YuLan raised his head to look at the sky, which should have appeared vast and boundless. At this moment, it was covered by thick branches and leaves, and not a single kind of bird-like creature could be seen. Only the dull crying of the bird could be heard as if the bird was just within their vicinity, yet it also sounded that the calls came from very far away.

    ¡°The thing that acts regrly is obviously the cawing,¡± Shadow stated.

    ¡°But what does that represent?¡± Feng YuLan was still puzzled. Now, he would like to see his IQ instantly soar. A brain could be ripped apart, could be used as a recement for thousands ofputers, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was unrealistic, which made Feng YuLan very depressed.

    Shadow seemed to have no answer to that and shook his head. He took Feng YuLan¡¯s hand and pulled him as they walked forward. The two people bypassed the poor, confused soul who was handcuffed and shackled. Feng YuLan instinctively ced the book that contained the ancient scriptures that he didn¡¯t understand into his arms. They had to head out to find more clues.

    When they walked on the road, they saw several corpses hanging on the trees, and all of them were surrounded byyers of spider silk, forming huge white cocoons. The sight of them hanging on the branches was particrly spectacr.

    Feng YuLan and Shadow stopped walking at the same time. They stood under a cocoon to observe. Shadow said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that this is also one of the so-called...... things that appear regrly?¡±

    Feng YuLan and Shadow could not help but study those cocoons for a long time. Amazingly, some of them would shake from time to time. This made Ah Lan realize that not all the cocoons may be corpses.

    ¡°It¡¯s still moving...... Is it alive?¡± Ah Lan¡¯s curiosity was aroused. He went to one of the hanging cocoons and found a big stone to step onto. Then, he stood on the stone and reached out his hand to touch the huge cocoon. The cocoon shook a little under his touch, but it soon calmed down and became immobile.

    Ah Lan quickly retracted his hand. After taking back his hand, it felt like there was something sticky on it. He lowered his head to take a look and found that stuck on his palms were some spider threads, which were different from the ones that he would normally see. These spider threads were thick, simr to a type of thin rope, and it felt very sticky. It took a long time for Ah Lan to finally tear the threads off, but there was still some kind of sticky secretion on his fingers.

    After dawdling about and losing some time, Ah Lan paused and heard a caw.

    The cawing sounded very monotonous.

    ¡°Once every 15 minutes,¡± Shadow suddenly blurted.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± After listening to what he had said, Ah Lan felt somewhat shocked, he paused: ¡°Do you mean that the cawing will sound out once every 15 minutes?¡±

    Shadow nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s about this duration. I don¡¯t have a timer, so I don¡¯t know. But I kept an ear out for it just now. It should be about the same. Since the beginning when you woke up, it has sounded four times, so it¡¯s almost an hour now.¡±

    ¡°That is to say...¡± Ah Lan looked at Shadow: ¡°The time limit we have for this secret chamber is three hours. We still have two hours left, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Ah Lan spread his arms open. Arge patch of sticky fluid was on his hand: ¡°The cawing indicates time, so what do these spider threads represent?¡±

    ¡°What does spider thread make you think of?¡±

    ¡°Spiders? Web?¡±

    ¡°Then what does the web stand for?¡±

    ¡°Bondage?¡±

    Shadow smiled: ¡°This is the edge of hell, the ce where one transitions to hell, where confused souls are bound, but they cannot stay here all their lives; they have to head to hell&#k2026;&#k2026; But in such a dark ce, there is no road and no sign. How can they get there?¡±

    Ah Lan suddenly realized: ¡°Is there someone to lead the way?¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not a person.¡± Shadow floated beside Ah Lan and touched his hand. Shadow¡¯s body temperature was very low. Once again, Ah Lan could not help shivering. Ah Lan trembled for a while and said, ¡°If it¡¯s not a human...... could it be that it¡¯s a big spider instead?¡±

    There was only one cocoon bound by spider threads here, and many spider webs were entangled in the tree branches.

    But the spider web was very high up. Almost all of the trees in the forest were gigantic. The trunks were so thick that several people would not be able to hug it. One was afraid that it would be a difficult feat to be able to climb up. Ah Lan turned to look at Shadow and asked, ¡°What should I do?¡±

    ¡°Attract the spider here.¡±

    ¡°Attract the spider? Does that mean I have to be prey?¡±

    ¡°Spiders are very sensitive to their own threads, and when prey touches their webs, they will quickly detect it.¡±

    Therefore, Feng YuLan raised his head and looked at the spider webs hanging high above his head. For a while, he was quite worried. The spider webs were hung very high up. How could he get up there?

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Shadow easily understood what Ah Lan thought internally and thus said, ¡°You have just touched the cocoon. I¡¯m afraid that the spider has sensed it. Maybe in a few moments, it wille to pick you up...... But since we are here, for the sake of safety, we need to make some preparations.¡±

    ¡°Preparations?¡± Ah Lan looked at Shadow doubtfully.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you up.¡± Shadow did not answer the question. He smiled thoughtfully and raised his head to look upward at the spider webs hanging high above his head. He held Ah Lan by the armpits with his hands out and lifted him up. The closer he was to the spider web, therger Feng YuLan realized it was. When he approached it, it was like a huge web had spread itself all over the sky. When they got closer, they could clearly see many thick threads hanging on the branches and leaves. Just by taking a mere nce, it could be seen that almost all the trees were entangled with spider threads.

    After getting to the ce they wanted, Shadow let Ah Lan reach out and touch a spider thread. The thread was unimaginably sticky and resilient, and because of that, Ah Lan was almost unable to let go of it after holding it with one of his hands. Then, Shadow released Ah Lan and allowed him to hang stably on the spider web.

    ¡°When the spiderse, they¡¯ll probably wrap you in that cocoon,¡± Shadow said, ¡°So no matter what happens next, it¡¯s important to get rid of the threads.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to burn them with fire?¡± Feng YuLan¡¯s body shook. It was hard for him to hang on to the spider thread with one hand, and it was particrly strenuous for him to continue hanging there. However, if he stuck his whole body to the threads, it would be hard for him to move.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a source of fire. How can we burn it?¡± Shadow floated to and fro in front of Feng YuLan as he used his fingers to draw a few symbols in the air. Then, he shook his head regretfully: ¡°How horrible. In this strange chamber, we can¡¯t use magic spells.¡±

    ¡°But you can fly?¡± Ah Lan expressed great curiosity towards that aspect.

    Shadow replied, ¡°That¡¯s a trait I was born with. As long as you¡¯re alive, I can live. As long as your spiritual powers are still there, I can fly.¡±

    ¡°You are me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Ah Lan shook his head in confusion: ¡°No, no, it should be said that you¡¯re my grimoire instead.¡±

    ¡°Stop! There is no need to discuss this.¡± Shadow stated, ¡°We have to find a way to help you sessfully escape even if you are entangled in a cocoon of spider threads.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you help me undo the threads?¡± Ah Lan nced at Shadow in anticipation, but Shadow shook his head regretfully: ¡°I¡¯m not able to do that, The only thing I can touch is you; I can¡¯t touch anything else.¡±

    As Shadow spoke, he gave a demonstration to Ah Lan. His hands and body went through the spider threads and leaves. He circled in front of Ah Lan, turned back to him again, and continued to float in front of Ah Lan.

    Ah Lan stared at Shadow for a long time and suddenly said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Even if I am entangled by the spiders¡¯ threads, as long as you can act, wouldn¡¯t that do? Since you can only touch me, you will just have to hold on to me and fly.¡±

    As the two people were discussing this, a crawling sound sounded throughout the forest. The sound seemed as if there were a lot of insects. If there was only one insect crawling, the sound would be very soft, but since many had gathered, it was very loud.

    Feng YuLan and Shadow nced at each other. Shadow said, ¡°I¡¯ll hide first.¡± After he spoke, he vanished. Although Ah Lan could not see where he had gone with his naked eye, Feng YuLan felt very relieved because he felt that Shadow seemed to be around him all the time; he felt strangely enriched.

    Shortly after, Feng YuLan saw...... little spiders all over his surroundings!

    That¡¯s right, on the surrounding trees and ground, there were all kinds of palm-sized spiders crawling on the threads. One by one, like a tide, they emerged. They were too many spiders to count. The sound of crawling resounded in Feng YuLan¡¯s eardrums.

    Ah Lan was not afraid of insects and other creatures, and he was not really afraid of spiders. But when so many spiders gathered, it gave him a terrifying, scalp-tingling sensation. It was the sort of horrifying feeling where he felt even his goosebumps would fall out and scatter all over the ground, and Ah Lan could not help but shiver again.

    But fortunately, these spiders that were densely packed together did not get close to Feng YuLan but stopped at a distance from him. Soon after that, Ah Lan heard a rtivelyrge scuffle and saw a veryrge and huge spider appear on a tree trunk in front of him!

    Feng YuLan did not know how to describe the predicament he was in. This was basically a giant spider that had been magnified by ¡®n¡¯ times. When it was climbing the tree, the branches and trunks trembled. The spider thread that Feng YuLan grasped with one hand was also violently trembling, and as a result of this, his whole body began to shake.

    The giant spider got closer to Feng YuLan, and because of their close distance, Feng YuLan could clearly see each and every hair on the spider. It had three pairs of feet and many eyes growing on its head. After counting, he could determine there were eight eyes. They were densely squeezed together, and at the sight, Feng YuLan could not help but shiver again.

    The spider did not seem to be very interested in Feng YuLan. It crawled onto the giant spider web and lightly used two of its feet to stab into Ah Lan¡¯s clothes and dragged him up, lifting him. After that, it began to spin threads from somewhere in its abdomen, constantly producing them there.

    The giant spider entangled the threads all over Ah Lan¡¯s body, and Ah Lan almost did not dare to move. He realized that the spider did not bite him or infuse him with poison. It merely wrapped him up into a cocoon of spider thread at a very fast pace. In a sh, Ah Lan felt that he was unable to move his entire body, and his line of sight was blocked by one of the spider threads.

    It felt as if he was being tightly wrapped. The spider silk was extremely resilient. Ah Lan tried to struggle twice, but his body felt extremely weak, as if his strength had been exhausted. He slowly began to feel strangely sleepy, causing him to almost be unable to open his eyes.

    Although the spider thread had blocked his line of sight, Ah Lan¡¯s sense of hearing was still working. He felt that after the giant spider wrapped him into a cocoon, he ced Ah Lan on a tree like the cocoons he had seen. Then, Ah Lan heard the sound of the tide of spiders retreating. The sound gradually got further away, indicating that therge spider and the other little spiders had all rapidly left.

    ¡°How do you feel?¡± After a while, Ah Lan heard the voice of Shadow, asking him this question.

    ¡°It feels very tight, and I don¡¯t know why, but I feel so weak and tired. I want to sleep.¡± Ah Lan honestly revealed how he felt.

    ¡°Just bear with it for a few moments more. Don¡¯t fall asleep...... Those spiders are not far away. I¡¯ll take you as we follow them.¡± Shadow then reached out and grabbed Ah Lan. His hands could directly prate through the outeryers of the cocoon to hold Ah Lan. Shadow brought him away as they waveringly flew up.

 Chapter 76 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 76 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (VII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Every ce he passed by felt like an illusion to him.

    The pure-white spider threadspletely obscured his vision, he found it hard to breathe, and his whole body was tightly imprisoned in the threads that not even a gap was exposed. However, Feng YuLan still felt like he had seen something. In this state of unconsciousness, he felt as if he had dreamed. The dream was not very long, but it was very suffocating.

    He dreamed of death.

    He dreamed that he was on the verge of death. He was lying prostrate on the ground, and there seemed to be something terrible approaching him from behind. He did not want to die; he wanted to climb up and continue walking, run, and escape...... but his legs were so badly mutted that he realized he could no longer run away.

    Therefore, Ah Lan raised his head to look up in despair, and there seemed to be a man in front of him. Ah Lan did not know who he was. He reached out to the figure, and the man also reached out to help him.

    The person in his dream appeared very vague, but Ah Lan knew that the other party would help him. His mystifying intuition was unquestionable to him.

    So when the other party reached out, Ah Lan naturally reached out as well.

    But...... when their hands were about to touch each other, the other party took back all hope. He withdrew his hand and abruptly terminated all the earnest pleas and extravagant hopes that Ah Lan had in his heart. This gave him a great shock...... yet he also felt that it was only reasonable.

    The blurry figure stood up straight, turned around, and had his back toward Feng YuLan. In a trance, Ah Lan seemed to see a ray of light somewhere far away from him. The figure abandoned Ah Lan and walked toward the light, going further and further away. Ah Lan kept the posture of reaching his hands out. He opened his mouth but could not produce a sound. What did he want to retain......

    Now, he was not afraid of betrayal or even death. However, he felt it was regretful, but what was he regretting? Ah Lan did not understand.

    After that, Ah Lan gave up. He lowered his head and continued to crawl on the ground. The darkness behind him was getting closer and closer, but inwardly, he had never felt more calm than in the current moment.

    Shortly following that, Ah Lan was woken up from the dream by someone. Shadow cried his name out in a frenzy into his ears and even pinched his face hard, forcing him to wake up.

    ¡°You brat, why did you only wake up now!¡± Shadow¡¯s tone showed his flustered and exasperated feelings.

    Ah Lan shook his body and replied, ¡°I am awake.¡±

    ¡°You woke up toote! You slept for an hour and a half!¡± Shadow sounded even more flustered and exasperated now.

    Shadow¡¯s words caused Ah Lan¡¯s entire body to quiver, and hepletely awakened. He uttered in disbelief, ¡°I slept for an hour and a half?!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been sleeping since I dragged you to follow after that bunch of spiders! No matter how I called you, you wouldn¡¯t wake up! I almost thought you were going to die!¡±

    ¡°Then&#k2026;¡± Feng YuLan was a little flustered: ¡°How long do we have left now?¡±

    ¡°Half an hour! Thirty minutes!¡±

    ¡°Where are we now?¡±

    Shadow was also very anxious: ¡°I don¡¯t know! I was carrying you as I trailed after the spiders, and I don¡¯t know why or how but we were discovered. The big spider carried you for a distance, hung you on another tree, and wrapped several moreyers of spider thread around you! I could not pull you down from here!¡±

    I shouldn¡¯t fret. Even if time is tight, I shouldn¡¯t fret! Feng YuLan listened to Shadow, took a deep breath to slow down his racing heart, and said, ¡°I can¡¯t see anything now. Can you see what¡¯s around us in the surroundings?¡±

    ¡°What else is there......? The patch of ck forest that seems to stretch on endlessly and a few giant spider cocoons hanging on the tree like you.¡± Shadow¡¯s mood seemed to be terrible. ¡°We have to find a way to break the spider threads.¡±

    Feng YuLan could not even shake his head. He could only sigh, ¡°We can¡¯t break free from these spider threads. In this chamber at the edge of hell, the secret chamber has prevented us from using any forms of abilities.¡±

    ¡°Then what should we do? Await our deaths?¡±

    At that, Ah Lan smiled miserably: ¡°Yes, we are going to await our deaths. We will wait here and do nothing.¡±

    ¡°But...... Why?¡± Shadow indicated that he did not understand.

    Feng YuLan did not answer him immediately. After remaining silent for a long time, he suddenly said, ¡°I just thought of this...... There are no living creatures on the edge of hell. This is a world that souls live in, right?¡±

    Shadow seemed to have guessed Ah Lan¡¯s idea. In a hesitant tone, he replied, ¡°What you want to say is...¡±

    ¡°Shadow, are you a soul?¡±

    Shadow frowned and deliberated, ¡°This...... I guess I am considered one? But I am not aplete soul, so I am in a state of nihility. Generally speaking, no one in this ce can see or touch me except you.¡±

    Feng YuLan said, ¡°Yes, because we are all souls, we don¡¯t have our abilities. Our strength and abilities have been stripped away. We have no weapons and possess nothing, so in this ¡®edge of hell¡¯ chamber, we are all as weak as kittens and are indistinct souls. We can¡¯t resist anything that we face in here, even if we are wrapped up by a disgusting spider into a bizarre cocoon of threads. We won¡¯t be able to escape from this ce based on our abilities.¡±

    ¡°But what does this indicate?¡± Shadow still did not understand why Ah Lan said such things at this critical moment.

    ¡°Duan Li told me that the secret chamber will never force the yers into an absolute dead end.¡±

    This sentence made Shadow suddenly realize, ¡°You mean that in this secret chamber that deprived us of all abilities, we can¡¯t get out of this forest solely based on our capabilities, so we have to rely on something else, right?¡±

    ¡°What can we rely on?¡± Feng YuLan said slowly, and he found it hard to speak. Although he could breathe in the cocoon, he still found it difficult. This made Ah Lan speak at a speed that couldn¡¯t be any slower. He said slowly, ¡°That spider wraps souls into cocoons and then hangs the souls on the trees. I don¡¯t know the purpose of this, but if the spider is the thing leading the way, it will surely take us to the ¡®door.¡¯ Therefore, we just have to wait.¡±

    But Shadow still thought that this whole situation was incorrect. He refuted Ah Lan¡¯s thoughts: ¡°But we also have to take into ount the time limit. We don¡¯t know when the spider wille. What if it doesn¡¯te before the time limit? Even if the secret chamber won¡¯t leave yers with an absolute dead end, the possibility that it allows you to live is not 100%!¡±

    ¡°Do one¡¯s level best and leave the rest to Heaven¡¯s will.¡± Feng YuLan only replied with such a sentence and did not seem to want to say any more. No matter what Shadow said, he did not reply anymore, as if he had fallen asleep again.

    Shadow drifted around him. After a while, the crow cawed again. This represented that the two of them only had 15 minutes left. Shadow felt at a loss and as if his actions had been in vain. He realized that this was actually what Ah Lan felt inwardly. The feeling had just transferred to him.

    But at this moment, things finally changed for the better.

    With the apaniment of soundsing from here and there, a huge spider appeared again. This time, itmanded its subordinates, the tiny spiders, to remove the cocoons hanging on the trees one by one, and this naturally included Ah Lan. Ah Lan could not see what was happening outside. He only felt the big spider threads wrapped around him sway and fall from the tree with a bam. Ah Lan felt dizzy. After that, he felt a lot of tiny spiders crawl around him. They lifted him up like ants, and shortly after, they rapidly moved forward.

    After moving for about five minutes, Feng YuLan calcted inwardly and found that he had only about ten minutes left. It would be a lie to say he was not worried. He was so nervous that he could not help but try to struggle in the cocoon, but soon, he felt that he had been lowered down and ced on the ground. The dense pack of spiders crawled onto him again, and Feng YuLan heard the quiet sounds of biting. He found that these small spiders were gnawing on the cocoon that he was wrapped in.

    They chewed very fast. After a while, the spiders crawled down from the cocoon one after another, and Ah Lan heard the sound of them dispersing. He hesitated for a while and couldn¡¯t help struggle again. This time, Ah Lan found that the tightly wrapped threads soon scattered from his movements.

    After breaking the thread bindings, Feng YuLan was presented with a magnificent scene that was beyond his imagination.

    It was two gigantic doors!

    There was one on the left and one on the right, and the two appeared exactly the same; it was almost impossible to differentiate between them. They were more than 20 meters high and five or six meters wide. The two huge doors had seemingly broken free of the surrounding trees, and it seemed as if the doors could reach the heavens.

    Amazingly, Feng YuLan could not make out what materials these two doors were made of. They were ck in colour, but the material did not seem to be stone. There were no patterns carved on the doors; their surface was smooth, and they stood on the ground where they had appeared out of thin air. The doors formed an ineffable and magnificentndscape.

    ¡°Something¡¯sing.¡± Shadow did not appear. He was hidden in a ce that Ah Lan could not see, but he could speak to Ah Lan in a low voice. Ah Lan raised his head and found that there was a rtively wide and open space in front of the two giant doors. It seemed that there was a figure standing in this open space.

    Ah Lan got up, brushed the thin spider threads off his body, and walked towards the blurry figure step by step. When he approached, he saw the man¡¯s ck clothes. It was a huge ck cloak, and the hood on itpletely covered his face. He seemed to have no feet; the whole man was floating. He was about ten centimeters off the ground and held a two-meter-long sickle in his hand.

    Obviously, he was what some movies depicted the ¡®God of Death¡¯ to be.

    ¡°My child, you must make your choice.¡±

    When Ah Lan walked to where the ¡®God of Death¡¯ was, the God of Death suddenly opened his mouth. It was hard to differentiate whether his voice was male or female. It sounded dull, monotonous, and so ear-piercing that Ah Lan trembled.

    ¡°There are two doors behind me,¡± the God of Death said, ¡°One leads to thend of the living, one leads to hell, and you can only make one choice here. If you make the wrong choice, you will not get another chance.¡±

    Once again, Ah Lan could not help but raise his head to gaze at the two huge doors. They appeared exactly the same, and Ah Lan could not tell the difference. He asked, ¡°How do I know which door leads to thend of the living and which door leads to hell?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple.¡± The God of Death seemed to beughing. He made a creaky sound, as if there was a skeleton under the cloak. He waved his sickle and said, ¡°You only need to answer three questions of mine. Your answer will determine which way you should head.¡±

    Ah Lan bit his lips. His time is running out; there was no chance to think about it. He did not know which door would lead him to the way out. Only the fellow standing in front of him, who seemed to be the ¡®God of Death,¡¯ could tell him the answer.

    ¡°Alright, I choose to answer your questions.¡±

    God of Death waved his sickle as if he was thinking and asked, ¡°Question one: what are you most afraid of?¡±

    Most afraid of? Ah Lan¡¯s mind was nk. The other party suddenly threw out such a question. For a while, he was unable to think of an answer because he was afraid of many things. He was afraid of the deaths of his rtives and friends, of betrayal, of death, of the terrifying secret chamber...... of many, many more things. It was almost impossible for him to express these in words.

    Ah Lan could not answer, so he remained silent for a very long time. He thought he should say something, but unexpectedly, the God of Death spoke again: ¡°Question two: would you kill someone?¡±

    Kill...... someone? Ah Lan felt that it was even harder to answer this. He had not killed anyone before, but he was not sure whether he would do so in the future. There were too many uncertain factors in the secret chambers, and he could not always uphold his sense of justice. However, he also did not want to break this principle of his easily. Whether or not he would kill was something that Ah Lan was not sure of.

    Again, he answered the second question with silence. The God of Death did not repeat the question and straightforwardly asked the third question: ¡°Do you want to continue living?¡±

    This time, without thinking, Ah Lan answered, ¡°I do.¡±

    The will to survive was what all living creatures possessed.

    The God of Death waved his sickle once again, and of the two doors behind him, the one on the left opened. The opening of the huge door made a loud noise, but the gap was onlyrge enough for one person to pass through. The God of Death pointed to the open door with his sickle and said, ¡°The answer you made is your choice.¡±

    Ah Lan¡¯s face was pale white. He did not understand what the choice entailed. He only answered one of the questions posed by the God of Death, but he did not know what kind of fate he was about to face.

    The words of the God of Death seemed to hold some mystifying power, and Ah Lan walked to the door slowly. His feet fell on the ground as he moved step by step. Shadow had not spoken since many moments ago. He did not continue to give him suggestions even though Ah Lan knew that he had always been by his side.

    The only thing he could do now was to move forward.

 Chapter 77 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 77 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (VIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The smell of blood......

    Luo Jian suddenly opened his eyes, feeling worried and uneasy. He cut a sorry figure as he scrambled up from the ground. With one of his legs bent down towards the ground, he held his short knife in his hands as he observed the surrounding environment cautiously.

    He thought that he was still in the narrow and closed passageway and had failed in killing the enemy. He had even dreamed that he was dead. However, whether it was true or not, anything that might happen would bring aboutrge repercussions for him.

    However, Luo Jian soon found that he was no longer in the narrow passage. Now he was in a small but rtively spacious tomb vault. In fact, even if one described it as spacious, it could not really be considered as such. There was only a coffin inside, and the remaining space surrounding the coffin was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. When Luo Jian woke up, he was lying beside the coffin.

    Luo Jian knelt on the spot and remained immobile. He looked around to make sure that he was not in danger and could not help but breathe out a sigh of relief. After being tensed up initially, he soon felt the slight pain that was constantly there on his neck and touched it subconsciously. Instead of a wound, he found bandages wrapped around his neck.

    Bandages?

    Luo Jian could not react for a long time. He suddenly remembered that when he and the enemy¡ªClown¡ªwere in that narrow passageway, Luo Jian had almost executed his idea of perishing together with the enemy and used all the strength that he could to kill the enemy! When Luo Jian wanted to directly cut Clown¡¯s carotid artery, the enemy also made the same move as him!

    At the time, Luo Jian had thought that when the enemy fell from that height, he would lose a huge amount of blood. Even if the enemy was blessed by the Heavens and would not die, Luo Jian would definitely be able to cripple him! This way, at least, the moves he made would serve to contain the enemy and somewhat reduce the threat to his team.

    At that time, Luo Jian did not want to die easily, and he even had the idea of perishing together. One could imagine what kind of situation he had been forced into, whichpelled him to forsake his life.

    But when he suddenly woke up, Luo Jian found that he was not dead. He appeared in a small tomb vault, where there was only one coffin next to him. There were even bandages wrapped around his neck. Obviously...... someone had saved him.

    Who saved me?

    Luo Jian could not help but search through his clothes. He was still wearing the shabby old clothes that had been tailored. The items that should be on his body were still there. The stalker had taken all his props that he had, even his clothes (and in fact, his weapons had also been swapped). Admittedly, Luo Jian had always wondered why the other party did so.

    And now, Luo Jian possessed two items. They were both obtained from the coffin in the main tomb vault¡ªa scroll that had been inserted at his waist and a half-piece of a jade pendant hanging around his neck.

    It could be said that Luo Jian was in an extremely horrible situation. The situation was so terrible it could not be any worse. He was now alone. Other than his weapon, he had no other props to protect himself. And when he was panicking, he had lost his way. There was nothing in this huge tomb to lead the way¡ªwait?

    Luo Jian suddenly thought of something and pulled out the scroll from his waist.

    The note left by the secret chamber had such a sentence: ¡®The ink portrait painting of the tomb owner.¡¯

    ¡°Ink portrait painting,¡± Luo Jian muttered to himself, unrolling the scroll to take a nce. He could not help but frown. This scroll did not look very special. It was a portrait of a man wearing ancient garb and a hat, sitting on a chair, and without much of an expression.

    Luo Jian stared at the picture for a long time. This painting was merely a portrait, and there were no inscriptions or the like. Luo Jian looked up and down, left and right, but he could not figure out anything from this painting. Moreover, the painting was very old, so the paper was yellow and some parts of the ink lines were blurred.

    Luo Jian pondered this for a long time and sighed, but after that, he paused as if he had thought of something and began to study the painting¡¯s spindle head, which could also be referred to as the scroll painting¡¯s axle head. The ancients seemed to like hiding things in it, and shortly after, as expected, he found something inside.

    ¡°It¡¯s a rag,¡± Luo Jian said as he shook the piece of cloth in his hands. Some inexplicable lines were drawn on the cloth, oh...... If one looked at it carefully, one would find that they were not painted but stitched on it. There were not only lines but also some small words that he was not able to read.

    Luo Jian soon found that the words and patterns on the rag were iplete, which meant that it was probably one piece of a broken-up map.

    As for where the other pieces of the map were, he was afraid that the answer would be on the enemies¡¯ bodies.

    Luo Jian stuffed the rag into his bosom and touched the half-piece of jade pendant around his neck. After doing so, he stood up and began to look for the way out of this small tomb vault. He could not stay here forever. He was still in danger.

    But just as Luo Jian stood up straight, he suddenly heard a voiceing from behind. It sounded out so suddenly that it caused Luo Jian to shiver. It was just then that he realized someone was standing behind him and talking.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± That¡¯s what the man said.

    Luo Jian did not even know when he appeared behind him.

    Therefore, he immediately turned around and looked behind himself! It was then that he found that a man had appeared out of thin air beside the coffin. He sat on the lid of the coffin with his back to Luo Jian, wearing a ck hoodie with the hood on his head, and sat cross-legged with his head down. When Luo Jian saw this man, he was surprised. Because this tomb vault was rtively small, he could see all the objects in here with just a nce. There was no ce for a human to hide. Where did this fool appear from?

    Luo Jian was puzzled, but soon, he quickly thought of something and understood. He was afraid that this was probably the result of using a carry-on secret chamber. This fool was previously in his carry-on secret chamber! Therefore, when he popped out suddenly, people would feel that he had appeared out of thin air.

    After Luo Jian understood that, he cheered himself up inwardly as he tried to maintain his unnatural calm and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Although Luo Jian asked who the other party was, in fact, at that moment, he had made a lot of spections about the identity of the unexpected guest! The stalkers were said to be unable to speak, so they could be ruled out. The only people left...... were the enemy and the new teammate who they had never met before.

    When Luo Jian was feigning death in the coffin, although he could not see the faces of those enemies, he still remembered that bunch of people¡¯s voices and tones.

    However, the voice of this man was different from that of any enemy Luo Jian had heard before. It was neither the vampire team captain¡¯s nor Brawny¡¯s. Naturally, it was not the voice of Clown, who held scalpels, or Luo Jian would have been killed with a single stab. Of course, it was not that of the long-haired woman.

    Therefore, there were only two options left that Luo Jian thought of. First, he could be thest enemy team member that Luo Jian had never seen. Second, he could be the new member of Luo Jian¡¯s team.

    In fact, from the current environment and situation, the second option was the most likely. Otherwise, Luo Jian would be dead instead of being able to stand upright here. Obviously, he had been saved by this new teammate.

    Sure enough, the new teammate tilted his head a little to show a bit of his face and said to Luo Jian: ¡°My code name is Oracle. As for my name...... oh, I¡¯ve long forgotten my name. You can call me Specter. This is my nickname.¡±

    The voice of the other party was rtively deep, but Luo Jian found that it was familiar. He seemed to have heard it somewhere, but for a while he could not remember where. He felt that it was necessary to look at the face of the other party.

    ¡°Can you turn around?¡± Therefore, Luo Jian said this.

    For a while, the new teammate seemed to be hesitant. He could not help but sigh. He jumped down from the coffin, turned around, and faced Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian felt that his heart had stopped for a moment. At that moment, he felt a sort of terrifying feeling, as if he could not breathe. He was stunned and said, ¡°It¡¯s you?¡±

    The secret chamber¡¯s specter.

    Luo Jian once saw the man who had been in front of his uncle¡¯s shop. ording to him, he had signed a life-long contract with the secret chamber and be the specter of the secret chamber. Luo Jian was afraid that this man was his paternal cousin, who had been missing for nearly 20 years.

    ¡°It seems that we have met again. We are predestined to meet.¡± His paternal cousin¡¯s temperament was well-mannered, soft-spoken, and gentle. He had two cute dimples when heughed, but when he did notugh, his upright features under the hood made him appear very handsome and aggressive. After such a long time, Luo Jian¡¯s impression of his paternal cousin had be less clear than when he had been a child. Now, facing the rtive that he had once lost and now recovered, it felt strange yet familiar to him.

    ¡°Are you the oracle?¡± Luo Jian did not know how they should call one another. If Luo Jian heeded what he had said and called him by his nickname, Specter, Luo Jian would feel very ufortable. But to Luo Jian, if he wanted to call him brother, he felt that he was unable to open his mouth to do so, especially since his paternal cousin seemed to have lost all memories of reality, that is to say, hepletely did not remember that Luo Jian was his brother.

    ¡°I am the oracle,¡± his paternal cousin replied.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t tell me that previously. You are a specter and specters have no right to return to reality. To be an oracle is to ept the final trial, and if you seed in it, you can return to reality. In that case, how could the secret chamber make you an oracle?¡±

    It seemed that Luo Jian¡¯s statement made Specter smile, although the reason behind his smile was unknown. He replied, ¡°The person who told you that info obviously didn¡¯t say everything. The oracles can return to reality as long as they sessfullyplete the final trial, but for yers like me who have no right to return to reality, if we can also sessfullyplete the trial, the secret chamber will change the reward since we cannot be sent back to reality¡ªit will realize a wish of mine as long as it is not returning to reality.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Luo Jian understood: ¡°Because of that wish, you are here.¡±

    After a moment¡¯s silence, Luo Jian asked boldly, ¡°May I ask you a question?¡±

    ¡°Say it.¡±

    ¡°What did you wish for?¡±

    The voice of Specter was very soft, as if it carried his hopes, and his expression was very gentle: ¡°It¡¯s very simple. It¡¯s just to lift the life-long contract.From a specter to an ordinary yer again, in this way, my reality can return to me, I can see my rtives, and I will no longer be alone.¡±

    Luo Jian did not know how to answer. After so many years, his cousin had suffered all kinds of life and death struggles and finally had the courage to challenge the so-called final trial. What he wanted was such a simple wish. He did not want to be immortal, powerful, and invincible; the power to crush an army; or to be the peak of the human world. His wish did not have many desires, but he merely wanted that precious...... familial affection that he had initially.

    Luo Jian wanted to cry but found that he could not. He asked Specter in a hoarse voice, ¡°May I call you brother?¡±

    T/N: LUO FENG MY BABY ;A; I think most of you have already guessed his identity!! ^~^

    Kitty: Tbh I think Luo Feng might already be my favorite character...

    <strong>Annoucement: </strong>

    Regarding update schedule: Good news-seeing as I¡¯m about done tranting, both of us would be bringing you more EIC chapters. From next week, there would be 5 EIC chapter/week. The updates would be either on Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sun <i>or </i>Thurs (x2), Fri, Sat & Sun.<del> (So I can have 2 days break orz) </del>Kofi Chapter goals: Simrly, since I¡¯m about to finish tranting, Kofi chapter goals would be avable until thest chapter I¡¯m done with tranting (and that¡¯s probably 100+ chapters ahead of the current chapter). Once chapter goals are reached, an extra chapter on top of the weekly chapters would be published.

    Thank you guys and girls so much for thements and support on EIC!

 Chapter 78 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 78 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (IX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Specter was stupefied by Luo Jian¡¯s question for a moment as if it was iprehensible, but then he seemingly understood. Shortly after, Specter replied, ¡°Of course you can.¡±

    The dense fog seemed to be dissipating.

    It seemed that Luo Jian had recovered the memories from his childhood that had slowly disappeared. Until now, Luo Jian could not remember what exactly the person had said in the past. Even if he asked Specter, who was in front of him now, he was afraid that he still wouldn¡¯t remember it himself.

    However, Luo Jian recalled the other party¡¯s mannerisms when he talked, and they werepletely the same as what he was doing now.

    Specter floated over and held out a hand. His warm palm pressed on Luo Jian¡¯s head.

    Luo Jian obediently lowered his head to allow him to make a mess out of his hair. Inwardly, he felt slightly and strangely aggrieved yet satisfied. These feelings made it so that he could not help but ask his paternal cousin, ¡°That...... Brother, you saved me just now, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°En?¡± Specter thought for a bit. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not the one who saved you. I just found you.¡±

    ¡°Found me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you were lying there, and after that I moved you here.¡±

    Luo Jian was surprised: ¡°When you found me, where was I lying?¡±

    Specter tilted his head: ¡°Are you going there? It might be dangerous there now.¡±

    The man who saved him was not his cousin. Realizing this, Luo Jian¡¯s head was full of doubts. If Specter did not save him, then the bandage wrapped on his neck...... Luo Jian then pointed to the bandage wrapped around his neck with his finger: ¡°This was also not done by you either?¡±

    ¡°I thought you bound it yourself.¡± Specter sized up Luo Jian and said, ¡°Do you need to change clothes? You look like a mess.¡±

    Luo Jian was still wearing those ragged ancient garbs, and there wererge patches of blood stained on it. At first nce, one would think that Luo Jian was seriously injured, but in fact, the biggest difort Luo Jian now felt was a little dizziness, most likely due to blood loss.

    Specter casually tossed out a set of clothing, and it appeared identical to the clothes he wore now. Specter said, ¡°My clothes...... They may be a little big, but they¡¯re better than the ones you¡¯re wearing now......¡±

    Shortly after, Specter frowned: ¡°Why are you wearing ancient garbs? Are you going to rece your identity?¡±

    At this time, Luo Jian felt that the clothes on his body were inconvenient and troublesome, and because of the huge number of blood stains, the clothes felt thick and sticky. Therefore, he took the clothes from Specter¡¯s hands and nned to change into them. After he heard Specter¡¯s words, he was puzzled about the new term he suddenly heard and asked, ¡°Identity recement&#k2026;&#k2026; What is that?¡±

    Specter also seemed to feel strange: ¡°You don¡¯t know about that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Luo Jian shook his head: ¡°These garbs...... Someone else changed it for me.¡±

    Luo Jian could not say that it was a stalker who changed his clothes for him, but to his surprise, Specter quickly guessed something and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you get this garb from some coffin?¡±

    Coffin? Luo Jian¡¯s face turned red immediately. He remembered that he had been in the coffin with some stalker. This kind of topic was like a plot from Arabian Nights, and given its R18 nature, Luo Jian felt shameful talking about it. After stuttering and faltering in his speech for half a day, not a single helpful statement was spoken. However, Specter was obviously impatient. He stretched out his hand to mess up the hair on Luo Jian¡¯s head and said, ¡°Okay, let me tell you a piece of interesting information I¡¯ve heard. This is rted to the problem of identity recement in the secret chambers.¡±

    Luo Jian squatted in front of his brother in a docile manner and began to listen carefully. Specter raised his eyebrows and started his long-winded speech.

    ¡°About identity recement...... Well, let¡¯s start with something simple and easy to understand. First of all, you should know that there are terrifying stalkers in the secret chambers. The newbie guide should have told you that.¡± Specter started the conversation: ¡°How much do you know about stalkers?¡±

    ¡°Well......¡± Luo Jian tilted his head as he thought: ¡°I was told that they were the strongest yers in the secret chamber. If they failed or died for various reasons, the secret chamber would revive them and turn them into stalkers who have no self-awareness and only know how to kill.¡±

    ¡°Basically, there are no problems with your definition, but I¡¯d like to add something more.¡± Specter was worthy of being an experienced old yer; he ryed information to Luo Jian that he had never heard previously. He said, ¡°The secret chamber does not only turn yers into stalkers but also other things.¡±

    ¡°Other things?¡± Luo Jian had an ignorant look.

    Specter raised a finger and said seriously, ¡°The monsters you meet in the secret chamber, the resurrected corpses, ghosts...... or all kinds of creatures that will attack you were previously all like you. They may have just been an ordinary yer.¡±

    ¡°What the hell did you say?!¡± Luo Jian was immediately frightened. He unconsciously remembered the monstrous creature he encountered when he was going around in circles previously, which may have been a woman when she was alive.

    ¡°Those...... monsters...¡± Luo Jian¡¯s speech became incoherent. He had not experienced many secret chambers, but he had already met many strange creatures and even took the lives of one or two of them.

    ¡°The secret chamber turns the yers into these monsters when they fail or die in a secret chamber. Their endings are particrly depressing because they are different from the stalkers. They can¡¯t shuttle in between secret chambers at will and can¡¯t infinitely resurrect. They can only stay in a certain space set for them by the secret chamber, waiting to be killed by some new yers.

    ¡°You can think of these poor monsters as those fixed-point monsters that would be refreshed in the game. They can only constantly stay in one ce. They experience the process of being killed, refreshed, killed, and refreshed repeatedly.¡±

    Specter¡¯s tone was a little strange, as if he had thought of something ufortable. He frowned and continued, ¡°In fact, not even many old yers know about this. It¡¯s mainly because I¡¯ve been in the secret chamber for too long and have met many different things in many different chambers that I gradually realized this.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s mood was veryplicated. He raised his head up and nced at his family¡¯s brother and asked, ¡°If I also died in a secret chamber, would this be my fate?¡±

    Specter raised his head and gave Luo Jian a nce. He shook his head: ¡°You are too weak right now. I¡¯m afraid the secret chamber would be toozy to turn you into something else. If you die, it would probably be a real death.¡±

    Luo Jian said angrily, ¡°Then it would be better to really die! It¡¯s too cruel to be unable to rest in peace even after death!¡±

    ¡°Such a ce like this would naturally be cruel.¡± When Specter said this, his face was expressionless. He lowered his head, and his face was barely visible under the ck hood: ¡°The secret chamber will not lose the chance to make use of every single yer. This ce intends to practice or experiment with living human beings. Although it is cruel, it is not like the secret chamber does not give every yer a chance.¡±

    ¡°A chance?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m referring to the identity recement I mentioned previously,¡± Specter exined, ¡°If the dead yers are made into stalkers by the secret chamber, there¡¯s a one-in-ten-thousand chance that they retain a certain level of sanity and awareness. These self-aware stalkers use this method in order to get rid of the supervisory control of the secret chamber.¡±

    Hearing Specter¡¯s speech, Luo Jian suddenly felt his heart palpitate. For some reason, he felt a little worried, but Specter didn¡¯t realize what Luo Jian was feeling. He continued, ¡°You should have heard that the stalkers can rece some NPCs in the secret chamber, and they can have many identities such as a murderer, victim...... In the case of this tomb, they can also be the owner or funeral apaniment...... or somebody else.

    ¡°Simrly, not only the stalker can rece his identity, but yers can also do so. The secret chamber will sometimes set an identity for you when you enter a secret chamber.¡±

    Specter¡¯s words reminded Luo Jian of what happened in the ¡°Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake¡± secret chamber previously. At that time, the secret chamber had really set an identity for Luo Jian as the 35th student who had gone missing. He was also known as the second personality of the female student.

    ¡°In general, the identity that the secret chamber forcefully sets for you cannot be changed. Of course, if the secret chamber doesn¡¯t set any identity for you at the beginning, then in theory, you have the opportunity to take the identity of some NPCs in the secret chamber and rece them!¡±

    Luo Jian thought that the theory of identity recement seemed easy, but doing it was not so simple. He asked, ¡°Must we trigger certain conditions first to do so?¡±

    Specter smiled: ¡°Yes, if you want to rece the identity of a NPC! Then first, you have to make sure that the NPC is a ¡®receable NPC¡¯! Of course, the secret chamber will not give any hints. This basically relies on the yer¡¯s deductions because in some secret chambers, you must rely on identity recement in order to escape.¡±

    ¡°Once you have determined that the identity of the NPC is receable, then after that, you need to get the props, clothes, essories, or some other symbolic things from them by the NPC¡¯s own free will. This means that they have given their identity to you, changing you from a yer to an NPC in the secret chamber! When you get this identity, you will have some special rights! If you can obtain the identity of the owner of the tomb, you may have some special rights tomand some of the creatures in this tomb like funeral apaniments or control the activation of certain mechanisms.¡±

    After hearing Specter speak such a long string of words, Luo Jian vaguely understood a lot of the doubts he had earlier. He squinted his eyes and rubbed his chin as he fell into thought: ¡°That means that in this way, I can obtain certain conveniences in the secret chamber through identity recement, and sometimes it can directly be the key to allow me escape from the secret chamber, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re smart,¡± Specter praised him.

    Luo Jian was slightly nervous as he felt the jade pendant on his neck. He had some new conjectures in his mind, so he raised his head and asked his cousin. This was the first time that he took the initiative to expose his questions rted to the stalker. He asked, ¡°Brother...... I would like to ask if there is such a possibility? If a stalker enters the secret chamber and reces the identity of a certain NPC, but after that, he actively gives the identity to another yer, can it also be regarded as a sessful identity recement?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s words made Specter squint his eyes. He stared at Luo Jian for a while and smiled: ¡°Well, if there is such a thing, then you have sessfully reced the identity of an NPC in this tomb.¡±

    Specter¡¯s words seemingly made Luo Jian a little happy. Heughed. This made him recall that time when the stalker refused to let go of him in the coffin. Was this the reason why the stalker changed his clothes?

    But Luo Jian was not happy for long because Specter cruelly interrupted him when he was recalling that memory. He had a seemingly imposing expression on his face. He stared at Luo Jian, and his voice was very low: ¡°That stalker, did he take your things?¡±

    Specter¡¯s sudden question stupefied Luo Jian, who hesitated for a while and nodded.

    ¡°What did he take away?¡±

    ¡°Er......¡± Luo Jian blushed: ¡°Clothes and some sort of things like that...... It was all taken away.¡±

    ¡°What about your weapon?!¡± Specter¡¯s voice grew louder, and he stared at Luo Jian with wide eyes. It seemed that he was furious, which made Luo Jian feel at a loss. He stammered and said, ¡°It was also...... swapped.¡±

    Specter stopped talking and merely looked at Luo Jian. It seemed that he was speechless. He stared at Luo Jian helplessly and scolded, ¡°You are so stupid! As I said before, if a certain stalker remains sane, their best choice to get rid of the supervisory control of the secret chamber is to rece the identity of a yer!

    ¡°For all yers, the best form of identification is their weapons. If their weapons are reced, they will have to give up their identity to a stalker! After that, as long as he took all your items and changed into your clothes, he will be identified as you by the secret chamber, and his status will be sessfully changed from a stalker to a yer again!¡±

    Specter¡¯s words were like a sharp warning to him. Luo Jian could not squeeze out any words at that moment and could only remain in standing in his position on the spot in a daze. All of this surprised him. Luo Jian had also wondered why the stalker had deliberately gotten closer to him and whether he had some obscure purpose, but Luo Jian had always trusted Xing Yan. After all, towards this man...... Luo Jian could not help but admit that he had some feelings for him.

    But now, Luo Jian was only able to stand on the spot with a pale face. His heart was full of anxiety, and this made him feel extremely fearful.

    ¡°What would happen to me if my identity was robbed from me?¡±

    ¡°Identity recement would also exchange your identities. If he gives you his weapon, you will rece him to be a stalker.¡±

    T/N:

    Fleur: I feel that if this is true, the MLs of this story (XY and DL) are very different from the regr MLs. Although it could be said that they have some feelings for their shous, the actions they carry out are quite self-driven.

    Kitty: That was quite the plot twist? I did not see thating at all! I feel bad for LJ, but XY¡¯s (possible) ulterior motive makes this all so much more interesting!

    Fleur: Yeah! ikr, but I hope XY doesn¡¯t betray LJ

 Chapter 79 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (X)

    <h4>Chapter 79 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (X)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    In order to rece a yer¡¯s identity, the stalker must first meet these conditions:

    Firstly, their weapons must be ¡®the same¡¯¡ªthis ¡®same¡¯ did not refer to their weapons looking identical. What mattered was that the category and shape were the same. For example, if both parties used guns, as long as their weapons were both pistols, they were considered the same no matter if there were differences in bullets or other areas, such as having different colors and shapes. As long as their weapons were pistols, then this condition was satisfied.

    But this condition could not be easily satisfied. The weapons given to each yer by the secret chamber were all customized ording to their physical and mental condition. The weapons of some yers could also be considered unique, such as Ah Lan¡¯s grimoire. Therefore, it was very difficult for stalkers to find a yer who had the same weapons as them.

    Secondly, if the stalker wanted to rece a yer¡¯s identity, they must have some contact with the yer. They must know each others¡¯ names, and their attitudes and rtions must be friendly. Then, the second condition would be met. Of course, this was also the most difficult condition to fulfill because any yer with vignce would not have friendly feelings or more for stalkers¡ªexcept for this fool, Luo Jian.

    Thirdly, after the above two conditions were met, as long as they took all the equipment and props from the yer and equipped it on themself, after a period of dy (about half an hour), the secret chamber would recognize the identity recement, and the stalker would sessfully escape from the supervisory control of the secret chamber and be a yer again.

    [Identity Recement] It was an opportunity given to the yer by the secret chamber, and it was also an opportunity for the stalker. Furthermore, all the strange creatures in the secret chambers were originally yers, but because of various failures, they were transformed into strange monsters or NPCs that had to execute the orders of the secret chamber. Simrly, they could also obtain a rebirth through this method.

    This ¡®recement system¡¯ was specially set for yers by the secret chamber. This was also a ¡®lease of life or a trap¡¯ set by the secret chamber. The secret chamber would not force anyone to a dead end. This was also for those yers who had unfortunately been reced. If one day, one had unfortunately been reced by someone, for half an hour after the identity recement, one would receive a temporary attack invalidation buff from the secret chamber. If one tried to retrieve the weapons and equipment to prevent this identity recement, all attacks and debuff skills dealt by the enemy who wanted to rece one¡¯s identity were rendered invalid.

    That was to say, in this half hour, one would be an invincible existence when facing the one who had reced the other.

    Specter rambled on to Luo Jian about certain knowledge that caused Luo Jian to start worrying. He quickly thought of a question: ¡°But...... the stalker took all my things, but he didn¡¯t immediately equip his items. How can I know when he ns to rece me? I mean, since he has remained hidden for this half an hour and I can¡¯t find him, isn¡¯t identity recement, this sort of thing, something easy to achieve?¡±

    ¡°There are signs,¡± Specter said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen this identity recement with my own eyes; it happened to one of my friends. He managed to stop the recement and kill the stalker.¡±

    ¡°So you have to remember that when the stalker changes into your gear and decides to rece your identity, your body will give obvious warning signs¡ªfor example, your eyes will turn red or you won¡¯t be able to speak. At this time, the secret chamber will attach this attack invalidation buff to you, and you will be a human radar. You will be able to easily sense the location of the stalker. What you have to do then is to quickly find the stalker, kill him, and get your weapons back in this half hour!¡±

    It was not good to be a stalker because Luo Jian¡¯s strength was not up to the standard at all. ording to Specter, a stalker whose strength was not up to the standard would be identified as ¡®useless¡¯ by the secret chamber, and it was possible for him to be thrown into strange ces or even be directly wiped out. Therefore, only one path remained for Luo Jian.

    Find the stalker, kill him, get his weapons and other items, and seize his identity back from the stalker.

    After listening to Specter¡¯s speech, Luo Jian felt weak and asked, ¡°Do I have to kill him?¡±

    As soon as Specter heard Luo Jian¡¯s words, he raised his eyebrows and looked at Luo Jian strangely: ¡°Don¡¯t you want to kill him?¡±

    ¡°No...... I mean...... Well, I just have to get back my items. Why do I have to kill?¡± Luo Jian¡¯s tone became weaker. He hung his head low and almost did not dare to look at his paternal cousin¡¯s face.

    ¡°You like him?¡± His cousin suddenly said something shocking. This gave Luo Jian a shock so bad that he immediately raised his head up before lowering his head. With his face red, he was unable to say a single word. To some extent, Luo Jian was quite innocent. However, in his opinion, his rtionship with the stalker was more than just pure like or dislike.

    Specter¡¯s expression turned for the worse. He opened his mouth and called out Luo Jian¡¯s name: ¡°Luo Jian, you can¡¯t like him.¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly felt a little strange.

    When he first reunited with Specter in this secret chamber, Luo Jian did not tell Specter his name or even his identity, but Specter seemed to have epted Luo Jian without any hesitation since the very beginning and even called out his name easily. In fact, he could easily call out Luo Jian¡¯s name as if he had never forgotten that Luo Jian was his younger brother.

    ¡°Brother, do you remember my name?¡± Luo Jian carefully looked at Specter and probingly asked, ¡°Do you still recognize me?¡±

    Specter seriously said, ¡°Don¡¯t change the topic!¡±

    After a while, Specter thought it was necessary for him to exin, so he replied, ¡°But at this point...... since you have be a secret chamber yer, you are considered to be estranged from the real world and are in the same situation as me! That is to say, a part of you already does not belong to the real world, so when I meet you, I will naturally recall everything about you!¡±

    Luo Jian felt slightly delighted,ughed, and said, ¡°All that being said, you still remember me! Right?!¡±

    Specter titled his head: ¡°I remember part of it, and it¡¯s basically just a scene of us together. As for the rest...... I guess I¡¯ll forget it as soon as you tell me about it.¡±

    But even this made Luo Jian happy. He was a little too impatient to wait. He lunged at his paternal cousin. This was something he often did when he was a child. Therefore, the other naturally spread his arms open and caught him. He could not help but smile: ¡°How old are you now, to still be doing such childish actions?¡±

    Luo Jian hugged his brother¡¯s waist and buried his face in his arms. When he was a child, he had a weak body and could not walk around very often, especially after his illness became increasingly serious, but he was always eager to go out to y every day. Every time, his brother carried Luo Jian into the countryside to take a stroll in the mountains. Luo Jian spent a long time lying on his paternal cousin¡¯s back or in his arms.

    Since then, it had been more than ten years since he disappeared. It felt stiflingly long, as if a century had passed.

    Specter patted Luo Jian¡¯s back andforted him, ¡°Alright, alright, you are no longer a child.¡±

    Luo Jian and his paternal cousin finally left the small tomb vault. So far, Luo Jian had not shown any warning signs of his identity being reced. Although Luo Jian could vaguely feel the emotional or physical state of the stalker because of the ouroboros mark on his neck, the specific location was too vague to be pinpointed.

    And due to certain personal reasons, Luo Jian did not want to tell his cousin about the tattoo.

    Specter seemed to have figured out the terrain of certain areas of the tomb. He led Luo Jian around the tomb vaults. They repeatedly circled around certain tomb vaults with purpose. When Luo Jian asked why he had to go around in circles, Specter replied, ¡°To activate the mechanism.¡±

    ¡°There are so many mechanisms in this tomb. The amount is unimaginable. This kind of terrain...... if the yers do not have some kind of very powerful navigating abilities, it is absolutely impossible to escape merely based on their strengths, so there must be a map here.¡±

    When they spoke of the map, Luo Jian took out the rags he got from the portrait painting.

    At the same time, his brother took out the note left for him by the secret chamber. The message on the note was simr to what was on the notes of Luo Jian and the others, but what was on the back of the note was a new piece of information. What surprised Luo Jian even more was that...... instead of describing it as a piece of information, it was better described as a...... love letter?

    [I was born into a dignified and magnificent hall]

    [You were born into a dark and damp cave]

    [I staggered when I learned to walk]

    [Yet you began to crawl carefully]

    [I have prudently buried the evil in my heart]

    [Yet you magnify it and make it public]

    [I cannot resist your dazzling lunacy]

    [I cannot resist your desperate breath]

    [Whether it is blood, persecution, or killing]

    [If they destroy you]

    [I will cross through hell]

    [Lift you up from the abyss]

    [Even if a thousand years have passed]

    [I cannot hold back my love for you]

    After reading the love letter, Luo Jian was very confused: ¡°What does this mean? Who wrote it and to whom? There is also no signature.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s brother spread his arms open and helplessly shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been studying this for a long time, but the secret chamber wouldn¡¯t have thrown a love letter to me for no reason. We can put it aside first.¡±

    Therefore, the clues that Luo Jian had now for this secret chamber were as follows:

    The first was a small map, which was likely one of a total of four pieces. The rest may be with the enemy¡¯s team or may be found somewhere else.

    Then, there was the bridge that the enemies mentioned. Since this was abined chamber with a tomb and an underground cave, there was a bridge to connect the two chambers. Only by finding the bridge could they find a way out.

    Finally, this was what Luo Jian¡¯s brother, who was extremely experienced, suggested:

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is a joint tomb.¡±

    ¡°A joint tomb?¡± Luo Jian did not know why he said so: ¡°How could you tell that?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said in the note that this is the story of a group of nsmen who believed in a god and built a tomb for them. However, there are many ces in this tomb where ghost statues have been carved, so it¡¯s a joint tomb. Also...... the main tomb vault you went to seems to have many monster statues, so it¡¯s probably the main tomb vault of the ¡®ghost.¡¯ Therefore, there must be a main tomb vault for the ¡®god¡¯ somewhere else. Maybe we can also find a piece of the map there.¡±

    Although there was no basis for Specter¡¯s conjecture, it was obvious that he believed in his own judgment. He led Luo Jian to walk through one tomb vault after another, and he did not know how long they had been circling around since then. During this period, they seemingly encountered some strange creatures, but they merely passed by Luo Jian and his cousin and did not attack them. However, with the passing of time, Luo Jian felt a growing sense of fatigue, and his face became paler by the moment. His wounds had not yet recovered. Continuing to go forward persistently was not a good idea.

    The two could only find a safe ce to rest.

    Luo Jian¡¯s temperature was now very low, so his brother took out a nket, wrapped it around the two of them, and hugged him as Luo Jian fell asleep.

    T/N: It appears that Ah Jian¡¯s brother doesn¡¯t approve of XY.

    Kitty: hahaha yeah but instead of stereotypical brotherly protectiveness, there¡¯s actually a basis for his disapproval!

 Chapter 80 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 80 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian¡¯s concept of time in the secret chamber became strangely vague. He gradually started to feel the effects of losing so much blood and fell into a deep slumber. Even though Specter held him tightly as he slept, he developed a high fever, so Specter injected him with a nutrition injection but did not seed in waking him up.

    ¡°Luo Jian, wake up.¡± Specter patted Luo Jian on the cheek and forced his family¡¯s younger brother to open his eyes. Dazed, Luo Jian opened his eyes and took a glimpse at his cousin. He could not even speak out a single word. After that, he closed his eyes and began to fall asleep again.

    The colour of his pupils still remained the same shade as an ordinary person.

    Specter only had to make sure of this. He tore the bandage around Luo Jian¡¯s neck, which was stained with specks of blood. As a whole, it appeared to be dyed with blood. Luo Jian had a big cut in his neck, but someone had already performed emergency treatment on him. The wound was sewn by a needle and thread and seemed to have been coated with some strange medicine. Although he had stopped bleeding, the wound was, after all, in such a fatal area of the carotid artery, and there was no way to allow Luo Jian to recover immediately by applying any sort of medicine.

    Therefore, there was still a lot of blood oozing out.

    Specter took out a lot of medical supplies from his carry-on secret chamber. The materials he had prepared were better than Luo Jian¡¯s. All the equipment that was needed for the operation was taken out by him, and he began to put a new medication onto Luo Jian¡¯s wound and wrapped him up in new bandages. During this period, Specter found that Luo Jian not only had neck injuries, but his shoulder was also injured. However, these two wounds were shallower, but Specter also changed the bandages of those wounds for him.

    Previously, he had seen the wound on Luo Jian¡¯s neck. The wound was extremely fatal and was dealt by someone with medical knowledge. The artery was cut perfectly, and the blood pressure would have made the blood flow out like a fountain. Such a fatal injury could make Luo Jian¡¯s whole body lose so much blood that he could not stand it and would die in a few seconds!

    However, the tight bandage around Luo Jian¡¯s neck made Specter realize that Luo Jian was saved by someone after that, and the person who saved him...... was very powerful.

    The person not only stopped him from bleeding but also sewed his wound and pulled Luo Jian back from death¡¯s clutches just in time. The person even ced Luo Jian in that sort of ce...... Specter remembered that when he first found Luo Jian, he was in a burning tomb vault with many furnaces in it. The ground was also hollowed out with a lot of fuel ced in it. It seemed that as long as the people who went in activated the mechanism, mes would start to burn with a bang! Any invaders would be burnt alive until they were only ashes!

    But there was a very safe, small tform in the burning vault, and Luo Jian was lying on that tform, sleeping very safely. The mes did not hurt him at all. It was like he had been deliberately ced there. Then, the person who ced him there activated the mechanism, leaving Luo Jian in a sea of fire.

    If Specter did not find him in time, maybe Luo Jian would not have burned alive, but he would definitely be smoked alive.

    But this was actually very strange. Specter thought that he really found him in time, but it seemed that someone had already known his whereabouts and what moves he would make. Therefore, he specially ced Luo Jian there in the passageways that Specter would have passed through, and after that, Specter could ¡®coincidentally¡¯ save Luo Jian when he was dying.

    Specter frowned, and he changed Luo Jian¡¯s bloody clothes out and helped him into a bigger cloak. Luo Jian was still wearing those ancient garbs, which had been dyed red with blood and appeared extremely ragged.

    Specter took off the ancient garbs for him but didn¡¯t tear off his white underwear underneath. He gave Luo Jian a thick military coat. His temperature had dropped extremely low, which meant that his resistance was weakening. This huge tomb was deep underground, so obviously, the temperature would be low. However, the air might contain certain unknown viruses.

    The situation would turn for the worse if Luo Jian¡¯s wound had been infected.

    Because Luo Jian had constantly been sleeping, Specter decided to carry him as he moved forward.

    Specter was so much luckier than Luo Jian. Luo Jian¡¯s bad luck had separated him from his team members at the drop of a hat. Also, he had to pretend to be a corpse and allow the enemy to study him. Then, he was almost killed after being chased. His luck was so bad that he was not only met with many horrible events!

    But he also seemed to have iparably good luck because it just so happened that he coincidentally found the &#k2018;ghost¡¯s¡¯ main tomb vault and also got a lot of information from the enemy.

    Luo Jian was at the top of his game, being able to find rescue in the most desperate of situations.

    As for Luo Jian¡¯s brother, his luck was also being reflected in this moment. As he carried Luo Jian through thework of tunnels, after he walked somewhere, he actually met their long-lost team members.

    Duan Li was holding Ah Lan, who had simrly fallen asleep, and ran into Specter, who was holding Luo Jian.

    The two first came to a standstill for a while. Duan Li took the lead in saying, ¡°Oracle?¡±

    Specter eyed Duan Li from head to toe for a while. The guy wearing an evil ghoul mask gave him an ufortable feeling. Moreover, the mask that this fool was wearing on his face was really familiar. Specter immediately thought of a famous person among the yers: ¡°Are you the thousand-faced man?¡±

    Duan Li heard the other party call him that and was stunned momentarily. He then smiled: ¡°It seems that my reputation is bing more widespread.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I have heard of you. They all say you are a mean and treacherous viin.¡± Specter seemed to understand something and said, ¡°It seems that this time we have to be in a team.¡±

    ¡°Oh...... I remember. I seem to have heard of you.¡± Duan Li also eyed Specter from head to toe, and certain characteristics of the other party seemed to make Duan Li specte. Although Duan Li was wearing a mask and Specter could not see his expression, his tone was full of sarcasm: ¡°Such a fe like you is rarely seen. The people who signed a life-long contract with the secret chamber have all almost gone extinct. Now you are the only one.¡±

    ¡°Are you trying to provoke me?¡± Specter did not have a good impression of Duan Li. The reason why this guy was famous was because of his bad reputation. This guy was bound to betray every team that epted him. Moreover, because he always wore various masks to fight, he was nicknamed the thousand-faced man.

    Duan Li seemed to see that Specter was on guard against him and smiled: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, at least at this point of time, I won¡¯t do such a crazy thing like stab you in the back.¡±

    Specter narrowed his eyes: ¡°What you said...... means you¡¯re going to stab us in the back in the future, right?¡±

    ¡°Who knows?¡± Duan Li speciously said, with his tone full of strange implications. Even Specter, a veteran yer who had been through hundreds of battles, could not see what this fool was scheming. Therefore, he could only coldly snort and ignore him. He took a look at Ah Lan in his arms and was stunned momentarily. He seemed to find him a little familiar.

    ¡°Is the one in your arms a team member?¡± Specter¡¯s gaze lingered on the face of Ah Lan, who was in Duan Li¡¯s embrace.

    Duan Li held Ah Lan a little closer subconsciously and replied, ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°If that is so, we are in a terrible plight.¡± Specter also mimicked his actions and gazed at Luo Jian in his arms: ¡°We have already lost two of our fighting force.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure they can be counted as our fighting force?¡± Duan Liughed again: ¡°They are almost useless.¡±

    Specter replied with a sneer, ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true.¡±

    Maybe Luo Jian was not useful in the battle, but he had found outstanding clues alone. He had obtained the identity of the tomb owner, some props that may yield extraordinary value, and a small part of the map of the tomb. It could be said that Luo Jian had an advantage now. Without any unforeseen circumstances, Luo Jian would be able to find the exit faster than the enemy team.

    In fact, Ah Lan had also gotten good props in the hidden quest which would pull their whole team out of this terrible situation. But now, they experienced a vexing problem¡ªhis soul had not yet returned.

    Regarding the issue of his soul, Specter seemed to have a lot of experience in this aspect. He took initiative to check on Ah Lan¡¯s situation, and with just a nce, he saw the current problem Ah Lan was facing at the moment and said, ¡°Where is this fellow¡¯s soul?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Duan Li disyed a rare expression and frowned anxiously: ¡°There is another soul in his body. At that moment when I met that stalker...... Ah, that despicable soul is attached to him.¡±

    ¡°You have to get the stalker out of his body first. That fellow has upied his body, so he can¡¯t return to his body. His soul is in a state where it can only wander around now, but this state can¡¯tst for long. If it continues for more than 24 hours, he will die.¡±

    ¡°That is to say, you have a solution to this?¡± Duan Li seemed to realize that Specter had a lot of experience in this area and was confident, so he thought he must have some way to help Ah Lan.

    But to Duan Li¡¯s disappointment, Specter shook his head and said, ¡°The soul is invisible and untouchable. So far, none of the skills I have learned have any visible effects on it. Although certain special yers have some unique skills of soul maniption, it is clear that I am not within the special category of yers that do.¡±

    Duan Li seemed to be at a loss, and his voice seemed to reflect his low spirits: ¡°What should I do then? Just allow him to die this way?¡±

    However, Specterughed and poked the cheek of Ah Lan, who was in Duan Li¡¯s embrace. Then, he spread his hand and squinted at Duan Li: ¡°You look down on the traction between the soul and the body too much. Now, the soul in this shell is notpatible with this body, that is to say, this fellow¡¯s body will try to repel the soul of the stalker. If the repulsion is strong enough, he will soon be able to drive the foreign soul out. Then, the body will call out to his original soul, and after that, he naturally will wake up.¡±

    ¡°Alright, how long does it take?¡±

    Specter touched his chin: ¡°I don¡¯t know; this is different from person to person. If he is a fool who can only use brute force like you, it may take a little more time. But if his weapons are magical, that means that he will definitely have very strong mental power and will seize his body back faster than an ordinary yer......¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a fool who can only use brute force!¡± Duan Li first angrily refuted this. He then looked at Ah Lan in his arms and said, ¡°His abilities are rted to magic...... but it has been several hours since he was possessed!¡±

    While Duan Li and Specter were concentratedly discussing, no one could see him. At this moment, Ah Lan, who was in his soul state, floated beside them.

    The soul of Ah Lan was transparent, and because of the inexplicable attraction to his body, he could only float back and forth within a certain five-meter circr range of his body. But at this moment, Ah Lan¡¯s attention was not on the conversation between the two people, and he nced at his body meaningfully.

    In his soul state, Ah Lan¡¯s consciousness was more muddled than usual. It felt as if he had fallen into a trance or was in a dream. His present state and everything around him appeared unreal. Although his consciousness felt very confused, Ah Lan still ced all his concentration on his body. He knew that there was a soul within his body that had also fallen into a trance. After he pulled it out, he would be able to return.

    The yers who specialized in magic had rtively more powerful mental power. Even when they were in soul states, they could still maintain a certain level of intelligence. This also affected Ah Lan¡¯s movements and allowed him to move unimpeded. He easily reached into his ¡®shell¡¯s chest¡¯ and pulled out a soul that appeared more transparent than him. The soul seemed to be at itsst breath, and it could not even maintain its entirety. It could only scatter into mist.

    Ah Lan felt no pity for this soul, and with a casual wave of his hand, he threw it away. Then, he climbed back into his shell. He could not see anything for a moment. After that, he was able to seize his body back sessfully.

    At the same time, while he was still arguing with Specter, Duan Li suddenly felt a movement within his arms. He lowered his head and took a nce. Ah Lan opened his eyes wide as he gazed at him.

    ¡°I have already said that he would wake up very soon!¡± When Specter saw Ah Lan wake up, he smiled sarcastically: ¡°But you seem to be very interested in him. Who is this kid to you?¡±

    Duan Li was toozy to answer. He lowered his head to torment the little Ah Lan in his arms. Although he still remembered what happened to him in the hidden quest, he could not remember his soul wandering around after he left the quest. Now, he had just escaped from the God of Death and was still in shock.

    ¡°I was almost dragged into hell!¡± After Ah Lan snapped out of his reverie, his face disyed pure fear. After seeing that it was Duan Li, he immediately grabbed Duan Li¡¯s clothes and buried his face in his chest.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Duan Li rubbed Ah Lan¡¯s head tofort him. After a long time, Ah Lan said, ¡°I entered a hidden quest...... Oh, no, it should be known as a hidden secret chamber!¡±

    A hidden secret chamber?!

    Duan Li and Specter seem to be shocked for a while, and they both quieted. Following that, Duan Li held Ah Lan¡¯s small hand tightly: ¡°How did you escape?¡±

    With the tight grip on his hand, Ah Lan¡¯s hand started to ache. He grimaced in pain, tried hard to shake off Duan Li¡¯s hand, and jumped down from his embrace. He kneaded his wrists, which had been pinched so much that it turned red: ¡°I just escaped normally.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very lucky. Once someone enters a hidden quest in the secret chamber, they basically don¡¯t return. The probability of surviving that is lower than if a stalker had his eye on you, but the reward is also amazing.¡± Specter carried the sleeping Luo Jian on his shoulder, then slightly lowered his head, and pulled the hood onto his head, casting a shadow on his face.

 Chapter 81 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 81 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Thirsty......

    Luo Jian¡¯s mouth was extremely dry, and he felt hungry and thirsty. He thought that he needed to drink a little water because he needed liquid to moisten his throat and stop the burning pain from tormenting his nerves. But first, Luo Jian had to open his eyes, wake up, and get some water to drink.

    However, Luo Jian found that he could not open his eyes.

    He felt like something strange had sapped away all the strength from his entire body, leaving him with no strength at all. He did not even have the strength to open his eyes. However, what was strange was that at the moment, all of his senses except his vision were strangely sharp, and any little sound or noise from around him could draw his attention.

    He felt as if he was being carried on someone¡¯s back because his body swayed and swung along with the person¡¯s walking. He heard several footsteps, and the sound they produced echoed loudly. They may have been moving in a long corridor, but their destination was unknown.

    No one spoke; only their footsteps reverberated in Luo Jian¡¯s ears.

    Luo Jian only felt that his hunger and thirst had somewhat increased, and his consciousness was a little muddled. He could not remember what had happened before hisa, where he was, or who he was with. For a moment he could not even remember who he was.

    But Luo Jian did not want to think about that. He just wanted to drink water. He was eager, impatient, and even felt that he was slightly losing his mind.

    Water......

    Water......

    Water......!

    Luo Jian almost used all his strength to force himself to open his eyes. However, even when he opened his eyes his predicament did not improve much. He felt that his vision had be very strange. It looked like all objects in his line of sight were covered in ayer of red, but if he looked carefully, he saw that it was an illusion.

    Luo Jian¡¯s body still uncannilycked strength. When he reluctantly opened his eyes, Luo Jian felt that he had used up almost all the strength, and his body seemed to be numb, stiff, and insensible. He could not even move any of his fingers.

    The man who was carrying Luo Jian on his back as he walked did not discover Luo Jian¡¯s abnormality at all or even realize that Luo Jian had awakened. Luo Jiany on this man¡¯s back and swayed along as he walked. His senses were very sharp¡ªthe sounds around him were clear and audible. The sounds of footsteps, breathing, and heartbeats......

    All the sounds seemed to converge, and it seemed as if the sounds were magnified countless times by a trumpet. The sound kept repeating a song in Luo Jian¡¯s ear, which made him suddenly irascible. He was in agony, and something terrible was continuously tormenting him. He did not even know what it was.

    He felt very hungry, very thirsty, and very agonized.

    He needed something to vent to, something that would let him vent all his negativity and unkind thoughts and allow him to throw all the superfluous thoughts away. Maybe only through this could Luo Jian feel morefortable because he could not stand it any longer.

    When he reached his bursting point, he could no longer bear the torment any longer, and Luo Jian suddenly found that his body had some strength again. He was no longer immobile. He could even turn his neck and lift his hands. He focused his eyes on the man who was carrying him on his back while walking.

    He was a tall, strong man with ck hair.

    When the man carried Luo Jian on his back as he walked, he lowered his head a little and showed his defenseless neck. The blood vessels under the soft skin were almost visible. Luo Jian¡¯s eyes were stained with ayer of bright red again. Hunger and thirst were crying out in his throat, all sense of reason could be abandoned, and there was only one thought in his mind¨D

    [Bite him!]

    [Only fresh blood can relieve your hunger and thirst!]

    [Bite him!]

    [You do not need to remain sane at all!]

    [Bite him!]

    [You will not be you any longer!]

    Luo Jian revealed his teeth, which were as white as bone, and ced a hand on the man¡¯s shoulder. The man seemed to notice something, but he did not even turn his head as he said, ¡°Luo Jian? Are you awake?¡±

    This simple sentence suddenly beckoned Luo Jian¡¯s reason back to his mind. He was stunned for a while, hesitated for a long time, and seemed to think about where he was, but he did not reply and could not say anything.

    ¡°Is Luo Jian awake?¡± Walking in front of Specter, Ah Lan, whose hand was held by Duan Li, heard the Specter¡¯s voice, turned around, and nced at Luo Jian on Specter¡¯s back. After just a nce, he could not help but frown: ¡°Ah Jian...... Your eyes?¡±

    When Specter heard this, he was stunned and immediately squatted to ce Luo Jian down. Luo Jian was so weak that he just sat on the ground. He shook his head and raised his eyelids to look at all the people around him.

    When the surrounding people saw Luo Jian¡¯s eyes, they were all shocked. Specter immediately scrunched his eyebrows tightly, sighed, and said to Luo Jian, ¡°How long have you been in this situation? Since you woke up?¡±

    Muddleheaded, Luo Jian nodded. His eyes werepletely red, just like those of a stalker¡¯s. Now, Luo Jian finally had firsthand experience in witnessing the world through the eyes of a stalker. Everything seemed to be covered with ayer of light red, and the red on the yers seemed to be more obvious. These gorgeous colors seemed to be luring Luo Jian to do something, which made him feel incredibly restless.

    ¡°My child, it seems that I have no choice but to abandon you.¡± Specter gazed at Luo Jian for a long time and suddenly said this.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ah Lan was the first to express his dissatisfaction: ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    Specter did not turn back and stared at Luo Jian instead, saying, ¡°From now on, this an unique race between Luo Jian and the stalker. We can¡¯t interfere! Luo Jian, do as I say: you should keep your sanity, do your best to sense the stalker¡¯s existence, find him, and kill him!¡±

    Luo Jian could not speak but only looked at Specter as he trembled. He nodded after a few moments.

    ¡°Alright, carry out your actions based on my instructions!¡± Specter seemed to be a little nervous, and one could even see that he was pressed for time: ¡°You only have half an hour, but I don¡¯t have time to tell you more instructions. The first thing you should do is to close your eyes, calm down, and sense carefully. You should be able to detect something different than the usual.¡±

    Under Specter¡¯s guidance, Luo Jian closed his eyes and tried to sense the stalker. The people around him could not help but hold their breaths, and all their gazes fell on him.

    Luo Jian did sense something strange. He found that he was like a radar, constantly spreading waves around, and he sensed a unique target not far away from him. When Luo Jian found that target, something within him started to drive him towards it. He knew that he had to find him.

    ¡°You should be able to sense it.¡± Specter looked at Luo Jian¡¯s expression and understood: ¡°He must be not far from you, right? Within half an hour, the secret chamber will set a boundary limit for both of you. If he is outside of the boundary, there is no way for him to rece your identity.

    ¡°During this period, you can easily find his position, but he cannot feel you. In this case, he will definitely run away if there are any disturbances, so I will give you some props that will give you the power to catch up with him and kill him. Remember to not be soft-hearted. In the secret chambers, losers are never worthy of sympathy!¡±

    Losers are never worthy of sympathy. This statement seemed to stir up some feelings in Duan Li, who was standing beside them. He lowered his head and frowned but held Ah Lan¡¯s hands tighter.

    Ah Lan did not notice Duan Li¡¯s restlessness. He asked Specter, ¡°Can¡¯t we join him?¡±

    Specter shook his head: ¡°No, within half an hour, Luo Jian will be forced to take on an invincible buff to face the stalker. The stalker¡¯s attacks and debuffs on him will bepletely ineffective. But at the same time, the secret chamber will also give the stalker a buff, which will enhance their speed and strength. This is to ensure fairness. The secret chamber allows only these two people to have a one-on-one battle to ensure fairness.¡±

    Specter did not want to waste time any longer. He patted Luo Jian on the shoulder, pulled him up, and shoved something into his hand. He said, ¡°The wing of the goblin can increase your speed and response time to reach the limits of human speed for a minute. You can use it again after the cool-down time of five minutes. It can only be used three times total, so use it with prudence.¡±

    In addition to the props given to Luo Jian by Specter, Ah Lan also cast a series of speed gain spells on Luo Jian. After all the preparations, Luo Jian took the shlight Specter stuffed into his hands and, with his whole body rxed, he headed off.

    Specter was right. Only Luo Jian and the stalker were allowed to participate in the duel. Whether Luo Jian was ready to kill the enemy was the decisive factor in the battle, but now, Luo Jian still did not know how to face the stalker. He could only take a deep breath, brace himself, and head for the position where he sensed the stalker.

    The huge tomb,plex and intricate terrain, and maze-likeplexity were unable to hinder Luo Jian. He found that he could not only clearly sense the location of the stalker, but also the surrounding terrain. As he walked alone in this narrow passageway, it was dark and unpredictable, but he did not panic at all. He even felt a little excited.

    The stalker did not move in his perception. The man stayed in ce all this time. When Luo Jian approached slowly, he even had a kind of...... ¡¯this person is specifically waiting for him here¡¯ feeling.

    Luo Jian walked through several long passageways and stopped at arge tomb vault.

    There were six different doors in the tomb vault, and the stalker was standing in front of these doors with his back to Luo Jian. He did not run away as Specter had said to Luo Jian. He was very calm as he waited for Luo Jian toe. When Luo Jian stood behind him, he even turned around to face him.

    The clothes that Xing Yan wore looked extremely familiar to Luo Jian; they were indeed his clothes. On Xing Yan¡¯s body, the suit looked extremely form-fitting and seemed to be able to adjust automatically ording to his body shape.

    The change of identity seemed to cause some extraordinary changes to Xing Yan. For example, his eyes were no longer bright red, akin to the colour of blood, but appeared in a shade of ordinary ck...... No, he felt that there were hints of grey in it. Of course, the changes were not only limited to that, but he was also able to make a sound like a real human being. With a slight smile, he said to Luo Jian, ¡°Hello.¡±

    This was Luo Jian¡¯s first time hearing Xing Yan¡¯s voice.

    It was deep and hoarse with a soft tone. It could even be considered...... erotic.

    Luo Jian felt that his heart was trembling. After a pause, he was not sure what he should do now. Should he follow his brother¡¯s instructions to not heed anything and charge to kill him? To kill this stalker?

    But there was no other choice, was there? Luo Jian did not want to die. He knew he could not be a stalker. He could not.

 Chapter 82 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 82 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°I¡¯ve been constantly waiting for this opportunity.¡± Xing Yan smiled at Luo Jian. His smile was gentle, and because he was also very handsome, such a smile made him appear even more charismatic. Following that, he moved a step towards Luo Jian, who reflexively stepped back.

    I should not do this, Luo Jian said to himself. What he should do was carry on with his intended actions and seize his identity back from the other. Only in this way could Luo Jian live. That should be the right thing to do for Luo Jian, to not retreat even when the other party pressured him slightly. He should not feel afraid or back down.

    But it was toote; Luo Jian had already retreated, and Xing Yan had clearly seen him do so. The smile on his face widened, carrying an overbearing arrogance, and he stepped forward towards Luo Jian, who could only retreat backwards until his back hit the wall. There was no space for retreat.

    Then, Xing Yan closed the gap between them. He was almost sticking to Luo Jian, and this time, the icy-cold stalker seemed to carry the warmth of a human. When his other hand reached out to hold Luo Jian in his arms, Luo Jian could even clearly hear his heartbeat. He was warm and breathing, and Luo Jian could feel his body temperature.

    However, on the contrary, Luo Jian could not feel his own temperature any longer. His entire body was icy-cold, and his body was numb as if he was not alive, but his limbs were still able to move. His blood and heart had coalesced at the same time. He felt as if he had be...... something akin to the walking dead.

    He felt as if he could understand Xing Yan very well now, so when Xing Yan held him tight to spread some warmth to him, Luo Jian shivered in his arms. Luo Jian did not know what to do anymore. He was very scared because he knew he was slowly ¡®losing:¡¯ losing his yer¡¯s identity and also losing the feelings of being ¡®alive.¡¯ Towards the secret chamber, the stalkers were just resurrected puppets, and they could not even count as real, living ones. Therefore, once Luo Jian became a ¡®stalker,¡¯ obviously, a part of Luo Jian would already pass on.

    With the ¡®death¡¯ of that part of Luo Jian, Xing Yan would ordingly slowly gain something that did not belong to him. He slowly would be able to be alive again, to be someone filled with life, to be a real yer, instead of a numb butcher wielding a knife while having to stay hidden in dark corners. He could walk out in the sun with no sense of guilt. However, all of that, of course, originally belonged to Luo Jian.

    Yes, if Xing Yan seeded in recing Luo Jian¡¯s identity, then he would be able to get more than Luo Jian¡¯s yer status or even his real-life identity. Everything that belonged to Luo Jian¡ªall his family members, wealth, properties¡ªwould all be ceded to a stranger with the transfer of his identity.

    Luo Jian¡¯s parents may only find some change in their son¡¯s character, and they would not even notice that their son had changed to someone else throughout the entire process.

    That was the ¡®identity recement¡¯ system of the secret chamber, and those were the most powerful and terrifying parts of it.

    Not only the identity, but even the ¡®existence¡¯ of the person would also be given away.

    And Luo Jian, at this moment, was clearly sensing that his ¡®existence¡¯ was slowly disappearing. It was not as if he had really vanished; it was simply that he could no longer feel he was the same person he had been originally. Something terrifying was blurring the clear lines of life and death. He was no longer himself; his sanity was being drawn away, and his soul was being distorted. Gradually, his memories were fading. He had felt the same thing he had previously felt when he had just awakened and was lying on his brother¡¯s back.

    Hunger, thirst, insanity, and chaotic thoughts flooded his mind.

    ¡°I know how you feel right now.¡± Xing Yan opened his mouth and whispered beside Luo Jian¡¯s ear. Using his arms, he pulled Luo Jian into his embrace, fiddled with his hair with his fingers, and used his cheek to rub against Luo Jian¡¯s. His voice seemed to carry some sort of enticement: ¡°You will find that you can¡¯t control yourself. The secret chamber first throws away what inhibits those beast-like thoughts. They willpletely turn you into some kind of a devil so that you hold aggression toward any living creatures within your line of sight&#k2026; You must have seen the red in your vision, and those in the colour red tempt you as if they are matadors, holding bright red capes, and you are the crazy and aggressive bull. ¡°

    Luo Jian shrank in Xing Yan¡¯s embrace. His head felt sore, the contents of his stomach were twitching, and all this made him curl up into a ball. He grabbed Xing Yan¡¯spels and looked at him as if he was begging for help.

    Xing Yan continued to speak as he smiled. It was as if he was taunting him: ¡°After the secret chamber turns you into a devil, it will empty your soul, and it will build a system in your body that helps make you into an obedient puppet. This allows you to act properly when the chamber issues orders to you.¡±

    Luo Jian could not stand the pain. His head hurt particrly badly, and he could not help it. He recalled what Specter had said: this could not go on any longer. He must kill this man!

    The pain grew more intense. Luo Jian opened his mouth, but he was not able to let out a sound. He struggled to reach out his hand and grabbed Xing Yan¡¯s neck, but Xing Yan did not resist in the slightest; he just smiled and gazed at him. However, his voice sounded as if it came from the depths of hell. He said:

    ¡°You can no longer make a sound, and the secret chamber will clog all the ways you can vent. At this time, you will find that your shell acts like a cage: it will lock your soul in the deepest depths within you, and in the same way, your sanity will be locked in there. One day you will go mad, you will not be able to stand it, and you will shred your soul. Then finally, you will turn into the walking dead.¡±

    Xing Yan looked at him: ¡°Are you scared?¡±

    Luo Jian could not answer. He tightened his fingers and choked Xing Yan hard, but Xing Yan still held him within his arms. As his fingers gently stroked Luo Jian¡¯s hair, Xing Yan¡¯s voice remained light: ¡°I was scared too.¡±

    Xing Yan¡¯s sentence made Luo Jian stunned momentarily, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not use the strength in his hands. He knew that Xing Yan probably just wanted a chance¡ªa chance at rebirth. He used to be a yer in the secret chamber, and just like what Duan Li had said to Luo Jian, he had been the captain of a certain team that could summon wind and call for rain. He was once a powerful veteran but had to wander a world of darkness because he had once failed.

    Luo Jian could even give his identity to Xing Yan because of his feelings for him; if those feelings of like or love were real, then Luo Jian could definitely cede his identity to him, let him be reborn, and let him live instead of continuing to be a walking dead, even if the price was Luo Jian himself bing one of the walking dead.

    But Luo Jian¡¯s cousin also clearly said, Losers are never worthy of sympathy.

    ¡°I¡¯m scared too,¡± Xing Yan repeated, and he continued to stroke Luo Jian¡¯s hair, cheeks, and neck. Xing Yan gazed at him and saw his pupils, which were as red as fresh blood.

    Luo Jian choked his neck with a hand, but he seemed to be unable to use any strength. Luo Jian was extremely afraid. Aplex expression was reflected on his face¡ªhe was extremely terrified and in so much pain.

    ¡°Will you allow me to continue being afraid?¡± Xing Yan asked him.

    ¡°Will you let me continue to be one of the walking dead?¡±

    ¡°Are you going to let me return to the darkness again?¡±

    [What about you? In such a cruel way, will you also let me rece you, to be a creature that dwells in the dark?]

    Luo Jian suddenly cried out, and tears rolled down from his eyes within seconds. He looked at Xing Yan and seemed to be unable to understand him. He shook his head while he cried. This man, this man, this man, the man who Luo Jian had carefully been sentimentally attached to. Luo Jian remembered the first time he encountered him, the cruel stalker had only used a weapon and blood to make Luo Jian never be able to forget him.

    That¡¯s right; this stalker was so cruel that every time they met, Luo Jian would be forced into desperate situations by this man. They had no way to engage in conversation in the truest sense. His name and all other details were heard from somebody else. Luo Jian could only passively ept the other party¡¯s forceful actions each and every time, and from very early on, he had lost theplete right to resist him.

    So, if Xing Yan really wanted Luo Jian¡¯s identity, wanted a chance to be born again, Luo Jian would also not be able to resist that.

    He did not have the right to revolt. He did not.

    Luo Jian cried as he withdrew his hands. He did not intend to strangle this stalker to death. He could not do it. He did not have the determination to kill this man, and he did not understand, for Luo Jian had always thought that Xing Yan had liked him just like how Luo Jian had always liked Xing Yan.

    It was scary, wasn¡¯t it? It all started simply because of an idental kiss.

    Luo Jian was bawling, and he was also very scared. He pushed Xing Yan away. He didn¡¯t want to stay here anymore. Since Xing Yan wanted his identity, then he would just give it to him. Luo Jian was so disappointed, and he had never experienced such sadness. It was more painful than anything that had happened to him before. He thought he had failed and could not make a move against this man because Xing Yan had also protected him several times before.

    However, when Luo Jian turned around and tried to leave, Xing Yan pulled his hand again, and his voice was still gentle: ¡°Where are you going, my baby?¡±

    Luo Jian turned his head to look at him, but the tears were still welling out of his eyes. His face was covered with tears. Seeing this, Xing Yan felt that it was hrious. He rubbed Luo Jian¡¯s head and said to him, ¡°You are so silly. I was born within the darkness. I¡¯ve long been used to it, so how could I bear to send you to your death?¡±

    Luo Jian stared at him with disbelief; his eyes grewrger, and with his teary eyes, he looked at Xing Yan with a heart like a capering monkey and a mind like a galloping horse. Xing Yan could not help but move closer to Luo Jian and gave him a peck on his eyelids. Yet again, Luo Jian was stuffed into Xing Yan¡¯s embrace.

    ¡°I merely wanted to tell you,¡± Xing Yan sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to tell you because I really don¡¯t count as a real human being. The real Xing Yan is dead, and like I said before, his body turned into a cage, his soul that was locked in his body has gone mad, and he has sessfully shredded his soul and be an empty shell. And I am born from the darkness...... born into this body as a consciousness originating from darkness. I upy an empty shell called ¡®Xing Yan¡¯ while being unsure if I ampletely Xing Yan because I not only upied this shell, but also inherited his memories.

    ¡°I just want to tell you I¡¯m not human, and even if I really seized your yer¡¯s identity from you, I don¡¯t count as a real human. But I wanted to talk to you, I want to tell you some things, and I want to know how you feel about me. I¡¯m always thinking about you, and when we¡¯re apart, I want to fly to your side. Regardless of what happens, all that matters is that we are together.¡±

    Xing Yan hugged Luo Jian tighter, and Luo Jian could not help but bury his face into Xing Yan¡¯s chest. He realized the intensity of these feelings; they were like lovers who had just fallen into love. If they could, they would always stay together, but circumstances made it so that they could forever only live in two distinct worlds.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what humans are like when two people are in love. In fact, there is no such thing in Xing Yan¡¯s memories. I would like to be able to express my feelings for you in a normal way, but I can¡¯t even make a sound. I¡¯m very sorry that I could only deprive you of your voice. Although it¡¯s for a short duration, you might have to wait a long, long, long time before you can hear me speak to you again, but I can¡¯t continue to bear it.¡±

    Luo Jian raised his head to look at Xing Yan, who smiled as he gazed at him: ¡°What I want to tell you is...... I like you very much.

    This was... a confession? Luo Jian suddenly blushed, but he was afraid to blink, so he could only continuously gaze at Xing Yan. He watched this man¡¯s smiling expression and indulged in the gentle tone and intoxicating tenderness of the other.

    Xing Yan lowered his head, moving his lips closer, and nted a kiss on Luo Jian¡¯s lips. He could feel a wet softness on his lips; it was just a very simple kiss, and their lips had merely touched. After a long pause, Xing Yan let go of him but could not help but peck Luo Jian¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°I still have a lot to say, but half an hour is simply not enough.¡± Xing Yan seemed to feel that it was a pity, and he looked at Luo Jian with regret: ¡°I know that you have always had your defenses up against me and have not been able to properly trust my feelings for you. I don¡¯t mind because as long as you require something, I will head over to help you.¡±

    T/N: A very touching chapter. <3 I¡¯m really d, d that XY is not what Specter had described. qaq

    Kitty: It¡¯s so sad that this was the only way for them to talk... XY had to go to this extent to have a conversation with LJ (¨i_¨i)

 Chapter 83 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XIV)

    <h4>Chapter 83 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XIV)</h4>

    <strong>Please note, this is not an urate depiction of m/m sex in reality.</strong>

    <b>Slightly NSFW</b>

    Editor: Kitty

    Half an hour had passed by too fast.

    Luo Jian shrank in Xing Yan¡¯s arms for a long time and refused to let go. Xing Yan was extremely willing to ept the delicious food that sent itself to his door. He sat on the ground with Luo Jian within his embrace, touched Luo Jian¡¯s face, and started to chew on it. Luo Jian¡¯s lips were red and swollen from his bites. Luo Jian may not have been very willing to bite him, but if this continued, he would only be bullied even more severely.

    Xing Yan was provoked, so he straightforwardly pressed the pitiful little Luo Jian against the floor. Luo Jian could not voice out any protest, so he could only stare at Xing Yan with tears in his eyes. Xing Yan suddenly felt his lust surge up from his heart, and the evil intentions welling within him caused him to grow more courageous. He grabbed Luo Jian¡¯s shirt and yanked it hard, revealing arge patch of beautiful, snow white skin.

    However, the bloody wound wrapped by gauze on his neck destroyed the aesthetic. Xing Yan felt Luo Jian¡¯s neck with his hands and asked him, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    Recently, Luo Jian had suffered a lot of injuries, including on his neck, shoulders, and left hand. They were all wrapped in blood-stained gauze. However, his constitution was unexpectedly good. Luo Jian did not feel much pain, so he shook his head.

    ¡°As soon as I entered this secret chamber, the secret chamber arranged me to take on the identity of the ¡®ghost.¡¯¡± Xing Yan kissed Luo Jian¡¯s vicle,forted him, and ryed some information to him: ¡°I will give you this identity...... It will be helpful towards you, and you will soon find out why.¡±

    <details><summary>Click here to see the NSFW part</summary>

    Luo Jian suddenly remembered what happened between them in the coffin...... His cheeks instantly reddened.

    Xing Yan seemed to think of this too, and his smile became even more devilish. He ced one hand into Luo Jian¡¯s pants and seized the ¡®vulnerable part of his body.¡¯ Luo Jian was given a terrifying shock by his actions, wriggled his body twice, and curled up into a small ball.

    ¡°Open your legs,¡± Xing Yan ordered maliciously, regardless of Luo Jian¡¯s face, which had gotten so red that it could seep blood, ¡°Let me take a look.¡±

    Luo Jian could hardly breathe, and he was at a loss. He was afraid and excited, and all this made him feel humiliated and terribly embarrassed. However, he was extremely obedient. He opened his legs in ordance with the instructions. Although the gap he opened was very small, he almost did not dare to open his eyes because he felt ashamed of his actions.

    Xing Yan teased him patiently and ripped his pants away to appreciate the beautiful little thing between his legs. Because of Xing Yan¡¯s gaze, Luo Jian was even more ashamed to find that his ce was getting hotter and swollen. Luo Jian felt very ufortable. He wanted to tell Xing Yan not to look at him, but it was a pity that he could not voice anything.

    Xing Yan slowly stroked him with his hand and put it in his palm to y maliciously. Luo Jian felt the scene was a little obscene, but he was d that he could not make a sound because otherwise the sound made by him would be enough to make Luo Jian ashamed to death.

    Perhaps Xing Yan also could not bear it. He reached out to take a bottle of lubricant from somewhere, approached Luo Jian, and licked his lips. With a smile, he said to him, ¡°I got this from your carry-on secret chamber.¡±

    Luo Jian could not help but shiver and looked at Xing Yan pitifully.

    Xing Yan bit the bottle cap open and poured avish amount of the solution on the bottom part of Luo Jian¡¯s body. The solution was crystal clear and felt thick and cold. Once it touched Luo Jian¡¯s fiery body, he felt like that part of his body was icy cold and fiery hot at the same time. Luo Jian wriggled his body to avoid it, but Xing Yan held him down and did not let him move.

    ¡°My dear baby...¡± Xing Yan kissed his lips and continued to pacify him. At the same time, he reached out to touch the lower part of his body, which waspletely covered with the sticky lubrication. Xing Yan scooped up some of it and stuck his fingers deeper and deeper into Luo Jian¡¯s body. Luo Jian¡¯s tears spilled out, and he reached out his hands to hug Xing Yan¡¯s shoulders.

    As the number of fingers increased, his fingers flexibly moved and kneaded within Luo Jian¡¯s body. Luo Jian could not tell whether he felt morefortable or more frightened. It was not his first time, but he was still deeply afraid of the feeling of foreign objects invading his body. Especially when the other party was Xing Yan, he would feel deeply afraid and excited at the same time.

    This feeling made Luo Jian feel as if he was a pervert.

    When Xing Yan¡¯s fingers moved to his thing, he crudely squeezed into Luo Jian¡¯s body, and Luo Jian¡¯s excitement reached the peak. Then, Luo Jian¡¯s legs mped around Xing Yan¡¯s waist, and he began to pander to the other¡¯s movements. He was surprised by his terrifying feelings of wanting to YD.

    But Xing Yan evaluated all his actions with only one sentence. He bit Luo Jian¡¯s lips and said vaguely, ¡°Lovely little thing.¡±

    </details>

    After that, what Luo Jian could recall became a little fuzzy. He may have fainted in the middle of it. After all, he had lost too much blood, and his endurance had yet to recover. When he woke up again in a daze, he saw that Xing Yan¡¯s eyes had be red again.

    Luo Jian could not remember when he and the stalker had exchanged weapons again. His entire body and all his bones felt as if they had fallen apart. He whined twice in difort and found that he could make noise again. Xing Yan was sitting beside him, holding him in his arms with his clothes on and appearing prim and proper. If it were not for the pain he could still feel in his whole body, he would have believed that what had happened was just a dream so passionate that he had forgotten all sense of self.

    Xing Yan really liked Luo Jian¡¯s confused appearance when he just woke up. He came closer to the other¡¯s face and licked his lips. Luo Jian stupidly remained motionless and allowed him to lick. It took a long time for him to remember that he had to respond. He blushed and started to exchange saliva with Xing Yan. Xing Yan immediatelyughed. He could not speak any longer, but he looked very handsome when heughed.

    Luo Jian never thought that someone in this world could be so attractive to him. He stared at Xing Yan and could hardly move his eyes away from him. He knew that he had to respond to his feelings, so he blushed, plucked up his courage, and said cautiously, ¡°I like you too...... No matter who you are.¡±

    Xing Yan¡¯s answer was a kiss.

    The duel that was supposed tost half an hour had ended long ago, and they had even way exceeded the time for it. Luo Jian had also lost the temporary ability to sense the surrounding terrain. It had to be said that the abilities the secret chamber bestowed were really magical. Luo Jian felt it was necessary to ask his paternal cousin some questions¨Dfor example, about the origins of the chamber.

    The next thing Luo Jian should do was to return to his team. However, it was obvious that the stalker did not want to leave Luo Jian at all, not even wanting to move half a step away from Luo Jian. He held Luo Jian¡¯s hand as they walked through this huge andplex undergroundbyrinth. He was terrifyingly familiar with the surrounding terrain; he did not need any guidance or map, etc. to easily bring Luo Jian through every obstacle.

    They could no longermunicate, but because of the ouroboros mark on his neck, Luo Jian could still sense some of the other¡¯s simple emotions. He could obviously feel Xing Yan¡¯s happiness, which seemed to be very strong, and his feelings even mixed with Luo Jian¡¯s feelings. Luo Jian could not tell whether he was very happy or if the other party¡¯s feelings were too strong.

    How fortunate.

    Luo Jian thought that he was overwhelmed by this intense sense of happiness. However, he also felt a wave of fear that all this that they had was only temporary and they would soon be separated whether they were willing to or not. When the secret chamber experience ended, they would be forced to separate into two distinctnds; one would always be in the endless darkness while the other would always be in the sunny reality.

    Luo Jian did not want to think about these things that made him feel sad. He held the stalker¡¯s arm with one of his hands and stuck his whole body onto him. It seemed that Xing Yan was also amused by Luo Jian¡¯s childish behavior, so he just stretched out his hands and lifted Luo Jian into his embrace by his waist.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be separated from you.¡± Luo Jian muttered softly as he buried his face into the crook of the other party¡¯s neck as he held Xing Yan around the neck.

    Xing Yan could not answer, so he could only rub his cheeks against Luo Jian¡¯s tofort him.

    Luo Jian felt his nose burn. They could not even have a normal conversation. They could not stay together all the time and even had to face the threat of death all the time. The secret chamber was like a terrifying shadow: when one remained in it, one would always wonder if one could see tomorrow¡¯s sun.

    But Luo Jian also knew clearly that he could not stay in the secret chambers for the rest of his life. He had to escape from it and ensure that he would survive. Only by living could he create more possibilities, to escape from the infinite secret chamber forever, and even......

    Luo Jian raised his head and nced at Xing Yan and his crimson eyes.

    If he was capable, he would find a good way to help Xing Yan escape the control of the secret chamber, and they would escape from the infinite secret chambers together. He would take all their rtives and friends and liberate all the people they could. There would always be a way to let them be happier than they were right now.

    Specter thought that he was a big light bulb, one that was shining especially brightly, because beside him, there was a lovey-dovey couple that was exchanging flirtatious nces, lovers who were his good teammates!

    ¡°F*ck! I say, can both of you keep a low profile! Can you turn your attention to look at this map instead?!¡± Specter was so angry that he gave up his usual good manners and pped hard on the coffin that they were using as a table. He pped the coffin so hard that the poor corpse inside cracked.

    Duan Li discontentedly looked at Specter and gave up flirting with the little Ah Lan in his arms, who became docile. He obediently crawled from Duan Li¡¯s side and shrunk into Specter¡¯s side, shivering. Specter looked at Ah Lan, who could not help shivering as he curled up. He raised his eyebrows doubtfully: ¡°Why the heck are you shivering? Are you cold?¡±

    Ah Lan also did not speak but merely kept shivering with his head lowered, the fur on his head messily standing up. He looked extremely pitiful.

    Specter paused and suddenly felt that the boy looked familiar. He stretched out his hand to rub the hair on Ah Lan¡¯s head, but when his fingers just touched his hair, he paused and hesitated for a while. After some time, he pressed his fingers down, causing his hair to appear even more disorderly.

    ¡°Do I know you?¡± Specter took a look at Ah Lan and felt that he looked more and more familiar, and Feng YuLan who had heard Specter¡¯s words, seemed to be confused, raised his head, and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t recognize me?¡±

    Ah Lan said, ¡°I am Feng YuLan! I was the one who always apanied Ah Jian when we were young! Haven¡¯t we met before?¡±

    When he mentioned Luo Jian, Ah Lan seemed to be in low spirits and said, ¡°When will Ah Jiane back? Can he really find us? We should stay where we are and wait for him toe back.¡±

    Now, Specter had a vague impression of Feng YuLan. It seemed that it was his little brother¡¯s ymate from when he was younger. He did not expect that they would enter the secret chamber together.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Luo Jian. That boy is definitely alive and kicking.¡± Specter was very assured about Luo Jian¡¯s situation.

    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± At this time, Duan Li also went to them and said, ¡°What if he fails?¡±

    ¡°The prop I gave him can locate him. If he really fails, I will be summoned.¡± Specter slyly smiled: ¡°It¡¯s been an hour. He¡¯s still alive.¡±

    While they discussed, they left the tomb vault and began to follow the map¡¯s route as they walked to the next tomb vault.

    At first, no one could understand the contents of the map, but when Ah Lan took out a small notebook from the limbo, the contents of the map became simple and easy to crack.

    Yes, it was the little book full of ancient writings that Ah Lan got from the body of the lost soul. Ah Lan could not understand the ancient text in the book, but Duan Li could. Not only could he understand it, but he also found that the contents of the book were actually the exnations of all kinds ofplicated figures and inexplicable words on the map, helping them easily avoid the tomb vaults with mechanisms. Then, they found another map hidden in the little book.

    They had two of the four map pieces now.

    ¡°There must be a map piece in the tomb vault of the god. As for thest one, I hope our poor enemies are smart enough to get it.¡± Specter flicked the map with his fingers.

    Specter, Duan Li, and Ah Lan had not seen any members of the enemy¡¯s team. Although they would not rx their vignce, they did not take the enemy seriously either. Apart from Duan Li and Ah Lan, Specter was the real veteran of the secret chamber. He had seen all kinds of mysteries and puzzles in the secret chamber and had dealt with all kinds of enemies. He was entirely ready and prepared to ensure that he couldplete the final test given by the secret chamber. It was only then that he had enough courage to be an oracle.

    In fact, Specter¡¯s strength had long reached the threshold to be an oracle. However, he did not want to show off his full abilities, so he had always suppressed his strength until the moment when he became an oracle.

    It was considered a taboo to look down on the opponent, but in this team battle, only those stalkers were opponents worthy of Specter¡¯s vignce. Moreover, ording to what Luo Jian had mentioned to him regarding Clown and the other enemies, it was highly likely that one of the enemy members was ¡®dead.¡¯ Even if he did not die, he had to be seriously injured. As for the rest of their team members, he only had to be vignt against the enemy team captain and their strategist.

    T/N: Thank you guys for reading !

    If any one of you are looking for something new to read, please check out my new BL interster horror novel, Falling into the Abyss! It¡¯s about Ethan, who¡¯s thrown into the prison, aka Forbidden City in a futuristic world, after losing all his moral value points. Prisoners are sent to do dangerous missions to atone themselves and to try to earn 100 points so they can be set free legally and restart their lives. It¡¯s a really great novel, so I hope you guys will check it out when you guys are free!

 Chapter 84 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XV)

    <h4>Chapter 84 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Relying solely on the guidance of the dpidated map, Specter and the couple sessfully found the tomb of the god.

    Because of the map¡¯s guidance, Specter and the others bypassed all of the countless traps and mechanisms around the tomb. When they walked through thework of pathways full of strange and small creatures, including passageways filled with spiderwebs, rats, and other entric creatures, they found that all the walls were iid with glowing phosphorite. Following that, they were met with an extremely huge gate simr to the one at the tomb of the ghost. In front of the huge stone gate, there were two giant statues.

    But the statues were not carved into tigers or dragons.

    The statues were of two people donning sacrificial robes and holding long iron staffs in their hands with their heads lowered and faces concealed by their robes.

    ¡°These are the statues of the guardian gods.¡± Specter and the others stood in front of the gate to the god¡¯s tomb. Specter took the lead in opening his mouth andmented on the statue.

    ¡°What the hell are the statues of the guardian gods?¡± Ah Lan was still a newbie. Naturally, he tried hard to learn all sorts of knowledge and intelligence like a sponge. Although Duan Li told him a lot of his experiences in this aspect, ¡®hearing¡¯ and ¡®witnessing¡¯ were twopletely different concepts.

    ¡°In short, the people or objects who guard the tomb.¡± Specter pointed to the two statues and said, ¡°If we are within a certain range of the two statues and can¡¯t open the gate in time within the specified time limit, the statues will determine that we are dangerous and not allowed in, and then they will be animated and attack us.¡±

    ¡°Animated...... Does it mean that the stone statues will be real living objects?¡± Ah Lan carefully observed the two tall statues.

    ¡°That¡¯s what it means.¡± Specter looked at the array on the stone gate and sighed: ¡°But we don¡¯t have the key to open the gate.¡±

    If Luo Jian was here, he would find that the gate of the god¡¯s tomb was actually the same as the gate of the ghost¡¯s tomb, and even the mechanism array above was the same. When Luo Jian first opened the ghost tomb, he used a piece of phosphorite, the one that was ced near him when he woke up.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we need a key.¡± Duan Li also stared at the array on the stone gate for a while and suddenly said, ¡°This gate has been opened before.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Specter took a look at Duan Li, then turned to continue looking at the stone gate. The array formation on the stone gate appeared uneven and extremely irregr. Some ces were deeply sunken in while some were protruding. There were many glowing phosphorite stones iid in the array formation. There were no empty holes; all ces where the stones could beid had phosphorite.

    ¡°Indeed, if one studies the array formation carefully, one will find that some dust on the array formation has been wiped away, and there are traces of human touch.¡± Specter stretched his neck a little and said, ¡°Even if someone is ahead of us, we have to go in.¡±

    ¡°At this rate, I¡¯m afraid we are going to have a vicious battle soon.¡± Duan Li suddenly took out his weapon. He carried his tang sword overbearingly on his shoulder. Ah Lan, who was beside Duan Li, shrank a little, and Duan Li naturally noticed this. With his other hand, he ced Ah Lan into a half-embrace.

    Specter was extremely unhappy with the actions of the two gays. Their actions made him feel that the intensity of his brightness wasparable to the sun high in the sky. He also disliked Duan Li because when Specter approached Duan Li, he always felt that this fool¡¯s body was surrounded with a smell of blood that could not seem to dissipate, and he always remained silent as if plotting something and constantly had a bizarre expression on his face. All this made Specter feel alert and hostile towards him.

    But they were in the same team now.

    Even if Specter could not trust him, it was necessary for them to get along peacefully and harmoniously. Specter could only re at the two gays and focus his attention on Ah Lan. He yelled, ¡°Are you really in the mood to whisper sweet nothings on the battlefield? Ah Lan,e to my side.¡±

    Ah Lan pitifully gazed at Duan Li, then turned his head and looked at Specter carefully. Atst, reluctantly, he moved to Specter¡¯s side and shrank by his side. Specter had repeatedly interrupted his tworades¡¯ intimate behaviors and conversations, and like a hen protecting his chick, he had even stuffed Ah Lan under his wings.

    But he really had no solution to this. Specter recognized Ah Lan as a close friend of Luo Jian. Since he was a friend of his younger brother, it was necessary to protect him. However, Duan Li, a guy of obscure origin who had such an infamous nickname of being a thousand-faced man, could not help but arouse Specter¡®s suspicion, and Specter felt that Duan Li was deceiving the innocent little student Ah Lan with all sorts of honeyed talk. That was why when everything was perfectly fine, Duan Li tricked the youth with the five good attributes into the huge vortex of being ¡®good gays, beautiful friends.¡¯

    Duan Li appeared to not care about what had urred. Even as he looked at Ah Lan being pulled away by Specter, he did not have any regrets or feel dissatisfaction. It seemed that he did not take Ah Lan to heart. Ah Lan also noticed this and found that Duan Li did not feel anything even when he was separated from him, which made him feel at a loss. He angrily flipped the grimoire in his hands until it jumped up and left his palm. It floated here and there and circled around Ah Lan.

    Could it be that he really does not like me at all? Ah Lan secretly nced at Duan Li and found that at some unknown point, Duan Li had ced his mask on again, so he couldn¡¯t see his expression. Therefore, he became more troubled over the issue. He followed along as Specter walked, and after every step he took, he would pause again. From time to time, he would jab the poor grimoire.

    Specter was not at all concerned about Ah Lan¡¯s disappointment. He walked to the huge stone gate with little Ah Lan beside him. When they approached the gate, these few people suddenly found that the statues on both sides of the stone gate had changed dramatically. Originally, the statues had kept their heads lowered, but at some unknown time, they had raised their heads. The statues on the left and right of the gate both stared at Specter and the other two. Under their robes, their faces were half-visible, and both faces appeared exactly the same.

    Such things like the statues of the guardian gods would be very difficult to deal with once activated. They had no blood, no tears, and would experience no pain or feelings. They could recover in a very short time if they suffered any damage. They usually had strange spells and other things cast on their bodies which made them immune against all kinds of magic damage. They could cause great damage and were even harder to defend against than stalkers or other monsters. Originally, Specter also guessed that yers could be these kinds of things, butter, he discovered it was not the case.

    Fortunately, as long as they didn¡¯t intentionally activate it, it usually wouldn¡¯t hurt them.

    They just had to open the gate. Specter activated the array formation on the huge stone gate, and with a clicking sound, the mechanism underground activated. After that, the stone gates opened a crack, and the light inside it was revealed. Obviously, it was very bright inside the tomb of the god.

    Specter and the others walked in before the statues activated. The huge stone gate naturally closed after they entered, causing a loud rumbling. After a short period of time of adapting to the dazzling light in the tomb, Specter andpany observed the surrounding environment.

    The space in the god¡¯s tomb was huge, and it looked exactly the same as the tomb of the ghost. However, there were no tall tforms with stairs or statues of various monsters and demons in the tomb vault.

    There was only one huge tree in the middle of the tomb.

    It was a very huge tree,rge enough that even dozens of people together would not be able to encircle its huge trunk. Its branches and leaves extended up so high that they were unable to see their end. There were many hanging, twisted tree roots, and these roots and vines were spread over almost the entirety of the tomb of the god. It could be said that this huge tomb vault was densely packed with all the big and small roots and vines!

    The reason why the god¡¯s tomb was so bright was also because of the dense roots. There were root fibers on them that emitted light. If one carefully observed them, one would find that the roots twisted from time to time. The light they emitted was not a lot, but with the presence of so many roots and root fibers, together, they had the capacity to illuminate the whole tomb vault.

    When Specter and others climbed onto the tree roots and walked into the god¡¯s tomb, Ah Lan could not help shivering and said, ¡°Do you feel that these tree roots and vines are...... all moving?¡±

    Since the ground inside the tomb vault was covered with tree roots, there was no empty space for them to step on, so they could only step onto the roots. However, the further they moved in, the more frightened they felt. These tree roots were like living things. When they stepped on them, the tree roots seemed to hurt or feel ufortable. Moreover, when they stood on these roots, it was as if they could clearly feel under the soles of their feet a kind of warmth that only living creatures possessed, and as if it had a pulse, they could also vaguely feel the dong, dong, dong of its heartbeat.

    ¡°It¡¯s disgusting.¡± Specter also raised his eyebrows. Walking on these roots gave him the feeling that he was crawling on some giant creature, and when the roots, vines, and other parts twisted and moved, it felt as if they were tentacles or something simr. He felt a sort of difort welling up from the bottom of his heart, as if something hairy was tickling it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see the coffin.¡± Duan Li was totally uninterested in the disgusting vines and roots. He was only interested in the owner of the god¡¯s tomb, but there was nothing else in sight in this huge ce except the huge and disgusting tree, not even other enemies. It seemed that they were the only ones here.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and see that big tree.¡± Ah Lan pointed to the huge tree in the middle of the tomb vault. Although it was very bright in the tomb, only the roots were emitting light, and somehow, the closer they were to the center, the fewer roots there were. Without the natural lighting, it seemed darker. It could be said that the surrounding area was very bright, but the center of the tomb was very dark.

    ¡°The fallen god, whose power can still light up the people around him but cannot save himself.¡± Duan Li suddenly uttered this sentence, causing the other two to feel baffled. The voice that travelled out from underneath the mask carried hints of an icy-cold smile.

    Neither Specter nor Ah Lan cared about the meaning behind his words. They merely approached the huge tree in silence. They seemed to have already understood the rtionship between the god and the ghost, but at the same time, they seemed to understand nothing.

    There were many statues of monsters and demons in the ghost¡¯s tomb vault, and the coffin of the ghost was ced at the very top of it, which indicated that he was someone with power and had many subordinates andpanions. Even after his death, his tomb was full of these statues. Although the ghost¡¯s tomb vault was very dark, there were many altarmps around the coffin of the ghost, which served to illuminate his surroundings.

    But the tomb of god only had a sole tree.

    This huge tree seemed to indicate the destructive power of the god. The roots and vines spread around the entire tomb vault, covering every corner. The brighter the surroundings, the darker the central area would be.

    ¡°When one is born, they are alone. When one dies, they are alone, too. Is strength the only thing that is eternal?¡± When these few people came to stand in front of the huge tree trunk, Spectermented as he saw the trunk. Soon, they found that the tomb of god was not without a coffin; instead...... the coffin was the tree.

    There was a man ingrown in the huge tree trunk!

    It may not have been particrly appropriate to call him ¡®ingrown,¡¯ but Specter and the others could not find any other words to describe it because half of this person¡¯s body was trapped in the trunk, as if he had grown up together with this tree. His hands and feet were sealed in the bark, and only his head and chest were exposed.

    ¡°Is this ¡®god¡¯?¡± Specter and the others wanted to take a closer look, but something terrifying happened. Specter and the couple found that the man ingrown in the trunk suddenly moved.

    This man¡¯s hair was disheveled, and his hair was probably made of tree roots. He did not have any clothes on, and there were only some twisted vines around his chest and neck. His hair was also very long and appeared entirely white. Since this man was trapped in the tree at a height of about three meters above the ground, Ah Lan and the other two could only raise their heads to look at him, but his hair was so long that it almostid on the ground. One could only imagine the length of his hair.

    ¡°Are you also travelers?¡± Specter andpany were stunned when the man in the trunk spoke. He twisted his stiff neck, and his hair shook. Soon, the man raised his head. His long hair seemed to be a living thing; it was like Medusa¡¯s snake hair and sprang around everywhere, revealing the man¡¯s face.

    A hoary, old face.

    This strange scene made Ah Lan very nervous, but Duan Li and Specter beside him were very calm. Specter even asked, ¡°Are you the ¡®god¡¯?¡±

    ¡°God?¡± The old man in the tree trunk did not seem to understand the meaning of Specter¡¯s words for a time. There was no emotion visible in his turbid eyes. The old man said, ¡°Long ago, they really thought I was a god.¡±

    Specter took a deep breath and told himself to calm down. He quickly went through all the things that he had encountered in the secret chambers in his mind, picked out the key points that he should pay attention to, and calmly continued to say, ¡°Then, god, please tell me the significance of this huge tomb.¡±

 Chapter 85 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XVI)

    <h4>Chapter 85 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XVI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Significance? Heh¡ª¡± The old manughed, and his facial features all scrunched up together, appearing extremely horrifying this way: ¡°There¡¯s no significance; it¡¯s just a tomb used to imprison me.¡±

    There was a secret hidden in the huge and imposing underground tomb.

    However, when the old man talked about it, he was neither reminiscent nor nostalgic. He seemed to just be telling a story, and eventually, he slowly told theplete story to Specter andpany.

    Many, many, years ago, in a poor and closed-off area, there lived a group of people...... or rather, a n.

    This group of people had lived in the area for many years, living there for years after years and generation after generations. Their traditional garbs and customs were quite distinct, and they lived by a stream and the foot of a mountain. Thus, they made a living by hunting and farming. Besides that, they were extremely xenophobic. Foreigners would be ostracized when they came here. During the earlier years, if innocent foreigners hade to this ce, the n¡¯s treatment of them was extremely cruel: they would straightforwardly kill them.

    However, as time progressed, this closed-off n made more contact with the outside world. They still kept a high degree of vignce, clearly distinguished their nsmen from the others, and called themselves the Yan n.

    The Yan nsmen upheld a crazy belief.

    Since the area where the Yan people lived was barren and remote with a poor harvest, they had to rely on the kindness of the heavens to survive. However, the nearby mountains and forests were particrly lush, and there was a prairie further north with many animals. Therefore, the Yan people made their living by hunting and pasturing as they gradually migrated further north. Even so, the number of Yan nsmen dwindled year by year, and their lives were spent full of hunger and cold.

    They began to pray to the gods they believed in.

    It was no longer known what kind of ¡®god¡¯ the Yan believed in, but all the nsmen fanatically trusted in the faith of their god. They believed that their god could help them out of their difficulties, and they felt that as long as they continued to believe in this god, all problems would be resolved.

    ording to the Yan¡¯s customs, every few decades, they would choose a n leader from a group of newly born children to be the ¡®spokesperson¡¯ of the god. The Yan nsmen believed that the god would attach themselves to their n leader and lead them to glory.

    Therefore, when the selection for the new n head started, these poor children would receive various training; they would have the best food and amodations, but they must undergo various inhumane training and tortures since they learned to walk. They would enter the forest to hunt alone in their teenage years, and they would have to stay there for more than half a year. IIf some amongst them unfortunately passed away, it didn¡¯t matter; there were a lot of substitutes. The surviving children were the ultimate winners.

    ¡°I was thest of those children to live.¡± The old man stuck in the tree sighed in passing as he was telling the story. He paused momentarily and continued to speak: ¡°Yes, when I became the final winner and the next n head, it was also the beginning of...... the Yan n¡¯s extinction.¡±

    From the start, they did not have a god at all. There were no terrifying or magical legends. No one cared for the Yan, and the nsmen were extremely pitiable. The existence of the n head was just the beginning of a new tragedy.

    Because of how low their poption was, the nsmen paid much attention to their offspring, and every woman must give birth to many children. Men even regarded women as some kind of tool to continue their bloodline. Therefore, it was almost impossible for any of them to marry. Once a girl in the family reached the age of 14, any man in the n had the right to enjoy her. When the women no longer had the ability and bodily capability to give birth, some of them were even cruelly abandoned.

    Yes, it was at that time that there was such a woman who was abandoned. She was ill, and in this backward and closed-off n, it was considered a terminal disease. There was no need to waste precious food on this seriously ill woman. Even though she was six months pregnant, in her weak state, she would not have enough strength to give birth to the baby. Premature babies were more likely to die, and the baby might even be infected with the mother¡¯s illnesster.

    The Yan nsmen immediately decided to leave her behind because they were afraid that her strange disease would spread. They drove her into the forest, wanting the wild animals to eat her.

    The desperate and extremely weak woman walked through the pitch-ck woods, supporting her round stomach. She was extremely unlucky. No one woulde to save her. She soon met a group of wolves in the woods that trapped and surrounded her. She thought she would die and be torn to pieces and eaten along with her poor, unborn child.

    But no, the wolves that surrounded her did not eat her. Yes, it was a miracle. Maybe the women¡¯s huge belly made the alpha wolf realize something. Instead, they drove her into their own nest and found wild fruits and water for her everyday, and sometimes, they would even give her the bloody meat of animals to eat.

    The woman survived. Every night, a lot of female wolves would surround her to sleep together and provide warmth. As her stomach grewrger andrger, she knew that not only was she soon going to give birth, but she was also going to die. The serious illness had slowly begun to hollow out her body. She did not know whether she could give birth to the child smoothly. Therefore, she hugged a female wolf from the wolf pack, which happened to be thepanion of the alpha wolf. She begged it:

    ¡°When I die, please let my child live to see the world.¡±

    God must have heard the voice of this noble mother.

    The woman¡¯s eyes were closed forever during the process of the childbirth, so the female wolf lunged at her and ripped open the woman¡¯s stomach. She took the bloody fetus out, and luckily, the child was alive!

    The child had survived, healthy and whole.

    The wolves raised the child like their own. Wolves are extremely protective of their cubs, and although human babies develop slowly and have low mobility, they never abandoned the child. They patiently and slowly taught this child everything they could. The child raised by wolves was totally different from ordinary children. He was fiercer and crueler, full of animality, and could not converse in the humannguage. He could only howl to the moon like a wolf, and although he could not walk on two feet, he had extraordinary mobility. His nails and teeth were very sharp as well.

    But after all, he was still a human. Even if he was raised by wolves, this child was extremely intelligent, and he soon realized that he was different from the wolves. Sometimes he saw the Yan hunters in the forest, and he knew that he and those humans were truly of the same species.

    However, the wolf child had never thought of returning to his own n. His feelings for the wolves were deep. Wolves had a special perception of their own kind, and this also extended to the wolf child.

    Therefore, the wolf child merely looked at the human beings from afar, peeping at them, studying, and imitating them in the dark. After observing them for a long time, he could asionally understand some human words and learn from them, but the child was not willing to study any more than that.

    The wolf child was curious about human beings but also fearful towards them. Human beings could skillfully use fire and various weapons. Even though their reactions, physical strength, and the make of their body were not as good as wolves¡¯, they could still sessfully hunt wolves. They were powerful, and sometimes the wolf child would find that they were crueler toward their kind than toward their prey.

    When the selection of Yan n head started, more than ten helpless human children were driven into the huge forest. The wolf child had temporarily separated from the wolves and was also full of curiosity about them, so he chose one of the human children and followed him carefully. This was the first time in his life that he tried to get close to a human.

    The human youth chosen by the wolf child was thest surviving n head and was regarded as the so-called ¡®god.¡¯

    After that, it was easy to guess what happened next. The youth who had gotten help from the wolf child survived sessfully. He and the wolf child became friends. For half a year in the forest, he and the wolf child lived together every day, snuggling together at night and sleeping together. They helped each other during the day to catch the prey. The human youth would teach the wolf child humannguage and all kinds of knowledge while the wolf child taught the youth how to survive in the forest.

    Half a year passed quickly. When it was time to return to his n, the youth did not bring the wolf child back to the human settlement. He knew that all kinds of both open and covert turmoil and struggles were brewing and urring in his n, and these were all beyond the understanding of the simple wolf child. Therefore, he was very smart and soon learned how to protect his friends. It was just that since he was a juvenile, he was also immature. Because of the wolf child, the youth was very familiar with the forest. His help enabled the Yan nsmen to hunt prey faster and better!

    Therefore, the young man was soon regarded as the n head. Way after that, when the hunger season came, the greedy Yan nsmen decided to kill all the wolves in the forest in order to get more prey. Although the patriarch strongly opposed it, the nsmen had already formed groups to head out to hunt. The n head did not want to betray his own n, but he also did not want to hurt his friend. After weighing his interests, he acquiesced in the behavior of his people.

    His behavior was beyond reproach. After all, he was the head of a n and must consider his n. From his birth, this was his fate. He was the patron saint of the whole n. From his infancy to adulthood, the education that he had received had clearly told him this. Destiny could not be reversed by a child raised by a wolf.

    The n head had allowed the people to go, and this decision ced the wolves into a desperate situation. The wolf pack that the child lived amongst had been destroyed, and the wolf parents who raised him died. However, the nsmen seized the poor wolf child and brought him back to human territory.

    People were afraid of the wolf child because of his distinctive animal nature and terrible violent tendencies. The people felt that he must be a devil that hadmitted many evils! The superstitious Yan nsmen thought that as long as the ghost was eliminated, the god would once again care for the Yan n and bring them unparalleled glory.

    Everything was on the right track, but everything was also wrong.

    The wolf child was blinded by hatred. He could not imagine his only friend, whom he had trusted, betraying him. However, the n head was also very soft hearted and secretly released the wolf child, which brought unimaginable disaster to his race.

    When he reached this point in the story, the old man stuck in the tree stopped speaking. He lowered his head to gaze at Specter and said, ¡°In fact, you can roughly imagine what happened next. The child...... hehe, furiously took revenge on me. When he returned to the forest, he gathered all the wolf packs in the forest and even went to ces beyond the forest to desperately gather strength, and afterwards, he led a huge team to fight against the Yan n.¡±

    Specter bit his lips and narrowed his eyes, and just when he wanted to say something, Ah Lan had already taken the lead in asking, ¡°Were you both defeated? Or did you win? Or did the wolves win? But why build this tomb?¡±

    ¡°Actually, the battle ended with the victory of mankind.¡± The old man lowered his head, and his voice was full of sadness: ¡°Yes, I won, but I regret it because...... the person I value most died together with the demise of the wolves.¡±

    ¡°You love him?¡± Specter questioned.

    ¡°I love him,¡± the old man said, ¡°When I saw him for the first time in the forest, I was amazed by his bearing. It was the happiest moment in my life. There was nothing better than those moments.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I regret it. I regret it very much. It fills me with hatred. I began to hate my nsmen, my people, and I hate them!¡± When the old man said that, his face was gradually twisted, strands of his silver hair began to shiver and sway everywhere, and at the same time, the roots and vines under the feet of Specter andpany began to twist violently.

    The old man¡¯s eyes appeared extremely dreadful and his voice became fierce, but he burst intoughter: ¡°So on the night of the full moon, I pretended to be possessed by their so-called ¡®god.¡¯ I told them that the ghosts of evil would not leave their souls, and at any time, they would attach themselves to others to destroy our n. So I gave them the instruction to build a sacred tomb to worship and bury me with him and told them that they had to pay tribute to us by sending a nsman to be buried with us every year. The nsmen and the n head were all our funeral apaniments. I wanted to slowly andpletely bring an end to this damned n, and I wanted them to disappear from the river of history! I wanted to destroy them along with their ridiculous god!¡±

    ¡°It turned out that...... this is the truth behind the joint tomb?¡± Duan Li spoke. It was not known when he reced the fox mask he was wearing on his face with the devil¡¯s mask. The implied significance of the mask seemed to mean something. The truth was alwaysmentable.

    The old man looked at Duan Li and suddenly smiled: ¡°I have finished telling my story. I know why you came here. I also know that your ultimate goal is to escape from this tomb, right?¡±

    ¡°Will you help us?¡± Specter paused. He still carried a glimmer of hope and could not help but grasp on to its tail as he carefully asked.

    The old man coldly snorted. He continued to sneer and began to roar, ¡°Help? How ridiculous! Don¡¯t you understand me? No one can escape from here since the moment the tomb was sealed! Everything here will always belong to me! Everyone in this tomb! Everything and everyone can only serve as funeral apaniments for me and him! Don¡¯t any of you dare think of escaping!¡±

    ¡°What if I want to escape?¡±

    After the old man howled thest sentence, a cool voice suddenly sounded. While Specter andpany were fascinated by the story, no one noticed that there were two more people present in the tomb. Luo Jian and Xing Yan stood beside Specter and the others. Luo Jian took a deep breath, looked up at the old man on the tree trunk, and raised his voice again:

    ¡°If I want to leave here, will you let me go?¡±

    The old man suddenly shut up and looked at him in a daze.

 Chapter 86 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XVII)

    <h4>Chapter 86 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XVII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Actually, Luo Jian was very nervous. He had put in a great amount of effort to assimte into the role of ¡®ghost¡¯ and tried to understand that person¡¯s mood and thoughts, but he still couldn¡¯t understand the wolf child¡¯s personality in that story.

    So Luo Jian had to ask straightforwardly.

    But to be honest, looking at the dying old man staring back at him, Luo Jian really felt a littleplicated. In fact, when the old man had told the story, he had fully understood. He could alsoprehend the old man¡¯s hatred; maybe he didn¡¯t just hate his n, but Luo Jian was afraid that he also hated himself. Otherwise, he would not have buried himself in this huge tomb with a huge tree, and no one knew whether he was trying to achieve atonement or to recover certain things.

    Luo Jian suddenly wondered where might the real ¡®ghost¡¯ be if he did not rece his identity?

    Where would he go? He would still be lying in the thick and silent coffin, regardless of whether a thousand years or ten thousand years had passed, and even if the world was destroyed, he would never wake up again. Would the god be left alone, day after day, year after year, stuck in the same lonely tree bitterly waiting?

    Or had he already reincarnated, gone to another time and space, another world,unched a new life, andpletely forgot this person he once hated...... or loved?

    Or was it just a story that the secret chamber made out of nowhere? It was a story that seemed sad but was actually quitementable. The people in the story were only illusions. Even if the story was true, they were just like characters on pieces of paper. After reading it, people would simplyugh it off.

    Also, what kind of identity am I standing here with? When Luo Jian asked himself this, he began to feel sad. His mood underwent some inexplicable changes, and he started to feel upset. He even felt that there was a strange anger and hatred spreading inwardly. These inexplicable feelings whose origin he did not know spread out and rushed to the top of his heart.

    What Luo Jian didn¡¯t know was that when recing the identity of a NPC, you not only got the exclusive rights of the NPC but also you can sometimes get some of their exclusive memories or feelings. Although it was unknown whether these memories were real or false, if they did exist. For Luo Jian now, these memories had truly left their mark on Luo Jian¡¯s heart.

    Therefore, Luo Jian felt pain. When he faced the old man in front of him, he suddenly felt suffocated and out of breath. He tried to calm his breathing and calm down, but it did not work. Luo Jian had to take a deep breath, raised his head, stared at the old man with sharp eyes, and said in a deep and dull tone:

    ¡°I have been sleeping for nearly a thousand years.¡±

    All the people around them were looking at Luo Jian. They were shocked to find that his expression and actions now were not like the person they thought they knew. It seemed that suddenly he was possessed by someone else. Suddenly, he became a person they did not know. And now, this person was ring at ¡®god¡¯ in an imposing manner, and in a hateful tone, he said:

    ¡°My anger has never calmed since the moment I died in your hands!¡±

    The old man in the trunk trembled and murmured, ¡°I know&#k2026;&#k2026; I know&#k2026;&#k2026; You are here atst.¡±

    You are here atst.

    The old man did not know whether he himself could be considered alive or not. He only knew that he had been in the dark tomb for a long time. From the moment he was conscious, he could only stay stuck in the tree trunk and spend day after day in a daze. All kinds of emotions and memories had gone far away from him, and the outrage he originally felt had long faded away.

    Clearly, he had abandoned all of them, but when he saw the man in front of him, he immediately remembered all the things he lost in an instant. The lost memories returned to his body, and in his soul, a forcepelled and excited him, making him feel as if he had been freed from his shackles. He could not help but start to struggle and try to climb out of the trunk that imprisoned and destroyed him. He needed to crush everything to bits and pieces.

    Yes, no one can stop him, not even God.

    So, at this very instant, something shocking happened. Everyone in the god¡¯s tomb looked in shock at the old man, that god! At this moment, the old man¡¯s body had morphed horrifically. The full, shocking white hair on his head began to fly around everywhere, and he also began to slowly separate from the trunk, looking as if his body were crawling out of a swamp or a pool of mud. The old man climbed down from the trunk this way as well, and he looked a mess with his body naked.

    However, when the old man hadpletely separated from the tree trunk, it was as if some kind of power had returned to him: his dry skin began to be lustrous, his wrinkled old face also recovered the sticity and plumpness of a young man¡¯s at that moment, and his head full of white hair waspletely dyed ck in an instant although his hair still remained an inhuman length.

    Yes, it took only a few seconds for the god to change from a white-haired old man to a handsome young man.

    ¡°This power...¡± Duan Li, wearing an evil ghost mask, murmured in a muffled voice, ¡°Is this the arrangement of the secret chamber or did he originally possess this ability?¡±

    It seemed that the young god heard the whispers and turned to look at him. Everyone found that the young god had a pair of dark green eyes. The colour was not particrly distinct, but it was enough to leave a deep impression.

    ¡°This tree is the core of the tomb,¡± the god said, ¡°Its roots extend to every corner of it. All the funeral apaniments here are used to nourish it. Moreover, this tree can keep me alive and young, keep my appearance unchanged for thousands of years, and keep me immortal...... At the same time, let my beloved¡ª¡±

    When the god said this, he suddenly shook his head and looked at Luo Jian. There was a little excitement in his eyes: ¡°Yes, I have been waiting for a thousand years, just to wait for this moment, to revive you, to let youe back to me. All my efforts, all my blood and tears......¡±

    Luo Jian stood in the same ce, expressionless, just staring at him.

    The god did not mind his silence. When he approached Luo Jian, he was naked, but his hair, which appeared like a waterfall, was scattered across him, concealing the parts that shouldn¡¯t be seen but showing his perfect body. All this served to add certain levels of charm to this man.

    The god seemed to be a little crazy. He was a head taller than Luo Jian. He reached out and grabbed one of Luo Jian¡¯s hands and ced it in his own palm. He gazed at Luo Jian tenderly and carefully treated him as if he was a priceless treasure. He muttered softly:

    ¡°Look, I seeded! Now, nothing can stop us. We can be together forever...... My beloved...... Luo¡ª¡±

    When God had yet to finish speaking, Luo Jian had alreadye close to the young god without his noticing. He stuffed his knife into the other party¡¯s chest fiercely, and immediately, gorgeous blood spouted out, dyeing both the chest of the god and Luo Jian¡¯s de red.

    God could not help but cough twice, and blood also surged out from his mouth. For a very long moment, he remained stunned before he realized what had happened. He looked at Luo Jian in shock as if he could not understand: ¡°Why...? You still...... hate me...... do you?¡±

    Luo Jian...... Perhaps at this moment, he could not be called this name. At least at this very moment, he hadpletely be another person; he became the ¡®ghost¡¯ who sought revenge. His dark eyes were full of ferocity, and his face carried no expression; there was no anger or sneer on his face. He was just like a machine without emotion.

    ¡°I said...... my anger has never calmed,¡± the ghost spoke in Luo Jian¡¯s voice in a sort of tone that Luo Jian could never use. It contained deep hatred like a sea of iparable calm andfort, and it felt like the advent of a storm.

    At this moment, the ghost could no longer restrain this anger and hatred. He firmly grasped the de in his hand and thrust it into the poor god¡¯s chest with much more force. If he could not take revenge, he would just have to destroy everything!

    ¡°But I...... I don¡¯t understand...... It¡¯s all over, isn¡¯t it? ¡± The young god didn¡¯t understand. As he vomited blood, he hugged Luo Jian and did not want to let go. Everything had ended, hadn¡¯t it? No matter whether it was his nsmen or his own people, they had all been destroyed. He did not believe that this man did not have any feelings for him since the beginning. He knew that they shared the same feelings.

    ¡°We can be together forever...¡± His obsession was too deep for him to extricate himself. The poor god hugged Luo Jian tightly and prayed, ¡°So...... let¡¯s be together! Please, let¡¯s be together!¡±

    Luo Jian, who had turned into the ghost, did not answer. He silently drew back his knife and swiftly moved. He stabbed the other¡¯s chest with another knife.

    The young god groaned bitterly and could not say anything.

    The ghost did not look at the pain in the other party¡¯s eyes but silently said, ¡°I¡¯m not the one you loved at the beginning.

    ¡°The one you love has already died.

    ¡°A thousand years ago, he was already dead.

    ¡°I¡¯m just the deepest obsession left by that man before he died. I linger in thisnd, waiting for the day I die, waiting for the advent of the apocalypse.¡±

    The ghost withdrew the de and took a step back, leaving the poor god kneeling on the ground. The poor god covered his chest and refused to acknowledge what had happened. He gazed at Luo Jian: ¡°I don¡¯t understand! Aren¡¯t you here? Why are you dead?¡±

    This time, Luo Jian smiled. He spread out his hand and let his precious weapon fall on the ground. His hands were full of blood, and his smile was extremely ferocious: ¡°Foolish fellow, you can clearly see who I am!¡±

    Identity recement could confuse certain things and people momentarily, but it could not change certain essential things. Luo Jian was still Luo Jian. Although at this moment he was controlled by some emotions and feelings that did not belong to him, he was still Luo Jian, and this was an indisputable fact.

    Then Luo Jian squatted down, crouched in front of the god who was kneeling on the ground, and moved closer to take a look at him: ¡°Look at my face; is tiis the person you know? My voice, my body, my hands... ¡±

    Luo Jian raised his hands, covered with blood, and spread them in front of the other party: ¡°Without sharp teeth and sharp ws, this body is an ordinary human being¡¯s body. He grew up normally in human society. This body does not belong to me because I am just a soul about to dissipate! I did not receive anything from you! And you didn¡¯t save me at all!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± the god yelled, terrified, ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for thousands of years. This is impossible. He said that this tree can save your life!¡±

    ¡°Heh......¡± Luo Jian slightly smiled: ¡°Did you make a deal with the real devil? Do you think they keep their promises? You sold yourself, and you gave me up, foolish human, from the very beginning...... There¡¯s nothing left!¡±

    Everyone was standing around to listen to the dialogue between the god and ghost and kept their conversation in mind. Specter andpany nced at each other. They could barely guess what the two were talking about, but it was pointless to do so anyway. The most important goal now was to find out where the exit was from the god. Unfortunately, they did not know whether they should get involved in this conversation, which spanned thousands of years and involved the two parties.

    No one could get involved, could they? Because at this moment, the young god lowered his head as he bit his lower lip. Without muffling his sobs, tears rolled over his face.

    In the empty and hollow tomb of the god, there had been only one solitary tree for a thousand years......

    And a lonely person.

 Chapter 87 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XVIII)

    <h4>Chapter 87 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XVIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian¡¯s body was out of control.

    His actions andnguage were being controlled by something he did not and had never known. Itpelled him to do some things he would never do ordinarily and say some things he did not understand. This kind of feeling was very ufortable and made Luo Jian feel a strange sense of fear.

    So he tried his best and used everything he could to stop his actions¡ªfor example, the action of stabbing the poor god in front of him with a knife.

    The god knew that Luo Jian did not want to stab him with a knife. Luo Jian did not want to experience the feeling of mutual love and destruction with an ancient person from thousands of years ago. He tried to escape being controlled but found that he could not do anything about it.

    F*ck! Won¡¯t this fellow hide?!

    The poor god who was being stabbed incessantly did not bother to hide. There were several bloody holes on his body, but he remained stunned and immobile, allowing Luo Jian to continuously jab him. This made Luo Jian so angry he wanted to curse his mother.

    At this moment, someone finally understood what Luo Jian was feeling and stopped his movements. However, it was Xing Yan, who was standing beside him, who reached for Luo Jian¡¯s hand, which was holding the knife, and pulled him into his embrace. The stalker was shockingly strong, and Luo Jian, who was held by him, could only remain motionless in his arms.

    This incident made all the people at the scene wake up as if from a dream. Specter immediately responded, but he did not care about Luo Jian. Instead, he went directly to the god¡¯s side. The poor god fell to the ground with his whole body soaked in blood, but miraculously, he was still alive after being stabbed by a knife that many times, although his face was unusually pale.

    He could not let him die this way! Specter understood this point. Regarding the clues they needed to escape this secret chamber, they all must be obtained from this fake god. Specter immediately took out some magical props to use on the god, stopped him from bleeding, and pulled a bunch of bandages from his carry-on secret chamber to wrap tightly around his chest.

    The feeble god just raised his head and looked at Specter. He whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t save me.¡±

    ¡°Why? Do you want to die?¡± Specter did not heed the other¡¯s party request to stop saving him and continued to bandage him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t save me. I¡¯m going to find him.¡± The feeble god raised his hand and grasped Specter¡¯s wrist.

    ¡°Who are you looking for? Can you still find that person you are looking for?¡± Specter frowned.

    ¡°Even if I need to go through high hell and cross the yellow springs, I still insist on finding him!¡± When the god said this, he seemed to be very serious. Even though he was very weak, even though he looked very miserable, his expression showed that he was determined, and not one person here doubted his words.

    But Specter sneered. He turned his head and looked at Luo Jian, who was standing next to him, still in the stalker¡¯s embrace. For quite a while, Luo Jian stayed within Xing Yan¡¯s embrace, and he found that he could gradually get rid of the strange feeling of being controlled. The obsession of ¡®Ghost,¡¯ who had attached to him, gradually disappeared. It did notst long, but Luo Jian had felt the strong feelings

    It was not just hatred, was it?

    Although anger and hate ounted for arger part of his feelings, other than that, Luo Jian could only feel his sadness; the ghost felt extremely, extremely upset, so upset and in pain and felt that he was not able to acquire what he pleaded for.

    This sort of feeling was so strong that it even affected Luo Jian¡¯s own mood. Because of this, he was not able to get over that sort of depressive mood for quite a while, and Xing Yan seemed to notice it. He held Luo Jian tightly and rubbed his hair.

    Specter¡¯s eyes stayed on Luo Jian for a while, and then he turned to the young god and said, ¡°The man you love, didn¡¯t he just clearly state it? You sold yourself to the devil and got him involved as well. Where do you think your lover¡¯s soul will be now?¡±

    It was as if the god had understood something, and he immediately changed his previous attitude of seeking death. He gaped at Specter and shouted in a low voice, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°What else can I mean?¡± Something seemed to spark Specter¡¯s anger too. He could not just be a bystander anymore. He grabbed the hair of this stupid god and lifted his head forcibly: ¡°What do you want to save?! You want to go to a hell that has nothing and find a soul that does not exist at all? That ghost is right. You are stupid! Who did you make a shit deal with? You have sold your poor lover without being aware of it! Now you must get back what belongs to you, your man!!¡±

    When Specter loudly roared, his imposing manner was too threatening. Not only did the god feel choked, but the people around him also felt the same. Luo Jian pulled back his neck and tried to shrink into the stalker¡¯s embrace. It was not known when Feng YuLan had arrived by Duan Li¡¯s side, but Duan Li had not only wrapped his arms around his neck but also started to nibble on his face.

    The god shrank slightly, closed his eyes, and opened them once again. He suddenly said, ¡°I don¡¯t know who I¡¯ve made the transaction with.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Specter asked incredulously.

    ¡°It was when I was at the most desperate point in my life, when my beloved had just passed away,¡± the god replied in a low voice, ¡°At that time, I was so eager to die that I went to the cliff and wanted to jump down. At that time, I met a wolf...¡±

    ¡°Wolf?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it was a dying wolf covered in blood. Maybe it was one of the survivors after that decisive battle. I thought he had returned for revenge since in general, that was what all wolves wanted, but it didn¡¯t. It brought me a note. The note...... was made of precious paper that we rarely saw during that era.¡±

    When the god said this, not only was Specter surprised, but Luo Jian and the others were also surprised as well. The message on the note was so obvious that they could not even guess it.

    When the god mentioned these things, he seemed to be a little doubtful. He continued, ¡°The wolf took the note and threw it in front of me. Then he jumped off the cliff and died. After that, I saw the note...... Thenguage on it was a little strange. I may not have been able to understand the meaning behind the words correctly, but I still had a general idea. I found that it was an invitation¡ª

    ¡°The other party imed to be able to realize any wish I had, even if it was to let time flow backwards and resurrect the dead. The other party also said that they would bestow upon me a mighty power so that I could be immortal and iparable to others. And all I needed to do was sign on it and promise to be something...... a secret chamber NPC?¡±

    Specter and hispanions were all shocked! For a while, they were all speechless, staring at the poor god lying on the ground. The god did not notice the expressions of these people at all and just recalled the contents of the original note. His expression seemed sad:

    ¡°I missed him so much...... At that time, I thought that if he could be revived, no matter what the cost was, I could ept it. I had chosen to believe in something unbelievable and ridiculous, so I signed the note. But when I signed my name, the contents of the note magically changed in a moment into a sentence. It asked me: What is your wish?

    ¡°So I replied: I want to find the one I love.¡±

    God frowned: ¡°After that, a series of ns were listed on the note, telling me that as long as I carried everything out ording to the instructions, I would be able to find the person I wanted. However, the condition was that I must carry out the npletely, otherwise I would never be able to recover the soul of that person, and I would lose all opportunities to remedy this.¡±

    Specter suddenly felt frightened and recalled the traps in the secret chamber as much as he could. Then, he thought of the many seniors he had seen in the secret chamber before. He wanted to know how long the secret chamber had existed on this. He wanted to know the origin of the secret chamber, but no one could answer his question.

    The power of the secret chamber, the specialized fields incorporated in it, how huge and broad was it? Was it able to cross through time and space? Could characters from thousands of years ago or thousands of yearster be controlled, or could the secret chamber negotiate with or control creatures in different worlds and monsters in outer space?

    As long as he thought of these possibilities, Specter was unable to extricate himself from bouts of fear.

    He had to force his fluctuating mood to calm. He lowered his head and gazed at the god in front of him: ¡°So how much of your n has been implemented?¡±

    ¡°To thest step.¡± The god suddenly showed a smile.

    Everyone was shocked by this strange smile! Even Specter was stunned for a moment and took out his weapon directly! His weapon was two pistols, and after Specter took them out, he aimed them at the god lying on the ground without much of a thought.

    But with the bang of his guns, the god did not die. He raised his head and looked at Specter, a little surprised, andughed happily. What was stranger was that there was a dent on his body due to the forceful impact of the bullet. The bullet had created the crater, but it could only remain stuck on his body and could not prate his skin.

    This was a very strange phenomenon. Specter was in shock for a while but soon calmed down, and he quickly backed away from the god to avoid being hurt. He did not specialize in melee attacks because his defense was very weak. If one had to describe it, his position in battle was a physical DPS who could cause continuous damage.

    Specter¡¯s gunshot was like a rion call for war. Duan Li dragged Ah Lan behind him and drew out his weapon, but the stalker holding onto Luo Jian did not act. Theoretically, he and all other yers were enemies. If he took the initiative to help Luo Jian and the others, he would be directly wiped out by the secret chamber.

    Therefore, since he could not act in in sight, he could only settle with tricks carried out secretly.

    The stalker put Luo Jian aside, kissed him on the forehead, pointed to God, and instructed Luo Jian to start fighting. The emotions conveyed by the ouroboros mark were obvious.

    Luo Jian was affected by his emotions, nodded, and turned to face the enemy.

    Luo Jian¡¯s paternal cousin currently did not have time to pay attention to his younger brother¡¯s movements. Now, his primary goal was to solve the problem in front of him. One was afraid that the so-called god was the ultimate boss set for them by the secret chamber. Only after defeating him could Luo Jian and others continue to move forward.

    But......

    ¡°Everyone, listen! We can only defeat him, not kill him!¡± Specter frowned and said, ¡°This is not a game. We are not killing the boss here. What we want can only be dropped by him! In any case, the clues of the whereabouts of the exit muste from his mouth!¡±

    T/N:

    Fleur: I was tranting this chapter as I was listening to Fuyunohanashi (Given). Anyone watched the show??? ;A; I don¡¯t know why but when I was tranting the part on the God and Ghost¡¯s situation, the song just particrly rtes to me, yknow?

    Kitty: Omg I love that song! Also, lmao unrted story, but I made a friend in my college dorm when I walked into the bathroom, heard a girl ying this song out loud, and was like ¡°This anime/song is so good¡±

    Fleur: I love that song too. Omg wow!! Fujoshis/fudanshis unite!

    Fleur: Anyway, do note the gaming terminologies used in EIC. Because the sequel (perhaps ¡®sequel¡¯ is not an apt word, but another series set in the same world) to EIC is an e-sports novel, perhaps that¡¯s why the author used so much of it?

 Chapter 88 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XIX)

    <h4>Chapter 88 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XIX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The ultimate boss was not easy to deal with. Luo Jian andpany had long made preparations for a bitter battle, but they still didn¡¯t expect that the other party would be such a difficult opponent.

    As one knows, the god¡¯s entire tomb was covered with tree vines and roots, and as if they were living creatures, these parts of the treepletely heeded the god¡¯s instructions on how to move, so what happened next was not hard to imagine. When the god, who was lying on the ground looking like a mess, waved his arm, a thick vine reached out from the tree, wrapped itself around the weak god, and suspended him as he gazed at the people below him.

    ¡°Kill all the ¡®yers¡¯ in the secret chamber. This is my final task. If I finish it, I will be able to obtain everything I want.¡± The god bowed his head, gazed at the people down below, and said in a low voice, revealing a dreadfully pale and creepy smile.

    At this very moment, Specter raised his gun and pointed it at the god. With a serious expression, he said loudly, ¡°What if you can¡¯t manage to do it? If the devil you made a deal with fails to fulfill his promise, how will you deal with it?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The god had been stabbed several times by Luo Jian, so his face was weak and pale, his voice was unsteady, and his limbs were almost motionless. The vines around his waist twisted once or twice asionally. The whole scene appeared as if the bizarre god was a corpse hanging on the tree.

    There was a sense of desperation in the god¡¯s voice: ¡°I have no way of retreat; you are right, I really can¡¯t die. Regardless of whether I will seed in the end or not, if I die now, I will have given up any chance of saving him¡ªso for the sake of my wish, please die!¡±

    Something abnormal urred!

    Luo Jian andpany found that the roots and vines under their feet began to twist wildly. There was almost no empty space that was not filled in the entirety of the god¡¯s huge tomb. All the space was filled with dark, twisted, ugly roots and vines of all kinds of sizes and thicknesses. Akin to horrifying tentacles, they began to wriggle towards Luo Jian andpany. It seemed that they wanted to strangle them alive!

    Duan Li embraced Feng YuLan¡¯s waist with one hand and began to chop the disgusting roots and vines flexibly with his tang sword in the other hand. After all, he was a veteran yer. He did not feel flustered when he encountered this sort of attack that appeared to surround them and surged in from all directions. His sword was surprisingly sharp, and he immediately opened up a circr empty space around them, but no matter how hard he tried, there were always innumerable vines surrounding them!

    Compared to Duan Li and Ah Lan, Specter and Luo Jian were in a more dire situation. When this huge amount of vines surged forward, they did not react in time and were separated. Now, they were separately fighting against the enemy. Luo Jian was not strong enough and could only escape those terrible vines while he retreated. There were too many vines, and the vines were too dense. Luo Jian could hardly see where hispanions were, so he could only turn around to look for the exit of the tomb. It was disadvantageous for him to battle in this kind of terrain. He had to leave here first.

    In fact, Luo Jian had always been apanied by Xing Yan, but Xing Yan did not help him at all. He just stood beside him, and for some unknown reason, these vines didn¡¯t attack Xing Yan¡ªor rather, theypletely ignored his existence as if they didn¡¯t even perceive such a person.

    Compared to Luo Jian, his paternal cousin¡¯s situation was not much better. After all, he was a long-range fighter. Surrounded by so many vines, his current situation was dire. However, Specter did not panic at all. He found that his pistol attacks were very weak in the face of such a wide range of targets, so he paused and did something shocking.

    Yes, Specter¡¯s two pistols could be disassembled.

    His weapons were two silver pistols, but their shape was a little strange because these two guns were much bigger than ordinary pistols and seemed to have many redundant structures on them. Specter had extraordinary control over his weapon and couldpletely dismantle and reassemble the two guns in a few seconds, and in the meantime, it seemed that Specter also took out a lot ofponents from his carry-on secret chamber.

    So in a few moments, the two ordinary-looking pistols morphed into heavy rocketunchers that could be carried on his shoulders! When Specter ced his rocketunchers on his shoulders, he raised his head and aimed directly at the god hanging in the air. He hadpletely forgotten the goal of not killing the enemy that he previously mentioned, especially since he was at the risk of losing his life! Living was his first priority.

    So when Specter aimed at the target, without much deliberation, he decisively pressed on the trigger, and with a bang, he shot!!

    This extremely violent fighting style immediately caused a disaster in the tomb!

    Although the god had never seen anything like a rocketuncher before, with mere deliberation, he could deduce that these stupid things would not be anything good. Therefore, he instructed the tree vines that were wrapped around him to avoid it, but with the speed of the rockets, how could any humans avoid them? However, a new problem cropped up. God was already not human.

    Therefore, he dodged the attack perfectly. However, the rocket sted toward the big tree behind him. Unexpectedly, the defense of the big tree was unbelievably strong, and almost no traces of the single shot were left on the trunk, but the fiery light caused by the explosion seemed to make the poor tree vines tremble with fear.

    Specter immediately noticed this point, and he reloaded a new armor-piercing bullet into the rocketuncher. This time, the target of the attack was no longer the god suspended in the air, but he randomly fired his rocketuncher. He did not care whether he would hit hispanions or not. The ce he bombarded immediately exploded, and fire ignited there. The nts were afraid of fire and did not dare to move toward the scorched areas. Instead, Specter had sted a safe area where they could stand upright.

    Specter had caused such a hugemotion with sound that could be clearly heard no matter how far they were, so Duan Li led Ah Lan as they cut a bloody path through the tangled roots and vines. They fled hurriedly toward where Specter was in an attempt to join theirpanion.

    The god floated in midair as he paid attention to everything happening below. He originally thought he could use tree vines to solve the problem, but now it seemed...... the power of these people was really a little weird. The god knew that ordinary people could not possibly have such abilities. So it seemed that they also got some strange power from somewhere, or...... did they make contracts with some devil to gain such power?

    But now, the god had no time to think about these things. He must get rid of these people as soon as possible because he felt that there was another group of people approaching the tomb, and it was way more troublesome to get rid of that many people. Although the god did notck time, he did not want to continue to waste time and energy in endlessly waiting.

    He had been waiting for a thousand years and had be numb from waiting. Since he had endured the torture of waiting for such a long time, he should be more patient. However, for some reason, the god had gradually started to erupt in anger from waiting. He urgently needed a way to vent his anger, and the way he would do so was by killing this group of people of unknown origins in front of him.

    He would get rid of them one by one.

    The god reached out his hand, and with his action, some of the vines began to heed his will. In the sea of tree vines below, Duan Li was pulling Ah Lan along as he headed in Specter¡¯s direction. In such a situation, they could not disperse. If they separated, sooner orter, they would be drowned by the tree vines!

    But it was obvious that the god would not allow them to gather that easily. With a wave of his arm, he seemed to pass down his orders. All the vines surrounding Duan Li and Ah Lan began to have some strange changes. They soon found that sharp spikes started to grow on these vines!

    ¡°Ah!¡± The tree vines that were crazily wriggling around them had surrounded them with their sharp spikes. The sharp edges and corners of the tree vines soon caused many ghastly wounds on Ah Lan¡¯s arms, and Ah Lan could not help but yelp in pain. Following that, he used a short knife to cut the tree vines from around his arm as he turned back to look at Duan Li, who had blocked the vines from him.

    Duan Li¡¯s two fists could not beat four hands. With a single sword, he could not chop all the vines that could freely hop and wriggle around everywhere, especially after the vines had grown spikes, so Duan Li had be soaked in blood due to him being scratched.

    They were in a very disadvantageous situation.

    Ah Lan looked at the blood on Duan Li¡¯s body, sighed helplessly, and suddenly turned around to hug Duan Li¡¯s waist tightly. This action startled Duan Li, but he did not respond. He heard Ah Lan murmur something in his ear, and shortly following that, his body started to rise in the air. All the wild vines around him rushed up, but Ah Lan carried out his actions swiftly. He carried Duan Li as they ascended up into the air.

    ¡°I can¡¯t hold on too long...... The weight of two people is too much for me.¡± Ah Lan tightly hugged Duan Li, who did not speak and just slightly turned to look at him. Duan Li was still wearing an evil ghost mask on his face, and Ah Lan can only see his livid mask.

    Ah Lan flew towards where Specter was. High up in the air, he could see Specter raising his rocketuncher to crazily bombard some ce not far away! Even though the vines had spikes, they were still afraid of fire. The temperature and explosion caused arge, circr area around Specter to empty.

    ¡°This guy is really crazy.¡± Ah Lan started to evaluate Specter in the distance while he was flying, but soon he noticed a problem and frowned: ¡°Wait, where¡¯s Luo Jian?¡±

    Luo Jian was not by Specter¡¯s side. They had been separated by the sudden outbreak of tree roots and vines. Moreover, Luo Jian was neither able to fly in the sky like Ah Lan nor had super strong defensive abilities. There was only Xing Yan standing by his side but who was not doing anything.

    Those vines did not attack Xing Yan for some reason but also spontaneously bypassed him and kept a certain distance from him, so there was a circr vacuum belt encircling where Xing Yan was standing. When Luo Jian was entangled with those vines in a life-or-death situation, he suddenly raised his head to look at Xing Yan, and Xing Yan looked back at him expressionlessly.

    Wasn¡¯t this a living shield?!

    An idea popped out of nowhere in Luo Jian¡¯s mind. Therefore, he jumped up nimbly, leaping over the vines that were trying to strangle him, and jumped directly to cling on Xing Yan¡¯s body. Like an octopus, he stuck onto Xing Yan tightly and refused to budge even if he died.

    Xing Yan did not move at all, but there was a smile on his previously expressionless face.

    Those tree vines saw Luo Jian climb onto Xing Yan¡¯s body and were all stiff momentarily. They circled around Xing Yan and Luo Jian. The vines were like a host of demons dancing in revelry, but they could not attack Luo Jian now.

    Xing Yan also seemed to ignore Luo Jian. He did not push him away or embrace him. He allowed Luo Jian to hug his waist with his two legs, hug his neck with his hands, and rub his face into the cranny of his neck.

    Xing Yan did not speak and stepped forward to move. With every step he took, the tree roots and vines around him also moved along with him. In other words, in an area of about two meters around him, there were no trees and vines attacking him. It was also unknown how he managed to do so, but he was able to do it.

    Since Xing Yan would not be attacked, Luo Jian, whoid on his body, was naturally safe and reassured. In broad daylight, he began to carry out some unsightly actions such as gnawing his neck and corbone, and like a water snake, he kneaded here and there against his body.

    Poor Xing Yan could not speak, so he could not protest Luo Jian¡¯s behavior, but he seemed to enjoy the process. He took Luo Jian as he headed towards where the other¡¯s brother was. Themotion his brother caused was too loud, and the sound of bombs exploding would echo in the entire tomb for a long time.

    In fact, the god did not mean to hurt Luo Jian because Luo Jian still had the ¡®ghost identity,¡¯ so there were no spikes on the vines attacking him. The god originally wanted to separate him from them and catch him, but there was a Xing Yan beside him.

    Xing Yan was a stalker.

    The secret chamber held preferential treatment toward stalkers. They were set as ¡®part of the secret chamber,¡¯ simr to props in the secret chamber. Moreover, props were also set as ¡®cannot be destroyed in any way¡ªyers can temporarily destroy but it is recoverable,¡¯ etc.

    Props, doors, keys, story lines, NPCs, and so on were allponents of each secret chamber. Theponents of the chamber could not attack each other, so all non-yer creatures in the chamber would not attack a stalker.

    But stalkers could attack any ponents¡¯ of the chamber.

    There was no reason for this because the existence of stalkers was set by the secret chamber as a tool to ¡®destroy.¡¯ Since they were used to destroy, the secret chamber allowed them to destroy both yers or other things.

    However, although the secret chamber allowed stalkers to destroy, it did not allow them to do anything other than that.

    For example saving a yer in deep water and scorching fire.

    Therefore, Xing Yan would never take the initiative to save Luo Jian. No matter what kind of environment Luo Jian was in, even if he was going to die, Xing Yan could not take the initiative to save him.

    However, since he could not take the initiative, he could just be tactful and passive. There were many ways to save a person. If he looked for the loopholes in the regtions set by the secret chamber, he could save the yer without viting the regtions.

    For example, at present, when Xing Yan was not doing anything, Luo Jian could jump on him and take advantage of his identity to seek shelter, and this was not within the scope of ¡®taking initiative,¡¯ so the secret chamber would not punish Xing Yan.

    And in another example, when they were in the ghost ship secret chamber, Luo Jian fell off the observation tform, but in fact, he was not caught by Xing Yan. Xing Yan just stood there waiting to be smashed by Luo Jian.

    The stalker was a kind of prop driven by the will of the secret chamber, but obviously, the secret chamber also left a window of opportunity for the yers. As long as the yers found the right method, the yers could also order and use the stalker.

    The secret chamber would not leave anyone at an absolute dead end.

    T/N:

    Kitty: Haha this kind of reminds me of ¡°Global University Entrance Exam,¡± if you¡¯ve ever heard of it, where the MC and ML just keep taking advantage of the loopholes of the system they¡¯re stuck in and making the administrators angry.

    Fleur: Lol yeah, GUEE is a great UL novel. I love how they take advantage of the system too(as well as how the sexual tension is sometimes...almost exploding)

 Chapter 89 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XX)

    <h4>Chapter 89 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The young god hung in the midair, supported by his tree roots and vines. He took a look at Ah Lan, who was carrying Duan Li while flying at a height that was not too high in the distance, at Specter, who was carrying a rocketuncher while destroying everything, and further away at Luo Jian, who was hugging a stalker as a life-saving straw.

    There was not much expression on the god¡¯s face. He thought for a while and waved again. It seemed that he had given his tree vines some orders again. Everyone was shocked to find that the crazy tree vines had changed again.

    As the god had said before, in this tomb, this huge tree with its trunk, roots, and vines spread through the whole tomb. In every corner, there were traces of these roots and vines. They were either deeply buried in the soil or curled on hard rocks or even crawling in the groundwater deep underground, and they could control almost all the mechanisms and props in the tomb.

    It was no exaggeration to say that this tree was the main valve and switch in this huge tomb! The man who controlled the switch was the fake god, who had been sleeping in the tomb for nearly a thousand years.

    ¡°This is my domain,¡± the god murmured to himself, looking at the people struggling bravely in the sea of roots and vines. He seemed to be a little excited, but in a very calm tone, he preached, ¡°This is my god¡¯s domain. Everything in this tomb is under my control. As long as I am alive, none of you can ever think of escaping from here!¡±

    The wildly flying and dancing vines seemed to be inspired by the power behind the god¡¯s words and shockingly started to morph. They gathered, vine by vine, to entangle with each other, and it could be obviously seen as the vines started to germinate. Young buds emerged from the vines and grew at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye. During this period...... some strong buds had grown into a kind of structure simr to cannibalistic flowers, and these flowers devoured the weaker buds.

    In this way, the dense vines no longer used tentacles or spikes to attack Specter and others, but instead they started to devour themselves and grow rapidly. The buds that grew rapidly and matured would eventually be huge flower-bud-like things. These huge flower buds almost covered the god¡¯s whole tomb! In Specter andpany¡¯s sight, this kind of flower bud grew in almost every standing space.

    ¡°What strange thing is this?¡± Ah Lan had exhausted his energy by carrying Duan Li as they flew. He found a gap andnded slowly with Duan Li. All around them were huge flower buds.

    After the flower buds grew out, the vines that had originally flourished and danced around seemed to have been drained of all their strength. They began to wither at a speed visible to the naked eye, and atst, they scattered in pieces on the ground, motionless.

    However, the new buds merely maintained the appearance of the buds, standing quietly in their positions, and also remained motionless, but they were huge in numbers and individually appeared very spectacr. A single flower bud was nearly two meters high, as round as an ellipse, and had a dark green hue. However, it seemed that there was something wrapped within the flower bud, and the thing would asionally twitch twice in the flower bud. It could be clearly seen that, as the thing inside struggled, the surface of the flower bud had traces of it moving as well.

    Surrounded by the many weird flower buds and adding on that these flower buds seemed to be wrapped around something terrible, the sight of this obviously made people uneasy. Ah Lan brought Duan Li tond on the ground, and Duan Li cut a huge flower in two!

    A small, strange thing crawled out of the flower bud that had been broken into two.

    It was mystifying that such a big flower bud had such a small thing in it. No matter how one looked at it, it still appeared to be a little thing about the size of a baby.

    This little thing gave out a sharp cry, simr to a baby¡¯s voice, but if one listened carefully, one would feel that the voice was somehow weird. It was very prating, and one would even feel goosebumps all over.

    And the appearance of this thing&#k2026;&#k2026; It appeared to have the body of a cat. It trembled on the ground with sharp ws and a curled tail. What was terrible was that such a body was matched with a human face. It had a very twisted human face with long and thin eyes, a t nose, and a mouth appearing like a crack on the face. It was as if its mouth was a tear that could split its face open, and it revealed the sharp fangs inside.

    Seeing such a terrible little monster, Ah Lan could not summon up courage to take a second glimpse after seeing it the first time. He immediately shrunk to Duan Li¡¯s back. However, after they thought of the countless flower buds all over that all contained this little thing, they felt extremely disgusted.

    But...... such a small monster did not seem to have muchbat power.

    ¡°This kind of thing...... I¡¯ve heard of it.¡± Duan Li seemed to know the origin of this little monster, so he exined to Ah Lan, ¡°I have seen it in some ancient literature, andter I received simr information from other yers.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Ah Lan asked with a kind of mentality that he did not want to know yet felt like knowing.

    ¡°In the old legend, there is a tree growing in the dark abyss, at the boundary between hell and the human realm.¡±

    Duan Li raised his head to look at the huge tree that was so tall that he could not see the top of it. There was a very weak fake god hanging on the vines. The young god seemed to notice Duan Li¡¯s line of sightnding onto him, turned his head to look at Duan Li, and showed a ferocious smile.

    Duan Li frowned a little, though no one could see the expression under the mask.

    He continued: ¡°The tree grows on and full of corpses, absorbs the blood and resentment of human beings, and gradually bes a demon.

    ¡°However, the tree demon had absorbed too many people¡¯s grievances, obsessions, vices, and even beliefs. The tree demon could not absorb and digest such a huge amount of these things, so he decided to let them all blossom and bear fruit.¡±

    Hearing this, Ah Lan seemed to understand something and said, ¡°What do you mean...?¡±

    ¡°Yes, these grievances, obsessions, evils, beliefs...... The tree demons let them all materialize in front of everyone with such an appearance. These things were gestated within flowers, cultivated with blood, and finally, became living monsters.¡±

    After Duan Li spoke, the little monster lying on the ground suddenly screamed sharply. The decibel of the scream was so high that it broke through the skies. The sound was so harsh that Ah Lan could notpletely block the terrifying sharpness of it by covering his ears.

    Duan Li carried out aparatively more direct action; he stepped forward, cut the little monster down, and finally ended its life. Following that, the shrill scream stopped abruptly, but Duan Li did not dare to be careless. He turned back and said to Ah Lan, ¡°Try to block your ears. The voices of these monsters are suggestive. They are good at imnting their countless evil thoughts into your brain. Be careful not to be controlled by their illusions.¡±

    Ah Lan was very obedient, but he did not know how to use such a primitive thing like an earplug. He chanted out a short spell that could get rid of noise. It usually allowed one¡¯s eardrum to filter out the voice one did not want to hear. No doubt, in this case, the spell was particrly useful.

    At the same time, Ah Lan applied the spell to Duan Li before more monsters crawled out of those terrible flower buds.

    Later, they quickly found that the monsters climbing out of the flowers were of all sizes and shapes. Some of them were simr to birds, with strong wings and sharp ws. However, this thing also had a human face on its head, and even the position of where its mouth should have been had a bird¡¯s beak!

    There were not only birds, but also tigers, snakes, deer, horses...... In other words, all kinds of strange creatures with animal bodies had human heads!

    ¡°What the hell are these weird things?!¡± Ah Lan looked at the strange demonic monsters crawling out of the flower buds around him. He could not help but find it frightening, especially since each thing looked more bizarre than the next. Finally, they could hardly tell where some of these things ended, and some of them were merely wriggling lumps of meat that had human heads!

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave me!¡± Duan Li was also aware of the danger they were in. The current situation was very unfavourable for them, and the situation was even more dire than facing arge group of spiky vines wiggling around!

    These strange monsters had crawled out from the flower buds moments ago, and their bodies were covered with disgusting mucus from the flower buds. Wet and dripping, they crawled out of the flower buds. Like beasts smelling fresh and dripping blood, all of them turned their lines of sight to where Duan Li and Feng YuLan were standing.

    Duan Li and Ah Lan could only stand back-to-back with each other and choose tounch a deadly attack, surrounded by such a huge group of monsters.

    However, with the huge number of opponents, the battle did not start on equal terms.

    The vast and spacious tomb of the god was almost full of all kinds of monsters, and there were many flower buds hatching in the distance. Apart from Duan Li and Ah Lan being in a dire situation, Specter, who was fighting by himself, was now in a bitter battle with the beasts! His weapon could be transformed into a powerful rocketuncher after modification, and the most powerful part of this weapon was that its ammunition was infinite. As long as Specter had enough physical strength, he could blow up whatever he wished!

    However, the problem was that Specter was neither a god nor a man with unlimited physical strength. Every artillery attack consumed his mental and physical energy. However, under the constant bombardment, the surrounding strange monsters had not decreased at all, and they were still in full spirits as they attacked Specter.

    Also, some of the monsters were very difficult to deal with. For example, some could fly in the sky. These flexible fellows could easily avoid Specter¡¯s bombs and would hover over his head all the time. They were ready to strike at Specter at any moment. Such distractions made it so that Specter could not help but divide his attention among them.

    However,pared with these enemies overhead, attacks that wereunched secretly would cause him to be defenseless. That¡¯s right, some of these monsters were very small. For example, the little monsters with the body of a mouse and a human head could climb out from dozens of flower buds and appear in waves. Can you imagine the feeling of these disgusting little creatures swarming around your feet?

    It was hard to describe how Specter felt with words. He had almost screamed shrilly like ady when he saw those monsters. He realized that a simple bombardment could not cause arge area of damage. At this time, he must carry outrge-area bombardment! Now, Specter could only pray that hispanions were smart enough to retreat in time because this skill did not discriminate against foe or friend.

    At the other side of the tomb vault, Duan Li seemed to feel something, turned to look at the direction of Specter, and said, ¡°That guy is being forced to do something rash. It seems that he has gotten serious.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Ah Lan was busy strengthening the boundary of his barrier. This was the only spell that was useful at this point in time. Since Ah Lan found that most of these monsters seemed to be full of extremely chaotic dark energy, as long as Ah Lan used the ¡®holy light¡¯ attribute of the border boundary, he could effectively prevent them from approaching. However, the scope of the border was constantly narrowing......

    However, Duan Li beside him seemed to be at ease, staying within the border and asionally ending the lives of the monsters that would asionally charge in.

    ¡°You should think of an idea for me!¡± Ah Lan was kept busy for a long time and finally could help roaring at Duan Li. Here he was, tired and exhausted to prevent the invasion of the monsters, so how could this fool act so leisurely? Take a look at how leisurely he was. It was almost as if he wanted to set up a table for tasting good wine as he watched an opera.

    ¡°If I was fighting against a sole enemy, I could show you my amazing fighting prowess, but I¡¯m not really good at this kind ofrge-scale siege and battle that consumes too much of my strength.¡± Duan Li turned to look at Ah Lan. His tone carried hints of a smile. It was not known when he changed the mask on his face, but this time, he changed into a fox¡¯s mask.

    But Duan Li was not lying this time. He was really not good at dealing with arge number of enemies. In general, his skills could only cause damage to a single enemy. Even if he used a skill that would affect a group of enemies, he could only injure up to ten people. So¡ª

    If he alone faced ten enemies, or a hundred, or even a thousand, he would be able toe and go freely. Even if he could not knock down all the enemies in an instant, it was hard for the enemy to hurt him.

    But he had Feng YuLan beside him now.

    A weak, little magician.

    Looking at Ah Lan¡¯s eyes that were turning red as he flipped through his grimoire and began to recite the magic spells, Duan Li suddenly felt that he could not bear it any longer. From the beginning of the secret chamber team battle, he had almost desperately tried to suppress his true character. He tried to make himself gentle and silent and even hoped to get away from the little mage in front of him. Unfortunately, every time he wanted to do so, he would give up at that moment.

    ¡°Lovely littlemb.¡± Duan Li stared at Ah Lan through the mask and suddenly said something like this. Ah Lan was fully concentrating on casting magic spells, so he did not hear what Duan Li had said clearly. In fact, he did not care. At present, nothing was more important than focusing on maintaining the border.

    As one knows, there were all kinds of monsters crawling outside the border. The boundary of the border was surrounded byyers andyers of monsters. Other than those disgusting monsters outside, there was nothing else there.

 Chapter 90 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXI)

    <h4>Chapter 90 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Further away, Luo Jian climbed up onto Xing Yan¡¯s body leisurely.

    No monster dared to attack them.

    This made Luo Jian very bold, and he began to hang onto Xing Yan¡¯s body as if he was riding a swing. Especially now that Xing Yan could not speak and did not resist at all, allowing Luo Jian to gnaw some red marks on his neck, Luo Jian was so arrogant that he could not help but put his hand underneath Xing Yan¡¯s clothes...... Oh, no, it should be said that it was into his pants instead. At this time, Xing Yan, who was rather good-tempered, was no longer able to bear it. He hugged Luo Jian¡¯s waist and moved closer to kiss his eyelids.

    Of course, Luo Jian¡¯s hand was still at the stalker¡¯s crotch.

    Sadly, Luo Jian¡¯s poor little hand had not touched anything yet before the stalker found out within moments. In passing, the stalker picked Luo Jian up by his cor and lifted him up. After struggling for a long time, Luo Jian still could not beat the stalker in strength, so with his legs straight, he stood on the ground. He pitifully gazed at the stalker and seemed ready to lunge onto him at any given opportunity.

    Xing Yan smiled very gently and rubbed Luo Jian¡¯s head tofort him. Then, he seemed to notice something, turned his head to look at the gate of the tomb vault, and turned back to look at Luo Jian. He seemed to want to say something and wordlessly made a sign at Luo Jian.

    It seemed that Luo Jian understood his meaning and, following his lead, turned to look at the gate of the tomb. The door had closed automatically when they came in, but now, through the dense flower buds around them, Luo Jian obviously saw that the huge gate not far away had seemingly opened up a gap.

    Was someoneing in?

    Who wasing?

    Luo Jian¡¯s calm judgment and critical thinking instantaneously started to operate. Except for Luo Jian, there was only another group of people who coulde to the tomb of the god, but Luo Jian frowned unnaturally at the thought.

    The gate of the tomb of the god had already been opened by someone else before Luo Jian arrived, and that person had stepped in first.

    And that god had said something earlier when he first saw them, and even now, Luo Jian could clearly remember it. He said the words: ¡°Are you also travelers...?¡±

    ording to what Luo Jian had thought at first, travelers should have referred to another group of people, but now in this situation, if another group had arrived at the tomb of the god before Luo Jian and others, they should have also experienced a face-to-face conversation and confrontation with the god!

    But it was this that made Luo Jian wonder: how could he allow another team toe in, speak to him, and leave afterwards?

    When Luo Jian and others came in, the tomb of the god looked perfectly intact, without any signs of fighting or the presence of corpses. If someone hade in, would the god allow them to leave that easily? Or...... had this person remained here without Luo Jian and others realizing it?

    Wait a minute. Isn¡¯t there something I did not notice?

    How many people are there in this tomb, including yers and stalkers?

    There were four members in his team, five in the enemy team, and four stalkers. ording to Duan Li, he had killed one stalker, and as for the rest...... Luo Jian raised his head to look at Xing Yan. Apart from Xing Yan, there were still two left. From the start, they had never met them.

    In addition, from the enemy team, Luo Jian only knew four members. As for the remaining member, that person also had not shown up from the beginning to this current moment. So far, Luo Jian had not figured out who that person was. Moreover, when he pretended to be dead, lying in the coffin in the tomb vault of the ghost, and the enemy team openly held a conversation in front of him, the enemies never mentioned this fellow that had yet to show themself.

    The only true confrontation between the two teams was the one between Luo Jian and Clown. Luo Jian did not know whether he killed Clown at all in the narrow passageway. Although he remembered cutting the enemy¡¯s throat with his de, the memory was very muddled. Later, he lost consciousness and was saved by someone. His brother said he was not the one who had found Luo Jian in the narrow passageway.

    So&#k2026;&#k2026; at that time, who saved Luo Jian?

    At first, Luo Jian thought it was Xing Yan.

    Thinking of this, Luo Jian raised his head and looked at Xing Yan. This time, Xing Yan took the initiative to hold Luo Jian¡¯s hand. Luo Jian¡¯s left hand was still wrapped with ayer of gauze. This was the injury he had suffered when he fought with Clown and grabbed the de of the other party with his bare hand. However, it was not known why, but Luo Jian¡¯s healing capabilities had been raised to a mystifying level in the secret chamber. He did not feel the pain of the wound at all and merely felt the wound is itchy, which would only manifest when the wound was healiing.

    ¡°Did you save me?¡± Luo Jian asked suddenly.

    Xing Yan paused, raised his eyelids, crooked his head, and looked at Luo Jian doubtfully.

    ¡°This injury...¡± Luo Jian pointed to the thick gauze wrapped around his throat. ¡°Did you save me then?¡±

    Stalkers could not take initiative to save yers; they absolutely could not. It was a miracle that Xing Yan could take the initiative to not attack yers. After all, in the eyes of stalkers, all creatures belonged to only a single kind¡ªthey were all toys that could be destroyed.

    In addition to the restrictions and malicious maniption of the secret chamber, some stalkers could do harm to others just by standing there without doing anything. They were props for killing and destroying, not for saving people.

    So Xing Yan shook his head at Luo Jian. He did not rescue Luo Jian, but to protect Luo Jian from being hurt, he had run to attack the enemy team. So, halfway through, as Clown was chasing Luo Jian, he had lost all forms ofmunication with his team members because of Xing Yan.

    But what Xing Yan did not understand was why Luo Jian¡¯s face suddenly turned iparably white when he answered his question.

    Yes, this was the most suspicious part that Luo Jian could understand at all!

    If it was not Xing Yan, who had saved him?!

    Ah Lan and Duan Li werepletely separated from him and had no means to predict Luo Jian¡¯s. His brother had found Luo Jianter and did not need to lie to him. Even now, Xing Yan had denied doing anything of the sort. At this very moment, the entire matter had be something unclear and indistinct. In addition, there was a BOSS god who was going ballistic. All of a sudden, Luo Jian felt that he had actually never seen through the fa?ade and reached the truth.

    Who saved him and even deliberately ced him where his brother could find him? What was the purpose of this?

    What was the truth of this tomb? Was it really just a story about a crazy man who killed his entire n in search of his lover?

    Luo Jian felt a little confused and obtuse, and he stood still and frowned. Xing Yan perceived Luo Jian¡¯s confused mood, held him in his arms, and touched his back. Such an action attracted Luo Jian¡¯s attention back, and then, Xing Yan reached out his hand to point to somewhere in the distance, where his poor paternal cousin was surrounded by various monsters.

    Shortly after, the stalker made a sign to retreat. It was tactical signnguage. Thanks to Luo Jian¡¯s friend, who was an arms enthusiast, Luo Jian knew a lot about this kind of tactical signnguage.

    ¡°You want me to retreat?¡±

    Xing Yan nodded, then pointed to a remote location in a corner of the tomb. Luo Jian understood what the stalker meant and allowed himself to retreat to the corner far away from the center and not be affected by the ongoing battle. Although he did not understand why he needed to do this at the moment, Luo Jian also knew that with his fighting capacity, he was almost useless. He might as well do his best to protect himself, and that would be the best aid he could provide to hispanions.

    So Luo Jian nodded, followed the stalker as they circled through monsters and flower buds, and walked towards the corner. Although the gate of the tomb had been opened and it seemed that someone else hade in, with these kinds of monsters running around, one was afraid that Luo Jian andpany and the enemy team had no time to fight each other.

    So when Luo Jian began to retreat with the stalker, Specter was ready tounch arge-scale attack and made preparations forrge-scale destruction!

    As for Duan Li and Feng YuLan, they were not far away from Specter. Duan Li seemed to also have noticed it. He looked in Specter¡¯s direction again, looked back at Ah Lan, and suddenly said, ¡°Baby, get ready!¡±

    Ah Lan was flipping through the pages of his grimoire. He has used the barrier spell repeatedly, but the barrier was still shrinking. When he heard what Duan Li had suddenly said, he had yet to respond when he saw Duan Li suddenly rushing towards him.

    ¡°What...... get ready?¡± Ah Lan felt confused and looked at Duan Li, who was rushing over, as he got closer and closer. As he charged to where Ah Lan stood, he drew out his tang sword. At that moment, Ah Lan thought that perhaps the other party could not suppress his instincts and would wave his sword to cut him down!

    Yes, sometimes, Ah Lan could clearly feel Duan Li¡¯s killing intent directed at him.

    This feeling was not obvious, and sometimes there wasn¡¯t any. However, Ah Lan was actually a very sensitive person, so he soon perceived it.

    Ah Lan thought he should be afraid, but he was not because he found an interesting fact; that is...... yes, Duan Li seemed interested in him.

    Sometimes Ah Lan did not understand what this interest was based on. Duan Li wanted to kill him, yet he protected and treated him well. Sometimes when the two people were staying close together, Ah Lan could even see the obvious gentleness in the other¡¯s eyes. This made Ah Lan start to feel that...... the other party seemed to like him.

    He could not feel this way. It was too dangerous.

    This psychopath was a murderer, a rapist!

    Duan Li rushed towards Feng YuLan with his knife. At that moment, Ah Lan thought that he would die by his sword, but he did not because Duan Li held the knife in his right hand and pulled Ah Lan up with his left hand. With great strength, he ced Ah Lan onto his shoulders, and uncaring of the barrier that Ah Lan had created, the monsters blocked outside the barrier all charged towards them.

    Incidentally, he sprinted in the direction opposite of where Specter was.

    He had already felt that Specter could not help butunch his bigger attacks. In order to not be affected by it, naturally, he would better take his lovely little magician to escape from the area of attack. However, taking into ount their current position, it was obvious that they were very near Specter. ording to Feng YuLan¡¯s constitution, Duan Li was afraid they would not be able to escape in time.

    Therefore......

    ¡°The third segment...... unlock!¡±

    When Ah Lan was on Duan Li¡¯s shoulders, he heard him say that in a low voice.

    Then, everything around swiftly passed by him at a high speed.

    It was an extremely terrifying speed, almost reaching the speed of sound. It was not an ability that a human body could handle. Therefore, the unlock of the third segment could onlyst half an hour, the fourth segment only a few minutes, and the fifth segment only a few seconds.

    When he unlocked the fifth segment, Duan Li¡¯s speed would be infinitely close to the speed of light. It was really hard to describe the speed with which he moved. In short, it meant that he would be able to reach someone immediately from a kilometer away and stab that person, and in the next second, he would already be a kilometer away. It could be said...... one would not even know who had chopped them, and before one realized that they had been chopped, they would already have died.

    One would feel as if time had stopped because it would happen in an instant; this move did not even require a second.

    But if humans really moved at this speed, one could only imagine how taxing it would be for the body.

    If an object could really move at the speed of light, it needed energy¡ªinfinite energy. Modern science had proved that the speed of light could be surpassed and that the kind of speed exceeding that of light did exist. However, to reach that level with the body of a living organism, it could be said that...... it was totally impossible at this stage.

    But the secret chamber made the impossible possible.

    When he activated the fifth segment, Duan Li could move at a speed that was infinitely close to the speed of light. If one day he surpassed this speed, then at that time, his body would have undergone some qualitative change, so to speak, he could no longer be regarded as a living creature. He would have turned into a body of energy and exist in a world in an unimaginable way. Then, at that time, how limitless his power would be could no longer be described with mere words.

    But right now Duan Li could not do this, especially since he was carrying Ah Lan when he ran, and he could only unlock the third segment at most while desperately suppressing his speed. The little magician¡¯s body could not bear this speed, which would cause poor little Ah Lan¡¯s viscera to fail and die.

    Even if he tried, Duan Li¡¯s speed could not be fully suppressed. Along the way, he chopped down enemies as he ran. A few secondster, when Ah Lan¡¯s spirit had returned, he found that he and Duan Li were thousands of miles away, leaving a trail of monsters¡¯ corpses where they had passed. Duan Li ced him back on the ground and waved his sword with his hand. There were not even the remnants of blood on his sword.

    ¡°There are no martial arts that are infallible; only moving the fastest can pave the way for sess,¡± Duan Li wiped his de and said inexplicably while Ah Lan looked at him nkly.

    Duan Li took a look at little Ah Lan, lifted his mask, and smiled at him. He said, ¡°Isn¡¯t there such a wise saying?¡±

    Ah Lan was stupefied for a while and suddenly said angrily, ¡°You just said that you are not good at dealing with so many monsters at once! Don¡¯t you actually have it easy?¡±

    ¡°You think too highly of me, baby.¡± Duan Li showed an aggrieved expression: ¡°The burden of using such a skill is too heavy on my body. I will spit out blood if I continuously use it.¡±

    Ah Lan paused for a moment. He was immediately deceived and worriedly asked, ¡°You would really spit blood?¡±

    ¡°Look, I have blood on the corners of my mouth!¡±

    ¡°Where? Why can¡¯t I see it?¡± Ah Lan worriedly went closer to him but did not see anything. Duan Li suddenly moved closer to him, stuck his lips on Ah Lan¡¯s, and immediately hugged the little thing into his arms.

    Behind them, a sh of fire burst out, and a crazy explosion swept through the tomb of the god.

    They could vaguely hear Specter cackling crazily.

    T/N:

    Kitty: ...I think Specter might be my favorite character.

    Fleur: ^+1

 Chapter 91 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXII)

    <h4>Chapter 91 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Under normal circumstances, Specter¡¯s weapons were usually in the shape of two pistols.

    However, he had a modification skill, so he could modify his weapons into rocketunchers, sniper rifles, an individual mortar that he could carry with the aid of his shoulders, and all kinds of other weapons......

    Moreover, Specter seemed to have a special interest in these hot weapons. He could be considered a mobile arsenal. As long as he wanted, he could throw bombs and grenades out anytime and anywhere. His carry-on secret chamber was really big. He even put a tank into it. If it was not restricted by conditions, it could be moved out.

    Hisrge-range skill was named ¡®chain explosion.¡¯ It was particrly effective in the face of a wide range of enemies. When one of his special bullets hit one of the enemies, the poor enemy¡¯s innards would start to detonate. Like a wave of explosions, it would drag the other enemies around the detonated enemy to produce a series of explosions, and the enemies around them would spurt blood and explode like fireworks with a series of bangs!

    Moreover, in the situation where the monsters were all around them, the scope of the explosions was terrifying.

    Because of the violent explosions, the whole vault of the god¡¯s tomb was filled with thundering bangs. The ground seemed to vibrate under their feet, and there was gravel falling from the ceiling. The sight was extremely terrifying; Luo Jian, who was standing in the corner with the stalker, thought that it felt as if the sky would fall at any time. If he had not followed Xing Yan, he would have been dragged into the explosion. After taking a look at it, Luo Jian felt that it should be his paternal cousin¡¯s masterpiece.

    At the same time, Ah Lan, who was huddled in Duan Li¡¯s arms, raised his head and looked at the central point where the explosion had urred. Fortunately, the tomb of the god was really huge, and the ceiling was so high that one was unable to see it. It was as spacious as several basketball courts put together. Standing in the corner, as long as there were no damned flower buds around, they wouldn¡¯t be affected by the explosion.

    It could be said that Specter¡¯s move could destroy all the monsters in the god¡¯s tomb.

    The god that hadmanded all these monsters was still high in the air. He knew that these small explosions could not destroy the impregnable tree, so he did not worry about it. What made him anxious was that these damned ants were more difficult to deal with than he imagined.

    ¡°But...... there are still some gains.¡± The god raised his head and looked towards the gate of his tomb. There was a group of ants who had juste in. However, they came in unexpectedly, just in time for Specter tounch his huge ranged attack. Before they could react, they had been consumed by the explosion.

    However, they were all senior yers, after all. Except for one person who was seriously injured, the others just cut a sorry figure.

    And the wounded person, unfortunately, was the woman who wore the cheongsam, their strategist.

    ¡°It seems that we are in great trouble.¡± Hints of seriousness finally appeared on the icy-cold face of the vampiric team captain, who held the woman tightly in his arms. Although he had performed emergency treatment for her wound, not ounting for her terrifying wisdom, this woman was almost the weakest member in their team.

    Not only did the woman have nobat power, but her body was also simr to that of ordinary people¡¯s; she might even be weaker than an ordinary person. Evenpared to newbies, the physical quality of her body wasparably worse. It was hard to imagine that she had experienced escaping from dozens of secret chambers. Besides that, her weapon was quite mystifying; it was a pen.

    But this team must not lose her, not just because of her amazing wisdom.

    The secret chamber did not bestow upon her any fighting or self-protection abilities, but it gave her a skill that could defy thews of nature.

    That pen could change fate.

    ¡°Clown&#k2026;&#k2026; Damn it, is that guy dead?¡± The vampire team captain frowned as he looked at the woman in his arms. She was already unconscious. When the explosion had urred, she was standing in a bad position. Even though the vampire team captain had used his body as a meat shield for her in time, the fragile woman was instantly seriously injured. Her chest was badly mutted, and most of her body suffered from severe burns. Her legs were almost charred, and her hands suffered from different degrees of damage. If they left her aside, she would soon die.

    And just as it happened, there was nobody in their team who could treat her. The pharmaceutical drugs they usually carried in their carry-on secret chamber had little effect on such a serious injury. All the recovery props that could be used had already been smacked onto the woman.

    The vampire team captain had a high-intensity recovery skill, which made him akin to a cockroach that one could not beat to death. He only needed blood. But this skill only worked for himself.

    As for Brawny in their team, he was a yer specializing in strength. He was also a fellow with a self-healing ability, and it also only worked for himself.

    So these two guys did not need any props for medical recovery.

    And Clown was the only doctor in the team with medical experience, but...... his life or death was unknown.

    As for thest guy...... forget him.

    ¡°Captain, what can I do?¡± There were only three people left in their poor team, and Brawny looked like a man without a master.

    ¡°We can¡¯t give up on these.¡± The vampire team captain looked up at the huge tomb of the god. The series of explosions had gradually stopped, and almost all the monsters had been bombed. The budding flower buds were also scattered into pieces. Without the entanglement of the vines and the monsters, the whole tomb suddenly appeared wider and less crowded. In addition to some light emitted by fires that had yet to be extinguished, the god¡¯s tomb had be much brighterpared to the original dimness.

    And the god floating in the middle of the air was particrly conspicuous at the moment because his whole person was like a light bulb, emitting light.

    ¡°You surprised me, ants,¡± the god said as he first looked at Specter, who was closest to him.

    Specter was not affected by his skills. Although he had been standing at the center of the explosion, he was still only slightly in a mess. His hair was scattered and messy, so he put on his hood. The weapon in his hand retained the shape of a rocketuncher, and the muzzle was still aimed at the god in the air.

    ¡°You surprised me.¡± The god opened his mouth,manding the vines to lower him down, and gradually got closer to Specter.

    ¡°But it was the wrong choice,¡± the god continued, and suddenly he revealed a smile: ¡°Look around you. Because of this terrible explosion, your team retreated to the corners far away, and you are alone...... standing right in front of me.¡±

    Specter paused as if he was ready to fire.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± The god has floated to Specter¡¯s front. His ck hair shook freely like the tree vines, and even without wind, it swayed, looking like Medusa¡¯s snake hair. The hair trembled and swam towards Specter.

    ¡°It¡¯s you who should feel a sense of crisis,¡± Specter suddenly said, ¡°Nobody can survive under my gun.¡±

    ¡°You said no person.¡± The god smiled, and the smile carried hints of lunacy: ¡°But I am a god.¡±

    Specter shook his head and looked at him sadly: ¡°Fool, are you still submerged within your so-called god¡¯s dream? There are many things in the world that even the true god cannot do, let alone you, a fake god!¡±

    The god was not knocked down by Specter¡¯s words and just smiled sarcastically: ¡°I don¡¯t care if I¡¯m a true or fake god. I only understand one thing now...... As long as I kill all of you, as long as I hold power, I can seize back everything that I need!¡±

    After a pause, the god continued, ¡°I know your purpose, too. You want to leave this huge tomb, right?¡±

    Specter did not speak, but he stared at the god with widened eyes and was not willing to let his guard down.

    ¡°I can also tell you frankly that this tomb really...... has no exit.¡± The god¡¯s expression was very erratic. He seemed to feel frustrated with himself, and he very absent-mindedly smiled. However, he remained aggressive toward Specter: ¡°Since I signed a contract with the devil, he gave me the strength to build this tomb, but there were too few Yan nsmen. How could they build such arge tomb? So I searched around for a good location and found this cave that had formed naturally. ¡±

    Specter¡¯s face suddenly stiffened.

    ¡°Yes, this is a tomb built on the structure of a cave.¡± God did not know he had revealed the shocking truth. He continued to say, ¡°This cave has only one entrance, and now it has been sealed. It¡¯s also connected to an underground river, but you¡¯d better not try to go out along it because this river leads to the deep sea. You will only be washed directly into the deep sea, or maybe you will have already died due to suffocation halfway through?¡±

    Suddenly Specter felt that he did not know what to say, and a terrible thought took shape in his mind.

    ¡°And you¡¯re here to get some kind of map from me...... Is that right?¡± Godughed in a slightly crazy manner.

    ¡°You... How? ¡± Specter was truly a little shocked.

    ¡°I can tell you that the map actually just depicts theyout of the mechanisms in the tomb. There is only one ce it will finally take you to. It will lead you to the fierce underground river. The only ce you will end up is the depths of the river. You will die without a burial ce.¡±

    Specter remained silent momentarily as he gazed at the god: ¡°The secret chamber¡¯s will would never send us to a chamber without an exit.¡±

    ¡°So, the so-called devil is called ¡®the secret chamber¡¯s will¡¯ to you?¡± The god tilted his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that when the devil asked me to build the tomb, he especially reminded me to seal the entrance and exit and not to build any other exits.¡±

    Then, the god suddenly revealed a grim smile: ¡°In fact, there is a faster shortcut to send you out of this secret chamber.¡±

    Specter did not understand, so he looked at him warily.

    ¡°It¡¯d be faster if I send you to the western paradise, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± When the god said this, he suddenlyunched an attack. His thick, dense hair appeared like snakes as they attacked Specter. Specter¡¯s hand shook, the rocketuncher he was carrying on his shoulder activated by him. But as he shot, the cannon had missed its target.

    Such a result caused a trace of consternation to be reflected on Specter¡¯s face. At such a close distance, ording to the speed of itsunch, no one could escape from it! But the truth was...... the so-called god had really dodged it. With a pull of the tree vines, the cannon had merely brushed past him. Then, he quickly approached Specter and stretched out his hand toward him. His hand was as thin as a withered branch and looked extremely frightening.

    Specter¡¯s meleebat power was almost zero.

    But it did not mean that he would easily allow himself to die in closebat. If he was that weak, he would have died more than ten years ago.

    However, just as he was about to carry out certain moves, an unexpected guest appeared in front of him and helped him block the attack. Then, Specter fixed his eyes on the person and saw that it was Duan Li, who was supposed to be in the corner a kilometer away.

    This fellow¡¯s speed was too fast.

    Specter had heard of this thousand-faced man. It was said that he was a crook that often stabbed people behind their backs.

    Butter, Specter found that Duan Li never backstabbed others. Because he always charged from the front, due to his extremely fast speed, others could not see his movements clearly. Often, the person was chopped down without even witnessing his shadow, so it was often thought that he was a crook who stabbed others in the back.

    And this crook, without a fixed ce to stay, had wandered around various teams and finally settled down in a team full of strong yers.

    T/N: <del>Because Kitty is busy today, this chapter is unedited (and the edited version would be up maybe tomorrow~)</del>

    <strong>Edit [30/8]</strong>: Edited Chapter is up!

    The next chapter is a short extra chapter depicting Duan Li¡¯s experience in his previous team that had Xing Yan as team captain. Duan Li is the focal character of the next chapter. Although it¡¯s an extra chapter, the author chose to slot it at c92 because...well, it is kinda essential to the plot(?). So please look forward to it~

 Chapter 92 - Team Ghost Shadow (Extra)

    <h4>Chapter 92 - Team Ghost Shadow (Extra)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    However, no matter how strong the strong were, in the end, they still lost to the secret chamber.

    They lost at the hands of the most powerful stalker trained by the secret chamber.

    They lost miserably. They clearly had the best leader, the best yers, and the best team. Each of them was a person who hade out on top from hundreds of experts. Throughout everything, they supported each other, they considered multiple times before deciding every step they took. In Xing Yan¡¯s heart, for them to fail was absolutely impossible.

    Yes, they could not fail.

    But in the end, they still inexplicably lost. However, they clearly had reached the final step and almostpleted the final task given to them in the final secret chamber. If they had gotten through thest obstacle, they would be able to leave the secret chamber that countless people were trapped in and be.... the first humans to escape this space.

    But they failed. After they killed the enemy team, got the key to escape from that space, and killed almost all the stalkers...... thest stalker appeared.

    How hrious.

    In Duan Li¡¯s memories, it felt really hrious.

    There were five members in the team Ghost Shadow, four men and one woman. Duan Li was thest member to join. Before him, there were five members in the team, but one of them was too weak and was abandoned directly by the team captain. Shortly after that, Duan Li joined the team.

    Duan Li¡¯s team captain was a typical cold-blooded, cruel, merciless, and heinous viin. He believed and enforced the supreme truth that the weak would be easy prey to the strong in his team. All the team members must meet his first basic requirement¡ªbe strong.

    This ¡®strong¡¯ here did not definitely refer to physically strong, but having excellent physical strength was a basic criterion all members must meet. Even if one did not have to have the power to destroy the earth or sky, at the very least, they must have the ability to protect oneself, which also meant...... one must have the ability to survive, live, and actively grow stronger.

    The most foundational ability one should have in the secret chamber was to protect oneself. This could ensure that if the whole team was in a precarious situation, if all team members were too busy to help, if no one could provide timely aid, one could also effectively save oneself. Even if one could not extract oneself from a dangerous situation, they would be able to stall until the moment rescue arrived.

    When one had the ability to survive, then congrattions, only then would the team captain, Xing Yan, allow them to enter his line of sight. The second condition for them to be on his team¡¯s roster was that one must have a special strength¡ªin other words, a strength, a specialty.

    Duan Li was able to join the team because of his speed.

    In the secret chamber, all yers...... if they had sessfully passed the newbie trial, they could all obtain the exclusive weapon given by the secret chamber. This weapon was unique. ording to their physical conditions, personalities, mental qualities, and even blood or gic factors, everyone¡¯s weapon would be individually made and have an unique strength.

    Duan Li¡¯s tang sword was given to him because the secret chamber set his development orientation¡ªa chivalrous swordsman.

    Although it was true that the people in the ancient Wulin were chivalrous, Duan Li¡¯s actions were not befitting of the development orientation set by the chamber. However, he did have a Tang sword, which was also equipped with special internal mental and lightness skills. As Duan Li¡¯s abilities matured, his specialty soon emerged, which was his unparalleled speed.

    Because of this very speed, he was soon noticed by the Ghost Shadow team captain Xing Yan and recruited into the team.

    But at first, Duan Li was very reluctant.

    At the beginning when he first started to escape the secret chambers, almost all yers went in the chambers alone, but always wandering through the secret chamber alone made one feel terrible. If one day something unfortunate happened, one would die in the secret chamber alone, in a remote corner, without anyone noticing. No one woulde to save that person. How terrible would it be, for that person to die feeling lonely?

    That¡¯s right, Duan Li was also very afraid of this.

    Even though he hated crowds a lot, even if he wished to act alone forever, he still could not stray too far from crowds. That was why he always joined other teams and betrayed them¡ªsolely because he was afraid.

    So when Duan Li joined the Xing Yan¡¯s team, problems cropped up. He soon refused to cooperate, act alone, or even listen to themands and caused everyone to feel their heads ache. Then, when the conflict escted, a battle between him and the team captain was inevitable.

    Duan Li did not know Xing Yan¡¯s strength at that time. Later, he suddenly found out that this guy might be the strongest yer in the whole secret chamber.

    But the strongest was actually defeated at the hands of the stalker.

    This stalker wore ancient garb that looked very out of ce and had long, jet-ck hair. When he stood there expressionlessly, Duan Li could help but think of Xing Yan¡¯s current expression. They all had that cold-blooded and cruel expression, and they all had that kind of powerful and iparable strength.

    It was a kind of strength so powerful that he had never seen or heard about previously.

    T/N: This chapter is tranted based on the updated version after the author decided to add on more to the chapter. There wouldn¡¯t be more extras until the end of the main text after this chapter. ^^

 Chapter 93 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXIII)

    <h4>Chapter 93 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXIII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Never expose the back-row yers to the front line in a team battle.

    Tactically speaking, the back-row yers referred to those who specialized in long-rangebat, like Specter and Feng YuLan. They generally had weak defense but strong attacks. Many of them were weak in defense and possessed little melee strength, but they yed an auxiliary role...... Yes, they weremonly known as wet nurses.

    Do not look down on wet nurses. If there were no wet nurses in a team when entering a chamber...... maybe the team could win, but they might also suffer heavy losses.

    Now, the team led by the vampire team captain was miserable. Two of the team members could still move, two were missing, and one was seriously injured. This was unprecedented for them and led the vampire team captain to have a bad premonition.

    How can we win?

    The vampire team captain was holding the long-haired woman in his arms and standing next to the tall and strong Brawny. They were in the same huge tomb vault with the enemy¡¯s team, but the vault was toorge. There were many burned remains of nt monsters on the ground, and there was still a long distance to go before they could get close to the center. Therefore, the vampire team captain could only watch from afar as everything happened.

    But even if he was just watching from afar, he could see the man who imed to be a god floating in the sky. He waspletely naked, and his long ck hair extended to his feet. The hair twisted and swayed automatically even when there was no wind; in other words, such ck hair which could move by itself and was very long made people feel a little frightened just by looking at it.

    The god was supported by some vines from the big tree, and the vines ascended high and suspended him in the air. It seemed that he was fighting with someone. However, he could only see when the man raised his arm and blood red vines ¡®grew¡¯ on his arm. These vines gathered and formed the shape of a de!

    Yes, it appeared like a huge, red sickle growing on his arm. No matter how one looked at it, one would find it bone-chilling, but Duan Li, who was having a close-range battle with the god, unnaturally frowned.

    ¡°This fellow¡¯s abilities seem to be rted to nts,¡± Duan Li said, ¡°He can turn wood into a de or use flowers to nurture life. And his speed and reaction are very fast, almost the same as mine. Unless I unlock the fifth segment, I really can¡¯t surpass him in speed.¡±

    ¡°Then why not try unlocking the fifth segment?¡± Specter stood behind him and suggested, and he had already switched his weapon back to the two-pistols mode. When using the rocketuncher or simr weapons, the cannons would have a buffer time before activating. No matter how fast Specter moved, he could not hit the god, who was more flexible than a monkey, although he could not hit the other party with a light-weight pistol, either.

    ¡°Though I can do it, I¡¯m afraid the other party still has a move saved.¡± With a swing of his sword, Duan Li forced the god back a few steps and pulled Specter to retreat quite a distance from the god. After separating a certain distance from the enemy, he said to Specter, ¡°When I unleash the fifth segment, I can only use it for three seconds, and after that I will be paralyzed and unable to move for an hour. Therefore, if I don¡¯t have to, I will never use this skill because if I can¡¯t resolve all the enemies in these three seconds, I would be no different from a fish on a chopping board.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± After hearing this, Specter nodded and said, ¡°But this should be your ultimate skill. Is it alright for you to tell me that?¡±

    Duan Liughed: ¡°So what if you know? To be honest, I have never seen anyone faster than me.¡±

    ¡°What about your former captain?¡± Specter asked suddenly.

    In Specter¡¯s eyes, it was really amazing that Duan Li was willing to be a member of a certain team.

    In order to promotemunication between yers, the secret chamber had set up a ce simr to a trading market for yers to exchange information and props. However, this trading ground was only avable to senior yers. As long as one sessfully escaped the secret chamber five times, one was qualified to enter. At present, Luo Jian and Ah Lan still did not know the existence of such a ce.

    At the same time, they didn¡¯t know that there was a huge bulletin board in the trading station, which was usually used by yers to release team formation information, recruit yers, trade information, or post wanted notices for certain yers. Among these wanted yers, one could often find information about the thousand-faced man and Duan Li, so this fool had be famous without realizing, and no teams were willing to allow him to join.

    With the passage of time, the number of yers in the secret chamber had increased. There was a column of rankings on the billboard, which disyed theprehensive strength rankings of teams. Back then, team Ghost Shadow was always at the top.

    The captain of team Ghost Shadow had always been a mystery. Specter had never met that person. It seemed that Duan Li had been in that team for a while, so his curiosity could not be helped but be aroused.

    ¡°You¡¯ve met my former captain.¡± Duan Liughed, and the words that he spoke were full of implications. He nced in Luo Jian¡¯s direction inadvertently. At the moment, Luo Jian followed the stalker slowly as they headed towards Specter andpany¡¯s direction. Along the way, they swept away the monsters that were notpletely dead and wiped the ground free of them.

    Ah Lan wasparably more pitiful. He was still standing in the same ce, alone. When Duan Li had run to provide support for Specter, he had told him to remain in the same ce and not run around, so Ah Lan stood there obediently and stared at the scattered debris. Then he noticed that there was a huge corpse lying not far away from him. It was a corpse that was already scorched and lookedpletely unrecognizable. The huge monster was covered with ck ashes, and it seemingly had not died yet. asionally, it would twitch.

    Ah Lan was immediately troubled, and he thought about whether he should stab the enemy again or not. Although the monster was dying and seemed to have no strength to attack again, he was still afraid that there was a one in ten thousand chance of it happening, although he thought it might be impossible. It was not known how many people had died because they disregarded such impossibilities.

    After struggling for a while, Ah Lan decided to add another stab to it and walked towards the remains of the monster. That monster was huge...... it was more than two meters tall and had a big girth. It looked like a ball from a distance.

    It was just that the big spherical monster had been burned beyond recognition by the mes of the explosion. The ck, burnt ball was simply lying on the ground. It was notpletely dead, and its body was wriggling irregrly...... Wait! It was squirming?

    Feng YuLan¡¯s footsteps halted because he had a bit of a strange feeling.

    After a closer look, he found that the big monster seemed to have no limbs, and it was akin to a huge mass of fat. Its squirming was also strange because Feng YuLan realized that it was not the big spherical monster that was moving, but that the big monster¡¯s body seemed to have some other creatures wriggling within it......

    There was something in there.

    Aware of this, Feng YuLan was extremely vignt and suddenly realized that he was in a very unfavorable situation. He was alone now, and his other teammates were fighting with the god at a distance far away from him. Even if they were aware that Ah Lan was in danger, it would be difficult for them to find time to save him.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same as before?¡± Feng YuLan thought of when he was alone in the hidden secret chamber, and that made him a little grumpy. He opened his grimoire and walked quickly to the giant spherical monster. He had to kill this thing in its cradle before something unknown popped out of it.

    ¡°Can it be done?¡± Feng YuLan turned to ask his grimoire.

    With a rustle, his grimoire flipped through several pages, and the answer Feng YuLan needed soon appeared on it. It was a brand-new magic spell.

    The spell was not short, but it was not too long either. However, Feng YuLan was very excited because he found that this was the first time that the grimoire showed him an offensive magic spell. Compared to those magic spells he had learned before that only yed auxiliary roles, the current spell clearly excited Ah Lan more.

    But before Ah Lan memorized the spell, with a rustle, the grimoire began to flip through its pages again, and a sentence appeared on it:

    [You should remember that this is the most suitable offensive spell for you, which I had chosen from thousands of spells.]

    Magic was ssified into different kinds. For example, the spells that Ah Lan had cast before¡ªthe floating spell, small-scale enchantment spell, the spell to light a ball of light around him, etc¡ªbelonged to auxiliary magic, and not all auxiliary magic could be used by Ah Lan. For instance, a senior auxiliary magic spell that Ah Lan had seen in his grimoire previously had the following function: imprison an enemy and cause him to be unable to ¡®make any movements¡¯ for several seconds¡ªYes, this kind of magic that controlled someone also belonged to the auxiliary type, but Ah Lan could not use it at this stage.

    The use of some magic depended on the magician¡¯s physique. Some magicians were suitable for fire elemental magic, while some magicians were more suitable for ice elemental magic. Talent and physique determined whether one could learn more spells. Some magicians were born with a talent only for a certain type of auxiliary magic, and they might not be able to learn other types of auxiliary magic, not to mention other magic types.

    As for Feng YuLan, his grimoire had told him, ¡°The most suitable attack magic for you is actually a type of summoning magic.¡±

    To be a summoner?

    Feng YuLan recited the magic spell ording to the contents of the grimoire. He tried to pronounce it slowly and urately...... In fact, he did not know what he would summon. What his grimoire wanted him to aplish was to imagine and build a cold weapon in his mind...... This made him think of Duan Li¡¯s tang sword unconsciously.

    So when he finished reading the spell, he really had an extra sword in his hand.

    ¡°Hey! I say, is that the limit of summoning?!¡± Ah Lan speechlessly stared at the sword in his hand. It was exactly the same as the tang sword he thought of. He did not know if he had really summoned Duan Li¡¯s sword. If that was the case, the situation could not be worse.

    With a rustle, the grimoire continued to flip:

    [Your summoning skill is not very urate, although it was sessful for a first try, but...... Who told you to summon only one sword?! You can summon a lot of weapons at the same time, all kinds of weapons, as long as you have seen and can imagine its appearance. Besides that, you can make these weapons appear anywhere and control its direction, angle, and trajectory. For example, summon a rain of arrows on top of the enemy¡¯s head! You know what I mean?!]

    ¡°Oh? It¡¯s used in this way? It sounds pretty good...... You mean I can control this knife at will? Let it fly, for example?¡± When Feng YuLan said it, he decisively tried. He released the handle, and the tang sword floated naturally, just as he had imagined.

    Then, Ah Lan looked at the huge ball monster, waved his hand, and directed the de to fly towards the monster.

    The tang sword immediately floated high, and it was extremely fast...... it charged ahead at lightning-fast speed, and it reached there in almost a blink of an eye! It went through the body of the spherical monster! Ah Lan saw only a sh of cold light. The sword remained white when it went in and white when it came out. Even blood was not able to stain it.

    ¡°This speed...... What a surprise!¡± Feng YuLan was really shocked. The speed of this sword...... Yes, it was simply almost as fast as Duan Li! Following along with what Feng YuLan had imagined, the sword would fly itself towards wherever he wanted!

    At this time, the grimoire began to flip suddenly and started to exin:

    [If you imagine the weapon of a yer, it may have the special ability of that yer. But the premise is that you can only summon one such weapon at a time...... If you grow stronger in the future, you may be able to control more of these.]

    [But even so, your talent is still beyond my imagination.]

    T/N: Thank you so much for your Kofi, Anony! Really appreciate it~

 Chapter 94 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXIV)

    <h4>Chapter 94 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXIV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Feng YuLan controlled his sword as he imagined it cutting the monster into pieces, but just after he cut out a piece of meat, the big monster began to take on a strange shape. It seemed as if something inside had been hurt or it had sensed something dangerous. It began to wriggle vigorously.

    Ah Lan frowned and thought, Didn¡¯t I kill that thing just now?

    Ah Lan soon got his answer. He looked at the ball-shaped monster in front of him in amazement as it began to split. Yes...... it was just like an eggshell. The little life inside the egg struggled to get out. But clearly Ah Lan had used his sword to prate the ball-shaped creature before that. Why hadn¡¯t he managed to kill the thing inside?

    Soon, Feng YuLan had no time to consider this more because he found that what came out of the ¡®eggshell¡¯ was not a thing but a person!

    It was a short, naked boy who looked to be about ten years old.

    This time, Feng YuLan understood that it was no surprise that stabbing it didn¡¯t kill what was inside. It was because the boy was too thin and small. If he curled into a ball, because the de was only that big, it would be impossible to hurt the child.

    But why would the belly of a big monster contain a little boy? Where did the boye from?

    Feng YuLan had an inexplicable expression as he stared at the child. The little boy crawled out of the monster¡¯s body, soaked in blood. Since Feng YuLan had used the sword to prate the monster, he had torn a hole on the monster, which allowed the kid to crawl out.

    The boy was not wearing any clothes, and his whole body was covered with blood. It could be seen that he had short ck hair... to be precise, his hair was a little long, almost to his shoulder, but it was soaked in red blood. There was also dried blood on his forehead and cheek, and his body was caked in blood. However, one could still see that he had tender and smooth skin. But the child was too thin and small. If Feng YuLan had not seen his small thing at his crotch, he might have thought he was a little girl.

    Although the little boy was not wearing anything, he was holding onto something tightly...... It was an umbre that was red in colour.

    It was the kind of umbre with a long handle that could not be folded. Alternatively, it could also be used as a crutch. However, the red colour of the umbre was extremely bright. If blood was sshed onto it, it would frighten anyone who saw it.

    Seeing this, Feng YuLan suddenly felt a little weird; his heart trembled, and he felt his heart miss a beat.

    After the little boy crawled out of the monster¡¯s body, he did not stand up but sat on the ground directly as he held his umbre. Then, he raised his head and looked at Feng YuLan. The look in his eyes was not at all child-like. He had aplex expression on his face as if he could see through everything. Moreover, Feng YuLan found that the colour of the child¡¯s pupils was very light and grey-ck in colour. When the child remained expressionless, he appeared extremely gloomy.

    ¡°I¡¯m very happy to be able to see you again.¡± In the middle of the standoff, the boy suddenly opened his mouth. Ah Lan was caught off guard by his smile, which was very gentle. It was like facing a familiar person. It erased the gloom and indifference on the child¡¯s face.

    ¡°What?¡± Feng YuLan became more puzzled. He did not know the boy, or at least he was sure that he had never met him. So why would the other party say such a thing as if they had met before?

    What he said made Feng YuLan feel very uneasy, so he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to know who I am.¡± The boy suddenly stood up with the support of his umbre. He did not care if he exposed his entire body in front of Feng YuLan or even about the sticky blood. Instead, he took the lead in opening his red umbre. He ced the handle of the bizarre, red umbre onto his shoulders and let the umbre cover most of his face.

    However, Feng Yn, who was standing opposite the boy, was surprised to find that after the boy opened his umbre, the other party¡¯s sense of existence seemed to diminish. Yes, it was as if...... the boy disappeared suddenly, but Feng YuLan did not even notice it and had even neglected his existence...... that kind of feeling.

    Feng YuLan did not like this feeling at all. It felt as if he did not have proper control of the current situation. He was aware of the peril he was in and knew that danger was slowly creeping up on him, but he hadpletely disregarded it and even ignored it without being aware of it...... How strange for him to ignore the child.

    ¡°Ah Lan, you never saw me,¡± the boy said, and following that, he turned the umbre handle to allow the umbre to spin continuously.

    Feng YuLan appeared to be in a daze. He looked at where the boy was standing, but he seemed to have never seen the boy. His face dimmed.

    ¡°You never saw me,¡± the boy repeated as he revealed a smile under the umbre.

    ¡°Yes, I never saw you,¡± Feng YuLan repeated after him in a trance, agreeing with the boy¡¯s words, ¡°I never saw you.¡±

    The boy bounced towards Feng YuLan and circled around him. The red umbre continued to spin: ¡°You never saw me, but you¡¯re going to help me do something next. You should secretly do what I tell you to and not let anyone else know about it.¡±

    Feng YuLan remained standing in the same position. Beside him, his grimoire was still floating, and the pages were still flipping.

    The boy continued, ¡°See that huge tree over there? It¡¯s called a spirit tree. The tree is so tall you can¡¯t see the top of it. Its tree and its branches have prated the ground and rocks above. It¡¯s the exit to this secret chamber. Its trunk is hollow, and you can drill into the tree and climb up it. When you reach the top, you escape from this secret chamber.¡±

    If Feng YuLan was clear-minded, he would definitely cheer up after hearing this information. He would be so excited to inform his teammates about this. Everyone could head towards the tree and exit through it. But the problem was that Feng YuLan¡¯s mind was not clear at the moment. He had a nk expression and felt no emotions. His eyes were merely staring straight ahead.

    The boy standing over there simply smiled. His expression was really gentle and held no malice. He said, ¡°Although I would like to let you win, unfortunately, I can¡¯t let you do that now. I can¡¯t stay in this secret chamber, and I cannot be a loser.

    ¡°What I want you to do is very simple. Did Duan Li, the thousand-faced man, give you his carry-on secret chamber? Just give me the medical supplies inside. Also, do everything you can to prevent your team members from finding the exit of the secret chamber until the enemy team wins.¡±

    ¡°Let...... the enemies win?¡± Feng YuLan seemed to resist thismand, although his face remained nk and expressionless.

    The boyughed even more joyously now but was very patient. He said, ¡°Yes, let your enemies win, and after that you can lead your team out of the secret chamber. Although the punishment for failure is a little cruel, I think all of you will be able to bear it.¡±

    Feng YuLan was silent.

    ¡°Is that okay? Ah Lan, repeat what I say.¡± The boy approached Feng YuLan and lowered his voice, using an obvious coaxing tone to influence him.

    ¡°Let the enemies win,¡± Feng YuLan repeated silently.

    ¡°Yes...... Let the enemies win. So now give me your medical supplies.¡±

    Feng YuLan remained silent. He raised his left hand, which had a simple ring on his fourth finger. That was the carry-on secret chamber Duan Li had given him. Seriously speaking, Duan Li gave almost all his belongings to Feng YuLan.

    Shortly after that, Duan Li and Specter were still fighting with the god, and Luo Jian and his stalker rushed to join them. Standing at the very edge of the vault were the vampire captain of the enemy team and hispanions, who had no idea what they should do with this woman dying in their arms. At that very moment, theirst teammate appeared.

    The vampire team captain was the first one to find out. He wrinkled his nose, smelled a strong aroma of blood, suddenly turned his head, looked at an empty spot, and said, ¡°What have you been doing?!¡±

    The boy holding the red umbre revealed himself. This time, he was no longer naked and was wearing clothes that appeared extremely big on him and were not suited to his body shape. Even without pants, the hem of the clothes could cover his knees.

    In the hands of the boy was a stic bag. This modern object appeared extremely out-of-ce in the tomb and their surroundings, and it soon attracted the attention of the vampire team captain. The boy tilted his head, raised the bag in his hand, and said, ¡°I¡¯m here to deliver some hope to our saviour.¡±

    ¡°Where did you get these from?¡± The vampire team captain realized that the boy had a lot of medical supplies in his hand, and among them, some medical props might be mixed in.

    ¡°Ah, yes, where did I obtain it from?¡± The boy did not answer the question but walked slowly to the vampire team captain and motioned to the other party to put the poor, dying woman down. Although the vampire team captain did not trust the strange little boy from the bottom of his heart, he had topromise. The lives of his team members were more important, and he could not be willful.

    Heid the woman t on the ground and watched the boy take out a strange syringe from the bag. The syringe was filled with blood-red liquid. After the injection, he took out a small scalpel and began to cruelly cut flesh off the woman. The burnt flesh could only be cut off, and the rotten, inmed flesh also could not remain on her.

    The boy¡¯s movements were very skilled, and it was unknown where he had learned them. The vampire team captain had always been suspicious of the little boy who joined his team, but his strategist...... That was to say, this long-haired woman really trusted the child. So at the end of the day, even if he didn¡¯t agree, the vampire team captain epted a little boy as his team member.

    After the boy treated the woman¡¯s wound, he took out a lot of sters and other supplies from the bag and put arge amount of them on the wound. Then, he wrapped the bandage onto heryer byyer until the half of the woman appeared like a mummy.

    ¡°The medicine in the syringe is a prop to aid in cell regeneration. It¡¯s very precious. It can make her wound heal in a short time and restructure her cells and organs. But after all, she¡¯s too seriously wounded, so it will take a while for her to wake up. In the meantime, I¡¯ll be the strategist, okay?¡±

    The vampire team captain looked at the boy suspiciously and said, ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t trust you, but I want to know what you were doing before and why you are back now.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t up to much. I entered the secret chamber a littleter than you, and when I entered, I was in an awkward ce. Then, I found a poor little animal...... Oh, it was on itsst breath. Someone had cruelly cut its throat, so I saved its life.¡±

    The vampire team captain immediately frowned: ¡°Don¡¯t f*cking say such nonsense. You¡¯d better not let me find out you were doing something else!¡±

    The little boy did not answer him and lowered the edge of his umbre to cover most of his face.

 Chapter 95 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXV)

    <h4>Chapter 95 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Even before Clown joined them, the vampire captain¡¯s team was not harmonious.

    The cause of the discord within the team was the boy, who held the red umbre and gloomilyughed all day. From the first time the vampire team captain saw the boy, he had decided to find all sorts of ways to kill the strange and disgusting little boy.

    But the problem was that his strategist did not hold the same thoughts as him. The vampire team captain¡¯s strategist was the beautiful, long ck-haired woman who wore a red cheongsam. She appeared very gentle, but she was actually a very intelligent and cunning woman.

    This woman had no fighting ability, but ording to her, she was a member of a spy organization before entering the secret chamber, holding nationalities of and identities in more than ten different countries and proficient in eightnguages. Her body had been naturally too weak to bear their training, so she could not hold a gun or a knife like some soldiers, but she was a multi-faceted spy. There was only one country that she was really loyal to, and that country was represented by her cheongsam.

    The vampire team captain liked her very much. Although he knew that the identity of this woman was very unusual and that the organization behind her and the forces she represented would bring endless troubles to many people, the vampire team captain still liked her very much. He could not give her a lot, but all that mattered was that he trusted her wholeheartedly.

    But such a woman unexpectedly found a little boy in the secret chambers one day and for some reason insisted on recruiting the other party into her team, and this behaviour... was extremely strange.

    Yes, it was extremely strange.

    The vampire team captain raised his head to look up at the little boy in front of him. It was strange because they had met him when escaping from a secret chamber, but that chamber they were escaping from was not a Chaos Chamber Battlefield! Since they were not in a team battle, ording tomon sense, usually only their own team members would participate in the secret chamber. So where did the childe from? He appeared so suddenly that... it seemed extremely strange!

    The strangest thing was that when they first saw the child, they all thought he was a NPC in the secret chamber, but the child said that he was a yer and said two inexplicable sentences to his family¡¯s strategist when they were not paying attention. Because the vampire team captain regarded the woman as a treasure, he decided to trust this child of unknown origins.

    However, this could not help but cause the vampire team captain to suspect that something was wrong. He even thought that this horrifying little boy had the abilities to slightly control people¡¯s hearts, but this kid had a very low sense of existence when they escaped from any secret chamber. Once someone put their vignce down a little, one would forget his existencepletely. He felt like a stone on the side of the road.

    The vampire team captain found the reduction of the boy¡¯s sense of existence seemed to be one of his skills. In other words, no one would pay attention to him anywhere. Because of this skill, many demons and specters in the secret chamber would automatically ignore the boy. He coulde and go freely in any secret chamber as if he was in a ce with no other living creatures except for him.

    The most shocking thing was that even the secret chamber¡¯s will would ignore the child. A note would be prepared for each yer when they entered the secret chamber. This slip of paper would be pasted in a conspicuous ce so that when one woke up in the secret chamber, they would see it, but the child did not receive it......

    He did not have the note. When the vampire team captain asked him, that hateful little devil grinned, spun his red umbre, and said, ¡°Note? Oh...... Indeed, I haven¡¯t seen any for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! Unless you¡¯re not a yer!¡± The vampire team captain really wanted to scream. Where did this little devil of unknown originse from?!

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m a yer, but the secret chamber forgot to send a note to me. This is the secret chamber¡¯s problem. I¡¯m not to me for it, right?¡± The boy kept spinning his red umbre as he raised his head to gaze at the vampire team captain. The vampire team captain found that the child had beautiful ck eyes. The obsidian hue in his eyes appeared deep and mysterious, and he always carried a gentle smile. But when his face did not have a smile, it appeared slightly overcast, and because of his young age and cold temperament, the child would appear very gloomy.

    Yes, he can only be described as gloomy. He felt like a specter floating around in an abandoned cemetery. Without a permanent residence, soundlessly and motionlessly, he woulde and go without leaving any traces. Also, this child was always surrounded by an aura of despair, as if he was carrying a huge burden and had started to gradually sink into a deep abyss of despair.

    The vampire team captain did not understand why such a hateful little devil made him feel this way, but no matter what the other party experienced, he could not arouse his sympathy. He just wanted to drive this hateful little devil out of his own team or simply kill him, but he could not do such a thing in front of his strategist.

    So the poor vampire team captain could only stare at the boy in front of him, and in a fierce and vicious tone, he said angrily, ¡°Put away your damn smile and tell me everything you know!¡±

    ¡°You would be forcing me to do things against my will then, captain,¡± The little boy expressed his regret, ¡°I¡¯m not an omniscient god or prophet, but if you want to get out of this chamber, I know where the exit is.¡±

    ¡°You know where the exit is?¡± The boy always surprised people in critical moments. Yes, he would always obtain some critical information, but the problem was that he never revealed where he got it.

    ¡°Of course I know where the exit is, but the problem is that we have to get around that group of people,¡± The boy said, and pointing to the huge tree in the tomb of the god, he continued, ¡°Then, we will have to climb up from the tree, and after that, we can get out.¡±

    ¡°This tree will lead us out?¡± The vampire team captain turned to look at the damned tree in disbelief: ¡°Are you sure you are not kidding?¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not kidding, sir,¡± The little boy continued with a gentle smile, ¡°You have to trust your teammates.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t believe you.¡±

    ¡°You must believe me, sir.¡± The boy suddenly spun his red umbre. The gorgeous colour was akin to a bright red rose in full bloom. His umbre seemed to have some kind of magic power, which intoxicated people so they could not help but......

    As if he was bewitched, after a moment¡¯s hesitation, the vampire team captain stated, ¡°I must believe you.¡±

    The boy heard the answer he expected, and once again he smiled softly.

    At the other corner of the vault, when the boy holding the red umbre left, a figure swiftly appeared near Feng YuLan, and with a glimpse, it could be seen that it was Duan Li, who had been battling with the god far away. He seemed to notice something, left Specter, and returned to Ah Lan¡¯s side. With a mere nce, he saw Feng YuLan standing still in the same ce, but he still appeared to be at a loss.

    ¡°Ah Lan?¡± Duan Li went closer, grabbed Feng YuLan¡¯s wrist, pinched his cheek, and asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡±

    Feng YuLan was slow to react for quite a while. It was as if he had just realized that there was someone in front of him. Seeing Duan Li, he asked strangely, ¡°Duan Li...... Why are you here? Aren¡¯t you going to fight with that whatever-his-name-is god?¡±

    ¡°I felt my carry-on secret chamber had been triggered. Before that, I saw someone near you. Don¡¯t think that I couldn¡¯t pay attention to you when I was far away. What happened?! Who was by your side just now?¡±

    Duan Li was a little jumpy and nervous. He lifted his fox mask and began to observe his little magician carefully. He checked up and down carefully from his front to his back to ensure his little magician was not hurt.

    ¡°What are you talking about? No one was next to me just now. Hmm... But now you¡¯re next to me.¡±

    Feng YuLan was suffering inwardly. In fact, he knew that just now, there was a little boy beside him. He also gave him some medical supplies from the carry-on secret chamber, but Feng YuLan just didn¡¯t want to tell him...... No, it was not that he didn¡¯t want to say it, but there was some unknown force that stopped him from saying it.

    Heaven knew that inwardly, Feng YuLan was almost shouting wildly. He shouted, hoping that he could quickly reveal something about the boy, tell all his team members and everyone about him! Let them be wary of this strange child, who had the power to control others! But the most terrible thing was that Feng YuLan was unable to speak about it. There was a strange force that stopped him from telling the truth.

    Feng YuLan felt like he was cursed. When he wanted to express part of what had urred, he would subconsciously bypass this topic, and he would remain in a state where he wanted to expose everything but would talk about something else instead.

    Then, he began to utter something that he didn¡¯t want to say. Moreover, Feng YuLan was shocked to find that he was gradually forgetting about what happened. He began to forget about the boy. He suddenly could not remember the boy¡¯s appearance and what he had said. He only vaguely remembered that the child had a bright red umbre.

    He felt extremely helpless. He clearly realized the approaching danger but found that he waspletely overlooking the danger. He was neglecting these important things and forgetting about them. As he almost forgot them, he said to Duan Li, ¡°I¡¯m really fine; nothing happened. But as for you, is it really alright to leave Specter alone?¡±

    ¡°Specter is much more experienced than me. He can still hold on. The one I am more worried about is you.¡± Duan Li was still unable to feel at ease. His intuition told him that something must have happened. Without his knowledge, someone approached his little magician and did something to Ah Lan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, Ah Lan. Is there really nothing?¡± Duan Li approached him and rubbed Ah Lan¡¯s cheek, trying to decipher something from his little magician¡¯s expression, but what he saw let him down. Feng Yn looked very calm, to the point where Duan Li felt he was too calm. He seemed veryposed as he replied, ¡°Really, you don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡±

 Chapter 96 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXVI)

    <h4>Chapter 96 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXVI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Duan Li did not believe Feng YuLan¡¯s answers of ¡®I¡¯m very good; I¡¯m fine¡¯pletely even though he did not find any injuries or anything wrong with Feng YuLan.

    Ah Lan¡¯splexion was good. After showing a muddled expression, he smiled slightly, and his cheeks were tinted with red. He looked very happy when Duan Li was able to return to his side. He even reached out his hand to hug Duan Li¡¯s arm and rubbed his body against Duan Li.

    His ¡®rubbing¡¯ motion was full of sex appeal. Ah Lan pulled the mask off from Duan Li¡¯s head, threw it on the ground, then hooked Duan Li¡¯s neck with one hand, and stuffed one hand into his clothes.

    Something was not right.

    Duan Li squinted at Ah Lan. His little magician had always been shy. Usually, he had to tease him for a long time before receiving Ah Lan¡¯s shy response. It was hard for Feng YuLan to take the ¡®initiative,¡¯ so when he acted contrary to how he usually would, Duan Li felt even more strange.

    However, even if Feng YuLan¡¯s behavior had be more bizarre, the tofu that should be eaten still had to be eaten when Ah Lan sent himself to his door. Duan Li reached out his hand, pulled Ah Lan into his embrace, bowed his head slightly, opened his mouth, and gently bit his earlobe, and he sucked his earlobe to tease him. Following that, he said vaguely:

    ¡°Ah Lan, did you activate my carry-on secret chamber just now?¡±

    Feng YuLan felt his ears had gotten itchy, so his neck shrunk as he answered, ¡°Ah, no.¡±

    ¡°You really didn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes flickered with an inexplicable light. He leaned into Duan Li¡¯s embrace and pulled out his left hand to show Duan Li the ring he was wearing on his finger. Then, he smiled towards Duan Li and said, ¡°Look, isn¡¯t the ring in good condition? Or do you want to go into the secret chamber...... to carry out a more stringent check?¡±

    When Ah Lan said these words, the darkness in his eyes was very deep and would not fade away. His grimoire floated by his side and flipped wildly as if it wanted to express something, but neither of them had the heart to pay attention to a book.

    Duan Li was silent for a while, and after looking at Ah Lan for a long time, he finally replied, ¡°Forget it; we don¡¯t have the time for that now.¡±

    Following that, Duan Li opened his mouth again: ¡°I have to take you with me to Specter, alright? I¡¯ll be moving at a very fast speed. It may make you ufortable. Just bear it.¡±

    Duan Li realized that it was dangerous to leave Ah Lan alone, but in fact, he didn¡¯t want to take him to the center of the battle because the god had a very strange power. Duan Li was not sure whether he couldpletely suppress him. Duan Li did not want to see the enemy attack their weak point when they were not paying attention. The enemy might seize or injure Ah Lan as well.

    Because he didn¡¯t want Ah Lan to be hurt, Duan Li had left him alone and given him his carry-on secret chamber so that he could hide himself when facing a crisis, but Duan Li¡¯s decision had made him very uneasy. He did see what kind of people were around Ah Lan just now! Duan Li¡¯s speed was unparalleled in the world, but when he arrived, that person had already disappeared.

    The little magician standing in front of Duan Li looked at him nkly and mentioned that he was not aware of such a thing happening.

    F*ck his mother for not being aware of such a thing happening! Duan Li had a gloomy expression now. He changed his mask and put it on his face. He picked up Feng YuLan and turned around to meet with Specter. He knew that there was something fishy about it. There was no reason for Ah Lan to lie to him. The only possibility was that one of the enemies had a skill simr to forcing him to ¡®forget,¡¯ and likely, the enemy could manipte people¡¯s minds.

    This was the toughest type of enemy. Although Duan Li had never met him, his former leader, Xing Yan, once told him frankly that there were people in the secret chamber who had such skills that could control others, even them.

    Although they were very few in number, they all had one thing inmon¡ªthey were extremely vulnerable and unfit in battle. If one could protect one¡¯s mind from their confusion and counterattack, they could easily be knocked down.

    ording to Xing Yan, Duan Li was very suitable for counterattacking because his speed was very fast, which means his ability to cope with changes was also very fast and the speed of his reflexes should match his body¡¯s speed. Therefore, when they encountered such enemies, Duan Li should take the initiative to ept the responsibility of counterattacking.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to counterattack.¡±

    Duan Li returned to the battlefield with Ah Lan in his arms. At this time, Luo Jian and the stalker had joined the team. Although one of them was not verypetent, most of the people here had no time to care about this.

    ¡°It¡¯d be better if we defeat him sooner.¡± Luo Jian took the lead in opening his mouth. He looked at the god floating in the midair and said, ¡°When the enemy team arrives, they may make one of two choices. The first is to watch the fire safely from the other side of the river, wait for us to fight to our deaths, and reap the benefits; the second is to participate in the battle and turn it into a three-way battle.¡±

    Specter frowned and stared at the god floating in the air. It seemed that this fellow was ying with them. Sometimes, he would attack them fiercely, and sometimes, he would stay far away and treat his undead monsters as cannon fodder. They did not know what he was up to.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this situation is not easy to deal with.¡± Specter expressed their difficult position, then looked at Duan Li and said, ¡°You really can¡¯t unlock the fifth segment and cut him down in a sh?¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to be the fish on the chopping board after that.¡± Duan Li raised his eyebrows discontentedly. If he unlocked the fifth segment, he would be unable to move for an hour, and the repercussions of this were extremely hard for him to bear. Unless he was in a critical situation, he would never take such a risk.

    ¡°Then that¡¯s terrible,¡± Specter said irascibly, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fear that we would be crushed into meat patties, I would blow up the whole tomb vault.¡±

    When the two men were talking, they suddenly paused and turned to the stalker standing beside Luo Jian at the same time.

    The stalker only ced his attention on Luo Jian¡¯s body and didn¡¯t stop staring at him. Luo Jian had yet to quite adapt to his bold and unrestrained line of sight. He blushed slightly and lowered his head, but his little hand was still ced in Xing Yan¡¯s palm. The picture they formed looked very harmonious.

    ¡°What do you say about letting him restrain the god? In this way, we can also take time to deal with the enemy team. We can kill the enemy first and ask the god where the exit is.¡± Specter touched his chin as if he had some strategies in his mind. His eyes scanned the stalker up and down several times.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if he can follow our instructions.¡± Duan Li thought that this is a good strategy, but would the stalker follow the yers¡¯mands? This was obviously out of the question.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s out of the question.¡± Specter turned his line of sight to where Luo Jian and the stalker were holding hands, frowned, and said, ¡°Ah Jian, although I don¡¯t ept the kind of rtionship you have with him... cough, but when we can make use of it, we should because making good use of everything is something we have to do to survive.¡±

    Luo Jian had been listening to the team members¡¯ conversation carefully. In fact, he also understood what they were saying very well. He turned to look at Xing Yan and could only smile bitterly at Specter andpany: ¡°Truth to be told, I don¡¯t know if he will heed me.¡±

    After Luo Jian said this, the stalker suddenly let go of him and began to prove with actions that he would obey Luo Jian¡¯s orders...... Yes, he suddenly stepped out and stood in front of the god, but as he did this, he seemed very worried as he turned back to look at his little Luo Jian.

    ¡°I¡¯ll protect them. Don¡¯t worry, captain,¡± Duan Li sighed and said to Xing Yan. This sentence was heard by Xing Yan, who turned his head and looked at Duan Li. Duan Li did not know that the real Xing Yan was dead. The stalker in front of him was just wearing Xing Yan¡¯s skin and carried Xing Yan¡¯s name, but the dark soul that it contained was someone who was aplete stranger to him.

    However, this stalker named Xing Yan did inherit the original¡¯s memory which affected his personality and feelings, so he was very relieved to hear that from Duan Li. He nodded to him to show that he understood, and after that, he turned to face the god, who also gazed at the stalker.

    ¡°I can feel that you and I possess the same type of power,¡± the god said to the stalker, ¡°Your body carries the same marks. You should not be my enemy. Get out of my face!¡±

    Unfortunately, stalkers were not qualified stalkers. Most of the time, they would want to destroy almost everything, and Xing Yan had inherited this destructive desire. Suddenly, a short knife appeared in his hand, and his body seemed to rise into the air at that moment like magic as he disappeared with a sh. One second ago, he had stood on the ground, and in the next second he appeared in the air in front of the god and lifted his weapon.

    ¡°The power of that stalker... What is it?¡± Specter saw this sight and was shocked. In his opinion, this kind of speed was so fast that it was simr to teleportation. This should be something that only Duan Li was capable of.

    ¡°That¡¯s my former captain. As I said before, he is the only person I admire, the team captain of Ghost Shadow. Do you know why Ghost Shadow is called that? That is his ability. He is a killer and an assassin. That knife gives him the power of ¡®space.¡¯ He can freely shuttle through the spaces he creates, disappear from somewhere, and appear in another space instantly. Even a shadow of him will not be seen when he arrives and leaves.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why!¡± Specter had a serious expression as he began to mock: ¡°Why was the team not called ¡®Shadowless¡¯ instead?¡±

    What he said made Duan Li stunned, and under the mask, his face stiffened as if he could not think of a retort. He said regretfully, ¡°This... maybe it¡¯s better to ask him yourself.¡±

    At the side, Luo Jian was obsessed as he gazed at his stalker, but he felt regretful that he didn¡¯t use the weapon¡¯s power at all when the knife had been in his hand for a while.

    The several people were individually immersed in their feelings. Only Ah Lan, who was standing beside Duan Li, seemed to be different from the others. He had not said a word just now, and the expression on his face was still calm. Even though Duan Li still held his hand tightly, at that moment, Duan Li almost ignored his existence.

    Ah Lan¡¯s mind was in chaos now...... Oh, it was not urate to say his mind is in chaos. To be exact, his subconscious was very clear, and he even knew and remembered everything, including the boy with the red umbre. But his apparent consciousness was chaotic as if something was controlling it, influencing him to disy a behaviour far from normal.

    Inwardly, in his heart, he kept shouting and trying to break away from its shackles! He needed to tell them the truth and tell his teammates everything!

    So momentarily, Feng YuLan seemed to be able to break away from the shackles. However, when he wanted to open his mouth, his mouth remained tightly closed. His team members were still discussing in front of him, and the stalker began to fight fiercely. He could not just stand here and do nothing!

    Wake up! Feng YuLan!

    ¡°What do you want to say?¡± At this very moment, Ah Lan suddenly heard a voice in his ear. He turned around and saw the boy with a big red umbre standing beside him. Yes, he was standing beside him! To Feng YuLan¡¯s left was Duan Li, and to his right was the boy. Obviously, this should be very conspicuous; after all, the child was holding such a bright umbre, but his team members acted as if they did not see the child and collectively ignored his existence.

    Why? Why did this happen?

    ¡°They can¡¯t see me.¡± The child raised his head up, looked at him, and seemingly smiled: ¡°I am always easily ignored by others. No matter what kind of dazzling clothes I¡¯m dressed in or how conspicuous this umbre is, they will always easily neglect my existence.¡±

    Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes were fixed on him, but his mouth remained closed, and he was unable to speak.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Your current state will notst for a long time. Once you leave this secret chamber, you will return to normal, but after that happens, you will also forget me. In addition, once I control a person, I can¡¯t control him again.¡±

    The boy spun his umbre as he stood in the center of where Luo Jian andpany were. This strange sight appeared extremely terrifying. It felt as if you could see him but your friends could not, and you could not tell anyone that there was a devil-like child among them!

    T/N: Thank you so much Kitty Witty for the kofis! Really appreciate it!

    Together with tomorrow¡¯s update, an extra kofi chapter will be released. Thank you guys so much for your support!

    (PS: And sorry for thete update today; I was busy all day and only had time to upload the chapter after I¡¯m back at night.)

 Chapter 97 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXVII)

    <h4>Chapter 97 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXVII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    But at the very next moment, a miracle happened.

    In an instant, the stalker and the god exchanged hundreds of moves! However, because the stalker¡¯s identity was very special, he could only be destroyed by yers. The NPCs and props of the chambers couldn¡¯t hurt him. This became the secret chamber¡¯s mistake and a loophole it missed. As long as someone could control the stalker, he would easily be able to run amuck through all the chambers.

    Therefore, the god could not defeat the stalker, but the stalker could defeat him.

    The god was immediately heavily wounded. He realized the danger he was in, knew he needed to hide, so he instantly retreated to that huge tree.

    However, the stalker did not go after him. During the battle, he inadvertently took a look at Luo Jian and the others and suddenly found something was not right.

    A sh of bright red.

    A child¡ªa child with an umbre¡ªstood in the middle of Luo Jian and others, just beside Feng YuLan. He also stood beside Luo Jian, so he was sandwiched between them now. Ah Lan kept his head slightly lowered and seemed to be able to notice the child, but the others around him ignored the little boy. All of them paid attention to the battle between Xing Yan and the god.

    In fact, the child was also looking at Xing Yan and had even given him a smile.

    Xing Yan paused. An indescribable emotion surged up in his depressed heart. He left the retreating god and returned to Luo Jian andpany. This time, he did not continue to pay attention to Luo Jian but lowered his head to look at the little boy seriously.

    The boy did not seem to be surprised that Xing Yan could see him, or perhaps he intentionally allowed Xing Yan to do so. He remained silent for a while before saying to Xing Yan, ¡°Hello, Xing Yan. I really miss you.¡±

    There was a smile on his face, a gentle smile, but his face was very pale. Xing Yan suddenly felt ufortable. His heart was trembling, but he could not speak. He could only look at the child.

    ¡°Yan...¡± Next to him, Luo Jian tugged his sleeve. ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    After Xing Yan¡¯s sleever was tugged by Luo Jian, suddenly, his spirit returned. He raised his head and touched Luo Jian¡¯s head. Then he turned his head and looked in the direction where the boy was, but this time, the little boy had disappeared as if he had never been there.

    Xing Yan looked at Feng Yn again. Feng Yn recovered his expressionless face, but his eyes also lingered on Xing Yan this time.

    Luo Jian looked at the two of them strangely as if he was also aware of something. He nced at Ah Lan and found that Ah Lan, who was usually cheerful and always chattering, had remained silent all this time. It was strange for him to remain silent.

    Inwardly, Luo Jian felt a bad premonition. He first decided to ask Feng YuLan, ¡°Ah Lan, why are you not talking?¡±

    But Feng YuLan did not reply. He still kept his lingering gaze on Xing Yan, as if he wanted to stare a hole through the stalker¡¯s body, and he was slow to react even after a very long moment. Then, he nced at Luo Jian, smiling: ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Feng YuLan was not in a right state, and Luo Jian was able to tell instantly because they had grown up together. When Feng YuLan had some issues he was troubled with, he would always tell Luo Jian directly. He would never reluctantly smile and say he was fine. With such a character, Luo Jian was never worried that the other would hide all his troubles in his heart and drown himself with them.

    Luo Jian¡¯s first thought was that Duan Li had done something to him, so he turned his head to Duan Li and frowned, ¡°What happened between you and Ah Lan just now?¡±

    Duan Li had no intention of concealing anything. He revealed what he saw, what he thought, and what he deduced. He said he saw a figure around Ah Lan previously and realized that his carry-on secret chamber was triggered, but Feng YuLan himself said that he was not aware of it.

    ¡°You mean, you think there is a person in the enemy team who can control others? Also, he might have left Ah Lan with several hints or something simr to that?¡± When Specter listened to them, he seemed to feel that this was a tricky matter to resolve. Therefore, he had a deep frown on his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m not being controlled,¡± Feng YuLan interrupted abruptly, but several people around him merely eyed him and ignored what he said. Duan Li rubbed Ah Lan¡¯s soft hair and brought him into his arms.

    ¡°From now on, I won¡¯t let you be alone, and I will never let you move a step away from me,¡± Duan Li said to him.

    ¡°I¡¯m not being controlled; I¡¯m not!¡± Feng YuLan whispered as he continued to emphasize that.

    But everyone ignored his protests.

    After Specter and the other people discussed their next step, they decided to let the stalker remain here and continue to monitor the god¡¯s movements while the rest of them would go to meet the enemy¡¯s team together. However, this decision waster overturned because Specter thought that it would be better for the stalker to have another person to watch over him. After all, he was a stalker. He could notmunicate with other people except for Luo Jian.

    So, Luo Jian was left behind with Xing Yan.

    ¡°I think Ah Lan should also stay.¡± Specter still felt a little dissatisfied and turned around to see Feng YuLan, who was behind Duan Li.

    Duan Li was not reluctant at all and stood up straight to block Specter from looking at Feng YuLan: ¡°I have promised to stay by his side all the time.¡±

    ¡°Alright, as long as you can protect him well.¡± After thinking for quite some time, Specter gave in, so the whole team was divided into two. Luo Jian still followed the stalker, while Specter¡¯s group of three people was responsible for killing the enemies who were in the way.

    Looking in the direction they were heading... it appeared as if their team¡¯s goals had diverged. At least Luo Jian still had Xing Yan standing beside him as he gazed at the backs of his severalrades leaving. Inwardly, he still felt uneasy.

    But now, Luo Jian didn¡¯t know that his best friend Feng YuLan was also in a state of extreme panic although on the surface, he did not show such emotion.

    The little boy holding the red umbre was still following him!

    Duan Li held Ah Lan¡¯s hand as Ah Lan followed behind him earnestly. The child stood there by Ah Lan¡¯s side. He was holding an umbre and followed Ah Lan with small steps. Before this, Feng YuLan found that the stalker named Xing Yan seemed to be able to see the child, but the stalker could not speak or give their team a better hint. Also, the stalker seemed to see the little boy only for that moment, and after that, he could no longer see him.

    He could not see that the child was still standing among them.

    It seemed that the speed with which Duan Li brought Ah Lan away was too fast, and the little child could not catch up with them at all. The boy bounced up and down as he chased them, and he reached his hand out to grab Ah Lan¡¯s finger. The child¡¯s hand was very soft and small, and Ah Lan can feel his temperature clearly, which proved that the child was not a ghost or a soul right now. He had a corporeal body and physical temperature.

    ¡°Here we are.¡± When Ah Lan was in a daze, he heard the boy whispering beside him. Then, he came face to face with several people. It was the group of enemies. The vampire team captain still held the scarred woman in his arms, and following behind them was the tall and strong-looking Brawny.

    The two teams were now at a standoff.

    ¡°Ah Lan, you should know that Duan Li and I... and the big brother with the gun, nicknamed Specter, both of them have the title of Oracle. With theirbined strength, they should have an upper hand against the enemies, and we will definitely win the face-off.¡±

    The boy began to talk as he grabbed Ah Lan¡¯s clothes and hugged his arm. Feng YuLan heard him, but what surprised him was that there was a subtle pause in the boy¡¯s words.

    Somehow, Ah Lan suddenly calmed down.

    Since the boy had appeared, he had fallen into a spiral of panic and was caught in a flux of terrible emotions. He could only feel that he was in a deep quagmire of distress. The more he tried to climb out, the deeper he fell and the more helpless he would be. However, after panicking for some time, Ah Lan calmed down and began to think.

    If one deliberated about it, one would find the child very strange.

    Ah Lan inwardly thought that the child¡¯s identity, origin, and every word he said now seemed so strange in retrospect. In other words, he had never seen him anywhere before, but the child knew his name. The child knew everyone in their team. In fact, he not only knew them but also understood them to a certain extent.

    For example, Duan Li had given his carry-on secret chamber to Feng YuLan. Other than the two of them who were involved, nobody else in their team, including Luo Jian and Specter, were aware of it. However, when Ah Lan saw the little boy for the first time, the other party knew about it. He knew that there was a carry-on secret chamber with Ah Lan, and he knew that it was Duan Li who had given it to him.

    It was strange that the little boy was clearly the enemy but only took away some medical supplies from the carry-on secret chamber, returning the other supplies to Ah Lan intact. He did not cause any substantive damage to Feng YuLan, except for controlling his consciousness using some sort of inexplicable power.

    Of course, this was not the weirdest part. What was really weird was that this child seemed to move and act in a manner that was hard to put into words.

    Because the little boy had said this just now: ¡°Both of them have the title of Oracle. With theirbined strength, they should have an upper hand against the enemies, and we will definitely win the face-off.¡± It was a strange thing for him to say, wasn¡¯t it? Feng YuLan had thought so. As for the strangest part? Well, shouldn¡¯t this little boy be his team¡¯s enemy? Why did he naturally assume that ¡°we will definitely win¡± and unconsciously put himself in the same camp as Ah Lan and others as if he belonged to their team?

    Just who was this fellow?

    As Feng YuLan considered this, he felt his fear spike. He tried to recall as to whether he had seen the little boy before. But after going through all his memories, he felt even more certain about one fact: Feng YuLan had never seen the boy before! He did not have any impression of him, but why did the other party know him?

    Following this line of thought, the boy also said some strange things before as well, such as ¡°I¡¯m very happy to be able to see you again¡± and ¡°although I would like to let you win, unfortunately I cannot be a loser,¡± and he even told the stalker something even stranger: ¡°I really miss you.¡±

    Wasn¡¯t that creepy? What person would say that to someone they met for the first time? Adding onto the fact that this fellow was the enemy, why would he say those things to them? Feng YuLan thought that even if his brain was destroyed from thinking, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to understand what the hell was going on! Where on earth did this little rascale from?!

    But one thing he was certain of now was that the child did not seem to hold much malice towards them.

    Because at this very moment, when the two teams were having a standoff, Duan Li was standing far away from Ah Lan, but the little boy, as always, followed him closely. He still hugged his arm and analyzed the current situation for Ah Lan.

    ¡°The pale-looking guy dressed like a vampire has an ability simr to that of a vampire. He is the captain of the current team I¡¯m in. To be honest, I don¡¯t think he is very useful. Although he is very good at fighting. However, in the secret chamber, a lot of times you can¡¯t solve the problem just by fighting.¡±

    The little boy was hugging Ah Lan¡¯s arm, and Ah Lan stood expressionlessly far away from the battlefield. Duan Li was standing in front and looked back from time to time to see if he was honestly standing there. The enemy team members standing opposite them did not seem to notice the existence of the little boy, and only the vampire team captain stood there fighting alone while Brawny stayed beside them, crouching next to the injured woman.

    ¡°As for that stalwart Brawny,¡± The little boy continued to talk to Ah Lan, ¡°He is very quiet but is actually a good person. However, he is rtively honest and has few opinions. I don¡¯t know how he survived in the secret chambers before he formed a team with the others.¡±

    Facing the little boy as he spoke incessantly, Ah Lan still did not reply. In fact, he couldn¡¯t open his mouth because in everybody else¡¯s eyes, there was no one around him at the moment. He couldn¡¯t face the empty space and talk to himself, and he couldn¡¯t shout for the rascal to shut up for him.

    ¡°You must be irritated with me and want to shut me up.¡± To Feng YuLan¡¯s surprise, the little boy easily guessed Ah Lan¡¯s intention now, but he was not angry. He even wore with a smile: ¡°Don¡¯t think this way. I just want to talk to you.¡±

    Feng YuLan side-eyed the boy, only to find that he was smiling dazzlingly.

    Instead of looking at Ah Lan, the boy looked at the woman who was lying on the ground and continued, ¡°There is also a woman who is the strategist in this team, and her ability is rtively rare. Her weapon is a pen and a small notebook that she can write in. The words she writes with that pen can be ¡®real,¡¯ which means that the things she writes with the pen wille true. This ability seems to defy thews of nature, but there are also great limitations to it. This ability causes her to no longer hold anybat abilities, and her physical fitness is even weaker than that of ordinary people.¡±

    The boy¡¯s words attracted Feng YuLan¡¯s attention. He focused on the woman.

    ¡°She¡¯s the key to our victory in this team battle.¡± As the boy said this, he softly sighed and suddenly released Feng YuLan¡¯s arm. He stood up straight, and he took something out from somewhere unknown. Ah Lan looked carefully at what he had taken out and found that it was a ck ear stud.

    ¡°Your ears were pierced, I remember.¡± The boy looked at Ah Lan. ¡°When you were in middle school, you liked those actors with great temperaments. You thought they were very handsome when they wore ear studs, so you decided to try it, too, on your left ear.¡±

    Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes widened at that moment, and he could not believe it. He seemed to think back to something. As he gazed at the boy¡¯s face, he was a little shocked, and a part of him inside trembled. At that moment, Ah Lan seemed to be able to break free from his shackles. He murmured, ¡°Could it be... You are...! ¡±

    But before Ah Lan finished speaking, the boy suddenly drifted up. He floated to Ah Lan¡¯s left side and lifted his hair to put the ear stud on for him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make guesses. Also, don¡¯t say what you know. Forget me.¡± The smile on the boy¡¯s face disappeared, and he no longer looked at Ah Lan. He kept spinning his red umbre with his head lowered: ¡°You must lose this team battle, for fate has decreed that you must face this loss.¡±

 Chapter 98 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXVIII)

    <h4>Chapter 98 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXVIII)</h4>

    Thank you Anony & Kitty Witty for the Kofis ¨CBonus Chapter

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Sister Hua, are you awake?¡± Brawny asked in a low voice as he stood guard by the woman¡¯s side. On the other side of the battlefield, the vampire team captain stood alone in front of his team members, facing Duan Li and Specter. Without a word, the two parties started a chaotic battle. At this time, the woman, who was closely protected by her two team members, woke up.

    The poor long-haired woman was in terrible condition. Her whole body was tightly wrapped like a mummy. She suffered from burns onrge areas of her body, and continuous pain and the failure of several internal organs made it hard for her to breathe.

    Half of her face was also wrapped. Only one of her eyes was exposed, and it slowly opened as she looked at the only team member beside her: ¡°Ah Jie... Where¡¯s the captain?¡±

    The brawny man named Ah Jie raised his head up to look at the vampire team captain who was not far away from them. His usual expression of seriousness and calmness revealed a sad expression: ¡°We are now in a very disadvantageous situation.¡±

    The woman seemed to take a deep breath, but this action caused her to feel breathless instead. She said briefly, ¡°Now... Tell me what urred.¡±

    Brawny had to exin all the things that happened after she was seriously injured and in aatose state, especially about the little boy. In fact, although this stalwart man named Ah Jie had been following the team earnestly, he was also suspicious of the child of unknown origins in his heart even though he would never interfere with the decisions the strategist made for the team.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; we won¡¯t lose.¡± The woman started to breathe at a fast pace. Her entire body could hardly move and she was in a mess, but she was stillughing: ¡°The child had sent some intelligence to me previously; he was the first to enter the tomb of the god, doing so before anyone else, and held a short conversation with the ¡®god.¡¯¡±

    Brawny did not seem to understand what the woman said. His face was full of doubts.

    The woman knew that although Brawny was very strong, he was somewhat slow-witted and it was usually hard for him to think flexibly. She could onlyugh and say bluntly, ¡°Don¡¯t you always think that this wimpy kid of unknown origins cannot be trusted? Ah, actually I thought so too, but he seems to have the ability to control or hypnotize others...... Cough, cough...... Let¡¯s call his ability hypnotism for the time being...¡±

    ¡°Hypnotism...?¡± The strong man stopped and nced at the woman, slightly worried: ¡°Sister Hua, have we all been hypnotized by him?¡±

    ¡°You are not... Cough... But I should have been, although I don¡¯t remember it myself.¡± The woman started to cough badly. She sucked in a breath again and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry; that kid doesn¡¯t hold much malice toward us for the time being. Instead, we can make use of his ability. You know, he can not only hypnotize the yers but also all kinds of creatures in the secret chamber, regardless of whether they are monsters, stalkers, or NPCs...¡±

    ¡°Sister Hua... You mean...¡± These words seem to make Brawny realize the situation clearly. He nced at the woman who was lying on the ground.

    ¡°The child also has a skill to reduce his sense of existence...... In fact, that does not mean that he disappears. I estimate that... it may also be a kind of hypnotism which makes people ignore his existence when they see him. This ability is also effective against any type of creature.¡±

    The woman began to find it harder to breathe and started coughing again. Brawny had to rush forward to help her consume a bottle of unknown liquid. That made her calm down and take a long breath before she continued, ¡°When I realized that I was hypnotized, I began to secretly investigate the child. You know that I belong to the spy organization in reality&#k2026; Truthfully, even after gathering all kinds of intelligence, I still know nothing about that child. I found that hepletely does not have any identity. In reality, he is equivalent to nonexistent.

    ¡°But let¡¯s not talk about that right now. Since his ability is a good fit for our team, I asked him to explore the main vault of this tomb in the beginning, sessfully find the god¡¯s tomb vault, hypnotize the NPC in it, and find out the location of the secret chamber¡¯s exit.¡±

    ¡°In other words, you know where the exit of this secret chamber is?¡± Brawny was slightly excited.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know... He hasn¡¯t told me... Before he had the chance to tell me, I¡¯ve already be like this...¡± The woman frowned and tried to move her arm: ¡°My injuries are too serious; I won¡¯t be able to move at all. I can hardly even use my skills now.¡±

    At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out beside the woman and Brawny. Someone slowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry; you will get better after escaping from this secret chamber.¡±

    The two people turned their heads over at the same time. It was not known when the little devil holding the red umbre had popped out. He floated in the air and didn¡¯t even need to walk. All along, he had always been floating here and there.

    ¡°Your wisdom is beyond my imagination.¡± The little devil smiled but honestly began to exin the intelligence he had gotten: ¡°I have finished what you entrusted to me previously. The exit is on that big tree, but there is a trigger condition¡ªit also requires us to have a key, which is the love token of the god and the ghost, a jade pendant divided into two.¡±

    ¡°Jade pendant......? Are all the maps we collected before done in vain? ¡± The woman seemed a little annoyed.

    ¡°The map is for us to find the right direction in thisbyrinth-like chamber so that we don¡¯t die in the mechanisms. But the main point is that the NPC, who is called a ¡®god,¡¯ has half of the jade pendant.¡±

    ¡°And the other half?¡± Brawny interrupted and inquired.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s a love token, one of the halves is with the god while the other half is with the ghost!¡± The little devil holding the red umbre revealed his ferociousness. After that, he gazed at a person standing far away from him. It seemed as if he was looking at a particr person, and shortly after that, he continued, ¡°Haven¡¯t you been to the ghost¡¯s tomb vault before? Wasn¡¯t there an enemy posing as the ghost¡¯s corpse, feigning death in front of you? Since he could pretend to be the ghost, he will naturally obtain his identity, too. It is likely that half of the jade pendant is with him.¡±

    ¡°Clown went after him but didn¡¯t return, so... was he killed?¡± The woman paused, and her face turned gloomy: ¡°That guy is worthless!¡±

    ¡°Sure, Clown is worthless, but I am useful.¡± The little devil still maintained his brilliant smile. He suddenly took out half of a jade pendant from his clothes and swung it in front of the woman and Brawny.

    ¡°Is this...?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to save Clown but didn¡¯t manage to do so. Instead, I saved the enemy, and in return, I took this from him.¡± The boy shook the jade pendant in his hand. It was green and round. Although it was only half of the jade pendant, it was invaluable: ¡°Besides that, I used another fake jade pendant and looped it around the enemy¡¯s neck. If they use the fake jade pendant to confront the god, there will be a good y to watch.¡±

    After a moment¡¯s silence, the woman suddenly smiled and looked at the little boy. ¡°Should I say that I admire you very much?¡±

    The boy replied with a smile, ¡°You have to admire me.¡±

    The happenings in the secret chamber began to head in an unpredictable direction, of which Luo Jian unknowingly became the key.

    He and the stalker remained at the god¡¯s side, trying to pry the information of where the exit was from the god¡¯s mouth. Truth be told, they almost achieved it because after all, Luo Jian still held the identity of the ghost, and the god won¡¯t hurt him. As long as he swaggered in front of the other party, the god would naturally soften his attitude.

    ¡°Can you tell me where the exit is?¡± Luo Jian asked again and again. The young god, who had previously floated in the air, swooped down and stood in front of Luo Jian. His expression was very gentle as he looked at Luo Jian.

    ¡°You are very much like him,¡± the god said as he looked at Luo Jian with his head tilted, and he even reached out to touch his cheek, making the stalker standing in the distance to frown.

    The stalker had to stand far away because as long as he was near them, the god would never hold a proper conversation with them. He would quickly escape from the stalker and retreat towards the direction of that big tree. Later, the stalker found that the huge tree was set as a prop that ¡®couldn¡¯t be destroyed in any way¡¯ by the secret chamber. This made the stalker, who was infamous for destruction, helpless.

    ¡°Your man is already dead,¡± Luo Jian tried to persuade the god, ¡°and you shouldn¡¯t waste your time here.¡±

    ¡°But the devil who signed the contract with me told me that as long as I killed the ¡®yers¡¯ in the tomb, my man will be able to revive!¡± The god was obviously excited.

    Luo Jian shook his head helplessly: ¡°But you don¡¯t know whether the resurrected one will still be him. Maybe they will resurrect something else, and you may very well hug an illusion as you live your life with him!¡±

    ¡°What do you know?!¡± He suddenly got agitated and looked at Luo Jian ferociously. He pinched his cheek with his hand as he inched closer to him. His entire face grew in Luo Jian¡¯s sight. The look that the god gave him was extremely frightening: ¡°Your beloved is not dead, but if you lose him one day, what will you do!? As long as there is a little hope, even if it is false, you will definitely lunge towards it... and achieve it by any means!¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart twitched for a moment, and he suddenly thought that if the stalker died one day or disappeared... He closed his eyes and did not dare to continue thinking about it. He thought it was impossible. The stalker was so powerful there would never be such a day. It would be impossible for it to happen.

    But the god seemed to see Luo Jian¡¯s wavering will and smiled: ¡°Even if his being able to resurrect is nothing but an illusion, I would rather hold onto this dream for the rest of my life. Without him, the world is extremely terrifying, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°This is but your personal thoughts.¡± Luo Jian took a deep breath, shook off the god¡¯s hand that was pressing onto his face, and replied, ¡°I¡¯m not as vulnerable as you. If my lover is dead and I cannot save him by using all the means I have, I¡¯d rather die with him. I would rather not shrivel in this dark tomb or hope for aughable illusion.¡±

    The look in Luo Jian¡¯s eyes was extremely firm. He turned back to look at the stalker standing in the distance, and the stalker gently gazed at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian turned to the god again and said, ¡°If I love someone, I will hope he is well and alive in the world. Even if at the very end, he does not belong to me, as long as I am sure that he is alive and happy, I will be very satisfied¡ªalthough I say this, I am very possessive, so I¡¯m afraid that even in death, I will not allow him to escape from my grasp.¡±

    ¡°Young god, do you really want to pursue a hopeless dream in this tomb forever?¡± It seemed that Luo Jian had regained his confidence, and he was now in high spirits. However, the god in front of him still seemed to be stubborn and shook his headughingly. Almost as if he were feeling sorrowful, he said, ¡°You still don¡¯t understand what I¡¯m thinking. Since the devil could help me build such arge tomb and bestow upon me such powerful abilities, why can¡¯t he revive my lover? Why do you think that I¡¯m chasing after a hopeless dream? ¡±

    ¡°You just don¡¯t understand that the secret chamber will not revive anyone!¡± Luo Jian clenched his fist. In that very instant, he almost lost all sense of sanity. Luo Jian had not experienced much in the secret chambers unlike those senior yers, but he understood this truth. The secret chamber truly would never revive anyone. As for those yers who turned into monsters, there was nothing to be said about them. Even if they could regain their yer identity, could they still remain sane? As for stalkers, inside their bodies, there may bepletely different souls born within the darkness, just like the current Xing Yan. The real Xing Yan had died, and the one who had be a stalker was actually another person.

    And as for who Luo Jian had fallen for, he was but a soul born within the darkness that had crawled out of the dark and bottomless abyss. He was a soul that did not know where he was born from.

    After that, Luo Jian also obtained a lot of information from his paternal cousin, Specter. The secret chamber would never force yers to a dead end, but sometimes, one was afraid that they would rather die than walk on the other path given by the chambers.

    Therefore, to supposedly resurrect someone, one must pay a very heavy price, and the price may even be unbearable. Now, Luo Jian could almost visualize how the NPC ended up in the secret chamber. He was the NPC that the secret chamber deliberately ced here to stop the yers from moving forward. He lived to be killed by others and to allow others to pick up items from him, like the BOSS in games. He could also possibly be treated as a tool that would be refreshed!

    His obsession, which hadsted for a thousand years, was nothing more than a ything that could be destroyed with a wave of his hand.

    ¡°If you continue waiting here, the result of it will just be you waiting to be killed over and over again. When we¡¯re gone, the next group of yers wille. Then you will die, wake up, wait, and die again. Even if you wait for thousands and tens of thousands of years, you won¡¯t be able to wait until your so-called lover arrives!¡±

    The god¡¯s expression froze. He stared at Luo Jian silently for a long time, and then he said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡±

    Luo Jian was angry. He did not understand why this man did not understand. His fists were so tightly clenched and just when he wanted to say something, the god interrupted him and said, ¡°Even if I believe your words, what can I do?¡±

    Luo Jian was stunned. He heard the god continue to say, ¡°Even if I believe your words and even if I know that what I have been chasing for so many years is just an illusion, what can I do? So what if you told me? Can you help me? Can you help me to get out of here? Can you break my contract with that devil? Can you allow him and I to meet again? Hahaha... You can¡¯t, that¡¯s right! Of course you can¡¯t, so I can only remain here for the rest of my life to fight with other yers and fulfill my agreement with the devil!¡±

    Then, the god ferociously stretched out his ws towards Luo Jian. With a pale face, Luo Jian saw the god go berserk. It was obvious that the other party did not intend to let Luo Jian live, but at the next moment, the stalker appeared beside Luo Jian. With a swing of his knife, his knife stabbed right into the god¡¯s chest.

    This was the moment he had been waiting for.

    Luo Jian gasped for air for quite some time before he was able to calm down. He nced at the stalker who had thrust a knife straight into the god¡¯s heart. The stab was clean and neat, so within moments, the poor god breathed hisst. He died simply, without grandiose struggling, and just with a simple stab, he had passed away.

    Before dying, the words he murmured drifted into Luo Jian¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Luo... Luo... No matter how many years, I will... wait for you......¡±

 Chapter 99 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXIX)

    <h4>Chapter 99 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXIX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Why did you kill him? We haven¡¯t gotten an answer from him on where the exit is yet.¡± Luo Jian knelt on the ground and started to gasp. He felt as if something was blocked in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

    The stalker did not speak. He tugged away his knife, found something on the god¡¯s body, and handed it to Luo Jian. Luo Jian fixed his eyes on it and saw that it was half of a jade pendant, which looked familiar. Luo Jian stared at the jade pendant for a long time before taking out the other half of it from his bosom. He had found one of the halves in the coffin at the ghost¡¯s tomb. He tried to put the two jade pendants together, but strangely, the halves did not fitpletely, leaving gaps between, and the patterns on them were not the same.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be the same piece?¡± Luo Jian did not consider the fact that his jade pendant might have been reced. He thought it was still the same piece as before. Since the stalker could not exin it to him, Luo Jian did not pay attention to it despite knowing that it might be a key prop or something simr to it, and he decided to keep them both.

    Now that the god was dead, Luo Jian thought that next thing they should do was to report the current situation to his teammates. He reached for the stalker squatting beside him and wanted to stand up with the aid of his strength, but just when he was getting up, he felt dizzy and could see specks of white snow blooming in his sight. In addition, he felt it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with me... I...... ¡± Luo Jian could hardly speak and felt very suffocated. The stalker sensed his abnormality and hugged his waist to allow him to rest on the stalker¡¯s body. However, the stalker also felt powerless. In fact, he understood the predicament Luo Jian was in, but he could not open his mouth to tell Luo Jian that even his team members could not help him. Luo Jian must understand this.

    But Luo Jian being Luo Jian, although his brain was dizzy due tock of oxygen from the suffocating feeling and he did not know where such strange feelings of poor health surged from, he soon came toprehend the reason. He whispered, ¡°Was it because of the ¡®god¡¯s¡¯ death? Because I¡¯m the ghost.¡±

    There were two NPCs in this secret chamber. One was the god. His identity could not be reced. The other was the ghost. Since the ghost was dead since the very beginning, one could obtain his identity by obtaining the props from his corpse. Simrly, if one did not want his identity, one could throw away the props to get rid of this identity.

    ¡°However, the ancient garbs that have been put on me have been thrown away, and jade pendants and the other key props can¡¯t represent his identity...¡± Luo Jian began to analyze his situation, but he could not figure out the reason. He raised his head to look at the stalker and said, ¡°You are... Why did you give this identity to me...? ¡±

    The stalker began to shake his head, and following that, Luo Jian¡¯s eyes widened as he gazed at the stalker: ¡°Or could it be that you didn¡¯t give the identity to me? Was my identity set as the ¡®ghost¡¯ by the secret chamber from the beginning?¡±

    Sometimes the secret chamber would also impose an identity on the yer, and once the identity was imposed, it could not be changed. This was something the secret chamber mandated¡ªthat the yer hold the identity. A mandated identity could not be removed. Until one escaped from the secret chamber, that identity would always be imposed upon the yer.

    ¡°As soon as the god dies, the ghost will start to go berserk?¡± Luo Jian felt even more suffocated as time went by. His entire body was leaning against the stalker while the stalker held him tightly.

    ¡°It¡¯s not very logical. It¡¯s clear that the ghost is dead, so why would his feelings be reflected onto me?¡± Luo Jian tightly grasped the stalker¡¯s clothes, finding that he had started to cry unknowingly. The tears came forth abnormally. Obviously, there was nothing that was making Luo Jian feel sad, but he strangely still felt sad, causing his tears to flow down unceasingly.

    Xing Yan found that his family¡¯s little Luo Jian was crying, so he brought Luo Jian¡¯s entire body into his embrace and rubbed Luo Jian¡¯s cheek against his tofort him. However, the result of Xing Yan doing this was not very sessful. Tears were still gushing down Luo Jian¡¯s face, and he still felt his heart twitching. He felt very ufortable. His emotion was subtly transmitted to the stalker, and that made Xing Yan feel very distressed.

    Clearly Luo Jian belonged to Xing Yan, so why was he sadly crying over what happened to others?

    Xing Yan was very upset. He bowed his head and bit Luo Jian¡¯s lips.

    At another corner.

    The vampire team captain¡¯s ability had fallen short of his expectations in the face of the two oracles¡¯ attack. He felt that the two enemies were ferocious to a terrible extent, which was reflected by not only their strength but also their cooperation. He was now in a dangerous situation. Two experienced and extremely powerful guys were cooperating against him, rendering the vampire team captain powerless. He felt that his life might have to end here.

    ¡°Captain!¡± At this time, Brawny, who was standing behind the vampire team captain, shouted something that made everyone feel confused: ¡°Time is up!¡±

    But this sentence seemed to restore the confidence of the vampire team captain. He smiled and blocked a collective attack from Duan Li and Specter. Then, he backed away quickly from the battlefield and rapidly returned to his team member¡¯s side. At this time, the female strategist in their team had woken up. Although her not being able to conveniently move was quite burdensome, the vampire team captain almost jumped for joy.

    ¡°Yan Hua... How are you doing?¡± The vampire team captain asked carefully.

    ¡°There are changes in our action n.¡± The woman wanted to save her breath, so she issued a shortmand: ¡°Let¡¯s retreat. Do not continue fighting with them. With our strength, we cannot beat the enemies.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± The vampire team captain looked at the two oracles, who were advancing towards them. Duan Li and Specter would not stop attacking just because the vampire team captain had temporarily ceased attacking them. Since the enemy wanted to run, the best thing they should do was to continue with their triumphant pursuit.

    ¡°I know someone will naturallye and hold them back.¡± The woman did not seem to worry about it and showed a soft smile. Since she was very beautiful, she almost dazzled the vampire team captain, who was suffering from an unrequited love towards her.

    Just as the female strategist said, when Duan Li and Specter were about to continue with their pursuit, two figures suddenly appeared. They had no choice but to stop pursuing them since there were two unexpected guests on the battlefield. Also, it was obvious that they came for the two oracles.

    Yes, the ones who appeared were the remaining two stalkers. There would be four stalkers because of the participation of the oracles in the team battle. Apart from Xing Yan and the one who had been killed by Duan Li, there were only two left. They had not appeared so far, but they appeared at this critical juncture now.

    These two stalkers seemed to be the rare ones that would act together. After all, almost all of the stalkers were unique, so it was rare for them to act together. Moreover, they were simr in appearance. They may have been rtives before they became stalkers, and even their weapons were simr. Both of the stalkers had boxing gloves as their weapons.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a coincidence that these stalkers are here, isn¡¯t it?¡± The vampire team captain seemed to be surprised by this, but when he thought of the woman¡¯s ability, he felt a little relieved and urged, ¡°What are we going to do next?¡±

    The woman merely smiled: ¡°Let¡¯s walk towards that huge tree and head towards the exit. Someone will help us to get the keyter.¡±

    ¡°Do you know where the exit is?¡±

    ¡°Of course I know.¡±

    So the vampire team captain carried the woman and led her to the huge tree trunk while Duan Li and Specter were held back by the two stalkers that had popped out of nowhere. Such a situation made Specter andpany feel that something was not right. Specter opened his mouth and said, ¡°Duan Li, chop down these two stalkers quickly. No matter where the enemies are heading, we must stop them!¡±

    ¡°Will these stalkers heed my wishes and let me chop them?!¡± Duan Li yelled indignantly. These two stalkers were different from those they had met before. They worked together very well when attacking and were able to cooperate seamlessly. It could be seen that when they were yers before, the two of them could be counted as the very best yers. Moreover, the ck boxing gloves on their hands carried freezing properties, which could reduce the sensory and movement speeds of their enemies. This was Duan Li¡¯s natural enemy! When he wielded the sword, he felt that even his hand was covered with ayer of frost, and that rendered him unable to move.

    Specter was doing slightly better than him, but he also almost lost somebat effectiveness. Because of the frost, it was hard for him to even control where he aimed his gun!

    ¡°F*ck, at this time, it¡¯d be good if there was some fire¡ª¡±

    ¡°Summoning spell¡ªspark that sets the prairie aze.¡± While the two were at a loss, Feng YuLan suddenly appeared, began to summonrge areas of mes, and used the corpses of the monsters on the ground as fuel to allow the fire to rapidly spread. Seeing this, Specter seemed to think of a good idea. He began to bombardrge areas of the monster corpses around them. Soon, raging fires broke out onrge patches ofnd around them. The high temperature reduced certain levels of the threat posed by the icy frost from the two stalkers standing opposite them.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice to have a magician in the team.¡± As Specter carried his guns, he seemed to be very satisfied with Feng YuLan.

    ¡°I need to find Luo Jian.¡± However, they were caught unprepared when Feng YuLan inexplicably blurted that out. His sudden request caused Duan Li and Specter to feel strange.

    ¡°What are you going to do with him?¡± Specter questioned: ¡°We have to deal with these two stalkers now before catching up with the enemies. Although we don¡¯t know what they want to aplish, if we let them find the exit first, we will lose this team battle.¡±

    Perhaps he knew that they would not allow his request, but Feng YuLan did not say much to rebuke. He replied to Specter with ¡°I know.¡± After that, he retreated and continued to watch the battle. The two stalkers may not win this battle, but they were more than enough to hold them back.

    ¡°You have to find Luo Jian.¡± At a ce nobody could see, the little devil holding the red umbre remained standing next to Feng YuLan. After he separated from his team, he returned to Ah Lan¡¯s side and decided to make use of him to get the other half of the jade pendant.

    ¡°I have to find Luo Jian...¡± Feng YuLan had a gloomy expression. His grimoire floated nearby him, and the pages stopped flipping at a certain page, which made Ah Lan take a nce at his grimoire. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he started to recite a spell in a low voice:

    ¡°Summoning spell¡ªmirror reflection.¡±

    So when no one had noticed, Ah Lan reced himself with his mirror reflection in the spot where he once stood while the little boy next to him waved his red umbre to expand the area of effect of the spell to erase their sense of existence so that he and Ah Lan could be in a state where they clearly existed but could not be seen by others.

    ¡°Follow me.¡± The boy floated ahead and was followed by a dazed Feng YuLan.

    The wheels of fate started to turn.

    T/N: Do you guys have some guesses as to who the boy is?

 Chapter 100 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXX)

    <h4>Chapter 100 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The after effects of being the ¡®ghost¡¯ did notst too long. After a while, Luo Jian felt morefortable, but he was still reluctant to leave the stalker¡¯s arms. He continuously mbered into Xing Yan¡¯s arms, burying his face in Xing Yan¡¯s chest, and Xing Yan doted on him as he gently stroked Luo Jian¡¯s hair.

    But as Xing Yan continued to touch him, his hands and feet began to act dishonestly. He picked up Luo Jian and shifted him to sit on his legs while he directly sat on a huge tree vine, kissing Luo Jian¡¯s lips and stuffing his hand into Luo Jian¡¯s clothes. The stalker¡¯s hands were a little cold, and Luo Jian could not help but shiver unconsciously. Using his hands, Luo Jian tried to push him away but was unable to do so.

    When the stalker was given an inch, he wanted a mile. He held Luo Jian tightly with his hands, and in deep concentration, Xing Yan bit his lips and reached his tongue inside. Using his tongue, he turned the inside of his mouth into a mess. Luo Jian felt that right now, it was harder to breathe than moments ago when he had almost suffocated.

    As they were entangled together, Luo Jian felt something hard and hot press against his abdomen. All his blood shot up to his brain, and his face was as red as an apple. He tried his best to widen the distance between him from Xing Yan, and he grumbled with reproach, ¡°Can¡¯t you take a look at what this ce is? Stop fooling around!¡±

    Xing Yan turned a deaf ear to what he had said and rubbed his face against Luo Jian¡¯s. His actions were now filled with tints of erotism as he supported Luo Jian¡¯s waist and shifted him to rub his buttocks against the stalker¡¯s legs.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do this...¡± Luo Jian¡¯s face became even redder. He was eager to stand up, but the stalker did not want him to seed in doing so. He pressed Luo Jian down by the shoulder and kissed his lips again.

    However, just as the two were in a hot struggle and were unwilling to separate, the little boy with the red umbre arrived with Feng YuLan. With a mere nce, he was able to see the two of them kissing, and the little boy unconsciously stopped. Feng YuLan, who was behind him, followed the boy in a trance. When he stopped moving forward, he did not continue walking ahead. Feng YuLan also stopped where he had stopped, looking like he was in a trance.

    The boy did not speak or carry out any actions, and he stared at the stalker and Luo Jian for quite a while as if he had seen something strange. The expression on his face was somewhat odd, but it was not surprise or disgust. Shortly after that, he seemed to be reminded of something as he smiled in a self-mocking manner.

    ¡°Ah Lan, I know your weapon can morph into a person that looks exactly like you.¡± The boy looked at the two people who remained inseparable when kissing. He suddenly opened his mouth and said something totally irrelevant to Feng YuLan. He said, ¡°Does it feel like looking at a mirror¡¯s reflection?¡±

    At this very moment, Ah Lan seemed to be aware, as if he had suddenly woken up from a very long dream. He nced at the boy with a veryplicated expression. The boy was only as tall as his waist. He was small, weak, and pale-looking. His feet never touched the ground, and he appeared just like a ghost wandering around the underworld.

    As long as he looked at the boy, Feng YuLan felt as if he would have understood something, but in fact, he was not clear what exactly he understood. He could vaguely guess the boy¡¯s identity, and the bold guess made him feel like it must have been a miracle. Every time he was reminded of his guess,, the mystifying answer he had in the depths of his heart would cause his whole back to be soaked in cold sweat.

    However, no matter how surprised he was, Feng YuLan had undoubtedly calmed down. He replied to the boy, ¡°Shadow and my esteemed self are different entities. Our personalities are not the same. But if I took a glimpse at him in that way, he truly felt like a mirror reflection.¡±

    ¡°I see&#k2026;¡± The boy was silent for a while, seeming to be deep in doubt. He raised his head to look at Feng YuLan and pointed to the pair in front of him. ¡°What do you think of them?¡±

    Then, Feng YuLan looked up at Luo Jian andpany. They did not know that someone was watching them and were still tightly hugging each other. However, the stalker seemed to notice something and suddenly let Luo Jian go. Because Luo Jian was still in a daze after the kiss, he had a nk look on his face.

    The stalker scanned their surroundings with Luo Jian kept in his arms, and he vaguely sensed that there was a weak presence around him. He thought that since it was so weak, it could be ignored.

    However, Feng YuLan did not speak again. He gazed at Luo Jian for a long moment, and after that, he turned around and looked at the little boy very seriously. The boy sensed his gaze, and they eyed each other. This time, Ah Lan opened his mouth to say, ¡°Luo Jian is my best friend. I¡¯m willing to support him, no matter what he wants to do or where he wants to go.¡±

    The child seemed to understand the deep meaning behind Ah Lan¡¯s words. He smiled and said in a joking tone, ¡°Alright, but no matter how determined you are, you can¡¯t stop me.¡±

    Ah Lan also smiled; his smile was very gentle and soft. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t need to stop you.¡±

    Ah Lan¡¯s words seemed to make him hesitant, and the little boy lowered his head slightly. His eyshes were very long, casting shadows on his pale skin. From Feng YuLan¡¯s point of view, he could also see this child¡¯s small nose and pursed lips¡ªhis lips appeared pale as well, and it was hard for him to see any hue of ruddiness on it.

    ¡°Have you recognized me?¡± The boy asked him that.

    Feng YuLan froze momentarily and replied, ¡°You are very easy to identify. Although this felt extremely inconceivable and the contrast between what you look like now and what you looked like previously... it¡¯s a big difference! Also, I can¡¯t imagine how you turned into this or how you are able to appear here.¡±

    The little boy did not answer these questions. He took full advantage of everything that he could. He raised his head and looked at Ah Lan with an expectant look in his eyes. His tone even sounded coquettish: ¡°Will you help me?¡±

    Feng YuLan¡¯s lips twitched, and he appeared a little helpless: ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be young... Alright, I don¡¯t know the reason why, but I will help you.¡±

    The boy began to worry: ¡°If you help me, it means you¡¯re betraying your team, betraying yourrades.¡±

    ¡°Are you not myrade?¡± Feng YuLan asked in a probing tone.

    ¡°Of course I am yourrade!¡± The boy admitted immediately, but he soon became listless: ¡°But not now.¡±

    ¡°Why not? What is the meaning ofradery you have in your mind? Are you considered a stranger to me when you leave the team? Or could it be that after wearing a mask, you can pretend you don¡¯t know me? Or maybe you can use me like a doll, to allow me to do this and that?¡± When Feng YuLan spoke at the end, he started to feel wrathful! Until the very end, he could not understand these things. Therefore, Ah Lan forced himself free of the ¡®hypnotic¡¯ control and took a step towards the boy. With that step, all of a sudden, Ah Lan appeared extremely imposing.

    On the contrary, the boy was surprised and drifted away as if he was afraid of Ah Lan¡¯s wrath. He lowered his head slightly: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Don¡¯t be angry. Originally, I didn¡¯t want to do this... but... I can¡¯t let him... Don¡¯t let him discover me...¡±

    Ah Lan seized the focal point of what he had said and frowned: ¡°He... Who is he?¡±

    The boy did not reply to Ah Lan again. With a wave of his hand, his entire person suddenly disappeared. Ah Lan could only watch with widened eyes as the little boy disappeared. With his disappearance, the skill imposed on Feng YuLan also vanished. After breaking away from the state of nonexistence, the duoposed of Luo Jian and the stalker soon discovered him.

    ¡°Ah Lan, why are you here?¡±

    Feng YuLan suddenly appeared out of nowhere and caught Luo Jian by surprise. He jumped off the stalker and tidied his messy clothes. When he raised his head to look at Ah Lan, he found that Feng YuLan was not paying attention to him but lowered his head and looked at somewhere else instead. He looked thoughtful.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    With Luo Jian¡¯s shout, Feng Yn¡¯s soul returned. He could not help but gaze in Luo Jian¡¯s direction with an indescribable look in his eyes. At that moment, Luo Jian was almost awed by this kind of look in his eyes. He did not understand how Feng YuLan suddenly looked at him with such eyes, as if through Luo Jian, he saw a distant and unreachable ce, into the far, far future.

    At that instant, Luo Jian almost wanted to ask him: What are you looking at?

    But before he managed to ask that, Feng YuLan interrupted him before he could speak.

    ¡°Some of the enemies have fled, but Duan Li and Specter have been held back by two other stalkers, so I came to take a look at how the situation is here. Did the god say where the exit is?¡±

    After hearing what he had said, Luo Jian shook his head regretfully and looked at the stalker beside him: ¡°No, Xing Yan killed him.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s dead? That will be troublesome.¡± Feng YuLan looked distressed. Following that, purpose-driven, he turned his head towards Luo Jian, ¡°Haven¡¯t you gotten any other clues from him?¡±

    Luo Jian did not hold his defenses up against Feng YuLan. After some moment of deliberation, he took out the jade pendant he got from the god. The green jade pendant swayed in front of Feng YuLan. Following that, Luo Jian said, ¡°We only obtained this... but this pendant does not match with the other half of the pendant obtained from the ghost¡¯s tomb vault.¡±

    When Luo Jian took out the jade pendant, Ah Lan¡¯s eyes twinkled momentarily, but it was only a moment, and that happened shockingly fast. Ah Lan did not have much of an expression after that. He approached Luo Jian curiously and observed the jade pendant at a close distance. Luo Jian had taken out both jade pendants.

    Both jade pendants were green, but one was darker in shade while the other was lighter. The pattern and edges were also inconsistent.

    ¡°The dark piece.¡± As Feng YuLan was observing the jade pendant, a voice suddenly rang in his ears. Therefore, after Ah Lan thought about it, he pointed to the darker jade pendant and asked Luo Jian, ¡°Is this the one obtained from the god?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Luo Jian narrowed his eyes. Instead of focusing on the jade pendant, he focused on Ah Lan, who was standing right in front of him. He thought that Ah Lan seemed to be different from how he acted previously, but as for what was different? Luo Jian could not tell at the moment.

    ¡°Can you show it to me?¡± Ah Lan slightly tilted his face upwards as his dark eyes gazed at Luo Jian without blinking.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt the speed of his heartbeat had changed.

    He hesitated for a while, and during that time, the two men said nothing. Even the stalker standing at their side almost remained unmoving as he gazed at Luo Jian and Feng YuLan. The strange silence covered the trio, and it was as if the air around them stiffened and became so heavy that they were unable to breathe.

 Chapter 101 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXI)

    <h4>Chapter 101 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Ah Lan, I want to ask you a question.¡± Before Luo Jian handed the jade pendant over to Feng YuLan, he seemed to notice something. His intuition was crazily urate. Therefore, when Ah Lan looked at Luo Jian with that strange expression, Luo Jian began to understand what was wrong. He knew that the situation had begun to change and was developing in a direction he could notprehend.

    Feng YuLan did not answer and remained in his position, looking at Luo Jian. He seemed to be waiting for his question.

    So Luo Jian asked, ¡°Ah Lan, are werades?¡±

    Feng YuLan paused momentarily. This question made him think of something. Then he revealed a smile: ¡°Of course we arepanions.¡±

    Luo Jian paused and epted Feng YuLan¡¯s one-sided ount without doubting him. He said with a smile, ¡°This is what you promised.¡±

    Then Luo Jian reached out and put half of the jade pendant into Feng YuLan¡¯s palm.

    Aplicated expression stayed on Feng YuLan¡¯s face throughout. After staring at the jade pendant in his hand for a while, he could not help but hesitate. Should he really do this? Had he made his decision too hastily? He had just decided to trust a kid who looked younger than ten years old. Although he already knew the true identity of the boy... it was just his deduction using the clues he had gathered to determine the identity of the other party. Was he really too hasty?

    ¡°You have no choice but to trust me.¡± The child seemed to see through Ah Lan¡¯s thoughts and spoke quietly beside Feng YuLan: ¡°As long as you naturally push the responsibility onto me and tell them that I¡¯m controlling you, that will be the truth behind what urs.¡±

    The boy chuckled as he spoke. The handle of his umbre was leaning against his shoulder. He floated in the air, and his little hand rested on Feng YuLan¡¯s shoulder. Then, Luo Jian and the stalker found out something shocking. They ¡®suddenly realized¡¯ that a child appeared out of nowhere beside Feng YuLan!

    Although they ¡®suddenly realized¡¯ it, they felt instead that it was as if they had not seen him. It was as if he had been here the whole time, but for certain reasons, others ignored him. Therefore, when the boy revealed himself voluntarily, it was like he was performing a magic trick on stage. Even the way he appeared felt magical.

    But Luo Jian did not see the child¡¯s face clearly since it seemed that the other party intentionally hid it. He turned and spun his bright red umbre, and its edges covered most of his face. Luo Jian only saw the other party¡¯s small chin, white and tender neck, and thin arms and legs floating beside Ah Lan as he ced a hand on his shoulder.

    Then, the child righteously and even tantly reached out and took the half of the jade pendant from Feng YuLan¡¯s palm. Although his movements were not very fast, his actions felt too bold and unrestrained. For a while, even Feng YuLan did not respond before he found his hand was empty.

    The boy seemed to beughing. He deliberately lowered the pitch of his voice whenughing, but his voice still sounded soft and tender.

    The stalker was the first to react. He subconsciously got up, stepped forward, and reached out to catch the little rascal who popped out from nowhere. However, the kid was surprisingly flexible. His body drifted back gently, avoiding the stalker¡¯s hand that tried to grasp him. He retreated backward a long distance away and held the jade pendant he had just got in his hand, swaying it in front of Luo Jian and the others.

    ¡°Get him!¡± Luo Jian also reacted at this time, but he did not have much time to consider his actions. The first thought he had was just to get back the half of the jade pendant. Therefore, with a roar, he drew out his knife and lunged towards the boy.

    When Luo Jian drew out his knife, he subconsciously ran through his mental technique, which made his weapon invisible. This was the skill he developed when fighting with Clown. The invisible de would always cause people to lower their defenses so that he could effectively strike the enemy down.

    But what surprised Luo Jian at that moment was that the little boy actually blocked his de. The other party merely stretched out his tender-looking hand and mped his de with two fingers despite the de being invisible.

    The little boy¡¯s umbre was still spinning slowly, and its edges coincidentally covered most of his face. Even at such a close distance, Luo Jian still could not see what the child really looked like, but when he approached the child, Luo Jian felt his heart inexplicably palpitate.

    A terrifying fear surged up in Luo Jian¡¯s chest, and he suddenly found that he was very afraid of the boy. There was no reason and he also did not know why, but the fear started to spread wildly within Luo Jian¡¯s chest.

    ¡°The current you&#k2026;&#k2026; I see, you were that weak?¡±

    Luo Jian was so close to the boy that even if the other party had whispered, his words would have fallen into Luo Jian¡¯s eardrums. Before he could understand the meaning of this sentence, the boy¡¯s figure suddenly blurred, and he disappeared from the others¡¯ view again.

    After the boy disappeared, Luo Jian fell into a trance and pulled back his knife. His weapon almost looked the same as the stalker¡¯s, but from the very beginning, Luo Jian had always felt that his weapon did not feel right to him and that the de was too dull to kill anyone.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that it was seized away. I take full responsibility for it.¡± Seeing that the boy disappeared, Feng YuLan was not sure whether he felt d or relieved, but he still felt self-reproach and guilt, so he took the lead in admitting his mistake.

    Luo Jian did not speak. He raised his head to look at Feng YuLan.

    Because stalkers could not talk...... In fact, it was hard for Xing Yan to interfere with the interactions or actions between yers, so as long as there was a third party when he was with Luo Jian, he would remain extremely silent to reduce his sense of existence, leaving space for Luo Jian and Feng YuLan.

    Therefore, there was an unusual silence between Luo Jian and Ah Lan.

    Luo Jian¡¯s expression became slightly gloomy. It was an expression that Feng YuLan had never seen on him before. It even seemed to hint that he was examining him, Luo Jian¡¯s best friend who he had always relied on and trusted.

    Feng YuLan felt that his heart was trembling. He did not know whether he was right or wrong. He even began to wonder if he had been enchanted or deceived by the boy, causing him to be so bold that he almost betrayed hisrades. He had known that the boy was right beside him. As long as he had the intention to, even if he could not prevent the boy from taking the jade pendant, he could stop the boy from snatching it so quickly and dy him so that Luo Jian had time to take action.

    But he did not. He did not do anything.

    Why didn¡¯t I act? Why didn¡¯t I do anything? Feng YuLan asked himself, but in fact, his heart already had an answer. He saw through the identity of the boy. No...... it should be said that he saw through the boy¡¯s soul.

    Feng YuLan¡¯s weapon caused him to hold extraordinary spiritual power, and that also had a direct impact on his soul. Ah Lan could easily feel others¡¯ souls. Even if he could notpletely feel through their soul, he was able to tell whether their soul was strong or weak, fake or real.

    The soul reflected in Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes was as if it was covered by a mysterious veil, separated by the hazy fog. Even so, he was able to sense part of the truth, even though the truth behind the veil made him muddle-headed and frightened.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± So because of his inaction, Feng YuLan had to apologize honestly.

    ¡°Ah Lan, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Luo Jian shifted his line of sight and sighed, ¡°But I always trust you. Don¡¯t let me down.¡±

    Feng YuLan clenched his fist, but he remained silent.

    At the other side of the battlefield, Specter wiped the blood from his cheek. He could barely continue holding his weapon, so he sat down on the ground. In front of him, two stalkersid on their backs with traces of scorching caused by explosions on their bodies.

    Specter took a deep breath. He felt that the area surrounding his lungs was hurt. When he coughed, blood kept pouring out, but there was no one else around him. Duan Li had gone to chase the enemies, and he was very fast. Even if he was injured, he could still run around at an inhuman speed, but Specter could not. He needed to rest.

    ¡°I hope he¡¯s able to catch up with them.¡± Specter took a deep breath and looked beside him at a figure that was about to disappear. It was the mirror reflection left behind by Feng YuLan to fool them, but they soon saw through it. Even so, neither of the two people caught up in the battle could care about Feng YuLan.

    But Specter still felt puzzled. Why did Feng YuLan do this? Did he have any other purpose? Or was he still under the enemy¡¯s control? If so, could there be something wrong at Luo Jian¡¯s side? One should know that Feng YuLan had previously said that he had to find Luo Jian.

    Thinking about it, Specter reluctantly got up and turned to walk in the direction of the huge tree. He had to go to Luo Jian, too.

    Compared to Specter¡¯s doubts and suspicions, Duan Li was really worried. Although he admonished himself again and again to keep calm and catch up with the fleeing enemies, all he wanted to do was to turn around to find Feng YuLan. He could feel Feng YuLan¡¯s breath, and it seemed that he was with Luo Jian and others. However, Duan Li still felt a little uneasy. Something must have happened. He had to be quick!

    Duan Li¡¯s speed was really fast. He soon saw the enemies¡¯ shadows in front of the huge tree. They seemed to be discussing how to climb the tree. The seriously injured woman was sitting by the roots of the tree with her vampire team captain, who turned his back to look in the direction of Duan Li, and Brawny stood beside him.

    Anyway, since he was here, he might as well defeat all the enemies in one swoop.

    When Duan Li saw the enemy, he came up with that idea, so he drew out his tang sword as he was thinking about it. However, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

    ¡°Duan Li!¡±

    Duan Li turned back, surprised to find that Feng YuLan hade! Unsurprisingly, he was with Luo Jian and others! Bute to think of it, it made sense because the god had been fighting the stalker close to the huge tree, so Luo Jian andpany, who had always been with the stalker, would be rtively nearby. Therefore, they would have very quickly found the enemies, and without making a single stop, they rushed here.

    ¡°Are you all here?¡±

    At this time, the enemies seemed to notice the arrival of Duan Li and the others, so they turned around and looked at them. The vampire team captain spoke in a soft voice with a red light glinting in his eyes.

    ¡°But you are toote.¡±

    The vampire team captain said this shortly after seeing them. He stood up straight and moved to the side so that the woman behind him could be seen by everyone. At this time, the long-haired female strategist held a pen in her hand and wrote thest word on her simple-looking notebook.

    This woman¡¯s weapon was very scary. Everything she wrote would be true, even if she wrote that her enemies in front of her would die immediately. But this was only possible if she knew their names and ages and urately recognized their faces.

    Even so, this kind of power was extremely terrifying. The secret chamber had greatly shackled her abilities and given her restrictions, so her power could only be used once in each secret chamber. She was able to rewrite the fate of anything with the exception of using it to be victorious in team battles or escape the secret chamber immediately.

    So at this moment, the critical crux of the chamber depended on how she rewrote fate.

    The strategist could not directly write ¡®let me escape from the secret chamber¡¯ or ¡®let my team win.¡¯ She also could not write anything rted to that because it would not work, even if she tactfully wrote it as ¡®let me be the first to find the exit.¡¯ The secret chamber forbade anyone from escaping the secret chamber in a maniptive manner.

    Therefore, the woman had to write: ¡®In this team battle, apart from death and failure, my team will always be a step faster than the enemies.¡¯

    The pen in the woman¡¯s hand disappeared. She could not help but take a deep breath and sigh. This sentence seemed to work. No matter what happened next, they would be a step faster than the enemy. They would be faster than the enemy no matter whether it was obtaining clues, finding the key, finding the exit, or even leaving this ce.

    As if to confirm the woman¡¯s thoughts, the boy suddenly appeared in in sight of everyone like an unexpected guest. It was the boy with a red umbre that Luo Jian and the others had seen before. He floated beside the woman and whispered something to her, and in response, the woman pulled something out.

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes widened. He saw the other half of the jade pendant that was very familiar looking! However, this jade pendant was not the one that was snatched by the boy previously despite their patterns being very simr.

    ¡°We have to think of a way,¡± Luo Jian said.

    ¡°It¡¯s better to go straight up and kill them all.¡± Duan Li was used to solving things in a rough and simple manner.

    Feng YuLan was silent for a while and said, ¡°They snatched the jade pendant. That thing is very important. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s the key to activate the exit of this secret chamber.¡±

    Duan Li said, ¡°Kill them and take back the jade pendant.¡±

    ¡°But what if they put the jade pendant in a carry-on secret chamber? After that, they would simply not tell you the password of the chamber even if they died,¡± Feng YuLan retorted.

    But Duan Li showed a ferocious smile: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. At that moment when they take out the jade pendant, I will unleash the fifth segment and resolve all of them in a few seconds.¡±

    ¡°Too hasty.¡± This time, even Luo Jian frowned: ¡°We still don¡¯t know the abilities of the captain, that tall Brawny, and the boy. If we rashly take action, we will lose the advantage of striking first.¡±

    Duan Li did not speak but took out a new mask to put on. This time, it was a strange mask covered with various oil paints. After wearing the mask, he said, ¡°You haven¡¯t witnessed my abilities, so you don¡¯t trust that I will be able to do it, right?¡±

    Luo Jian frowned deeper. Indeed, he had yet to see Duan Li revealing his strongest ability. It was natural that he was not fully confident in his abilities, so he had concerns. However, just when he wanted to say something, the stalker beside him stretched out his hand, pressed it on Luo Jian¡¯s shoulder, and shook his head while facing him.

    Luo Jian had not yet seen Duan Li¡¯s power, but Xing Yan had.

    When team Ghost Shadow was in existence, he was almost the strongest fellow in the team besides the team captain. If he could not deal with these few people, it would be a waste of the years he spent muddling around.

    T/N: Apologies for thete chapter post. I¡¯ll post the chapterte tomorrow as well, because I¡¯ll be heading to school for the entire day. I hope no one waited for the chapter update (if you did, I¡¯m really sorry!).

    Again, I¡¯d like to emphasize that the chapters are posted at sporadic timings every day (please do not stay up to wait for chapters ^^)!

 Chapter 102 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXII)

    <h4>Chapter 102 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    So under Xing Yan¡¯s instruction, Luo Jian agreed to let Duan Li take action, but when Duan Li was making preparations, the enemies also acted.

    The vampire team captain took the lead in approaching.

    In fact, the vampire team captain had exchanged moves with Duan Li before. His abilities were the same as a vampire¡¯s; he had an extremely terrifying self-healing ability. No matter how seriously he was injured, he would notpletely die. Moreover, he could transform himself into a colony of bats that could flutter here and there as they attacked. This ability gave Duan Li a headache.

    When Duan Li unleashed the fifth segment, he only had a few seconds to carry out his attack. In those few seconds, his speed would be infinitely close to the speed of light, which meant that he could move at the speed of light. That also meant that he would be very fast and would be able to cut the enemy down without them feeling it.

    The problem was that even if he wanted to cut someone, he had to cut the right person.

    There was only one way to kill such a fellow like the vampire team captain, who could not be chopped to death. One could either find his fatal weakness and kill him within seconds or split him into countless pieces in an instant so that he could not recover.

    Duan Li tried to find out the weakness of this guy when he was fighting with the vampire team captain before. The weaknesses of an ordinary person were their heart and brain. However, Duan Li found that this guy was a little weird because when certain parts of the vampire team captain were attacked, they would liquefy!

    In other words, this fellow could turn himself into a pool of bloody liquid!

    Therefore, Duan Li could not tell exactly what this fellow¡¯s weakness was. It wouldn¡¯t work for him to attack his heart, brain, or other ces. But that was not the main point because Duan Li could also see that although this fool could ¡®liquefy¡¯ his body into blood, blood was also considered a liquid. If the temperature was too high, the liquid would evaporate, and the evaporated liquid wouldn¡¯t be able to restructure back to his body. The more blood was lost, the less material and structure could be reconstituted back to his body. After a certain degree of it had evaporated, there would be no way for him to reform his body again.

    This was an advantage that Duan Li held because he was notcking heat. When a person¡¯s speed reached the speed of light, his de would be infinitely faster than that, and the energy generated by his movements would create spectacrly high temperatures. It was not a problem for him even if he had to evaporate the entire vampire team captain in an instant.

    After figuring this out, Duan Li just had to wait for an opportunity. He waited for the other party to take the jade pendant out, and once he did, Duan Li would end the lives of these people instantaneously. Then, after retrieving the jade pendant, they would be able to slowly look for the exit.

    However, what happened next was not as simple as he had thought.

    Some changes seemed to happen within the enemy team. Although the female strategist took out half of the jade pendant, she refused to take the other half out, and the boy with the umbre suddenly took off and floated in the air. He floated to the side of the vampire team captain. It seemed that he wanted to rece him in holding back the enemies.

    ¡°Yan Hua asked me to rece you.¡±

    ¡°Such a fellow like you can fight too?¡± The vampire team captain looked at the boy disdainfully.

    The boy held his umbre up and smiled: ¡°Of course. Otherwise, how could I live to this day?¡±

    The vampire team captain¡¯s eyes twinkled. He had never seen the boy make a move. After all, he looked to be just a little boy. How powerful could he be? He was collectively excluded by everyone from all battles, but now, to be able to witness this little rascal¡¯s abilities would also be considered good.

    When the vampire team captain thought of this, he very generously gave his position away and let the poor, thin, and short boy stand in front of a line-up of stalwart men like Luo Jian and the others.

    Duan Li narrowed his eyes under his mask and turned to talk to Luo Jian and Feng YuLan: ¡°You two, step back.¡±

    Duan Li had not seen the specifics of this little boy¡¯s ability, but this did not prevent him from specting about it. Thinking of this, Duan Li unconsciously turned his head to look at the stalker next to him. It seemed that Xing Yan was not going to stay still this time. They eyed each other and fixed their gazes on the boy in front of them.

    One was afraid that this child was the fifth andst person of the enemy team. ording to Feng YuLan¡¯s previous behaviour, he may have some type ability that could confuse others. Moreover, it seemed that he could use some techniques like ¡®stealth,¡¯ which made it difficult to sense his presence.

    The boy¡¯s weapon was likely the red umbre that never left his hand, but before this, Duan Li had never fought with an enemy who used an umbre as a weapon, so he must be careful before taking action. Fortunately, this time, even Xing Yan did not want to be a bystander and took the initiative to stand in front of Duan Li.

    The boy in front of him seemed to be reluctant to expose his face. The edge of the umbre was tipped so low that no one could see his face. He did not seem to want to initiate this battle and remained standing there, immobile. It was rather inappropriate to say that he was standing because the child didn¡¯t seem to need to walk. He could float around, and his toes were always a few centimeters away from the ground.

    Xing Yan paid full attention to the child. He remembered something that the child had said to him before. It was hard for the child to hide his intention of cozying up to him when he had greeted him with his strange mannerisms, as if greeting a friend that he had not seen for a very long time.

    Who is he? Xing Yan thought.

    After searching through his memories, he found that there was no one like this child.

    But the other party obviously knew him. ording to that tone he used, he might be someone who was acquainted with him. Then, he reasonably conjectured, the other party may indeed be someone that Xing Yan knew. It was just that this person had changed his appearance...... to be exact, maybe even his body had been reced.

    If this person had even reced his body, then this person was likely to have ¡®died.¡¯ Only the dead woulde back to life in other people¡¯s bodies. Thus, he could be someone familiar in Xing Yan¡¯s memory who had already died¡ªbut after careful consideration, Xing Yan found that there was still no such person.

    Everyone that Xing Yan knew had their individual and unique abilities, but they did not have the ability to seize someone else¡¯s body and resurrect. Apart from this, the little boy¡¯s character and vocal tone seemed not to match the several people in Xing Yan¡¯s memory...... Wait, in the case where......

    Xing Yan froze and then turned around to look at Luo Jian next to him. Luo Jian¡¯s attention was also focused on the boy, but he acutely sensed the stalker looking at him and turned to focus on the stalker.

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes were as beautiful as two ck pearls, which attracted Xing Yan to stare straight into them. For a while, he couldn¡¯t turn his eyes away, but soon, the stalker forced himself to turn away from him. Now that they were about to start a battle, he could not afford to be absent-minded.

    Duan Li was the first one who became unable to bear such a situation. He was not a patient man, so he drew out his knife and ferociously charged. By maintaining his speed at second or third segment, he was able to move fast enough that others just saw a blurred shadow. But what shocked Duan Li the most was that when he swung his sword downwards, the little boy stepped backwards lightly while floating and appropriately dodged the attack.

    The first strike missed.

    He carried on attacking continuously afterwards. Xing Yan also did not stay idle. When Duan Li initiated the attack, he alsounched his skills. When Xing Yan teleported a short distance, the boy retreated to avoid the attack. When he was avoiding the attack, he coincidentally shifted behind Xing Yan¡¯s back and using a sharp knife, he cruelly jabbed¡ª

    However, he did not manage to strike his opponent sessfully, either.

    The boy rose up in the air and dodged at that instant when the stalker attacked him. He seemed to turn his head a little to take a look at the stalker, and the raised umbre revealed half of his face. Hisplexion was unbelievably pale, and his eyes were like to ck pearls.

    For a moment, as the two pairs of eyes stared at each other, Xing Yan felt his heart palpitate. His brain seemed to have stopped working. A terrible conjecture formed in his mind and made him unable to respond for a while. Even as hispanion, Duan Li, very cooperatively followed his pace as theyunched an attack, Xing Yan found he was unable to continue attacking.

    Therefore, the short-term battle came to an abrupt end. The boy floated in the air without any injuries, the umbre he was holding swaying as he flew, and the stalker merely raised his head to look at him. The way he looked at him was as if he had seen the most miraculous thing in his life.

    ¡°Captain!¡± Duan Li, who stood at the corner, became worried. He did not understand what Xing Yan was thinking. During the battle, he did not move but just stared at the enemy in a daze. What did that mean?! However, even if Xing Yan was not willing to take action, Duan Li did not intend to stop his attack because they did not have many chances left. He must break away from this encirclement!

    As Duan Li thought about this, he drew his sword upwards and raised his speed to appear in front of the boy at an inhuman speed. This time, Duan Li knew that he would not miss again because when he had raised his speed again, the boy¡¯s response was obviously slower than his. At this very moment, the boy had shown his ws, and Duan Li did not hesitate to seize the opportunity to stab at him.

    It seemed that the child was helpless when dealing with Duan Li¡¯s speed. Since he could not evade the attack, he simply put down his defenses and did not evade. The umbre in his hand suddenly swung upwards, and he threw his weapon away as it flung up. Without the buoyancy and flying ability of the umbre, the child naturally dropped vertically as he allowed himself to fall freely. At the same time, he also evaded Duan Li¡¯s de coincidentally.

    Since the boy was not floating at arge height, even if he fell down, it was not a big deal. He rolled flexibly to lessen the impact of the fall when hended. Simrly, with a swing of his hand, the umbre he had thrown away flew back to him as if it had been summoned!

    But Duan Li was not a newbie, either. He knew how special and important the boy¡¯s ability was. If the boypletely discarded his weapon, he could not float around in the air with the umbre, which made it easier for Duan Li to hit him. Moreover, Duan Li could see that as long as he was not holding his umbre, the child had almost no attacking or defensive abilities!

    Therefore, Duan Li responded in just a few seconds and increased his speed again. This time, instead of waving his sword at the boy, he raised his de toward the boy¡¯s umbre.

    Once weapons were destroyed, it was very troublesome to deal with, although they could be repaired.

    The boy¡¯s expression was cold and indifferent, and he seemed to have made his decision instantaneously. He raised his right hand, opened his fingers, and turned his palm toward his red umbre, which was still flying in the air. He chanted lowly, ¡°Shift!¡±

    Almost at the same time, when Duan Li was about to split the umbre in two with his tang sword, he suddenly saw something that shocked him. Yes! He saw that the red umbre seemed to transform into another shape!

    It was a weapon that was capable of transforming!

    But when Duan Li had yet to see what was happening clearly¡ªfor example, what the umbre had transformed into¡ªthe umbre vanished from in sight. It was simr to Xing Yan¡¯s teleportation ability; it disappeared from its original location to somewhere else¡ªin the boy¡¯s palm.

    When the weapon returned to his palm, it returned to the shape of an umbre. The boy stroked the edges of the red umbre, opened it again, used it to shade his head, and covered his face again.

    Duan Li panted heavily. Instead of continuing to attack, he withdrew his sword and turned around to look at the boy.

    He was a very tricky opponent.

    Duan Li realized that the boy had extraordinary reflexes and battle awareness. It was as if he had been trained, as if he always knew what kind of attack Duan Li would make after every move. This unconsciously made Duan Li feel strange.

    It was like the other party knew what abilities his weapon possessed.

    But why? Could it be that he really had the means to control people¡¯s hearts. For example, did he control Ah Lan previously to force him into giving information regarding their team?

    If so, how should I deal with him?

    Luo Jian and Ah Lan, who were watching from the side, were not focused on the battle because they each harbored other thoughts in their mind. Luo Jian noticed that the stalker¡¯s behavior was abnormal and found Xing Yan had been staring at the boy. However, during the battle, the boy either covered his face with his umbre or lowered his head to allow his hair to cover his face. In other words, Luo Jian just couldn¡¯t see what he looked like, but he didn¡¯t care about this.

    He was more concerned about Xing Yan¡¯s reaction. Instead of participating in the battle, Xing Yan started to idly stand to the side, and it seemed he was troubled by something. He stared at the boy for quite a while, then lowered his head silently as if thinking of something. His brows were deeply scrunched together.

    Luo Jian wanted to go over to Xing Yan¡¯s side, but just as he stepped forward, Feng YuLan, who was standing next to him, suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm. Luo Jian could not help but halt. He turned back to look at Ah Lan.

    Feng YuLan deliberately obstructed Luo Jian¡¯s action. This time, he did it intentionally, although he was not sure what the purpose behind his actions was. He just instinctively did not want Luo Jian to leave his side.

    Therefore, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t randomly walk around. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    Luo Jian, in turn, caught Ah Lan instead: ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. Let¡¯s go to Xing Yan¡¯s side.¡±

    Feng YuLan¡¯s expression was a little stiff: ¡°But he¡¯s a stalker.¡±

    ¡°But he helped us before. We¡¯ll be fine. Come with me.¡±

    ¡°Luo Jian, no matter how much you trust him, you must always be on your guard.¡±

    This time, Luo Jian did not speak. For a long time, he had an expression as if he was studying Ah Lan, and he said, ¡°Feng YuLan, you¡¯re acting somewhat strangely.¡±

    Ah Lan paused momentarily, and his body could not help but shiver slightly at that moment. Then, he took a deep breath and released Luo Jian¡¯s arm.

    ¡°I know,¡± Feng YuLan said, ¡°I¡¯m just confused. I don¡¯t know who to trust.¡±

    Luo Jian gave him a smile. ¡°Then you just have to trust me.¡±

    Feng YuLan raised his head and gave Luo Jian a look filled with profound meaning: ¡°I have always trusted you, regardless of it being in the past or the future.¡±

 Chapter 103 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXIII)

    <h4>Chapter 103 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian seemed to understand what Ah Lan said. He turned toward Ah Lan and smiled at him: ¡°The way you phrased your words sounded as if you knew what would happen in the future.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Ah Lan replied to him in a rather serious manner, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the future will be like, what will happen to all of us in the future, whether we will survive or die, have fortunate or unfortunate encounters. I¡¯m unable to understand all this, and I also don¡¯t want to think about it. But now! I want to tell you one thing, Luo Jian... I have to tell you that you...¡±

    Feng YuLan did not manage to finish saying what he wanted. He really wanted to tell Luo Jian certain matters. For example, he wanted to inform him about the child holding the red umbre. Although Feng YuLan still did not know how to put what had happened into words, he felt that he had to give Luo Jian some information or leave some clues¡ªthings that could offer him a slim chance of survival or clues that would pull him out when he was in a horrifying peril and help him survive.

    But when Ah Lan had yet to finish speaking, someone interrupted him. The little devil holding the red umbre who had been fighting with Duan Li suddenly raised his hand and threw a dagger towards Feng YuLan as he was talking to Luo Jian!

    Less than ten inches, the sharp de held a kind of inhuman strength and finesse as it flew straight toward Feng YuLan. The current Feng YuLan was not able to block this attack. Just by looking at where the boy had aimed, one could see that he was obviously trying to aim for Feng YuLan¡¯s vitals! If he seeded in his attack, even if Feng YuLan did not die, he would be heavily wounded.

    Not even Luo Jian, who was standing next to Ah Lan, could react in time. Although he noticed the de flying towards them dangerously, his body couldn¡¯t respond at that very moment. He wanted to block it with his short knife, but just as his fingers touched his de, the enemy¡¯s dagger was already close at hand!

    There was something wrong with the dagger!

    As the de swiftly flew by like the wind, Luo Jian suddenly felt his heart inexplicably palpitate because he witnessed everything clearly! When the boy threw the dagger out, it was suspended in the midair. The dagger should have been quite a distance away from Luo Jian and Feng YuLan, but the dagger he threw out seemed to leap through space in an instant. It was able to teleport instantly and appeared in front of them within seconds!

    That feeling, that was right...... It felt like the stalker¡¯s weapon!

    It was simr to Xing Yan¡¯s weapon! Xing Yan could also do this because his weapon¡¯s ability was rted to space. Not only could he stride over spaces, but his weapon was obviously also able to do that!

    How could that be? Who was the boy holding the umbre?!

    But Luo Jian did not have time to mull over it. Now, he did not even have the ability to resist this attack. He could only watch the dagger fly fiercely toward Ah Lan.

    Ah Lan almost thought he was going to die.

    But something shocking happened next! The boy with the red umbre suddenly disappeared into thin air and re-appeared in front of Ah Lan, following behind the flying dagger. His speed was so fast that he was able to reach out to grasp the handle of the dagger and suppress its inertia. Following that, the boy¡¯s body turned sideways and jumped behind Feng YuLan. He held Ah Lan¡¯s shoulder with one hand and held the dagger against his throat.

    In just a few seconds, the boy had sessfully taken Feng YuLan hostage and used his hands to hook his shoulders. His red umbre floated next to him as if it had a living consciousness. At that instant, Feng YuLan even heard the boy whisper behind him, ¡°No matter what you want to say to Luo Jian, don¡¯t disclose my affairs to him.¡±

    Ah Lan stiffened but heard that boy continue speaking: ¡°You must have heard of something like the ¡®secret chamber¡¯s will.¡¯ To be honest, it is very simr to the ¡®world¡¯s will.¡¯ If I must describe it, it is the so-called ¡®fate,¡¯ and fate is always deemed as just a ything for the god who created us.¡±

    ¡°We are mere ythings.¡± The boy lowered his voice, pasted himself to Feng YuLan¡¯s ear, and softly spoke. His voice was heavy and even sounded depressed: ¡°We can¡¯t resist, so don¡¯t disobey fate. Even if we want to escape from it, we can only deceive it.¡±

    Deceive fate.

    And simrly deceive god.

    Feng YuLan was stunned. It was as if he was given a great shock. Nothing came out from his mouth. The de near his throat pressed against his Adam¡¯s apple. The cold of the icy de seemed to prate through his skin into his flesh and blood and seep into his entire body, following his blood vessels. Such coldness was also pressurizing him.

    Luo Jian, who was standing beside him, responded by stabbing backhandedly towards the boy. The boy turned his head slightly and looked at Luo Jian with his inky ck eyes. Right then, the two people¡¯s lines of sight met. Luo Jian was stunned and could feel his heart beating more and more intensely, but he did not stop attacking. The de still moved forward as it attempted to stab the boy.

    ¡°Do you want him to die?¡± The boy did not attempt to dodge at all. He floated behind Feng YuLan and held a dagger against his neck. Luo Jian saw beads of blood seeping out of Ah Lan¡¯s neck with just a little pressure. Luo Jian could not help but halt the movement of his de despite being extremely unwilling to do so at the moment.

    But no matter how unwilling he was, Luo Jian could not neglect hisrade because he knew that no one in the world could live alone forever.

    ¡°Everything that happens is within my grasp now.¡± The boy suddenly raised his voice so that everyone present could hear him, making everyone focus their attention on him.

    Duan Li seemed to have expended too much energy. In fact, when the boy threw the dagger at Ah Lan, he had wanted to rush towards Feng YuLan to block the attack. However, within mere seconds, the situation had changed. As Ah Lan was being held captive, Duan Li also momentarily did not know what kind of action he should take in such a plight.

    As Duan Li stood aside, he remained silent as he bided his time. He quietly nced at the boy. It seemed that he did not intend to participate in the scuffle. At intervals, Luo Jian took glimpses at the stalker, only to find that he was not dividing part of his attention to Luo Jian. Luo Jian felt his heart cool. What happened? Who was the boy? Why did he want to attract everyone¡¯s attention? After deliberating, he still did not understand, so he could only ce his full attention on the boy.

    But unexpectedly, when he turned around, he found that the child was looking at him.

    ¡°Luo Jian, how about we have a fairpetition?¡± The boy¡¯s eyes lit up as he slightly smiled. His smile held a kind of familiarity that frightened Luo Jian, but he did not understand where this familiar feeling came from. He could not exin the feeling, so he could only shiver and squeeze a sentence out between his teeth: ¡°What kind ofpetition?¡±

    The boy suddenly withdrew the de from Ah Lan¡¯s neck. The white de still held stains of blood. The boy noticed that and with a light wave, his dagger disappeared. Then, he took out a band-aid from somewhere and floated in front of Ah Lan¡¯s face. With a serious expression, he pasted it on Ah Lan.

    Feng YuLan showed a helpless and numb face as if he didn¡¯t know how to react, so he simply kept his mouth closed and did not speak. To a certain extent, Ah Lan was familiar with people from all walks of life, but he didn¡¯t realize it himself. Even though he did not realize it, he knew that he could not get involved in the so-called ¡®fairpetition¡¯ between the two men. It was a face-off that cut across time and space, that was conducted at an unmatchable height.

    And in thispetition, regardless of who won, its result was not what Feng YuLan would like to witness.

    ¡°Look, Luo Jian.¡± Like a magic trick, the boy also made two jade pendants appear in the palm of his hand. It was the love token of the ¡®god¡¯ and the ¡®ghost.¡¯ The green jade was divided into two pieces.

    ¡°I think all of you should have guessed what my ability is, so here, I will not bother hiding it,¡± the boy said with a bright smile, ¡°I have certain methods I can employ to hypnotize others. I can control every person I see in a very short time span.¡±

    Hearing this, Luo Jian¡¯s eyes twinkled as if he saw through what the boy was thinking. The boy immediately said, ¡°But don¡¯t worry; I said it¡¯s a fairpetition, and I cannot use this ability limitlessly. In fact, so far on your team, I¡¯ve only used it on Ah Lan.¡±

    The boy bent down a little, but he was still floating in the middle of the air. Now, he was at a height even taller than Feng YuLan, so he naturally hugged Feng YuLan¡¯s neck with his hands. Ah Lan felt even more helpless now. Although there was no expression on his face, when the boy stuck to him, Feng YuLan could not help but reach out to hug the boy¡¯s waist. The boy was very thin, so Feng YuLan was always afraid of the repercussions if he fell down.

    The boy turned his head and looked at Ah Lan. He had a brilliant smile on his face. Feng YuLan, seeing his smile, was slightly in a daze.

    ¡°You see, he¡¯s still under my control,¡± the boy continued to say to Luo Jian in a gentle tone, ¡°And I can give you a chance, Luo Jian. If you want to save yourrade from me, then defeat me in thispetition.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think thepetition was unfair from the very start?¡± Luo Jian frowned.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Because you have all the bargaining chips.¡± Luo Jian narrowed his eyes, and simr to the boy, he also smiled. He did not notice that his expression seemed to strangely coincide with the other party¡¯s expression.

    ¡°Think about it; the hostage is by your side...¡± Luo Jian continued, ¡°And isn¡¯t the jade pendant also with you? Why do you have topete with me when you can escape here with your jade pendant?¡±

    Truth be told, Luo Jian did not know why the other party wanted to snatch the jade pendant. He did not know that the jade pendant was a key prop in this secret chamber. He just intuitively felt that it was an important clue in deciphering the rtionship between the god and ghost and that it had something to do with escaping from the secret chamber. Therefore, he said that, trying to pry some information out from the other party. What he wanted to know was not only the truth of the jade pendant, but also the boy¡¯s purpose.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to try to fish for information here. I¡¯ll tell you everything that I know.¡± The boy easily saw through Luo Jian¡¯s purpose as if he almost knew what he was thinking. At this moment, Luo Jian felt ineffably discouraged. He even suspected that the boy could not only hypnotize but also read people¡¯s minds.

    ¡°I used hypnosis to wheedle out the whereabouts of the exit from the ¡®god.¡¯ Actually, this secret chamber¡¯s exit is also very obvious. Just think about why the huge tree is set as an object that ¡®can¡¯t be destroyed in any way.¡¯¡± The boy took a look at the huge tree trunk that was not far away from them.

    His action caused Luo Jian to also look at the huge tree. The exit appeared imposingly in front of everyone. On the contrary, because of this, people would easily neglect its existence. People often paid too much attention to things far away but ignored things close at hand.

    ¡°You say that tree is the exit?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The boy smiled: ¡°When you found the guy who called himself a ¡®god,¡¯ wasn¡¯t he ingrown in this tree? Right, see, there is a small groove between the part where he and the tree were connected. ce the jade pendant into it, and the mechanism can be activated, and the exit will appear.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Luo Jian still felt a little disbelieving. After struggling to find the location of the exit for such a long time, they effortlessly obtained the information from the boy.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same principle as when some ancient tombs were built. Craftsmen secretly chiseled a passageway for themselves in order to not be funeral apaniments. The ignorant god signed a contract with the secret chamber, and when building the tomb, they did not totally heed the requirements of the secret chamber to build apletely closed-off chamber with no exit and left a passageway for themselves,¡± the boy said. He suddenly stopped smiling, and with a cold expression, continued, ¡°This is probably the reason why he can never escape from the control of the secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± After hearing the boy¡¯s words, Luo Jian was stupefied. He said, ¡°You mean that the secret chamber¡¯s will intended this to be a secret chamber without an exit, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± The boy shrugged. ¡°When it sent us in, it didn¡¯t intend to let us escape.¡±

    ¡°And what about you? What¡¯s your purpose of telling me all this?¡±

    The boy stretched out his hands, and within his palms, there were the two pieces of the jade pendant: ¡°Only you can open the exit of this secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because...... you¡¯re the ¡®ghost.¡¯¡±

    Luo Jian was stupefied for a few seconds as if he couldn¡¯t understand the meaning of the other person¡¯s words at that very moment. The boy easily saw that, so he exined to him, ¡°You still hold the identity of the ¡®ghost.¡¯ There are only two NPCs in this secret chamber, and only they can open the exit. The god has died, so only you can open the door now.¡±

    ¡°Wait! What do you mean by that?¡± At this time, the female strategist, who was among the several enemies listening to him, interjected, ¡°You¡¯d allow the enemy to activate the exit? Then what would happen to us? Besides, you previously gave me the jade pendant... Is it fake?!¡±

    ¡°Yup, it¡¯s fake.¡± The boy did not hesitate to admit this and swayed the two pieces of the jade pendant in his hand.

    With the other party¡¯s tant admission, the woman was left wondering how to reproach him for a moment.

    The boy did not pay any more attention to the woman. He turned to look at Luo Jian and even floated in front of him. He put two jade pendants in Luo Jian¡¯s palm with a smile: ¡°Now, go activate the exit.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart was racing, especially when the boy handed him the jade pendant. When his fingers touched Luo Jian¡¯s palm, he felt goosebumps all over. He stared at the boy in surprise: ¡°Do you really want me to activate the exit?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to transfer the identity of the NPC that the secret chamber imposed on you directly. Since I cannot seize the ¡®ghost¡¯s¡¯ identity from you, I have to let you activate the exit, right?¡±

    ¡°What about your so-calledpetition?¡±

    ¡°This is thepetition?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Whoever can escape from this chamber first will win.¡± The boy chuckled, ¡°And I¡¯ve given you the biggest advantage. It¡¯s fair enough, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°What about Ah Lan?¡± Luo Jian was worried about Feng YuLan¡¯s safety.

    ¡°As long as you get out of here sessfully, what¡¯s the use in detaining him? Of course, he wille back to you intact.¡±

    Luo Jian held the jade pendant in his hand, sucked in a deep breath, and looked at the boy. He said, ¡°Sure, let¡¯s have apetition then.¡±

    This time, the boy did not answer him. Without anyone noticing, he had stopped floating, and instead, hended on the ground. He still held Ah Lan¡¯s finger with one of his hands, but his eyes were staring at Luo Jian the entire time. His eyes seemed to urge him to quickly activate the exit.

    Luo Jian knew that the boy was probably scheming something, but he had no other solutions, either. Then he looked at Ah Lan, and Feng YuLan also looked at Luo Jian at the same moment. His eyes gleamed as if he wanted to convey something to Luo Jian, but at this moment, Luo Jian could not understand the look in Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes at all.

    Because his heart could not stop racing, Luo Jian¡¯s judgement had been clouded.

    T/N: I want to give a big shoutout and thank lovely <b>VeiKyuu</b>, who has has created a fanart of the boy with the red umbre:

    This fanart looks awesome, doesn¡¯t it? <3

 Chapter 104 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXIV)

    <h4>Chapter 104 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXIV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The name of that tree is ¡®Spirit.¡¯

    The meaning behind it was very simple, sharing the essence of the two words ¡®soul¡¯ and ¡®psyche.¡¯

    This tree was very huge. Its trunk grew so tall that one could not see the top, and its branches and roots prated every corner of the tomb. It seemed that there were no leaves, only dry and dull vines and roots. Legend had it that this tree was the home of countless souls. Whenever a soul wanted to escape the protective range of the spirit tree and return to the reincarnation cycle, flowers would bloom on the vines of the spirit tree.

    And within the flower petals, a new life would be born.

    Before, Specter used a wide range of explosion skills to blow up almost all the monsters and flower buds. However, one or two flower buds were fortunate to be outside the range of the explosive skills. The huge flower buds remained in a dark corner when no one had time to care about them and bloomed.

    The first one to bloom was a bright red flower bud. Its petals slowly unfurled and...... Eh, from within it, a person crawled out.

    If anyone within Luo Jian¡¯s group saw the scene at the moment, they would be able to clearly recognize who this person was. Yes, he was the man who called himself a ¡®god,¡¯ the ¡®god¡¯ who had been stabbed to death by the stalker and silently resurrected at a corner.

    ¡°How can a god... die?¡± The man had crawled out of the flower bud moments ago. His hair was still very long, and it grew to a length even greater than what Luo Jian and the others had seen. When he stood on the ground, the train of his hair dragged on the ground. His body had been soaked in a sort of sticky and protective liquid when he was within the flower bud, and it functioned like the amniotic fluid of a mother¡¯s womb.

    ¡°More than a thousand years ago, my main body was destroyed.¡± The man walked forward slowly. His bare feet stepped on the bumpy ground, strewn with broken limbs and leaves. His voice was low as he mumbled to himself, in a trance, ¡°I am the incarnation of the spirit tree... Yes, I am the tree... I am the exit...¡±

    Then, the man stopped. He remained motionless, but his expression became ferocious. He shouted, ¡°I am God!¡±

    Now, at the other area of the god¡¯s tomb vault, Luo Jian had just climbed up onto the huge tree. In ordance with what the boy said, he saw a circr groove. When he ced the two jade pendants together, they fit perfectly together and attracted each other like mas.

    Not only did Luo Jian climb up the trunk, but several other people also climbed up. Because the trunk of the tree was extremely huge, its branches were also huge. It was not a problem even if dozens of people stood on it. Because both teams werecking in members, they did not start battling. Instead, they both climbed up the trunk and stood on opposite sides.

    The little boy¡¯s female strategist was particrly irascible, and her eyes always stayed on Luo Jian. Because she was seriously injured and could not move, she was always held by Brawny, and their vampire team captain needed to be on guard all the time to prevent the enemy from ambushing them.

    The little boy did not need to climb the tree because he could directly fly onto it. However, he did not fly toward his teammates because he still had a hostage in his hands, so he brought Feng YuLan as they flew upwards together. They stood on a rough tree branch away from the others.

    Feng YuLan felt very tangled regarding the issue in his heart. He felt that this situation was somewhat far from reassuring for his whole team, but he didn¡¯t know how to deal with it. For example, he didn¡¯t know what to do with the little boy who had been silently standing beside him.

    ¡°What exactly are you nning?¡± Ah Lan could not help but ask the boy secretly.

    ¡°I only want to obtain victory,¡± the boy answered softly.

    ¡°What if you win and we lose? Is that why you are here?¡± Feng YuLan could not bear it any longer. He had to know the cause and effect. He needed to know whether he was worthy of the trust given to him.

    However, the boy only raised his head to look at Ah Lan, and there was inexplicable sadness in his eyes. He was silent for a while, and then he replied to Ah Lan, ¡°When the secret chamber holds a team battle, the losing team will immediately enter the ¡®punishment chamber.¡¯ Many yers have also dubbed it the ¡®secret chamber where no one survives¡¯ or ¡®the chamber of no escape.¡¯ Evidently, until now, no one hase out victorious from that chamber.¡±

    The boy¡¯s words made Feng YuLan¡¯s eyes widen in shock. He was unable to avert his eyes as he eyed the boy.

    The boy raised his head and looked at Ah Lan. His pale face revealed a smile as he continued, ¡°But I have to prevail against it. I must prevail against it!¡±

    The boy¡¯s voice trembled as he spoke, but it was filled with a terrifying firmness. In that instant, Feng YuLan quaked with excitement. He opened his mouth and almost shouted his name, but in the end, he uttered nothing.

    ¡°Ah Lan, that ear stud I put on for you before, no matter what happens, don¡¯t lose it,¡± the boy told him again. Such a reminder made Feng YuLan subconsciously reach up to touch the stud in his earlobe. He did not know why, but the stud felt scalding-hot. The temperature of it seemed to be very high, but when it hung on his ear, his earlobe did not feel the heat.

    But Ah Lan remembered the boy¡¯s instruction and nodded.

    ¡°I havee all the way here after passing through thousands and thousands of secret chambers,¡± the boy said, the tone bing more sorrowful. At that time, Ah Lan had almost thought he had a lump in his throat.

    ¡°I traversed through countless timepoints and worldlines to reach here.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t fail. I absolutely can¡¯t.¡±

    As soon as the boy finished saying that, over at the other side, Luo Jian ced the jade pendant into the so-called ¡®keyhole.¡¯

    Farther away, the newly resurrected ¡®god¡¯ tilted his head to gaze at the spirit tree and said to himself, ¡°It began.¡±

    The huge tomb began to rock, and everyone felt that the ground underneath their feet seemed to be shaking as if a mysterious mechanism had been activated. Their bodies swayed along with the huge movements, making everyone feel that it held the power to copse everything. Roars echoed in the empty tomb as if in response to the activation of this mechanism. Everyone heard various sounds like bellows and hisses sounding out from deep underground in session.

    All the monsters in the tomb had awakened.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± The female strategist turned her head and gave the boy a vengeful stare. Other people had all collectively moved their line of sight towards the boy, but the little boy kept an innocent appearance and smiled: ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m afraid some mechanism has been activated.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say this is the key to the exit?¡± Luo Jian also turned to look at the boy. When he had ced the jade pendant into the small groove on the huge tree, he felt that the tree began to morph inexplicably, as if something that had been sleeping inside it had been awakened, and it began to roar and go berserk. All of that made him feel uneasy.

    ¡°This is indeed the key.¡± The boy was very insistent and did not panic at all: ¡°I did not lie to you.¡±

    ¡°Where is the exit? I absolutely did not see the exit!¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but appear a little grumpy. Although he tried his best to suppress his emotions, he found that as long as he stood in front of the boy, he couldn¡¯t restrain his emotions and would feel an unexinable panic. That emotion was insuppressible, and this feeling almost drove Luo Jian crazy.

    ¡°Calm down, Luo Jian. The exit is in front of you, isn¡¯t it?¡± The boy¡¯s tone seemed to convey a sense of helplessness.

    After listening to his words, Luo Jian seemed to think of something and turned his head to look at the huge tree trunk in front of him. The tree hadpletely withered, and its trunk was ck like dead wood. But at some point, the tree had seeminglye back to life, and Luo Jian could even feel it trembling gently.

    No! This couldn¡¯t be considered trembling gently, right? The tree shook more and more wildly! The huge tree was shaking as if it had suddenly gone mad. Both teams, who were standing on the tree branches, almost felt that they would topple down with the violent shaking of the tree! However, that was not the only discovery they made. Everyone found something shocking!

    This tree! It actually came back to life!

    This ¡®came back to life¡¯ did not mean that it had great vitality, but it meant that the tree was like an animal. It used its innumerable roots and vines as feet, used its branches as hands, and started to act like a human being! It moved! In the god¡¯s huge tomb vault, it stood up shakily. Since the roots of this tree had prated deep underground, the branches broke through the ground as it reached underneath it! Since the tree was an infrastructural support in this tomb, when it began to move, it also meant that the tomb would begin to copse!

    At such a chaotic moment, it was obvious that nobody would want to sleep forever here following the copse of the tomb! It was unknown who took the lead, but one by one, they started to climb higher on the tree trunk. Obviously, everyone knew that the tomb was buried deep underground. If they wanted to escape from the tomb vault, they could only climb upwards toward the surface!

    ¡°Damn, is this a thousand-year-old tree demon?!¡± The vampire team captain grumbled lowly. Now, he could hardly care about guarding against the enemies¡¯ attacks. At this time, the tomb vault began to experience a severe copse, andrge pieces of rock debris fell from above. If one was hit, they would be at least badly bruised from it!

    The top of the tomb vault was pitch ck. The huge tree demon seemed to be struggling as it shook, as if it was trying to shake off all these annoying humans on it! It also struggled to pull out its roots, which deeply prated into the ground. Therefore, this led the tree to rise high up. It was akin to seedlings in soil that had grown up and wanted to break out from the cover of the soil and bathe in the warm sunshine.

    This inconvenienced everyone, especially the vampire team captain. He couldn¡¯t leave his strategist, so he simply asked Brawny to hand the woman over to him. He used a single hand to hug the woman as he stretched open his bat wings to begin flying as they headed for a higher tree branch.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that this is very fair. Whoever can climb out from underground first is the winner.¡± The boy was no longer standing on a tree branch, but he was suspended in the air instead. He held his umbre with one hand and Feng YuLan with the other. Despite being such a tiny fellow, he didn¡¯t feel exhausted carrying a guy who was way taller. Moreover, he was not afraid of the rock debris falling from the ceiling because his umbre acted as a natural barrier.

    ¡°Luo Jian, try to climb up,¡± the boy continued, ¡°The first person to leave the secret chamber, whichever team he belongs to, will win, but this is only if the members who sessfully leave the chamber can obtain the winner¡¯s reward. Simrly, if the team is judged to have failed, with the exception of the people who have died, the rest of the team members will immediately enter the ¡®punishment chamber.¡¯¡±

    Luo Jian did not speak. He first looked at the tall tree, of which one was unable to see the end. Now, their team was at a disadvantage. One of his team members hadn¡¯t arrived, one was taken hostage, and the rest...

    Luo Jian turned his head to look at Duan Li beside him.

    Duan Li did not pay attention to the confrontation or the conversation between the two teams from the beginning to the end. He stared at Feng YuLan as if he could not help it, and his hands were always holding his tang sword as if he was ready to snatch back that person at any time.

    ¡°Duan Li,¡± Luo Jian lowly shouted to him, but Duan Li ignored him and still kept his gaze on Feng YuLan.

    Feng YuLan did not utter a sound. He was always carried by the boy. He also raised his head to look at Duan Li, and the look in his eyes was very gentle.

    But Duan Li was still concerned about the overall situation. Although he was used to doing as he pleased, it seemed that he made a decision at this critical moment. He turned back to look at Luo Jian, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll hold the enemy back. You climb up.¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s way of thinking was definitely not wrong, and Duan Li couldn¡¯t put his heart to rest in regards to Ah Lan¡¯s predicament, so Luo Jian understood his decision. But at this moment, Luo Jian was afraid. He tilted his head up to look at the tree that he was unable to see the top of. It was pitch ck. The exit seemed to exist in such a ce that he could never reach.

    As soon as he thought that he was going to bear the fate of the whole team, he felt at a loss.

    But in this moment, although Duan Li and Luo Jian had not really interacted much despite having reluctantly gathered asrades, Duan Li seemed to be able to read Luo Jian¡¯s mind. He slightly raised his mask to expose his face to Luo Jian.

    Half of the face was intact while the other half was full of ferocious scars.

    ¡°The scars on my face were left by a terrifying enemy,¡± Duan Li suddenly sneered, ¡°I traded this for my life.¡±

    Luo Jian did not quite understand what he meant. He could only remain silent and not speak.

    Duan Li continued, ¡°In the ruthless secret chambers, if you want to live, you always have to pay a heavy price. Even if you don¡¯t want to lose something, you have to abandon it in order to live.¡±

    ¡°So... Luo Jian, if you want to live, just escape by yourself because no one will help you.¡±

    Duan Li then raised his knife, turned around, and aimed at the boy in front of him.

    Luo Jian gnashed his teeth, leapt to a higher ce, and continued climbing the tree. He had fallen behind a lot. The enemy¡¯s vampire team captain had reached the greatest height. Even though he was carrying a person, he still held the advantage of flying. However, it was unknown why, but the higher the vampire team captain went, the harder he felt that it was to use his wings to fly. He could only carry the woman on his back and use his hands and feet to climb with much difficulty.

    Following behind the vampire captain was the silent and stalwart Brawny.

    Luo Jian set outter than them, but he was very flexible and did not need to carry extra weight. He had the fastest speed.

    ¡°Is that alright with you?¡± The boy took a look at the people who were struggling to climb up. The tall tree was still shaking unscrupulously. As they climbed, all of them were struggling.

    The boy sighed slightly and replied to Duan Li, ¡°I¡¯ve seen your extraordinary speed. In fact, if you ignore everyone, you can easily get to the exit first, and your team will win.¡±

    Duan Li froze and squinted at the boy, ¡°But I¡¯m not sure... Even if I was the first to escape from the secret chamber and obtained victory, you would still have time to kill all myrades, and I can see your motives are targeted toward... Luo Jian, right?¡±

    The boy spread his arms open: ¡°Are my motives that obvious?¡±

    ¡°More than that, you¡¯ve been targeting him from start to finish.¡± Duan Li sucked in deep breath and raised his de: ¡°But no matter who you are or what your purpose is, it doesn¡¯t matter to me at all.¡±

    ¡°Oh... I see.¡± The boy brought Feng YuLan tond on a shaking branch. After touching Ah Lan¡¯s hand, he turned back to look at Duan Li: ¡°Your target is Feng YuLan.¡±

    The boy got close to Ah Lan, and his face was stuck so close it was almost attached to him, but his eyes were still looking at Duan Li: ¡°You care about him.¡±

    Duan Li expressionlessly justified, ¡°I signed a symbiotic contract with him, so I have to care about him.¡±

    The boy smiled: ¡°But as far as I know, because this contract was imposed by you, it should only take effect unterally, right? If you die, he will die with you, but if he dies, you are still able to live on well.¡±

    ¡°Looks like you know a lot of things,¡± Duan Li said, and following that, he stiffened.

    The boy took Ah Lan¡¯s hand and felt that the other party was also holding onto him. Then, the boy smiled: ¡°Ah, because I also care about Ah Lan.¡±

    Duan Li did not miss the little interaction between the two people although this was done quite secretively.

    So he said, ¡°In fact, I¡¯m not worried about what you will do to Ah Lan. The symbiotic contract will allow me to feel the contractor¡¯s emotions asionally, but in addition to the panic transmitted from him at the beginning... After that, when you appeared in front of us, I didn¡¯t feel anxiety and fear when Ah Lan was being held hostage.

    ¡°I can only guess two possibilities from this,¡± Duan Li said, ¡°Either you have hypnotized himpletely to have him ept and trust you. Or... the two of you have already had this kind of mutual trust.¡±

    The boy stiffened in that instant and turned his head to nce at Duan Li with a sh of surprise in his eyes.

    Yet Duan Li smiled: ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know whether it is the former or thetter, but my intuition tells me that it is thetter... That is to say, you two already know each other. Maybe Ah Lan did not recognize you at first, butter he recognized you and chose to help you.

    ¡°I respect his choice, so I will help you as long as you don¡¯t hurt him.¡±

    The boy¡¯sughter sounded. He helplessly smiled, and it was as if he was crying yet alsoughing. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t need your help. I just hope that if you really care about Ah Lan, you will treat him better.¡±

    As the boy spoke, he suddenly pulled Feng YuLan and pushed him towards Duan Li. Duan Li instinctively withdrew his sword and reached for him. When he held the man in his arms, he raised his head upward and saw that the boy was gone.

    Feng YuLan grabbed Duan Li¡¯s clothes as he raised his head to look at Duan Li with wide eyes. Duan Li touched the head of the man in his embrace and asked, ¡°Are you hurt?¡±

    Ah Lan shook his head and grabbed his clothes harder. After a while, he whispered Duan Li¡¯s name: ¡°Duan Li...¡±

    Duan Li answered, and Ah Lan asked another question. With his eyelids raised, his sparkling eyes gazed at Duan Li: ¡°Do you like me?¡±

    Duan Li simply replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to let go of you, but I¡¯m afraid of hurting you also.¡±

    I¡¯m not a good person. I¡¯m very evil, very scummy, and very hateful. I¡¯ve done a lot of things to hurt you in the past. If I get too close, my de will definitely leave you with cuts.

    But if I go too far away from you, my heart will ache.

    T/N: I¡¯m sure many of you guys here have many questions regarding the boy, his identity, his motives and what is going on. I¡¯d just like to inform you guys that...everything will be revealed inter chapters ~

 Chapter 105 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXV)

    <h4>Chapter 105 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian had climbed very high up, the tree frantically shaking, when the huge tomb had started to copse. Fortunately, there were several Roman pirs in the god¡¯s tomb vault, which slowed down the vault¡¯s copse. However, the tree was so tall that he still could not see the end of it. In front of him, it was pitch-dark. It was unknown what props the vampire team captain, who had climbed higher than him, used to light up the area around himself. He used the light source to observe and avoid the huge stones that were falling from above.

    Brawny, who had been in front of Luo Jian earlier, was behind him now. Although he had great strength, he did not seem to be flexible or good at climbing. Moreover, the big tree demon not only shook but also moved the branches and vines on its trunk to attack Luo Jian and the others.

    Luo Jian unconsciously ran through his mental technique in his mind when climbing. Amazingly, the big tree seemed topletely ignore him after that, and the vines stopped attacking him, allowing Luo Jian to happily climb up the height of the trunk.

    As he climbed, Luo Jian looked toward the ground and saw that the stalker had disappeared without trace. Luo Jian knew that he would note and help him. During critical moments, the stalker always left Luo Jian. He would mercilessly leave all the unknown dangers and evils for Luo Jian to face alone and would not care about his feelings at all.

    But it was necessary.

    Luo Jian was very clear that the stalker had helped them too much. If he continued to help, the secret chamber would not allow it. This would not only make Luo Jian and others fall into a more dangerous situation but also implicate the stalker to be punished by the secret chamber.

    Therefore, Luo Jian must rely on himself from now on.

    Duan Li and Feng YuLan, who were far behind, also kept up with the pace and started to climb. Since the boy disappeared, Ah Lan told Duan Li that the child had left. As for where he went, Ah Lan did not know.

    The veryst one was the long-forgotten Specter. In fact, his speed was not slow. In a normal situation, he would soon be able to catch up with most of the others and rendezvous with his teammates, but the problem was that he encountered some idents on the way.

    Just as Specter arrived by the roots of the huge tree demon, the tree went berserk, and its roots struggled to pull out from the soil and rock. Therefore, those vines brought out some things that were originally hidden under the ground.

    Specter saw that from underneath the ground, the vines flipped out a corpse. Specter hesitated for a moment and wanted to go closer to study the corpse because he realized that the corpse¡¯s dressing style and makeup were not like the funeral apaniments in this ancient tomb. Although the corpse¡¯s clothes were gray, they were typical modern garbs.

    And when Specter approached, something unexpected happened. When he climbed up the vines and got closer to the corpse, the corpse suddenly moved as if it had been resurrected. The man opened his eyes suddenly and turned to look at Specter.

    If Luo Jian was currently present, he would surely recognize that the &#k2018;corpse¡¯ was Clown, who he thought he had killed previously.

    It may have been because he was buried under the ground all the time, but Clown¡¯s makeup was all ruined. Thus, his makeup appeared messed up, his hair was all tangled, and his clothes were so dirty that one was unable to see the original colours. He had a thick gauze wrapped around his neck like Luo Jian, which undoubtedly had allowed him to escape from the clutches of death.

    It was just that Clown¡¯s eyes were a little dull, and he had a kind of expression akin to a puppet. When he woke up after surfacing from the ground, he looked at Specter standing in front of him, stared at him warily as if he saw something he couldn¡¯t understand, and slightly tilted his head.

    Specter hesitated for a while, but only for a moment. In the Chaos Chamber Battlefield, any person one met was either arade or an enemy! So when one met the enemy, one did not hesitate to kill them!

    So Specter raised the muzzle of his gun and aimed at the enemy in front of him before pulling the trigger to fire. To his surprise, Clown, who was standing opposite him, lowered his head a little and dodged Specter¡¯s shot within 0.1 seconds. The distance between them was only ten meters. This kind of reaction speed and awareness were simply unachievable for human beings.

    Specter¡¯s astonishment didn¡¯tst long. He fired several shots in a row very urately. Even if the enemy could dodge one quickly, there was always another bullet that could hit the target, so Clown was shot near the area of his chest and shoulder.

    The impact of the bullet made Clown step backwards. He lowered his head to look at his injuries, but his face did not show that he was in pain after he was injured. He was very calm when he raised his head up to look at Specter.

    ¡°Obstacles encountered when attempting to aplish task.¡± Clown talked to himself in a t and unsmooth voice as if he had been restructured into a robot while he fixed his eyes at Specter, saying, ¡°Obstacle removal begins.¡±

    When Clown finished speaking, his body slightly bent and leaned forward. It was unknown where in his hands the scalpels appeared out of, but they were now sandwiched between his fingers. He made a kind of preparatory action as if he was about to rush towards Specter. All at once, Specter became alert, and his fighting consciousness led him to make the next action. Specter took his weapons and two guns to block his chest, trying to stand in a defensive position.

    However, before he could appropriately position himself defensively, the enemy Clown standing opposite him appeared in front of him at the next moment. That speed was so fast that... for a moment, Specter thought of Duan Li, but although he also had such a fast and outrageous speed, Clown was not Duan Li. Compared to the person who had fought Luo Jian, he was someonepletely different now!

    In that instant when Clown was approaching, Specter, based on his experiences after many battles, tried to open up some distance between himself and the enemy. However, Clown suddenly threw a concealed scalpel from his hand toward Specter. The de brushed past him, and Specter could not dodge in time. He soon felt a cut on the side of his face.

    Originally, when fighting with the two stalkers, Specter had suffered some injuries. At this time, he realized that his current condition was not suitable for fighting, and the enemy... Specter squinted his eyes. This kind ofbat power was totally different from those of the enemies he met before like the vampire team captain.

    Specter had seen several members of the enemy team, but he hadn¡¯t seen the little boy. However, he realized that one of the enemies did have the means to confuse people¡¯s minds, such as hypnosis, or some kind of magic skills, but that person was definitely not Clown, who was in front of him. The secret chamber would not give someone special treatment to bestow upon them some skills simr to ¡®magic type skills¡¯ as well as powerful melee abilities.

    So Specter quickly guessed the identity of Clown. In addition to Clown¡¯s makeup, which was in a mess but could still be seen on his face and his clown costume, Specter guessed that the man in front of him was Clown that Luo Jian had mentioned before and who he had thought he had killed.

    But if no other idents had happened, Clown should have been dead, right? Or rather, who saved him?

    When Luo Jian and Specter were together, he once described to Specter how he met Clown in the narrow tunnel and almost desperately fought with him with the idea of dying together but atst he was somehow saved by someone. However, from Luo Jian¡¯s description, Clown should not have been as good in battle as he was now.

    This should not be it.

    Specter felt he was in a tricky situation. After exchanging several moves, he found that he couldn¡¯t win the upper hand at all, and his injuries were increasing. Clown, who was supposed to be dead and had been resurrected, was like a machine that was disassembled, reorganized, andpletely reborn. All his attacks were carried out wlessly.

    At the beginning, Clown¡¯s attacks had slight dys as if his body had yet to adapt to the extremely high-speed movements, but after exchanging several moves, Specter felt that the other party began to adapt. His speed became faster and faster, andrge numbers of his weapons, his scalpels, were floating in the air now!

    Specter stepped backwards again and again. He was almost fighting and fleeing at the same time! But Clown obviously didn¡¯t want him to run away. He took a scalpel and aimed it at Specter as if thinking about how many pieces Specter should be divided into. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he whispered, ¡°Neurotomy.¡±

    As soon as the voice sounded, Specter immediately felt a prating pain that surged from his brain, but the painsted for less than a second and stopped immediately. Specter covered his head and looked at the enemy in confusion but saw that Clown was rigid in ce, and a person suddenly appeared beside him.

    It was the little boy who had disappeared in front of Duan Li andpany.

    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt him!¡± The boy ced one hand on Clown¡¯s shoulder, and his face was a little gloomy.

    Clown still remained expressionless and mechanical and said to himself, ¡°Obstacle removal ended.¡±

    The boy took a deep breath and said to Clown, ¡°Nextmand¡ªhead toward the exit now and escape from the secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°Task epted. Execution of task begins.¡± Clown obeyed themand, turned around, and left. He moved very quickly, but he did not climb the huge tree. Instead, he followed the roots of the tree and jumped into the hole under them.

    After Clown left, the boy turned his head and looked at Specter, but it appeared as if he did not want to talk. He turned around and seemed to want to run away. Specter hesitated for a moment and called out, ¡°Wait¡ªwho are you? Why save me?¡±

    The little boy paused. He ignored Specter again, and in an instant, he vanished.

    Suddenly, Specter was alone. He was covered in all kinds of wounds, but he felt that he didn¡¯t have much time to deal with them because he had heard the boy¡¯s instructions to Clown¡ªhead toward the exit now and escape from the secret chamber.

    Under normal circumstances, he would not believe these words because it may just be a trap... but¡ª

    Specter¡¯s eyes lit up. He got up and followed along the traces left by Clown. He also jumped into the big holes puckered on the ground, left by the roots and vines of the tree. Soon he found that he fell into a dark tunnel, so he found a small shlight in his pocket, followed the footprints left by Clown, and began to search for the whereabouts of the exit.

    T/N: Countdown: 2

 Chapter 106 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXVI)

    <h4>Chapter 106 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXVI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    On the other side, Luo Jian found that the vampire team captain who had been climbing up in front of him suddenly stopped.

    At this moment, the huge tree demon seemed to have slightly calmed down. Instead of continuing to shake wildly, it stretched its branches and leaves smoothly. Its vines were like snakes, entwining the branches one by one. Some of them twined around Luo Jian¡¯s body, tightly binding him with the trunk.

    When Luo Jian found that he was almost bound by the vines, he realized that he could not move because as long as he struggled, the vines would tighten, so after Luo Jian thought about it, he rxed his body instead and no longer tried to break free. He simply allowed himself to hang on the tree branch.

    The reason why the vampire team captain in front of him stopped climbing was because like Luo Jian, he did not want to be strangled alive by these damn vines. If one did not want to be strangled, one could not move, and if one did not move, one would not be able to climb up.

    They were very high up from the ground now. If they did not continue to climb, they would die if they fell... Oh, the vampire team captain could at least fly. As for Luo Jian, if there were no idents, he would definitely fall to his death.

    Just then, the situation turned for the worse!

    ¡°Damn it!¡± The vampire team captain, who was lying down t in front of him, suddenly shouted a curse. With a wave of his hand, he cut all the vines that were wrapped around him with his ws. However, the number of vines was so huge that if he cut more, more would grow. Moreover, the vines noticed the resistance of the vampire team captain and thus attacked the vampire captain more fiercely.

    Perhaps because they had been caught up in too fierce of a struggle, the female strategist who was being carried on the vampire team captain¡¯s back suddenly fell off. The poor woman had been seriously injured, and the longer he dyed, the worse the condition of her wound became and the closer she was to death. Presumably, the vampire captain also thought of this and could hardly wait to find the exit as soon as possible.

    But some things were just like this. The more eager one was, the more flustered one would be, and the trickier the situation would be.

    Therefore, when the female strategist fell from the vampire team captain¡¯s back, he looked frightened and reached out to catch the woman, but he responded a tad too slow. His hand and the female strategist¡¯s hand failed to grasp each other, and he could only watch as the most important person to him fell straight from the sky like a bird with broken wings.

    ¡°Yan Hua¡ª!¡± He called the woman¡¯s name, his voice sounding extremely deste.

    Below them, Luo Jian heard some sounds and reflexively looked upward, only to see a ck shadow falling down. He had little time to weigh the pros and cons, and he took out his knife to cut the vines around his arm. Then he reached out and grabbed the female strategist, who was in aa.

    At the moment when he rescued her, Luo Jian regretted it. It must be that his brain was full of holes, causing him to save the enemy. However, Luo Jian did not know the significance of rescuing her; this meant that even if he escaped from the secret chambers filled with severe cruelty, he still did not lose the values of loyalty and kindness he had in his heart.

    When the vampire team captain saw that Yan Hua was safe, he didn¡¯t even care to climb upward to find the so-called exit and flew to Luo Jian with the help of his wings. He could not wait to reach out and hold the woman in his arms. Seeing his pale face and how frightened he was, Luo Jian suddenly felt that he envied the woman.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    In a scene rarely seen, the enemy thanked Luo Jian. The vampire team captain raised his head and looked at him with his dark eyes. His irises were actually red, but they were different from those of the stalker. It was a kind of dark red, and only when he activated his weapons and skills could the eyes be this colour.

    The vampire captain was a white man, but he spoke Chinese very well. His hair was brown in colour, and his facial features were typical to white men. He was also taller than most people.

    ¡°I owe you a favor, but I will not give up the chance to escape from this secret chamber,¡± the vampire team captain said in a sincere tone, and after that, he took out something and ced it in Luo Jian¡¯s hand, saying, ¡°So I¡¯ll give this to you as thanks. After giving you this, I won¡¯t owe you anything more.¡±

    As soon as the vampire captain finished speaking, he took the woman in his arms and continued to fly upwards.

    Luo Jian looked at the thing that the vampire team captain had ced into his hand. It was a cross, a ck cross.

    Cross......?

    ¡°Cross¡ª¡± Luo Jian murmured, the cross reminding him of a matter.

    Yes, the reward that Luo Jian had received when he escaped from the third secret chamber, the Flowers In The River And The Moon¡¯s Reflection In The Lake chamber. There were three rewards that Luo Jian received from that secret chamber: the basic sabre technique of a disguiser, the basic mental technique of a disguiser, and thest reward&#k2014;the disguiser¡¯s cross.

    In fact, Luo Jian had been confused about what the word ¡®disguiser¡¯ meant.

    Luo Jian had always worn the cross of the disguiser on his neck, ced under the innermostyer of his clothes. Before, when he swapped his identity with Xing Yan, Xing Yan had once taken it away, but now it had been returned and remained hanging on his neck. He subconsciously reached up to touch it. He pulled it out of his clothes andpared it with the cross he got from the vampire team captain.

    The cross given to him by the vampire team captain was pure ck while Luo Jian¡¯s own cross was silver-white, but they were simr in size, proportion, and style.

    Luo Jian knew that the vampire team captain would not throw out just anything to thank Luo Jian, so this must have some value, but what was it for? After thinking about it, he was too embarrassed to catch up with him to ask about it, so he had to put both crosses into his pocket.

    Then Luo Jian continued to climb up, the vines twining around him from time to time, but Luo Jian soon found a way to deal with these vines. If he cut them with his knife, they would only send more vines to entangle around him, but if he rxed and did not move, they would disperse automatically, allowing Luo Jian to continue climbing up.

    They had already reached a very great height. When he lowered his head to look at the ground, the things on the ground were as small as rice grains. Such a height chilled their hearts.

    Luo Jian¡¯s heart thumped with fear. Although he was sure that he did not suffer from acrophobia, anyone would start to be afraid when they climbed to such a height, especially when it was dark around and one was unable to see the top. The tree that they had been climbing up shook from time to time, which increased the probability of them falling and caused them to tremble with fear.

    It seemed that the speed of the copse of the secret chamber had been elerated. A lot of stones and dust were falling from the top. Fortunately, he was hardly affected by it because there were arge number of branches over his head shielding him. Luo Jian had not suffered any harm, but he still elerated his climbing speed. He continued his tough ascent and moved faster by holding the branches and vines. However, the heavens were not cooperative, and an ident still urred.

    Luo Jian suddenly heard a loud noise as he was climbing!

    The tomb vault of the god was very huge and could be described as having the width and length of five or six football fields. There were naturally some towering stone pirs as infrastructural support in such arge vault, and those pirs needed to bear the weight of the entire vault!

    Simrly, the big tree at the center of the tomb, like these stone pirs, was originally designed as an infrastructural support, and it also supported the weight of the entire tomb. Therefore, when the center of the tomb began to move restlessly, the surrounding supporting pirs naturally began to slowly copse! The loud noise that Luo Jian heard was actually the sound of a stone pir crashing down!

    Following the copse of this stone pir, half of the god¡¯s tomb vault began to copse! Luo Jian could see the stone gate at the entrance of the vault as he stood high up on the tree. The stone wall beside the gate hadpletely copsed! Seeing that sight and hearing that sound, Luo Jian instantly realized that they were in a dire situation! They were already at the point which would decide whether they would live or die!

    But¡ª

    Luo Jian raised his head to look at the huge tree. The tree was too tall; it was so tall that it seemed unlikely. Truly, the only way to describe this tree was as a thousand-year-old tree demon. Luo Jian could not see where its top was! Above him, it was all darkness except for the small stones that kept falling. He couldn¡¯t see even the slightest hope.

    ¡°Do you really think you can get out?¡±

    When Luo Jian was at a loss, he suddenly heard someone¡¯s voice ring out in his ears. Turning around, he found a thin branch beside him. It was unknown when he had appeared, but beside him stood a person!

    ¡°You¡¯re not dead?!¡± When Luo Jian saw this man, he was shocked. He was the ¡®god¡¯ who had been stabbed to death by Xing Yan.

    ¡°God will not die,¡± the god stated, ¡°No matter how many times I die, I will be revived among the flower buds. What do you think is the reason behind why I can live here for thousands of years as a mortal?

    ¡°This tree will keep me alive.¡±

    The god continued to speak. He was still naked with his long hair waving and swinging around, and his face was very pale. For a long time, he stared at Luo Jian and, carrying unknown intentions, suddenly said, ¡°You look totally different from Luo, but somehow, I think you are very simr to him. Even when I was in a state of delirium and descended into lunacy, I thought you were him.¡±

    Luo Jian was silent for a moment: ¡°You can probably understand this as the power of the devil who signed the contract with you. This power will confuse you and make you mistake something that you wouldn¡¯t otherwise make mistakes about.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re not Luo, are you?¡± the god asked him.

    Luo Jian nodded. ¡°Yes, I am not.¡±

    The god did not know what he was thinking. Luo Jian found that he had be a little different. The look he had now was totally different from the lunatic look he had previously. He looked very calm now, but his eyes were slightly empty, and his temperament had be mncholic.

    But the god sighed and said, ¡°You have gone the wrong way.¡±

    Luo Jian frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°This tree really is the exit. It¡¯s buried deep in the ground. When it wakes up, it can¡¯t wait to pull its roots out, stretch its branches and leaves, and bathe in the sun. So the idea that you can reach the exit by climbing up this tree is right. The wrong part is that the grave is buried deep in the ground. Even if you climb up, what¡¯s above you will only be thick rocks and soil.¡±

    Luo Jian was slow to react for a moment, as if he had just thought of it, and he silently hated that he had descended into a state of panic because he could not even envision such a thing happening.

    The god continued, ¡°The tree is hollow; it¡¯s empty inside. If you want to get out, you can only go into the trunk and continue to climb up inside the trunk. Then before long, the tree will climb out of the tomb by itself. There will be a tree hole at the top of the trunk. When you exit from it, you will be able to see rays of sunlight.¡±

    Luo Jian was surprised that the god would tell him the truth so calmly, so he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°You thought about how to bury all of us here alive with you previously, so why did you decide to honestly tell me the way out?¡±

    The god lowered his head, and his hair moved without the wind blowing, covering half of his face. His eyes were dim: ¡°This tomb will soon copse and be buried underground forever, and I am doomed to be unable to leave here. I will be destroyed with the tomb. As for the contract with the devil, I am afraid it cannot be fulfilled.¡±

    ¡°So did you give up?¡±

    The god suddenly raised his head and looked at Luo Jian: ¡°I don¡¯t want to give up, but I have no way of retreat.¡±

    Now, Luo Jian did not know what to say. He could not help but sympathize with the man in front of him. He had always called himself a ¡®god,¡¯ but he could not even save his beloved.

    ¡°It¡¯s still too early to celebrate.¡± God said, ¡°You have gone the wrong way. I¡¯m afraid your strength can¡¯t hurt the trunk of this tree at all, so you can¡¯t directly open an opening on the trunk, so you could either go down and find the entrance again, or you can stay here until you die.¡±

    Luo Jian had already climbed up to a great height. Lowering his head to look downward, he found that he was at a terrifying height. He suddenly felt dizzy. He had already climbed for such a long time; must he really head downward now?

    ¡°You can also choose a shortcut.¡± The god cunningly smiled: ¡°It¡¯d be faster for you to fall down directly.¡±

    ¡°Fall down... but this height...¡± Just when Luo Jian wanted to say something, the god standing opposite him suddenly decided to make things difficult for him. A bunch of vines rushed up, caught Luo Jian¡¯s wrist, and pulled him down from the tree. Then, Luo Jian fell from the tree trunk. Luo Jian started to free fall and started a crazy descend downwards!

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes were blinded, and his body experienced a horrifying sense of weightlessness. Once again, Luo Jian thought he would die.

    Back at Specter¡¯s side, Specter had been tailing the half-dead Clown, who acted in a robotic manner. He followed him into the hole and walked into an undergroundbyrinth-like tunnel following the tree roots. Soon, Specter followed Clown into a vertical passageway.

    They were likely inside that huge trunk. Unexpectedly, the trunk of this tree was hollow. It was not only hollow but also had some structures simr to spiral stairs. There was no need to climb; one just needed to follow the stairs up all the way.

    The structure inside the trunk felt a little slippery. The pathway inside wasid out in in sight. Moreover, because this thousand-year-old tree demon was shaking left and right, it would be easy to slide down if one didn¡¯t grasp firmly when taking the stairs. In addition, the spiral stairs circled around. Although Specter was unobstructed as he slowly followed Clown up all the way, he felt increasingly dizzy.

    It would not be fine if this went on. The top of the stairs was probably the exit. He could not allow the enemy to take the lead.

    As Specter thought about it, he carefully watched Clown slowly walk up the stairs above him. This fool still remained expressionless but climbed the stairs, unhinged. His body seemed to sway left and right along with the shaking of the trunk. He was walking very steadily and did not show any signs of slipping and falling.

    Specter wanted to kill him, but he knew that just his strength alone was not enough. Although he was titled the oracle, Specter was destined to be a long-range expert, but his opponent was a horrifying enemy with MAX meleebat skills. Moreover, adding on to the fact that the ground Specter was standing on was lower than that of the enemy in such a narrow ce, in fact, he would not be able to reap any advantages.

    In addition, Specter had fought the enemy head-on earlier andpletely could not beat the enemy at all.

    Damn it, how could this guy be so powerful? What was more, although he was so powerful, the secret chamber did not give Clown the title of the oracle. Also, ording to Luo Jian¡¯s description of him, this fellow should have merely been a middle-scale threat.

    However, although Specter felt that the current situation was tricky to deal with, he was not afraid to the extent where he had to retreat. Instead, he began to try to seize an opportunity.

    During such a moment, it was better tounch a sneak attack.

    While thinking about countermeasures, Specter slowly climbed up. He had survived countless tests given by the secret chamber and had done a lot of despicable things. In order to survive, Specter would give up anything. For him, it was but child¡¯s y to sneak up on the enemy.

    ¡°This guy¡¯s reaction speed is very fast. If he is attacked or assassinated, during that interval, he will reveal his ws, and I just have to ensure that with the first strike, he is killed. If I cannot do this, his reflexes are fast enough for him to counterattack and kill me.¡± Specter made all sorts of deductions in his heart.

    ¡°His weapon is a scalpel. It can be spected that his skills are rted to surgical fields, and he has used his skill ¡®neurotomy¡¯..... The skill is horrifying, and that may be a skill that can directly affect the nerves, cutting off my nerves. This may make me lose my sense of pain and even lead to my death.¡±

    Specter made more spections, and they all made him deeply feel how horrifying the enemy was.

    ¡°But I still have a chance to win, with that skill...¡±

    Specter reassembled his weapon, the two guns, and assembled a gun simr to a sniper¡¯s. Then he drew out his gun and began to find the best position.

    Before sniping, one should be well prepared to grasp the distance, angle, wind direction, and deviation, but in this kind of considerably narrow ce and from such a low height, Specter could only shoot upwards. He also had to urately hit a moving target. It was difficult to urately snipe the target under such conditions.

    When Specter followed Clown, he had a good grasp of the distance between them. He would neither let the enemy discover him nor let the enemy fall out of his clutches.

    After all, there was only one chance.

    After a series of preparatory actions, Specter set up his sniper gun. He almostid on the ground, positioned his body appropriately, and pointed the muzzle of the gun upwards. Specter was thankful that when he tracked Clown, he was always following the footprints and traces left by the other party when moving. Moreover, since it was very dark all around, Specter did not turn on the light but directly took a night-vision prop from his carry-on secret chamber to use.

    But Clown had a shlight, and the light made him conspicuous, a perfect target for assassination under the help of the sniper gun¡¯s scope.

    He was still walking slowly and rhythmically with the shaking of the trunk, but this just provided a greater advantage for Specter. As long as he was able to decipher the frequency of the tree shaking, he could guess Clown¡¯s next action!

    Don¡¯t be nervous. Your sniping has never failed you!

    Specter calcted the speed and deviation of the bullet and predicted all possible abnormalities. He squinted as he held the muzzle high, and his index finger rested on the trigger.

    T/N: Countdown: 1

 Chapter 107 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXVII)

    <h4>Chapter 107 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XXXVII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The sniping failed!

    Specter could not figure out why the sniping failed. It was clear that almost everything was within his calctions. As he had clearly seen through the telescope, he really had hit the target. However, he failed because after Clown fell to the ground, he was down for less than a minute, and afterwards, he got up in a daze. Specter even saw the bullet hole on his forehead, which proved that Specter¡¯s sniping had not failed!

    But the enemy was not dead!

    Specter took the scope off from the sniper gun and looked through the lens, surprised.

    Clown¡¯s face had be even paler now. Clown¡¯s makeup, which had already been a mess, was now stained with his dark red blood. He now looked like a devil that had crawled out from hell.

    Wait, his blood was dark red in colour?

    That sticky, dark red blood did not look like a living human¡¯s blood.

    From the start when he saw this fellow, he had already been dead!

    Specter suddenly realized this: Clown was dead! Precisely because he had died, he lookedpletely different from when he was alive. It was because he was dead that his actions could be easily controlled by others. Akin to a robot, he could only passively ept orders. Moreover, because he was dead, his body was unbounded by human restraints. He did not have to worry about whether his body was able to bear such strain and attrition. Thus, he could possess inhuman reaction speed and power.

    Such a fellow, how can I defeat him?!

    Specter kept asking himself that. Since his sniping had failed, he had been exposed. During such a moment, it was both the best and worst choice for Specter to turn around and flee to survive. Because Specter knew how fast this guy was, he estimated that he could easily catch up with Specter and kill him.

    However, looking through the scope, Specter found that Clown was not pursuing him. He just lowered his head to look at where Specter was, and then he turned his head and continued to walk up the spiral staircase.

    Specter hesitated for a moment, reloaded, aimed at Clown, and shot again. If the other party did not intend to pursue him, Specter absolutely would not be polite either.

    This time, the bullet shot his heart. Clown¡¯s body froze for a moment, but he continued to ascend. Even if he was shot full of so many holes that he turned into a sieve, he would not stop walking!

    Specter narrowed his eyes and fired two more shots. This time, he shot the other party¡¯s leg joint. Specter felt that he would like to see how he could continue walking upwards seeing his leg bone was broken. Indeed, as he saw through the scope, Clown tilted and fell to the ground, but he soon got up and carried on walking like nothing had happened.

    ¡°F*ck his mother!¡± Specter threw away his sniping gun. He suddenly felt that he could not afford to waste his time here. This fool obviously did not take any notice of him. Even if Specter shot several holes into him, he would not stop for Specter and would not even bother looking at him.

    Specter reassembled his sniper gun and turned it into a portable pistol. This time, he did not think of hiding himself and started to run up the spiral stairs. Clown, who was in front of him, lowered his head downward and found that Specter was chasing behind him. He actually didn¡¯t want to hide himself any longer and started running!

    Thus, in this manner, the duo consisting of Clown in front and Specter behind started a race as they madly rushed topete in who would be the first to reach the finish point.

    But nearing the end of the race, Specter found that Clown, who was in front of him, gradually slowed down. His limbs seemed to start to stiffen, making his speed slow, so soon after, Specter gradually kept up with Clown¡¯s pace and began to prepare himself to surpass the other.

    After all, he was just the walking dead.

    It was easy for Specter to guess why Clown¡¯s speed slowed down. Generally speaking, after an animal died, the corpse would undergo a stage of postmortem stiffness. At first, the body would gradually be cold and lose its normal temperature, and a phenomenon of muscle rxation would ur. Within one to three hours of death, the corpse would begin to stiffen, and in four to six hours, the stiffness will spread throughout the body.

    This rigidity of the body would affect the corpse the most 12 to 24 hours after death but would gradually cease after 24 hours.

    It was impossible for Specter to know the exact time of Clown¡¯s death, but he estimated that it must have been more than three hours ago. That was to say, this guy had begun to undergo rigor mortis. The other party¡¯s blue skin and the brown spots on his neck once again confirmed Specter¡¯s conjecture that this fool was really a corpse.

    And I actually can¡¯t even beat a corpse?

    Specter gritted his teeth in silently, but he did not dare to be careless. He got closer to Clown, who was in front of him. They were only a few meters away from one another. Clown also realized that he was being tailed. He suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at Specter.

    As soon as the other party turned his head, Specter was startled by him.

    The makeup on Clown¡¯s face had beenpletely covered by his dark red blood, and his pair of ck irises had morphed into a greyish-white colour, which was particrly frightening. Specter trembled for a moment, drew out his gun, aimed at Clown in front of him, and approached him step by step.

    After his death, Clown¡¯s body began to stiffen. His muscles also stiffened, and if he forcibly moved his body, it would certainly not be as flexible as before. In other words, this seemingly terrifying enemy would lose the advantage of his prowess in closebat and would not counterattack well against Specter¡¯s attack.

    For Specter, this was an opportunity. Even if Clown wouldn¡¯tpletely die due to some special power maintaining his life, during his rigid stage, Specter could push him down the spiral staircase, and his body would be so stiff that he couldn¡¯t move even if he wanted to, let alone climb up.

    ¡°Do you think you won?¡±

    To Specter¡¯s dismay, Clown actually spoke. The muscles on his face seemed stiff, and his lips did not seem to move when he spoke.

    Not only that, but Specter also found that this fool was actually talking like a normal person, which was quite different from the robot-like reaction before.

    But what about it? Specter responded with a grim smile: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether you win or lose as long as you are not given leeway to turn the tables around. At the end of the day, you¡¯re just a walking corpse.¡±

    ¡°Death... It¡¯s just the beginning.¡± Clown twisted his stiff facial muscles and reluctantly showed a smile, and apanied by the bloodstain on his face, he appeared more horrifying.

    ¡°Then you can scram to hell and start a new life again!¡± Specter subconsciously just wanted to pull the trigger of his pistol. He knew that the inertia of the bullet was enough to make this fool fall down the stairs, and he gauged that he would not be able to climb up for a long time.

    But Specter did not expect that Clown still possessed such terrifying reflexes at this moment!

    Obviously, his body had stiffened, but he still could still suddenly pounce on Specter! His strength was extremely huge and his speed was extraordinarily fast. Suddenly, he pressed himself onto Specter¡¯s body and reached out to choke his throat.

    Clown was very strong. Because he was a corpse, he could forcibly utilize his muscles and bones without restrictions. He did not have to worry about the wear and tear of his body. What he was unable to do when he was living could all be done when he died.

    Specter was caught off guard when he was choked, and suddenly his vision turned ck. He took his gun out, aimed it toward the enemy, and made several shots at the enemy¡¯s chest, but he failed to bring Clown down. Clown was extremely calm when he pressed down on Specter tightly, and his fingers gradually used more and more strength.

    Specter was suffocating, and his brain was short of oxygen. He couldn¡¯t breathe as his neck was strangled, and he almost felt that his neck was about to break. However, he was worthy of being titled the oracle. Even at this critical moment, Specter did not forget to fight back. He grabbed Clown¡¯s clothes and ced the muzzle of the pistol on Clown¡¯s forehead.

    Clownpletely ignored the other party¡¯s attack. He had previously been shot in the head by Specter¡¯s sniping gun, but that did not kill him. Therefore, for Clown, even if he did not have a head, he could still exaggeratedly move.

    But Specter seemingly felt that victory was within his grasp. Even though he had been choked to the point where he felt his eyes would fall out, he still gave a grim grin and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: ¡°Go¡ªto¡ªhell!¡±

    Simrly, he pulled the trigger.

    Specter¡¯s weapon was a gun that could be converted into different forms. Naturally, his bullets could also transform into different forms. He was known for collecting various kinds of bullets such as armor-piercing bullets, dumdums, and even biochemical bullets that carried special viruses.

    This kind of bullet was obtained in a special secret chamber in which he found a society that took on a form and possessed technological developmentspletely different than current modern-day society.

    inly speaking, Specter saw another civilization in that chamber.

    And this bullet was obtained from that civilization. When the bullet entered an organism, a special virus would start to spread within the host. This would cause any kind of creature to copse and disintegrate in just a few seconds. In short, the whole human body would start to disintegrate, and the body would melt and turn into a pool of blood.

    It was a terrifying bullet because even if one was just grazed by it, it could quickly invade the body and make one die in a horrifying manner.

    Specter had never used it since he got it because it was rare and precious; he only had one bullet.

    But no matter how precious the bullet was, it was not more important than one¡¯s own life.

    As he expected, Clown screamed and turned into a pool of blood. As Clown melted, Specter was able to free himself of Clown¡¯s arm in a hurry. He fled far away from him because the virus of the biochemical bullet was infectious. If he got too close, Specter himself would be affected. Fortunately, the virus would only survive in the air for less than a minute.

    Seeing that the enemy had disappeared in front of him, Specter could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. He stepped over the pool of blood and continued to climb up the stairs. Maybe he was choked too hard by Clown, causing his neck to be badly bruised, but he could not speak. But Specter¡¯s mood was somehow better. He felt that the exit was not that far away from him.

    As Specter approached the exit gradually, Luo Jian was thrown off the tall tree by the god. He struggled desperately when he fell and grasped a vine to slow his fall. When he thought that he had escaped from a disaster, the god jumped down with him and floated in front of Luo Jian.

    The god was obviously ill-intentioned and insisted on making Luo Jian fall to his death, but at this time, Feng Yn and Duan Li climbed up. Seeing this scene, they naturally rushed to rescue Luo Jian, but they were too far away from him. So when the god plucked out the vines, Luo Jian immediately continued to fall downward again. The trees and vines on the ground were like a giant woven, waiting to wee Luo Jian.

    At about the same time, Specter quickly climbed to the top of the spiral staircase. He saw a pitch-ck hole in front of him. Outside the hole was a world of darkness and primal chaos.

    It was the exit!

    Specter was excited, but he hesitated. He was not sure whether this was the real exit. What if it was just a trap? He thought of the strange boy who had saved his life for no reason at all; the other party vanished into thin air and told Clown to find the exit in front of Specter. This was very strange because it seemed that he had purposely done so.

    Specter stood in front of the dark hole and thought for a while. He could not help but get closer to observe it. He almost reached out to touch the darkness, but just as he raised his hand, Specter heard a voice from behind him

    ¡°I said¡ªdeath is just the beginning.¡±

    As soon as he heard the sound, Specter suddenly felt a pain travelling from his back. He could clearly feel that there was a slender de stabbing into his body from his back, and it felt like the de had prated his heart.

    A hand was ced on Specter¡¯s shoulder, and Specter looked at it nkly and found that it was Clown, who had turned into a pool of blood moments ago. He had reappeared, and he looked horrifying. Half of Clown¡¯s body remained in a liquid state, and he was in a state of continuous restructuring and liquifying. In short, he seemed like those... people who were experiencing continuous resurrection while experiencing continuous death.

    ¡°You...¡± Specter only had time to spit out this word before blood spurted out from his throat, and his consciousness began to blur in an instant. However, Specter still refused topromise. He tried his best to step forward, wanting to step into the dark hole. As long as he was the first to escape, his team would be able to win, and he could gain new life.

    But Clown easily grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. With such a light push, Specter fell on the ground. He did not know what Clown had done to him. He had just experienced a mere stab in the back, but the knife had prated his heart, and as a result, Specter felt his heart aching. Yet he did not know how to describe such a horrifying feeling.

    He needed to get out of here quickly. He needed to be faster......

    Specterid on the ground and raised his head, but Clown, who was standing next to him, had already slowly dragged himself into the pitch-ck exit. Specter watched as the primal chaos devoured Clown¡¯s figure, and it appeared just a bloody mouth of a beast... that chose to gobble him up.

    T/N: Countdown: 0

    And...everything unresolved in this arc will be exined inter arcs~! Tomorrow¡¯s chapter will be the start of a new arc~

 Chapter 108 - Escaping from the Arcanum Train (I)

    <h4>Chapter 108 - Escaping from the Arcanum Train (I)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Lightning and rain.

    The sound rang out from a distance far away along with the low rumble of thunder, which reverberated in his ears.

    He was in a daze and noticed that he was lying on a small, narrow sofa when his hand touched the soft cloth under his body. The cloth gave off a damp smell.

    Not only that, but also he felt the ground vibrate as the wheels rolled and the trains roared.

    Where am I?

    He asked himself this, and following that, he felt that he should open his eyes and take a look at his surrounding environment. However, his body felt very heavy, and it felt so hard to open his eyelids. Breathing was also difficult for him, as if he was thrown into the deep sea.

    His mind was nk, and he didn¡¯t know what to do. He was at a loss and confused. At this moment, he heard footsteps.

    The pitter patter of footsteps...

    But the footsteps sounded slowly, as if someone was taking their time as they walked. It was quite fitting to describe the person¡¯s movements as slow like a tortoise. He listened to the footsteps that sounded out from afar as they came nearer, and the person seemingly arrived by his side. After that, he felt flustered. The person to whom the footsteps belonged made him inexplicably fearful. He wanted to open his eyes to see who it was, but he did not have the strength to do so.

    The footsteps stopped by his side.

    Shortly after, he heard someone breathing. A stranger was breathing very close to him, such that the sound almost rang out above his head. He soon realized that the stranger was bending down to observe him. He could even feel the heat from the other person¡¯s breathing on him.

    Without his being aware of it, he felt his fear deepen. Thereupon, he tried to mobilize his body; he wanted to move, open his eyes, and move!

    Because he felt danger!

    Sure enough, the next second, the terrifying stranger stretched out his hand and strangled his neck!

    He clearly felt the strength of these hands. It was a pair of very rough hands. The nails were very long and almost pierced into his flesh! Pain and a suffocating feeling assaulted his body together. He wanted to struggle, to violently fight back, but his hands and feet remained immobile, and the pain started to spike!

    I will die. I will die!

    Fear permeated almost the entirety of his brain.

    At this moment, he seemed to hear a voice. The terrifying murderer who strangled his neck lowered his head, squatted beside him, and whispered in his ear, using a low voice and a mocking tone, saying:

    ¡°Would you stoop to anything to survive?¡±

    After that, he was scared to open his eyes. Like a spring, his body jumped up as the sweat from his back soaked the sofa.

    It turned out to be a nightmare.

    ¡°It was a nightmare&#k2026;¡± he mumbled to himself as he remained stupefied for a long time before beginning to observe his surrounding environment. He found that he seemed to be in a train&#k2014;an empty train&#k2014;and was in a certain carriage of the train, sitting on a sofa seat that appeared extremely old.

    The sofa seat was in the style of an old-fashioned, ck leather sofa seat, but it was covered with a white sofa cover, which looked like it had not been washed for a long time. Splotches of dark brown peppered the seat cover, which people associated with dried blood.

    Inside the carriage, seats were densely packed and arranged on both the left and right sides, and the aisle in the middle was so narrow that only one person could pass through at a time. Such a dense arrangement caused people to feel suffocated.

    Also, this train carriage looked extremely strange.

    Scattered across the ground were melon seed shells, chewed betel nuts, cigarette butts, and all kinds of melon and fruit skins. There was a small table fixed on the floor between every two sofa seats. There were all types of drink bottles, eaten food, and poker cards scattered around, and there were even some piping hot instant cup noodles all around him.

    Bags and backpacks were casually tossed on the sofa seats, and the luggage rack above his head was filled with an assortment of luggage.

    Wouldn¡¯t one feel weird seeing this train car in such a situation?

    Yes, it was very strange! The situation was like the train car was packed to the brim seconds ago with people crowded into the narrow seats to eat, y cards, or huddle up to sleep and have fun during their journey. Then in the next second, everyone disappeared, and the food they ate, what they used, and their luggage were all left in this train car.

    Such a strange feeling couldn¡¯t help but make his hair stand up.

    He tilted his head and got up from the sofa seat. After he could feel his hands and feet, he found that he had forgotten many things.

    Oh right, what have I forgotten?

    He could not help but wonder what time was it now? What year, month, and day was it? What particr hour and minute? And why did he appear on the train or even fall asleep in this strange carriage? He unconsciously looked downward at his body and found that he was wearing a suit... Eh, it looked like a patient¡¯s uniform, but this garb was greyish-blue in colour and felt more like a prison uniform instead.

    There were a lot of pockets on his clothes, and there was an embroidered name card on the front of the garb with a string of English words written on it. He could barely understand what it said¡ªCrow. It meant a corvus.

    He was not able to understand its use, so he simply searched his pockets. After a long while, he only managed to find a piece of paper.

    It was a small piece of paper printed with purple patterns and with rows and rows of words written on it. He squinted at the note and saw the note started off as follows:

    [Brave Adventurer:]

    [Your esteemed self is now on a train and has lost your memory, strength, and skills entirely, and you are currently in danger.]

    [The train will run nonstop for six hours, and after those six hours, the final destination of this train is a cliff. If your esteemed self cannot escape from the train within six hours, you will head to hell together with the train.]

    [The train has thirteen cars. You are now in thest carriage, which is at the tail of the train.]

    [The door to every carriage is locked, and the doors and windows cannot be damaged. Only by finding the key can the door be opened. In passing, remember that the train can only be stopped by heading toward the lotive cab in the very front.]

    [Each train car is a separate secret chamber with its own unique key. There are clues hinting at the locations of the keys to the doors connecting the cars on each door.]

    [Your esteemed self has fourpanions who are all facing the same situation as you, deprived of their memory and abilities. However, only three of them are your truerades. Before you lost your memory, you were close friends who had been through life and death together, and the remaining person¡ªis an extremely ferocious murderer.]

    [You have the chance to recover your memory, but most of it can only be recalled before you die. Kindly be reminded that only the murderer is special. He may recover his memory at any point in time.]

    [Don¡¯t trust anyone, including yourself.]

    After flipping over the note, there was only one sentence written on the back, and it was inexplicably familiar to him:

    ¡°Would you stoop to anything to survive?¡±

    This sentence made him shiver again, and he felt an inexpressible panic in his heart. Were the contents written in this note true? He was now locked in a train, had lost his memory, and will die in six hours? And there were four other people in the train car who were in the same situation as him. And one of them was still a murderer?

    All this made him inexplicably think of the dream, that terrifying dream. In the dream, he was a poor man who remained paralyzed. He was strangled with a lot of strength, but as he watched death approach him, he was unable to resist it.

    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re in the same situation as me.¡± Just as he descended into a spiral of confusion and disorientation, a voice suddenly rang out beside him. He immediately turned back and was surprised to find that there was a man sitting on the sofa next to him!

    ¡°Who are you?¡± He was frightened because until the man spoke out, he did not find any other people in the train car except himself! It felt as if this man had appeared out of thin air!

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. Actually, I¡¯ve been lying on the sofa behind you. When you woke up, I also woke up, too. You were just so focused on the note that you didn¡¯t notice me.¡±

    With a nce, the man seemed to be able to read his mind, so with a smile, he exined.

    He found that the man had dimples when heughed... and because of this, he appeared somewhat cute. Since he had a small stature, he looked like a teenager at first nce. He had a gentle temperament, but... there was something strange about him.

    ¡°My name is Owl.¡± The man said and pointed to the name card on his chest with a string of English engraved on it<b>¡ªOwl</b>. It meant an adult owlet.

    ¡°We have all lost our memories, and this type of amnesia is probably caused by humans, so in order to prevent us from being confused and find it difficult to address each other, they have temporarily given us names.¡±

    Name? He could not help but look down at his chest. The word engraved on it was a single English word, Crow, and being a little vignt, he questioned: ¡°How do you know what this meant in English? What I meant was, how do you know that¡¯s the way to address each other?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m smarter than you are.¡± Owl waved his hand, and in his hand, he had a simr note with a purple pattern on it. ¡°We wear the same clothes and were left with the same note on our bodies, and written on the notes are almost the same thing, saying that we will die if we don¡¯t escape from the train within six hours.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s also written on this note that one of us is a murderer, and we might be killed by the murderer even before the six hour mark,¡± Crow said¡ªhe should be known as Crow now, and he could only use such a ridiculous name until he remembered his real name.

    ¡°But how do you know that the so-called murderer will kill us all?¡± Owl responded with a smile. His eyes appeared profound, and the expression he used to look at Crow looked very strange. Crow found that the man was actually wearing a ck ear stud.

    ¡°You see, I can¡¯t remember anything now. I can¡¯t remember what time it is, what date it is today, what I did yesterday, or what I¡¯ll need to do afterwards. I can¡¯t remember my name, my rtives, or friends or what I¡¯ve done since I was little; I can¡¯t remember anything.¡±

    Owl murmured, but strangely, Crow could not hear panic in the man¡¯s voice. Generally speaking, would he not be afraid or nervous after he found out he had lost his memories? He should be like Crow: from the moment he woke up, he felt nothing but bewilderment and fear.

    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you afraid?¡± Because he was suspicious, Crow tried to sound out Owl again. He could not believe a stranger! It was possible, though, that before they lost their memory, they were really close friends that braved life and death together.

    But in the absence of their memories and with theck of emotional support, this man was just an unfamiliar stranger to Crow.

    ¡°Afraid?¡± Owl tilted his head, and heughed again. He was very cute, and arge part of it was due to his face. But Crow felt that the strange atmosphere around the man was getting stronger and stronger.

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to be afraid. It¡¯s just a game, even if this game requires us to risk our lives,¡± Owl said, ¡°You know what? When a human loses all his memories, what is exposed is their truest nature.

    ¡°The reason why a human being can form consciousness is because of the umtion of their memories, and with the help of their memories and wisdom, they enable us to have consciousness. The formation of a human character is based on the influence of the environment, the people around us, and everything we encounter. This influence forms our memories in our minds so as to shape and change our character.¡±

    Owl suddenly stood up from the sofa seat, so Crow could not help but look up to him. The dim light in the carriage shone on the man, making his smiling face appear a little ghastly.

    ¡°And when we lose these memories, we be creatures whock mercy, akin to wild animals that possess cruel natures, and purely for the sake of our desire to live on, we will stoop to any means.¡±

    T/N: New arc! This is one of my favourite arcs. I feel that I should warn you guys to prepare your tissues!!!

    Also, chapters per week would be reduced to 4/week, because school has started for me and it¡¯s really inconvenient for me to post on Weds. Hope y¡¯all understand.

    Also, ament would be much appreciated! Thank you guys so much for reading!

 Chapter 109 - Escaping from the Arcanum Train (II)

    <h4>Chapter 109 - Escaping from the Arcanum Train (II)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Crow did not understand what Owl had said. He found that this man inexplicably carried himself in an imposing manner. To him, the man¡¯s aura felt terrifying, like he was the train that charged towards the darkness, never to stop.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost time.¡±

    Owl announced as he nced out of the window of the train carriage with thoughts in his mind.

    The train whistled forward, the entire carriage shaking slightly. Outside the window, it was pitch dark. It seemed like the train was passing through a tunnel so dark outside the train that one was unable to see their fingers, as if the train was running in the primal chaos of another dimension. In the dark, the lone train became the only light source as it travelled.

    They could only stay on this train for six hours. However, the train had 13 carriages in total, which meant that they must find a total of 13 keys for all the carriages, open each carriage, and finally reach the head of the train. They could only stop the train when they reached the train cab so that they could avoid the fate of a car crash-like ending.

    To find the 13 keys, it would take a long time, so Crow and Owl quickly reached a consensus and began to search the carriage. After searching, they found some noteworthy ces in the carriage.

    For example, each train car had a toilet and a crew lounge.

    On the wall near the ¡®crew¡¯s lounge¡¯ was a number te with a big ¡®13¡¯ written on it. This was the train car number.

    Many ces in the carriage were vandalized by someone with some inexplicable words in red pen.

    There was arge amount of blood on the corner of a table in the carriage. There were several strands of hair on the table as well, and the hair was very short and should belong to a male.

    The carriage was full of garbage, melon seeds and peels, and some sticky and overturned soup. However, in the midst of the pile of garbage, there was a square area that was very clean. It was as if a big square object had once been ced there, so everyone else¡¯s trash was sprawled around except in that area. Butter, someone removed that object and left a clean and empty square area.

    On the top part of the carriage was a steel frame for cing luggages, and it was stuffed with baggage of all sizes. There was not even the slightest empty space avable. With the slight shaking of the train, some of the luggage that were ced slightly protruding outwards almost looked like they would fall out any time.

    Moreover, they found nothing unusual in the toilet and crew lounge in this train car. No valuable clues had been found.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± After Owl searched through the carriage, he turned to meet Crow and began to exchange their views. Owl started first: ¡°This is the 13th carriage, that is to say, this is thest carriage of the train. There is a door at both ends of the train car. I looked at the door behind me. It has no handle, and there is a ss window on the door. Outside the window, everything is pitch ck.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no handle and no keyhole, right?¡± Crow asked.

    ¡°Yes. Maybe that¡¯s how the game was designed from the beginning.¡± Owl spread out his hands.

    Crow frowned: ¡°Who would use a train to y a prank on us? This thing is not cheap.¡±

    After he calmed down from panicking, Crow began to think and felt that something was wrong. Something was very wrong with the train.

    ¡°Think about it. Where¡¯s the train heading to? It¡¯s almost always dark outside, and there are no sources of light outside at all. Even if the train has been driving through the tunnel all this time, it shouldn¡¯t take that long. Where on earth would there be such a long tunnel?¡±

    Owl narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled, ¡°On the contrary, I don¡¯t think the train is in a tunnel. Maybe we are really in a different dimensional space, and this train is running in this dark space.¡±

    Crow felt miserable regarding this mystifying idea of his: ¡°Alright then, you mean that we were all captured by aliens, and they were using us to y a game and left us on a train in an inexplicable space?¡±

    ¡°This is pointless... friend,¡± Owl said, ¡°We¡¯d better try to stop the train first.¡±

    They went to the metal door located at the corridor connection between the carriages. ording to the note, there would be a message indicating the location of their key here.

    T/N: Corridor connection: A gangway connection (or, more loosely, a corridor connection) is a flexible connector fitted to the end of a railway coach, enabling passengers to move from one coach to another without danger of falling from the train. (Cr: Wikipedia)

    The metal door at the corridor connection looked very solid. There was also a ss window on the door, but it was made of frosted ss. Through this ss window, one could see the situation in carriage No.12, but only vague shadows could be seen.

    ¡°The note said that five people would be involved in a game to escape from the secret chamber, but there are only two of us in this train car. Do you think there will be someone in the train car ahead?¡± Owl stuck onto the door, and his face was almost stered to the small ss window on it as he tried to observe the situation in carriage No.12 but found nothing.

    Crow was in a slightly gloomy mood and replied, ¡°There must be someone there. But I don¡¯t know whether they will be dead or alive¡ªalright, stop looking. There are inscriptions on the door. You¡¯re blocking it.¡±

    Owl moved his body away and found a row of very small inscriptions on the metal door¡ª

    [There are actually three people in carriage No.13.]

    [One of them was fated to be a victim.]

    [The murderer killed him and hid the corpse.]

    [The key to the door is in the pocket of the corpse¡¯s pants.]

    [Do you want to know where the key is?]

    [Ask the murderer.]

    These few phrases made the fine hairs of their bodies stand up, and goosebumps covered their bodies.

    Almost at the same time, they stood up straight and stepped back. They leaned against the wall behind them together and nced at each other.

    Their eyes were full of anxiety and doubt.

    Following that, both of them were strangely silent, but the silencested only a few minutes. Owl could not help but speak up first, ¡°I don¡¯t want to argue that I¡¯m not the one, but when I woke up, I saw you sitting on the sofa reading a note...¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m the murderer?¡± Crow interrupted him.

    ¡°But the door hinted to us that there originally should have been three people!¡±

    Crow could hardly help screaming, ¡°I know what you mean! There were three people in our carriage. One of them was dead, and his body was hidden! Of course, he didn¡¯tmit suicide and hide his own corpse after killing himself! So it can only be done by one of us! Am I right?¡±

    Owl took a deep breath and said slowly, ¡°I know, I know... I¡¯m doubting you, and you¡¯re... also suspicious of me? Is that right?¡±

    Crow looked at him warily: ¡°I did not notice you after I woke up until you caused some sound, and this is very strange, isn¡¯t it? What¡¯s more, you have said some things that I find inexplicable. You even said that you are not afraid. Which lunatic would not be afraid when his memories have been seized and he¡¯s been thrown on a train with no rhyme or reason?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I think it¡¯s just a game!¡± Owl growled, took a deep breath again, and swept a sharp gaze at Crow: ¡°Calm down. Now, we have yet to even see the corpse. We don¡¯t know whether the hint written on this damned stupid door is making things up or not!

    ¡°Besides, you have to understand that even if you throw three random people into an enclosed room, they will not just casually start to kill each other. There must be a reason, a motive behind the murder!¡±

    Crow¡¯s face was a little pale. He took a deep breath, and he tried to calm his racing heartbeat. Then he said, ¡°I see what you mean. Indeed, the hint given by this door may also be false, to let us suspect and even kill each other... Isn¡¯t there always such a plot in suspense novels and movies?¡±

    ¡°And!¡± Owl added in a loud voice, ¡°Maybe there is a corpse, but someone had just purposely ced it here... Is it possible that those people who crammed us into this train car also hid a corpse somewhere in the train car and inscripted those words on the metal door, just like... how some story settings are deliberately designed.¡±

    ¡°So, don¡¯t think about who the murderer is. Just find the corpse and the key first, right?¡± Crow said that, but he was still afraid to get closer to Owl. He retreated silently and said, ¡°Then, we can start to think about where the corpse is.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re standing too far away from me.¡± Owl remained where he stood, staring at Crow in silence.

    ¡°So what? I don¡¯t want to stand too close to you.¡± Crow¡¯s level of vignce was too high, and any abnormalities of Owl would cause him to retreat and step backwards. He felt that he was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring now, but he was unable to stop this behavior of his because as long as he thought that the man who stood beside him might be a murderer, he would be lying to say that he was not afraid!

    ¡°Crow...¡± When Owl called Crow¡¯s name, it seemed that he lowered his tone, and he said softly, ¡°You are too agitated. I won¡¯t hurt you. I¡¯m even thinner and smaller in size than you are, so... don¡¯t move too far away from me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not agitated.¡± Crow looked very calm, but his face had turned white, and he was not breathing properly: ¡°I just think we should keep some distance between us.¡±

    After a moment¡¯s pause, Owl had topromise: ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll keep some distance.¡±

    Owl did not seem to like keeping a distance. He seemed to want to get close to Crow. Maybe he was also afraid of something. But Crow did not give him the chance. When they started searching for the hidden corpse in the carriage, Crow would constantly pay close attention to the distance between him and Owl.

    In this very tense and suffocating situation, they started a thorough search of the entire carriage No.13. They looked through all the ces where someone could hide a corpse but soon found that there were too few ces capable of hiding a corpse in this carriage.

    The toilet and the crew¡¯s lounge were empty, and the spaces were so narrow that with a mere nce, one was able to see their entirety. There was absolutely no ce for someone to hide a corpse. As for those sofas in the carriage, they were so densely packed together that only one hand could fit underneath them. Unless the corpse was amputated and its pieces packed separately into bags, there was no room to hide a corpse.

    ¡°Where on earth is that body hidden?¡± Owl looked to be a little irritated. He began to tear off a sofa cover, and the whole white cover was pulled away.

    ¡°There¡¯s no ce to hide bodies.¡± Crow sat on a sofa far away and answered him.

    ¡°Could it be that the body has been dismembered?¡± Owl guessed.

    But Crow rejected: ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible. There would be many traces of bloodstains if the corpse was dismembered, but the toilet is clean and there is no blood on the ground... Well, if one of us is really the so-called murderer, I mean, if you¡¯re the murderer...¡±

    ¡°Hey! I said I didn¡¯t kill anyone!¡± Owl did not like the way the other party constantly looked at him as if he was a murderer.

    ¡°Well, if I was the murderer, and I had just killed someone...¡± Crow had to change the way he phrased his words: ¡°I don¡¯t know whether this person is a man or a woman, whether they are tall or short, but I killed them. I want to hide them in this damned carriage. Where can I hide people here...¡±

    Almost as if he were speaking to himself, Crow raised his head and looked around. Perhaps he had been influenced by Crow¡¯s character, but even Owl began to look around. Then, coincidentally, the two men raised their heads at the same time and looked at the strong luggage racks near the top of the carriage.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that the luggage is too tightly packed?¡± Owl said as he tilted his head.

    ¡°Oh, I think so too actually,¡± Crow echoed.

    T/N: Please note that the author uses ¡®train car¡¯ and ¡®carriage¡¯ synonymously, so I¡¯ll keep it this way. The words mean the same thing. <del>(Also please note that this chapter is not edited, the edited version will be up tomorrow, because Kitty is busy today.)</del>

    <strong>Edit [25/9]: The edited version is up.</strong>

    I would like to thank <strong>soapy and Kofi-Supporter</strong> for the Kofis!! The two bonus chapters will be up either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Thank y¡¯all for understanding!

    Also, thank you guys for thements as well, readingments from you guys really make my day.

 Chapter 110 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (III)

    <h4>Chapter 110 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (III)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°Will there really be a corpse stuffed in this luggage?¡± Owl climbed onto the sofa seat and pulled down a small luggage from the baggage rack high up. The bag was not heavy, but he felt that it was too small to put a person in.

    ¡°If the dead person was a woman, and a very thin woman...¡± It was unknown when Crow had walked to Owl¡¯s side. The duo had long abandoned the idea of ¡®keeping their distance.¡¯ Crow patted the luggage that Owl had carried down: ¡°I think this luggage would be able to hold it.¡±

    ¡°How about choosing those luggages that are veryrge and heavy first?¡± Owl suggested.

    Crow nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s worth a try.¡±

    There are too many bags. If they only picked therger ones that looked out of ce, it would not be that of a difficult task. The toughest thing now was that almost all of those luggages were stuffed together. The luggage was bulky and huge. One after another, they were piled on top of one other. If one wanted to pull out a single bag, one had to clear the surrounding luggages as well.

    Owl was the first one to feel dissatisfied with this:

    ¡°It¡¯s not an easy job. If the murderer put the corpse in a bag so that it¡¯s hidden and inconspicuous, he must use other luggage to cover it. But with so much luggage, it would be hard to move them with the strength of a single person.¡±

    ¡°The murderer quietly killed someone, and after that, he had to move many luggages, and he couldn¡¯t wake us, who were probably sleeping at that time.¡±

    ¡°I think I know why.¡± Crow opened one of the baggages, and both of them saw that the interior¡ªwas empty.

    ¡°If the luggage is empty, it will be much lighter and easy to move.¡±

    ¡°Interesting.¡± Owl smiled: ¡°But if the luggage is empty, where are the items originally inside it?¡±

    ¡°It could be everywhere.¡± Crow looked around: ¡°You see, this carriage is very dirty and messy. There is a lot of garbage, food on the table, and clothes and other things all thrown on the sofa. If there were not a lot of things inside the luggage, it would be easy to disperse and throw the items away.¡±

    And... Crow circled around several sofa seats, lifted the covers of several of them, and saw that there were several sets of clothes stuffed under them.

    In order to move and hide the corpse in the luggage more easily, the murderer must have emptied several small luggages around it. In this way, it was easy to spot the luggage where the body was hidden. As long as there was an empty bag, they needed to search somewhere near it.

    Crow and Owl both set their eyes on arge ck bag.

    They looked at each other, and both of them started to move the big bag. The luggage was veryrge and heavy. With just a mere touch, they felt some unknown liquid seeping from it. Crow lowered his head to look at his hands, which were covered with dark brown, viscous marks.

    ¡°Bloodstains.¡± Owl was already sure of it.

    They moved the luggage down and ced it on the ground. They found that the luggage actually matched the clean area on the ground that was not upied with garbage.

    ¡°The luggage was originally on the ground. It may have been empty in the beginning.¡± Crow guessed. ¡°Because it¡¯s so big, the murderer used it to hold the body.¡±

    ¡°Shall we open it?¡± Owl started to feel fainthearted.

    Crow was also nervous. He took a deep breath: ¡°Let¡¯s open it. We have to find the key.¡±

    There was no lock on the luggage. When one unlocked the luggage, one would be able to open it. When one opened it, there was an indescribable smell of blood and the faint rotting scent of a corpse. Owl stood aside, frowning. Crow also frowned, but he was very bold. He opened the luggage and lowered his head to look at the corpse inside.

    The corpse was curled up in a ball. There were no bloodstains on his body. Only the blue marks on his neck proved that the cause of his death was strangtion.

    His hair was messy and his head was caved in, but Crow could see the side profile of the corpse clearly.

    The victim was a man, a man who looked very thin and weak.

    The moment Crow saw this man, he could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. All of a sudden, he felt goosebumps all over his body. Completely frightened, he could not help but take several steps back and even nted his butt on the ground.

    He knew the dead man, no¡ªit was more urate to say he was acquainted with him!

    ¡°Heavens! What¡¯s going on?¡± Crow cried out in shock. He pointed to the luggage that held the corpse with his finger, turned his head, and stared at Owl beside him in horror. ¡°This fellow looks exactly like you!¡±

    Yes, the thin and weak-looking man in the luggage looked almost exactly like Owl. He had a small face and looked like a youth. He quietlyid in the luggage as if he was sleeping, and it appeared that now, he had been put to rest forever.

    However, Owl did not seem surprised. He squatted down beside the luggage and stroked the hair of the corpse in the luggage. He seemed to be thinking about something. His eyes reflected a glimmer of darkness.

    ¡°What I can be sure of is that I should not have a twin and I don¡¯t have any siblings,¡± Owl imed, almost as if he noticed something. His eyes rested on the ears of the dead man in the luggage and saw a ck ear stud on the earlobe. Such a discovery made Owl¡¯s expression appear even more gloomy.

    ¡°Really... didn¡¯t you kill him?¡± Crow sat on the ground and leaned backwards. He was now leaning on a sofa seat as his hands tried to search all over it to find a weapon to protect himself.

    Crow intuitively felt the danger, but he did not know where the danger came from. He was full of vignce and fear to the familiar but strange man in front of him. As the feelings of panic within him surged, Crow felt that he developed a terrifying dark thought.

    But now was not the time. He must find a way to get away from Owl, away from these people, and find a way to get out.

    Owl seemed to be somewhat uneasy. He looked at Crow and said, ¡°Though he looks exactly the same as me, I feel I have no reason to kill anyone.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± With the support of the back of the sofa, Crow stood up. He focused his gaze on Owl: ¡°Your motive could be because he looked exactly the same as you.¡±

    ¡°He just looks the same as me. Why do I have to kill him because of that?¡± Owl seemed to be a little unnerved. He had been squatting by the side of the luggage. Subconsciously, he grasped the edge of the luggage, and now he inadvertently pressed the corpse¡¯s wrist into the luggage.

    The corpse¡¯s wrist was tense, and one of the corpse¡¯s hands was clenched as if he was holding something tightly. It might be a pendant or something simr to it, but only something simr to a broken ck chain could be seen.

    However, the emotional Crow and Owl did not discover this interesting finding.

    Crow had almost dogmatically determined that Owl was the murderer. He thought about it. When one lost their memory and a person who looked exactly the same as them stood in front of them, it would be horrifying, wouldn¡¯t it? The fear of uncertainties and the unknown would be his motive for murder. No matter how screwed up the truth would be, it would not be as screwed up as the situation now!

    But soon Owl interrupted Crow¡¯s dogmatic judgement. He lowered his voice and growled at Crow: ¡°I know what you are thinking. I can think of what you can think of! But you have to understand! We¡¯ve lost all our memories. I can¡¯t remember the faces of anyone I know now! Including my face!¡±

    Crow froze. He instantly understood what Owl wanted to express, so he calmly analyzed the situation momentarily and touched his face.

    Owl was right. Crow thought thoughtfully because when he just woke up, he could not remember anyone¡¯s face, including his own. After that, he looked in the mirror while searching for the corpse in the toilet. So currently, even if someone looked exactly the same as him, he would not be able to discover that that person looked the same as him.

    Simrly, Owl should not have found out that he and the man looked exactly the same from the start and killed him for this reason alone.

    But if this was not the case, who killed him?

    Crow bit his lips slightly.

    It¡¯s impossible that I killed anyone because my memory starts from the moment I woke up, and I have no reason to kill a stranger. Even though we may have known each other before, we may also have had a conflicting or hostile rtionship previously, but these feelings would have disappeared without the basis of memories.

    Since it was impossible for him to kill someone, Crow naturally doubted the man in front of him. Such feelings of doubt seemed to have sprouted out instinctively, but Crow could not stop feeling suspicious because any human beings, when faced with an obstacle to ensure their survival or faced with danger, would begin to seek any way to allow them to live on.

    Only by seeking to survive could one live on.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not think about who this fellow is. He¡¯s dead anyway... isn¡¯t he?¡± Owl slowly began to calm down again. He lowered his head and fumbled through the corpse¡¯s trousers for quite some time. The clothes that the corpse was wearing were exactly the same as those of Crow and Owl; the garb was also greyish-blue, and it looked like a prisoner¡¯s uniform.

    Owl quickly took a key from the corpse. It was a key that weighed very little and was ck in colour.

    Crow took a glimpse at him and suddenly said, ¡°Give me the key.¡±

    With a strange expression, Owl eyed Crow, but without putting up any more of a fight, he honestly threw the key to Crow. He knew that the man did not believe him. In fact, the moment he saw the body, for a moment, Owl even felt that he could not trust himself.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste time in this damn train car.¡± Crow got the key, stood up, and said, ¡°There are 12 full carriages waiting for us before we reach the lotive cab. In the meantime, as long as you don¡¯t do anything that endangers me, I won¡¯t do anything to you.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean that we are temporarily allies?¡±

    ¡°You can put it that way.¡± Crow retreated step by step and finally came to the corridor connection of carriages No.13 and No.12. He gave a quick nce at Owl, turned around, and jabbed the key into the keyhole on the door. The key snugly fit. No doubt, this key was the right one.

    Owl was still squatting near the luggage that held the corpse. He lowered his head to take a glimpse at the poor man who looked exactly the same as him. He hesitated for a moment, stretched his hands out, and pulled the man¡¯s wrist.

    The corpse was curled up as ity on a side, like a baby curled up in his mother¡¯s womb. When Owl pulled the corpse¡¯s arm, he could naturally see the name card embroidered on the chest of the corpse¡¯s garb, and on it, an English word was engraved¡ª

    <b>¡¾Owl</b>¡¿

    ¡°This is the worst discovery ever made so far.¡± Owl subconsciously covered his chest with his palm and uttered to himself in a low, inaudible voice.

    T/N: There¡¯s some problems with my storage of c111 and c112, so the bonus chapters will be up tomorrow. So sorry about that.

 Chapter 111 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 111 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (IV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Currently, Crow was opening the door to carriage No.12. He heard the sound of the door unlock. When he turned the key in the keyhole of the door, the iron door clicked and subsequently opened.

    Crow peeped through the crack of the door into carriage No.12. He was careful and cautious, yet he did not see anyone¡¯s figure, but¡ª

    ¡°What do you see?¡± Owl no longer observed the corpse in the luggage but quietly went to Crow¡¯s back to inquire about the situation. However, Owl¡¯s footsteps did not sound out as he walked. When he spoke, he gave Crow a bad fright because Crow felt as if someone was peeking at him. When he turned his head, he saw Owl standing close to him.

    Owl waspletely expressionless, but his expression felt icy-cold. He stood upright there, straight like a log. When Crow looked at him, he felt he was exactly the same as the curled-up corpse, having the same face with purplish-ck lips.

    Crow¡¯s face turned pale. He pushed open the connecting door to carriage No.12 and warned Owl, ¡°I said to stay away from me!¡±

    Owl did not argue and did not move. He remained on the spot where he was.

    The light in the carriage was really dim, and because Crow was slightly befuddled and fearful, he did not continue to look at Owl¡¯s expression. He quickly opened the door and could not wait to enter carriage No.12. Because of this, Crow did not notice that Owl was clenching his fist tightly at the moment, and he seemed to have something in his hand.

    Owl held a ck cross pendant, which he got from the palm of the corpse in the luggage. When Crow opened the door with the key, Owl finally noticed the corpse¡¯s tightly clenched fist. When Owl broke off a finger of the corpse, he saw a small ck cross pendant nestled in his palm.

    The pendant had obviously been pulled off someone by the deceased as that person was strangling him, and the chain of the pendant was broken. One could see how hard the poor victim was struggling at that time, trying to show his anger and hatred for the murderer.

    As for the cross pendant, it was obvious that the deceased pulled it from the murderer¡¯s neck. While he was being strangled to death, the deceased struggled desperately to seize the pendant hanging on the murderer, pulled it off, and held it tightly in his hand.

    When Owl got the pendant, he subconsciously felt around his neck. His neck was smooth, and there were no scars or marks from strangtion.

    Because he had lost all his memories and was trapped in the strange enclosed train car, Owl actually did not believe anyone, including himself.

    So after confirming that he previously did not wear a pendant, he stood up and walked towards Crow. He subconsciously slowed his pace, but truthfully, he was soundless when he walked.

    And even at that moment, Owl felt as if he were dead, as if the sound of his breathing and heartbeat were non-existent, or they sounded so lightly that it was akin to him being dead.

    So he could walk quietly to Crow¡¯s back, and with a nce, he saw a thin red mark on the back of Crow¡¯s neck.

    He was terrified when he made this discovery. For a moment, he felt that he should take certain measures because he felt that the person in front might be the murderer, right? In other words, it could be confirmed that this person was truly the murderer.

    But so what if he knew he was the murderer?

    The look in Owl¡¯s eyes had gotten more gloomy. There may have been only five people on the train, and one of them had been killed. To be able to lock them in this train and also erase all of their memories, it could be seen that this was clearly a gameunched by some terrifying and huge organization.

    Therefore, no one woulde to save them. There was now, no police, no rules or regtions that could restrict these people. On this train, everyone could be a manic ouw, could be at ease, could be crazy, and could be selfish like a wild animal...... or live like a monster.

    For the sake of surviving, would you stoop to any means?

    There seemed to be someone asking him this hazily. Owl didn¡¯t answer. He looked around and saw a pair of scissors on the sofa seat beside him. Beneath the scissors, there was a paper that was cut half-way. Maybe a child had sat here to cut paper, but this was such a coincidence.

    It was a coincidence that when his motive to kill was evoked, there was a murder weapon in front of his.

    Owl did not touch the scissors. He gazed at them for a second, then turned to look at Crow in front of him with his back toward him. He said those words previously to divert his attention and sessfully startled Crow.

    Crow was so frightened by him that he ran to train car No.12, which was quite different from train car No.13.

    There was no garbage, suitcases, or clothes littered around, and there were no bags of snacks or fruit peels on the table. Carriage No.12 was very clean, as if no one had stepped into this ce since the very beginning.

    Except......

    For the big patches of blood on the floor.

    ¡°There¡¯s blood everywhere.¡± Crow stepped into the pool of blood, and it could be seen that the blood had yet topletely dry up. A lot of blood sshed on Crow¡¯s pants when he stepped on it, and the air was also filled with a strong smell of blood. Crow looked to the front, following theserge patches of blood, and found that the blood was flowing from the toilet of carriage No.12.

    And one could hear the clear sound of water running from the bathroom.

    Crow hesitated momentarily and could not help but look at Owl behind him. After entering carriage No.12, Owl instinctively pushed the door shut but left the door connecting train car No.12 train car No.13 ajar. The door was notpletely shut.

    After Owl entered the carriage, he naturally saw a lot of blood on the ground and heard the sound of water running in the toilet. He nced at Crow and whispered, ¡°Go and take a look.¡±

    The sound of the water continuously sounded. It sshed, and much of the water mixed with blood was seeping out from the bathroom.

    This bizarre situation made Crow and Owl feel their hearts palpitate, but they couldn¡¯t stay where they were now. The duo could only head to the bathroom one after another. Crow was originally in front of him, but when he got to the door of the toilet, he found that the door was left ajar, leaving a gap, allowing them to see the metallic wall of the bathroom.

    Crow plucked up his courage, and just as he wanted to open the door, Owl, who had been following behind him, suddenly took a step forward, ced one hand on Crow¡¯s shoulder, and opened the door with his other.

    He felt that Owl¡¯s hand on his shoulder was very cold as if his hand had just been taken out of the freezer, which made him feel a little surprised.

    At this moment, Owl stood close to Crow, so close that Crow could clearly feel his breath on his skin. It was very cold. Crow did not know how to describe it, but he realized that he did not want to feel the other¡¯s breath again.

    The door of the bathroom opened with a squeak when Owl pushed it open. There was a simple wash basin and squatting toilet inside. The space bordering the toilet on the train was very narrow, and only one person could stand inside.

    Both found that the faucet of the wash basin in the bathroom was not turned off. The sink was full of water and was constantly leaking a flow of the water. The water was bright red. In the pool of water, a ck thing could be obviously seen. It was this ck thing that kept bleeding.

    Owl inched closer to take a look and said, ¡°That¡¯s a dead cat.¡±

    ¡°Cat?¡± Crow also looked into the bathroom.

    ¡°A ck cat.¡± Owl¡¯s attitude seemed to have changed. After entering carriage No.12, he was no longer expressionless. He even smiled at Crow. Moreover, he was very bold. He reached into the pool of blood and took the dead cat out of the pool of water.

    It was a young cat. There were several cuts that looked like knife cuts on it. The body was stiff, and it was in a curled posed. When it was carried out, its body was still bloody, and its fur was tangled in a ball. The bloody flesh had started to turn white, and it was a hair-raising sight.

    Owl did not seem to be afraid and grabbed the cat by its neck.

    But seeing this, Crow felt all his hairs stand. Startled, he retreated, frowning at Owl: ¡°It¡¯s too disgusting. Throw it away.¡±

    Owl didn¡¯t listen to Crow¡¯s advice. Instantly, his face became gloomy. He held the cat in front of Crow as if he wanted to disgust him. He said, ¡°I remember you like cats.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Crow could not stand Owl¡¯s behavior. He directly retreated to the corner of the wall. The bloody cat was apanied by a strange smell, which was really unbearable.

    Moreover, Owl seemed to be behaving stranger and stranger, and every move he made was getting more and more out of hand.

    In a ce outside of Owl¡¯s line of sight, Crow tightly clenched his fists as his nails sank deep into the skin of his palms. As he looked at Owl, dark and extreme thoughts started to emerge again, and these terrifying ideas kept spinning around Crow¡¯s mind, causing him to almost be unable to suppress them. He knew that he could not allow himself to sink into these thoughts; he needed to think of something to curb them!

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to like it.¡± Owl shook the corpse of the cat in his hand, ¡°That is why...... any creature appears more lovely when it¡¯s alive, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°To live is to live.¡± Owl squinted at the kitten and put it back in the pool.

    ¡°Owl¡ª¡± Crow warned him, ¡°Stop doing these things; you look very abnormal.¡±

    Owl made up his mind and coldly sneered, ¡°Why? I want to do that. What can you do about it? Kill me?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Crow felt his emotions spiral out of control.

    ¡°I¡¯m saying...... you want to kill me, don¡¯t you?¡± Owl suddenly approached Crow and held one of Crow¡¯s hands with his wet hands, which had previously grasped the dead cat. Crow felt his entire body stiffen. The man¡¯s hands were as cold as ice.

    Because it was too cold, Crow felt his teeth were about to chatter. He squeezed a sentence between his teeth and said in a high-sounding voice, ¡°How can it be? You¡¯re overthinking it.¡±

    One of Crow¡¯s hands was still behind him, curled up tightly, but then he unclenched his fingers, he took a short knife out from the waist of his pants. This was what he had found on a sofa in carriage No.13. It was as long as thebined length of Crow¡¯s palms and fingers, but it was very sharp and small. If enough strength was used, it would catch others by surprise when poked into their necks or other vitals. It was not a problem at all to kill someone with it.

    Crow did not know what Owl was thinking. In fact, sometimes, Crow himself did not know what he was thinking either.

    There was only one thing that mattered to him right now¡ªto hurry up and get out of this damned train.

    And to achieve this purpose, the best thing he should do was to remove all obstacles.

    Even if he needed to personally kill someone.

    T/N: I had to re-tl this chapter because the chapter was deleted or gone because of certain storage problems with myptop

 Chapter 112 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (V)

    <h4>Chapter 112 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (V)</h4>

    Thank you so much, Soapy & Kofi-Supporter for the Kofis¡ªBonus Chapter (1/2)

    Editor: Kitty

    In the end, Crow did not take action. When he held the knife in his hand silently, he quickly retracted his hand back into his pocket again.

    I shouldn¡¯t have thought about that, Crow repeated to himself. He felt he should not have such an... idea of trying to solve problems by killing others though, in his opinion, Owl¡¯s behavior was very abnormal and very likely to attack others, and Crow would definitely be the first person to be hurt and threatened by his actions.

    But Crow was still unwilling to take action, but not because he was kind and filled withpassion. He didn¡¯t think that he was a great person before losing his memories, but he didn¡¯t think he was a bad person either.

    In this world, there would be no absolute kindness and evil. When most people thought that something was right and just, it would be defined as good, and people who had done it would be regarded as good, and vice versa.

    The definition of kindness and evil was very simple, but it also determined the difference between man and beast. After all, no beast defined its own kind with kindness and evil.

    So why choose? If one thought something was the right thing to do, then one should just do it.

    Crow took a deep breath. He rxed and leaned against the wall. Owl was still grabbing one of his hands. Owl¡¯s fingers were still as piercing-cold as before, and he had a temperature unlike a human¡¯s, but for a moment, Crow forgot about these miniscule details. He straightened up, looked up at Owl, and said, ¡°I think we need to talk about it.¡±

    Owl cocked his head with a smile: ¡°What should we talk about?¡±

    ¡°I know you suspect me to be the murderer...¡± Crow stated.

    ¡°I¡¯m not suspecting you of it,¡± Owl interrupted him and sneered, ¡°I¡¯m sure of it.¡±

    ¡°So since you put it that way, you should have some evidence, right?¡±

    ¡°I have solid proof.¡± Owl paused for a moment, and he tightly grasped Crow¡¯s hand. Then, he reached over to touch Crow¡¯s neck. Crow felt the cold touch caressing his fragile neck, and he could not help but shiver.

    ¡°You have a ligature mark on the back of your neck.¡± Owl touched the back of Crow¡¯s neck, and there was a bit of a depression there.

    Crow did not feel much. He did not even feel pain. However, at the moment when he reached out to feel his neck, he felt something slender slithering across his neck.

    ¡°What you wore on your neck, and what I got it within the palm of the corpse&#k2014;¡± Owl took out the ck cross pendant and looked at Crow. ¡°Did you lose it?¡±

    Crow nced at the ck cross and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any impression of it¡ªIf I put it this way, would you have a feeling of pleasure when you interrogate me like a prisoner?¡±

    Owl¡¯s expression was extremely bleak: ¡°There is only you, me, and the corpse in the enclosed train car No.13. The corpse is holding the cross in his hand tightly, and the chain the cross is hung on is also broken. It is obvious that it was forcibly pulled off someone¡¯s neck, but between us, only you have this mark on your neck. Is this not enough to exin the problem?¡±

    ¡°I did not kill anyone.¡± Crow did not alter his statement. He took a deep breath again and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any relevant memories of it. My memories start from the moment when I woke up and read that note! I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ve done before, but my heart tells me that I¡¯ve never hurt anyone!¡±

    Owl did not believe Crow and continued topel him to confess: ¡°Come on, under the circumstances when you do not have any memories, even your brain could possibly lie to you!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you are so sure! But all this was clearly designed by others! Put two people and a corpse into a closed carriage and deliberately design various criminal traces and evidence so that you can be sure that I am the murderer, and afterwards, we¡¯d start to fight each other?¡±

    ¡°Fight each other? No! Of course we wouldn¡¯t.¡± Owl suddenly squinted and said something strange:

    ¡°Even if you¡¯re the real murderer, I won¡¯t take action against you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Crow was puzzled, but Owl did not answer his question. He stood up straight and released Crow¡¯s hand. Crow felt his hands were stiff, but the lingering coldness remained.

    ¡°By the way, are you cold?¡± Crow could not help but ask Owl, and he could not help shaking his wrist¡ªthe wrist that had been held by Owl.

    ¡°I feel your body is very cold.¡±

    The tension between the two seemed to simmer. Owl evenughed and said, ¡°I¡¯m not cold. Don¡¯t worry¡ªit¡¯s just temporary.¡±

    Owl¡¯s words are full of strangeness, but at the moment Crow didn¡¯t want to go deep into it. He felt tired, but he did not want to waste time. He squatted at the corridor connection of carriages No.12 and No.11 and started to read the relevant hints provided on the door¡ª

    [There is no one in carriage No.12.]

    [But the poor kitten was killed.]

    [No, no, no! Of course, this is not an implication to ask you to find the killer.]

    [Because the key to the door is in the cat¡¯s stomach.]

    ¡°This time, the hint clearly and simply stated it. Is it that easy?¡± After reading these lines, Crow couldn¡¯t help but feel suspicious.

    Owl said, ¡°It would be nice if it is that easy. After all, we have to clear 13 enclosed carriages within six hours and stop this damn train.¡±

    At this time, Crow had to ask, ¡°But I haven¡¯t found anything that can show the time, such as watches, mobile phones, or clocks... I mean, how can we know how much time has passed?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. When we really need to know the time, there will always be something to remind us of the time,¡± Owl replied vaguely, and he said, ¡°I think we need to rip the stomach of the dead cat and find out if the key is really there.¡±

    So Owl and Crow picked up the dead cat again from the puddle. They turned off the water basin tap, ced the poor cat on the ground, and saw the wounds haphazardly scattered all over the cat. After that, they soon discovered something unusual.

    ¡°I originally thought the cat was wounded by a knife... but now it looks like...¡± Owl unconsciously stroked the dead cat¡¯s fur. Although the poor kitten had passed away, its corpse was still dripping wet, and it looked bloody and disgusting.

    ¡°What does it look like now?¡± Crow frowned as he questioned.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that the wound doesn¡¯t look like it was caused by a knife?¡±

    After Crow heard Owl¡¯s words, he narrowed his eyes to also carefully examine the wound on the dead cat. Indeed, if it had been cut with a knife, the wound should be smoother and appear slightly nicer-looking. The sharp de would create a neat incision, and the strength used to hold the de could easily be determined.

    But the wounds on this cat appeared more like those left after being attacked by a wild beast.

    After using its ferocious, crooked, and sharp ws to scratch and disembowel it, these wounds were left on the poor cat.

    ¡°It makes me feel ufortable just looking at it.¡± Crow had to take a deep breath as he assessed the cat.

    ¡°I¡¯m more curious about what made it like this.¡± Owl chuckled and raised his head to look at Crow: ¡°Do you have a knife?¡±

    Crow also raised his head and gazed warily at Owl.

    ¡°Come on, I¡¯m just trying to rip the stomach of the cat. I know you have it¡ªright?¡±

    Crow was silent for a while. He did not know whether he was doing the right or wrong thing, but he took a deep breath and took the knife out of his pocket. Although the de of the knife was thin, it was really sharp. It was not difficult for someone to use it to cut the belly of the dead cat.

    Crow handed the knife to Owl in silence, and Owl also took the knife in silence. However, Crow couldn¡¯t help but ask him, ¡°I think you should also have found some weapons. There was a wide array of items in carriage No.13.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯smentable that I didn¡¯t.¡± Owl stabbed the dead cat in the stomach and replied to Crow, ¡°In carriage No.13, I only obtained the cross pendant ne from the corpse.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s unexpected. Aren¡¯t you scared? What if I am a murderer that kills without batting an eye? Crow half-jokingly mentioned.

    Owl cut the belly of the dead cat in half, exposing the bleeding viscera. When he heard Crow¡¯s words, he raised his head and looked at Crow, and because they were both squatting on the ground, when Owl raised his head, Crow clearly saw Owl¡¯s dark pupils.

    But... it felt a little strange.

    It was not known whether it was an illusion or not, but Crow thought that Owl¡¯s eyes were a little strange. Although like him, he was a typical oriental man with dark eyes, his pupil always reminded Crow of the abyss.

    Owl did not respond to Crow¡¯s words. He quickly opened up the belly of the dead cat, nimbly stuffed his hands in, and rummaged through the bloody viscera. Finally, he found a bloody key. This series of actions almost made Crow vomit. He could not adapt to the smell of blood and the disgusting scene, although for a moment, Crow actually felt excited seeing it.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this enclosed chamber too simple?¡± Owl washed his bloody key in the pool until his fingers were clean. Crow noticed that his fingers turned white when soaked in water.

    ¡°Are you really not cold?¡± Crow unconsciously voiced out his concerns: ¡°Just now you were holding my hand... Heavens, you were as cold as a block of ice.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I was born with a body that has a lower temperature,¡± Owl said optimistically, holding the key as he headed to open the door.

    The enclosed carriage of carriage No.12 was really simple. One could get the key just by cutting open a dead cat. But when they opened the door to carriage No.11, they suddenly realized that the road ahead was not easy to walk.

    Because when they opened the door, they saw two men standing in carriage No.11.

    To make matters worse, the two men seemed to be trying to kill each other when they opened the door.

 Chapter 113 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 113 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (VI)</h4>

    Thank you so much, Soapy & Kofi-Supporter for the Kofis¡ªBonus Chapter (2/2)

    Editor: Kitty

    The whole carriage No.11 was in a mess: all kinds of things were smashed to pieces with broken ss bottles, broken suitcases, ragged clothes, and pieces of cloth all over the ce. From this scene alone, they could guess what kind of war had happened here.

    The two men were at each other¡¯s throats, with one exaggeratingly stepping on a table with one foot and the other one squatting on the sofa opposite to him. They were armed with random weapons; one was armed with a broken broom while the other with steel rods that were neither too long nor short, and they seemed to have been pried off the toilet hose.

    Both of them were injured to varying degrees. There were wounds of different depths on their faces, hands, and legs. Both of them seemed to want to kill each other. The expressions on their faces were extremely fierce; even when Owl and Crow opened the door, they seemed to be unaware of them and focused their attention on each other.

    The situation was pressing, and it demanded immediate action.

    Crow and Owl looked at the scene and exchanged a look with one other. In fact, naturally, it was normal to want to kill each other. After all, not long ago, Crow and Owl were hostile toward each other, and they had almost started to fight each other. But the duo kept their sense of reason. Although in their hearts, they felt overflowing doubt and suspicion, no one actually took action.

    After all, they did not have much time left.

    ¡°Are we going to stop this?¡± Crow began to consult Owl.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to. What do you think?¡± Owl frowned. He thought the two men¡¯s killing intent was too strong.

    As he spoke, the man with the half-broken broom suddenly swung it and dealt another heavy blow toward one of the steel poles. His movements seemed to be disorganized, but the momentum behind it was astonishing, as if he was holding a long knife instead of a broken stick.

    Owl cocked his head and looked at the man with the broken broom. The other party moved very fast, and his hairy on his shoulders. Owl could not see his face clearly, but somehow, Owl felt that the man gave him a familiar feeling.

    Who is this man? Owl thought, but soon, he was not able to wonder any longer because he suddenly felt a sharp dull pain in his head, as if suddenly someone had used an iron bar to hit him, and the pain made him gasp.

    After the pain, Owl felt that there seemed to be more memories in his mind. It was like a person who had lost his memory suddenly recalling some memories of the past&#k2014;only these memories seemed to be covered with a veil, and the mere recollection of the memories caused Owl to be in so much pain that his face paled.

    Crow, of course, took notice of his reaction. Subconsciously, he reached for one of Owl¡¯s wrists, but very quickly, he shivered and withdrew his hands.

    Owl¡¯s hands were as cold as ice. Such a temperature was really abnormal. Crow could not help but keep his attention out on Owl¡¯s pale face. Underneath the other¡¯s eyes, one could even see a tinge of green.

    ¡°Are you ill?¡± Crow felt the worry in his heart grow. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°You don¡¯t look well. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?¡±

    ¡°Crow, what was on that note?¡± Owl, however, did not answer Crow¡¯s concern at the moment and instead suddenly threw a puzzling question at Crow. He asked, ¡°That note that we all have. On it, did it say under which circumstances we would recover our memories?¡±

    ¡°¡®You have the chance to recover your memory, but most of it can only be recalled before you die. Kindly be reminded that only the murderer is special. He may recover his memory at any point in time.¡¯¡± Crow took the note out of his pocket and read out the above sentence. After a pause, Crow looked at Owl: ¡°Could it be that you recovered it?¡±

    ¡°No, I did not. I just felt I recalled something, but when I think about it carefully, I can¡¯t remember it again,¡± Owl stated. Following that, he took a deep breath and marched into carriage No.11. He swaggered into it, grabbed the water bottle on the table, and threw it directly at the two men who were fighting.

    Both of them had acute senses and nimbly dodged it. As a result, they stopped trying to kill each other and both turned around to give fiendish stares to Owl and Crow.

    Owl interrupted the fight but silently stood on the spot. Crow sighed and said to the two men, ¡°Don¡¯t fight. Shouldn¡¯t we think about how to get out of this ce and situation instead?¡±

    Crow advised them, and although the two men did not continue to fight, they still seemed hostile toward each other. They put on shows of force toward each other for a while and squatted down in the corners that were farthest from each other.

    Both Crow and Owl felt that this was a thorny issue. They discussed and decided to each deal with one of them. So Owl went to the long-haired man with a broken broom in the corner, and Crow went to the other man.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Actually, Crow felt his heart slightly tremble because he felt that the two men were not to be trifled with. The man sitting in front of him was a handsome man with messy, short ck hair. He was very tall, and even sitting there, one would feel oppressed by his presence.

    Crow approached him and noticed that the man was wearing the same greyish-blue prison uniform as he was. There was a name card on his chest, and the words on the name card were very simple¡ª<b>BLACKCAT</b>¡ªmeaning ck cat.

    ck cat.

    Crow could not help but think of the poor kitten who had died in the puddle of water in the toilet of carriage No.12. It was also a ck cat.

    Probably after hearing Crow¡¯s voice, the man named ¡®ck cat¡¯ raised his head and looked at him. Crow noticed that the man was indeed handsome and had beautiful facial features. At first nce, he was the type that would attract attention everywhere. His eyes were extremely beautiful. Perhaps the only thing that was not beautiful was the dark grey colour of his pupils, which reminded him of people who had lost their sight.

    There were also several wounds on the handsome boy¡¯s face. The skin on his forehead was injured, and blood was trickling down his face, making him look like he was in a sorry plight.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The handsome man opened his mouth. His voice was deep and hoarse, as if he had not spoken for a long time.

    Maybe even the handsome man himself was frightened by his voice because he frowned and bowed down his head in silence.

    Crow suddenly felt that the man might be easy to get along with, so he put down his worries and asked, ¡°Have you also lost your memories?¡±

    ¡°Lost my memories?¡± After a short pause, ck cat began to think. After a short moment, he answered, ¡°Maybe. It is true that I cannot recall anything.¡±

    The man¡¯s voice was very low, and Crow could not help but get closer to be able to hear it. Before he moved closer, ck cat suddenly swung the steel pole in his hand, pointed it at Crow, and coldly dered, ¡°Stay away from me.¡±

    Crow¡¯s feet trembled, and he had to retreat half a step back. His face couldn¡¯t help but stiffen. He tried to raise the corners of his mouth and forced a smile: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t hurt you or anyone else.¡±

    ck cat looked at him and suddenly sneered, ¡°With your weak appearance, how can you hurt others?¡±

    Crow was speechless, and as if a stick were stuck in his throat, he was unable to speak. He originally wanted to calm the man down. Now it seemed that the other party was trying to make him feel better. Of course, inwardly, he did not feelfortable. However, he wanted to escape from this inexplicable enclosed train. There were other puzzles ahead that remained unforeseen ahead of them. If they did not get along well now, they may experience more troubles ahead.

    What should be done?

    Crow hesitated for a moment, and the other party¡¯s weapon still remained pointed at Crow, but Crow suddenly acted boldly. He reached out to block ck cat¡¯s steel pole, took the initiative to approach the other party, and sat down beside him without taking any other actions.

    On the contrary, this time, ck cat stopped being at odds with Crow and turned to stare at him thoughtfully.

    Crow turned his head, reluctantly gave a smile to the handsome man in front of him, and said softly, ¡°In this world, there are too many ways to hurt others. Merely having power will not let someone take up a leading role.¡±

    Crow did not know whether the other party listened to his words. In fact, it did not matter if he did not listen. He just wanted to find a way to lower the other party¡¯s defenses, but he did not know why ck cat was interested in him for some reason. His entire face was so close to him, and Crow felt that the tip of the other party¡¯s nose was almost touching his nose.

    This sudden move scared Crow, and he retreated entirely. However, ck cat squinted and ced a hand on his shoulder. His strength was great. The weight on Crow¡¯s shoulder felt extremely heavy, and it was as if his whole body could not move.

    ¡°Have we met before?¡± ck cat asked him suddenly. He approached Crow and sniffed, as if he was smelling him.

    ¡°Is... is that so? Maybe...¡± Crow stiffened. ck cat was quite tall and carried a strong masculine smell as well as the smell of blood. Because they were rtively close, Crow could also feel the other party¡¯s breath spraying on his neck.

    Crow suddenly felt that maybe ck cat was right. They probably knew each other previously.

    But soon, ck cat released Crow and went back to squat on the sofa. Such distance inwardly caused Crow to feel a sense of loss that was inexplicable. However, the good news was that because of this, ck cat seemed to somewhat lower his defenses, at least enough that Crow did not feel his obvious hostility.

    Following that, themunication between them went well. He soon learned from ck cat that he had also woken up in this carriage not long ago, and he did not have any memories at all. In addition, there was a man in the same situation as him in this carriage, the one who fought with him...

    ¡°Why did you start fighting?¡± Crow voiced his doubts.

    ck cat licked his dry lips and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Both of us felt that we were eyesores to each other. That was why we fought.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why?¡± Crow felt helpless.

    ¡°That¡¯s why.¡± On the contrary, ck cat felt it was a justifiable reason.

 Chapter 114 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 114 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (VII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Contrary to how Crow and ck Cat who were having a pleasant timemunicating, Owl and the other man were almost ready to fight. They were now in an extremely perilous situation because the man with shoulder-length hair didn¡¯t want to listen to what the other party had to say at all, and when Owl approached him, he found that half of the man¡¯s face was disfigured.

    Half of his face was intact, and if one looked carefully, one could see that he was definitely a beauty before he was disfigured. But the other side of his face was covered with scars; several streaks of scars were on his face, and they looked ugly, ferocious, and intolerable to the eye. Originally, this was nothing to Owl because Owl was not a face-con and would not be so stupid as to discriminate against other people¡¯s defects.

    But the problem was that this person¡¯s character was...

    ¡ª<b>Wolf</b>¡ªwas engraved on the name card of this shoulder-length haired man. It meant ¡®wolf.¡¯

    The man named ¡®Wolf,¡¯ when he opened his mouth, did not have anything good to say. No matter what Owl said, he either sneered or cynically mocked him. With his abusive wordsbined with endless disdain, if one was human, one would not be able to tolerate him. Moreover, Owl was not someone with high tolerance.

    ¡°I say! You, I¡¯ve been patiently trying tomunicate with you! I don¡¯t care what you¡¯re thinking, but we¡¯re stuck in the same boat now. We¡¯re stuck in a train and could die at any moment.¡± Owl helplessly slowed down his talking speed: ¡°As long as you are willing to cooperate a little, the situation will not be worse than our current situation now!¡±

    ¡°Cooperate?¡± Wolf tilted his head and let his hair fall in a disorderly manner in front of his forehead. He appeared very indifferent as he replied, ¡°Why should I cooperate with you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would want to die. Someone trapped us here and gave us a note. I know you also have one... You can...¡±

    Wolf impatiently interrupted Owl: ¡°I threw it away.¡± Then, he looked at Owl and said with a sneer, ¡°You won¡¯t be so stupid as to believe an obscure note given to you, will you?¡±

    Owl tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, but he could not help clenching his fists. He slowed down his pace again as he spoke: ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t want to put everyone in a tight spot. I don¡¯t believe that you want to stay in this boring carriage forever. You will still need to leave this ce! So as long as you don¡¯t cause trouble, follow us, don¡¯t do anything out of the ordinary, and don¡¯t harm others or yourself, we can sessfully work together to leave here...¡±

    ¡°Look at your shameless request. Why should I obediently follow after you and be an ass-kisser?¡± Wolf sneered at Owl again and looked at him with scorn in his eyes.

    Owl finally got a little fed up. He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t want to follow me, stay here! Have it your way. You can do whatever you want. I really can¡¯t be bothered with you!¡±

    Owl stood up and wanted to leave, but before he took a step to leave, Mr. Wolf next to him suddenly hooked Owl back. In addition to that, worst of all, that evil Wolf stretched out his hands to strangle him.

    ¡°Truthfully, I really feel that...¡± The evil Wolf gracefully lifted his lips and said, ¡°The one who stays here... should be you.¡±

    Owl did not resist. He was choked and forcefully pushed down on the sofa seat, but Wolf¡¯s actions didn¡¯t seem to be able to suffocate Owl. He merely red at Mr. Wolf. His eyes were dark and full of danger, but this did not affect Mr. Wolf. The evil Wolf grabbed Owl¡¯s neck, and his hands gradually increased their strength. Owl¡¯s face appeared even paler now.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve found out since moments ago.¡± Wolf approached Owl and whispered in his ear.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look like a living person¡ª¡±

    Owl¡¯s eyes grew, and the depths of his eyes, akin to a dark tunnel, twirled. Instead of remaining speechless and immobile, he suddenly reached out his hand to touch Wolf¡¯s face. This action seemed to surprise Mr. Wolf for a moment, but before either party took action, in the next moment, someone interrupted the conversation between Owl and Wolf.

    ¡°Let go of him!¡± It was not known when Crow ended his negotiation with ck cat, but when he returned, he found that Owl was being subjected to such treatment. Although Crow had a face-off with Owl for a period, being entangled with a certain feeling that he was unaware of, he just didn¡¯t want Owl to be bullied.

    So he took the steel pole that ck cat held previously and pointed it to Wolf, forcing Wolf¡¯s attention to him.

    But when Wolf raised his head, he showed his ferocious, half-disfigured face. Under the dim light, his face appeared evil and twisted, and this gave Crow a fright, to which, Crow took a tiny step back.

    The subconscious action Crow took made Wolfugh, but he also honestly let Owl go. Owl rubbed his neck and sat up. He pulled Crow and said, ¡°Let¡¯s ignore him. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Although Crow had some doubts, because of his bad first impression of Wolf, he didn¡¯t particrly like this half-disfigured man. Therefore, he did not pay much attention to Owl and Wolf. He followed Owl, but just when he had yet to take a step, Wolf¡¯s voice sounded from his back in a gloomy and sinister tone.

    ¡°Such a small little one. Don¡¯t let others break your neck.¡±

    Crow turned back to look at Wolf, but Owl in front of him was indifferent and did not turn his head around.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with that guy?¡± When Owl and Crow went to the corner a distance far from Wolf, Crow couldn¡¯t help but ask Owl. ¡°He¡¯s so enigmatic that I¡¯m getting goosebumps.¡±

    Owl seem to fall into silence. His pale face made him look weak and feeble. He instinctively touched his neck, and on it, a green mark could be seen. After a while, he turned back to look at Crow.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Crow thought that Owl¡¯s face was too pale. Such whiteness appeared like a corpse¡¯s, and it always unconsciously reminded Crow of the one curled up in the luggage... the poor victim.

    ¡°...... I¡¯m fine.¡± Owl remained silent for a long time before answering Crow.

    ¡°But you don¡¯t look well. Are you sick?¡± Crow wanted to feel Owl¡¯s temperature. He reached out to touch the other party¡¯s forehead, but before his fingers touched him, Owl shrank his head back and dodged.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry...¡± Owl¡¯s voice was very low, and using a tone as if he was muttering to himself, he said, ¡°I¡¯m still alive.¡±

    The atmosphere in carriage No.11 was very grim. Although the four people had already agreed to form a temporary team, one of them did notpromise and refused tomunicate with others. Moreover, the man was sitting on the sofa seat in the corner, staring at the deep darkness outside the window, and no one knew what he was thinking.

    Thus, the remaining trio¡ªCrow, Owl, and ck cat, who remained silent¡ªwas left in the team.

    ck cat was also troublesome to deal with despite looking very honest. He seemed to have a favourable impression of Crow. He always followed Crow around, and wherever he went, ck cat would follow. When Crow and Owl squatted at the door connecting carriages No.11 and carriage No.10 to read the hint engraved on the door, ck cat squatted not far behind them and looked at him with a scorching hot gaze... Owl could not help but look behind him and said to Crow:

    ¡°Is that guy interested in you?¡±

    Crow¡¯s ears became slightly red and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Owl shrugged and said, ¡°If you¡¯re going to have a homosexual rtionship with each other, you¡¯d better wait until we escape from this damn train.¡±

    ¡°Stop kidding around! I¡¯m not going to... ¡± Crow retorted in a low voice, but his ears became redder.

    Owl did not continue to tease him. He lowered his head to read the new hint engraved on the door, and the message on the metal door in front of them was almost engraved in the same position as the one between carriages No.13 and No.12.

    On it was written:

    [There are four people in carriage No.11 at this time]

    [One of them is harbouring evil intentions]

    [Be careful when he swings his butcher¡¯s knife at you]

    [Don¡¯t let blood stain the ss]

    ¡°Looks like we are in an awful predicament.¡± After reading the message on the door, Owl turned to ask Crow, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°The meaning of it is obvious. It¡¯s probably implying that the murderer is among the four of us, right?¡± Crow frowned and began to specte.

    ¡°That is to say, if we meet a fifth person in the next carriage, we can probably exclude him from being suspected of being the murderer?¡±

    ¡°No, notpletely,¡± Crow denied, ¡°You should have found that when we woke up, two of us were in one carriage, and the carriage number was odd.¡±

    Owl thought for a while and replied, ¡°It¡¯s true that when we woke up, we were in carriage No.13, and we had to spend some time looking for the body to find the key, but carriage No.12 didn¡¯t require much effort. The message on the door even indicated the location of our key straightforwardly.¡±

    Owl continued, ¡°And in carriage No.11, ck cat and Wolf are in the same carriage.¡±

    ¡°The number 11 is odd.¡± Crow continued where he left off, and the two people¡¯s ideas strangely began synchronizing: ¡°The hint provided in this carriage seems to be obviously trying to make things difficult for us, and there is that kind... implication that we will kill one another.¡±

    ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a pattern... If we sessfully open the door and enter carriage No.10 and carriage No.10 easily indicates the location of the key and lets us through the carriage, then we can be sure that the train cars are indeed following a certain pattern.¡±

    ¡°Odd... and even numbers?¡±

    The discussion between Crow and Owl had reached a bottleneck. They gave up studying the rtionship between the train car numbers and the difficulty of opening the train carriage and began to focus on the hint provided on carriage No.11.

    ¡°The whole gist of this is obvious. Thest sentence is the main point,¡± Crow concluded.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let blood stain the ss.¡± Owl repeated, ¡°What does that mean?¡±

 Chapter 115 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 115 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (VIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The setup of carriage No.11 was simr to those of carriages No.13 and No.12, and there were a lot of messy things scattered everywhere, such as fruit peels and paper scraps thrown around by people, clothes left arbitrarily on the sofa, and luggage stuffed on the overhead rack. The only difference was that in carriage No.11, there was a lot of ¡°ss.¡±

    There was not only ss on the carriage¡¯s window.

    If the mirror in the toilet and the hanging mirror in the crew¡¯s lounge were counted as ss, then there were countless sses in this carriage. On almost every sofa seat and table, one could see mirrors of all sizes. There were also some ss and mirror fragments on the ground, not to mention the mirrors that could be dug out from luggage or travel bags.

    ¡°Where are there so many mirrors in this carriage?¡±

    Crowined in annoyance as he casually found a small, round, palm-sized mirror. This mirror had suffered from rough handling and had many cracks on its surface.

    This mirror looked familiar, and Crow looked at it for a long time. The mirror was broken, and his face, reflected in the mirror, was also fragmented. Crow touched his face inadvertently due to this.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let blood stain the ss.¡± Owl also took a mirror to y with, and it seemed that he was mumbling that phrase once again. He repeatedly asked this question again and again: ¡°What happens if you really stain the ss with blood?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bring up such a horrible idea again. Think about it; who in this carriage has blood? Of course, there are only four of us,¡± Crow subconsciously refuted him, but after a while, he said, ¡°No... Maybe we can go back to the previous carriages, like carriage No.12? There¡¯s a lot of blood there.¡±

    Crow and Owl exchanged a look. They tacitly understood one another, and with one walking first and the other following after, they went back. But soon they discovered something terrible. The door to return to carriage No.12 was locked.

    ¡°I remember we didn¡¯t lock the door when we came in,¡± Owl said.

    Crow frowned: ¡°Then it either locked automatically, or someone else has some sort of hidden agenda, so they locked it.¡±

    After a pause, Crow said, ¡°I remember you opened the door to carriage No.12. Where¡¯s the key?¡±

    Owl replied, ¡°I left it in the keyhole.¡±

    Both of them helplessly looked at the door connected to Carriage No.12. It seemed that the road was blocked, and they had to find another way out.

    However, when they said they wanted to find another way out, they currently did not have any clue as to how to get out. With so many mirrors and sses in Carriage No.11 shining brightly under the light, their eyes were all dazzled.

    ck cat had been squatting not far from Crow and staring at him. Crow disregarded him, so he kept staring at him. But asionally, ck cat would also curiously pick up a small mirror in his hand to mess with it for a few moments.

    As for Wolf, he had been sitting on the sofa seat in the corner, keeping his eyes closed, and asionally he would open his eyes to look out the window.

    The two men ck cat and Wolf, who seemed to have no interest in escaping from the enclosed carriage, were disgusted with each other. They tried to maintain their distance from one another.

    At present, they were in a horrible predicament. One of the four people was not willing to cooperate at all, and another one was the kind of person who was of little use. Moreover, the hint on the connecting door to carriage No.11 also caused people to deliberate. Who was the person harboring evil intentions? Such a question caused everyone to remain vignt against others.

    As time went by, Crow and Owl searched the entirety of carriage No.11, and in the end, they found no relevant clues. Almost as if the carriage was only covered with ss and mirror, under the dim light, the refraction of the light shone silently. When one swept one¡¯s gaze over it, everything here appeared bedazzling.

    Crow unconsciously covered a part of his eyes. The light refracted by these mirrors was so strong that he felt that it was overly bright.

    Therefore, Crow asked Owl, ¡°The light refracted by these mirrors is too strong, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    But Owl did not think so. He shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not really affected by it... Erm, I even think it¡¯s a little dim in this carriage.¡±

    ¡°Dim?¡± Crow felt incredulous. In his eyes, this carriage was much brighter than the two carriages he was in before. Especially with such a huge amount of mirrors reflecting light, it felt like the mirrors themselves had be a kind of luminous object.

    ¡°His light sense will gradually weaken because his pupils are erged and will lose their light sense. This only happens to the dead.¡± At this time, a voice suddenly sounded behind them. Crow and Owl turned their heads at the same time and found that Mr. Wolf, who had always been indifferent, moved to stand beside them.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Owl looked gloomy as he spoke.

    ¡°Oh¡ªwhat do you think I mean?¡± Wolfughed, but his tone was full of sarcasm: ¡°Ah, this is really scary, but I feel it¡¯s very interesting as well.¡±

    ¡°I know what you meant; you doubt me?¡± Owl did not evade his usation but boldly retorted. It seemed that he did not want to give Wolf the impression that he was weak.

    But what Owl did not expect was that Wolf did not y ording to the rules. Suddenly, he took action. With his hand holding the broken broom with a tip on one end, he straightforwardly stabbed towards Owl. At such a close distance, he suddenly acted so that even Crow, who was standing nearest to them, had no time to stop his actions.

    But Owl dodged it.

    With a mere side-step, he breezily avoided the attack.

    ¡°Your reflexes don¡¯t look like what a normal human being might have,¡± Wolf sneered.

    ¡°You motherf*cker, you¡¯re looking for death!¡± It may have been because there were no legal or moral restrictions in the enclosed space, so Owl could not help but counterattack. He was already harboring a deep resentment towards Wolf. Once the other party makes a move, Owl could not help fighting back. Thus, a second fierce fight in this carriage broke out.

    Fortunately, the fighting capabilities of Owl wereparable to that of Wolf¡¯s. Although they inevitably destroyed some public infrastructures in their fight, both of them were at a stalemate.

    Crow thought that his fighting capabilities were not particrly good, so he consciously withdrew from the battle arena, and ck cat, standing at a side, also followed him to watch the bustle. The two protagonists of the fight again carried out different degrees of damage to the enclosed carriage No.11, and shining and bright fragments were strewn all around the floor. The refracted light was so strong that it almost blinded his eyes.

    Crow looked thoughtfully at the glittering debris, and shortly after, he nced at the ceilingmp hanging on the ceiling of the carriage.

    He muttered to himself, ¡°Where might the power switch be located?¡±

    ¡°I know where it is.¡± ck cat stood next to him and suddenly said, ¡°In the crew¡¯s lounge.¡±

    Crow heard ck cat¡¯s voice, so he subconsciously turned his head to look at him. ck cat¡¯s eyes were a hue of dark gray, and when he stared straight at him, his eyes carried a form of indescribable sadness.

    Crow suddenly felt that he remembered something, but he only felt that way for a moment. Simr to a sh of light that dispersed quickly, Crow could not catch the light¡¯s tail and watched it slip away. Although Crow felt familiar with ck cat in front of him, he could not remember anything.

    Crow hesitated for a moment and turned to look at the battle arena. This time, Owl had taken out his weapon, the knife that Crow had given him before. Although the knife was very short, its sharpness was superior.

    Moreover, it was obvious that his weapon possessed some advantages. Wolf¡¯s moves were very powerful. However, because he held a broken broomstick and because Owl was very flexible and quick, he was not able to hit him. On the contrary, Owl could do a lot of damage to Wolf with his small and sharp knife.

    ¡°If it goes on like this, someone will die.¡± Crow was worried. He did not want to see them fighting and getting hurt, but he did not know how to stop the fight between the two people. After all, when one fought, their fists and legs had no eyes, so in the end, he could not possibly leave them be in case they really got hurt.

    So Crow¡¯s eyes turned nimbly to take a look at ck cat beside him. He requested, ¡°Can you stop them?¡±

    ck cat did not speak. He looked at Crow, then at that evil Wolf who was still fighting. He did not have a good expression on his face.

    Before ck cat could answer, Crow shook his head again and said, ¡°Forget it; let¡¯s think of some other methods. It¡¯d be very dangerous for you to rush in like this...¡±

    So Crow put forward a new n. He said to ck cat, ¡°Since you know where the power switch is, would you please go there and turn off the light? I¡¯ll stay here to keep an eye on them, and perhaps, in passing I may be able to find a way to get out of this train car.¡±

    ck cat obediently heeded Crow¡¯s words. He eyed Crow for a moment and went to look for the switch. Crow watched him enter the crew¡¯s lounge, which was located in another corner. Then he turned back to keep an eye on the two people fighting here. Suddenly, he called out Owl¡¯s name.

    Owl¡¯s attention was drawn away for a moment, and the lights in the train car dimmed.

    Outside of the train car, everything was pitch dark, and the light came entirely from the ceilingmp inside the train car. Once the only light source was turned off, the train car descended into darkness, and it became so dark that one was unable to see their own fingers.

    But when this happened, something mystifying urred.

    Since there were so many mirrors in the train car and so much broken ss on the ground, with the unexpected arrival of darkness, the ss and mirror fragments gradually began to reflect faint light, subtly but obviously. Moreover, with so many of these fragments emitting faint light, these light sources started to slowly illuminate the whole train car!

    ¡°It¡¯s fluorescent powder,¡± Crow uttered after a slight pause.

    With the light was turned off, the fight between Owl and Mr. Wolf stopped because of the temporary darkness. Owl¡¯s face was a little twisted, and his hand covered his abdomen unnaturally. At that particr moment when the light was turned off, Crow had called out to him. He got distracted and did not notice Wolf¡¯s attack. Therefore, he was identally stabbed by Wolf with the tip of his broomstick. Although he quickly dodged, it was hard for him to avoid suffering a little injury.

    Under the illumination of arge amount of fluorescent powder, even if the lights were turned off, the ce was lit up as bright as day. Crow noticed Owl¡¯s difort and began to apologize: ¡°Sorry. I just wanted both of you to stop fighting.¡±

    Owl did not reply but gazed at Crow silently for a long time.

 Chapter 116 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 116 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (IX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Seeing that Owl had a hand ced on his wound, Crow could not help worrying. However, whenever he tried to get close to Owl, Owl instinctively avoided Crow¡¯s touch, and when he voiced out his concerns, Owl did not reply. Crow hesitated in ce for a while and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°He can¡¯t even shed blood. There¡¯s no need to worry about him.¡± Wolf stood opposite them and coldly sneered. He licked the back of his hand. There was a cut he had gotten from being scratched by Owl. The wound was not deep, but when his gaze swept over his bloody palm and the back of his hand, his action of licking his own wound was especially just like that of a wild animal.

    At this time, ck cat, who had gone to the crew¡¯s lounge to turn off the lights, also came back. Under the illumination of the fluorescent powder, it was as if the whole carriage was flooded with a faint dark blue hue, and the ss fragments on the ground also shone, making the entire ground appear dazzling.

    Crow sighed, raised his voice, and said, ¡°Okay, my friends, let¡¯s get rid of our prejudices and any unhappiness we have with one another. If you really want to fight, please keep in mind that you can probably fight after we escape from this train, right? At that time, no matter how fiercely you fight, no one will care.¡±

    Seeing that several people were finally willing to shift their attention to him, Crow was satisfied. With a wry smile, he said, ¡°The hint left on the door said that one among the four of us has evil intentions and wants to chop someone down...¡±

    ¡°That is definitely talking about me!¡± Wolf interrupted suddenly. As if he had told a joke, he treacherouslyughed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care whether it¡¯s describing you or not!¡± Crow repressed his temper and continued, ¡°But thest sentence is the important hint. The door mentioned: ¡®Don¡¯t let blood stain the ss.¡¯ In fact, I don¡¯t quite understand it, but obviously, the ss is the key point. When I discovered that the ss in this train car appeared very bright and looked transparent, I asked ck cat to turn off the light, and the scene became as you can see now...¡±

    ¡°But this doesn¡¯t prove anything.¡± After a long silence, Owl finally spoke, the look in his eyes somewhat chilly, ¡°They are just ss coated with fluorescent powder.¡±

    Crow thought for a while. Indeed, even if they found that the ss was coated with fluorescent powder, it would only serve to illuminate dark ces. Wait... illuminate?

    ¡°I say, why coat these sses with fluorescent powder?¡± Crow began to specte calmly: ¡°And why should we not let blood stain on the ss?¡±

    ¡°Could it be that if blood covers the fluorescent powder, it will stop emitting light?¡± Owl still kept a hand over his wound and seemed absent-minded.

    Mr. Wolf suddenly opened his mouth. Although he was not gregarious, he had a lot of unexpected knowledge: ¡°Some fluorescent powders are toxic. They are mixed with radioactive toxic substances so that it can emit light for a long time, but it¡¯s not highly toxic.¡±

    ¡°Can you wash these fluorescent powders out with water?¡±

    Wolf raised his head to look at Crow and said, ¡°Of course.¡±

    Crow froze, saying, ¡°Can everyone do me a favor? Let us wash out the fluorescent powder.¡±

    This required a lot of work, but it was very easy to do it because several people soon found that there was a long soft hose in the toilet of carriage No.11. So Crow simply connected the hose to the faucet, pulled the hose into the train car, aimed it at the shining sses and mirror fragments, and began to flush it out.

    Most of the fluorescent powder was smeared on the mirrors, and when the powder was diluted by the water, the light became a lot dimmer. Crow flushed away most of the powder with the hose, uncaring that the water sprayed out by the hose had made the sofa seats wet. Wherever he saw a glimmer of light, he would use water to flush it away.

    Although Crow was only using the water gushing out from the hose to spray, Owl, ck cat, and Wolf were all dealt damage because they had fought. Due to the fight, their clothes were covered with a lot of fluorescent powder, so Crow blindly sprayed the water wherever he saw a light source.

    Therefore, soon after, the whole train car that was shining bright became very dark again, so dark that one was not able to see their five fingers. But in such a dark environment, several people also found that there was a ce that shone brightly.

    It was a ss water bottle on the table that emitted a faint blue light. But it was not the bottle itself that shone; it was the liquid in it¡ªoh, no, it was not the liquid but the little ss key lying in the bottle.

    ¡°The key was actually in such a ce...¡± After Crow hesitated for a moment, he took a look at the ss bottle and expressionlessly nced at the people around him. He sighed again. He put on a smile as he gazed at ck cat: ¡°Mr. ck cat, can you turn off the tap? While you¡¯re at it, turn on the lights, too.¡±

    ck cat was obedient and went away to do it after nodding. Soon the hose in Crow¡¯s hand stopped gushing water. Crow threw it aside and reached for the small ss bottle.

    ¡°Now we can get out of here,¡± Crow said as he opened the ss bottle. The opening of the ss bottle was sorge that he could directly put his finger in to get the key. But before Crow could do so, Owl stopped him.

    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Owl said, frowning, ¡°You should be more careful. The liquid in this bottle has a strange smell.¡±

    Crow stopped, sniffed, and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. What should we do?¡±

    ¡°It smells pungent. Seems like it¡¯s poisonous.¡± Mr. Wolf grinned grimly.

    At this time, ck cat, who went to turn on the light, had turned the light on and returned. He seemed to have heard Crow and the duo¡¯s conversation. When he came back, he brought a pair of rubber gloves.

    ¡°I found it in the crew¡¯s lounge.¡± ck cat took the gloves and put them on his hand. He found another stic cup, took the ss bottle from Crow, and poured the liquid out of the ss bottle carefully and slowly, making sure that the key did not slide out.

    When half of the poisonous liquid in the ss had been poured out, ck cat took out the key directly with his gloved hand.

    They found that the key was still emitting a weak light. This key was made of ss. It seemed that some liquid had stained the key. It was the liquid in the ss key that emitted the light, and it was estimated that it was a special liquid mixed with fluorescent powder; one could just think of it as a make-shift fluorescent rod.

    ¡°Ah, the key is made of ss... It¡¯s fragile. Will it break when we open the door with it? ¡± Mr. Wolf made an awful joke.

    ck cat looked at Mr. Wolf and whispered, ¡°I will be careful.¡±

    So ck cat took the key and went to the door connecting train car No. 11 to the other train car. Several people followed with Crow at the end. He turned back to look at the poisonous item that was still on the table. The liquid was colorless and transparent, and it was still shaking slightly due to the movement of the train.

    At this time, ck cat, who was standing in front, carefully inserted the key into the keyhole of the connecting door. The ss key was very fragile and also highly toxic. Therefore, it was necessary to be careful when using it, which was why the few people following him rarely argued and caused trouble but instead waited silently for ck cat to open the door.

    Fortunately, the ss key was finally able to get the job done. When ck catpletely inserted it into the keyhole, he tried to turn left and right, and found that he should turn it to the left, so he tried hard to do so. The door snapped open, and a gap was revealed. But when ck cat tried to retrieve the key, he found that the ss key broke because it was too fragile.

    ¡°At least the door is open,¡± Crow walked behind and said optimistically.

    Several people then took several steps as they entered carriage No. 10 one after the other.

    Maybe the theory of even and odd numbers that Crow and Owl hade up with was urate because when they entered carriage No. 10, they found that it was as clean as carriage No. 12, with neat seats, no garbage or snacks littered everywhere, and the upper racks were also not stuffed with luggage.

    But there were some bloody footprints on the floor of carriage No. 10.

    It was probably the footprints of a man who was not wearing shoes; only prints made by bare feet could be seen. The bloodstained footprints had dried up, turning ck.

    Crow avoided the footprints when they entered the carriage. They then went to the door connected to carriage No. 10. The hint provided in carriage No.10 are as follows:

    [The killer who killed the poor little ck cat has passed by here]

    [He used the key]

    [And threw the key by your feet]

    Several people saw this simple and clear hint, and all of them subconsciously lowered their heads down and found the key to carriage No. 10 lying at the foot of the door. Because it was ck cat who took the lead, it was him who bent down to reach for the key. But he did not open the door. He simply turned back to look at Crow and the others and asked:

    ¡°The killer of the poor little ck cat¡ªwhat does that mean?¡±

    ¡°That ck cat doesn¡¯t mean you,¡± Crow exined, ¡°Owl and I woke up in carriage No. 13. As we passed by carriage No. 12, there was a ck cat killed by some kind of creature, and the key to carriage No. 12 was found in the cat¡¯s stomach.¡±

    ¡°In the cat¡¯s stomach...¡± ck cat paused. He no longer pursued the problem but took the key to open the door.

    Carriage No. 10 was surprisingly simple to escape from. ck cat opened the door easily with the key, and the crowd swarmed into carriage No. 9.

    The theory of odd and even numbers was urate becausepared to the clean and tidy carriage No. 10, carriage No. 9 was dirty, messy, and terrible.

    As soon as they entered through the door, they were shocked by what they saw even before they could observe the environment inside carriage No. 9. They saw a man standing in carriage No. 9, and what was worse was that the man seemed to have just killed another person.

    The murderer had refreshing-looking short hair. Lowering their heads down, it could be seen that he was holding a weapon in his hand...... It was not known where he got the baseball bat from, but there was a poor victim lying at his feet. The victim was lying on the ground on his back. He had not shed much blood, probably because he died due to the impact of the bat hitting his head.

    The murderer and the victim wore the same garb as Crow andpany. They were dressed in a greyish-blue prison uniform...... They all noticed the name card on the murderer¡¯s chest, and on it, a string of English letters was engraved on it:

    <b>¡¾Two-headedsnake¡¿¡ª¡ªTwo-headed snake. </b>

    T/N: Dun, dun, dun!! Who do you guys think is who?

 Chapter 117 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (X)

    <h4>Chapter 117 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (X)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The murderer, Two-headed snake, seemed to turn a blind eye to Crow and the others¡¯ intrusion. He lowered his head to check whether the poor man was dead, and thereafter found that the poor victim was still slightly breathing but was likely on hisst breath.

    But Two-headed snake did not feel any pity towards him at all. He raised his baseball bat again, and it seemed that he was going to hit him again now to kill him! Seeing this, Crow and the others sucked in their breaths. Crow hesitated as he thought whether he should head forward to stop this or ignore it. On the contrary, it was Wolf who took the lead. He reached out and threw the ragged broomstick he had been holding in his hand at Two-headed snake.

    Two-headed snake finally responded, stepping aside to avoid Wolf¡¯s attack. Finally, he realized that there were several more people in the carriage and raised his head to look at Crow and the others.

    Two-headed snake was a handsome man of imposing presence. His features were elegant with distinct eyebrows, his figure tall and thin, and his arms strong. There were some bloodstains on his face. It was not known whether it was his or the victim¡¯s. He carried a blue and white baseball bat, and that bat was also stained with a lot of blood.

    Although he could be regarded as a good-looking man, the look in Two-headed snake¡¯s eyes was too cold. If one needed to find a befitting description of him, the name ¡®Two-headed snake¡¯ was extremely appropriate for him. His eyes were as cold as a snake¡¯s eyes.

    However, this snake did not seem to have any interest in Crow and the others. He merely took a glimpse at them and returned to squat near the victim.

    The victim lying on the ground by his feet was not dead, and his chest was still slightly rising and falling. However, Two-headed snake did seem to be satisfied. He seemed determined to put the poor victim to death. Although he avoided Wolf¡¯s attack, in the next second, he once again stepped on the victim¡¯s back.

    The victim trembled, and Crow even clearly saw that the poor dying guy was stretching out his arm weakly to crawl forward. Crow immediately understood the victim¡¯s intentions. He knew that the man wanted to escape and live.

    Crow had always felt that he was not the kind of person with much sympathy, and in this bad enclosed environment, everyone around him may be covetous and cruel. So from the moment Crow woke up on this train, he kept telling himself to disregard whether everything happening was righteous or unjustifiable; he only needed to survive.

    But in this instant, Crow could not stand it.

    A murder was going to bemitted in front of someone. If one did not rise gantly to the asion, were they even a man?!

    Since Crow was, of course, a man, he went forward. Although his fighting capabilities were not particrly good, his body moved faster than he thought. But what Crow did not expect was that several people nearby actually started to move as well. The fastest one to act was Wolf. ck cat seemed to be irked by the troublesome matter, but he still acted. Owl followed after him.

    The several people who cooperated together immediately subdued Two-headed snake. They seized the man in a flurry, threw away his weapon¡ªthe bat¡ª casually found some clothes, and rolled them into a rope to tie Two-headed snake up.

    After being subdued, Two-headed snake did not struggle too much. He merely looked at the crowd of people with cold eyes, as if he did not know he was being subdued. He said leisurely, ¡°You¡¯d better kill that guy quickly, or the one who will have an unfortunate encounter will be you guys.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Crow frowned as he asked.

    But Two-headed snake did not answer him. He only squinted his eyes and sneered. Seeing that he could not receive an answer of proper value, Crow turned to look at the victim lying on the ground. The poor victim was lying there weakly while still trembling slightly. Crow did not take a closer look just now because the situation was too dangerous.

    Now, once Two-headed snake was tied up, Crow turned his head and looked at the poor victim. No matter how he looked at the victim, he felt that there was something strange about him.

    The victim was lying on his stomach all the time, and his face was blocked by his hair, so Crow could not see his face clearly. Although he was wearing the same clothes as Crow, a closer look revealed a small difference in the colour of their clothes. Crow and the others¡¯ clothes were a dark shade of greyish-blue while the victim¡¯s clothes were a shade of dark grey.

    The victim¡¯s stature was small, but because of his loose clothes and slightly long hair, Crow couldn¡¯t tell whether he was a man or a woman for a while. Crow¡¯s attention was drawn to hand that the victim revealed¡ª

    He had withered arms and tree branch-like fingers, and his skin colour appeared to be a lifeless shade of green.

    ¡°This guy looks a little strange.¡± Owl noticed the difference, so he crouched down carefully beside the victim, took the bat that belonged to Two-headed snake, and poked the poor victim.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Owl asked them that.

    The victimy motionless,pletely immobile, as if he was dead.

    Crow also unconsciously became worried, so he moved a little closer and said to Owl, ¡°Let¡¯s turn him over to have a look?¡±

    Owl nodded in agreement, and just as they were just about to start doing it, something terrible happened.

    Suddenly, the victim trembled violently as if he had been electrocuted. These violent convulsions also startled Owl and Crow, who were near the victim. They took a step back inadvertently and raised their guards. Because of the enclosed carriages and unreasonable situation they were forced into, added on to the previous words of Two-headed snake, they all subconsciously thought that what might happen next was definitely not something pleasant.

    But also, to their surprise, nothing happened.

    After the victim convulsed for a while, he becamepletely motionless again. Crow and Owl waited for a while before turning the victim over to look at their front. He found that the person was terribly thin¡ªas thin as a matchstick¡ªand it was as if just ayer of skin was hanging on his skeleton. His face was also an unhealthy hue of blue, and because he was so thin, his face also changed shape; only ¡®ugly¡¯ was an apt adjective to describe his face.

    Other than his startling thinness, the victim did not have any unexpected features. Also, he had died after Crow and others subdued Two-headed snake; because he may have suffered severe beatings before, he failed to survive. He was not breathing now, and at this moment, his eyes would forever remain shut.

    But Crow and the others soon found a problem after studying the deceased. His identity seemed to be different from that of Crow and the others. Although their clothes looked quite simr, there were some small differences; for example, his clothes did not have the name card with a temporary code name engraved on it.

    ¡°That is to say, this dead fellow is not a member of the group of five involving us.¡± Although Wolf said that he had thrown away the note left for him by the secret chamber, it was obvious that he had carefully read the note.

    ¡°Who is he then?¡± Owl asked subconsciously. He still had a hand covering his abdomen. The wound was previously inflicted by Wolf, but Crow noticed that Owl did not bleed; his hands and clothes were very clean.

    Some doubts arose in his heart due to this, but Crow did not question him. He turned his eyes to his newpanion, Two-headed snake, who had been killing the victim in the very start.

    ¡°Why did you kill him?¡± Crow asked.

    But Two-headed snake disregarded him.

    Crow sighed and felt that several people on the train were not easy to get along with. Needless to say, although Owl had a harmless look on his face, his personality was a bit capricious. As for ck cat, although he was very cooperative, he was too quiet, and from his voice, it sounded as if he hadn¡¯t spoken for decades; let alone Wolf, who always had that ferocious smile stered on his face. That smile, along with his face, would scare any coward.

    Now, they had a new member in their team, Two-headed snake, whose eyes were as ghastly and cold as a snake and who had just killed a person.

    Crow suddenly felt that he might be the most normal person in the group.

    But it was really ridiculous for him to have this idea.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and see what the hint that was left to us in the carriage says.¡± So Crow suggested this to Owl, and the two men ran to see the hint left on the connecting door of carriage No.9. Once again, the hint demonstrated the rtionship between odd and even numbers and the difficulties of the enclosed carriages. On it, the words inscripted were as follows¡ª

    [There¡¯s a monster in carriage No.9]

    [It has a deceptively big appetite, and it remains hungry constantly]

    [So feed it what it wants]

    [So that in this way, he will be able to give you the key]

    After reading this paragraph, both Crow and Owl realized that peacefully passing through the carriages would be too difficult to aplish.

    ¡°Is there a monster in this carriage?¡± Owl asked.

    ¡°Actually, this feels easy to solve,¡± Crow said, ¡°What do you think that a monster who is hungry would look like?¡±

    ¡°Just like the thin, bamboo-like corpse we saw moments ago?¡± Owl guessed.

    When Owl said this, the two of them did not utter out a word. They collectively turned their heads to look at the deceased lying on the ground.

    The deceased was as thin as a bamboo pole and looked extremely strange and terrifying. But to say that he was a monster? Crow and Owl had doubts about that. Owl said, ¡°But the deceased... he¡¯s dead. Maybe we can find the key somewhere on his body?¡±

    ¡°We can also ask Two-headed snake... what happened before we got to this carriage. Of course, that is only if he cooperates.¡±

    Crow decided to ask Two-headed snake himself because themunication between Owl and Mr. Wolf was unpleasant. It made Crow realize that Owl may not be suitable for this kind of thing, so Owl went to Mr. ck cat to ask him to investigate carriage No.9 together with him. Although Mr. ck cat did not talk much, he always cooperated.

    Mr. Wolf was not gregarious and did not like to be ordered by others, so he swayed towards the corner alone.

    T/N: Thank you so much for the Ko-Fi, Kitty ! It¡¯s much appreciated

    Thank you, everyone, for reading as well!

 Chapter 118 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 118 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Carriage No.9 was as dirty as carriage No.11, but this ce also had a special feature. Although the carriage was full of garbage, there were no food scraps. After Owl and ck cat searched, they found that there was no food in the carriage.

    Although the luggage rack was stuffed with baggage and the table also had a lot of bottles, cans, and bags of snacks littered all around it, all of them were empty.

    There was not even water. The tap in the toilet did not even have water gushing out.

    There was no food or water here. Owl felt worried so he tried to open the door again to return to carriage No.10. However, he found that the door to carriage No.10 had locked automatically. When Owl entered, he deliberately kept an eye on it and even put something to create a gap and keep it open. However, the door still closed quietly, and no one realized it.

    ¡°It seems that we can¡¯t head back. We have no choice but to go forward,¡± Owl stood in front of carriage No.10 carriage and muttered to himself.

    On the other side, Crow began his tough attempt in trying to converse with Two-headed snake.

    Thismunication was made extremely difficult by Two-headed snake¡¯s uncooperativeness because no matter what Crow said, Two-headed snake just sat there with a cold face while still tied up, keeping his eyes glued on the pitch darkness outside the window.

    Crow felt a little powerless and tried to get the other person¡¯s attention. He said, ¡°I can untie you as long as you tell me what happened before we came here.¡±

    But Two-headed snake still did not heed him. It appeared as if he did not care about anything at all, and he still kept his eyes glued to the windows.

    Crow felt even more frustrated now. He tried toe up with some conversation topics, but in the end, it was he who ended up speechless. While Crow was struggling, Two-headed snake took the lead in speaking instead. Two-headed snake was still staring at the unchanging darkness outside the train windows as he felt the slight shaking of the train and listened to the sound of rumbling and wheels rolling.

    Following that, Two-headed snake said, ¡°It¡¯s always ck outside.¡±

    Two-headed snake¡¯s voice also carried hints of coldness, and it was not known whether it was a misconception, but Crow suddenly felt that he had be easy tomunicate with.

    Crow hesitated momentarily before replying, ¡°Yes, from the moment I woke up and noticed this, everything outside was darkness.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like the real world, does it?¡± Two-headed snake said.

    ¡°Yes...¡± Crow thought of Owl¡¯s words: ¡°It feels... as if this train has been running in pitch-dark primal chaos.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s really driving in and of pitch-dark primal chaos, where do you think its terminal will be?¡± Two-headed snake suddenly turned to look at Crow. Two-headed snake had ck irises, and when he looked at Crow this way, Crow suddenly felt goosebumps surfacing all over his body.

    Crow tried to get rid of this restless and inexplicable feeling. He continued to reply in a serious and honest manner: ¡°I don¡¯t know where the terminal is&#k2026; but I don¡¯t want to stay in this carriage or on this train. As long as I can escape, wherever we are heading to doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°Even to hell?¡± Two-headed snake¡¯s voice sounded bleaker.

    Following that, Crow smiled: ¡°Regardless of where we¡¯re headed, I want to live.¡±

    Two-headed snake thought for a moment, shook his bound hands, and said, ¡°Now, you can help me untie this.¡±

    ¡°Will you tell me what happened previously?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡±

    Crow then helped Two-headed snake loosen the rope. Two-headed snake rubbed his freed hands, nced at Crow, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t look afraid of me at all.¡±

    ¡°Why should I be afraid of you?¡± Crow optimistically asked.

    ¡°Because I just killed a man in front of you,¡± Two-headed snake stated.

    But Crow shook his head: ¡°If that was really a human... I would never untie you.¡±

    ¡°It seems that you have realized too.¡±

    Two-headed snake thought for a while and decided to start from the beginning. Following that, he started his long speech: ¡°When I woke up, there were only two people in this train car: me and the one you saw... that thin fellow that I don¡¯t know what to make of.¡±

    Two-headed snake said, and as if thinking of something, he frowned slightly and continued: ¡°The monster was rummaging for something to eat. He had eaten all the food in this carriage, but he was still very hungry, so he squatted in the toilet to drink water from the tap until water stopped gushing out.¡±

    ¡°The monster that will never be full...?¡± Hearing Two-headed snake¡¯s remarks, Crow suddenly remembered the hint given to them on the connecting door to carriage No.9.

    ¡°I have also read the hint given on the door.¡± Two-headed snake frowned: ¡°But when I asked the monster what he wanted to eat, he didn¡¯t answer... No, maybe it¡¯s the kind that can¡¯tmunicate at all.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t he speak?¡±

    Two-headed snake shook his head: ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like he can. Except for noises when he was eating, he would not verbally respond, and for the rest of the time, he remained quiet. He seemed to be very hungry all the time, so he searched through the bags of snacks.¡±

    ¡°Did you find something for him to eat too?¡± Crow questioned.

    ¡°Yes, but there was no food left for him in this carriage.¡±

    ¡°Why did you kill him just now?¡±

    Two-headed snake paused and darkly quipped, ¡°Because now that there was no food for him in this carriage, he wanted to eat me.¡±

    Crow trembled for a moment and turned back to look at the bony corpse that had copsed on the ground. The corpse had been lying motionless and did not reanimate, contrary to what Crow imagined.

    Two-headed snake didn¡¯t notice Crow¡¯s pale face and continued: ¡°This guy came up to bite me, so I found a baseball bat in the corner and knocked him down. But this monster was very durable. No matter how hard I beat him, he would still get up and bite me, so I finally realized that... monsters are monsters and are totally different from human beings. After that, I thought of killing him.¡±

    ¡°But how can you find the key if you kill him?¡± As Crow thought about it, he felt distressed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die.¡± After Two-headed snake said that, he suddenly lifted up the hem of his clothes, and Crow saw a bloody wound on Two-headed snake¡¯s strong arm. He saw that he had been bitten by something.

    ¡°This guy¡¯s biting force is too terrifying. If I had been slower, the thing would have bitten off my arm.¡± Two-headed snake carefully touched his arm with his other hand, but miraculously, Crow did not see any lingering fear on Two-headed snake¡¯s face.

    ¡°Your wound is still bleeding. I¡¯ll bandage it for you.¡± Crow saw that the other party had a lot of bloodstains on his arm, so he took the cloth, which they had used as a rope to tie him, to use as a bandage. He thought for a moment: ¡°It seems that there is no water in this carriage. I¡¯m not sure if there is alcohol. If there is, at least your wound can be disinfected.¡±

    ¡°Everything that could be drunk was all gobbled up by the monster.¡± Two-headed snake grinned grimly.

    Thereafter, Crow sighed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll have to make do with this,¡± Crow said and began to use a piece of cloth as gauze to bandage Two-headed snake¡¯s arm. Two-headed snake looked at the way he moved for quite awhile before asking:

    ¡°Were you a doctor?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± Crow shook his head and said, ¡°My memory has beenpletely wiped clean, but several actions and skills seem to be familiar to me. Even if my memories were wiped clean, there are familiar memories to me that still can be easily utilized.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Maybe we can infer from our actions and skills what we did before we lost our memory.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m definitely not a doctor then,¡± Crow dered.

    ¡°Why is that so? You know how to nurse the ill and handle wounds very well. Even if you¡¯re not a doctor... you could also be a nurse?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Intuition.¡± Crow scratched his head and made a mess of his hair: ¡°I just don¡¯t think I am a doctor, and I couldn¡¯t be a doctor.¡±

    ¡°And what would you be?¡± Two-headed snake asked curiously.

    Crow paused.

    Who would he be? But he could not remember at all. It was as if all his memories had hidden in the depths of his mind, in his unfathomable heart, in the deepest ce, in the core of his mind, buried along with his flowing blood and beating heart. Following the flow of his arteries, it circted around his body and dissipated at the same time.

    Seeing that Crow was silent, Two-headed snake did not continue to question him. He looked at his cleanly bandaged arm and said, ¡°I think I used to be a murderer.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡ª?¡± Crow was stunned by what he had said.

    ¡°Because when I killed that monster just now, I feel like I¡¯ve done that before.¡± Two-headed snake had an icy look in his eyes: ¡°Yes, a long time ago, somewhere, I did the same thing.¡±

    Crow was a little frightened. Heforted Two-headed snake, ¡°Maybe you felt that you did something simr back then, for the sake of self-defense...¡±

    ¡°No, no, no! You are too naive¡ª¡± Two-headed snake suddenly approached Crow and touched the other¡¯s chin with his hand. It was a frivolous action. He said,¡± I¡¯ll bet that everyone in this train car, except for you, has killed people.¡±

    Crow was stunned and stared at Two-headed snake for a long time. He could not speak and felt that somewhere deep down in his heart was trembling. He reluctantly mustered up his courage and said, ¡°You are probably joking.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me...?¡± Two-headed snake smiled and even used a gentle tone as he talked. He stared at Crow for a while, as if he suddenly found something. His voice was a little surprised, and he said, ¡°Oh, I think I¡¯ve got it wrong.¡±

    Just when Crow had put his heart to ease, a sentence from Two-headed snake threw his inner peace into upheaval like storms brewing on rivers and seas¡ª

    ¡°I think you¡¯ve killed someone before, too.¡±

    Crow suddenly pushed Two-headed snake away, and his face was a little gloomy. He took a deep breath to adjust his mentality and warned the snake, ¡°Sir, I haven¡¯t killed anyone. Don¡¯t make such boring spections. You should care more about yourself first!¡±

    The conversation between Crow and Two-headed snake ended unhappily with this sentence, but then Owl found Crow and told him that there was no food or water in the carriage, proving that Two-headed snake¡¯s words were not false¡ªat least half of what he had said was true.

    So Crow thought for a moment and said, ¡°It seems that we have to search the corpse over there next.¡±

 Chapter 119 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 119 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    However, the experience of studying the corpse was very unpleasant because Crow andpany were not able to find any information from it. It could be said that the deceased did not even have a penny to his name. But interestingly, when Crowmented that their study of the corpse was not progressing in a positive direction, Two-headed snake suddenly came over and pulled at the clothes of the skinny corpse to reveal its back.

    On the back of the corpse that was dripping with blood and mutted flesh, there seemed to be carved words, that is, someone had carved the words using a knife. Although most of the corpse¡¯s wounds had healed, one could still imagine the appalling scene when the words were being carved onto the corpse.

    On his back, the words read¡ª

    [If you are lucky enough to seed in your attempts to survive when you experience a maelstrom of hunger]

    [You must know what it wants most]

    ¡°Hunger...¡± When Owl said this, his hands remained covering his stomach, and he said slowly and leisurely, ¡°If I was so hungry to the point where I was reduced to nothing but a shadow, I¡¯d definitely try to think of ways to eat my fill.¡±

    ¡°So what you meant is that the monster just wants to eat.¡± Crow frowned, mortified: ¡°But it is dead now.¡±

    Two-headed snake said, ¡°Even if it was still alive, it would not be able to eat its fill. I¡¯ll tell you, before the bunch of you came, there was still a lot of food in this carriage. And now, even if there were apple cores that someone had thrown aside after eating, it¡¯d also be gobbled up by this fool.¡±

    ¡°And where will the key to the carriage be?¡± Crow fretted, as if to ask others as well as himself: ¡°The monster will give us the key when he is full, but he has not enough to eat, and now he died¡ªhow troublesome. We¡¯re now in a deadlock.¡±

    Because they could not find any clues, the few of them began nervously circling around carriage No.9. There was nothing worth mentioning in this carriage. Theyout of this carriage was simr to those first few carriages with odd numbers that they saw. Crow and the others dug out all the things that could be found, but even so, nothing substantial was found.

    At this time, Mr. Wolf, who had always been a spectator, suddenly said something. He squinted his eyes and looked at all the people present. He said, ¡°There must be something in this car that it hasn¡¯t eaten. As long as it eats that thing, it will give us the key.¡±

    ¡°The whole carriage has been searched thoroughly. Where else could we find food?¡± Owl felt that Wolf was very unpleasant to his eyes and immediately refuted.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said you are really naive¡ª¡± Wolf suddenly turned his eyes to look at Two-headed snake in front of him and sneered: ¡°There¡¯s such a big pile of food over here, and all of you just turn a blind eye to it?¡±

    ¡°You mean that Two-headed snake is food?¡± Crow understood what he meant and red at Wolf in disbelief.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t he look like food?¡± Wolf continued to fiercely smile.

    Crow was still in a state of shock. He subconsciously moved in front of Two-headed snake and said to Wolf, ¡°He is a human being! How does he look like food?!¡±

    ¡°Haha¡ª¡± Wolfughed and looked at Crow sarcastically: ¡°Who said that humans are not food? Have you ever met the poorest people at the bottom rung of society? Those people are as skinny as the corpse in front of you. They are hungry! When they are extremely hungry, they will eat anything.¡±

    Wolf said this as he stretched out his fingers to give them a lick. He seemed to think of something. The smile faded away from his face, and his tone was a little dark: ¡°Since ancient times, it has beenmon for people to trade their children and eat them because of famine and food shortages...... but I think¡ªI must have experienced this terrifying hunger before.¡±

    Wolf felt that he had really experienced the feeling of extreme starvation. The most vivid description of what he had gone through was that he had been so famished that his chest was stuck to his back. His bones were as thin as firewood, and his body was as thin as a bamboo pole. He struggled incessantly because he wanted to survive and be redeemed. It was a crazy and unbearable period of time for him.

    Because of hunger, living creatures possessed the instinct to hunt other animals.

    ¡°Who says human beings are not food?¡± Thereafter, Wolf mocked Crow: ¡°Human beings are just a part of the food chain.¡±

    Wolf¡¯s words made Crow speechless. Crow was silent for a long time and suddenly felt that he had nothing to argue because Wolf was right after all. Human beings could eat other animals, and naturally there would be other animals that could hunt and kill human beings. The weak ate the strong, and the fittest survived; this was life and growth in nature.

    But Crow did not shift away from Two-headed snake. He was still standing in front of him, silent but firm. After a long time, he replied, ¡°You can be a beast for the sake of survival. That¡¯s fine too. In any way, you will be able to survive like that.¡±

    ¡°But I can¡¯t.¡± Crow paused and lowered his head before he continued: ¡°Because when I be a beast, I can¡¯t be human again.¡±

    ¡°Heh... That¡¯s a beautiful thing to say, but this is the truth.¡± Wolf suddenly stoppedughing, and he reached out to Crow... The angle and distance his hand stretched out appeared like he was trying to choke Crow¡¯s neck. This action looked very abnormal at this point in time and even carried a sense of danger. This made Crow tremble momentarily before he instinctively retreated to avoid the hand.

    Wolf no longer pressured him. He slowly took back his hand, and on his face hung a disgusting grin: ¡°I¡¯d like to see how far you can persist in your ideals.¡±

    ¡°Enough! Shut up! You are crazy!¡± Owl grew more and more dissatisfied with Wolf, and his eyes carried much scorn when he looked at him. Standing at the other side, he interjected: ¡°Even if we really treat Two-headed snake as food, what can we do? The monster is dead; it is lying there now motionlessly! I don¡¯t believe it has the strength to swallow the entirety of Two-headed snake!¡±

    Wolf turned around to eye Owl, and a grimugh followed: ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. Let¡¯s take you as an example. Don¡¯t you have the strength to eat? Maybe you can truly swallow Two-headed snake whole!¡±

    ¡°When will the words you spout be clean? Are you seeking for your death again!?¡± Owl sounded indignant. Although he looked calm, he began to reachh for a weapon¡ªand it happened to be the broken broomstick left aside by Wolf.

    This time, Crow pulled Owl back and said, ¡°Calm down. There are no benefits in fighting him.¡±

    Crow said that but could not help but observe Owl. Owl did not use his hands to cover his abdomen this time, but when Crow carefully studied him, he found that the other had bandaged his own wound at some point. And Owl¡¯s clothes, although they had holes in them, had no traces of blood and appeared very clean.

    During the quarrel, Two-headed snake, who was protected from the beginning to the end, did not speak, and ck cat, who followed behind him, did not speak either. He remained quiet for so long that the people around him had just ignored his existence.

    However, this conversation ended on a sour note. Wolf continued to squat unhurriedly and carefreely in a corner as he daydreamed while Crow and Owl were unwilling to continue searching around carriage No.9. In the end, they did not have the slightest inkling on how to escape from this carriage, so they could only helplessly watch as minutes and seconds passed by. Owl was the first to find it unbearable.

    ¡°We only have six hours on this train, and we don¡¯t know how much time we have squandered away previously!¡±

    ¡°I know...¡± Crow also felt discouraged and squatted next to the skinny corpse.

    Into the silence, Two-headed snake, who had been hanging around them all along, suddenly said, ¡°That guy named Wolf... in fact, I think he¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s right? You think you¡¯re food?¡± Owl was not angry at the mention of Wolf, but his face looked disgusted.

    ¡°Yes, I should be food.¡± Two-headed snake said, ¡°Before the bunch of you came to this train car, the monster and I were the only two people in carriage No.9. If it really wanted to eat someone, the one it would eat should be me.¡±

    Hearing this, Owl began to retort: ¡°Come on, that monster was beaten by you to the extent where it¡¯s brains had been dashed out. Could it be that it can still cut you into pieces and feed the pieces of you into its mouth?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worth trying.¡± Just as Owl finished speaking, Crow was struck by inspiration, and he spoke up.

    ¡°What? What is worth trying?¡± Owl suddenly had a bad premonition and hesitantly asked.

    ¡°What you just said!¡± Crow seemed excited and said, ¡°Feed Two-headed snake to the monster.¡±

    ¡°......¡± Owl was silent for a moment, and his eyes scanned Crow up and down. He cautiously said, ¡°You... have you been brainwashed by that Wolf?¡±

    Crow felt that it was funny. He helplessly said: ¡°I don¡¯t mean that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking that if the monster ate all the food in the entire carriage and still wasn¡¯t able to eat its fill, it woulde up and bite Two-headed snake. So I wondered what¡¯s the limit of the monster¡¯s food intake? Would it be full if it ate Two-headed snake whole, or would it be full if it ate half of Two-headed snake?¡±

    Two-headed snake, who was listening to their conversation at a side, ufortably shrugged: ¡°I know my real name is not Two-headed snake, but currently, I¡¯m named that, so don¡¯t let me imagine the scene of being eaten, OK?¡±

    ¡°I know what you are theorizing.¡± Owl roughly understood what Crow meant: ¡°You want to know how much the monster can eat before it¡¯s full, right?¡±

    ¡°Maybe as long as the monster eats a piece of meat, it will be full.¡± Crow continued to make assumptions.

    ¡°<b>STOP!</b> I don¡¯t want to cut a piece of flesh off my body yet!¡± Two-headed snake tensed up and touched his bitten arm.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to lose your flesh. How about you give us some blood to experiment with instead?¡± Owl was also intrigued by this wonderful idea, as he scanned Two-headed snake up and down. He saw that Two-headed snake¡¯s arm sleeves were slightly stained with blood and said, ¡°The blood that¡¯s flowing out of you is lost anyway.¡±

    ¡°The way you put it makes it seem like my blood is worthless!¡± Two-headed snake felt goosebumps rising.

    ¡°Give it a try!¡± Crow fawned over Two-headed snake: ¡°Just sprinkle a little of your blood around the monster¡¯s mouth to see what reaction it¡¯ll have.¡±

    ¡°What if nothing happens?¡± Two-headed snake was expressionless.

    Crow gave him a smirk: ¡°Let¡¯s try first! Anyway, we have no choice now. You should make a sacrifice,rade!¡±

    Two-headed snake had topromise because he had no other solutions either. He could only make a huge sacrifice and give his arm to Crow. Crow took apart the cloth on his arm, found a random bottle, and pressed the blood vessels on the arm, causing the wound that had not healed to spurt out a lot of blood.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I won¡¯t let you die of loss of blood.¡± It was as if Crow was very experienced. As the ss bottle was filled, he applied pressure onto Two-headed snake¡¯s blood vessels and wrapped a new piece of cloth around it.

    Then Crow took the bottle of blood and squatted beside the dead body. He opened the bottle to allow the blood to drip andnd on the corpse¡¯s dry lips.

    Owl, Two-headed snake, and even ck cat all stood around to spectate.

    Unexpectedly, a few drops of blood was effective in inducing a response. It was as if the monster had finally tasted his long-awaited sweet dew. Suddenly, its whole body trembled. It opened its mouth and stuck its tongue out, and it greedily licked the blood dripping on its mouth. However, it still looked really weak. A few drops of blood would only cause it to move a little.

    ¡°Not enough blood.¡± The blood in the bottle had all been poured out, and the monster was still lying there with its eyes closed.

    Crow hesitated and continued to raise his head to nce at Two-headed snake.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Two-headed snake¡¯s face was now simr to the colour of paper. He covered his arm. ¡°If I continue to hardworkingly bleed again, I¡¯ll really die.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, in this case, even if we wrung Two-headed snake dry, it would still not be enough for the monster.¡± Owl nodded as he deliberated.

    ¡°How about we all bleed together?¡± Crow said suddenly, but as he said this, his eyes were fixed on Owl.

    Owl noticed this and raised his head to look at Crow. ¡°Are you sure this will work?¡±

    ¡°We have no other alternatives,¡± Crow said, ¡°As you can see, the monster only reacts to flesh and blood.¡±

    T/N: <del>This chapter is not edited, and I¡¯ll upload the edited chapter when it is edited.</del> The edited chapter is up!

    Thank you for reading !

 Chapter 120 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 120 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Bloodletting was easier said than done. After all, it was something harmful to one¡¯s body. Not everyone was willing to do it.

    Crow was the first one to honestly donate his blood. Normally speaking, the body weight and blood volume of adult men were about 85-80 ml/kg. Acute blood loss would only ur when one¡¯s blood loss reached more than 20%. Only then would a human¡¯s life be in danger.

    But the amount of blood lost was actually quite big. If each of the five people present was willing to donate a certain amount of blood, it was absolutely no problem to fill the bucket in the toilet.

    So Crow moved the bucket in the toilet out.

    However, bloodletting not only tested the endurance of one¡¯s body but also people¡¯s hearts. Not everyone could watch their blood flow and their lives fade away... Well, it seemed that there was one such person in front of everyone.

    Crow looked at ck cat with some astonishment. ck cat could be said to have remained unaffected as he did it. He sat on the sofa as his hand reached up to the bucket, and as the knife swung down, blood gushed out. Crow was a little nervous. After a while, seeing ck cat¡¯s face turn white, he quickly applied pressure on his blood vessels and used a cloth to bandage him.

    After that, it was Two-headed snake¡¯s turn again. This time, the poor Two-headed snakey on the sofa without moving. Therefore, the bucket, containing the three people¡¯s blood, was only filled a third of the way. This was also due to Crow being careful because if too much blood was shed at a time, they would have more problems cropping up in their hands.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Crow looked at Owl and signaled that it was time for him to do it.

    Owl said nothing and did not act. He stared at the bucket and was silent for a long time. The bucket was filled with bright red blood, and the air was gradually filled with a bloody smell, which made people feel nauseous.

    On the contrary, the monster lying on the ground seemed to smell the blood and began to emit a weak but sharp cry.

    ¡°The monster can¡¯t wait,¡± Crow said.

    Owl also heard the call, and he was hesitant as he nced at the bucket of blood. Following that, he told Crow, ¡°Can¨C Can I do it myself? I mean... alone.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so stubborn. I have medical experience. It¡¯s dangerous for you to do it alone.¡± Crow tried to dissuade him.

    ¡°No!¡± Owl refused, then seemed to realize that he was overreacting, took a breath, and said, ¡°I won¡¯t be in danger again.¡±

    Crow hesitated for a moment and seemed to think of something. He decided not to embarrass Owl any longer. Hepromised and said, ¡°Alright, as you wish.¡±

    So Owl walked into the toilet alone with the bucket, and everyone heard him lock the door.

    ¡°Why does he want to be alone?¡± Two-headed snake was puzzled.

    Crow thought for a while, hesitated, and said, ¡°Probably because he¡¯s shy?¡±

    Owl stayed in the toilet for a long time and finally came out. He looked fine except for his paler face, but the volume of the bucket of blood had increased significantly, and the blood also looked more viscous.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Crow saw that he walked out and asked with concern. He was unable to bear sizing up Owl up and down: ¡°Where did you cut yourself?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Owl asked. He was a little slow in reacting.

    ¡°I mean, where did you cut yourself when you were bloodletting?¡±

    ¡°Erm...... my arm. ¡± Owl paused for a second and kept his head lowered.

    Crow pursed his lips and fixedly stared at Owl¡¯s face: ¡°Can I have a look?¡±

    ¡°No, no need; I¡¯ve dealt with it myself,¡± Owl said as he moved the bucket over. Crow, of course, took it from him. He felt the weight of the bucket and frowned with worry.

    Crow said, ¡°How much blood did you give? This bucket is a lot heavier.¡±

    ¡°Not much.¡± Owl¡¯s face was as white as paper. In the dim light, his lowered head made him look like a corpse that had juste back alive.

    Crow¡¯s lips trembled, and he was just about to say something, but in the end he didn¡¯t say anything. He was silent for a moment and said to himself, ¡°This blood is not nearly enough. It seems that I have to trouble that Wolf. Wish me good luck.¡±

    After a long time had psed, Owl gave Crow a smile: ¡°I wish you good luck.¡±

    So Crow turned around, summoned up his courage, and walked towards Wolf. Wolf probably knew Crow¡¯s n. This time, it was unexpectedly easy to persuade him. Without much effort, Wolf took the initiative toe over, sat down beside Owl, and looked at Owl with eyes filled with interest.

    ¡°I thought your blood had solidified,¡± Wolf cuttingly remarked at Owl.

    Owl did not seem to be very well and did not get into a fight with Wolf. He replied coldly, ¡°Shut up.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a good attitude.¡± Wolf smiled. Because he was sitting next to Owl, as soon as he said this, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Owl¡¯s arm. He acted too fast for Owl to respond. As soon as he turned his head, Wolf directly rolled up Owl¡¯s sleeve to reveal the pale skin of Owl¡¯s arm.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a pity, isn¡¯t it?¡± Wolf sighed, and Owl shook him off angrily and rolled the sleeve down.

    ¡°Do what you have to do, sir. Don¡¯t force me to give you a beating,¡± Owl said this, and his tone was full of malice.

    Fortunately, Wolf did not continue to tease him this time. He took the knife and cut a long wound in his palm. The sticky blood flowed down bit by bit, as it fell into the bucket, it caused ripples in the bucket of blood.

    The monster lying on the ground was hoarse from howling. It seemed that it had suddenly regained strength and actually opened its eyes. The entirety of its eyes were ck and without any whites. Its withered limbs were waving wildly, and it was such a hair-raising sight to witness.

    Wolf had something in his mind. Halfway through his bloodletting, he suddenly stood up, spread out his bleeding arm, and walked towards the monster as his blood dripped on the ground. The smell of blood permeated the air, and the monster was stimted. It no longer waved its arms but tried hard to get up like a dog lying on the ground, its ck eyes staring, fixated, at Wolf.

    The look in its eyes was filled with hunger and ferocity.

    Everyone around was shocked by the scene and stepped back to watch. The monster did not look at any other person but Wolf. Mr. Wolf was not afraid at all. He evenughed, and everyone guessed that he was excited. He let his blood fall in front of the monster. The monstery down on the ground and began to lick the blood. The scene was bloody and disgusting.

    The monster licked up all the drips of blood in a trail to the bucket. It gave a shrill cry of joy. Then it squatted near the edge of the bucket and put its whole face into it. The several people around him could clearly hear the sound of it licking the blood greedily.

    ¡°Damn it, I feel like vomiting.¡± Two-headed snake could not adapt to this scene and ced a hand over his stomach, his face even whiter due to excessive blood loss.

    Crow, who was standing at a corner, could not help but pay attention to Owl. He found that one could no longer describe Owl¡¯s face as nched because his skin actually showed tints of green. But Owl was very calm. He seemed to show fewer expressions as time passed. When fighting with Wolf, he had been angry, but his face now showed none of what he felt.

    ck cat appeared to be normal. Although he had also bled, it seemed to have no effect on him at all. As usual, he was silent and was staring nkly at the air. When people around him did not pay attention to him, ck cat would secretly stare at Owl for quite a while.

    Wolf, who stood over at the front, licked his palm and tore off a piece of cloth to wrap around his wound.

    Everyone waited for the hungry monster to finish eating. The monster drank quickly, holding the bucket as it poured it down. Blood sshed all over its body, turning it into a bloody and bony skeleton.

    Finally, the monster seemed to be full, and it threw the bucket away andy satisfied on the ground. For a long time, it remained motionless. Crow saw that it did not respond at all and was inwardly a bit anxious, and he had just walked forward when the monster suddenly bent its body, sprawling on the floor, and began to vomit.

    There was a stench in the air, and the whole carriage was filled with this disgusting smell.

    ¡°I¡¯m really going to puke.¡± Two-headed snake stopped looking at the monster. He frowned and covered his stomach. Crow had the same reaction too. In fact, Crow also really could not stand this terrible scene and smell.

    But three of the five people kept straight faces. Wolf had a distorted personality, and when he looked at where the monster was vomiting, he looked excited. ck cat was the type that would slowly react to something, but he kept a dull face as if he was not affected at all.

    Owl was really not influenced by anything. He did not seem to smell the stench at all. He didn¡¯t even keep up with appearances as his chest stopped moving. He looked at the monster lying on the ground with no expression at all.

    ¡°None of those three people are human beings, are they?¡± Two-headed snake pulled Crow to squat in a corner far away from them and began toin: ¡°The guy named ¡®Wolf¡¯ has had the same look on his face since I first saw him, and he was grinning at everything grimly. He has a face like he¡¯s thinking about how to kill anyone he looks at all the time. As for the other two, I don¡¯t even want to talk about them. F*ck their mothers; they really don¡¯t have any other expressions but expressionless!¡±

    ¡°Owl wasn¡¯t like this previously,¡± Crow frowned. He remembered that when he woke up with Owl in the carriage, the other party had rich emotions... but as time went on, the number of expressions he wore on his face began to dwindle.

    ¡°As for ck cat, this guy is mysterious and too quiet. But he has one thing he shares inmon with Mr. Wolf.¡±

    ¡°What do they share inmon?¡±

    Crow froze and seemed to want to answer. After a long time, he said, ¡°How do I put it... There¡¯s a sense of ferocity.¡±

    ¡°What about me?¡± Two-headed snake suddenly pointed at himself.

    ¡°You?¡± Crow raised his head to look at Two-headed snake, who gave him a smile. Crow thought for a moment and replied very seriously: ¡°Probably an id... idiot.¡±

    After that, Two-headed snake did not speak and red at Crow gloomily. Crow was startled by the look in his eyes, ¡°Erm, you look terrifying when you¡¯re not speaking.¡±

    Two-headed snake immediately gave him another smile.

    Two-headed snake was a weird person. When he was silent and expressionless, he looked very gloomy. Notably, his eyes carried a sense of boldness. But once he opened his mouth to speak, his gloominess would dissipate, and immediately he would feel like a neighbourly big brother.

    Ah, how interesting, Crow silently thought in his heart.

    T/N: LMAO. I love Two-headed snake¡¯s and Crow¡¯s interactions!

 Chapter 121 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XIV)

    <h4>Chapter 121 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XIV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The monster finally vomited out the key to carriage No.9. In a pile of blood-red vomit, there was something bright and conspicuous. Wolf was the first to find it. He casually took a disposable chopstick from a table near him, squatted beside the pile of disgusting vomit, and after stirring around, finally got the key.

    There, the key was now hanging on his disposable chopsticks.

    But Wolf didn¡¯t intend to open the door. He shook the key until Owl became impatient, grabbed Wolf¡¯s arm, and took the key away.

    The key was covered with vomit, but Owl still looked expressionless. Maybe he waspletely unable to feel anything. He calmly went to the toilet to wash it, and afterwards, he naturally opened the door. The people spontaneously gathered behind Owl while they waited for him to open the door. Behind them, the monster was left crying miserably although it couldn¡¯t vomit anything out again.

    The door to carriage No.9 was opened easily. Owl pulled the key out of the keyhole, and the crowd headed for carriage No.8. But something horrible happened at this point in time.

    Because Owl was the one who opened the door, he was the first to advance into carriage No.8. Wolf followed behind him, and ck cat walked quietly as the third one in line, followed by Crow, thest one being Two-headed snake.

    The connecting corridor of the train was very narrow, and it could only allow two people to squeeze through at once. Therefore, Crow and the others tacitly cooperated as they walked to the next carriage one after the other. At this time, when Crow, who was the second from the back, had just stepped through the door to carriage No.8, he suddenly heard a shrill howl from behind!

    It was the monster that was howling. Its howl was so shrill that it was hard on their ears. The howl really sounded awfully terrible, but because the way it howled was so sharp and harsh, Crow couldn¡¯t help looking back. At this time, Crow could only see a blood-red object hovering in the air. In less than a second, Two-headed snake, who was standing behind him, groaned and swept the baseball bat backwards.

    The monster was swept a few meters away by Two-headed snake with the bat, but it soon got up and rushed forward with inhuman speed! If one looked closely, one would find that the monster hadpletely morphed. Although it was still as thin as a stick, its skin seemed to split and flip inside-out! The monster now appeared bloody, fleshy, and intolerable to the eye!

    The monster did not target anyone except Two-headed snake, who was standing at the very back. Maybe it was the smell of blood that made it go berserk. It rushed forward like a mad dog, revealing its sharp teeth covered with blood!

    The speed of the monster was too fast. Two-headed snake could not react in time. As soon as he raised the bat in his hand and wanted to resist, the monster had already rushed forward. The monster was actually very smart. It did not aim its jaws at other ces, but it stared at Two-headed snake¡¯s neck and bit down!

    Two-headed snake instinctively fought back with the baseball bat in his hand, so the monster bit down on the baseball bat instead. However, the monster was not discouraged. It grabbed Two-headed snake¡¯s shoulders with its ws and pressed its whole body on Two-headed snake!

    It bit the bat in Two-headed snake¡¯s hands while its ws grabbed onto his shoulders tightly, and as if it was going to bite the bat off, it hung on the body of Two-headed snake!

    Two-headed snake was shocked by this incident. One of his feet was unstable, and he fell on his back directly. The monstery sprawled near to the front of the door as it unted its power. Crow, who was next to him, immediately took the bat from the man in front of him and hit the monster¡¯s head with that bat.

    But the hit was likely not strong enough, so the monster did not feel hurt at all. It merely raised its head and howled at Crow. Then it looked downwards at Two-headed snake. Its extremely sharp teeth soon chewed off half of the bat that was in Two-headed snake¡¯s hands. In passing, it bit the entire bat and threw it away. Two-headed snake was stunned, and his neck was exposed to the sharp fangs of the monster!

    Two-headed snake could only choke the monster¡¯s neck with all his might to avoid its approaching fangs. He had no doubt that once the ugly monster bit down on him, it could definitely bite off his neck.

    Crow was confused for a moment. In that instant, he could not think of any n to save Two-headed snake from the monster¡¯s fangs. His strike had been blocked by the monster, and it didn¡¯t respond to him at all. At this time, Wolf, who was over at the other carriage, suddenly called out, ¡°Close the door and leave him.¡±

    ¡°How can we leave him in a lurch now?!¡± Owl immediately rebuked what the other had said, and he was in disbelief hearing Wolf¡¯s words.

    ¡°Just wait for the monster to bite his neck and rush into carriage No.8! Then we can all die with that snake!¡± Wolf loudly hollered with a cold smile on his face.

    Crow stepped backwards and retreated some distance away from Two-headed snake and the monster. His heart was filled with the fear of the unknown.

    Do you want to leave him? In such a ce.

    Wolf was right. Although the few of them looked very fierce, they were hardly able to fight back in the face of such monsters, especially since they coulde back alive! In particr, this monster had gone berserk for some reason they were not aware of. If it was really allowed to enter carriage No.8, it was very likely that this group of people would die here.

    In this case, why should they not sacrifice an individual for the collective? Only by leaving behind Two-headed snake would the others be able to survive.

    Two-headed snake, who fell to the ground and struggled to resist the monster, seemed to feel something and took a nce at Crow.

    It was just a nce.

    Crow froze momentarily and finally squatted down to grab the monster¡¯s hair, trying to get it off Two-headed snake. The monster struggled and howled, and the harsh sound reverberated through the whole carriage. Then, the monster seemed to be enraged, suddenly let go of Two-headed snake, and rushed forward to Crow!

    ck cat, who was behind Crow, sharply took a look at it. He ced his hand around Crow¡¯s waist and pulled him backward. Then he raised his foot and kicked the monster. The monster fell back a few meters, but soon, it jerked up and pounced towards Crow at a terrifying speed. At the same time, somebody pulled the connecting door of No.9 carriage and shut the door seconds before the monster rushed towards them.

    Only the sound of the monster pounding the door and making thumping noises could be heard.

    It was not known if the sound instion of the connecting door was too good. After that, the whole carriage quieted down.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to get us all f*cked up!¡± Wolf kicked the door. He turned towards Crow and angrily shouted at him.

    ¡°Two-headed snake is still in there!¡± Crow¡¯s face was pale, and one could see by looking at his eyes that he was flustered.

    ¡°Do you still have the strength to save a stranger? Are you nuts?!¡±

    But Crow seemed to have not heard Wolf¡¯s words, and his fingertips were shaking, ¡°Two-headed snake is still inside...... He will die.¡±

    ¡°So what if he dies? Do you really think this ce is just a game?¡±

    Wolf was very dissatisfied with Crow, and his tone was disgusted. Just as he was about to continue and say more, Owl came over and pulled Crow backwards. He red at Wolf fiercely, and with a sneer, he said, ¡°If you were the one who was hindered by the monster just now, could you still say such nonsense?¡±

    Wolf paused for a while, his face appearing gloomy, and replied, ¡°That would only show that I¡¯m not lucky. Life and death are predestined by fate!¡±

    ¡°Well, I wish you luck. Next time, if you are in trouble, there will be no one here to save you.¡±

    Wolf did not want to reveal his vulnerable side, so he darkly chuckled at Owl: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will definitely pull you down together with me when I die.¡±

    One of the five people was gone, and they had fallen outpletely. Although Owl left the key there when he opened the door, he found that when he tried to open the door to carriage No.9 again¡ªmaybe the carriages were set up in a manner where it was impossible for them to return after opening a door.

    Two-headed snake remained in carriage No.9 where he had woken up and was never to leave.

    Crow was dispirited, and when he arrived at carriage No.8, he went to sit on a sofa seat. Owlforted him for a while. Seeing that there was no response, Owl no longer wasted time and began to take the initiative to investigate carriage No.8.

    This time, only ck cat continued to cooperate with Owl to investigate carriage No.8. Crow sat there motionless, and no one expected Wolf to help them. They would already thank the heavens if he was not causing any trouble.

    Carriage No.8 was as simple as all even-numbered carriages. Owl and ck cat found a dead animal in the corner of a sofa.

    The corpse of a wolf.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s my turn to die?¡± Mr. Wolf also found Owl, who was at the side studying the animal. He came to see a wolf lying on the ground, and he could not helpughing.

    It was amon gray wolf, and it had died strangely. Its w actually created a huge opening on its own chest, and after stuffing its ws into the cavity, it died.

    Owl raised his head and looked at Wolf with a sneer: ¡°The first dead animal we found was a ck cat, and the second is a wolf. What will be next? An owl?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible. You see, since I¡¯m dead, how can you continue to be alive and kicking?¡± Wolf looked like he was seeking a beating.

    Owl was unable to bear it. He drew a knife out and jumped at Wolf, who carefreely and leisurely avoided his attack. They gestured at each other for a while, but in the end, they did not start fighting because Crow, who stood over at the other side, seemed to have epted the current situation. He suddenly stood up and walked around the two people to the front of the connecting door of carriage No.8. The hint on the door was as follows¡ª

    [You seem to be missing one person]

    [The one who is going to die next, only the murderer should know]

    [The murderer who killed ck cat also came here]

    [He told the wolf a secret]

    [So the wolf died while the key is in its heart]

    ¡°This damn train...¡± Crow gazed at the paragraph of words, and his face darkened.

    Owl also went to where Crow was, looked at the paragraph of words, and said, ¡°Ah, yes, I feel these hints provided on the door seem to always know what we will do next.¡±

 Chapter 122 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XV)

    <h4>Chapter 122 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Carriage No.8 was easily solved because Owl had also dissected the dead cat¡¯s body before, not to mention the dead wolf¡¯s body this time. Rather, when he dissected the wolf¡¯s belly with a knife, he turned his head to look at Mr. Wolf, and the look in his eyes could send chills down one¡¯s spine.

    Wolf was not afraid and was tittering in joy as he looked at Owl.

    It was not until Owl stripped the wolf¡¯s skin from head to toe that he took out its heart. Then Owl looked at the heart for a long time and said, ¡°This wolfmitted suicide... No, rather, it realized there was something in its heart, so it wanted to get it out and died.¡±

    Owl took a bloody key out of the wolf¡¯s heart.

    Instead of looking at Owl, Wolf lowered his head to look at his fingers.

    The door to carriage No.8 was opened by Owl, and now, in front of themid carriage No. 7.

    It was as dirty and messy as all the odd-numbered train cars, but fortunately, there did not seem to be anyone inside.

    However, although there was no one in carriage No. 7, there was music ying. It was a song with violin instrumentals and had elegant, lyrical singing. The long tune was slowly ying.

    Everyone walked into carriage No.7 one after another and naturally noticed the song with the violin instrumental ying.

    Of course, after entering carriage No.7, everyone also noticed another thing. They all happened to smell a sweet and greasy smell wafting through the air that was akin to the strong fragrance of flowers, but this scent could only be clearly smelled when they entered the train car. After a period in the train car, it seemed that they were used to the smell, so the smell became less strong-smelling to them.

    It was merely that carriage No.7 made them feel a little drowsy.

    ¡°Shall we look for it? Where does the sounde from?¡± Owl perked his spirits up, and he was the first to focus his attention on the mysterious music. Thereupon, they went to where the music sounded from. They soon found the source of the music; it came from a music box ced on a small table.

    The music box was a wooden box in a rtively retro style. As long as one opened the box, the music would automatically y. Inside the box was a mini vinyl record. One could put a small metal wire on the circr disc, and it was a vintage product that would y music as it rotated.

    Owl took the little music box. He opened and shut the box, and the music abruptly stopped with his actions.

    The sweetness in the air seemed to be more intense now.

    Owl closed the box and looked at the bottom of the box. On the box was engraved a sentence:

    [Don¡¯t stop it unless you want to die in a frigidly cold dreamscape]

    Owl read out the line and looked up at Crow next to him, trying to obtain his insight. Crow had been silent since the incident with Two-headed snake, but fortunately, he still kept his will to survive. He uttered, ¡°Just do as it says.¡±

    Therefore, Owl opened the box again, and the wonderful music sounded out. He ced the music box back in its original position. Shortly after, Owl said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and have a look at the door of this carriage.¡±

    So Owl and Crow went to see the connecting door of carriage No.7. On the door, the following was inscripted:

    [There are mysterious and horrifying gases in carriage No.7]

    [It can make you fall into an endless sleep]

    [Only the music box can wake you up]

    [But you cannot find the key unless you stop the music]

    ¡°Stop the music and you¡¯ll find the key,¡± Crow muttered to himself.

    Owl interjected: ¡°But once we stop the music, we¡¯ll die... Is that what it means?¡±

    ¡°Is there anything special about that music? For example, if I find a mobile phone and listen to other types of music with my headphones, does that mean I won¡¯t die?¡± Crow came out with a fanciful idea.

    ¡°It¡¯s worth a try.¡± Owl nodded and said, ¡°It depends on whether there are other things in this train car such as mobile phones, MP3 yers, and so on. At least there must be a set of headphones.¡±

    So Crow and Owl agreed to take ck cat as they began to search through the entirety of carriage No. 7. They searched every corner and finally found something peculiar in this train car¡ªthere were no electronics here.

    ¡°There are no phones, no headphones, no MP3 yers, and no tabletputers. As long as it is an electronic device, it won¡¯t be present in this damned ce!¡± Owl opened a suitcase, which was full of clothes, several document holders, and items like pens and paper. Interestingly, Owl also found one...... erm, sex toy in the luggage.

    ¡°We¡¯re in a downright awful situation!¡± As soon as Owl closed the lid of the luggage, he turned to Crow and said, ¡°It seems that we really don¡¯t have anything that can y music except that music box.¡±

    ¡°I think so too... After all, if there were MP3 yers or other simr things, it¡¯d be too easy for us to pass through this train car. Even if we can¡¯t use other music, we can record the music from the music box, put it in the mobile phone or MP3, listen to it with headphones, and then turn off the music box, and this could also cause the whole train car to be quiet...¡± Crow bit his finger subconsciously and began to make some assumptions.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea. Obviously, you don¡¯t know anything about music.¡± At this time, Wolf suddenly sat down to speak and refuted Crow¡¯s idea.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Crow frowned at him.

    ¡°Have you heard of the famous song that kills¡ª¡¯ck Friday¡®?¡± Wolf seemed to have be slightly more cid. With the apaniment of the melodious music, his tone sounded very gentle, and his attitude was quite different from before. He said, ¡°Theposer of this piece of music yed it on a piano in public. When the tune¡¯s chorus was yed, one of the audience below the stage took out a gun and killed himself.

    ¡°After that, no matter who ys this piece, there will be simr incidents. Either the audience or the performer willmit suicide. Then this horrifying tune was banned, the original manuscript was burned, and all the tapes and records of it were removed and destroyed.

    ¡°Butter, some people had also studied this piece. They said that the sybles of ¡®ck Friday¡¯ are very special. Regardless of whether the original author intentionally or unintentionallyposed the music this way, these sybles give your brain a cue. When they are grouped together, they mean ¡®suicide.¡¯ Therefore, some listeners who are not mentally tough will be prompted by the music tomit suicide.¡±

    Wolf gently introduced such a song, raised his head up to look at Crow and others, and said with a smile, ¡°I think the same is true of the song we are listening to now. A song can use the tune to influence our hearts. It may also be to the extent that the cue given to us in the tune is strong, will allow us to ignore the fatal gas wafting in the air, and keep us awake.¡±

    ¡°Once you sleep in this train car, you¡¯ll die?¡± Crow frowned and thought.

    ¡°Probably. Even if there is any recording equipment in this carriage, if one doesn¡¯t record this song urately... I mean, if you miss a few sybles, the music won¡¯t be able to give us that suggestive cue, and we¡¯ll fall asleep breathing in the sweet smell in the air¡ªand die.¡±

    ¡°You seem to have studied music.¡± Owl stared at Wolf.

    ¡°Roughly, I think I should be able to y the piano.¡± Wolf smiled.

    ¡°In that case, do you have any good suggestions?¡± Owl seemed hopeful, but his face was expressionless.

    ¡°Suggestions? I have nothing good to suggest. When you closed the music box just now, we did not fall asleep instantly. I think it should be the smell. It will take some time for it to work, and...... our willpower can also guarantee that we won¡¯t fall asleep immediately, so we can only use this time to find the key.¡±

    Owl tilted its head and nced at Wolf, and the look in his eyes carried his malicious intentions: ¡°You are unexpectedly cooperating now.¡±

    ¡°Of course. You always look at me with those eyes as if you want to kill me. It¡¯s really horrifying. I don¡¯t want to die so soon! So of course, I can onlypromise.¡±

    ¡°Oh! How disgusting!¡± Owl began to stare at Wolf with a gaze that harbored more malicious intentions: ¡°Even if you kneel down to me and beg for my mercy, I still want to kill you.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Wolf spread out his hands and acted as if... he was expecting the other party to rush into his arms. His tone was extremely mild. He said, ¡°Come, you can kill me now...¡±

    ¡°Be quiet!¡± Crow spoke and interrupted Owl¡¯s banter with Mr. Wolf. His voice was hoarse and his expression sombre.

    The music in carriage No.7 was still ying.

    Crow sighed as if helpless: ¡°Stop arguing. I just want to quickly find the key to get out of here; the smell in this train car makes me want to vomit.¡±

    So Owl and Wolf finally stopped arguing, and the several people began to discuss a n. Because there was no other electronic equipment in the car and they could not see anything like a key after searching every corner of this carriage, they had to follow the instructions on the door.

    The only way now was to close the music box, and before they fell asleep, they must quickly find the key, open the music box, and use the key to open the door.

    Although everything sounded easy, it was actually very irksome to carry out.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is the case, but even if we fall asleep, it might still take a while to die, and during this period of time, we may still have a chance of waking up.¡±

    Crow spected: ¡°Sleep is one of the methods for a human to protect themselves. If a person stops breathing in their sleep, the brain will use nerve convulsions to move their limbs in order to test whether they are dead or not. Therefore, some people will suddenly twitch during sleep. This is because one¡¯s brain is testing whether its body is dead or alive.¡±

    ¡°That sounds terrifying!¡± Wolf teased.

    Crow gave him a deadpan look and continued, ¡°We need a man of strong spirit. He needs to squat beside the music box while the others find the key. Once someone falls to the ground and starts to sleep, that person can open the music box and wake up the sleeping person.¡±

    ¡°This n sounds good,¡± Owl said.

    T/N: That sex toy though...hehe.

    Kitty: That was such a strange detail to suddenly add lol

 Chapter 123 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XVI)

    <h4>Chapter 123 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XVI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°But the question is, who among us can aplish that?¡± Crow went on: ¡°Someone who can hold on and open the music box even if everyone around them is asleep.¡±

    The four people eyed each other. In fact, if they did not put it to the test, no one knew where their limit was. When he figured out this point, Crow proposed: ¡°Why not test this first? When I close the music box...... to find who would be first to fall asleep.¡±

    Several people agreed one after another, so they all sat around the sofa seat beside the music box. Crow reached out and closed the box. The melodious violin instrumental music stopped suddenly. All of them could clearly smell the sweet and greasy smell wafting in the air. It was very sweet like the fragrance of flowers and honey, and it made people feel drowsy.

    ¡°It¡¯s so sweet that it¡¯s disgusting,¡± Wolf spoke, trying to draw attention. He said: ¡°We¡¯d better talk more so we can better concentrate.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too bad. What if I don¡¯t want to talk to you at all?¡± Owl expressionlessly looked upon Wolf.

    ¡°Honestly, I think you should be the least likely of us to fall¡ª¡± Wolf answered Owl and sized him up, ¡°Because you can¡¯t smell anything.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not me. How do you know I can¡¯t smell? Of course, I know you must have a good sense of smell, just like a dog!¡±

    ¡°Are you mocking me for being a dog?¡±

    ¡°How could it be?! I just praised your sense of smell and said that you are a dog¡ªyou admitted it yourself clearly, though!¡±

    Wolf and Owl continued their conversation as both of them retorted against one another and started arguing. Crow and ck cat remained silent as usual, and in this seemingly harmonious atmosphere, as time passed by, after about ten minutes or so, the first person fell asleep.

    ck cat had been sitting beside Crow. He felt that the person next to him suddenly froze and leaned on his shoulders. ck cat lowered his head to take a glimpse at Crow.

    Crow was a young man with a peaceful disposition. From his eyes, one could see that he was a gentle and firm man. He leaned against ck cat with his eyes closed. His ck hair was soft and fell on ck cat¡¯s shoulder. ck cat¡¯s breath faltered. He could not help but touch Crow¡¯s cheek but soon realized that his action was not natural. So he turned his head to Owl and the other and said: ¡°He fell asleep.¡±

    Owl reached out and opened the music box. Within half a minute, Crow opened his eyes again. He was at a loss for a moment, but soon he woke up and said, ¡°Did I fall asleep?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Owl expressed his concern: ¡°You¡¯re not in a good state of mind.¡±

    ¡°Probably&#k2026;¡± Crow sighed and continued, ¡°That¡¯s bad. I did not realize I was asleep. I always thought I was awake, it felt just like a dream.¡±

    ¡°What should we do now?¡± Owl said uneasily.

    ¡°I was the first one to fall down, so I can be ruled out. I shouldn¡¯t be the guy who turns on the music for everyone. Now we can test the second person who fell asleep&#k2026;&#k2026; By the way, if I fall asleep, you try to wake me up&#k2014;for example, you can shake me hard. It is said that sleeping humans wake up from a conditioned reflex when they fall back&#k2026;&#k2026; Of course, if these methods don¡¯t wake me, open the music box.¡±

    Owl became more worried and said, ¡°But it¡¯ll be dangerous! What if you can¡¯t wake up with the music box open?¡±

    Crow finallyughed and said, ¡°Then let me die here.¡±

    ¡°This joke is not funny at all!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worth a try.¡± Crow said, looking very lethargic: ¡°I have no other solutions to offer, and we can¡¯t continue to stay here and waste time. To tell you the truth, I¡¯ve had enough of staying in this train!¡±

    They had no choice. Even though Owl was very reluctant, he finally agreed, and they closed the music box again. Soon after, Crow fell asleep again. Owl motioned to ck cat sitting next to Crow: ¡°Wake him up.¡±

    ck cat took Crow, dragged him to the edge of the sofa seat and positioned him to face upward while allowing his body to fall backward. This method was really effective. Crow awoke at the moment when he fell down, and afterwards, he was sent into the arms of ck cat, but Crow¡¯s face was a little pale.

    ¡°How long did I sleep?¡± asked Crow.

    ¡°Less than a minute.¡± ck cat answered him.

    ¡°It feels like a century has passed.¡± Crow grinned bitterly. He sat up straight and said to everyone, ¡°It seems that it works. Even if one of us is asleep, the person next to him can wake him up.¡±

    But as Crow spoke, he suddenly closed his eyes and fell asleep on the sofa again. Seeing this, Owl sighed with regret: ¡°It seemed that even if he woke up, he would not be able to stay awake for long.¡±

    Just as Owl had just finished saying this, unexpectedly, Wolf, who was sitting next to him, suddenly fell forward and fell asleep on the table.

    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s something worth celebrating!¡± Owl looked at Wolf and said, ¡°He is the second one.¡±

    So the only people awake were ck cat and Owl.

    ck cat picked up Crow, subconsciously held him in his embrace, touched Crow¡¯s hair, and said to Owl, ¡°I don¡¯t think I can hold on for long. I¡¯m dizzy now.¡±

    Owl could not help but lick his lips: ¡°It seems that I¡¯m the only one who can hold on to the very end.¡±

    As Owl said this, Owl reached out and opened the music box. The wonderful music resounded through the whole carriage again. Then Wolf and Crow woke up, and their faces turned pale.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s better not to continue this test.¡± Owl said, noticing Crow¡¯s pale face, and he could not help sighing: ¡°Although you can wake up if you are asleep, it seems to have a certain impact on you. This smell in the air must have a certain toxicity. If we continue to stay here, even if we don¡¯t sleep and keep the music box open all the time, we will surely die.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± Crow took a deep breath and rxed as much as he could. He looked at Owl and said, ¡°Well then, make sure you stick by the box while we find the key.¡±

    ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is the difference between looking for the key with the music on and looking for the key without it?¡± Wolf seemed to be concerned by the fact that he fell asleep. Disturbed, he looked at Owl.

    ¡°This is the hint given to us on the door. Only if we stop the music can we find the key. So who knows?¡± Owl managed to squeeze out a smile. He was obviously delighted.

    ¡°It means we have to put our lives in your hands, right?¡± Wolf was discontent.

    ¡°Stop arguing!¡± Crow frowned and said, ¡°I should be the most nervous! I will be the first to faint, and as long as all of you don¡¯t fall asleep, Owl will not y the music, and that means that I will sleep longer and be the first to die!¡±

    The current situation they were in was awful, and everyone¡¯s mood was a little low, but no one wanted to stay in this damned carriage, so they had to take action. Therefore, Owl stood by the music box, and the rest of the people dispersed. As they waited for Owl to turn off the music, they started to search for the key.

    After Owl closed the lid of the music box, he began to pay attention to hispanions. He had to pay attention to Crow and the others so that he could judge their condition in the shortest time.

    In fact, there was no difference between carriage No. 7 with music turned on or turned off except for the increasingly obvious sweet smell in the air. This smell wafted through the whole carriage No. 7. No matter where one was, one could still smell it. They searched through everywhere in this train car, including the crew¡¯s lounge and toilet. This time, several people tried their best to stay awake longer, but Crow was the first to fall asleep. He caught everyone by surprise when he immediatelyid down on a sofa seat and slept, but no one woke him up this time. ck cat and Wolf continued to search for the key. The smell was still very strong; thus, several people began to get restless. It was clearly written on the connecting door of carriage No. 7 that only when the music was turned off could they find the key, but the music had been turned off. They searched at the fastest speed possible, but they still found nothing.

    So Wolf was the second to faint. He straightforwardly sat on the ground and leaned against the wall. Shortly after, it was ck cat¡¯s turn.

    Seeing that everyone had gone to sleep, Owl could not help but heave a sigh. Just as he was about to open the music box, Owl suddenly heard a soft and weak sound.

    Yes, because everyone around him was sleeping, the whole carriage No. 7 had be very quiet, and even the sound of the train rumbling could not really be heard. Therefore, the weak sound became clear at the moment. Moreover, the origin of the sound was in Owl¡¯s hand. It came from the music box.

    It sounded like a clock ticking away.

    There was something in the box!

    Owl immediately picked up the music box. He heard the sound travelling out from the interior of the music box! But he couldn¡¯t do it now; it was toote!

    Owl opened the music box and started the music again. He had to wake the other people up so that he could tell hispanions about his new discovery.

    But Owl did not have time to move. When he was about to open the box, he suddenly found that a shadow was hanging over him. A man approached Owl, walking almost silently, without any sound. Or rather, Owl¡¯s attention was so focused on the box that he did not pay heed to his surroundings.

    When Owl realized that there was someone standing next to him, he subconsciously raised his head and wanted to see who it was. But as soon as he raised his head, he saw only a sh as a silver knife descended in front of him!

    His sight instantly sank into eternal darkness!

    Owl was slow to feel pain, but he also realized that his eyes had been cut, and that the man¡¯s movement was very fast. He sent a knife down to his throat to cut his vocal cords so that he would be unable to speak. The man also cut his spinal nerves to paralyze him.

    Owl was not able to move.

    The man reached out and took the music box from Owl¡¯s hand, yed the melodious music again, and stuffed the box back into Owl¡¯s palm.

    T/N: !!! Any guesses as to who did it?

    <del>This chapter is unedited and the edited chapter will be up soon. </del> The edited chapter is up!

 Chapter 124 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XVII)

    <h4>Chapter 124 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XVII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Crow woke up to a headache. It was like he had experienced a tormenting war, as if he traversed through countless battlefields filled with gunpowder and mes. He felt as if he recalled something, as if he had dreamt of something in the past, but when he carefully thought about it, he could not remember anything. Also, when he woke up, he heard a roar:

    ¡°Who killed him!?¡±

    Crow stood up and looked at Owl instinctively. His eyes widened in horror!

    Owl wasa dead.

    It seemed a bit inappropriate to say Owl had ¡®died,¡¯ but Crow did not know how to describe it. Owl was sitting there in the seat he had been sitting in moments ago. He still had the music box in his hands. The music box was still ying beautiful and melodious music, but the box was stained with a lot of blood. The blood was dripping from Owl¡¯s drooping head, and every drop fell on the box in his palm.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Crow walked over in disbelief. Then he squatted at Owl¡¯s feet and raised his head to look at him.

    Owl¡¯s eyes were cut, that is, there was a long cut made by a knife. The slit went from the corners of his eyes over the bridge of his nose in the middle of his face, and the thick blood flowed down from his eyes all over his face.

    But this was not a fatal injury; the most critical injury was the wound on Owl¡¯s neck. The cut was deep, and one could see his bones. The sight was intolerable for them to witness. The blood began to flow all over his body from his neck. Owl¡¯s blood appeared to be distinctly dark, red, and thick. It did not look like fresh blood, and the amount he bled was not much. ording tomon sense, the blood of people who were killed by slitting their throats would be sshed all around. The blood pressure of the major artery in his neck would make his blood surge like a fountain.

    But all that did not matter. What matters was who had done this to Owl? Who ¡®killed¡¯ him?!

    The first thing Crow could think of was Wolf. He shook his fingertips and turned to stare at Wolf: ¡°Why did he turn out this way?!¡±

    ¡°How do I know?¡± Wolf rarely put on an expression without ridicule and without his usual ferocious smile. His face was a little pale, and that was very rare. Wolf looked terrible. He dropped his head; his hair scattered all around, and he was short of breath. He said, ¡°This is what this guy looked like when I woke up.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make excuses! Among us, you¡¯re the one most likely to do this!¡± Crow, who rarely got emotional, became agitated. He could not help but grasp Owl¡¯s arm. Owl¡¯s skin, whichy bare, was frigid, and this made Crow¡¯s heart cold. He continued to re at Wolf wrathfully.

    He said: ¡°You¡¯ve been arguing with Owl all the time, and the conflict between you and him has been escting. You have long wanted to kill him, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him!¡± Wolf denied and seemed to be angry. He began to roar at Crow: ¡°I¡¯d candidly confess if I killed him! But I will never put a false charge on myself!¡±

    ¡°Where we¡¯re at, who wished that they could kill Owl? And who has the motive to kill him?¡± Crow was very flustered, as if because Owl died, he had lost the reason to continue pulling himself up. Although Crow once suspected Owl, he also inexplicably believed that in this strange train, only Owl was truly trustworthy.

    ¡°You must understand that there are three of us here!¡± Wolf took a deep breath and adjusted the pace of his breathing. He looked at Crow and ck cat.

    Wolf said, ¡°Owl was killed before we woke up. That is to say, after Owl stopped the music, the three of us began to search the train car. At that time, I was at the aisle outside the crew lounge and toilet, and I saw Crow...... You fainted and fell asleep on the sofa, and thereafter I fell asleep. The only one awake after that was probably ck cat! You have to ask him what happened before you question me on whether I¡¯m the murderer or not, OK?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± When ck cat heard Wolf¡¯s words, he also opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse: ¡°Soon after you all fell asleep, I began to lose consciousness. At that time, I saw Owl. He appeared fine.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand!¡± Crow almost wanted to scream. He held Owl¡¯s hand tightly, and Owl¡¯s blood trickled down from his arm to Crow¡¯s fingers: ¡°The three of us are alive here. All of you have reasons to deny that you didn¡¯t do it! Could it be that there¡¯s someone other than us here?¡±

    ¡°Come on! Why do you not feel guilty when you me me for the murder?¡± Wolf started to mock Crow again and sneered at Crow: ¡°I can also suspect that you have done such a thing. Think about it: you can easily pretend to be the first one among us to faint, and after that, you can lie down and wait for me and ck cat to fall asleep. Then, you can crawl toward Owl to...¡±

    Before Wolf finished speaking, Crow suddenly stood up! When his anger surged up his heart, he took the music box that was still ying music from Owl¡¯s palm and cruelly smashed it at Wolf!

    Wolf could not respond in due time. He reached out and knocked away the music box that was sent smashing toward him. Because the box was not solid, when it fell with a hard p from Wolf, the differentponents sttered on the ground.

    Therefore, the wonderful violin instrumental music stopped abruptly.

    ¡°F*ck!¡± Wolf red at Crow indignantly: ¡°I knew it. You want to kill all of us!¡±

    ¡°Then go to hell! You despicable bastard!¡± Crow had long been so angry that he lost his sense of reasoning. He reached out, grabbed a ss bottle on the table, and smashed it on Wolf¡¯s head. Wolf dodged and just as he wanted to fight back, ck cat suddenly squatted down and picked up something from theponents that were sttered everywhere.

    ¡°Stop fighting. I¡¯ve found the key.¡± ck cat said.

    But since the duo were still muddled with anger, even the surprise of finding the key could not stop the fight between Crow and Wolf. Owl¡¯s death made Crow so upset and furious that he went insane. Perhaps since the death of the Two-headed snake, negative emotions had started umting within him. And all clues leading to the one that spearheaded the contradictions was Wolf.

    Crow decided that it was Wolf who killed the man.

    But Wolf felt inexplicably slightly aggrieved because he thought he had done nothing.

    ck cat stood by and watched them fight with the key in his hand. His eyes were a little dark, as if they could prate through the darkness. ck cat had very few expressions on his face, and he rarely felt any emotions. He also rarely expressed his feelings, and the look in his eyes would not change, but this did not mean that he did not understand anything. It also did not mean that he would simply follow orders.

    However, Wolf, who was targeted by Crow, was not reconciled and began to counterattack. The two fought while mocking each other. At the beginning, Wolf was still restrained. Because Crow never took part in fights, he always felt that this fool was a little weak, so he didn¡¯t dare to go all out because he was afraid to kill him. However, as the fighting continued, he was unable to restrain himself, so he began to pay no heed to his moves.

    When he woke up and found that Owl was dead, Wolf had started to feel bouts of pain in his chest. It was not awful to bear, but it did not make him feel good. This made Wolf irascible, especially when Crow sent himself to his door. After seeing Crow, he felt it was hard to level his emotions. When he sent a fist to Crow¡¯s stomach, he felt his eyes turn bloodshot.

    If there was no one there to stop the fight, maybe one of them would really kill the other. Only one of them would survive.

    However, ck cat finally stopped the fight. He cut across the air as he entered the battlefield. He grabbed Wolf¡¯s dominant arm and gave him a kick, forcing Wolf to fall down, and just like this, he face-nted on the ground.

    Then ck cat grabbed Crow by his neck and pressed him onto the sofa cushion.

    ¡°Calm down...... Now that the music has stopped, we have to open the door.¡± ck cat¡¯s voice was very gentle although there was no expression on his face.

    Crow did not speak and gasped in confusion, but his body rxed slowly. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hand.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you all care?¡± Crow sounded as if he was weeping. His sad voice asked in a soft tone: ¡°Although I don¡¯t remember anything, I think all of you are important to me before I lost my memory.¡±

    ¡°But neither of you are upset¡ªare you strangers just because you lost your memories?¡±

    ¡°They are all dead...¡± As Crow muttered, he started crying. His hands were still covering his face, and as tears seeped out between his fingers, they mixed with some of the blood on his fingers, turning into shiny, bloody water. He gritted his teeth to stop his sobs and curled up on the sofa as he buried his face in the rough cushion.

    ¡°I¡¯m not willing to¡ª¡± Crow¡¯s voice was hoarse. He sounded like a small animal that was sadly calling out as it was not willing to die.

    ck cat sat by Crow, lowered his head to look at him, and touched Crow¡¯s soft ck hair with his hands.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Everything will be fine,¡± heforted him. Incredibly, his voice was strangely gentle.

    Carriage No.7¡¯s door was finally opened by ck cat. Now there were only three people left in the team of five, and the group had be so fragile that it was on the verge of copse. Before leaving, Crow went back to Owl to look at him. Now, Owl could no longer move. As he sat on the sofa, Crow touched Owl¡¯s cold hands.

    ¡°You should know what had happened, right?¡± Crow squatted beside Owl and asked him in a low voice.

    Owl did not move. The blood on him had stopped flowing and began to dry up.

    ¡°You¡¯re not dead, I know......¡± Crow said, ¡°Or rather, from the beginning, you were already dead, though it¡¯s really inconceivable.¡±

    ¡°I think you can hear me¡ª¡± Crow sadly stated, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s all my fault.¡±

    Over at the other side, ck cat opened the door and called Crow¡¯s name.

    Crow turned around to look at ck cat and thereafter, at Owl.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ª¡± He repeated his apology.

    ¡°I have to leave you here.¡±

    Following that, Crow got up and walked toward the door connecting carriage No.7 to carriage No.6. Now, they had to depart for carriage No.6.

    T/N: .... :/

 Chapter 125 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XVIII)

    <h4>Chapter 125 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XVIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    As he stood in carriage No.6, in that instant before the door shut, Crow could not help but turn around to take a look.

    Owl remained there, quietly sitting. His head was bowed and his bangs covered most of his face, but Crow seemed to vaguely see the ck ear stud on Owl¡¯s ear shining with a strange light.

    The glimmer was not particrly dazzling, and itsted just for a moment.

    Then the door closed, separating them from Owl forever. In a trance, Crow felt¡ªa terrifying sense¡ªof a final farewell.

    Probably because Crow was in low spirits, ck cat was particrly concerned about him, so he reached out to grasp Crow¡¯s hand. Crow remained unaware of this and was pulled along by him as they headed forward.

    Wolf, in front of them, was not aware of Crow and ck cat¡¯s small interactions. Rather, even if he did, he was not in the mood to care. All along, he felt very uneasy. With his hand ced on his chest, he felt he was suffocating; it felt hard to properly suck in a breath, and his chest felt very stuffy since his breath could not reach his lungs.

    This had been happening since Owl died in carriage No.7.

    He was very curious. Why did he feel this way? It was merely the death of an unimportant guy, and it was hard to determine whether that fellow was still living or not.

    But he felt unwell.

    Wolf trembled, probably due to the strange suffocating feeling in his chest. He also began to feel hot, and cold sweat was constantly rolling down his forehead. The feeling of suffocation lingered, and his brain almost began tock oxygen. Halfway through, he ced a hand on the sofa cushion beside him and turned to Crow and ck cat. He said:

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the bathroom.¡±

    When Wolf finished speaking, he did not care how Crow andpany reacted. With a pale face, he stumbled into the toilet of carriage No.6. As soon as he went in, he closed the door, turned on the faucet of the sink, and began to wash his face with the water. His hair was a little long and scattered all around in a disorderly manner, but Wolf did not care.

    A mirror hung on the wall above the sink, and Wolf raised his head to look at himself in it.

    Deformed. That disfigured half of his face seemed to be possessed by some horrifying devil, and that devil¡¯s sinister-looking face appeared on half of his face. It upied something important in his heart, and bit by bit, it started to devour him until he himself began to be something beyond recognition.

    Wolf could not help but stroke his long hair to block his ugly face with it.

    He hated his face...... No, no, no! It should be said that he hated every single inch of himself.

    Although he clearly did not recall anything, such feelings of hatred and disgust had also surrounded Wolf¡¯s heart. As if a thorn in his heart, it remained untouchable but caused him so much pain that he felt suffocated.

    In carriage No.6, while Wolf was squatting in the toilet for a long time, ck cat and Crow were not idle. They squatted in front of the connecting door of carriage No.6 and began to check the hint given on the door. On it, the words inscripted were as follows:

    [A bird with broken wings cannot fly]

    [Much like a walking corpse]

    [The murderer who killed Wolf also came here]

    [And ced the bird with broken wings inside a luggage]

    Carriage No.6 was an even-numbered train car, so it was very clean. There was no rubbish, snack bags, or oddly enough, the presence of other passengers¡¯ luggage or belongings. Therefore, the only suitcase in this carriage was very conspicuous. It was ced on the luggage rack somewhere near them. It was a veryrge ck luggage.

    This baggage looked very familiar; at least, to Crow, it looked very familiar. When ck cat easily lifted the luggage off the rack, he suddenly remembered that he had indeed seen this luggage¡ªin the train car where he had woken up, in carriage No.13! The luggage that held the corpse!

    The luggage in front of him looked exactly the same as the one he saw.

    ck cat calmly opened the luggage. In such a big bag, there was only a small, small...... corpse of an owl! It was a real ck owl with drooping wings. Its wings looked broken, but that was not the main cause of its death.

    This owl¡¯s eyes and neck were slit.

    The owl¡¯s beak held a small key, and this seemed to be the key to carriage No.6.

    Crow suddenly could not help but cover his mouth. He felt sick and the contents of his stomach were turning over, but he seemingly could not vomit out anything. He felt so unwell that he could only squat at a corner.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± ck cat started to speak out more now. He worriedly expressed his concerns.

    ¡°The dead animals¡¯ corpse...... the corpses...¡± Crow trembled as he said, ¡°It¡¯s hinting the causes of our deaths.¡±

    ck cat looked at the poor little owl in the luggage. Somehow, he nodded and said, ¡°Seems that way.¡±

    Both of them were silent for some time. ck cat did not speak much, and Crow was not in the mood to say anything more at the moment. After a while, Crow raised his head to look at ck cat. He said: ¡°I¡¯ll open the door, and you¡¯ll go call Wolf toe out, alright?¡±

    ck cat looked at Crow for a long time before replying, ¡°Alright.¡±

    Carriage No.6 was easy to pass through, but carriage No.5 was not so easy. Now, Crow was a little afraid. He felt that these train cars were akin to the mouths of hungry beasts. As long as they went in, someone would definitely die in there.

    He was really afraid, but he had to move on.

    Now there were only three people left: Crow, ck cat, and Wolf. Crow knew that one of the three had killed Owl. At first, he had thought it was Wolf, but now, he thought that the silent ck cat looked to be the most suspicious one.

    No, that¡¯s not right. There must be something I did not discover.

    Crow was inwardly brimming with uneasiness somewhere in the corners of his heart. He could not even believe what he had seen and what he judged, just like what was written on the note¡ªDon¡¯t trust anyone, including himself.

    Crow kept an intolerant mentality, and with his heart filled with fear, as he entered carriage No.5. In here, it was as dirty and messy as all odd-numbered train cars, and the only thing that seemed a little different was that there was a clock hanging on the wall of carriage No.5.

    This clock had no second hand. It only had a minute hand and an hour hand. The hour hand pointed to the middle of the two numbers 4 and 5 while the minute hand was at the position of 6. This showed that the current time is 4:30 p.m.

    ¡°We have an hour and a half left on this train,¡± Crow dered as he gazed at the clock for an extremely long period.

    ¡°How do you know?¡± Wolf¡¯s voice was feeble as he posed the question.

    Crow¡¯s voice did not fluctuate at all, as if he was mechanically reading out: ¡°If we started at 12 o¡¯clock...... and we can only stay on this train for six hours at most, twelve to one is one hour, one to two is two hours, two to three is three hours, three to four is four hours, four to five is five hours, five to six is six hours.¡±

    ¡°Thus, surely, we only have an hour and a half left.¡± Wolf thought: ¡°But we are still spinning around carriage No.5. There are at least two odd cars ahead, so look, we don¡¯t have enough time.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s not waste time. Let¡¯s get it over with quickly.¡±

    The three men soon arrived at the connecting door of carriage No.5 and began to check the hint left on the door. They only saw the following words inscripted on the door:

    [There are only three people in carriage No.5]

    [How terrifying; the murderer is still among you]

    [But time is running out]

    [Let the god of death be the judge!]

    ¡°What does it mean? What¡¯s written became even more puzzling.¡± After reading the mystifying hint given on the door, Wolf andpany had expressions as if they understood what it was implying, but they simply seemed to not understand. Crow shook his head powerlessly and said, ¡°In this way, we¡¯d better search through this carriage.¡±

    Fortunately, the process of searching through the carriage had been familiar to them, and they quickly found something valuable in this messy car, but...... the valuable item...... seemed to be an awfully horrifying object.

    What ck cat found was arge piece of cloth. In the middle of the cloth, there was a round, half-ck, half-white yin-yang eight trigrams. Around the eight trigrams, there were numbers, letters, and variousmon Chinese characters.

    ¡°There¡¯s this next to this cloth¡ª¡± Wolf said as he took out a small, white dish.

    As soon as Crow saw the two things they found, he asked tentatively: ¡°This is...... the dish deity?¡±

    ¡°It seems to be. These are all the tools used to y dish deity,¡± Wolf said.

    ¡°We found it on a table with cups filled with water and simr things. The candle there was also lit. It looks like someone had been sitting there ying that game previously.¡±

    ¡°Nothing but these?¡± Crow stared at the cloth and asked in trepidation.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s anything else there. There¡¯s only rubbish in this damn carriage.¡± Wolf was not in a good mental state now, and now, he also appeared to be less vignt. He had honestly answered that.

    But Crow became agitated. He gnashed his teeth and thought of the hint on the door. He could only sigh and say, ¡°It seems that we have to y this interesting game.¡±

    ¡°Alright! I don¡¯t find it interesting at all. This game is killing me.¡± Wolf felt extremely terrible. He rubbed his chest impatiently, and the suffocating feeling grew stronger and stronger.

    The three men each had their own worries, but they still had to continue to escape from this enclosed carriage. There was not much time left for them. As long as they wanted to leave this strange train, they could not stop moving forward.

    So they took over the yers who had yed dish deity and sat where they had sat. They spread the cloth full of various Chinese characters and put the small white dish in the middle of the ck and white eight trigrams.

    ¡°Have any of you ever yed this game?¡± Crow frowned and asked, ¡°What I meant was, what do we need to prepare for this game?¡±

    With one hand on his chin, Wolf felt even more dispirited: ¡°I only heard that we must turn off the lights and light a candle. In other words, we must create a scary atmosphere that will scare one¡¯s pants off while keeping our lives.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll turn off the lights.¡± ck cat took the initiative and stood up to look for the light switch.

    So only Crow and Wolf sat there, facing each other.

    Crow took out a lighter to light the candles that had notpletely turned to wax. During this period, he could not help but observe Wolf, who had sat opposite him. Wolf¡¯s face looked sinister under the light provided by the dim yellow candle. Although he lookedzy, he did not look to have the slightest hint of vitality now.

    ¡°You don¡¯t look well. What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Crow asked him suddenly.

    Wolf raised his eyelids, took a look at him, and sneered: ¡°Are you showing concern for me? How interesting.¡±

    Crow narrowed his eyes and lowered his head to look at the candle he had lit in his hand. The me moved slightly, reflecting off Crow¡¯s pale palm. He said, ¡°I just want to tell you something.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Wolf was absent-minded.

    ¡°I found a wonderful pattern on your arm...... There, it looks like a tattoo.¡±

    Wolf¡¯s attention was finally attracted, and he took a look at Crow. There was a tattoo of a flower on Wolf¡¯s arm. This was a kind of flower called the ¡®love flower,¡¯ and it is tattooed on the inner side of Wolf¡¯s left arm. Wolf had no impression of this tattoo. After all, his memories were gone, so how would he know when he got that tattoo? But Crow knew that maybe because he had unintentionally seen it when Wolf rolled up his sleeves.

    But Wolf asked thoughtfully, ¡°So what? You won¡¯t allow me to have tattoos on my body?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean...¡± Crow lowered his head a little. He surrounded the little candle on the table with his hands. The me lit on the candle flickered when surrounded by his hands. The expression on Crow¡¯s face was strange. It was as if he was smiling. He said, ¡°I have seen this tattoo on someone else...... It¡¯s exactly the same.¡±

    Wolf suddenly widened his eyes, raised his head, and fixed his eyes at Crow. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Who? Whose body is it on?¡±

    At this time, the lights in the entire carriage went out, and darkness fell upon them suddenly. Only by Crow¡¯s table was there a candlelight flickering.

    T/N: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the most motives of them all?

 Chapter 126 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XIX)

    <h4>Chapter 126 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XIX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°In thest odd-numbered carriage, the man died.¡± Crow spoke vaguely, but he believed that Wolf could understand who he was talking about. Crow silently smiled, and his tone was very subtle: ¡°When I squatted beside him, I saw that his cor was slightly left open, and under his vicle, he had a blue tattoo. Although blood and clothes blocked the majority of it, I could still see the general shape of it.¡±

    Crow¡¯s words made Wolf stare at Crow in hesitation for a very long time. Wolf looked as if he had seen a ghost. After a long time, he said in an uncertain tone: ¡°You¡¯re saying this intentionally, right?¡±

    The look in Crow¡¯s eyes was slightly cold, and he softly said, ¡°No, it was unintentional.¡±

    The bizarre conversation between Crow and Wolf ended because ck cat returned after turning off the light and sat beside Crow. Afterwards, ck cat lit the candle in front of him, and the light in the carriage grew stronger, though the me trembled with the slight shaking of the train.

    ¡°We can start.¡± Crow held out a finger and put it on the dish that was ced in the middle of the yin yang eight trigrams. He exined: ¡°This game seems to require everyone to put a finger on this dish, and after that, one person needs to invite the deity here. After that, we can pose questions to the ¡®deity¡¯ that we invited so that the deity can answer us.¡±

    ¡°Such a foolish game.¡± Wolf expressed his dissatisfaction, but he still ced his finger on the small white dish.

    Then ck cat also very cooperatively extended his finger. All three of them had ced their fingers on that small, upside-down dish. Crow nced at the two people beside him and saw that neither of them were going to speak. So Crow thought about it and asked, ¡°What should I say? Should I say please show yourself to us, whichever deity you are?¡±

    Wolf¡¯s face had impatience written all over it: ¡°Just say please show yourself, god of death! Didn¡¯t the damn door say that we have to invite the god of death to judge us?¡±

    It was not known if Wolf had actually guessed it urately, but as soon as Wolf finished saying this, the three people felt the little white dish under their fingers tremble at almost the same time. The shaking was very subtle, but to the three of them who were in contact with the dish, the tremors felt obvious. They were silent for a moment. Wolf raised his head to look at Crow and asked, ¡°Did any of you move this dish?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t exert any strength.¡± Crow raised the corners of his mouth slightly. A faint smile hung on his lips.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t either.¡± ck cat had a rigid expression.

    ¡°Alright, it seems that Lord God of Death has arrived,¡± Wolf said, staring at Crow: ¡°Then let me ask the first question...... Let me think. Who killed Owl?!¡±

    The dish under the fingers of the trio began to shake more violently. Then, something mystifying happened. It was not known if someone had intentionally lied or pushed the dish by secretly exerting some strength, but the dish did move. It first circled the yin yang eight trigrams on the cloth, and thereafter, it stopped at the first character¡ª

    ¡°Cannot be foretold...?¡± With the movement of the dish, Wolfbined the characters it had stayed on one by one, and it finally formed a simple sentence. Wolfughed sarcastically: ¡°It seems that even the god of death cannot foretell who the murderer is?¡±

    ¡°The three of us can each ask a question, but I haven¡¯t figured out what to ask yet, ck cat...... Can you go first?¡± Crow felt the little white dish and returned it to the middle of the yin yang trigrams, so he said that to ck cat.

    ck cat nodded in agreement. After thinking for a while, he lowered his voice and asked, ¡°Where is the key to this carriage?¡±

    After thest syble of what ck cat had intended to say sounded out, the dish under their fingers began to act by itself, and unexpectedly, it simply and directly answered ck cat¡¯s question&#k2014;¡±It¡¯s on one of your bodies.

    The answer surprised the trio.

    ¡°On whom?¡± ck cat asked again.

    The dish replied¡ª ¡®Cannot be foretold.¡¯

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s ask the question in a different manner.¡± As if his interest had been garnered and as if carrying malicious intentions, Crow posed a horrifying question: ¡°Among the three of us, who is the next person to die?¡±

    The dish replied¡ª¡®Cannot be foretold¡¯.

    Crow was silent for a moment, and shortly after, he asked, ¡°How can we get out from this carriage?¡±

    The dish wandered around the eight trigrams for a while and replied¡ª¡¯Kill the person who holds the key.¡¯

    ¡°Which part of the person¡¯s body is the key on?¡±

    The dish answered¡ª¡®The direction of his heart.¡¯

    Crow¡¯s face became a little ghastly, and he asked anotherplicated question: ¡°Are you really the god of death?¡±

    This time, the dish wandered around again for a long time before giving the answer¡ª¡¯Yes.¡¯

    After answering these questions, the dish would not move any more. No matter what questions the three people asked, the dish remained motionless in the middle of the yin yang eight trigrams. The candles on the table began to flicker as if the god of death had left.

    ¡°Even if it told us this, it¡¯s the same as him not telling us anything.¡± Wolf pushed the dish and leaned back against the sofa. He felt the air was a little hot and stuffy and scratched his hair impatiently.

    The train car was still dark, and the only light source came from the flickering candlelight. Not knowing whether it was due to the intensity of the me, Crow also felt a little hot. He stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the toilet and turn on the light.¡±

    So Crow left. This time, Wolf and ck cat were the only ones left.

    ck cat was too silent. Generally, he would seldom open his mouth to speak. Wolf did not have much against him, either. He merely rubbed his chest anxiously with his hands, but that made the suffocating feeling more intense.

    Soon the light turned on and Crow came back, but he had a few bottles of mineral water in his hands.

    ¡°I got this from the crew¡¯s lounge. They¡¯re sealed. Would you like to try it?¡± Crow had apassionate look on his face. Indeed, in his hands, he held bottles of mineral water that had sealed bottle caps. ck cat calmly took one and drank it straight away, but Wolf did not trust Crow.

    Wolf looked at Crow with a deadly look in his eyes, and his tone was somewhat sharp: ¡°Your ability to disguise really makes me bristle with anger.¡±

    Crow¡¯s hand that was holding the bottle of water seemed to shake. He gazed at Wolf: ¡°I know you are guarded against me.¡±

    ¡°Of course! Who are you acting for?¡± Wolf suddenly began to use an odious tone against him as if all his umted anger had burst out. He grabbed the cloth on the table and threw it to the ground along with the small dish on the cloth. The dish smashed on the ground, and the sound of something fragile breaking sounded.

    ¡°......I am not acting.¡± Crow¡¯s voice seemed to be a little erratic, and he had a gloomy aura.

    Crow continued, ¡°Sometimes I just...... don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing...... That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°So you have admitted it?¡± Wolf suddenly ignorantly spoke. He looked at Crow, and the look in his eyes was ferocious: ¡°Yes, you are the murderer! You¡¯re the f*ckin¡¯ murderer! You want to kill everyone here!¡±

    Crow sucked in deep breath. Wolf¡¯s words made his fingertips tremble. Crow forced himself to calm down and said, ¡°Mr. Wolf, you are too agitated. I¡¯m not the murderer. I didn¡¯t want to kill everyone!¡±

    Wolf had obviously lost all sense of sanity. His words even seemed a little like gibberish. Or perhaps the enclosed environment had almost driven him crazy, so he roared at Crow: ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be naive there! Don¡¯t you see what you look like now? You really think that your act is wless¡ª¡±

    But before Wolf had finished speaking, his voice stopped abruptly.

    From the corner of Wolf¡¯s mouth, blood spurted out before he was aware of it. The pain descended upon him slowly. He looked at Crow in front of him in astonishment. He lowered his head and saw that there was a de inserted in his chest. The de actually looked very familiar; it was the one they used to let blood previously.

    Once again, Crow thrust the de into Wolf¡¯s chest, letting it plunge deeper into his heart. Crow looked pale and abominable. He approached Wolf and almost ced his entire hand into the wound.

    Wolf suddenly felt the disturbing suffocating feeling in his chest disappear.

    As if his chest had a hole and air was subsequently pouring into it, it made the suffocating feeling, the stuffiness and pain he felt around his chest area all dissipate. And he felt an unspeakable sense of relief.

    But there was something else he did not remember.

    Crow finally drew the knife back. This time, his hands were covered with blood, and he gasped slightly. Then Crow stepped aside and made way for Wolf to allow him to fall to the ground.

    The crow, this species of bird, was symbolic of the god of death in some countries.

    ¡°I said...¡± Crow murmured, still holding the de in his hand. He shook his head slightly: ¡°I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing...¡±

    I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing. Sometimes I¡¯m conscious, but my body is out of control.

    Malicious and negative thoughts upied almost his entire brain.

    And from the moment he woke up in this train, he felt that his body and his will were divided into two by force. The one imprisoned in his heart was good, firm, friendly, and just. All his good values were locked there while the rest were left unrestrained, akin to a released beast.

    But what did the beast do?

    Crow did not know. He did not know anything.

    Crow lowered his head to look at Wolf, who was lying on the ground. Wolf still had a breath of life left in him. Maybe what was written on the note was true, and everyone would recover their memories before they died. However, what they felt when recovering their memories was quite magical. Like a sh of light, everything that he did not understand at first returned to his brain.

    But he was dying.

    Wolf coughed a few times and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. He raised his head and looked at Crow and ck cat standing beside him. ck cat was probably scared or did not know how to deal with this situation. He was doomed to not act against Crow. At this moment, he could only stand still.

    ¡°Captain...... Ah, don¡¯t be led by the nose...... If this goes on, our whole team will be destroyed.¡± Before he died, Wolf said something surprising. He spat out such a sentence, and he obviously said it to ck cat.

    Crow did not have much of an expression on his face. Seeing that Wolf was still talking, he squatted down and raised the knife in his hand. It seemed that he was going to give him another stab.

    Wolf reluctantly showed a bitter smile. He reached out and grasped his own arm. It seemed that he was trying to tell someone something. He murmured: ¡°I¡¯m sorry...... I¡¯m sorry, Ah Lan¡ªI¡¯m really such a terrible person.¡±

    T/N: QAQ!!!!! Did y¡¯all expect Crow to be the murderer?

 Chapter 127 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XX)

    <h4>Chapter 127 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    That was how they got out from carriage No.5. When Crow stabbed Wolf with the knife, he really dug out a key from his heart. Crow twisted his head to look at ck cat and raised the key to show it to him.

    Crow¡¯s hands were bloody, and his chest and face had also been sshed by blood. His dark eyes seemed to be covered with blood, and when the corners of his mouth showed his white teeth, the sight of him appeared horrifying. He appeared just like a fierce and vicious devil who had just climbed out of some part of hell.

    ck cat remained silent as usual, but this time, he was a little shocked. He squinted his eyes and thought about countermeasures. At this moment, in front of him, Crow had just killed anotherpanion. No matter whether Crow was the so-called ¡®murderer¡¯ or not, at this moment, the threat that was in front of him was also great enough that ck cat must send him to his death.

    Then, should he act upon it?

    ck cat watched Crow stagger to his feet. He realized that Crow was in a very bad state now. He looked a little crazy, like apletely irrational beast, and appeared quite different from how he was previously. ck cat did not know whether he was previously pretending to be harmless or if that was how he was originally.

    With a knife in one hand and the key in the other, Crow walked toward ck cat step by step. His footsteps echoed in the silent carriage now, as if the sound his feet falling on the ground had be the rhythm of ck cat¡¯s heart. ck cat clenched his fist slightly and leaned forward, and his center of gravity sank. He appeared alert and was ready to fight at any given time.

    But unexpectedly, Crow did not act against ck cat. He swayed in front of ck cat, and his next actionpletely exceeded ck cat¡¯s expectations. Crow actually threw away the knife and key in his hands, and the entirety of him copsed into ck cat¡¯s arms, rubbing the scarlet blood onto ck cat¡¯s clothes.

    ck cat subconsciously reached out and hugged him. He immediately smelled the strong scent of blood surging to his nose. Lowering his head, he saw Crow giving him a gentle smile, which made ck cat feel a little infatuated.

    ¡°You see, there are only the two of us here.¡± Crow reached for ck cat¡¯s waist, and his fingers touched ck cat¡¯s back. This was actually very dangerous. The spine was a fatal weakness of a human.

    But ck cat was unable to pay attention to it because Crow suddenly approached him and moved his face so close to him that his breath sprayed on his face. ck cat¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked at Crow¡¯s eyes, which came nearer to him. Crow¡¯s ck, inky eyes seemed to reveal a river of stars that was luring ck cat to get closer to him.

    ck cat felt goosebumps all over his body at the sight of Crow.

    It was an indescribable feeling. Although it was only for a moment and had been well-suppressed by ck cat, even if he rationally tried to keep a distance with this man, he found that it was futile. As long as he got a little closer to Crow, ck cat would feel as if there was something in his body like a devil in his heart that was howling and roaring all the time¡ªhurry, swallow him!

    How horrifying.

    ck cat held the man in his arms tightly. He could not help but tighten his arms while trying to suppress the urge to send this man into his stomach. However, he could not control his fingers as they moved to the right to touch the man¡¯s back. His fingers then slithered to his waist.

    ck cat felt his neck was a little itchy. Crow rubbed his face against the curve of his neck, and his lips rubbed against his skin there. It gave ck cat the illusion that he woulde closer to take a bite on his neck any time.

    But the mere thought of this also made ck cat slightly excited.

    He almost ced his fingers in Crow¡¯s clothes&#k2026;&#k2026; Oh, in fact, his fingers had already reached in. The cold fingertips felt the wondrous touch of skin, causing him to tremble. ck cat lowered his head as he excitedly waited to have a good taste of the little devil in his arms.

    But the little devil held a finger up and blocked ck cat¡¯s lips.

    ¡°This is not a good ce, sir.¡± Crow squinted. He was closely attached to ck cat; there was no gap between the two of them, and every part of their bodies seemed to be closely pasted together as they indulged in sensual pleasures.

    Disregarding the corpse lying by their feet.

    ¡°I know what kind of eyes you use when you¡¯re staring at me.¡± Crow¡¯s face was pale, but it also carried a tint of morbid red. Although his face clearly looked delicate, the blood stains on his face made him look devilishly attractive.

    Crow ced his hands around ck cat¡¯s neck and whispered, ¡°You¡¯ve been following me since we met at that train car since the very beginning, trailing at me with those terrifying eyes. Which part of me were you looking at?¡±

    Crow cupped ck cat¡¯s cheeks: ¡°Are you looking at my eyes? Or...... my face? My neck or my shoulders? Or my waist?...... Of course, if we go down further...¡±

    They had pasted their lower bodies tightly against each other, so they could easily feel the changes in the other party¡¯s body. The change was so obvious that Crow could not help rubbing against him with their pants on. Both parties trembled. Crows licked his dry lips and moved his lips closer to ck cat. They look very close, just like a couple that was about to kiss.

    But he did not seed in kissing the other.

    ck cat¡¯s eyes suddenly became sharp, and he acted even when he was caught unprepared. He grabbed Crow¡¯s hair with one hand and pulled his head back. In the other hand, he grasped Crow¡¯s other arm. He moved that arm away because Crow had a knife in his hand. Crow had been holding the knife while trying to put it against ck cat¡¯s neck.

    ck cat had no doubt that as long as he had moved to kiss him moments ago, Crow would have cut his head off.

    ¡°You are carrying so many weapons, my little darling.¡± ck cat could not help but give him a grin.

    ¡°Oh! Damn! I thought this would work.¡± Crow looked a little remorseful, though one could tell he didn¡¯t even feel the slightest regret even if his arm was caught and he was subdued by the other party.

    But Crow was still persistent about seducing ck cat, so he very regretfully nced at ck cat¡¯s lower body. He said: ¡°You are clearly hard. Why don¡¯t we go on? This way, I can also happily achieve what I want to aplish.¡±

    ¡°Afterwards, I¡¯ll let you sessfully cut my head off?¡± ck cat pinched Crow¡¯s arm. Crow lost the strength in that arm instantaneously, and because he could not properly grip on to the knife, it fell to the ground.

    As soon as the threat was removed, ck cat immediately took Crow to his arms. Subsequently, he grabbed him and pressed him on the sofa next to him.

    With the prey¡¯s ws removed, the rest of him could only be trampled upon by the other party.

    It was apt to describe it as trampled upon. ck cat liked it very much. He grabbed Crow¡¯s clothes and pulled them down hard. The frail buttons broke open, revealing the beautiful chest of the other party. His clean skin, t abdomen, and abdominal muscles clearly showed that this evil little devil had done ample exercises.

    ¡°Do you want to do me? Sir...¡± Crow didn¡¯t know whether he did it intentionally or not, but he opened his legs and bent them, causing his current posture to look lewder.

    Mr. ck cat was obviously short of breath now. He bit on the other¡¯s vicle and left some red marks. However, Mr. ck cat did not continue because his sense of reason told him that it was not a good move to do so.

    The man in his arms was obviously the murderer written on the note. He had ferociously started to ughter others for no reason. Although ck cat felt that he liked him a little, it was a different kind of like. He merely just liked him. It was not to the point where him liking a person meant that he should pretend to be ignorant and allow that person to his life. ck cat felt that this kind of behaviour seemed quite stupid.

    ck cat was not a stupid person. He knew what he needed to do¡ªfor example, kill the murderer, find the key, and escape?

    ck cat nced at Crow¡¯s eyes, which had grown a little dark, Heavens knew what kind of psychology was at work. ck cat did not want to hurt the man in his arms at all, not the slightest.

    Since he did not want to hurt him, he could only choose the other way out.

    Carriage No.5 was finally opened by ck cat. He seized all the dangerous items and weapons on Crow¡¯s body, and a rope made of cloth was used to tie his hands. Then he took the key dug out of the poor Wolf¡¯s body and opened the door to carriage No.5.

    In front of them was carriage No.4, a safe, even-numbered train car.

    Carriage No.4 was also very simple. When they entered the door, they saw a pool of blood and scattered flesh on the floor of the pathway. It was a snake¡¯s corpse. It was a rare, real two-headed snake. But it seemed that it had been nibbled by something. Only half of its body was intact while the other half had only half of the tip of its tail left.

    The key to carriage No. 4 was quite obvious and ced right next to the snake.

    ¡°Did he die in this manner in the end?¡± Crow gazed at the corpse of the snake with great interest, and a strange smile was stered on his face. It looked as if he was about to cry even though he was smiling.

    ¡°You almost fooled me.¡± ck cat pulled the rope that tied Crow¡¯s hands, then lowered his head to look at the hint provided on the connecting door of carriage No.4. Towards Crow, he said, ¡°I really thought you were apassionate, righteous, and good kid.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I am.¡± Crow was still staring at the corpse of the snake, but the smile on his face had disappeared.

    On the connecting door of Carriage No.4, the hint provided was:

    [Do you think you caught the murderer?]

    [Yes, you believe so]

    [But I still think that you are not in a good situation]

    [Who can escape from the god of death¡¯s curse?]

    ck cat looked at the hint expressionlessly for a long time. He turned to Crow and asked, ¡°You said you saw the ck cat¡¯s corpse previously. How did it die in carriage No.12?¡±

    ¡°Soaked in the water, and it died because it got scratched to death by some horrifying monster.¡± Crow winked cunningly and smiled: ¡°I think you will surely meet the same end as it.¡±

    ¡°Not definitely...¡± ck cat alsoughed: ¡°What if I killed you here?¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t kill me,¡± Crow said as if he was sure, as if he believed it.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you think so?¡± ck cat was also confused about his certainty.

    ¡°How should I know?¡± Crow was helpless, ¡°Just like how I didn¡¯t think I would actually start killing people, it¡¯s all the same... How ridiculous.¡±

    T/N: Poor Wolf was lying there by their feet being fed dog food as dark!Crow and ck cat made out.

    <del>This is unedited; the edited chapter will be up soon. </del>The edited version is up!

    Thank you so much, Kofi-Supporter for the kofi ! A bonus chapter will be posted within this week.

 Chapter 128 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXI)

    <h4>Chapter 128 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ck cat pulled the tied-up Crow all the way into carriage No.3, and this odd number caused them both to feel a little agitated. It meant that they were not far away from their destination, but at the same time, they were also not far away from death.

    Carriage No.3 was as dirty and messy as expected, and there was no one in it. But as soon as they went in, they found that there wererge patches of water marks everywhere. On the ground, on the sofa, and on the window of the train car, it was like the entire train car had just been flooded, and all the items in it were crumpled.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s water. How wonderful.¡± Crow was led by ck cat with the rope, but he was still at ease. Because there was so much water on the ground, when Crow stepped in the puddles, water sshed onto ck cat¡¯s pants in front of him.

    ck cat had no objections against this. In his opinion, this was just the little devil being naughty, but he just needed to be properly disciplined. So he pulled Crow over, hugged his waist, and dropped a kiss on his lips.

    In enjoyment, Crow squinted his eyes and leaned against ck cat¡¯s arms. He rubbed against the man¡¯s chest, heard the beautiful...... rhythm of the other¡¯s heartbeat. As if intoxicated by it, Crow said, ¡°You really make me feel hopeless, handsome sir.¡±

    ¡°What is the kind of hopelessness you feel?¡± ck cat lowered his head and greedily bit Crow¡¯s ear.

    ¡°I can¡¯t describe it...... If you die here, it¡¯s a pity.¡± Crow wanted to hug ck cat, the kind of hug that allowed him to hang on ck cat, but his hands were tightly bound.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to die,¡± ck cat dered.

    They then went to see the message on the connecting door of car No.3, which was an odd car. Therefore, the message on the door had a new improvement from before. Moreover, it was obvious that this car was rted to water.

    [Carriage No.3 is cursed]

    [You will fall into an illusion of being in the ¡®deep sea¡¯]

    [Do not be defeated by your senses]

    [Kill the enemy to get the key]

    ¡°I¡¯ve always thought that these hints on the doors are really interesting, aren¡¯t they?¡± Crow leaned on ck catzily. He appeared extremelyzy, and it was as if his entire body had gone soft and boneless. If ck cat did not support him, Crow, who had gone soft, would definitely copse on the ground.

    ¡°What do you mean by interesting?¡± ck cat almost stuck his face to the other party¡¯s face, and he flirtatiously asked.

    ¡°It always tries its best to get us to kill each other.¡±

    Although Crow¡¯s hands were tied, he could still move his arms. He raised his hands and put his arms around ck cat¡¯s head. In this way, Crow hung on ck cat¡¯s body and rubbed against his body hungrily.

    Crow said, ¡°You see, we don¡¯t have much time left. I bet we wasted more than half an hour in the previous carriage No.5. We only have less than an hour at most, but there is still a big problem ahead. Oh...... But why should we trouble ourselves? We are going to die anyway¡ª¡±

    ¡°So you want to...?¡± ck cat was smiling as he embraced Crow¡¯s waist.

    Crow narrowed his eyes, and with a tone that almost sounded coquettish and seductive, he said: ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    This suggestion really tempted ck cat.

    In particr, Crow¡¯s face expressed his longing and desire, and his legs were rubbing against ck cat, uncovering his seduction. For a man with normal needs like ck cat, the temptation he was facing was great...... No, it was extremely great, akin to a candy coated with poison.

    ¡°Come on...... This ce of yours is hard.¡± Crow obscenely kneaded himself against ck cat, fully showcasing his attraction and charm.

    Even his voice seemed to be coated with ayer of honey. Crow said, ¡°Don¡¯t you want it? You obviously like me...... You see, my hands are tied up. I don¡¯t have any weapons on my body. I can¡¯t beat you. Just like a littlemb ready to be ughtered at any time. Don¡¯t you want to do it? For example, you can pull my legs apart and cruelly deflower me...¡±

    Before Crow finished speaking, ck cat tightly embraced him and sealed his delicious lips.

    He pressed him onto the sofa seat in the carriage. Although the sofa was wet and ufortable, neither of them cared that much. ck cat waspletely bewitched by Crow. He pressed the hateful little devil on the sofa and began to rip away his clothes. Crow showed a scheming smile, as if he had been plotting something.

    Just as they were thrown into the throes of lust and lost all senses, they did not discover that the water on the ground began to ascend.

    Carriage No.3 was a tightly enclosed carriage because the front and rear connecting doors of this train car were heavy iron doors. As long as the doors are closed, this train car would be tightly sealed. Therefore, if the water in carriage No.3 rose, it was impossible for the water to flow into another carriage through the crack in the door.

    Therefore, when the faucet of carriage No.3 turned on automatically, there was no drain on the floor of the toilet, and the bowl of the toilet was tightly sealed. Thus, the water from the faucet filled the whole sink, and it sshed out of the sink. The door of the toilet was closed, but the water still flowed out through the several centimeter gap under the toilet door to the pathway outside the door of the toilet, and the water began to merge with the umted water on the ground.

    More and more water began to flow out, and the speed of water flow was also very fast. The water hose in the toilet was about to explode, and the area of the train car itself was notrge. Soon, the floor of the carriage was filled with water that could cover the soles of someone¡¯s shoes.

    Just when ck cat had wanted to take off Crow¡¯s trousers, he had no choice but to stop.

    Crow¡¯s upper body was naked, his hands were still tied, and his heady limply on the sofa. ck cat could not help but give him a peck on his lips.

    ¡°You are so lovely, my baby,¡± ck cat said to him, ¡°I would love to have you, but not now.¡±

    They could hear the sound of water running in the toilet, and the water on the ground was rising, and the situation suddenly turned for the worse. This was because if they didn¡¯t stop the running water, they would have to do it in the water, though that sounded very thrilling.

    ck cat pulled Crow closer and dressed him again, but his hands remained tied. He told Crow to sit on the sofa while he gave him another peck: ¡°Wait for me here.¡±

    After that, ck cat stepped through the rising water to head to the toilet. The water flow was very fast, and it gushed out at a shocking speed. The water had overflowed ck cat¡¯s shoes, soaked the edges of his pants, and burst forward towards his calves. The water caused some garbage on the ground to float, and an empty stic mineral water bottle floated over ck cat¡¯s feet.

    ck cat lowered his head to look at the mineral water bottle. Something subtle came to his mind, much like a sh of light.

    But the idea shed by so fast that ck cat could not catch it, so he had to continue to walk towards the toilet. He found that the door of the toilet was tightly closed, but the water still flowed out through the gap under the toilet door, and more water kept gushing out.

    ck cat reached out to twist the handle of the door open, but it still remained closed.

    The door wsa locked.

    ck cat realized that they were not in a good situation now. He thought for a while and began to think of using more violent means to open the door, so he stepped backwards and began to kick the door with his foot.

    ck cat was very strong, and without a doubt, the strength he used to kick the door was not weak. But it was not known why the door to the toilet was as unshakable as Mount Tai. It stayed tightly shut, and even if ck cat had used all his might to kick it, it refused to budge. And the more ck cat kicked the door, the faster the water flowed out.

    ck cat frowned slightly when he saw that he couldn¡¯t open the door. He realized that the secret room would not be so simple. The water was rising to a higher and higher level, and it got so high that it had already covered ck cat¡¯s calves and was about to reach his knee caps.

    Crow, who was ced there, retracted his legs as he sat on the sofa seat. The water got higher and higher. One was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sit on the sofa afterwards. Crow felt it was slightly regretful since, obviously, he had almost done it with ck cat if not for the horrible rising water.

    However, this also seemed interesting. Crow thought of something and revealed a smile.

    ck cat could not open the door to the toilet, and then he found that even the door to the crew¡¯s lounge could not be opened. He could only return. When he came back, he saw Crow squatting on the sofa, paddling in the water. Crow also saw ck cat had returned. His eyes blinked as he gazed at him. With a smile, he said, ¡°Are we going to drown here? Although I can swim.¡±

    ¡°We have to find a way to get the water to flow out or find the key to get out of this train car as soon as possible,¡± ck cat said.

    ¡°Every carriage is a perfectly enclosed carriage...... I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll find a way to get the water out of here,¡± Crow muttered. He looked as if he harbored ill intentions.

    ¡°Break those windows?¡± ck cat looked at the window of this train car. Outside of the train remained pitch dark. asionally, something seemed to be shing, but it might also be his misconception.

    ¡°You can try...¡± Crow licked his lips: ¡°The windows of this train are very thick and can withstand great pressure. Of course, the most important thing is that we don¡¯t have tools to break the ss here. It¡¯s impossible to break the ss with wooden poles unless we have iron hammers or you are strong enough to break the ss with your bare hands.¡±

    ¡°Of course, even if these conditions are met,¡± Crow said: ¡°We may not be able to break the damn ss in the end.¡±

    ¡°So we can only choose to obtain the key and get out of this train car as soon as possible?¡± ck cat narrowed his eyes as he looked at Crow.

    Crow said, ¡°We don¡¯t have any other choice, but do you know where the key is?¡±

    This sentence caused the look in ck cat¡¯s eyes to grow a little cold.

    ¡°You have a hunch, don¡¯t you?¡± Crow jumped into the water and walked in front of ck cat. Now, the height of the water had covered their knee caps and reached their thighs, and the sofa seat had been fully submerged, making the sofa wet.

    ¡°Think about what I said previously,¡± Crow continued, ¡°There was a dead cat in carriage No. 12. It drowned in the water and had strange wounds on its body.¡±

    ¡°Is that referring to me?¡± ck cat nced at Crow. Crow was a little shorter, thinner, and weaker than him.

    ¡°The key to carriage No.12 waas in the cat¡¯s stomach.¡± Crow stuck himself onto ck cat and said as his tone was filled with pity, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do it with me just now? It¡¯s a pity to die like this.¡±

    ¡°If I continue doing it with you, I¡¯ll probably be like that cat.¡± ck cat suddenlyughed: ¡°I was scratched by the beast and left to drown in the water, so you can naturally open my stomach and take away the key.¡±

    ¡°Truly. You don¡¯t know how to enjoy yourself.¡± Crow, who was ced in ck cat¡¯s embrace, kneaded against him, ¡°To die in a gentle embrace, isn¡¯t that great?¡±

    T/N: This chapter¡ªmore dog food sponsored by dark!Crow and ck cat.

 Chapter 129 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXII)

    <h4>Chapter 129 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°Little devil!¡± ck cat angrily grabbed Crow¡¯s hair, pulled his head back, and made him raise his head to show his ruddy lips. This made it convenient for ck cat to give a vicious bite to his lips. The soft sensation of it would make anyone inexplicably go crazy.

    ¡°I should kill you now.¡± ck cat touched Crow¡¯s neck with his hand.

    ¡°You can try it.¡± Crow contentedly hung himself on ck cat: ¡°Strangle me and drown me in the water.¡±

    ck cat seemed to really intend to carry out Crow¡¯s words because he held Crow¡¯s neck and put his head in the water. The height of the water rose to the height of the two people¡¯s waists, and such a water level wasa dangerous. But the cruel ck cat also moved Crow to kneel in the water, pushed his head down, and submerged him among the waves of water, down to the chilling cold depths of water.

    Just like...... something simr that had happened before.

    Crow, who was forced to press his head into the water, really experienced a brush with death. Because what ck cat did caught him by surprise, after swallowing a mouthful of water, he then instinctively began to struggle. He almost opened his eyes while in the water, and his eyes showed apletely different world. The things he could see in the water were a lustrous and beautiful world, as if he had left the original reality he was in and was thrown in a beautiful fantasy.

    In that fantasy, Crow was not the current Crow, and ck cat was not the current ck cat.

    Dying seemed to really make Crow recall something, some kind of memory. Like a typhoon, it swept past his inward world, overcasting his brain and forcing him to recall something, but when Crow carefully thought, the typhoon had already roared past and swept away all other things. Thus, Crow¡¯s brain suddenly contained nothing but nkness.

    Crow, who had stopped thinking, was senseless now. The feeling of drowning and the feeling of suffocation gave him a great sense of crisis; it was how all animals would act instinctively when faced with danger. When he was faced with danger now, Crow would use all means to protect himself and kill the enemy.

    ck cat was the enemy.

    But Crow had no weapons. All the things hidden on his body had been taken away by ck cat and subsequently thrown away. Under ck cat¡¯s absolute strength, his head remained pressed in the water, and the air in his lungs gradually depleted. If he did not act upon it, ck cat would really end up killing him.

    Crow opened his eyes in the water. He did not care about the difort that he felt in his eyes when he opened his eyes underwater. His ears could hear the sound of waves resounding. He seemed to hear ck cat saying something, but in the sloshing water, Crow could not hear what ck cat was saying.

    Then Crow saw a fruit knife that had sunk to the bottom of the water on the ground.

    It appeared as if it had been specially prepared for him because they were in an odd-numbered train car. This ce was dirty and messy, and everything was messily strewn around.

    But the fruit knife was a little far away from him, so he had to swim over. He had to get out of ck cat¡¯s grasp for a while and grab the knife.

    Out of his grasp.

    ck cat felt that the man he was choking suddenly became quiet. The one who had been submerged in the water finally stopped breathing, started to inhale the water, and thereafter passed out&#k2026;&#k2026; If he had been left submerged in the water, he would have been drowned alive.

    ck cat hesitated for a moment. His heart started to beat in an exaggerated and crazy manner, and he could not help but be a little nervous. ck cat did not want to die in this train car. It should be said that ck cat was not a good man. Even if he really wanted to die, he would not want to die alone here. Therefore, at that moment, ck cat really wanted to let Crow apany him even if he had dragged Crow into the waters at thest moment.

    But when he really acted upon it, ck cat began to hesitate.

    He released Crow¡¯s hand to allow Crow to float on the water quietly. After a while, ck cat became worried. He picked up Crow and held him in his arms. The pale Crow¡¯s eyes were closed tightly, and he did not move. He looked as if he was dead.

    ck cat jabbed Crow¡¯s chest, and because they are now in a peculiar situation now, ck cat could not let him lie on his back. However, luckily after Crow choked on water for a short moment, he pressed on his chest and stomach and spit out some water.

    ck cat suddenly felt that his crazily beating heart seemed to have calmed down a lot. He tried to hold the man in his arms, but his arms were not strong enough. Crow suddenly opened his eyes and looked at ck cat and put his foot on ck cat¡¯s stomach at the same time. It was difficult to use strength in the water, so the rtive impact of the blow was also small, but even so, ck cat was still pushed away by Crow¡¯s kick.

    Crow, who had kicked away ck cat, fell back and dived into the water again. His whole body was now submerged in the water. Now, he held the knife. The fruit knife that had appeared suddenly at the bottom of the water for some reason seemed to be the perfect item for the ultimate finale to this y.

    ck cat, who was over at the other side, seemed to realize something. As soon as he got up and before he stabilized himself, he saw Crow again. And he could also vaguely see silver sh in the air.

    ck cat¡¯s reflexes were working well. At that moment, his body moved sideways to avoid the attack, but though his body dodged the first attack, he couldn¡¯t avoid the second. Crow¡¯s hand, which was holding the knife, immediately swung by and made a cut on ck cat¡¯s cheek.

    Crow continued to keep his knifework going, and because of the density of water, even ck cat began to be less flexible. Soon, Crow received several scratches on his body. Thereupon, ck cat finally found a chance to seize the hand that was holding the knife and temporarily restrained Crow¡¯s movements. But Crow suddenly gave a smile too ck cat.

    In that instant, that smile struck a chord in his heart.

    ck cat was stunned for a moment. In that instant, ck cat suddenly found that Crow had actually loosened the grip of the hand that was holding the knife and allowed the knife to fall. After that, Crow naturally grasped the handle of the knife with his other hand, and the way he caught the knife appeared so perfect and beautiful. Although he was holding the knife in his left hand and was therefore less flexible, when such a knife was stabbed into someone, it could cause quite a substantial wound.

    ck cat had to let go of Crow¡¯s hand, as the two people came to a stalemate again.

    There was not much time left for them to squander it this way.

    Crow saw that the water had reached his waist and realized that if they could not stop this fight, neither of them would be able to escape. However, ck cat was not an easy person to deal with. Although his opponent did not recall anything, his fighting skills remained. Although he had no weapons, he would always be dazzled by Crow¡¯s careless smile.

    Crow narrowed his eyes. He knew that ck cat liked him. This was actually an advantage, and it was a huge advantage. However, the other party¡¯s personality was cold-blooded, merciless, and cruel. He was the kind of person who would rather drag people into the water before he died. No matter how much he liked him, the other party would still want to perish together with him.

    It seems that the beauty trap did not work well, but when he fought against him fairly, he would feel that he was weaker than his opponent. Although ck cat had always exercised caution and did not want to really hurt Crow, Crow still could not beat him. So...... what should he do now? Crow licked his lips and thought of how to retreat.

    ¡°Why are you resisting?¡± Crow said regretfully, ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to die?¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to die?¡± ck cat suddenly asked.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Crow did not hesitate to admit: ¡°After you die, I will be able to get out from here.¡±

    ¡°You want to get out?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I want to get out.¡±

    ck cat did not speak, but he merely looked at Crow. He suddenly rxed his standing body and said to Crow, ¡°Come here.¡±

    Crow clenched the knife in his hand, but he still went over. He approached ck cat and raised his head to look at him. The look in ck cat¡¯s eyes was a little cold, but his eyes were still very good-looking. They were like two dark gemstones. Crow could not move his eyes away when he stared at those eyes.

    ck cat did not mind that Crow still had a knife in his hand. He touched Crow¡¯s hair and held him in his arms. ck cat thought about it, inched closer to his ears, and whispered, ¡°I really like you.¡±

    Crow also held ck cat¡¯s waist and stuck his face to ck cat¡¯s chest.

    ¡°I like you very much,¡± ck cat repeated, and the voice seemed faint this time: ¡°Even if I don¡¯t have the slightest memory of us and even if it¡¯s strange that this feeling is real.¡±

    Crow listened to him in silence. Inwardly, Crow¡¯s heart felt it was a wonderful feeling, and his words had touched him, so he indulged in this man¡¯s smell. He felt as if all the perils that they faced were gone as long as he was within his embrace.

    What a fascinating disposition.

    ¡°I can be killed by you,¡± ck cat continued, as he hugged Crow tightly: ¡°As long as you like me too.¡±

    ¡°What should I do, say ¡®I like you¡¯?¡± Crow chuckled but could not help rubbing against ck cat. It was an unconscious act of coquetry, and even Crow did not realize it.

    ck catughed. He said, ¡°Yes, just like that.¡±

    As long as I can hug you and say I like you, and thereafter you will answer that you like me. And that¡¯s good enough for me. I¡¯m satisfied with that.

    Because there¡¯s really nothing else I want.

    Because ck cat suddenly felt that it was the most fortunate thing that happened on earth for him to be able to speak to Crow. Although he did not know where this inexplicable feeling surged up from, ck cat still felt very happy and satisfied at the moment.

    So ck cat hugged Crow, leaned near his ear, and whispered to him, ¡°Ah Jian¡ª¡±

    Crow froze momentarily, and he suddenly realized that ck cat had called out a strange name. He did not call him ¡®Crow,¡¯ but called out someone¡¯s name, but...... whose name is that?

    ck cat did not give Crow time to think. ck cat continued, hugging him tightly and saying, ¡°Ah Jian, I like you.¡±

    Maybe even ck cat did not realize who he was calling at that moment.

    Crow also did not know, but he just instinctively answered: ¡°I like you, too.¡±

    ck catughed. He held Crow tightly. Crow was not particrly dissatisfied, but he still raised the fruit knife in his hand. His task had beenpleted now, and the water had risen to his chest, so he must quickly kill ck cat and get the key.

    So he raised the knife in his hand.

    T/N: Xing Yan¡¯s confession really made my heart ache.

    Thank you so much, Kitty & lorenzo86, for the Kofis ! I really appreciate you two~

    And thank you so much, everyone, for the support towards EIC thus far.

    Recently I¡¯ve been swamped with work and today I have been out on fieldwork all day, so I posted today¡¯s chapterste. So sorry about that

 Chapter 130 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXIII)

    <h4>Chapter 130 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXIII)</h4>

    Bonus chapter (1/1)¨CThank you so much Kitty & Kofi-Supporter

    Editor: Kitty

    It was easier to kill ck cat than Crow thought. The man basically did not resist.

    When Crow stabbed him in the stomach, ck cat just grunted and held Crow tighter. The man began to call Crow again, calling him that strange name: ¡°Ah Jian...¡±

    Who was he calling? Crow did not understand. When the man called that name, he felt restless. But Crow did not know where the restless feeling came from. Maybe it was due to the influence of the deep waters in this train car. The dangerous and gradually rising water always brought about the illusory feeling of peril to people.

    In order to let the man not voice something out again, Crow viciously stabbed ck cat again. ck cat fell on Crow, and the blood began to dye carriage No.3, causing the area around him to be colored entirely red.

    ¡°Ah Jian...¡± But ck cat still could not stop calling the name. He almost leaned on Crow¡¯s body and put his head on Crow¡¯s shoulder. He touched Crow¡¯s cheek with his hand. His fingers felt a little rough, and his hands were a little wet, but his palm was warm.

    But this warmth would disappearpletely in a few minutes, and ck cat would be a corpse floating on the water¡¯s surface in this carriage. He would never be able to go out again, and he would never be able to maintain this temperature. He would never be able to speak out again.

    Howmentable.

    Crow also started to feel fearful. He did not know what was wrong with him or why he had done such a cruel thing to this man. He caused the man to be sad, depressed, and in pain before he died.

    But Crow could not stop. He could not stop himself. He was like a wind-up doll, one that was eternally charged. Again and again, he created multiple wounds on ck cat, and now, he appeared just like the ck cat in carriage No.12.

    He stroked ck cat¡¯s head and allowed ck cat to lean on him.

    Afterwards, Crow gently kissed him and felt that ck cat¡¯s breath was gradually bing weak in his arms. The man, like a child, stubbornly grabbed onto Crow¡¯s clothes and forced himself to open his eyes to look at him.

    Blood had almost made the whole carriage be red, as if covered in a veil of gorgeous color. It made the whole carriage appear dazzlingly beautiful.

    ¡°Ah Jian...¡± ck cat called him again. This time, his breath was weaker. He could feel the agony of impending death, and that made the man who was originally strong weak. However, ck cat still held the strength to attract him. He still had such charm. When he looked at Crow, Crow could only look at him and could not move his eyes away from him.

    ¡°Ah Jian&#k2026;&#k2026; I will&#k2026;&#k2026; I will no longer be able to protect you&#k2026; ¡± ck cat trembled and touched Crow¡¯s cheek.

    In a low, weak voice, he said to Crow, ¡°I¡¯m afraid. I will also&#k2026;&#k2026; never be able to see you again&#k2026;&#k2026; and can never hug you&#k2026;¡±

    Crow did not speak. With his eyes wide, he gazed at him and suddenly noticed something strange. ck cat¡¯s eyes were turning red from the original dark grey. The red irises were beautiful, but this also caused him to receive a fright.

    ¡°What to do...... What can I do...¡± ck cat suddenly looked at Crow with a particrly sorrowful look. The colour in his pupils seemed to tell a secret, and in a panic, Crow was attracted to look at it.

    But ck cat soon began tough. He seemed to think of something. He reached for Crow¡¯s neck and leaned close to the back of his ear. At a distance almost face-to-face with him, Crow heard his voice ring from inches away:

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry...... Ah Jian, no matter where it is, I will be able to protect you...¡±

    The water in the carriage had already risen to his shoulders, and even an action like turning around had be difficult. Crow found that ck cat¡¯s eyes had notpletely turned red, but before that, ck cat had already shut his eyes forever.

    Before he could tell how he actually felt inwardly, Crow felt that his senses had be dull. He shed ck cat¡¯s stomach with a knife, reached in, and felt in it for a long time. Soon he found a metallic item. Then Crow left ck cat¡¯s body behind and swam towards the connecting door of carriage No.3.

    Don¡¯t panic. Soon...... I¡¯ll be out soon.

    As Crow swam, he constantly reminded himself this, but he could not stop feeling that his chest was extremely ufortable, just like someone had twisted a knife inside his heart. It felt as if some cruel fe had stabbed his heart and slowly sliced parts of it away. That pain almost drove Crow crazy. After that, the undting water blurred Crow¡¯s sight, but he did not know whether it was water...... or tears.

    Crow realized that he was crying, but he did not want to cry. His body took the liberty to act on his behalf. Crow just wanted to get out quickly, get out of this train car filled with water, leave, leave here!

    After that, Crow finally swam to the door to carriage No.3. The key in his hand was shaking. He could not tell if the key was shaking or if his hand was shaking. He tried to insert the key for a long time before he finally ced the key into the keyhole. Thereafter, using some strength, he opened the door to this carriage.

    The water pressure made it difficult to open the door. Fortunately, the door opened smoothly. Because carriage No.3 was filled with water, Crow was rushed into carriage No.2 as soon as he opened the door. Fortunately, Crow grasped the firm handle in time and closed the door with much difficulty against the flow of water.

    Miraculously, when the water rushed into carriage No.2, ck cat¡¯s body was not washed here along with it. ck cat was still quietly suspended in the water of carriage No.3. Crow could see him through the ss window on the connecting door. He looked very quiet, as if he was asleep. If not for the bloody water around his body......

    Even when he gotten to carriage No.2, Crow hesitantly stood in front of the connecting door to carriage No.3.

    Carriage No.2 was soaked by the blood from carriage No.3. Fortunately, there was not much water here, but the ground was wet. Crow stroked his chest. Now, he was the only one here.

    He went to the connecting door of carriage No.2. He had to take a look at the hint provided here. On the door was inscripted:

    [Do you think you are still alive?]

    Crow felt that inwardly, something within him stirred. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He needed to calm down and think about what he should do next. Only when he was alive could he achieve the final victory.

    But the question was, why waas there only such a simple sentence inscripted on carriage No.2?

    What does that mean?

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯re still alive?¡± Crow read it out, repeated it, and said with a sneer, ¡°Could it be that I¡¯m already dead?¡±

    Crow spoke to himself, and his voice echoed in the whole carriage No.2. This also showed that this carriage was extremely quiet; it was so quiet that his voice echoed.

    Crow looked around carriage No.2 and found that there was nothing here because it was an even-numbered carriage. There was nothing in this train car except for some bloody water on the ground that had rushed in from carriage No.3 moments ago.

    It was very clean and very quiet.

    Crow felt that he needed to look around. He first wandered around carriage No.2 and thereafter went to the toilet. Because he was soaked in water, it was necessary for Crow to tidy up his face and hair to maintain his hygiene.

    After that, Crow went to the crew¡¯s lounge in carriage No.2. He found a set of dry clothes, trousers, and even shoes hanging on the wall hook in the coat room. This garb was simr to what Crow wore, but it was dry. It felt much better than the sticky clothes Crow was wearing. Crow deliberated and decided to change entirely into the dry clothes provided, including his shoes.

    But after changing, Crow found a problem.

    This dress was not only simr to the garb he wore...... but it was exactly the same. On the chest area of the clothes, even the same name card was engraved there. On it, the English word Crow was engraved. It meant crow.

    Something was not right.

    Crow realized this, but he was powerless to resist it. He subconsciously searched through the clothes and found the key to carriage No.2 in the pocket of his pants. When he got the key, Crow grew to be more afraid.

    Something was not right!

    In the end, Crow took the key to open the door to carriage No.2. When he opened the door, the light in carriage No.1 hit him in the face, but the light looked so familiar. When he walked into carriage No.1, and the door to carriage No.2 naturally closed behind him. He turned back to look, but he could only see a cold iron gate.

    Carriage No.1 waas a dirty odd-numbered carriage. There were all kinds of snack bags, fruit peels, paper scraps, shells of melon seeds, all kinds of lunch boxes and instant noodles, and half empty beverage cans on the table. Small bags and clothes were strewn all about the sofa seats. The overhead luggage rack was full ofrge and small luggages.

    This scene looked extremely familiar yet so foreign.

    Crow walked on slowly as he stepped on the unclean floor. He noticed that in every train car, on the wall near the connecting door, there was a small numbered sign indicating the carriage number.

    So Crow naturally raised his head and looked upwards. He took a nce at the carriage number.

    The sign said 13.

    Crow took a deep breath. He almost trembled. He walked forward quickly but seemed to bump into something, and that made him stagger. He turned his head and found a man lying on the sofa seat beside him.

    Crow stopped for a moment and looked at the man. He saw him lying on the sofa, gently breathing. He was asleep and had yet to awaken. Also, he was alive.

    ¡°Owl¡ª¡± Crow whispered. He looked at the man lying peacefully on the sofa, wearing clothes simr to Crow. The name card engraved on his clothes was also familiar. It was a three-letter word¡ªowl.

    And yet, how magical it was...... and how scary it was to see him.

    T/N: Not sure if everybody caught the cues and the hint given throughout this arc...but I believe most of you would have gotten it after reading most of the chapters in this arc. Does this arc pose more questions for you guys, or has it answered some of your doubts?

    Countdown: 1

 Chapter 131 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXIV)

    <h4>Chapter 131 - Escaping from Arcanum Train (XXIV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    In this world, there would always be some things, some pathways, that would always return to the origin and start everything from the beginning regardless of how many times it repeated. No matter how angry and unwilling you were, no matter how hard you struggled, everything would return to the original point again and endlessly mock you.

    Crow lowered his head and sat beside Owl, looking at him. When Owl was sleeping, he appeared very peaceful. His hands were crossed and ovepped, ced on his chest. His appearance always reminded Crow of...... the sitting posture when he died.

    Crow sighed. He lowered his head and approached Owl. To his surprise, Crow suddenly found a ck cross hanging from his cor.

    This pendant...... Crow frowned. He did not remember when the pendant was hung on his neck. How could it appear here?

    The ck cross pendant reminded Crow of some unpleasant memories. He closed his eyes, opened them again, and reached for Owl¡¯s neck. Now, Owl was truly alive, and he could feel his warmth and his pulse. How incredible and beautiful.

    Then, catching Crow off guard, Owl suddenly opened his eyes. With his eyes wide open, he gazed at Crow and seemed to be unsurprised that Crow would appear here. His expression containedplex emotions, and as he reached out to touch Crow¡¯s cheek, he said: ¡°You are here again. How many times is this?¡±

    Crow, with a smile that truly looked like he was crying, replied, ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to continue?¡± Owl said with an extremely gentle tone: ¡°No matter how many times it repeats.¡±

    ¡°I have to get out of this train,¡± Crow said, and he took out the note he had been carrying with him from his pocket, the paper with purple printed patterns. On the back of the note, there was actually a line of words cleanly written with ink pen:

    [You are the master of this chamber. When you leave here, your friends will then be able toe back to life.]

    ¡°Why me, why me...¡± Crow¡¯s hand, which held the note, kept shaking. At first, he did not understand what this sentence meant. It was not until he came to this enclosed carriage again and again, starting the endless cycle in carriage No.13 and realizing that he could never really reach the so-called carriage No. 1 that he realized it was just like a curse.

    Again and again, he kept forgetting and remembering. He was trapped in this cage made up of memories. As long as he slept and woke up in carriage No.13, he would forget all the previous memories again, and then he would set off on the journey again. Because of some terrifying reasons, because of his persistence, he started to kill people, and he could not even stop himself.

    ¡°But why me!¡± Crow covered his cheeks with his hands and felt greatly panicked, helpless, and at a loss. He needed to run crazily to relieve himself of all this, but the train car was so narrow that he could not even give his all and run as hard as he wanted.

    He could only go through this over and over again...... repeatedly.

    ¡°You¡¯re always afraid, and you¡¯re always regretting. That¡¯s probably why the cycle is constantly circting.¡± When Owl sat up, he touched his neck: ¡°And I am always wandering between life and death...... Everyone on this train is caught in this cycle, and it¡¯s obvious that you¡¯re the only one who canplete this journey.¡±

    ¡°Will this cycle end as long as I die?¡± Crow said.

    ¡°You forgot&#k2026;¡± But Owl shook his head: ¡°You said that before, but in the end you still came back.¡±

    ¡°And after that I¡¯ll kill you over and over again and kill everyone?¡± Crow¡¯s voice got a little louder, and he had obviously lost control of his emotions.

    Owl lowered his head slightly, and his eyes were gentle: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Luo Jian&#k2014;¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry...¡± Owl said as he reached out and took Crow¡¯s hand, trying to calm him down. Owl¡¯s palm was very warm, very warm, and that was the perfect temperature a human should have.

    Crow felt his heart tremble. He could not help but shed tears. Soon, tears had wet his entire face and his clothes. He felt extremely terrified; no matter where he went, these things would repeat again and again regardless of how many times he tried to change them.

    ¡°I¡¯m so tired. I don¡¯t want to continue,¡± Crow said as he clenched Owl¡¯s hand. They sped hands as if making a certain oath, solemn and serious. But Crow still thought of giving up; he wanted to just sit here to quietly wait. No matter what force drove him forward, Crow was not willing to move again.

    ¡°Then change all this,¡± Owl said.

    ¡°What you say sounds pleasant to the ears,¡± Crow said bitterly: ¡°I don¡¯t know how many times I¡¯ve tried.¡±

    ¡°No...... It¡¯s not the same this time, Luo Jian.¡± Owl said that as he reached out and touched Crow¡¯s neck. The ouroboros mark was so obvious on Crow¡¯s neck. Although It was behind his ear, slightly blocked by his hair, it could be seen clearly.

    ¡°One among us has broken out of the cycle,¡± Owl suddenly said to Crow, ¡°It may just be for a moment, but he has gotten his own abilities back. He has created an opportunity for you. You have to take this opportunity...... Luo Jian.¡±

    Crow paused for a moment and subconsciously touched his neck. He touched the little protruding piece of his skin, the ouroboros mark.

    This was where ck cat had bitten his neck before he died.

    ¡°But what¡¯s the use of this?¡± Crow could not think of the significance of this mark. It just felt a little hot. What kind of opportunities could it bring to Crow? Crow could not understand.

    ¡°Luo Jian, do you have a knife?¡± Owl did not answer the question and suddenly asked Crow.

    Crow reached for the fruit knife on his body. He did not throw it away and carried it with him all the time. Owl, of course, took the knife from his hand and said to Crow, ¡°Come closer...... we don¡¯t have much time, though we don¡¯t know if it will seed.¡±

    Crow leaned over, and then Owl caught Crow off guard by inching toward his neck unexpectedly. Then, he shed his mark! But at that moment, Crow instinctively dodged for some reason. It was as if some sort of force had forced him to dodge it. One must know that when Owl came over with the knife, Crow did not want to evade it at all.

    However, although Crow dodged a little, the fruit knife still made a shallow mark on his neck that directly shed the round mark and divided it into two.

    Beads of blood oozed out of the ouroboros mark.

    Crow suddenly felt his body grow light, and wind blew into the enclosed carriage. Wind from somewhere gently brushed Crow¡¯s cheek and tousled his hair. He was surprised because he found that he was disappearing. His body suddenly changed from something substantial to energy, bing something like particles, and gradually dissipated in the air.

    ¡°The stalker¡¯s power is space. He can open a space door for you.¡±

    Owl looked at him with a faint smile: ¡°But it can only let you out, and I don¡¯t know where this door will bring you.¡±

    Crow...... no, Luo Jian suddenly panicked. He grabbed Owl in fear and almost lost his voice: ¡°I¡¯m leaving...... What about all of you?¡±

    Feng YuLan did not speak and merely looked at Luo Jian this way with a bitter smile on his face.

    Feng YuLan said: ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen to us. Maybe we will stay on this train and experience the endless cycle...... Luo Jian, I don¡¯t know if I can go out or stay here to repeat this endless cycle until the end of the world!¡±

    ¡°No¡ª!¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly began to cry. His body was dissipating, and his tears were also turning into beautiful particles. Those damned, disgusting lights blurred his vision. He tried to clearly see Feng YuLan¡¯s appearance, but the other party gradually became blurred in his sight¡ª

    He shook his head reluctantly and regained his determination. He tried to hold Feng YuLan¡¯s hand again. Although most of his hands had already dissipated, he still could not stop himself from doing it. He roared loudly, as if to dere how determined he is. He said in a loud voice: ¡°I will not give up! Ah Lan! I¡¯m not going to give up¡ªand let you meet your end this way! I will never be reconciled! I will never admit my loss! I will be angry and regret my behavior forever! So, Ah Lan, you have to wait for me! I will definitelye back to you!¡±

    Feng YuLan was also crying, but he was alsoughing. He said to Luo Jian: ¡°I know... I know. With your words, I am already satisfied! Luo Jian, I¡¯ll be waiting for you here. Luo Jian¡ªthroughout my whole life, you are my best friend...... thank you.¡±

    Me too...... I¡¯m very thankful to each and everyone.

    Luo Jian did not know if he was able to say this, or whether it had transcended to the other party¡¯s ears or heart. The people he loved and the people he valued would eternally morph into his strength. No matter where he went or what he did in the future, as long as he thought of all these things, he would never stop moving forward.

    Don¡¯t give up. Just think of the people who have given their lives for you. Never give up again.

    Luo Jian closed his eyes. His world became dark, and he felt like he became a breeze and began to drift aimlessly, unknowing where the wind would send him. Perhaps to a new beginning or perhaps to meet a tragic end.

    But no matter what the oue is, Luo Jian also firmly believed that...... everything would only get better.

    Feng YuLan watched Luo Jian disappear in front of him. He looked at the knife in his hand, sighed, and casually put it on the table.

    ¡°What will happen next?¡±

    Feng YuLan started to talk to himself. He did not know what this chamber that was infinitely repeated would be like without Luo Jian, but in fact, the cycle was still in cirction. Maybe the secret chamber would modify the script and let Feng YuLan experience this new script instead of Luo Jian.

    He did not know whether it was his delusion, but Feng YuLan felt his ears had gotten a little hot.

    He instinctively reached up and touched his ears. He was wearing ck ear studs in his ear, and they were mystifying objects. Feng YuLan could not recall where the ear studs came from or how they were worn on his ears.

    It was these studs that were heating up.

    Feng YuLan took off the studs and put them in his palm. He saw that the ck ear studs, which had looked rather ordinary, shone with a strange light. And they were also getting hotter and hotter. Feng YuLan shook his hand and dropped the ear studs to the ground.

    Then, something magical happened; the ear studs suddenly...... became like Luo Jian, who had turned into particles and dispersed around moments ago.

    Like a great miracle urring, the particles scattered, but within a second they began to gather again.

    The aggregated particlesbined to form a person.

    One with an extremely big red umbre. The short kid looked only to be about ten years old.

    The child had a pair of dark eyelids. He looked left and right as if he was observing where he was. After seeing Feng YuLan, he bared his teeth and smiled. After that, his entire person jumped over and hugged Ah Lan¡¯s head.

    Feng YuLan blinked. He felt confused, but he could not help but show a smile.

    T/N: Countdown: 0

    If you guys have any doubts or felt anything unanswered in this arc & the previous arc, it¡¯d all be answered in due time in subsequent arcs! :3

 Chapter 132 - Crimson Asura Realm (I)

    <h4>Chapter 132 - Crimson Asura Realm (I)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    The universe has countless time and spatial points, tens of thousands of them, and they are unimaginable, huge, and unpredictable. Some scientists once imed that the universe is made up of small boxes; one box is covered over another box, and there are countless and endless more boxes in that box.

    You could also create a box with your hands, such as drawing a picture, writing an article, making an animation, or making a movie. But you would not know whether your works would form a small world in a certain space and time, with the characters and backgrounds you created bing the reality in that small world.

    In this way, the people in the box created more boxes in the box. You could not know whether there would be more worlds outside your world, spanning countless spatial points and time points in a higher dimension or realm than you would never be able to reach even if you jump out of the stars, across the gxy, or even return to the past or future.

    But you are still in this world, and you cannot leap into another world.

    However, let¡¯s make an assumption.

    If it just so happened that one day, you broke out of this limitation, got out of the circle, got rid of the restriction of boxes and ignored thews of nature! You started to feel free and unrestrained. You were free to cross over space and time. You could go anywhere you imagined, anywhere you have seen. Your mind was no longer bound. Your soul was allowed to fly around wildly, and you became surprisingly crazy.

    But you suddenly felt bored again.

    Because when you ran forward crazily, when you were able to jump out of the universe freely, you found that you were unable to be epted by any universe or any box. You had no ce you could belong to, and you could only wander around just like a ghost in the wilderness.

    You were lonely and flustered. Because you stayed in the dark all the time, you began to worry incessantly. No matter where you went, your shadows or your footprints could never be seen. You could exist in different worlds at the same time, but you seemed to disappearpletely in each world.

    There were no traces of your presence anywhere you went.

    Ah! In that case.

    Why don¡¯t you create a world where only you existed, you controlled the world, and you could freely stipte the rules andws of the world; you put in water, you put in nts, you put in air, you let life go on, you turned back time, and soon after, you became the world¡¯s¡ª

    God.

    Red...... grass?

    Luo Jian opened his eyes and found himself lying on a patch of grass. In front of him was a de of grass that was as red as blood. He stared at the de of grass for a very long time, until his eyes had almost stiffened up. Then he tried to move his body but soon found that his body had stiffened up.

    What was going on?

    Luo Jian blinked his eyes reluctantly. He realized that he was lying on the ground. He could hardly move his body. The only thing he could control was his breathing and his eyelids. Because his head could not move, his sight was set on a small piece ofnd. There were only a few dying weeds growing in the hard soil.

    For a while, Luo Jian did not understand what had happened. His memory was full of nks, some parts were lost, and he could not connect some events that had happened. Sometimes, he felt that he was still sleeping in his uncle¡¯s old home. At that time, he went to find his parents whom he had not seen for many years for some reasons...... What was the reason?

    Oh right, what about Ah Lan? What about Feng YuLan?

    Luo Jian felt that he had seen his best friend, who had been with him from his childhood to his adulthood, but when did he see him? At this moment, Luo Jian could not remember that because his body was extremely stiff. He wanted to use a little strength, but his body seemed to be dead, and his limbs were numb.

    Because even his mouth was numb, he could not even open his mouth to utter a sound.

    Luo Jian could only lie there. He opened his eyes and looked at that de of grass, which appeared golden due to the sunlight sttered on it. He thought that it should be dusk now. Only during dusk would the sunlight look so bloody red.

    Luo Jian did not know if anyone would find him here. He might be lying on some grass in the wild because he did not hear people talking nearby. It was so quiet that even the sound of insects and birds seemed miniscule.

    Luo Jian could only lie down while waiting silently, hoping that the feeling in his limbs would return a little sooner.

    After a while, Luo Jian closed his eyes. For a moment, he seemed to have lost consciousness. Shortly after that, he fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was still lying on the soil, and his body was still stiff and unable to move.

    What was going on? How long had it been?

    Luo Jian did not know how long he had been sleeping, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the grass shining under the bloody red light. This showed that the time had remained stagnant. It was still dusk now.

    How strange. Why was that so? Luo Jian clearly felt that he had been sleeping for a long time. He thought it would be dark when he woke up. Or was it a misconception made by his consciousness?

    However, as time went by, the red de of grass in front of Luo Jian was still red, and the blood red light still relentingly shone on it, and there were almost zero changes in the light and shadow. After waiting for a long time, Luo Jian suddenly realized that...... No, rather, it should be that he suddenly discovered something terrifying.

    In this strange ce, it would always be at dusk, and there would be almost no changes in the weather. At least, judging from Luo Jian¡¯s intuitive feeling, it was always dusk all the time.

    Was there such a ce in the world that was always at dusk?

    Luo Jian thought instinctively. His confused brain could hardly remind him of anything meaningful, and his weak body could not support movements. Luo Jian could only lie down on the spot helplessly as he waited for someone to spot him, topassionately help him up.

    However, Luo Jian remained in the lying position for a very long time. He did not know how long it had been. He just felt that his stomach was very hungry, and his mouth was dry. Hunger and thirst tormented his nerves and stomach. He knew he needed water; he needed to drink water!

    Human beings could live for a week without eating, but they could not live for three days without drinking water.

    But poor Luo Jian tried for a long time and still could not move himself at all...... He could not even move a finger.

    Heavens! I¡¯m not going to die of thirst, am I?

    Luo Jian miserably quipped inwardly. As his fear began to gradually grow, the surroundings remained quiet while the sound of birds singing became softer and softer. He could hardly hear anything. This ce was too quiet; it was so quiet he felt something was wrong.

    Will I die here?

    Luo Jian was lying on the ground as he thought about this. After deliberating about it for a long time, he found that the de of red grass was still in front of him. It seemed that the grass was going to die soon, but yet, it felt that it stubbornly and staunchly remained there.

    At this moment, Luo Jian suddenly heard a new sound! A new sound resounded in this quiet world! Luo Jian also quickly recognized that it was the sound of footsteps, a sound made by something stepping on the ground!

    But the creature walked very slowly and carefully, which was why his footsteps sounded very soft. It walked slowly and took its time. Because Luo Jian had been lying here for too long and was not able to move or see anything, his senses were all concentrated on his ears. Moreover, half his face was turned to the ground while his ear was also stuck on the ground. Otherwise, Luo Jian may not have heard this quiet footstep.

    Something wasing. Luo Jian heard the footsteps getting closer and closer. As he listened, he suddenly realized that it was not the sound of human footsteps; it was more like the footsteps of some kind of beast...... Something like a wolf...... In any case, it was some creatures walking on four legs. And it was walking very slowly and slowly approaching Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian inwardly felt a bad premonition, and this premonition soon came true; the creature came to Luo Jian¡¯s side. Luo Jian could not see him because he was lying on his back. His face was to the side, and with one side of his face on the ground, his line of sight was somewhat narrowed.

    He knew that creature was very huge because Luo Jian can see the shadow covering his body and feel the heat emanating from this creature and its slightly heavy breath. It seemed to be observing Luo Jian¡¯s state to determine whether he was alive or dead.

    Luo Jian was nervous and felt his heart beat, disorderly and erratically.

    Shortly after, the creature seemed to stretch out its ws and press them against Luo Jian¡¯s back. Although Luo Jian could not move, his senses were very sharp. He felt that it was a furry w. The fur of it was very soft, but the w was also very sharp. The press of its ws on Luo Jian¡¯s back made his back a little cold.

    The creature seemed to be testing him with his ws. It patted its ws on his back. This kind of behavior seemed ridiculous, but for some reason, he felt that something would happen, something horrifying.

    indeed! The strange creature seemed to feel that Luo Jian was not a threat to it. Luo Jian felt that it seemed to lower its head because he could more clearly feel the other party¡¯s harsh breath and the rumbling sound, which sounded out from its throat and only wild animals made, and he started to break out into cold sweat! He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder!

    What the f*ck! The beast is biting me!

    Inwardly, Luo Jian was scared out of his wits. He tried to urge himself to quickly react, but his body was not reacting and would not obey his orders at all. No matter how loudly he was screaming in his heart, his body was not able to respond; even the severe pain could not urge Luo Jian to move.

    What scared Luo Jian the most was what was going to ur next!

    This terrifying creature did not seem to be just biting Luo Jian. It was eating him!

    Luo Jian could feel the pain clearly. The beast bit on his shoulder and tore off arge chunk of his flesh. Luo Jian could hear the sound of the beast chewing on his shoulder, and this terrified him, causing him to feel a bout of dizziness.

    Will I be eaten alive?!

    Luo Jian could not imagine that. He wanted to scream, but his body was so weak that he was unable to open his mouth!

    At this time, the beast seemed to be uninterested in the flesh located on Luo Jian¡¯s thin arm. It held out its ws, pressed Luo Jian down, and turned him over entirely first. Luo Jian was unable to move, so he flipped over unwittingly. At this time, he could finally see this strange world with his face up to the sky.

    T/N: UDFGBDKLGNKD! MOVE LJ¡¯S BODY, MOVE!!

 Chapter 133 - Crimson Asura Realm (II)

    <h4>Chapter 133 - Crimson Asura Realm (II)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    There was a red sun hanging in the sky.

    It was the kind of thing that could only be seen directly when the sun was setting...... a blood-red sun.

    The sun almost dyed the surrounding sky and clouds a bloody red. The sunlight was sttered from a high point onto the earth, prating through mountains and forests and colouring everything that could be seen in Luo Jian¡¯s sight, including the beast in front of him¡ªno, it was a monster.

    This was a huge monster, having the outer appearance of a wolf. It had sharp teeth and ws, but its stature was too big. Have you ever seen a wolf bigger than a bear? There was one in front of Luo Jian.

    The wolf¡¯s fur was dark grey, but it was also stered with ayer of red under the blood-red setting sun. Its eyes were also red. Its vertical pupil, much like a typical beast, showed no emotions. It merely looked at Luo Jian hungrily.

    Its mouth and hair were dripping with Luo Jian¡¯s blood. This damned monster was extremely hungry, and it had been too long since itst had a meal, so when it saw Luo Jian lying on the ground, it disregarded whether Luo Jian was dead or alive. If what was in front of him was ptable, it would consume it.

    Luo Jian did not want to be devoured alive, but he was helpless as well because his body was not putting in an effort; he still remained immobile no matter how Luo Jian pressured his nerves inwardly. He roared ¡ªMove! Move it!

    Luo Jian still did not move. His body seemed to be disconnected from his soul, and he could notmand his body at all. He could only lie there helplessly and in pain. A piece of meat had been bitten off his shoulder by the monster, but the monster would not leave him just like that. It would continue to open its mouth and eat Luo Jian, mouthful by mouthful, and send the parts of him into its stomach!

    He was in an indescribably terrible situation!

    Luo Jian was staring at the huge wolf, whose sharp white teeth were also dripping with blood, and it smelled disgusting when it came close. The monster was sniffing Luo Jian with his nose, as if he was trying to figure out where to put its mouth down. Also, the wolf was obviously interested in Luo Jian¡¯s head. To be exact, it was interested in Luo Jian¡¯s eyes, which were wide open, and his eyeballs that would asionally move slightly.

    The wolf sniffed Luo Jian¡¯s head and even licked his face with its rough tongue. Its sticky, wet, and smelly saliva moistened the entirety of Luo Jian¡¯s face. At that moment, Luo Jian was disgusted. He felt his whole body shake. Even the severe pain by his shoulder and arm could not make him ignore the strong nauseous feeling!

    However, it seemed that because of his nausea, Luo Jian suddenly felt that his body was regaining consciousness!

    The cells of his whole body seemed to be active at this moment, the muscles all over his body seemed to be twitching, and the pain of being bitten on his shoulder became more intense! But Luo Jian found that he could move, and his bones seemed to creak! When the disgusting wolf opened its mouth to bite off Luo Jian¡¯s head, he could finally reach out and smash his fist on the wolf¡¯s chin!

    But the wolf¡¯s bones were very hard. When Luo Jian¡¯s fist met its chin, his hand felt awfully painful instead. The wolf merely shook its head as it stared at Luo Jian, seemingly puzzled. Why did the food that was lying down moments ago suddenly jump up and hit it?

    But the wolf did not have the IQ to think so much. Since the food that had already been sent to its mouth wanted to escape, it would kill him and continue to eat him.

    Therefore, the huge wolf gazed at Luo Jian for a second and suddenly jumped up hurriedly and rushed towards him. When wolves attack their prey, they would first bite the prey¡¯s neck, therefore, this wolf¡¯s target was also Luo Jian¡¯s neck.

    Luo Jian focused his attention on the huge and ferocious mouth and ws of the wolf. What he thought at that moment was not to run away but to fight back, but he had no weapons in his hands.

    Where¡¯s my weapon? My weapon¡ªAfter Luo Jian thought about it inwardly, in the next second, a short knife appeared in his hand. Just as the wolf was about to chomp on Luo Jian¡¯s head, Luo Jian waved his short knife, and the knife stabbed into the wolf¡¯s neck instead.

    After exchanging several moves, the battle was over, and Luo Jian was victorious. After targeting the wolf¡¯s neck and head, Luo Jian stabbed it several times before being able to kill itpletely. He was surprised that the wolf was so adamant in clinging onto its life, but what Luo Jian didn¡¯t understand was...... Why did he dare to face such a huge and strange creature and even keep his calm in order to be victorious against it?

    ¡°Who was I previously? What happened?¡± Luo Jian squatted next to the body of the giant wolf in a trance. In fact, his memories were now in chaos, and he could hardly remember anything. He could only remember that he seemed to be an ordinary sryman. He had gone to find his parents, who he had not seen for ages. His parents were at his uncle¡¯s house, so he temporarily decided to live at his uncle¡¯s house......

    And after that? What had happened after that?

    Luo Jian raised his head nkly and gazed at what was around him. He began to look around and observe the surrounding environment.

    This appeared to be a valley surrounded by cliffs, and the cliffs formed a circr arrangement, encircling the valley. And this valley was extremely huge. At first nce, it could be seen that there was lush forestry towards the bottom of the valley. Luo Jian was now at the edge of the valley. He was standing on a huge rock that protruded out in the middle of a cliff, and underneath the rock was a patch of forest.

    Luo Jian felt that this bizarre terrain was simply indescribable because the cliffs surrounding the valley appeared like peaks that ascended into the clouds. When Luo Jian raised his head, he felt like a frog sitting in a well that was gazing into the sky. It gave him the feeling that he would not be able to jump out of it even if he wanted to.

    Luo Jian gazed at the sky in silence momentarily, but the sharp pain on his shoulder pulled him back to his senses. He lowered his head to look at his shoulder that was bitten by the damned wolf. When he felt the pain due to his flesh wound, he frowned slightly. The wound created by the wolf was too deep. His bones were exposed, and blood was pouring out continuously. Luo Jian¡¯s entire arm was covered with blood.

    Luo Jian gnashed his teeth and pulled a piece of cloth from his clothes. He was now wearing a strange suit in dark greyish-blue, and it looked like a prison uniform. There was an embroidered name card on his chest, and on it was engraved a string of letters. However, the metal name card seemed to be rusty, causing the letters engraved on the card to be blurred; therefore, Luo Jian also did not pay heed to it.

    Luo Jian bandaged his wound with a cloth strip. It was very painful, so he bared his teeth in pain, but he did not stop moving. The wound on his shoulder was very serious, and it would be too risky to not deal with it. If it became infected, he would directly die.

    Now, no matter what happened next, Luo Jian must understand that he could not stay here any longer. He must move on through the forest, through the valley. He needed to find someone, to find a doctor, or to eat something or drink some water. In short, Luo Jian knew that he had to survive.

    But when he descended from the rock and entered the patch of forest beneath, after a few hours, he suddenly felt that his current predicament had turned for the worse.

    He had actually lost his way. When he entered the forest, he used a knife to carve a cross mark on the tree trunk to trace where he went. However, after walking for a long time and when his senses returned to him, he saw the big tree trunk with the cross mark again. Luo Jian felt his heart be slightly chilled.

    What the hell was this ce?!

    Luo Jian was thirsty and hungry. After walking in circles around the woods, he did not find any sources of water or even any living creatures. In front of Luo Jian, there was nothing else besides trees, and these trees looked very dry. The leaves were not luxuriant, but there were many branches. When he raised his head upwards, he could see dense tree branches and trunks on top of him.

    The soil was also very dry, and the ground was very hard. Luo Jian squatted on the ground and touched the dust with his hand. There waspletely no moisture to it. There were few weeds sparsely nted in the ground, not to mention the rare presence of insects. Luo Jian squatted there for a long time, and asionally there were only a few dry and shapeless leaves on the ground wafting by. To conclude, this patch of forest was very dested.

    The trees appeared to be no different from dying.

    Luo Jian squatted on the ground, feeling a little ufortable, and due to theck of water, his lips were very dry, so he picked a de of grass and sent it into his mouth to chew. Grass was everywhere, and it looked very safe. He assumed that it should not be poisonous. However, the grass leaves were also very dry. Luo Jian could not feel any moisture from them at all, so he had to spit out the dry leaves again.

    After that, Luo Jian wandered in the woods for a long time. He kept changing the direction he walked in, but he would return to the big tree with the cross mark every time. Luo Jian even tried to go back to the rock to find the gigantic wolf that had been stabbed by him. However, Luo Jian was frightened to find that when he saw where the rock was and walked in the direction of the rock, after regaining his senses, he was back at the side of the big tree with a cross mark.

    ¡°Do you have a grudge against me? Because I carved a mark on you?¡± Luo Jian could only stand beside the big tree and talk to himself.

    The tree did not answer him. It just stood there quietly. Its branches were very dense. Like other trees, it had few leaves. It was neither too tall nor too short. The trunk was a little thick and rough to the touch.

    Luo Jian stroked the tree trunk with his hand. He felt helpless because he could not find the way out. Already, he had been wandering inside the forest for hours, and the red sun was still hanging on the sky as blood-red sun rays spilled all over the world.

    Luo Jian stood beside the tree for an extremely long period, but he could not think of a way to get out of here. He could only sit beside the tree with his back towards it. Luo Jian felt a little tired. The wound on his shoulder was very painful, causing him to feel a little numb. Fortunately, the wound was no longer bleeding. Luo Jian closed his eyes and decided to have a good rest. Thereupon, he forced himself to enter a shallow sleep.

    But after sleeping for a long time, Luo Jian heard footsteps again.

    The sound of footsteps was as light and careful as ever, and it did not sound like a human¡¯s footsteps. Luo Jian¡¯s senses remained sharp. Soon, he was awakened by the footsteps. He turned his head and looked in the direction of the source of the sound. Then, Luo Jian¡¯s eyes widened in surprise!

    He saw the huge wolf again!

    The wolf stood in the bush not far from Luo Jian, turned its huge head, and stared at him with its scarlet eyes, appearing cold and murderous.

    It was the huge wolf! And it was definitely the one that Luo Jian stabbed previously because Luo Jian remembered that there is a tuft of white hair on the wolf¡¯s neck, and the white tuft was no different from the wolf he saw before!

    What was going on? Wasn¡¯t it dead?! Luo Jian jerked up nimbly and half-squatted on the ground as he drew his knife. Speaking of which, his weapon was very strange. He did not even know where he ced his weapon, but as long as he thought about it, the knife would appear out of thin air.

    But now, Luo Jian had no time to deliberate about this strange knife because the wolf once again pounced on him. Because of his hunger and fatigue, Luo Jian¡¯s physical response had be much more sluggish, and the current situation posed much trouble for Luo Jian if he had to face this wolf.

    However, Luo Jian still felt that this was an opportunity.

    At least if he killed this wolf, Luo Jian would have some wolf meat to eat and wolf blood to drink.

    T/N: <del>This chapter is unedited for now. As usual, I¡¯ll post the edited chapter soon~ </del>The edited chapter is uploaded now~

 Chapter 134 - Crimson Asura Realm (III)

    <h4>Chapter 134 - Crimson Asura Realm (III)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian managed to kill the wolf again. Although he had harvested the wolf¡¯s flesh and blood, he had another wound on his body. There was a sh on his chest from being scratched by the wolf¡¯s ws. The wound looked terrifying, but in fact, it was rtively shallow.

    Luo Jian was very hungry and thirsty. As soon as he stabbed the wolf to death, he could not wait to climb up on the carcass and suck the blood of the wolf. He was totally uncaring about the fishy taste and smell of it because he knew he had to quickly drink some water or else he would die of thirst before he died of hunger.

    Luo Jian filled most of his stomach with fresh blood, but in the end, he vomited a lot of it out as well because raw wolf blood was hard for him to drink. The fishy smell was too strong and too disgusting. However, in order to survive, Luo Jian still ingested a lot of blood.

    Thereafter, he cut several pieces of meat from the wolf with his knife. He could not drag the wolf away so he had to cut some pieces of raw meat that appeared rtively better. Luo Jian did not want to continue to stay in this strange forest to rot away, so he must find a way out. Even if he circled around the woods again and again, Luo Jian did not want to stop moving.

    So, after disposing of the wolf, Luo Jian took the meat, wrapped it in a piece of wolf skin, and moved forward. Previously, he had tried to walk around in many different directions. He tried walking towards the sun, with his back to the sun, walking to the left or to his right, but no matter where he walked, he would return to the tree with the cross mark.

    But this time, Luo Jian decided to try something else. He walked towards the sun again. Almost every step he took and every tree he saw, he would carve a cross on that tree. He wanted to see how he circled back to the side of the big tree again.

    But almost an hourter, after walking around while carving the cross marks, atst, he found that there was a series of big trees which had been engraved with cross marks. Luo Jian suddenly realized that he returned back to the same ce again. He saw the familiar tree again, and because he had seen this tree countless times, and the appearance of the tree was almost deeply imprinted in his mind.

    Luo Jian was a little discouraged and felt it was hopeless. He did not know how long he had spent in this forest. However, the red sun in the sky had hardly changed. It was still hanging there, and even its position had not changed.

    After looking at the sky for a long time, Luo Jian once again sat down, leaning against this familiar tree. But this time, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

    Oh right, what happened to the wolf¡¯s corpse?

    Luo Jian clearly remembered that he had killed the wolf and left the corpse at the side of the tree, but when he returned back here, the wolf was gone! He noticed that there was no blood on the grass where the wolf¡¯s corpse had been lying previously, and even the twigs and trunks damaged in the fight had reverted to how it appeared to be previously.

    What the hell was going on?!

    Luo Jian did not understand what happened at all. He looked at the location where he fought the wolf and, thereafter, looked at the wolf skin and wolf meat he was carrying. The wolf meat was still in good condition and was even dripping blood.

    Luo Jian stared at the meat for a long time. He felt a little hungry. He did not care where the wolf¡¯s body had gone. He decided to make a fire to roast the meat. Despite not having the tools to make a fire and there being nothing else on his body except his grey prison uniform, couldn¡¯t human beings create fire just using their two hands?

    So Luo Jian went around to pick up some wood, branches, dead leaves, and other misceneous things and piled them together. He sharpened the top of a wooden stick with a knife and tried to create a fire by drilling into a piece of wood. Because the wood looked dry, he felt that due to the heat, it should be easy to create a spark and ignite into mes.

    After grinding for a long time, Luo Jian finally created some sparks. The sparks shed among a pile of dead leaves and soon started to burn. Luo Jian put it in the middle of a pile of wood and branches and piled it all together. Soon, the fire burned and gave rise to bursts of green smoke.

    However, Luo Jian did not take the meat out to roast. Instead, he stared at the tiny me, and unknowingly, a lunatic idea rose in his mind.

    You see, Luo Jian had been trapped in this ursed forest for so long, and no matter what he did, he was not able to leave. If not because of these crazy trees, because there were too many trees that were densely packed together, just like a...... what was that, something akin to an eight-trigrams array? Luo Jian thought that if he was able to burn these trees, he might be able to go out, right?

    Although this idea was somewhat dangerous, Luo Jian could not help but want to try it. But now, he felt that it was not the right time to do so. He must first fill his stomach, so he took out the wolf meat, used some branches to skewer the meat, and barbecued it on the fire.

    The wolf¡¯s flesh was still dripping blood, but Luo Jian was so hungry that after roasting for quite some time, he felt that the meat had be tender and crispy. Luo Jian hastily sent the meat to his mouth and bit down on it, but he was immediately scalded and had to spit out the meat he had eaten. He spit the meat into his palm, and after blowing at it for a while, he brought it back to his mouth to gnaw on it.

    Wolf meat was not delicious. An apt description would be perhaps, it was simr to dog meat. However, perhaps because it was also not fully cooked, Luo Jian felt the meat had a lingering smell of blood, and that made him feel like vomiting after taking a few mouthfuls of it. But Luo Jian insisted on finishing it. If he did not eat now, what would he do when he did not have anything to eatter?

    To survive in the wilderness was not an easy thing to do.

    Luo Jian felt that it was necessary to stick to doing certain things. Even though the meat tasted so bad, he still forced himself to swallow the whole piece of wolf meat. The wolf meat was half raw, and when he bit down on it, blood would still spurt out, staining Luo Jian¡¯s face and hands with blood. After eating, because he wiped his mouth so much, his entire clothes became bloody.

    But somehow, his stomach was filled.

    Luo Jian sat on the ground and touched his stomach contentedly. He looked at the sky. Oh, how terrible! This ce had always been at dusk. Nothing much other than what he had already seen could be seen here. However, because Luo Jian was used to regr hours of work and rest, Luo Jian felt very tired now. He thought that he needed a long sleep to properly rest.

    He found a clean spot on the ground, spread some hay and leaves,id down, curled up, and fell asleep. His bed was not soft, and it should be said that he slept very ufortably, but because he was so tired, Luo Jian fell asleep very quickly. Probably because there was a fire nearby, Luo Jian did not worry about anything else. He piled a lot of firewood before he went to bed. Wild animals were afraid of fire, so he should not be attacked.

    Although the incident where the wolf came back alive and attacked Luo Jian moments ago caused him to remain fearful, he was very tired. He tried to keep his guard up even when he was asleep, although it was not an easy thing to do.

    After sleeping, he did not know how much time had psed.

    Luo Jian probably made the right choice when he made a fire because when the fire was still there, nothing really attacked him. But when the fire went out, his surroundings became strangely silent. Luo Jian became restless as he slept on the ground. He began to feel a little cold, so he opened his eyes and found that the fire had been extinguished.

    Luo Jian looked around for quite a while, but he didn¡¯t see any strange creatures. He lowered his head and added some wood to the fire because after the wood burned, the remnants of it became charcoal. These charcoals were still hot, so Luo Jian merely fanned some wind with his hand and felt that the fire would be reignited.

    Luo Jian did not want to continue fighting. Regardless of whether it was the dead wolf that came back to life or other things, if the fire could scare those things away, he didn¡¯t mind making a fire.

    But before the fire was reignited, the monster had approached. The monster looked familiar. After taking a nce at it, Luo Jian almost cried out. It was the huge wolf again! The monster looked exactly the same, and its neck was still tufted with the same white fur. And this time, the wolf seemed to have be wiser. It did not rush to attack but waited for Luo Jian to bend down and caught him off guard when he was making a fire.

    Luo Jian was almost bitten by it. Although he killed the wolf after jabbing it several times with his knife, he hadparatively more wounds on his body now, and the wounds were much more serious this time! Although the wolf did not bite Luo Jian¡¯s neck, a piece of flesh on his neck was still scraped away by its teeth, and blood immediately flowed out all over his body. Luo Jian covered his neck in a trance. He squatted down and leaned against the wolf who had died again.

    What was going on here?

    Luo Jian did not understand. He did not know how the wolf did it, but it was able toe back from the dead again and again and attack him again and again. Now, Luo Jian felt the wolf had be more and more intelligent, and it seemed to bepletely unafraid of death. No matter how many times Luo Jian stabbed it, it would alsoe back to find Luo Jian and get even with him.

    Other than the problem with the wolf, he also faced another problem¡ªhe was unable to get out of the forest. Also, he noticed that the red sun would never move. Luo Jian was staring at the sky in a daze again. He felt even more tired now, and that may have been due to excessive blood loss. He also felt dizzy.

    The wound on his neck was still bleeding, but Luo Jian had no strength to bandage himself.

    He should just die¡ª

    Luo Jian thought that to himself. He really wanted to give up and stop bothering with it; he felt a little desperate, and this entire ce made him despair. These withered trees, that red sun, and the wolf that repeatedly died and came back alive: all of these made him experience a deep sense of despair.

    So, Luo Jian closed his eyes, he decided not to move and sat down as he waited for his death.

    But after a while, he opened his eyes again, gritted his teeth, tore a piece of cloth from his sleeve, and tied the wound on his neck. Luo Jian stood up again. Although he was dizzy and tired, he suddenly felt that he could not die.

    I definitely must not die here.

    Regardless of what circumstances I face, I have to survive because there are people still waiting for me.

    T/N: ...This chapter reminds me of the movie, The Revenant, except that everything is covered in a red veil.

 Chapter 135 - Crimson Asura Realm (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 135 - Crimson Asura Realm (IV)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    After that, Luo Jian lost count of how many days he stayed in the forest. He could not even remember how many times he killed the wolf. He only knew that there was an increasing number of wounds on his body. He wanted to set fire to the forest, but the wolf revived faster and faster. And at the beginning, the wolf was afraid of the fire, but it was no longer afraid now.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t have time to set fire to the forest, and what he was more afraid of now was that if he lit a fire, would the wolf suddenly pop out again and drag him to die in the sea of fire?

    Because time was tight, Luo Jian could only circle around the woods. The wolf came back for him again and again. Already, he was sick of eating all the wolf meat...... No, he had long vomited it out. As time went by, Luo Jian found that his body was getting weaker. His injuries were bing more serious as well. In the beginning, he could easily kill the wolf, but now, upon seeing it, he could only choose to flee.

    Thest time the damned wolf came to him again, there was nothing he could do about it. His body had be extremely weak. When Luo Jian realized that he could not escape the wolf, after a moment¡¯s silence, he crafted a simple torch and began to light fires all around the forest.

    This patch of forest appeared withered, and with a little spark, it would easily go up in mes. In addition to the crisscross of dense branches and trunks and the withered leaves above him, the fire started to spread to every big tree in the forest; the big trees with cross marks carved by Luo Jian were gradually swallowed up by the fire.

    The wolf had fought with Luo Jian many times, and it was not as if Luo Jian had not tried to burn its fur directly with fire until it died due to severe burns. In the beginning, the wolf was afraid of fire. However, since Luo Jian had burned it alive once, it was not afraid of fire again. Even if Luo Jian burned it again, even if it was on fire, it would add several wounds to Luo Jian¡¯s body.

    Luo Jian had no other alternatives when dealing with the wolf. He heard that wolves were rather cunning and vengeful creatures, but he never dreamed that it would be that vengeful to such an extent. Also, it had a cheat-like revival speed¡ªLuo Jian had witnessed it. It was just like the time had flowed backward on its body. The wounds on its body would recover at a speed visible to the naked eye, regardless of how Luo Jian chopped it up or burned it into a pile of soot.

    The most important thing was that every time the wolf revived, it would return to its original state and be restored to its best mental state. However, Luo Jian could only drag his seriously injured body to avoid its pursuit and attacks. And this time, Luo Jian had a feeling that he might not be able to hold on.

    No matter how powerful Luo Jian was, he could not grind the wolf that could revive again and again into dust. Moreover, Luo Jian was not particrly in good condition now. He was unable to not sleep, eat, or drink while pushing himself to fight with the enemy for several days and nights.

    But this wolf would be able to aplish this with its crazy cheat-like revival skill, and it could endlessly create trouble for Luo Jian in this forest.

    It was not that Luo Jian had not tried. He tried to dig a deep pit and throw the wolf¡¯s body into it. In this way, it may not be able to climb out even when it was revived. However, it took a long time for him to dig the pit. Before Luo Jian finished digging his pit, the wolf had already got up.

    Of course, Luo Jian tried to tie the wolf up, but he did not have a rope. Maybe he could cut a few wooden stakes to nail the darn wolf to the ground, but to make matters worse, the wolf¡¯s strength was so strong that the stake was not able to pin him down. If there were stone stakes here, it might be worth a try, though.

    In any case, Luo Jian had used almost every method, but the one who was tired to death was himself. When Luo Jian had a foreboding that the gigantic wolf would attack him, Luo Jian knew that he could not escape. The wound on his shoulder, which was bitten by the wolf a few days ago, had not recovered, and even the flesh around it had begun to rot and turn ck, causing his arms to be weak and feeble.

    Luo Jian was now facing a desperate situation. The oppressive feeling telling him that he had to survive almost made him unable to lift his head. He made a crazy decision. Even if he might be buried in a sea of fire, he would still set fire to the forest. Then he found an empty plot ofnd, far away from the dense trees around him, and sat on the ground, waiting for the arrival of the wolf.

    The enemy arrived on time. However, this wolf may have been caught by some of the burning trees, and its body had started to burn. However, it was still very punctual and rushed to find Luo Jian. Luo Jian could not help but sigh at just how deeply vengeful this wolf was toward him!

    The wolf was about to be burned to its death again. Although it was on fire, it was still alive and kicking. When it rushed out of the fire, it pounced on Luo Jian! Just like a fire wolf!

    Luo Jian drew out his weapon and waited. In fact, he now had no strength to retreat and avoid its attack. When he saw the damned wolf rushing over, he thought......

    Ah! I may lose my life here.

    The fiery wolf lunged forward and bit Luo Jian¡¯s neck. The huge force of the impact made one man and one wolf roll together, and both parties directly rolled into the burning forest. The pain of being bitten on the neck and the feeling of being burnt by the fire were particrly clear. At that moment, Luo Jian did not even think of death. Even at thest moment before death, he tried to hinder the wolf, to push it to perish together with him.

    Then, Luo Jian rose back to life.

    Luo Jian was revived in a forest that had been turned into scorched ground, where he had died, where he had woken up. Even when he woke up, he felt a little surprised because he really felt that he would have died for a long time and that his soul might have been able to float to hell or heaven.

    However, he did not. Luo Jian did not see the soul emissary¡ªthe devils, bull¡¯s head, or horse face. His death only made him feel like he had a peaceful and tranquil short nap. Everything was but for a moment even though the pain he had felt before his death was etched into his heart.

    When he woke up, the fire in the forest had even died down. And the wolf was gone. Luo Jian was alone here with his clothes burned into soot. So, he stood there naked, cutting in a sorry figure and covering his crotch.

    ¡°So I¡¯m able to revive too?¡± Luo Jian squatted on the ground and talked to himself. His revival made him aware of some things¡ªthis strange world, the red sun that hung in the same position in the sky, the dry and withered woods, and the towering cliffs that almost surrounded the skies and the ground. These cliffs blocked the valley, and this became much like a secret chamber.

    Luo Jian was stunned for a while. He stood up and prepared to find something to hide his shame. But when he got up, he found that his clothes had also ¡®revived¡¯! It just appeared out of thin air and recovered instantly. Even the gap that was created when Luo Jian had torn a strip from his clothes to wrap his wound up was restored!

    ¡°Can clothes be restored?¡± Luo Jian looked at his dark grey and blue prison uniform. After thinking about it, he took a look at the trees around him: ¡°If the clothes can be restored, then it should also pose no problem for this forest to recover.¡±

    Because of therge area of burn marks, the recovery of the forest may be slower. But it did not matter because now, all the trees blocking Luo Jian¡¯s way were burnedpletely, and what he could see became broader! Because this patch of forest was not really big, and it was at least much smaller than the lush and dense forest in front of him.

    There was also a stream flowing between the big forest and the small forest. Standing in Luo Jian¡¯s position, one could see the water reflecting the light of the red sun, causing the water in the stream to look a blood-red color, much like bloody water.

    Luo Jian ran towards the stream. It seemed that it was not far away, but there was still a certain distance to cover. However, he soon ran out of that patch of forest. The forest that kept him circling around could no longer stop him from moving ahead, and as for the troublesome wolf that always sought trouble with him, oh! To the hell with it!

    Luo Jian¡¯s mood suddenly became a little more cheerful.

    Luo Jian ran to the side of the stream. The stream was not wide, and there was not much water flowing in it. The deepest parts of the water merely covered the lower portion of Luo Jian¡¯s leg. Luo Jian first washed his face, and such a refreshing and cool feeling remained fresh in his memories. The water also resolved Luo Jian¡¯s lingering thirst and moistened his dry lips.

    The only thing that Luo Jian felt a little regretful about was that there was not even one fish in the stream, which was so clear he could see the bottom.

    After that, Luo Jian abandoned the stream and began to rush forward into the forest. Because he did not know where he should head, he nned to head toward somewhere closer to the water source. When he came to a rtively open grasnd, he suddenly found that there were two...... monster-like people fighting!

    There were two monsters fighting!

    Luo Jian thought that his brain may not be able to ept so much hard-to-digest information for a moment. However, it may have been because of the wolf who had constantly revived and sought trouble with him again and again, but Luo Jian was expressionless now. He squatted quietly in the grass and began to pay attention to the two monsters who were fighting.

    These two monsters were quite advanced. One was a moving, human skeleton. Moreover, it was still wearing the soldier¡¯s armor of the Warring States period and holding a long spear in its hand. And when it swung the spear, it looked particrly imposing. If not for what was under its helmet, a bony face with empty eye sockets, Luo Jian would think that this fool was definitely an ancient general previously.

    The other monster was more like a mythical monster, with a human¡¯s face but a snake¡¯s body, or rather, a monster with a snake¡¯s brain but a human¡¯s face. The face was particrly terrifying, having slender eyes, teeth akin to a poisonous snake, and green skin.

    The two monsters fought soundlessly. The skeleton was not expected to speak, and the monster with the snake body and snake head merely spit out sounds it wanted to convey from time to time. Its tongue was very long, and it had the forked tongue of snakes.

    Then, Luo Jian squatted there for a long time while the two monsters fought there for a while. Luo Jian got a little impatient when he found that the way they fought felt like they were ying tricks on each other. They were merely exchanging moves. There was no such atmosphere where the two parties could not coexist and one must die.

    After watching their fight, Luo Jian frowned. Inwardly, he could not help but start to think, Where the hell is this ce?

    After watching for a long while, Luo Jian got impatient and decided to bypass the two weird fes and move on. But just as he gave up and was preparing to leave, the two monsters in front of him stopped suddenly. The snake head guy actually opened its mouth and spoke standard Mandarin.

    ¡°The one who has been squatting over there, are you new?¡±

    Luo Jian was surprised by the implied meaning behind this sentence. He could not help but stand up. Although neither of them were human and they appeared to be rather rugged, this was the first time that Luo Jian met a creature who was able tomunicate with him in this damned ce.

    So Luo Jian asked, ¡°Do you know where this is?¡±

    The monster with the snake head and body tilted the tip of its tail. It seemed to turn its head and wasmunicating with the skeleton momentarily. The skeleton could not speak. The skeleton used its hand to gesticte. Then the monster with the snake head and body said, ¡°Indeed, you¡¯re new to this ce, hiss...... I haven¡¯t seen a person new to here for a long time.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by person new to here?¡± Luo Jian did not know what he meant, so he was nervous and urgently required someone to tell him something. He wanted to know where he was.

    ¡°Hiss...... Neer, wee to Asura Realm¡ªthis is Crimson Asura Realm, a secret chamber created by yers,¡± the monster with the head of a snake exined to Luo Jian. The monster could not help speaking like a snake, which was why it always made strange sounds.

    However, the words said by the other party made Luo Jian feel at a loss. He became more confused as he asked, ¡°The secret chamber...? What is a secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°Hiss...... You¡¯re not kidding, are you? You¡¯re a newbie on top of being a neer? Why don¡¯t you even know what a secret chamber is?¡± The snake was also startled by Luo Jian, and it shook the tip of its tail suspiciously.

 Chapter 136 - Crimson Asura Realm (V)

    <h4>Chapter 136 - Crimson Asura Realm (V)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Previously, the two words ¡°secret chamber¡± had once caused Luo Jian to experience a headache whenever they shed through his mind.

    Luo Jian was convinced that someone was waiting for him, but his memories were so muddled that he could hardly remember anything. However, he also knew clearly in his heart that¡ªI must leave here as soon as possible!

    Leave this strange secret chamber, this ce called Crimson Asura Realm.

    ¡°Hiss, hiss...... I¡¯ve never known of anyone who could leave this darn ce except stalkers.¡± The snake-bodied monster interrupted Luo Jian¡¯s delusional thinking. He twisted his slender body and slowly slithered in front of Luo Jian. He scanned Luo Jian up and down and saw Luo Jian¡¯s dark and bright eyes.

    Then, the snake-bodied monster regretfully said, ¡°Obviously, you are not a stalker. You can¡¯t leave here.¡±

    ¡°Why was it that only stalkers can leave here...... What is a stalker?¡± Luo Jian could not understand this monster very well. He only felt his head aching badly. The word ¡®stalker¡¯ seemed to remind him of something, but when he tried to recall, his brain became very uncooperative.

    ¡°Heavens, hiss, hiss...!¡± The snake-headed monster marveled. He turned back to look at the man wearing armour behind him. The skeleton began to gesticte with his hands and feet again. After the snake-bodied monster understood what the skeleton said, he turned back to continue his conversation with Luo Jian again:

    ¡°You really make me feel that it¡¯s incredulous. You know, if you¡¯re just a newbie who doesn¡¯t know anything and just entered the secret chamber, you will never have the opportunity to enter this secret chamber, the Crimson Asura Realm.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a newbie.¡± Luo Jian shook his head: ¡°My head is aching badly now, and my memories are very muddled. I am probably suffering from amnesia.¡±

    ¡°That would fit your current predicament now.¡± The snake-bodied monster nodded and said, ¡°Come, neer,e with us. We will tell you what this ce is. To be honest, this secret chamber is very, very boring.¡±

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t know where he should be heading and what he should do now, so...... although the two fellows in front of him didn¡¯t resemble human beings, he would still follow them because he didn¡¯t think that they would hurt him. Of course, even if they did something unpleasant to him, Luo Jian would not be afraid as well.

    His fear had been banished by that hateful wolf.

    Luo Jian followed the two monsters to their old abode, and along the way, the snake-bodied man did not remain idle. He had been telling Luo Jian some basic information about the ce, and although this fellow had the appearance of a monster, he had a rather high IQ. He tried to use some words to stimte Luo Jian¡¯s memory. For example, he would say:

    ¡°Do you remember your name, hiss?¡± The snake-bodied monster swung the tip of his tail as he slithered forward. The tip of his snake tail was very cute and would always unconsciously attract Luo Jian¡¯s attention.

    Luo Jian could only stare at his wagging tail and reply, ¡°My name is Luo Jian.¡±

    ¡°Hiss...... Luo Jian. Well, I¡¯d like to introduce myself. My name is Ya¡¯an. Before having such a scary appearance, I was also a yer in the secret chamber...... and I was a living human being.¡± The snake-bodied monster¡ªno, he should be called Ya¡¯an now¡ªturned back to look at Luo Jian as he continued.

    ¡°With a mere nce, I know you¡¯re someone from Z country,¡± Ya¡¯an said.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you from Z country?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m from Y country, but I¡¯ve lived in Z country for a long time, and afterwards, somehow, I came in here,¡± Ya¡¯an answered Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian sized up the snake. His snake body was big, ck, very long, and slender, and he slithered in an S-curve as he moved. However, because there was a face on the snake¡¯s head, he also looked terrifying. His eyes were long and thin, much like the eyes of snakes, and his pupils appeared the same as the cold-looking irises of snakes.

    Other than his eyes, his mouth was also very wide. The corners of his mouth almost split to the top of his ears. When he spoke, he unconsciously spit out a long-forked tongue, and that would cause Ya¡¯an to hiss.

    Luo Jian looked at the frightening monster and frowned unconsciously: ¡°Were you really human back then?¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m human! Do you think I really want to look like this?¡± Ya¡¯an seemed to not be upset as he shook his tail. However, when this fe wagged his tail, his tail appeared really cute. Luo Jian had unconsciously been attracted to his tail constantly.

    Ya¡¯an seemed to have noticed where Luo Jian was focusing his attention on and continued to wag his tail triumphantly, saying: ¡°Almost everyone whoes to this secret chamber are losers.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you said this ce is called Crimson Asura Realm...... It¡¯s a secret chamber, isn¡¯t it?¡± Luo Jian suddenly questioned.

    ¡°Yes, this is of course a secret chamber...... hm? Hiss, hiss~ Did you recall something?¡± Ya¡¯an expectantly nced at Luo Jian.

    ¡°No, I did not recall anything...... Oh, but it¡¯s not exactly that I recalled nothing.¡± Luo Jian rubbed his temple ufortably.

    Luo Jian said, ¡°Before I woke up in this damned ce, I thought I should have been in a...... erm, the secret chamber you described. It was an enclosed space, and I think I should have hadpanions. They were also there. There is a voice in my heart that tells me to find them quickly.¡±

    ¡°So you want to get out of this ce?¡± Ya¡¯an hissed.

    Luo Jian nodded: ¡°Yes, I really want to leave here.¡±

    Luo Jian almost went mad thinking about it. The red sun in the sky served as a kind of warning. When he looked at the dazzling sun, his body felt...... a sense of urgency that was blooming somewhere in the depths of his soul, forcing Luo Jian to leave quickly and get out of this ce! He needed to escape from this ce!

    So Luo Jian wanted to escape, to get out, to leave very, very much!

    Ya¡¯an hissed and regretfully shook his head: ¡°We also want to leave here. Like you, I had always wanted to leave from the moment I woke up here. I want to see my friends, rtives,panions, and lover. But we¡¯ve been holed up here for more than ten years, and we haven¡¯t found a way out.¡±

    Ya¡¯an¡¯s words made Luo Jian feel perplexed. He looked at Ya¡¯an in disbelief: ¡°So all of you have always been unable to get out of here?¡±

    ¡°No, no one can get out of here hiss, hiss~¡± Ya¡¯an gazed at the skeleton who was walking quietly, then pointed to the skeleton with his tail, and continued to his conversation with Luo Jian:

    ¡°See this guy? He came earlier than me. He arrived here 20 years earlier than me. Because this fe was just a bunch of bones, he couldn¡¯t speak until someone taught him signnguage, and it just so happened that I could understand signnguage.¡±

    ¡°Wait! How many people are there in this Crimson Asura Realm?¡± Ya¡¯an¡¯s words made Luo Jian suddenly realize that there may be many people like Ya¡¯an in this secret chamber. Of course, it was unclear whether they were all human beings.

    ¡°As far as I know, there are about 2,000 people in¡ªhiss, hiss¡ªCrimson Asura Realm. Most of them are losers like me or yers who want to get out of the supervisory control of the secret chamber and escape the secret chamber¡¯s punishment. asionally, yers who use wrong props or take the wrong path break in identally. Anyway, for however long these people have been here, they couldn¡¯t find a way out.¡±

    About 2,000 people. Luo Jian could not help but raise his head and look at the huge valley. The surrounding cliffs surrounded the valley into a huge circle, and in this encirclement, there were 2000 frogs gazing upon the sky.

    ¡°No one can get out of here?¡± Luo Jian did not give up as he questioned: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that stalkers could get out of here.... What is a stalker?¡±

    ¡°Stalkers? It¡¯s a bunch of pathetic people that have it even worse than people like us who have been turned into monsters due to our failure.¡± Ya¡¯an shook his tail in disinterest.

    ¡°Why do you say that? Are stalkers also a bunch of monsters?¡± Luo Jian asked curiously.

    ¡°No, the stalkers are in human form. They are perfect, powerful, and invincible,¡± Ya¡¯an hissed and sighed.

    ¡°But they don¡¯t have their own wills. They¡¯re like machines,¡± Ya¡¯an said, ¡°The monsters in the secret chamber...... hiss, like me, when I turned into this, I lost all my memories, and it was as if I had turned into a monster. But with the passing of time, my memories and reason slowly returned. When I fled to the Crimson Asura Realm in order to get rid of the supervisory control of the secret chamber, I had already recovered my sensespletely.

    ¡°But stalkers are not the same. They are the opposite. Their souls have been torn apart. When they first became stalkers, their wills were already barely present, but as time went on, their wills would gradually disperse and disappear forever. At this time...... the stalkers would be perfect tools for the secret chamber because it can control them to aplish anything.¡±

    ¡°So are stalkers free to shuttle in and out of this secret chamber?¡± Luo Jian understood what Ya¡¯an roughly meant. He understood that the stalkers were a group of powerful people, and they were the tools used by the secret chamber to interfere directly with yers.

    ¡°Stalkers will be given some sort of BUFF by the secret chamber, much like a status aura in games. Moreover, they will be permanently buffed. As long as a stalker remains a stalker, they will be in a state of ¡®invibility.¡¯ If they die in a secret chamber, they will be revived after the next secret chamber opens up. Of course, if the stalker is going to stay in a secret chamber for a long time, the stalker will be revived once every two hours after he dies.¡±

    Ya¡¯an scratched his chin with his tail, adding: ¡°In addition to the revival skill, they also have the ability to freely travel to all kinds of secret chambers. They can freely traverse any space, but this ability is limited to the stalkers.¡±

    ¡°Finally, there¡¯s another point worth mentioning. Stalkers are red-eyed creatures who are mute. They do not know how to talk. They cannotmunicate and can¡¯t even gesticte to people no matter where they are. The same rules apply for them even if they are in Crimson Asura Realm.¡±

    ¡°So is that why you said that only stalkers can leave?¡± After hearing this, Luo Jian understood that he was not a stalker, so he did not have the power to travel through space at will. Therefore, he was unable to leave this secret chamber.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you know so much about stalkers.¡± Luo Jian frowned and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that stalkers can¡¯tmunicate with anyone? In that case, how would you be able to know them so well?¡±

    Ya¡¯an froze momentarily, hissed as he spit out his tongue, and turned back to look at Luo Jian: ¡°You are quite sharp...... Well, in fact, I learned about the matters of stalkers from an old man. He knew almost everything about the secret chamber. I also think he was the only one who knew how to leave the Crimson Asura Realm secret chamber. And we will take you to meet him now.¡±

    The only one who knew how to escape.

    Hearing Ya¡¯an say so, Luo Jian suddenly felt his heart slightly jump in excitement.

    However, neither monster paid him any heed as they moved forward. They did not seem to notice that there was a pursuer quietly following right behind them. The pursuer was obviously targeting Luo Jian. It remained hidden in the thick grass as it stepped on the grass and green leaves gently, staring at Luo Jian with irises that appeared much like a wild beast¡¯s as it silently gazed at Luo Jian.

    If Luo Jian had noticed it, he would surely realize that it was the wolf who had been involved in a deadly fight with him.

    T/N: Ya¡¯an is so cute. <del>Again, this is unedited. I¡¯ll upload the edited chapter when Kitty is done editing ~ </del> The edited chapter is up.

 Chapter 137 - Crimson Asura Realm (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 137 - Crimson Asura Realm (VI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian did not discover the wolf, and the wolf never attacked him. It just followed behind him quietly and secretly, tracking him with his smell through its nose under the covers of the forestry and shrubs¡¯ shadows. In this manner, it followed behind him step by step.

    Luo Jian followed the two monsters in front of him...... Both of them may have been two proper human beings previously, but now they were now monsters that appeared unrecognizable. Ya¡¯an, the snake monster, would sometimes turn back to check on Luo Jian. The skeleton next to Ya¡¯an was not as kind as him. He moved forward silently, though his bones would still creak because of his movements.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been walking for a long time; haven¡¯t we arrived yet?¡±

    The valley was so huge that even though Luo Jian had been following Ya¡¯an for nearly an hour, the forest in front of them was still lush and dense. This forest was different from the small forest that Luo Jian was trapped in previously. The trees here were very luxuriant with many branches and leaves in vibrant green. The greenery covered everything in the skies and the earth within their sight, as if it could obtain part of the skies.

    asionally, cracks between the branches hanging above would reveal stters of blood-red sun rays, and the rays would sprinkle over the grass patches on the earth.

    Luo Jian noticed that there were almost no other animals in the forest, and he could not even see birds or small flies. In fact, the same was true of the forest where he had been before. There were no flowers and birds, no insects and no animals in the grass and trees, and the soil was very dry andcked moisture. However, while in that predicament, the wolf kept pestering him, so he did not consider that.

    ¡°This forest is so quiet...¡± Luo Jian could not help but say what he thought inwardly. He said, ¡°Nothing can be heard, and I don¡¯t see any living creatures......¡±

    ¡°Of course, hiss, hiss¡ªthere are no other living creatures in the Crimson Asura Realm! Except for us outsiders, it¡¯s as quiet as death.¡± When Ya¡¯an heard what Luo Jian said, he turned back and told him that.

    Ya¡¯an said, ¡°You know...... didn¡¯t I say that before? The Crimson Asura Realm is very special. It was not created by the secret chamber¡¯s will but created by a yer! A ¡®yer¡¯! Can you understand what I¡¯m saying? Just like you, or me¡ªthe me previously!¡±

    ¡°Even if you say that, I don¡¯t quite understand.¡± While walking behind the two monsters, Luo Jian lowered his head as he reflected upon the issue.

    ¡°Alright hiss, hiss~ Then I¡¯ll ask you simply and straightforwardly: can you create a world?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Obviously, Luo Jian was very clear on his capabilities.

    ¡°But that yer could. He had the ability to build his own world! He created this world, and this world is what we see today¡ªCrimson Asura Realm, hiss, hiss!¡± After speaking, Ya¡¯an seemed to be excited by his own deration. His tail was shaking and wagging behind him. And Luo Jian¡¯s line of sight was attracted by his tail.

    ¡°Yeah, he sounds so amazing that he can st through the skies!¡± Luo Jian paused before continuing: ¡°Do you know of any yers who escaped from this secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°The way you ask&#k2026;&#k2026; Is your memory restored?¡± Ya¡¯an looked at Luo Jian thoughtfully.

    Luo Jian answered: ¡°A little of it has recovered, but not all. But at least I remember that I was in a damned survival game, and the rules of the game were to escape endlessly from several strange secret chambers.¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. If you can think of that much, I¡¯ll tell you the secret of this Crimson Asura Realm.¡± While waving his cute tail, Ya¡¯an began to tell a story to Luo Jian.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I don¡¯t know who the fellow who created this Crimson Asura Realm is, and I don¡¯t know where he went after that. Did he leave this damned secret chamber space forever? Or did he die in this secret chamber? I don¡¯t know about that because the secret chamber¡¯s will never publicly announced or told us all that anyone else has escaped here.¡±

    ¡°But I know what happened after the Crimson Asura Realm was created.¡±

    ¡°To be exact, the creation of the secret chamber, the Crimson Asura Realm, is a failure.¡±

    ¡°A failure?¡± After Luo Jian heard this, his footsteps stopped. For some reason, he always felt something was following him, so he could not help but look back. Behind him was a patch of green forest. He felt that he smelled the familiar scent of blood, but after trying to sniff it out, there was no such smell in the air again.

    Luo Jian thought that he had simply imagined it, so he returned his attention back to Ya¡¯an. The snake-bodied monster did not care about Luo Jian being absentminded and told his story happily:

    ¡°The yer failed to create this secret chamber,¡± Ya¡¯an imed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If he failed, we wouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Luo Jian retorted.

    ¡°But he did fail. Hiss, hiss~¡± Ya¡¯an said, ¡°If I could create a world, first of all, I would build a space. Let us imagine spaces as small boxes with four squares and three dimensions. Inside the box is chaos and darkness. Then I would put a in the darkness.¡±

    Luo Jian shook his head helplessly: ¡°What a great imagination you have. Do continue, Ya¡¯an.¡±

    ¡°You know, hiss, hiss, there are a lot of things on a, such as water, air, mountains, trees...... In the outeryer of the, I would wrap some soil and earth,y the ocean and foundation, and make mountains or valleys¡ªjust like where we are now.¡±

    Ya¡¯an said, frowning: ¡°But that yer did not create a in this manner. He did not make a. It may be because of the restrictions of his abilities, but he only created this valley, surrounded by cliffs, and forests, streams and ins in the valley.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯d done all this, but he didn¡¯t add any creatures to it! He didn¡¯t put insects, birds, or other animals in, so...... you can¡¯t find any other living things in the forest where we are now!¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly stopped moving after he heard that. Ya¡¯an, who was walking in front of him, did not seem to mind because Ya¡¯an also stopped. He continued to say to Luo Jian: ¡°Hiss, hiss, and the creator of the Crimson Asura Realm, his biggest mistake was...... stopping time in this secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°He stopped time?¡± Luo Jian was full of doubts as he questioned: ¡°But we can still talk. If time stopped, it should be...... that we would experience everything being immobile.¡±

    ¡°Has the sun moved in the sky since you woke up from this chamber, hiss, hiss?¡± Ya¡¯an pointed his tail to the sky.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Do you feel the wind in the air, hiss, hiss?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever seen the water flow in the stream, hiss, hiss?¡±

    Luo Jian hesitated. He remembered that he had passed by a stream when he left the forest that he met the gigantic wolf in. He did not pay attention to the water in the stream because he had been so thirsty that he only cared about drinking water. When he was drinking water, he only noticed that the water was very clear and there were no fish in it.

    As for whether the water in the stream was flowing...... oh! The water was so clear that the smooth stones in the water could be seen clearly. The water was so calm that it was as if it were a mirror!

    At that time, Luo Jianpletely did not notice this peculiarity in this special ce.

    But he could only answer Ya¡¯an now. Luo Jian said, ¡°No...... the water in the stream was very calm, as if it were a mirror.¡±

    ¡°Ever since we came into this space, time had stopped in the world within this space.¡± Ya¡¯an seemed to be smiling. His smile caused him to look even more terrifying because his huge mouth could almost crack open to the back of his ears. When he smiled, his whole face appeared distorted.

    However, Ya¡¯an seemed to know that when he smiled, he did not look good, so he did not smile for long. He continued to hiss: ¡°And we are foreign objects, living in the cracks of time. Our time has not stopped moving. Instead, it has been moving forward, but the time of this space has stopped, preventing us from going forward, so we are stuck in this damned ce ...... Any one of us, every one of us, can repeatedly, incessantly...... revive!¡±

    Luo Jian was shocked for a moment and nodded to show understanding. He said, ¡°I know that. I have...... already experienced it.¡±

    This time, Luo Jian finally understood why he could be revived and why the wolf woulde back to him again and again. It kept climbing out of the hands of the God of Death and continued to make trouble for him.

    But this was not anything good because if everyone could revive again and again¡ª

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said the world is horrible. Hiss, hiss¡ª¡± Ya¡¯an curled into a circle on the ground and continued to lead the way for Luo Jian: ¡°There are no living creatures here, and these nts, trees, and so on, no matter how damaged they are, can recover automatically. Even if I want to nt an apple tree on the ground, the seed will not sprout.

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t eat or drink until you die, you will soon wake up full of energy, hiss!¡± Ya¡¯an seemed annoyed: ¡°And I want to tell you, the resources in the world are very strange. You can cut down a tree and take the wood of the tree trunk to burn. Even if the cut tree is restored, the wood you used to burn and the fire will not disappear. But if you don¡¯t use the wood and merely leave it there, after a few hours, when youe back to find it, the wood will have disappeared.¡±

    ¡°So you can¡¯t cut down trees to build a wooden house for yourself because even if you build a house, after a while, as long as you don¡¯t move it, the house will disappear by itself? Is that right?¡± Luo Jian froze as he deduced.

    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it, hiss, hiss!¡± Ya¡¯an said angrily, ¡°I¡¯ve done such a stupid thing in the past! Although I don¡¯t know why I wanted to build a wooden house!¡±

    ¡°If so...... this is a horrible ce. How do you spend your time?¡± Luo Jian listened to the other party¡¯sint-like narration and deeply felt how bored they would get, staying in this strange secret chamber. There was almost nothing to do here although the ce had a name that sounded very lofty.

    ¡°Do you know why this secret chamber is named this¡ªCrimson Asura Realm, hiss, hiss?¡±

    Luo Jian obediently shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°In fact, when this space was first created, its creator, that yer, did not leave any messages about the name of this space. He merely built a space and disappeared. After that, the name was chosen by those of us who came inter. It¡¯s people like us who named this ce.¡±

    Ya¡¯an raised his head, extended his forked tongue, and gazed at the blood-red sky: ¡°Crimson refers to the red sunset. The sunset here is very dazzling and beautiful, much like the crimson of blood, but if you gaze at it for too long, you will want to vomit. As for Asura Realm...¡±

    ¡°Asura Realm?¡± As Luo Jian listened, he saw Ya¡¯an stop talking. He suddenly found that they had slowly walked out of the forest while they were talking and moving forward. There was an open grasnd in in front of them.

 Chapter 138 - Crimson Asura Realm (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 138 - Crimson Asura Realm (VII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ¡°The forest is not the protagonist of this valley, the in is hiss, hiss~ This valley is very big, and the grasnd in ounts for the vast majority of it. The forest is distributed on the edge and surrounded by those high cliffs around it, and on the barren cliffs, there are only a few rocks. They surround the in and the forest, and thus the valley is formed.¡±

    Ya¡¯an exined this to Luo Jian, and afterwards, he stretched out his tail and pointed it toward the center of the in.

    Luo Jian faintly saw arge ck shadow on the in in the distance. It seemed that there were many people piled up there. There was a huge, big tree in the center of the crowd of creatures. Even though the tree was so far away, Luo Jian could still see its shape clearly.

    ¡°Hiss, hiss~ This in is the protagonist of this secret chamber. It is the real Asura Realm!¡± As Ya¡¯an mentioned this, he suddenly revealed a ferocious smile with his tail shaking.

    Luo Jian looked at the vast ck shadows on the distant in. He vaguely understood that there were a lot of creatures there all gathered, and Luo Jian could see that they seemed to be fighting. The bloody glints of swords and shes of steel could be seen. In addition, there were many, many loud roars and screams, and though it came from such a distant ce, it still reached Luo Jian¡¯s ears, clearly and audibly.

    There were also many dark shadows in the sky that rushed and attacked the shadows below. Almost every moment, waves of bloodied flowers bloomed. There seemed to be a scent of blood in the air rushing towards them! Even if Luo Jian stood on the edge of the battlefield, the scent of blood still wafted towards his nose.

    ¡°Battlefield...?¡± Luo Jian murmured to himself. After witnessing this scene, he understood. Asura Realm referred to the battlefield, the battlefield under the crimson sunset! And after taking a glimpse at this, he clearly understood that everyone was participating here, everyone was the enemy, and everyone was fighting!

    ¡°Do you understand? Hiss, hiss~¡± Ya¡¯an excitedly wagged his tail: ¡°That¡¯s why this secret room is called the Crimson Asura Realm. This is the best entertainment we can find. Anyway, we cannot do anything else in this damned ce! But no matter what, we won¡¯t die, so we can only keep dying and fighting, and when we¡¯re dead, we¡¯ll get up and continue! Until we kill everyone within our sight!¡±

    It was as if Ya¡¯an was a lunatic when he said these words. His hand and feet were gesticting...... Oh, no, he had no hands and feet, but his body was twisting and shaking. He circled around hispanion, the skeleton. The skeleton remained quiet and did not speak. He merely stood in the same ce and allowed Ya¡¯an to twist his snake body and coil around his body.

    However, the skeleton also took action to pacify Ya¡¯an. He made gestures, and Ya¡¯an calmed down. However, Ya¡¯an still remained coiled around the skeleton¡¯s neck. He said to Luo Jian:

    ¡°Hiss, hiss...... Sorry, neer! Was I too agitated and scared you?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s face was a little stiff, and he said with a smile: ¡°I¡¯m fine. I think everything is eptable¡ª¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. I won¡¯t do anything terrifying to you. In fact, even if I do, you don¡¯t have to worry. You can¡¯t die anyway.¡±

    Ya¡¯an tried to cate Luo Jian. He held out his tail, pointed to the ins again, and continued, ¡°What I want to tell you is that the man I am going to take you to is in the middle of the in. Do you see the super big tree? The man is under the tree. He is the strongest one in the Asura Realm and the first person to enter this chamber.¡±

    ¡°Wait! You meant that the man I¡¯m looking for is under that tree?¡± Luo Jian pointed to the ins crowded with dark figures in the distance.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Ya¡¯an affirmed.

    ¡°But that in is the Asura Realm, the battlefield!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is, hiss, hiss~¡± Ya¡¯an continued to affirm.

    Luo Jian was stunned. He asked: ¡°Do you mean that I have to go through this battlefield and get away from those shes and shadows of swords before I can see that person I want to see?¡±

    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it, hiss, hiss, hiss!¡± Ya¡¯an almost pped. Although he had no hands, he still encouragingly waved his tail: ¡°As long as you beat everyone there, you can meet the strongest person here and ask him to tell you the method to get out of this damned secret chamber! By the way, I¡¯ll just tell you this in passing: do you know why those people fight each other? It¡¯s not just because it¡¯s just a form of entertainment, but they all want to know how to get out. But the strongest person has said that he would only tell you how to go out if you beat everyone around you and stand victorious in front of him!¡±

    This piece of information was just like a bolt from the blue for Luo Jian currently. Suddenly, he felt confused. He stared at Ya¡¯an and shook his head in disbelief: ¡°You said you would take me to find that person¡ªyou also said that he told you everything you know.¡±

    ¡°Look, hiss, hiss, didn¡¯t I already bring you here? As for everything that I know, there are so many people in this secret chamber. The information spread by word of mouth. Slowly, everyone woulde to understand it.¡± Ya¡¯an swayed his tail and coiled another round on the skull of hispanion. He even weaved out of the skeleton¡¯s chest through the gaps in the ribs of his chest. Fortunately, his head was not big enough for Ya¡¯an to weave through.

    ¡°Oh! Heavens!¡± Luo Jian just wanted to scratch his head until his scalp fell. The dark shadows on the in before him made him experience great pressure. He thought that he would be able to get out of this damned ce soon, but he did not expect this scene at all.

    ¡°Hiss, hiss, I¡¯ll give you advice. Coming from your friend, neer, I have been in this damned ce for more than ten years and I still can¡¯t survive an hour in that Asura Realm. You don¡¯t know how difficult it is to inch forward there. Moreover, as long as you are in the Shura field, your revival time will be elerated. Generally, when you die, it¡¯ll take an hour or two toe back to life, but once you enter the Asura Realm, you can get up and continue to fight in about five minutes.¡±

    Ya¡¯an happily wandered around on the skeleton: ¡°Those monsters on the Asura Realm are much stronger than me. Some can fly in the sky, some can crawl on the ground, others can swim in the water, and it is absolutely not impossible for them to drill out from the ground and bite you!

    ¡°There are more than 2,000 people in this Crimson Asura Realm, and almost all of them are here.

    ¡°So many creatures have been fighting here for nearly a hundred years, and none of them have been able to escape.¡±

    Ya¡¯an extended his tail to Luo Jian, pointing to the in that was shing under the unsheathing of weapons as blood spurted. Then he asked Luo Jian, ¡°What about it, neer? Do you have the guts? After traversing through this bloody battlefield, you can get the answer you want. Otherwise, you will need to stay in this damned ce...... until the end of time!¡±

    Until the end of time¡ª

    Luo Jian hesitated. He looked at the blood-red sunset in the distance. For a moment, he fell into a trance. The first thing he felt towards this was that this was impossible for him.

    He could not do it. He could not kill these monster-like enemies, find the strongest man here, and get the answers from his mouth on how to leave this secret chamber. Luo Jian thought he was not able to do it. He did not have the power to do so! Moreover, in this strange Crimson Asura Realm, everyone would be revived again and again. They would continue to get up and continue to take revenge against you, just like what the wolf did to him previously! Maybe one could beat these people once or twice, but one couldn¡¯t beat them hundreds of times, thousands of times, or even tens of thousands of times!

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible. No one can do it!¡± Luo Jian felt his fear surfacing. He was shocked by the roar and bloody scent that faintly travelled over from the Asura Realm. He even stepped backwards unconsciously.

    Ya¡¯an took into ount Luo Jian¡¯s state of mind. Heforted Luo Jian and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, neer, hiss, hiss~...... I really thought no one could do it as well. But you see, even if everyone thinks that it¡¯s impossible, we will continue to move forward and expect ourselves to be the lucky one that remains victorious in one in ten thousand possibilities.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be lucky; I just want to get out of here¡ª¡±

    Luo Jian bitterly supported his head. He began to experience a headache, but inwardly, his obsession still lingered in his mind, forcing him to continue to recall his memories and think deeply about it.

    I want to get out of here. I want to.

    Luo Jian did not have that much time to muddle about. He knew that he had a lot of friends waiting for him to rescue them, but he was actually wasting time in this darned ce?! Every minute and every second Luo Jian stayed here longer, hispanions would continue to experience the endless cycle of death!

    ¡°Haha! Aren¡¯t I also stuck in an endless cycle of death!? It¡¯s as if I haven¡¯t escaped from the punishment chamber at all! I escaped from one cycle and was plunged into another! I¡¯ve been a goddamn waste of time! And mypanions are still foolishly waiting for me! What trash....... What trash I am!¡±

    Ya¡¯an inexplicably gazed at the neer supporting his head while gripping his hair. Like a lunatic, he muttered to himself. He could not understand the pain and entanglement in Luo Jian¡¯s heart, but he could also guess what he thought through what he said. Ya¡¯an, who rarely spoke in this manner, suddenly tried his best to suppress himself from producing that hoarse voice and tried to muster a calm and stable voice:

    ¡°Did you escape from the punishment chamber? And you escaped here?¡±

    Luo Jian squatted on the ground, his face pale. His hair was messed up due to his tousling, and he cut in a sorry figure as he looked at Ya¡¯an.

    ¡°Neer, there are many people here¡ªmany yers who escaped the chambers like you¡ªand many of them have escaped from the punishment chamber. From what they said, almost everyone is like you, with theirpanions killed or trapped. They used various props and abilities to escape the secret chamber alone but have only reached here.

    ¡°Because if you escaped from Asura Realm, the secret chamber¡¯s will wouldpletely wipe you out since you have used abnormal means to escape from the punishment chamber, and the secret chamber will not allow it. So...... as long as you get out of this damned ce, you will die as well, and you would be wiped out thoroughly, with not even your soul or consciousness left behind.¡±

    What Ya¡¯an said made Luo Jian gaze at him in despair. ¡°What should I do?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, neer.¡± Ya¡¯an suddenly pointed to the Asura Realm with his tail: ¡°But many people told me that under the tree in the Asura Realm, the strongest person here was the first person toe to this Crimson Asura Realm and also from the first batch of people to enter the secret chamber as well as to participate in this survival game. He knows everything about the secret chambers and can answer anything.

    ¡°What¡¯s more, the strongest person is the only person who can knock down every person or monster in the Asura Realm instantly. In that moment, everyone will die, and only after five minutes can everyonee back to life.

    ¡°And because of this power, everyone holds on to the hope, thinking that they can be the strongest, so there is never ack of sword shes and bloodstains in the Asura Realm. Everyone is constantly fighting and reviving here. No one will stop. They all think that they will be victorious. I think so too.¡±

    Ya¡¯an¡¯s tone was serious and full of longing. His eyes looked far towards the crimson red ins, as if there was something that symbolized hope there. Therefore, Luo Jian could only follow Ya¡¯an¡¯s line of sight as he looked at the Crimson Asura Realm.

    ¡°I¡¯m assuming that you¡¯re telling me the truth.¡± Luo Jian did not know what he decided at that moment, but he drew his weapon out.

    ¡°The person who knows everything.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you. He really knows everything,¡± Ya¡¯an answered.

 Chapter 139 - Crimson Asura Realm (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 139 - Crimson Asura Realm (VIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    ording to Ya¡¯an, one did not need to bring anything to the battlefield. One simply needed to bring themself and their weapons. Anyway, ordinary neers would not be able tost for three minutes on the battlefield.

    ¡°My best achievement was to survive for about an hour and 20 minutes. By that time, I had already crossed half of Asura Realm, and the tree was almost in front of me. But the next second, my neck was broken, and I didn¡¯t even know who killed me.¡±

    Ya¡¯an began to tell Luo Jian some precautionary measures. He said: ¡°The Asura Realm is divided into three battle circles: The outermost circle mainly consists of some weaker fellows fighting, and we call it the beginners¡¯ circle. When you get slightly closer to that tree, you¡¯ll enter the intermediate circle, which is the circle that takes up thergest area and has thergest number of people. And after that, you¡¯ll proceed to the innermost circle, closest to the tree, named the advanced circle. The number of people in it is very small, but the monsters are all quite powerful.

    ¡°In addition to the battle circles, you need to pay attention to the fact that as long as you enter the Asura Realm, it will be rtively harder to exit because there are some crooked fellows in the Asura Realm. Seeing that you have died, some person will drag you further into the circle. For example, if you pass away in the beginner¡¯s circle, some crooked fellows will throw you into the intermediate circle. Once you are revived, you¡¯ll have to face a gang of people¡¯s attacks.¡±

    Ya¡¯an wagged his tail and said, ¡°It¡¯s the same in the intermediate circle. They¡¯ll throw the deceased into the strongest fellows¡¯ territory, but fortunately, the strong fellows in the advanced circle will not bully the weak. If you want to flee, they¡¯ll surely let you out.¡±

    ¡°That is to say, the most intense fight in the Asura Realm takes ce in the transition from the beginners¡¯ circle to the intermediate circle, right?¡± Luo Jian listened carefully to what Ya¡¯an said. He had to head to the battlefield, but before that, he had to understand some information regarding the battlefield.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it,¡± Ya¡¯an said. He paused and, thereafter, began to narrate again: ¡°Of course, the most important thing is that the strongest in the advanced circle are very powerful. Although the number of creatures in that circle is the smallest, once the fight starts, their scope of influence is very wide, especially since those guys will throw in some area of effect skills. At that time, those who will be harmed are creatures like us who aren¡¯t really powerful.¡±

    Ya¡¯an¡¯s words made Luo Jian think. He frowned and thought. Luo Jian realized that he needed to be strong¡ªvery, very strong¡ªto be able to stand out among a group of red-eyed battle maniacs, but it was not something that could be done overnight.

    ¡°You have to understand, neer, that the buffer time before revival on the Asura Realm onlysts five minutes, but rather than revival, it is better to say that¡ªone will recover to their best state in five minutes. Not only will your body recover to its best state but your mental state as well, so the battle on the Asura Realm will never stop, and everyone will always be eager to kill one another.

    ¡°It¡¯s worth mentioning that people will form teams with each other on the battlefield.¡± Ya¡¯an wrapped his body around the skeleton and said to Luo Jian, ¡°You see, for example, he and I, we¡¯ve been working together all this time.

    ¡°But sometimes, some of them will form a temporary team as well. The formation of a temporary team is also very simple. If someone helps you block an attack when you are dying, it means that he is willing to help you. At this time, you can confidently hand over your back to that fellow temporarily. But there are also unwritten rules on the battlefield. If you die while you have formed a team with someone else, don¡¯t look for the yer that temporarily established a team with you after revival because the rtionship between you is no longer established.¡±

    ¡°Wait, I have a question.¡± Luo Jian interrupted him to ask, ¡°If I help someone else and ask that fellow to form a team with me, but the other party is not willing to and even counterattacks me, what should I do?¡±

    ¡°Then you just have to counterattack that fellow back, hiss, hiss!¡± Ya¡¯an began to spit out his forked tongue again. ¡°To refuse someone, you just have to attack that fellow so that others can understand that you don¡¯t want to team up with anybody. No one on the battlefield has time to speak. Everyone usually uses bodynguage to express what they meant straightforwardly, and most of the time, the bodynguage conveyed is to draw your weapons and attack with all your might.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Luo Jian nodded to show understanding. He took a deep breath and tried to make some mental preparations because he knew that for a long, long time toe, he would have to battle, return alive, and battle again.

    Ya¡¯an decided to check Luo Jian¡¯s equipment and said to him, ¡°Let me see your weapon, hiss, hiss~¡±

    Luo Jian flipped his hand and showed his short knife. The de was dark and did not reflect light. It made people feel cold seeing it.

    Ya¡¯an frowned. He flipped the short knife around and shook his head in disappointment.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Is there something wrong with my knife?¡± Luo Jian could not help but look at his weapon. It could conform to his wishes and was able to appear or disappear freely, although he did not know where it went when it disappeared.

    ¡°What¡¯s the name of your weapon, hiss, hiss?¡± Ya¡¯an suddenly asked.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Luo Jian was stunned for a moment. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Do weapons have names?¡±

    Ya¡¯an red at Luo Jian in surprise and said, ¡°Your weapon doesn¡¯t have a name, hiss, hiss?!¡±

    Because the other party overreacted, Luo Jian felt a little flustered. He said, ¡°My weapon has always appeared like this, and I have never thought of giving it a name or something...¡±

    ¡°Hiss...... Are you really a newbie amongst the newbies?¡± Ya¡¯an was speechless and put his tail on his forehead. He said to Luo Jian, ¡°When I ask you for your weapon¡¯s name, I don¡¯t mean the pet name you casually name your weapon, hiss, hiss. In fact, every weapon created by the secret chamber for the yers has its unique name. Only the owner of the weapon will know the name of their weapon. In that instant when you first get your knife, you should know its name!¡±

    ¡°No...¡± Luo Jian shook his head in confusion: ¡°I don¡¯t know the name of this knife, and when I hold it, I don¡¯t feel anything special......¡±

    ¡°Neer! Believe me, hiss, hiss!¡± Ya¡¯an raised his tail and patted Luo Jian¡¯s forehead: ¡°You must know the name of this knife, but you didn¡¯t think and dig for the information yourself. Moreover, this knife is not the original form of your weapon at all. The image of the knife that it presents now is just a kind of mimicry, hiss, hiss~¡±

    ¡°Weapons...¡± Luo Jian said in dismay: ¡°Weapons can also mimic other weapons?¡±

    ¡°Hiss, hiss, a small number of weapons are just like this and reflect that their owner is good at self-disguising. So it can disguise itself as an ordinary de or sword or something like that. But trust my eyesight: your knife is still in the ¡®sealed¡¯ state, hiss, hiss.¡±

    Luo Jian shook his head helplessly: ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m good at disguising myself.¡±

    ¡°Some humans have talents for some things but don¡¯t see it themselves, hiss, hiss.¡±

    ¡°Well, I believe you are right. How can I get this knife back to its original shape?¡± Luo Jian shook the ck de in his hand. He still liked it. It looked ordinary, but it could reveal a kind of danger and sharpness.

    ¡°Hiss, hiss~ Shout out the name of the weapon. They will listen to the wishes of the owner and automatically unseal. One must know that the sealed state of weapons cannot even disy a tenth of its original strength.¡± Ya¡¯an urged Luo Jian, ¡°So just call it by its name.¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Luo Jian frowned in embarrassment: ¡°But I really don¡¯t know its name!¡±

    ¡°Then just ignore it, hiss, hiss~¡± Ya¡¯an suddenly pointed his tail to the distant battlefield: ¡°If you have been unable to discover the name of the weapon, then on the battlefield, in the baptism of blood and fighting, you¡¯ll understand its name, hiss, hiss...!¡±

    Luo Jian could not help raising his head to look at the bloody battlefield in the distance. There should be no wind in the Asura Realm, but Luo Jian still felt a torrent of bloody rain blowing here from the center of the battlefield. Luo Jian¡¯s keen hearing seemed to be able to hear someoneughing and roaring. They roared loudly and with all their strength:

    ¡°Come! Kill me¡ª!¡±

    This sound travelled towards Luo Jian¡¯s eardrum and prated through his brain, to his heart and soul.

    ¡°It¡¯s getting hotter in here!¡± Ya¡¯an was suddenly excited. He seemed to hear that voice. He shook his head and turned around the skeleton several times. Then, he urged the skeleton to move forward quickly, so the skeleton opened up his bony legs and walked towards the battlefield step by step.

    Ya¡¯an, hanging on the shoulder of the skeleton, turned back to look at Luo Jian and called out to him, ¡°Hiss, hiss~ neer, I¡¯ll be going first. You can follow after when you¡¯re ready, but the next time you see us, you¡¯ll be our enemy.¡±

    Therefore, Luo Jian was left alone. He gazed at the back view of the skeleton and Ya¡¯an. Momentarily, Luo Jian felt lost. In fact, Luo Jian was still afraid of the bloody battlefield. He knew that the first step someone made always felt the hardest to move forward.

    However, Luo Jian stood in ce and thought for a long time. He took a deep breath to encourage himself to move forward. However, when Luo Jian hesitated, there was amotion in the forest behind him. Something stepped on the fallen leaves as it followed them all the way here. Luo Jian heard the familiar footsteps, soft and delicate.

    Luo Jian turned back to take a nce. He saw something akin to a dark shadow within the woods, and instantaneously, Luo Jian felt nervous. He drew his weapon, ced it across his chest, and slowly backed away.

    Just as Luo Jian felt his nervousness peak, a wolf¡¯s howl sounded from the woods. A huge shadow suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the woods and rushed towards him. Luo Jian¡¯s eyes were sharp, and his eyes were fixed at that ck shadow. He was very familiar with it. It was the wolf who had constantly been chasing after Luo Jian!

    Luo Jian thought that after he had burned the small forest, the wolf should have stopped chasing him. Unexpectedly, the other party was so persistent that it followed him all the way here!

    Seeing the wolf lunging to him, Luo Jian took his knife to stab it instinctively. However, the wolf seemed to have be more intelligent. After rolling several times to avoid Luo Jian¡¯s de, it leaped forward like a mad dog. It no longer focused on biting Luo Jian¡¯s neck but began to bite his limbs first, perhaps trying to immobilize Luo Jian first.

    Luo Jian dodged the fangs and ws of the other party. He started fighting and retreating and began to sprint. As for the wolf, it also started to sprint as it chased after him.

    Thus, one man and one wolf began to head towards the bloody battlefield. Maybe Luo Jian did it on purpose because he did not have the courage to step into the battlefield alone. Now, the appearance of the wolf seemed to ignite his determination. Therefore, Luo Jian allowed himself to be forced to flee all the way to the battlefield. Only by using this method could he have the determination to advance forward.

    T/N: Come, have a guess what LJ¡¯s weapon would be like!

 Chapter 140 - Crimson Asura Realm (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 140 - Crimson Asura Realm (IX)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    After that, as Ya¡¯an said, Luo Jian began to repeat the process of reviving and dying in the battlefield.

    He remembered that when he was killed for the first time, it was by a man clothed in all ck, wearing headgear and a mask and holding a katana. He could be referred to as the ¡°ck Samurai.¡± The bastard cut off Luo Jian¡¯s left hand with his katana and cut down his chest horizontally. Luo Jian¡¯s eyes instantly ckened, and at that moment, he could not see anything.

    However, after his revival, Luo Jian deeply remembered the other party¡¯s amazing katana-handling skills in his mind.

    After that, he met many, many enemies. Even though these enemies were in the beginners¡¯ circle, their attack methods were still varied and unable to be predicted. Luo Jian fell under the hands of an invisible man several times in a row. Even after dying seven or eight times, he could not clearly see what the fellow who had wiped him out looked like.

    Finally, the invisible monster died in the hands of another monster. This monster was a guy with a human¡¯s face but an eagle¡¯s body. He had been hovering in the sky and staring at the invisible monster for a long time.

    After that, the eagle-bodied monster with the human face came straight for Luo Jian. The sharp and pointed ws swiped at Luo Jian, grabbed him to the sky, and with a tter, threw him down from the sky. So Luo Jian...... died just like that.

    Luo Jian observed the bird-like monster for a long time throughout the cycle of life and death. Atst, when the other party was waving his wings to attack others, he stabbed the other party¡¯s wings and scraped off arge piece of bloody feathers and flesh. This kind of flying fellows, once they fell from the sky, normally would not have an advantage. When theynded, it was akin to them being weaponless. Such a creature could only lie on the ground and wait for its death.

    Of course, the other party would also charge towards Luo Jian to take revenge, so Luo Jian died and revived many, many times.

    There were too many enemies. The battlefield was a mess, and attacks were carried out haphazardly. Luo Jian had truly experienced a collective attack from all directions here. One must be able to guard around your surroundings and even dodge attacks from the skies and the ground. Often, Luo Jian would die from the idental injuries caused by the backfiring of other creatures¡¯ attacks.

    Such a kind of collective battle was very unbearable in the beginning, and Luo Jian had really wanted to give up because the people around him were too strong. Even if he was only in the beginners¡¯ circle, Luo Jian was not able to hold on for three minutes! The surrounding monsters or yers, regardless of whoever they were, seemed to be human-shaped weapons. They seemed to be constantly carrying out attacks that consumed everyone¡¯s blood and life.

    There were also people around him who died, but not as frequently as Luo Jian. However, Luo Jian soon found a sense of bnce because the wolf who had been following closely behind him had also been brought into the battlefield by Luo Jian. The wolf always targeted Luo Jian, but the surrounding monsters could instantly kill the wolf even if it was on ident, so the poor wolf was facing the same situation as Luo Jian. The wolf also started to face the cycle of revival and death.

    Even if the wolf died that miserably, the wolf¡¯s mind was set on Luo Jian. It worked hard to avoid the attacks of the surrounding monsters and humans. However, it was rtivelyrge, and because of that, it became an easy target. After a while, ity on the ground and died. In five minutes, it became full of energy and started to counterattack. Then it found that if it did not deal with the surrounding monsters, it was impossible for it to bring Luo Jian down, so it began to fight the enemies.

    As it opened its mouth, it bit down its jaws, sending a creature to its death. Its ws mmed down and swept down around the crowd. Among the crowd, it lunged forward and copsed, then died and revived.

    Luo Jian, who was not far away from it, was also stuck in the same cycle. Death caused him to tire, and the cycle of repeated death made him numb. However, at the moment of death, the pain was still so clear and vivid, and the enemies¡¯ power swept through his entirety. Thereupon, Luo Jian began to loathe that feeling. He struggled and tried his best to protect himself from the ws of death.

    After that, Luo Jian did not remember how long had psed.

    In the beginners¡¯ circle, he ran as he fought around the entire circle and encountered all kinds of enemies. He began to get used to such a battle pace. He started to get used to the confusing and disorganized battlefield where attacks could descend from all directions.

    The wolf who had been following right behind Luo Jian died as it chased him. Luo Jian was astounded by this wolf¡¯s persistency. Luo Jian did not feel that he harbored deep hatred for this wolf. In fact, the wolf finally seeded because it killed Luo Jian when the two fools were buried in the sea of fire.

    But why was it so persistent?

    Luo Jian did not want to deliberate about this. It was already not easy for him to do his best to survive. All the humans and monsters around him were cunning and terrifying. They eitherughed sarcastically, remained speechless, or said some provocative.

    Luo Jian found that these people may havee from different countries or even different periods of time. Some would yell in English, and some would holler in an ancientnguage. Some dressed strangely, but most of them are not human at all.

    The weapons in their hands were also varied, such as guns, bombs, and cold weapons. These were all considered ordinary, though. Luo Jian even saw one carrying a rocketuncher, and another was even wearing something simr to a simplified form of a mecha. The bullets it fired could st lots of people.

    The one with the mecha had a high defense, but he moved slowly. In addition, the simplified mecha could not protect many parts of his body. Finally, he was shot in the head by a centaur with a bow and arrow.

    Other than these high-tech gadgets, Luo Jian naturally saw some supernatural, much like magic, attacks. For example, there was an old man with a wooden staff, dressed like a ck wizard in a fairy tale, who was murmuring to himself all this time. He had not stopped murmuring all the while. Then his wand would shine and light would sweep through the crowd in front of him

    However, this fool had low vitality. An assassin that looked like he was cosying a game character stealthily approached and killed him.

    How interesting, wasn¡¯t it?

    Luo Jian began to pay attention to all the different types of methods and means of attack these creatures had. Their attacks were mostly dazzling and beautiful. For a moment, even Luo Jian was obsessed. He was no longer troubled over being trapped in the cycle of death and revival. He began to remain expectant of battles that excited him. Yes, Luo Jian began to be obsessed with fighting.

    He began to challenge those people, rather than just trying as hard as he could to survive.

    In other words, to be able to experience a better fight, Luo Jian tried to survive first, and following that, he would learn from these veterans.

    Throughout this process, Luo Jian did not know how long had passed.

    The red sun in the sky never moved.

    Luo Jian did not feel hungry. No one on the battlefield would feel hungry. Even if they were hungry or thirsty, they would only bite the enemy¡¯s neck and drink their blood. Even if they drank poison to quench their thirst, no one was afraid of death.

    Luo Jian died as he inched forward. He could not remember how many times he had died and how many people he had killed. When he first stepped into the battlefield, Luo Jian thought that he might not be able to kill anyone, but after stepping into the battlefield, he found that he had no such concerns.

    War and blood almost dazzled Luo Jian¡¯s eyes. He kept waving his weapon. He felt that this short knife of his might be more suitable for him to develop in the assassin route. Plus, Luo Jian had a mental skill called ¡®the mental technique of the disguiser.¡¯ As long as this was used, he could turn his weapon invisible.

    But slowly, he felt he was bing invisible.

    It was not that he was really invisible, but when Luo Jian used the mental technique, the people around him would collectively...... ignore him.

    Some monsters were really invisible. They were like chameleons and could blend into the environment. Some yers¡¯ skills could also turn them invisible or transparent, but this kind of invisibility had the same disadvantages. Even if they disappeared in front of people, their breath, pace, and voice could be perceived by those who had perception techniques.

    But it was not the same for Luo Jian.

    He felt as if he had suddenly lost his sense of existence. Even when he stood in the crowd, no one noticed him. Luo Jian sometimes ran his mental technique and silently walked through a group of people involved in a bloody fight. That felt great, although he might be identally injured by others.

    Unfortunately, this interesting technique could notst long. It could onlyst a maximum of one minute. After one minute, Luo Jian would be discovered, and with a swipe of one¡¯s knife, he would be wiped out.

    And he forgot how many times he had died.

    Maybe Ya¡¯an said that fighting could enlighten Luo Jian on the name of his weapon. What he said was correct. During the process of constant revival and death, Luo Jian asionally noticed the abnormality of his de. It seemed that the knife had been bathed in too much blood and began to get anxious. Luo Jian could even feel the de tremble in his palm.

    Luo Jian¡¯s knife seemed to be rejecting him.

    Luo Jian did not know how to describe this strange feeling, but he suddenly felt that the de, which had always been very handy to grasp, suddenly began to be unsuitable for him, as if it had be dull from cutting too many enemies. The de was no longer sharp, and the de was always shaking inexplicably, and due to that, Luo Jian had lost many battles.

    When he slipped, he would once again experience death.

    So Luo Jian began to feel annoyed. Having a weapon that was not handy to him was worse than fighting with his bare hands. Sometimes when he fought with others, he could not help but throw his weapon away.

    The enemy in front of him found that Luo Jian had thrown away the weapon and roared at him in rage: ¡°You don¡¯t even want your weapon? Are you looking down on me?¡± As soon as the fool was done speaking, he took his long Shaolin rod and hit him with that rod. Luo Jian fainted and fell to the ground. This time, he did not know whether he was dead, but his head hurt badly.

    In a daze, Luo Jian felt that he had fallen into a deep sleep again. In his sleep, he had a dream that he had not had for a long time.

    It had been a very, very long time since he hadst had this dream. He could not remember how long he had not dreamt of it.

    In the dream, there was a man standing in front of him whose face he could not see clearly. The man had always been telling him something.

    T/N: Make a guess, who is the man? ^~^

 Chapter 141 - Crimson Asura Realm (X)

    <h4>Chapter 141 - Crimson Asura Realm (X)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Starting from when Luo Jian was a small kid, he had begun to have this strange dream intermittently. This dream always had the same plot. He always felt that he was standing in a dark ce, and there seemed to be light in front of him. Luo Jian moved towards the light. There was a man standing in the light, and Luo Jian could not see his face or body clearly. He could only see him vaguely, and he felt that the man had reached out to himself.

    What was he saying, and what exactly was he talking about?

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t hear clearly, so he inched toward the man in the light. As he walked over, he seemed to feel the man reach over, grab Luo Jian¡¯s arm, and pull him hard, and then he would wake up from the dream.

    When he woke up, Luo Jian was lying on the ground next to a big and familiar wolf. It had dark gray fur and a handful of very familiar white fur on its neck. The wolf was the one who had chased Luo Jian to the Asura Realm since it followed him from the small forest.

    However, the wolf did not attack Luo Jian. It stood in front of Luo Jian and bit the shoulder of the monk who had beaten Luo Jian with a rod. One man and one wolf began to fight. The man who took the staff as a weapon was undoubtedly a bareheaded monk. His clothes were all grey, and he took his rod to jab the wolf.

    But the wolf did not release its mouth¡¯s grip on his shoulders.

    Luo Jian got up from the ground. When he was fighting with the monk just now, he threw his weapon away and was knocked unconscious by the monk. However, it seemed that Luo Jian was not killed directly by the monk¡¯s rod. He just got up after fainting for a short period of time. When he got up, the wolf appeared in front of Luo Jian for no reason, and looking at its posture......

    Was this wolf actually protecting him?

    But why protect him?

    Luo Jian always felt that this wolf was too persistent. From the beginning, when Luo Jian woke up and met the wolf on that rock, the wolf was so persistent in following right behind Luo Jian as if unless it could bite him to death, it would not be satisfied. No matter how many times he devoured it and roasted it with fire, it would never be afraid of anything. And it always had a thirsty little look in its eyes when it stared at Luo Jian.

    There were no other living things in the Crimson Asura Realm. Luo Jian did not doubt that the wolf may have been a certain yer whoter morphed into its current form. As Ya¡¯an said, the secret chamber¡¯s will would turn some yers who failed to escape from the chambers into monsters and integrate their weapons with their bodies to turn them into half-monsters and half-weapons.

    Then they would wipe out the self-awareness of these poor yers, leaving them with the tyrannical instincts of creatures, turning them into real monsters who only could only fight and struggle.

    However, over time, the yers who became monsters would slowly return to their senses and begin to recover their memories and human instincts, but usually, it took a long time for them to transition into recovering such things.

    Thinking of this, Luo Jian suddenly realized that the wolf may have been a yer who had morphed into an animal. Now, the wolf seemed to have begun to recover its memory and gradually recovered its self-awareness in the Crimson Asura Realm. Therefore, the wolf began to protect Luo Jian for some reasons Luo Jian was not aware of.

    But Luo Jian still had that question that he did not understand. Why should the other party protect himself?

    Luo Jian was not able to think of anything. Then, he remembered Ya¡¯an¡¯s words. If you wanted to form a team on the Asura Realm, you just had to express your sincerity to the other party. For example, if you wanted to help someone in a fight and protected him from an attack, and the other party was willing to form a temporary team with you, the other party simply needed to express the same action.

    Therefore, this wolf¡¯s behavior was straightforwardly understood by Luo Jian as the other party wanting to form a team with Luo Jian. Luo Jian was not particrly willing to fight alone either. Having a partner was just like adding on a pair of wings to a tiger, so he also acted decisively. He rushed to kill the monk together with the huge wolf. When the monk fell to the ground under the attack of one man and one wolf, Luo Jian thought that both he and the wolf had already broken the ice and formed into a team.

    But that was just what Luo Jian thought.

    As soon as he saw the monk die, the wolf suddenly swung his big hairy tail and bit Luo Jian¡¯s head! Its teeth were sharp, white, and stained with dark, red blood. It gave Luo Jian a bad scare, so he retreated subconsciously. He was ready to draw his knife to fight back, but after swinging his hand, Luo Jian remembered that his weapon had been thrown away by him.

    But this shouldn¡¯t happen! Luo Jian knew how flexible his short knife was. No matter how far away he threw it, the little knife would return to Luo Jian¡¯s palm when he needed it. But this time, when Luo Jian needed it, the knife did not return, as if his weapon was making a fuss, or rather, it was resisting him.

    His weapon had refused his orders!

    The wolf¡¯s teeth were close at hand as itunched an ambush. When Luo Jian killed the monk and rxed his guard, the wolf cunningly and shamelessly lunged at Luo Jian with its sharp ws and sharp teeth and using its abilities trained in the thousands of battles it experienced on Asura Realm!

    Now, Luo Jian could not even spare the time to dodge its attack. He moved his feet backwards, but his body could not maintain the center of gravity, so he copsed on the ground. He saw that the wolf¡¯s teeth were almost in front of his eyes. At that moment, Luo Jian felt that he might die again.

    Death was such a horrifying thing to experience, but in this Asura Realm, death had be so natural that each creature and every yer would reasonably use their revivals to grind their opponents to death, but Luo Jian suddenly understood something at this moment.

    In the Crimson Asura Realm, one may have countless lives. One could die and revive without pause. Therefore, in the Asura Realm, life began to be cheap. Creatures would begin to not to cherish anything. They think that...... anyway, it is merely dying, and it¡¯s just a few seconds of pain. After a few minutes, they would be able to continue, get up, and fight again.

    But after leaving this Asura Realm, everyone would only live once.

    Only once!

    He needed a weapon, a good weapon that could fully reflect his abilities and help him block all attacks! The weapon that could allow Luo Jian to better survive in this terrifying chamber¡ªno, no, no! Not only that! What Luo Jian wanted was not just to better survive! He did not just want to survive!

    Maybe he was too kind. Or he had deep in his bones or in his fiery hot blood a firm sense of justice, but Luo Jian did not just want to survive! He wanted hispanions to live well, and he wanted to protect them! Yes, that¡¯s what he meant! Luo Jian simply needed to protect the people he wanted to protect!

    Who was it that mentioned it to him? It suddenly urred to Luo Jian. Someone had really said towards him:

    ¡ªWhen humans first took up arms, it was not to kill others but merely to protect themselves.

    Maybe everyone thought differently, but Luo Jian felt that he had found the significance of his weapon¡¯s existence at this moment. If he only took up his weapon to survive, then he would only be able to use his weapon to survive. He would then need to fight for his own sake, to survive, and never for others.

    Maybe that way, Luo Jian would live better, but in his future, he would be doomed to no longer have thepany of hispanions because they would not exist.

    But Luo Jian needed hispanions. He had too many people he cared about: his parents, his rtives, the people he loved, and the people who loved him. Luo Jian was not able to throw everything away! If he took up his weapon for his own sake, Luo Jian could simply abandon this weapon now!

    An inconspicuous knife?

    That was not what Luo Jian needed. He needed much more than that. He was very ambitious! He wanted to aplish a lot of things! A short knife was far from what he needed! Far from enough!

    ¡°Not enough¡ª!¡± The wolf¡¯s teeth had already descended down towards Luo Jian¡¯s head. At that moment, Luo Jian called out these two words in a low voice. Then he stretched out his hand and made an action of waving something. Luo Jian swore that his brain was nk at that moment. Of course, he did not call out any name, did not say the name of his weapon.

    But there was a weapon in Luo Jian¡¯s hand.

    This weapon was very familiar because it was the long rod used by the monk moments ago. This rod was very heavy and felt like it weighed a thousand gold bars when he held it in his hands. It was reminiscent of Sun Wukong¡¯s godly stabilizing seas rod. However, when Luo Jian held it, it seemed as light as a feather. Therefore, Luo Jian could easily swing the rod and push the gigantic wolf away. With one blow, the wolf flew up in the air.

    The wolf flew away with that blow and fell to the monster pile not far away from him, and from the distance, one could hear its scream.

    Luo Jian kept the rod and retreated. He had exhausted almost all his strength and gasped heavily. Then he looked at the rod in his hand. The rod was slowly changing. Now, it became a red¡ªumbre.

    ¡°This umbre looks damned familiar,¡± Luo Jian murmured to himself. After striking the wolf and causing it to fly out, Luo Jian instantly understood his weapon¡¯s abilities.

    ¡°I have already known your name for a long time.¡± Luo Jian stroked the canopy of the red umbre. In fact, his weapon had already told Luo Jian its name through certain means. The name of the umbre was ¡®disguiser.¡¯ The name of Luo Jian¡¯s mental technique was the same as that of the disguiser, the mental technique of the disguiser. Naturally, this weapon could only be called the disguiser.

    Interestingly, this umbre had no attack power at all. It could not even be used as a weapon, but this umbre had an interesting ability. It can simte other weapons. For example, Luo Jian used it to imitate the rod used by the monk just now.

    However, a simtion needed a premise. If Luo Jian wanted to simte other people¡¯s weapons, then he must first be in physical contact with the owner of the weapon, and it was preferable if they fought so that Luo Jian could understand the shape and strength of the other¡¯s weapon. As long as this understanding reached a certain level, Luo Jian could simte the other party¡¯s weapons reasonably, or...... copy it.

    Of course, the abilities this umbre had may be much more than this, but at this point in time, Luo Jian was not able to figure everything outpletely.

    However, when Luo Jian obtained the new appearance of his weapon, he realized that he needed to experience more battles. He needed to fight to enrich himself, or rather, he needed to enrich his weapon.

    T/N: Hehe, the red umbre, does it remind yall of someone?

 Chapter 142 - Crimson Asura Realm (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 142 - Crimson Asura Realm (XI)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Ying used a sharp stone to carve another ¡®Õý¡¯ character on the tree trunk. Although he knew that the character would disappear soon and the tree trunk would recover, it did not matter. He would remember how many ¡®Õý¡¯ characters he had carved.

    However, Ying was not willing to recall how long he had been here. The word time would always remind him of something, and he would subsequently feel depressed or upset due to it. Ying did not want to be depressed or upset, so he refused to recall and think.

    So Ying sat under the big tree and built an invisible line of defense for himself so that no one could get close to him. And that was why he always sat here alone. He emptied his head and gazed at the never-moving red sun in the sky in a daze. The crimson sun rays would pour down through the gaps between the branches of the big tree and shine on his cheek.

    Ying closed his eyes momentarily as he waited. He felt the powerful beating of his heart in his chest. His heart was beating faster and faster, as if to reflect what he felt inwardly. Then Ying opened his eyes and raised his head to look at the man who appeared in front of him.

    Ying said to the man, ¡°Finally. For more than 100 years, I have been waiting for the day you would arrive.¡±

    The man in front of Ying seemed to have just climbed out of the battlefield. He was soaked in blood. Under the blood-red sun, the entire person seemed to turn red. He even held a red umbre in his hand. The colour was so dazzling it almost hurt his eyes. The umbre appeared warm and friendly, but it was extremely dangerous.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Ying said with a hoarse voice. He lightly brushed the scattered long hair on his forehead so that he could look at the person with a clearer view. He noticed that this man was very young. He seemed to be about 20 years old and about 1.7 meters tall. He was a ck-haired and ck-eyed Asian, and half of his face was covered with blood. One eye seemed to be injured, so it remained closed.

    Disregarding the thick bloodstains, this man had a rather pleasant appearance. He had slightly delicate facial features and a gentle temperament, apanied by a gentle smile of a typical big brother next door. He was probably this sort of man.

    It was a pity that this kind of gentle temperament was all destroyed by the killing intent that was surging through the entirety of the man.

    He looked like a devil who had just crawled out from the Asura Realm in hell......or rather, it was more apt to say that he just crawled out from the Asura Realm. He defeated everyone and wiped out every monster, creature, and yer. In short, everyone in the Asura Realm, except himself, was lying unconscious on the ground.

    He was the winner, but he did not seem to be happy. His face was expressionless, and he neither cried norughed. When he approached the tree, his killing intent continued to emanate from him. His eyes were as sharp as those of wild animals, and he was staring at Ying.

    ¡°My name is Luo Jian.¡± The man finally showed a smile. When he said this to Ying, his voice was a little hoarse as if he had not spoken for a long time. He did not adjust his pitch properly, but this did not detract from his verve.

    Ying was not afraid of Luo Jian, who was brimming with killing intent. It seemed that the other party had just left the battlefield and could not control his killing intent. Ying knew that this man had been in this Asura Realm for a long time. From the moment he came in, he had never left the battlefield. Everyone in the Asura Realm were all like him. They were repeating an endless cycle of killing&#k2026;&#k2026; or being killed.

    So Ying waved to Luo Jian and said to him, ¡°Come here and sit by me.¡±

    Ying sat cross-legged on a big rock, and there was a rock almost as high opposite him, and put together, it appeared as if the rocks were two simr-looking chairs. Ying had been sitting on one of the chairs, waiting for the chair opposite to him to be filled by someone. That person would then be able to talk to Ying face-to-face.

    Luo Jian obeyed Ying¡¯s wishes. He walked slowly forward, step by step. His walking pace was slow but powerful. Ying could see that the man was too used to fighting. He was used to keeping his guard up with every step that he took. He was wary of attacks from all different directions, even from the sky and the ground, and was ready to fight back at any time.

    Ying understood that he had to allow the other party to rx first, to remove him from a deep state of concentration, to allow the man to rx and forget about killing and battling.

    So Ying lowered his tone, and in a rxed tone, as if his voice was a piece of wondrous music, he stated: ¡°Luo Jian, rx. You don¡¯t have to fight any longer. You beat everyone. You¡¯re the winner.¡±

    Luo Jian did not speak. He raised his head and looked at Ying. Suddenly, he swung the red umbre in his hands. Then he opened the umbre, put it on his shoulder, and slowly walked towards Ying. This time, he no longer inched forward with difficulty. He seemed much more rxed and soon sat down on the rock in front of Ying.

    ¡°In more than a hundred years, you are the first to sit here.¡± Ying looked at this man with admiration. He felt that he had a long, crazy dream, but today, he finally woke up from the dream.

    Luo Jian seemed to be nervous. He turned the handle on his shoulder to allow the red umbre to spin above his head. However, the frequency with which he rotated the umbre seemed too paced. It seemed that the umbre had been slowly rotating at a constant speed. The speed was very constant. It was easy for someone to descend into this strange rotation, as it led people to feel that the skies were spinning.

    Ying looked at the man for a moment, then shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to hypnotize me.¡±

    Luo Jian also raised his head. He put the edges of his umbre too high up as he stared at Ying¡¯s face. In fact, one could not see Ying¡¯s face clearly because his hair was a mess. His hair was long enough and scattered everywhere to cover his body, and his hair was also disorderly arranged in front of his forehead. And because of this, there was a sense of mystery attached to Ying¡¯s face.

    Luo Jian stated: ¡°I didn¡¯t hypnotize you. I was just used to it.¡±

    ¡°I know, you¡¯re used to being able to hypnotize people constantly, right?¡± Ying, with a gentle smile, said, ¡°I sometimes notice you when I sit here. You would always deliberately reduce your sense of being to allow everyone to ignore your existence and prefer to remain in that state. But sometimes, you will deliberately magnify your sense of existence. It¡¯s amazing how you can change from a small fry that nobody cares about to a being that can capture everyone¡¯s sight wherever you go.¡±

    ¡°Were you paying attention to me?¡± Luo Jian was staring at Ying. He did not move his gaze away from him.

    ¡°I am able to pay attention to everyone on the battlefield. Some of them are very strong and some of them are quite vulnerable, but sometimes the weak ones are the ones able to survive to the end.¡±

    Luo Jian hesitated for a moment, and thereafter, he asked, ¡°I want to know something.¡±

    Ying smiled: ¡°Of course, you can ask anything, I will answer any question you ask, unless I don¡¯t know the final answer to that question.¡±

    Luo Jian thought for a moment and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Ying shook his head in chagrin: ¡°I forgot to introduce myself. My name is ¡®Ying,¡¯ the ¡®Ying¡¯ that stems from Lao Ying. But this is not my real name, but a code name. As for my real name, I have forgotten it.¡±

    Ying continued, ¡°I don¡¯t remember my age. I think I¡¯ve lived for too long. I¡¯ve forgotten where I came from, but what I can tell you is that I¡¯m not someone from this era.¡±

    ¡°I was told that you were one of the first yers to enter the secret chamber. Is that true?¡± Luo Jian¡¯s speaking speed was a little slow because he was not in a hurry. He had spent too much time here, and time had honed his flexibility and patience.

    He asked questions slowly, trying to get all the information he wanted to know.

    Ying was not disappointed and replied honestly, ¡°Yes, this is true. I spread that information myself.¡±

    ¡°Well, the first yers to enter the secret chamber, how many...... of them are alive?¡±

    The question seemed to make Ying feel a little deste. He sighed, ¡°I¡¯m the only one that survived. I¡¯m the only one alive.¡±

    Luo Jian seemed to notice something, and he went on to ask, ¡°Are the rest of them dead?¡±

    ¡°Yes, mostly.¡±

    ¡°You know those yers, don¡¯t you?¡± Luo Jian said: ¡°You even know how many yers were the first to enter the secret chamber, right? How did you enter the secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°Well, let me slowly answer your questions, one by one.¡± Ying smiled and he said, ¡°First, I do know all the yers that first entered the secret chamber. Second, there were only eight yers in the first batch, including me. Third, the eight of us entered the secret chamber voluntarily.¡±

    Luo Jian did not speak. He seemed to show very, very little of his expressions, and it was difficult for him to experience any mood fluctuations. Luo Jian had stayed in the battlefield for too long. He knew that he had be numb like these people. He had numbly forged ahead in the battlefield. He had been thinking about how to make himself survive longer and how to kill everyone around him every day.

    He did not know when he became silent, reticent, and introverted.

    ¡°You¡¯re smart, Luo Jian.¡± Ying lowered his head a little, and his hair started to be messed up again, but he did not care. He continued: ¡°We don¡¯t have to hurry. In this Crimson Asura Realm, we have a lot of time to spend. It¡¯s fine even if we talk for a few days and nights.¡±

    ¡°I know what you want to know, too,¡± Ying said, ¡°You want to know the origins of the secret chamber. You want to know how to leave here or how to leave the chambers forever. You may also want to save some of yourpanions. Everyone who came here thought so too, and every one of them faced simr predicaments.

    ¡°So before I tell you the truth, I have to tell you a story, a horrible story, which has been in my heart for a long time, so long that I don¡¯t even want to mention it again.¡±

    After saying that, Ying remained silent for a long time. Something seemed to be brewing in his mind. He prepared a long, boring story for the guest in front of him. In fact, Ying did not know whether he was doing the right thing or the wrong thing. Was the decision he made right or wrong, good or bad? It was a pity that he had no room for regret now.

    Clearly, Ying had all the time in the world, but he could not withstand time¡¯s effects.

    So Ying took a deep breath. He raised his head and opened his eyes. He looked at Luo Jian, who was sitting in front of him, and began to tell him a story that happened in the distant future. It happened in a future far more distant that anyone could imagine:

    ¡°This story begins about a billion yearster in the future. At that time, Earth has exhausted its resources and is no longer suitable for the survival of any human being. Because of war and struggle for survival, human beings began to experience an unprecedented evolution globally. It was an evolution just as wonderful and terrifying as how monkeys...... evolved into humans.¡±

    ¡°Humans have be very powerful, but they are no longer suited to live on Earth, so they migrated to other gxies, leaving behind the once beautiful but now totally different Earth...... to rotate by itself.¡±

 Chapter 143 - Crimson Asura Realm (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 143 - Crimson Asura Realm (XII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°Are you telling a science fiction story?¡± Luo Jian asked Ying this, but it was not to ridicule him. He was simply just asking.

    Ying shook his head: ¡°No, no! It¡¯s not science fiction, of course. It¡¯s what happens in reality, but you don¡¯t know how great and exciting this part of history is.¡±

    ¡°So you came here from the future?¡±

    Ying continued to shake his head: ¡°No, I do not belong to any time or space. Because I have been wandering for a long time, I have forgotten where I came from.¡±

    After hearing this sentence, Luo Jian paused. He tilted his head slightly, nced at Ying hesitantly, and asked tentatively, ¡°Well...... did you build this chamber space, the Crimson Asura Realm?¡±

    Yingughed: ¡°You finally asked something important. What I can tell you is that the Crimson Asura Realm...... I built part of it.¡±

    ¡°Just a part of it?¡±

    ¡°Only a part of it,¡± Ying said: ¡°The other parts were built by several of mypanions. Unfortunately, as I said before, all eight people died except me, so this chamber is notpletely constructed, and I can¡¯t continue building it on my own. I can only maintain its existence. As long as I sit here, the Crimson Asura Realm will exist here forever.¡±

    This surprised Luo Jian, who has rarely felt his emotions fluctuate. He squinted at Ying and said, ¡°Your group can create a world.¡±

    ¡°Of course, but it takes a lot of time. It¡¯s not akin to some mythical gods who can create aplete world in seven days. We can¡¯t do all that. We need a lot more time, probably about a few thousand years¡¯ time.¡±

    ¡°Then why do you need to build this, to build this space?¡±

    ¡°This has something to do with the history of the future that I said previously. You interrupted me, but now I can continue the story. Where did I stop earlier?¡±

    Luo Jian blinked and replied to Ying, ¡°You mentioned human evolution and that these humans leave Earth.¡±

    Yingughed again and continued: ¡°Yes, yes, human beings had exhausted all the resources of Earth. They concluded that Earth was no longer suitable for living things, so they left. That was about 100 million years ago.¡±

    ¡°If what you say is true, human technology would be quite powerful at that time, right?¡± A sh of inspiration suddenly hit Luo Jian. Henceforth, he thought of something and guessed: ¡°Was the secret chamber¡¯s space also created by the humans of the future?¡±

    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re quite imaginative. You¡¯re partly correct.¡± Ying parted his hair a little and revealed half of his face. Unexpectedly, Ying¡¯s voice sounded as if he lived through plenty of hardships, but he had the face of a capable, young man, and his face even looked like a youth¡¯s face.

    Ying took a deep breath and continued to narrate: ¡°In fact, the migration of human beings from Earth was not sessful. They travelled through space using giant spaceships, and they searched for the next that they could survive on. This processsted for a hundred years. Finally, they finally found a with sufficient conditions: the atmospheric environment, nts, and soil were suitable for human survival...... The was named ¡®Pris.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Northern Pris......¡± Luo Jian murmured to himself as he listened to Ying¡¯s story.

    Ying did not pay attention to Luo Jian¡¯s mumbling. He paused and continued: ¡°Unfortunately, there were aborigines on Pris,monly known to us as ¡®aliens.¡¯ They did not wee the arrival of the Earthlings. They regarded the Earthlings as invaders.

    ¡°The aborigines on the Pris were a group of ferocious beasts. The way they evolved was quite different from that of human beings. They didn¡¯t have such powerful intelligence to craft technology and couldn¡¯t use bombs, guns, explosives, and other simr technologies. But they possessed unparalleled biotechnology, and that is something really terrifying.¡±

    ¡°Biotechnology?¡± Luo Jian could not understand what this word meant very well. He voiced out a question to Mr Ying.

    Ying answered Luo Jian¡¯s question honestly: ¡°As we are on the topic of biotechnology...... Do you know what materials modern Earthlings utilize to create suits of armour for themselves? ¡°

    ¡°Uh......¡± Luo Jian hesitated for a moment and replied, ¡°Steel? Tough fabric? Maybe they¡¯d fix a GPS on their body? Or something like that? I¡¯m not very clear about it.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what kind of armour the Earthlings will make for themselves in the future?¡±

    Luo Jian frowned and thought for a long time: ¡°You¡¯re making things difficult for me. I can¡¯t imagine that, but I have a feeling I can guess that our future technology is akin to that of some science fiction movies with heavy protective armour. Once someone presses a few buttons on the arm, a virtual disy screen will pop out...¡±

    Yingughed again: ¡°You are still very imaginative, and indeed that¡¯s how it is. In the future, humans¡¯ clothing and daily life are inseparable from electronic technology. Even in battle, there are all kinds ofputers that can calcte thebat effectiveness and degree of damage using the technology¡¯s incredibleputing power.

    ¡°But the aborigines on Pris were different. Their technology and biology were inseparable. Can you imagine that? They wore creatures on their bodies. Their armour was some sort of creature. Their warships, spaceships, and weapons were all made of life. These guys, no matter whether they were young or old, were good fighters. Almost all of them were soldiers. Even the newly born children would take up weapons and could strike you a fatal blow.¡±

    ¡°Battling ethnicity.¡± Luo Jian described.

    ¡°Yes, it was a battling ethnicity. In fact, their level of advancement in technology was not inferior to that of human beings, but the direction of their evolution was not quite the same. Moreover, this race has a strong sense of unity. Unlike human beings who are rtively scattered mentally, they will unite against outsiders. They soon defeated the invading Earthlings.¡±

    Ying stopped speaking for a long time when he said this. He was silent and seemed to be thinking about something. Luo Jian said nothing at first, waiting for him to continue, but Ying refused to speak for a long time. Luo Jian could not help but ask, ¡°What happened after?¡±

    Ying shook his head and sighed, ¡°Although human beings had failed and been expelled from Pris, having tragically lost most of the human poption, greedy human beings stole the biotechnology on Pris. Human beings tried to use this biotechnology and their own technology to make weapons that were more superior...... In fact, we can ignore this part of history and not discuss it. The key point is thatter, mankind had indeed created a very, very powerful weapon.

    ¡°The weapon was made, but shortly after, humans found out that they had no soldiers worthy of it.¡±

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help frowning when he heard this and said, ¡°Soldiers worthy of weapons? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The biotechnology on Pris is very interesting. Their weapons will pick their owners on their own ords. If the master¡¯s ability is not strong enough, they will not be able to control that weapon. Naturally, their weapons will also not obey their orders.¡±

    ¡°Weapons also have self-awareness, right?¡± Luo Jian understood this. He thought for a while, but he could not help but take a glimpse at the red umbre in his hand, which was obtained after thousands of battles.

    ¡°Yes, super biological weapons with self-awareness can not only evolve themselves into superior living weapons but also choose suitable masters to evolve together. If their masters are not strong enough to be equipped with the weapons, the weapons will eat or kill their masters.¡±

    ¡°After speaking to this point, you¡¯ll understand after taking a look at your weapon in your hands.¡± Ying looked at Luo Jian. He fixed his eyes on Luo Jian¡¯s umbre. After a moment of silence, he went on: ¡°The secret chamber space was originally called the ¡®Transmigration¡¯ (Transmigration) system, or ¡®TR system¡¯ for short. It was a system-like holographic virtual game simr to those described in some novels and movies. They put a lot of soldiers into this virtual world, and the system would build a variety of dangerous environments to train the soldiers¡¯ physical fitness and ability, and most importantly, to train them to bepatible with their superior weapons.¡±

    ¡°So was this the origin of the chamber¡¯s space? But how could the secret chamber pull us in...... People such as us...¡± In the end, Luo Jian was bbergasted. He felt that his mind was slightly in a mess, and he even began to speak in a muddle-headed fashion.

    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened next.¡± Ying unconsciously ovepped his hands. He swallowed some saliva to moisten his dry throat and continued: ¡°In fact, the TR system was a failed product, but it was still very sessful. When it was created, people found something unusual. They found that this weird system was not virtual. It seemed that due to some unforeseen mistakes with thebination of biotechnology...... yes, the so-called virtual spaces created by the system were not just virtual data...... People were ced there in reality. In the TR system, if you got injured and die, you¡¯d really die.

    ¡°The human government quickly discovered their mistake. They believed that this strange system that could create another reality would bring unexpected troubles to mankind, so they temporarily sealed and suspended the ¡®transmigration n.¡¯ But as you know, there are always people who will be different from others and look to seek trouble.¡±

    ¡°Did someone start the system without permission?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re almost right: There were some fellows with ulterior motives who recaptured the core of the system and activated it. But you have to know that this ¡®TR system¡¯ was also made bybining the biotechnology on Pris, that is to say, this system is just like a weapon...... It also evolves itself. It even knows how to escape. I don¡¯t know what happened afterwards, but in short, the TR system hase to Earth in the modern time after leaping over a hundred million years.¡±

    ¡°This is a disaster!¡± Luo Jian was stunned by the information.

    Ying raised his head and looked at Luo Jian with his young face: ¡°And you are at the epicentre of the disaster.¡±

    ¡°What about you? Did you follow this system and leap over a hundred million years to arrive here?¡± At first, Luo Jian felt that with Ying¡¯s identity and how he remained in the system space together with the system, Ying had likely traversed across time together with it.

    However, Ying denied Luo Jian¡¯s deduction, and thereafter, he shook his head: ¡°No, when the system leapt here across time, it did not bring anyone else. It did not bring with it warriors or aliens from the future.¡±

    ¡°How do you know all this?¡± Luo Jian felt even more incredulous. The information was like someone detonated tons of bombs on him, and he was absolutely shocked.

    ¡°I know all this because...... because...¡± Ying was stuck again. He was in great pain and grabbed a fistful of his hair with his hands. After hesitating several moments, he finally said, ¡°That¡¯s because my team and I found this high-end technology from the future. We found this system! Because it had leapt over a hundred million years in time, it had also consumed a huge amount of energy! It was almostpletely destroyed to the point where it was beyond recognition. It was not able to move any longer, but its core was still intact!¡±

    ¡°Could it be that...... you...¡± Luo Jian¡¯s eyes widened as he gazed at Ying, and an ominous premonition gradually surfaced in his heart.

    ¡°Yes, yes!¡± Ying once again grabbed a fistful of his hair with much force, as if he was trying to pull ayer of his scalp out. He said: ¡°We discovered this terrifying technology from the future, but we were also very excited. We learned the advanced technology brought forth from the future, and we even tried to transform the core of the system until it went out of our control. And it became what it is today¡ªand you know, in the beginning, we merely thought it was just a game. We had really wanted to make something like a holographic game!¡±

    ¡°And the holographic game you wanted to create has killed tens of thousands of people or even more!

    ¡°If you had ignored that system and let it rot in some corner in the beginning, I think I would still be sitting at home eating my food leisurely now! My friends wouldn¡¯t be trapped in some inexplicable punishment chamber, waiting for me to rescue them!¡±

    Luo Jian was unconsciously filled with wrath. He had struggled in this secret chamber for so long. He witnessed countless people dying and reviving, and it turned out that because a few inexplicable fellows wanted to create a game, it had evolved into what it is today!

    Ying could not help but stretch out his hand to gesture a ¡®stop¡¯ action. He was breathing unsteadily, but he still tried to pacify Luo Jian: ¡°Calm down! Luo Jian, I also didn¡¯t wish for it to turn out this way, but reality had already solidified...... and what we need to do now is to think of how to salvage our situation.¡±

    T/N: No doubt, we¡¯ll have to delve deep into the origins of the secret chamber albeit it being slightly boring, like any other unlimited flow stories. But again, more unexined stuff will be exined in the following chapters, so please look forward to it!

    Unfortunately, Kitty has misced herptop, so the edited chapters wouldn¡¯t be up so soon. <del>Please bear with my self-edited chapters for now, and if you spot any grammatical errors, please let me know. Thank you! </del> This chapter is edited.

 Chapter 144 - Crimson Asura Realm (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 144 - Crimson Asura Realm (XIII)</h4>

    Trigger Warning: Suicide

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Luo Jian squatted down, lowered his head, and gazed at the dying wolf lying on the grass.

    The wolf had chased him for ten years in total. At the beginning, it could not beat Luo Jian, and it still couldn¡¯t beat Luo Jian now. However, it could defeat almost anyone except him now.

    Luo Jian had always thought that this wolf was a yer with a strong will and was extremely vengeful. Otherwise, how could he have been so persistent and unremitting in chasing after Luo Jian? But after a long time, Luo Jian also slowly began to find that this fool was not quite like the monsters that yers had morphed into.

    It seemed that this wolf was really just a wolf. It had a huge body and sharp ws, but in the beginning, it was weaker than any other person in the Asura Realm. It had followed Luo Jian all the way through the Asura Realm¡¯s circles, and just like Luo Jian, it remained stuck in the cycle of life and death. In order to not be too far away from Luo Jian, it struggled to defeat all kinds of enemies every day.

    Its means of attack were so simple¡ªnothing more than the ordinary wolf¡¯s wing, biting, and scratching. Its skills were not worth mentioningpared to those of people who possessed all kinds of terrifying skills like those that could set fire to things or spout water using magic, those that could burrow into the ground, or those who could teleport. But miraculously, with the passage of time, this wolf was shockingly able to win against all kinds of yers and monsters.

    Because it became faster over time, its ws also became sharper over time. If it bit someone, it would always bite at the vital parts of their body. Its body was flexible and powerful. It knew that no matter what kind of abnormal ability the enemy had and what kind of exotic skills they possessed, those were only means of attack. And as long as it could avoid these attacks, it would have room to counterattack against them.

    But it was not able to beat Luo Jian. The wolf was even immune to Luo Jian¡¯s hypnosis. It knew that Luo Jian had quite a knack for utilizing his skills, and the prerequisite to using his skills was that he must be seen. Anyone would fall into a state of ¡®hypnosis¡¯ when they saw Luo Jian. Therefore, it never looked Luo Jian straight in the eye but relied on its olfactory sense to detect him.

    It also knew that Luo Jian had many weaknesses. Luo Jian could emte all kinds of extremely powerful weapon forms, and therefore, Luo Jian had plenty of skills at his disposal. Luo Jian knew how to use these skills to attack others as well. However, because Luo Jian knew how to use many skills, he couldn¡¯t specialize in one. He had learned to use a lot of skills but was not proficient in any one of them.

    Nevertheless, the strong consciousness that Luo Jian trained on the battlefield made up for his defects. He knew that he was not very skilled in using any of the imitated weapons, so he simply needed to make do with all kinds of weapons. Luo Jian¡¯s battling style was characterized by various kinds of attacks. He also began to explore the coordination of various weapons to improve hisbat abilities.

    Ten years in the Asura Realm went by like a sh. Luo Jian did not even feel the passage of time and did not bother to calcte how long had psed. He was so addicted to the battling that he could not stop, much like a wound-up machine that was perpetually in motion. He was stuck forever in the horrifying and crazy...... state of being a red-eyed killing machine.

    He honed his skills inbat. He became more and more skilful in using various weapons and various ways to manipte his abilities. He had used his advantages to turn defeats into victories and sessfully turned the tables around.

    But Luo Jian relentingly became ignorant of the fact that he became a legend.

    When Luo Jian killed everyone in an instant and moved all the way to the advanced circle in the Asura Realm, he numbly walked to the stage where the final winner would be determined, and everyone under the stage could only silently admire him and look at his back.

    However, what everyone did not expect was that Luo Jian went to the tree and met with the mysterious strong man under the tree and soon came back again. When he silently returned, the people on the battlefield had already gotten up and continued the cycle of killing. If someone noticed Luo Jian¡¯s return, they would not be able to get away from the battlefield, so Luo Jian kept his non-existent aura up all the way as he crossed the entire Asura Realm and came to the edge of the battlefield where there was no fighting. It was a peace zone.

    The wolf followed him again. And once again, it provoked Luo Jian. Like before, he was defeated by Luo Jian again.

    Luo Jian squatted down, touched the wolf¡¯s head, and asked, ¡°Why are you constantly following me?¡±

    The wolf was notpletely dead and did not speak, but it breathed heavily. It gazed at Luo Jian with its bright, red eyes.

    Blood-red irises.

    Luo Jian¡¯s hands shook.

    In fact, in the Crimson Asura Realm, almost everything seemed tinted with bright red, dark red, and blood red. Under the red rays of the sunset, these red rays would sy across all surfaces. Other than that, there was always blood on the battlefield. Luo Jian was no longer sensitive to the colour red. He thought that somewhere in his distant memories, there was a man with bloody red eyes.

    ¡°Xing Yan...¡± Luo Jian yelled, but even he did not understand who he was calling. His persistence had been wiped away by time. All sensations of his had be numb in the process of killing. He thought he was still alive, but perhaps, long ago, Luo Jian was already dead.

    Luo Jian remembered what Ying had said to him before he left:

    ¡°Luo Jian...... If you want to get out of this secret chamber, you have to think of yourself as someone who has died.

    ¡°Only the dead can escape from these infinite chambers.¡±

    When one died or did not exist, one would need to use another identity to face a whole new challenge. If one wanted to live, one would have to give up a lot of things that were precious or hard to discard.

    ¡°Stop following me,¡± Luo Jian said to the wolf. The tone of his voice sounded somewhat sorrowful: ¡°After today, you will never see me again.¡±

    Luo Jian stood up and seemingly wanted to leave, but just as he spread his legs and stepped forward, he felt that something tug the hem of his trousers. He lowered his head downwards and saw the wolf pitifully rubbing his head against him as it bit Luo Jian¡¯s pants.

    The wolf could not speak. It could only whine twice. It seldom made such a sound. Luo Jian had battled with it countlessly and had been bitten to death countless times while the wolf had been stabbed to death by him countless times. However, he had never heard this wolf make such a sound. It sounded slightly upset as if it could sense that Luo Jian was leaving. It was using its own manner to make Luo Jian stay.

    Luo Jian felt touched, so he could not help but squat down and touch the wolf¡¯s head. Its fur felt veryfortable. Luo Jian could not help but pet him in admiration. But finally, he abandoned the wolf and walked in the direction of the forest alone. He had to find a quiet ce where there was no one else, and he needed to be alone.

    Such ces could be found everywhere in the Crimson Asura Realm. After walking in the woods for a long time, Luo Jian returned to the small forest where he used to fight with the wolf. Because of the self-recovering setting of the Crimson Asura Realm, this forest had been restored back to how Luo JIan had first seen it. It had reverted back to the forest where withered but thick branches were all around.

    In the woods, the tree trunks with the cross marks carved by Luo Jian had also been restored. The tree trunks appeared very clean, and no traces of his carvings were left behind. Luo Jian walked along the path and went back to the ce where he had first awakened. He wandered over to the huge rock. Luo Jian jumped on the rock and sat cross-legged on it.

    In the crevice of the rock, there were several weeds with tenacious vitality, and those were also the grasses that Luo Jian had first seen when he woke up.

    The setting sun was still sprinkling rays of sun on the des of grass, dyeing them red.

    Luo Jian gazed at the grass for a long time, thinking about certain matters. Suddenly, he felt that his brain was empty and there was nothing in it. He intended to recall all that had happened a long time ago. He recalled his life, every person he met in his life, every happy or sad event, and no matter whether he was happy or sad, that was what Luo Jian had experienced.

    It was Luo Jian¡¯s life.

    But today, he must abandon all these things. He must wipe the person ¡®Luo Jian¡¯pletely from the world and allow him to disappear so that everyone who knew of Luo Jian would think that he was dead.

    ¡°I¡¯m dead.¡± Luo Jian repeated this sentence.

    He swayed with his weapon, turning the bloody red umbre into a short knife. The appearance of a short knife was originally formed by Luo Jian¡¯s subconscious. He was imitating Xing Yan¡¯s weapon. In the initial stages, this knife apanied Luo Jian through a long journey.

    And at this moment, Luo Jian had to use it to end himself.

    So Luo Jian held the knife, took a deep breath, and ced the de of the knife to his throat.

    One could revive if one died in the Crimson Asura Realm.

    But Luo Jian was an exception now. Ying had the right to modify part of the space in the Crimson Asura Realm. He had modified Luo Jian¡¯s settings. Now, Luo Jian could be revived. If he died now, he would really be dead. His body would bepletely expelled from this space at the moment of his death. He would truly die forever.

    Perhaps because he felt confused and lost in his heart, Luo Jian also questioned whether his choice was correct. But now he had no other alternatives. In front of him, there was only this path. If he did not go forward, there was no difference between the current him and the him who had died.

    Perplexity was just another manifestation of cowardice.

    Luo Jian closed his eyes and grasped the handle of the knife with his fingers. He stuck the knife against his fragile neck and cut it slowly. He could clearly feel the pain of cutting his throat. Blood flowed onto him, and the warmth slowly fled from his useless body.

    One second before darknesspletely engulfed Luo Jian, he heard something familiar in a trance. Someone said:

    ¡°¡ªNo matter where you are, I will be able to protect you......¡±

    Therefore, at that moment, time seemed to stop.

    Luo Jian did not know how long had psed, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a field.

    It was a natural and simple field, only seen in rural areas. There were muddy roads that had not been touched by human construction, formed by people trampling on them. Far away, there were low and tall yellow brick houses and ragged scarecrows standing in the middle of the fields. The afternoon sun shone on the golden wheat. It was different from the static air in the Crimson Asura Realm. Here, the wind blew on his face, and when the wind blew onto his skin, it brought forth a cooling feeling.

    Luo Jian was in a trance. He could not help lowering his head as he looked at his body.

    This was not his body...... but it was also his body. He had been crammed into another body, a body that had been prepared for him. This body had been on standby, but today, this body belonged to Luo Jian.

    As if he had been reborn.

    T/N: New arc, starting from next chapter! <del>This chapter is unedited. </del> This chapter is now edited.

    Thank you so much, Kitty for your Ko-Fi. A bonus chapter will be published this week.

    Kitty¡¯s very busy and cannot edit so many chapters a week, so I¡¯m looking for another editor to help in editing EIC chapters. If you think you canmit to editing 2 chapters/week and would like to try working with us, please DM me at discord!

 Chapter 145 - The Corridor of Time (I)

    <h4>Chapter 145 - The Corridor of Time (I)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian finally remembered where he was. When he saw that person, his memories whirled in his head. He saw the fields and houses he knew well, as well as the thick and low willow tree right beside his old home. At that time, the roads at the gate of his house had not yet been built. The roads were all made by household members from all generations in the vige stepping out onto the mud roads. The mud road proved the famous saying true¡ªin the beginning, there was no road here, but after more people walked by, it subsequently became a road.

    Yes, this was the vige where Luo Jian lived as a child. It was the ce where his grandmother lived. It was also the small vige where he and his cousin Luo Feng ter known as Specter) lived. Luo Jian¡¯s parents sent him to this vige when he was about four or five years old. After finishing studying in the elementary school near the vige, he went to the big city to enter middle school.

    It was here that his cousin Luo Feng disappeared from everyone¡¯s sight, and he had disappeared until now.

    This ce seemed to be the beginning of everything.

    ¡°How did Ie here?¡± Luo Jian looked at the familiar house in front of him in a trance. At that time, the houses were all made of yellow bricks and tiles, and the buildings were very old. Luo Jian remembered that when he lived here as a child, he had to retrieve a few pots and pans and put them in the house on rainy days because the worn-out roof bricks and the tiles on the top of them were not waterproof.

    Droplets of water would gather into a big puddle of water, and the wet and cold weather would cause his grandma¡¯s leg to ache. At that time, his cousin, aged around 13 or 14 year, would be busy working around the house, doing all the chores and household matters by himself, and Grandma would sit in the room and slowly choose vegetables. At that time, his grandma had several acres ofnd which were all sublet out to earn some extra ie. Moreover, her children could send some money every month. Their life was not particrly poor, but they could not eat anything luxurious.

    In Luo Jian¡¯s eyes at that age, that period was filled with happy and blessed memories. Although he was not in good health when he was a child, his cousin never despised him. He always took him everywhere¡ªhe took him to roll around the ground while yelling on the top of their lungs, to climb trees and dig bird¡¯s nests, to run into other people¡¯s corn fields in the middle of the night to steal corn and pick jujube trees nted by others, and thereafter to catch pheasants in ponds and touch snails in the fields.

    At that time, Luo Jian¡¯s paternal cousin did everything a mischievous child would do with him.

    However, no matter how happy he was in his memories, now in retrospect, for the current Luo Jian, it would only bring him sorrow. He was no longer Luo Jian. He stood in this horrible ce with a new skin and looked at the people and houses he saw long ago. No one would recognize him. He would be a person who had no past or future.

    Luo Jian stood at the door of his old abode for a very long time until he heard an effeminate voice near him. The child asked him, ¡°Big brother, what are you doing here?¡±

    Luo Jian was slow to react for a moment. He touched the red umbre in his hand, then opened it and let the handle rest on his shoulder. Afterwards, he lowered his head and looked at the little brat standing beside him.

    It was a child of about seven or eight years old. He was small and thin, and his face wascking in the redness normally seen in people. He knew that the child was sick at a nce, but the child was very energetic. He carried a small basket containing some fruits: persimmons and dates.

    Luo Jian knew that these fruits were given to the child by the families who nted fruit trees next door. It was not known whether it was out of sympathy or some other reasons. Although the child was awfully ill, he was very cheerful and loved tough, and it formed a stark contrast to the current Luo Jian.

    ¡°Big brother, are you lost?¡± Seeing that Luo Jian had not answered, the child widened his eyes and asked him innocently and purely. Then the child looked at the fruit in his basket. He continued: ¡°Big brother Feng asked if I wanted to eat persimmons just now. Do you want persimmons too?¡±

    Luo Jian could not help but smile at him, stretched out his hand to touch his head, and replied, ¡°No, I don¡¯t want persimmons.¡±

    Later, Luo Jian found that his arm was also very small. He found that he was only half a head higher than the child in front of him, so he spected on the age of his body. His body was likely about 10, 11, or 12 years old. The body was not much older than the kid in front of him.

    ¡°Then eat dates! Dates are delicious!¡± The child kept trying to give Luo Jian something to eat. He held up his basket and showed him the fresh fruits.

    Luo Jian could not helpughing again. Just as he was about to say something, a 14-year-old boy came out of the dpidated house. As soon as he came out, he called out, ¡°Luo Jian, who are you talking to?¡±

    The child pointed to Luo Jian and said to the boy, ¡°Talking to this big brother...¡±

    The young man looked left and right and said inexplicably, ¡°There is no one here.¡±

    The child also froze. Turning back to look at where Luo Jian stood, he found that the little big brother who had justughed with him was missing...... No, he was not missing. It was just that the child couldn¡¯t see him now.

    Little Luo Jian scratched his head strangely and said to himself, ¡°Eh? Where did that big brother I saw just now go?¡±

    The boy came over. Although he was only 14 years old, he was very tall. He squatted in front of his little brother and touched Luo Jian¡¯s head: ¡°Ah, there¡¯s no big brother here?¡±

    ¡°Yes there was!¡± Little Luo Jian said boldly, ¡°There was a....... well, a little older than me, a big brother with a red umbre was here!¡±

    The boy immediatelyughed and teased, ¡°Was there? That¡¯s terrible! It¡¯s sunny now! No one will walk around with an umbre, and it was a red umbre. Maybe it was a ghost!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± Little Luo Jian shook his head. ¡°Big brother is a liar! Ghosts don¡¯te out in broad daylight!¡±

    ¡°Why is that impossible?¡± The youth...... that was Luo Feng, continued to smile, ¡°Think about it. Don¡¯t you think that the ghost was holding an umbre in broad daylight to block the sunlight?¡±

    This really scared the child. Little Luo Jian flinched, looked to the left and the right, and reached out to his cousin: ¡°Big brother, huggy!¡±

    Luo Feng immediately reached out to pick up the child. He was very strong because he often did all the farming and ate a lot. He was tall and strong. He looked like a big brother who would dote on his younger brother a lot, and it appeared as if he could not wait to push the little brat in his arms up into the skies.

    ¡°Luo Jian, don¡¯t be afraid. Big brother is full of Yang energy. Ghosts and evil spirits do not dare to get close to me...... Well, that¡¯s what Grandma said.¡±

    The two brothers walked into the room as they talked. They did not see anyone standing behind them. Of course, one could probably see him, but when they did, they would have probably forgotten his existence immediately.

    Therefore, Luo Jian could only hold the umbre to look at the backs of the two brothers.

    Luo Jian stood in ce for a very long time. He did not know where to go, and there was no destination in his mind. He looked at the door of the dpidated house in front of him. After thinking about it, he raised his feet and stepped into the house. The walls were made of yellow bricks and mud belonging to the past era. Wooden tables and long wooden chairs were set at the entrance. Moments before, little Luo Jian¡¯s fruit basket was ced on the table.

    There was the sound of boiling water in the kitchen. When Luo Jian entered through the door, he saw that the two brothers were squatting in the kitchen, picking at a water bucket in the kitchen. It was likely that they had gone to the pond to touch fishes and took one back to discuss how to cook and eat the fish.

    Luo Jian squinted and hooked the corner of his mouth. He skipped into the kitchen and walked into the bedroom beyond that room. He remembered that he lived in the same room with his cousin when he was a child because he was ill at that time and had the habit of kicking his quilts off when he was young. In order to prevent Luo Jian from entering the hospital because he got a cold or a fever, his cousin would wake up at midnight and tuck him back in.

    The structure of his old abode was not different from Luo Jian¡¯s impression. On the contrary, he was reminded of many memories when he came to this familiar house. The things that he gradually forgot during the killing slowly returned to his mind, but it felt so distant from him. It was clear that Luo Jian was now standing here, standing in the memories of his happiest times.

    Luo Jian ced his red umbre down and went to the small table in the room. There were elementary school textbooks on the table. Luo Jian remembered that he used to find excuses not to go to school because of physical reasons. Later, his cousin gave him remedial lessons...... Luo Feng¡¯s academic results were very good, and if he had not been pulled into the secret chambers¡ª

    It was estimated that he would already have been very sessful and recognized now, and he would have ascended in society, having a perfect family and career.

    Luo Jian reached out to touch the textbook on the table, but before his hand touched the table, he heard footsteps at the door. Luo Jian turned his head to nce at where the footsteps travelled from. The teenage Luo Feng ran into the bedroom in the house. However, he was stunned when he opened the door. He looked at Luo Jian in shock: ¡°Who are you? What are you doing in our house? ¡±

    Luo Jian realized that if he put his umbre down, his ability would temporarily deactivate, and naturally he could appear in front of others.

    He needed to let the other forget.

    Luo Jian thought. He was not a person of this era, nor of this world. He should not be here, so it was better not to leave traces of him, let alone try to change the past. Ying had warned Luo Jian countless times to not change the past because once the past was changed, the future would surely change.

    Luo Jian wanted Luo Feng to forget the scene where he saw him, but things had changed subtly at the moment because Luo Feng suddenly cried out, ¡°Ah, is it possible that you are who my younger brother has been saying he saw just now...... the little big brother with the red umbre?¡±

    Luo Fengughed: ¡°Which neighboring family¡¯s child are you? I have never seen you before.¡±

    Luo Jian nced at him, put his umbre up again, allowed it to fall on his shoulder, turned the handle of the umbre, and looked at Luo Feng¡¯s bright eyes. He whispered, ¡°You have never seen me.¡±

    Luo Feng gave him a strange smile: ¡°How would I not be able to see you?¡±

    It didn¡¯t work? This time it was Luo Jian who was surprised. He lowered his head downwards to see if there was something wrong with him, but before he could figure out what was going on, Luo Feng had alreadye to him.

    It may have been that Luo Jian had lowered his guard against familiar people. He did not mind Luo Feng¡¯s approach until he remembered what Ying said previously: ¡°If you return to the past, don¡¯t let anyone touch your body.¡± It seemed he recalled the warning toote because Luo Feng had reached out and picked up Luo Jian.

    An embrace that he had not experienced for a long time.

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t dare to move at that moment and allowed Luo Feng to pick him up. Although Luo Jian was only about ten years old, he was still very thin. It did not take Luo Feng much effort to pick him up.

    Luo Feng touched his head andughed happily. He said, ¡°Are you here to y with my younger brother?¡±

    Luo Jian still did not speak, hesitated for a moment, sighed slightly, and tried again: ¡°Luo Feng, you haven¡¯t seen me...... Now put me down and forget me.¡±

    This time the ability seemed to have an effect. Luo Feng was sluggish for a while, then he put Luo Jian back on the ground, turned around, and left without saying a word. Luo Jian saw him return to the kitchen and begin to talk to his younger brother about some other topic. Sounds of joy andughter sounded out endlessly.

    T/N: The previous chapters are all edited now.

 Chapter 146 - The Corridor of Time (II)

    <h4>Chapter 146 - The Corridor of Time (II)</h4>

    Bonus chapter (1/1)¨CThank you so much Kitty & lorenzo86

    Editor: Kitty

    Luo Jian stayed in the old house until evening. His grandma came back from the market with a basket of vegetables and cooked a full table of good dishes including a meat dish and a soup dish for the two cousins. For a family that was not rich, it was rare to eat meat. Eating meat may even be considered a luxury for them.

    Because those chairs in the countryside were wooden benches that could be sat on by several people, Luo Jian simply sat beside little Luo Jian. He held his red umbre up and watched the child eat. Luo Jian realized that he was not picky when he was a child and ate everything. He and his big brother would eat all kinds of food. He would swallow all the dishes his grandma and his big brother brought to him.

    Luo Jian did not think that he was so obedient when he was a child. He seldom threw tantrums or made a fuss and stayed very quiet. He could not help feeling depressed. Now, he could seldom recall those days. If he did note here today to see all this, maybe he would not remember that he had such a happy childhood during the span of his life.

    After eating, little Luo Jian left a bowl and filled it with some food. This action was quite unusual. His cousin Luo Feng asked him, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saving the food!¡± Luo Jian had a serious expression.

    ¡°For whom?¡± Luo Feng was surprised.

    Luo Jian seemed to be puzzled by this question. He rubbed his head and doubtfully said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Luo Feng could not helpughing: ¡°You don¡¯t know who you¡¯re saving the food for?¡±

    Little Luo Jian was also stubborn and insisted on saving the food. Onlyter did they find out that Luo Jian was taking the food to feed the little dog outside. After that, little Luo Jian remembered that recently, an old couple had died in the neighborhood. After the funeral was conducted by their children, their children left the vige, and the house was locked. There was no one to take care of the old dog that the old couple had. asionally, it would go around from household to household during mealtimes. This time, the dog had inched towards Luo Jian¡¯s house¡¯s entrance.

    Luo Jian remembered that he liked that dog very much when he was a child. There were many dogs in the countryside. When the dogs grew up in people¡¯s yards, it was especially protective of the owners and caught thieves. At that time, he followed his cousin to pick peaches in other people¡¯s courtyard and was chased two miles by a dog. Luo Jian ran until he was out of breath, was finally carried home by his big brother, and was severely scolded by his grandmother.

    Luo Jian followed little Ah Jian out the door and saw him squatting in the dark on the mud road to feed the dog. Although the dog was old, it was very fierce. It was also brought up in this small vige. Every time an outsider came to the vige, it would bark twice as warning.

    This time, it seemed to smell something. It actually barked at Luo Jian, which made Luo Jian a little surprised. Now, he was still carrying a red umbre...... However, it was also true that a dog¡¯s nose is very sensitive, and there are even rumors that many dogs can feel the presence of spirits, ghosts, and so on. It was not impossible for the dog to detect Luo Jian¡¯s existence.

    Next to the dog, little Luo Jian felt confused. The doggy was eating as per normal, but it suddenly barked towards a ce where there was no one. He could not help but stretch out his little hands to touch the dog¡¯s head to pacify it: ¡°Be obedient. Don¡¯t bark!¡±

    The old dog did not listen to him. It walked a few steps closer to Luo Jian, continued to bark louder, and put on the appearance of protecting little Luo Jian behind him. Luo Jian, who was standing there, could not help crying andughing. He stared at the old abode with a gaze that showed that he hated to part with the old abode and his cousin and grandmother, who came to check out the dog¡¯s barking.

    Then he spun his umbre and walked away.

    ¡°I have to go somewhere else and wait quietly for the next time I can leap across space and time,¡± Luo Jian said to himself.

    However, after taking two steps, Luo Jian reluctantly turned his head and took a glimpse. The dog came after him. The dog¡¯s eyes, which were as small as beans, red at him fiercely. It followed him and barked wherever he went. The little kid also followed the dog, causing several families nearby to light up theirmps and gaze outside. Luo Jian even heard their discussions.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? The old Hu family dog kept barking.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s barking in front of nobody.¡±

    ¡°Would there be a problem? It used to bark when it saw outsiders.¡±

    Old people in the countryside were a little superstitious. When they saw dogs barking at ces where no one stood, they naturally thought of things like this. Several young vigers carried old oilmps as they followed the dog, rendering Luo Jian extremely helpless. He had to pick up on his speed to cast off the old dog.

    It was not known if the old dog had a habit of chasing people, but the faster Luo Jian ran, the faster the dog chased. To Luo Jian¡¯s agony, he knew that he could not turn back and angrily wipe the dog out. On the contrary, the speed of therge group of people chasing after the dog was slower. The kids were rtively more flexible, so little Luo Jian was running behind the dog closely and giggled as he smiled.

    Was there such an incident in my memories? Or did my arrival affect all this?

    Following the muddy path, Luo Jian ran to a small forest and floated along with the wind to the big tree. The dog finally stopped, hesitated, and did not dare to move forward. It seemed that the dog was afraid of the forest. It circled around several times in the grass, then jumped over the fence of a family¡¯s house nearby, and disappeared.

    On the contrary, little Luo Jian, who ran after the dog, did not see the old dog. He was still looking left and right, trying to find it.

    Among those who followed him, his paternal cousin Luo Feng also came. Because he was worried about his family¡¯s younger brother, he kept calling Ah Jian¡¯s name. It was not known why the little Luo Jian under the tree did not hear his paternal cousin¡¯s voice calling for him to head home obediently. It was not known what the child was thinking, but he even lifted his feet to step into the woods.

    And it was deep in the night now. During nighttime, the countryside would appear very dark. In those days, there were few farmers with shlights. Most of them carried oilmps. The light emitted by them would not be very bright. Lamps were lit up on the muddy roads, and most of them were from the houses of nearby farmers. However, when one entered the small forest, one could say that they would not be even able to see their five fingers.

    Luo Jian did not know what the child thought. Maybe he was curious because he was still young. Even though he was weak, he still looked fearless. Luo Jian watched him walk into the forest, and that caused him to worry. So he floated down from the tree andnded beside the child.

    It was too dark in the woods.

    In fact, Luo Jian was not afraid of the dark. Anyway, he could see clearly in the dark. He tried to get the child out of the woods so that he would not get hurt or fall in the forest. But what should he do? Maybe he could hypnotize him.

    As Luo Jian thought, he ced his hand on the child¡¯s shoulder to prevent him from running around and thereafter swayed his umbre. With a voice that carried much allure yet caused people¡¯s hearts to startle and gall to tremble, he lowered his voice and said quietly, ¡°Luo Jian, go home.¡±

    But this time, Luo Jian was yet again disappointed. The child was not affected by hypnosis. He even shook his head in the dark and said in a low voice: ¡°Who? Who¡¯s talking?¡±

    It didn¡¯t work again?

    Luo Jian thought it was impossible. He had failed to hypnotize Luo Feng once. Although Luo Feng still obeyed his orders in the end, Luo Jian thought that the same kind of failure could not happen to him twice.

    Luo Jian tried again. He repeated the sentence and continued to whisper in the child¡¯s ear, ¡°Luo Jian, go home.¡±

    It still didn¡¯t work. The child looked around and began to regret that he had rashly stepped into the woods. Moreover, the child found that he could not move now. He felt as if someone had pressed onto his shoulders, and his whole body became stiff.

    Due to fear, the child started struggling. Luo Jian felt the huge strength brought forth when the child struggled, and soon, he quickly found that he could not control this child.

    Little Luo Jian broke away from Luo Jian¡¯s oppression! The child ran forward like a horse that ran away as it galloped frenziedly, and he felt terrified because of the darkness of the woods, the strange voice he heard, and the inexplicable feeling of being unable to move. All of these frightened the young child.

    He was so scared that he could not even cry. He merely kept running forward. Even if he was hampered by the branches and trunks in the woods, he did not stop running. He fell into a deep pit on the ground. This pit seemed to be a big hole left by someone who had dug a dead tree away, and for a young child, the pit appeared rather deep.

    Luo Jian, who remained at the side, did not understand what was going on. He found that his power had no effect on the child. Hypnosis did not work at all, and suppression could only temporarily trap him. However, Luo Jian realized that his ability had not been reduced. Even if this was in the real world in the past, the secret chamber could not suppress the present Luo Jian.

    Therefore, Luo Jian should be in his best state now, even if he had changed his body. His physical strength would be weaker because he was still a child now. But after all, this body was carefully prepared by Ying. No matter how weak it was, it could bear the brunt of Luo Jian¡¯s power.

    So why? Why didn¡¯t his ability work?

    ¡°Because it¡¯s another me?¡±

    Luo Jian talked to himself. He could only think of this reason. His ability had no effect on himself...... No, it should be said that the effect would be weakened because his invisibility was also a kind of hypnosis and that hypnosis had an effect on the child; this was an interesting and horrible discovery.

    The child, who had fallen into the tree pit over at the other side, seemed to be crying. Luo Jian went over and found that the pit was a little deep for a smalld. But if an adult were to fall into it, it was not a problem for them to climb out of it.

    The child was sitting in the tree pit, and even his cries sounded soft. And he only sobbed. While his tears rolled down, he got up by himself, grabbed the weeds growing in the pit, and climbed up by himself. Some of his skin may have been scratched when he fell down. Luo Jian, who was very sensitive, smelled the faint scent of blood.

    But the child was so strong that it was incredible. When he was in peril, he would immediately seek a way out of it, even if he was bleeding and crying.

    Luo Jian suddenly realized that the child was himself.

    It was his childhood, his past, the original him...... It could even be said that the child was disying his innate character.

    He looked at the little brat, who was half-way climbing out of the pit. But he did not ce his foot properly and slipped. At that, Luo Jian could not help sighing. He was the cause of this disaster.

    So Luo Jian threw the umbre in his hand and turned it into antern. Someone in the Asura Realm used amp as a weapon. What was burning in themp was not a real me but a kind of dark fire which emitted a kind of cold light. But the light of this fire was bright enough.

    At least it could light up the surrounding area and the whole tree pit. The child in the pit also saw the sudden re, but the child got excited as he raised his head with squinting eyes.

    Luo Jian swayed thentern in his hands and said to him, ¡°Do you want me to help you?¡±

    The child actually recognized Luo Jian. He shouted an ¡®ah¡¯ and stated, ¡°You are the big brother who was carrying an umbre!¡±

    Luo Jian gave him a gentle smile and held out his hand to him. The little brat in the pit naturally stretched out his hand. Luo Jian picked him uppletely. The child was very light, and it was very easy for Luo Jian to carry him.

    As soon as the child climbed out of the hole, he wiped his face vigorously. It seemed that he did not want to let Luo Jian see the tears that were smeared all over his face. This action reminded Luo Jian of certain memories. He remembered that when he was a child, he was always crying because of his illness, but he was also very stubborn. He did not know which little child he yed with who hadughed at him and said he was a ¡®crybaby,¡¯ but after that, he was not willing to cry in front of others again.

    The current Luo Jian had even forgotten such a memory.

    On the other side of the forest, Luo Feng had been carrying amp all the way here to find little Luo Jian, and he had been shouting Ah Jian¡¯s name all this time.

    Luo Jian regained his senses and lowered his head to look at little Luo Jian while carrying themp in his hand. He said to him, ¡°Don¡¯t run around alone. Your big brother will worry about you.¡±

    ¡°En, en!¡± Luo Jian hurriedly nodded and gave Luo Jian a smile: ¡°Thank you, little big brother!¡±

    ¡°Why thank me?¡±

    Luo Jian tilted his head, ¡°Ah, because little big brother helped me just now.¡±

    He could not help but reach out and pat the child¡¯s soft hair. He whispered, ¡°Luo Jian, you have a lot of people to thank in the future...... but that¡¯s not supposed to be me.¡±

    Then, Luo Jian leaned over and knocked his forehead against the other party¡¯s forehead, forcing the child to look him in the eyes. This action would increase the hypnotic effect. Even if the hypnosis on little Luo Jian was weaker, this time it would have an effect. Therefore, Luo Jian continued quietly, ¡°Now forget me.¡±

    Luo Jian did not stay in the vige for long. At dawn, he felt a force tugging his body. He knew that he did not belong to this time and space, so they were repelling him. If he continued to stay here forcefully, Luo Jian¡¯s new body would be ripped into pieces.

    Therefore, Luo Jian left this ce. His body now had the power to cross through space, simr to that of the stalker. However, due to some illegal machinations made by Ying, he could cross time and space simultaneously. Unfortunately, it was hard to coordinate space and time. Therefore, it was easy for Luo Jian to enter the wrong space and time.

    Therefore, Luo Jian needed to constantly cross through several time spaces to correct his mistakes, locate the coordinates of a certain time and space, and slowly master this ability.

    There was no supeputer to calcte it for him, so everything depended on him.

    T/N: Little Luo Jian is so adorable!

 Chapter 147 - The Corridor of Time (III)

    <h4>Chapter 147 - The Corridor of Time (III)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    When Luo Jian woke up again, he found himself standing in a busy, market-like ce. He stood in ce as he held the umbre. People wereing and going around him. Countless people wearing masks passed by him. They may have seen Luo Jian, but they thought he did not exist, and their bodies all subconsciously bypassed Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian opened his red umbre and raised his head as he gazed around. He found that this was a very interesting ce. In the distance, there were wonderful colors¡ªpink, purple, and dark blue inteced in the sky, and in the boundless sky were dense clouds, ethereal and capricious.

    Yes, this was a sea of clouds, and Luo Jian was standing on a strange tform in this sea of clouds.

    The tform under his foot was a metal structure, a metallic silver floor. It was a veryrge circr tform, and it was like a raft floating in the sea of clouds, slowly moving forward with the undtion of the clouds and smoke.

    Because the tform was very huge, there were many people on it. They were dressed in strange clothes, wearing masks or cloth scarves, heavily dressed, or ugly beyond recognition. But these people had all kinds of weapons in their hands, which also made it easy for Luo Jian to figure out the identity of these people¡ªthey were all yers.

    Thus, Luo Jian could also guess where this strange tform was. This was the legendary trading market for senior yers built by the secret chamber and the only tform that allowed yers tomunicate face-to-face with each other.

    Because it was a trading market, there were many stalls near the center of the huge tform. They openly sold some oddly-shaped props. A group of people in front of the booth strolled by and asionally bargained with the store owners when they encountered some props they were interested in.

    There was a huge stone b in the middle of the circr tform. There were many yers looking at the board. There should be some information about the secret chamber there, such as the rank of each team in the chamber, the ranking of the strongest yers, and various strategies and information about different secret chambers.

    ¡°If they¡¯re all yers...¡± Luo Jian said to himself. He felt very lucky that he had identally crossed time space and could even run into this ce. He had to remember the coordinates of this ce.

    However, perhaps here, he could obtain more information.

    Luo Jian walked towards the huge stone b in the middle of the tform with his umbre. As he walked, he paid attention to the people around him. However, to Luo Jian¡¯s disappointment, all he saw were unfamiliar faces.

    When he came to the huge stone b and read some basic information at the bottom of the stone b, he suddenly found something not quite right.

    On the bottom of the te was written the basic information about the ¡®yers¡¯ trading market.¡¯ It said that this huge tform was named ¡®A Lone Boat,¡¯ and it served as amunication and trading hub for yers. yers exchanged props and intelligence, formed teams, and disbanded teams here.

    In order to ensure the fairness and security of the tform, no weapons and skills could be used here except for the opening and closing of the carry-on secret chamber. Moreover, the yers who logged in here would be automatically covered with the ¡®cannot be destroyed¡ªattacks towards target are all invalid¡¯ buff, and all attacks and attempts to use skills to fight would not be activated.

    In addition, all the information registered on the tform would be disyed on this stone b in the middle of the tform. The secret chamber could ensure that the information on the billboard was absolutely fair and correct. yers could write messages independently and register on the billboard. Whether it was recruitment, summoning, offering a reward, or even applying to duel other yers, it could be disyed through the billboard, and the secret chamber would verify the uracy of the information and publicize it.

    ¡°That¡¯s interesting. If you can¡¯t use any weapons here&#k2026;¡± Looking at the message on the billboard, Luo Jian instinctively spun the handle of his red umbre. Thereafter, he turned his head and took a look at the yers standing beside him.

    This yer, like Luo Jian, was also looking up at the billboard. He was wearing a strange costume simr that of an assassin one would see in a game. His face was also covered with a ck scarf. His weapons were two short knives pinned to the back of his waist. That yer did not seem to have noticed Luo Jian. After slight consideration, Luo Jian reached out and tugged at the corner of the yer¡¯s coat.

    The yer froze momentarily. Obviously, he felt that someone was pulling his clothes. He lowered his head and looked in Luo Jian¡¯s direction, but he did not see anything. He looked around in doubt for a while and found that the people around him were all busy with their own errands. Not a single soul was paying attention to him.

    The yer thought he probably had imagined it. Secondster, he raised his head and continued to nce at the billboard.

    Luo Jian thought it was very interesting, so he reached out and pulled the helm of the yer¡¯s clothes again with a little effort. The yer felt the tug particrly obviously this time, so he bowed his head, muttered, ¡°Who is it?¡± and continued to look around.

    Luo Jian had been staring at the yer and paying attention to the man¡¯s eyes. The yer had a pair of ck pupils that a typical Asian would have, but he had a burly stature. He wore clothes simr to an assassin¡¯s, and unexpectedly, he was quite handsome.

    Actually, this yer saw Luo Jian, but he was hypnotized and forgot him in that instant when he saw Luo Jian. Luo Jian could see this from his eyes. Luo Jian suddenly realized that his ability had not been deactivated, and his weapons could still be used in this tform that obviously restricted yers¡¯ abilities.

    ¡°Is it because I came in by abnormal means?¡± Luo Jian said to himself, ¡°Or is it because of my body¡¯s special identity?¡±

    Because he entered the tform, ¡®A Lone Boat¡¯ by abnormal means, the secret chamber had no time to put that special buff on him. Moreover, since this body held the chamber¡¯s authority, it could not interfere with Luo Jian¡¯s actions.

    Luo Jian¡¯s new body...... Since it was first created, Ying and his team had set it as ¡®highest authority,¡¯ simr to the identity of a GM, that is, the so-called game manager.

    A GM was the biggest bug in the secret chamber. It was an existence that even the secret chamber had no right to interfere with. It was a special program and the final trump card left by Ying. When Ying used the core of the reincarnation system to design this game, he naturally designed the GM because he only wanted to design a holographic simtion game. Later, Ying realized that the secret chamber hadpletely spiraled out of his control, and his team almost lost their lives when they sought to temporarily reset the program for the GM. Therefore, other than Ying, all of hispanions lost their lives for this.

    But Ying could not assume control of the trump card himself, so he had to wait for a hundred years in the Asura Realm, waiting for the person who could turn defeat to victory.

    Maybe that person was the current Luo Jian.

    ¡°Although this is interesting, I shouldn¡¯t be that aggressive. If I¡¯m found by the secret chamber, I¡¯ll be forced out of here.¡± Although the identity of the game manager was quite lofty, if he interfered too much with the yers¡¯ actions and destroyed the props in the secret chamber, the secret chamber would still have the right to punish Luo Jian.

    And Luo Jian could not act rashly and alert the enemy now.

    He had to pretend that he was really a nonexistent person, shuttling around every yer like he was in a vacuum, premeditating.

    Luo Jian did not continue to tease the hapless yer. The yer, muddleheaded, looked to his left and right again and again, but soon, he could not care more about it. He moved to another ce, leaving Luo Jian standing alone in the same spot, raising his little head to see the ranking on the tform.

    That b had written on it the rank of each team, and the one in the first position appeared a little familiar to Luo Jian¡ªTeam Ghost Shadow.

    It seemed that Duan Li had mentioned this. He had been in Xing Yan¡¯s team previously. It seemed that he had joined in after the death of a member in the team. Moreover, Duan Li did not seem to like this team even though he called Xing Yan his team captain.

    So if I want to find a breakthrough point, I must start from this team.

    Luo Jian thought this and went to see the other information on the b. He saw that there was a ranking of the strongest yers on the b. There was also Xing Yan¡¯s name on it. But interestingly, he was not the first. The first one was a person named ¡®Hong.¡¯

    Maybe during this time period, Xing Yan was not the reigning strongest yer in the beginning. Even if his team remained at the top, it just meant that the overall strength of their team was greater than that of other teams.

    ¡°That also mean that the current timeline is still in a rtively early period?¡±

    Luo Jian did not see any information about his cousin Luo Feng from these rankings, but after deliberating about it, he knew why. Luo Feng was a person who had signed a life-long contract with the secret chamber. No matter how strong he was, he could no longer escape from the secret chamber. Therefore, yers who be ¡®Specters¡¯ would be deprived of some rights.

    However, in Luo Jian¡¯s impression, his cousin spent a little less time in the secret chamber aspared to Xing Yan. Unfortunately, he did not disclose more about his past, otherwise Luo Jian could have collected a lot of clues now.

    Luo Jian was not in a hurry. He silently circled around the whole tform, confirmed the coordinates of ¡®A Lone Boat¡¯, and began to acquire information from the conversations of the yers around him. He tried to pay attention to people who were discussing Team Ghost Shadow. It happened that there was a group of people around the stone b talking about them.

    ¡°The team is a ck horse that popped out from nowhere. Not a word was heard and they moved to the top.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right. Even my team is going to be pushed out of the rankings.¡±

    When these people talked about this, Luo Jian realized that the current timeline may still be during the moment when Team Ghost Shadow first appeared. The members of the team may not beplete, but he could confirm Xing Yan would be there. He was the founder of the team.

    How should he get in touch with Team Ghost Shadow?

    As Luo Jian thought about this problem, he felt this problem was tricky. Every team in the secret chamber was going through the cycle. It was not easy for him to encounter them. The only way he could encounter them was to stay on the tform of ¡®A Lone Boat¡¯ and wait for Team Ghost Shadow to appear. Since they were already the strongest team, they would always head here to exchange and transact information.

    But this time, a problem popped up.

    Luo Jian could not stay in the same ce for more than three days. He absolutely could not. Traces of him would be left in this strange space if he stayed for too long. These traces were easily traced by the secret chamber¡¯s will. The secret chamber¡¯s will would be able to detect his existence and create several disadvantageous restrictions and oppression on Luo Jian during the time when he had yet to stabilize his abilities.

    ¡°Before I¡¯m discovered by the secret chamber, I must grasp its lifeline and secure my GM¡¯s authority so that even if I¡¯m detected by the secret chamberter, I will have the strength to resist.¡±

    In this regard, it was not particrly urgent toe into contact with Team Ghost Shadow. Although this action was motivated by one of Luo Jian¡¯s selfish desires, he still wanted to see Xing Yan very much, even if this Xing Yan was not the one he knew.

    The Xing Yan that Luo Jian fell in love with was a stalker. His soul was born in the dark. Maybe it was the idental product of various masterpieces of the secret chamber. Luo Jian believed that this Xing Yan also had the ability to resist the secret chamber¡¯s will. This was the best exnation why this stalker¡¯s ability could break the ¡®punishment chamber that holds no route for escape¡¯ in an instant and send him out.

    ¡°Well, since contact with Team Ghost Shadow is not my top priority, I¡¯d better look for other breakthroughs.¡± Luo Jian judged his own situation, but at this time, he suddenly found an interesting character.

    It was a very interesting person, and he was someone that Luo Jian knew.

    The man still had a teenage appearance, but the make-up on his face had already made Luo Jian recognize him with a mere nce. It seemed that this was the first time that this young man hade to ¡®A Lone Boat¡¯ trading grounds. He curiously looked around the ce. His face was covered with twisted clown makeup. Like a viin from some American superhero movie, he appeared a bit ragged. At a nce, he really seemed to be like a funny clown on a stage.

    However, Luo Jian knew him. This was the first time that Luo Jian met a guy who could be called ¡®familiar¡¯ in this chaotic time-space. He just did not expect that this guy had been in the secret chamber for such a long time, and he even appeared in front of Luo Jian in this timeline.

    Since he appeared, there was no reason not to stay in contact with him. Luo Jian waved and withdrew his umbre. He walked with light footsteps as he tried to integrate himself into the crowd and then unconsciously walked in front of Clown.

    Clown was still a teenager and even if he had painted such ridiculous makeup onto himself, but in most people¡¯s eyes, he was just a newbie.

    ¡°Hello.¡± Because Luo Jian had already withdrawn his umbre, he would naturally appear in view of people¡¯s eyes as if he had been there all along. But when he propped his umbre up, he would naturally disappear from wherever he was.

    Clown lowered his head and looked at the little boy who was talking to him. This was a child who looked 11 or 12 years old at most. He appeared...... rather cute, but his temperament was a little gloomy. Pale cheeks, a grey and simple short sleeved shirt and trousers, and bare feet made the child look like a ghost.

    A child with a red umbre that was bigger than himself. Probably a yer.

    Clown hesitated for a moment, but he still squatted down so that his line of sight would be in line with the child¡¯s. He gently reached out to touch the child¡¯s head and said with a smile, ¡°Hello.¡±

    The makeup on his face twisted with his smile. Although it appeared that his makeup was streaking across his face, strangely, Luo Jian still felt the young man¡¯s kindness.

    Luo Jian was a little surprised. The youth waspletely different from the man he had seenter, but his voice sounded very familiar. Even through his voice, Luo Jian would also realize that the boy was indeed Clown, who he met muchter.

 Chapter 148 - The Corridor of Time (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 148 - The Corridor of Time (IV)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    ¡°Are you a newbie?¡± Luo Jian spoke in a soft voice, sounding just like a real, cute, and adorable child, and even deliberately pretended to look like an adult. Of course, his appearance was too deceptive, so even in this cruel secret chamber space, it was very easy for people to let down their guards.

    Clown was so amused by his appearance that he could not help rubbing his hand that had been on the child¡¯s head. He said with a smile: ¡°Yes, I¡¯m here for the first time. Are you here for the first time as well?¡±

    Luo Jian blinked his eyes andughed vaguely: ¡°Yes, it¡¯s really my first time here.¡±

    ¡°Are you looking for teammates?¡±

    Clown thought that such a small child was afraid of being in this secret chamber. Other yers were basically adults, and they were all tall and strong, dressed in strange clothes. Maybe he wanted to find a newbie like him to form a team together, and since Clown was only 16 years old, though the makeup on his face appeared strange, his age could be roughly seen.

    Luo Jian seemed to vaguely guess what Clown was thinking, but he did not expose his thoughts. He answered the following question Clown asked and answered, ¡°Yes, I heard that you can freely form a team here.¡±

    Clown slylyughed: ¡°But it¡¯s very risky to form a team with others casually. I don¡¯t want any teammates for the time being.¡±

    Luo Jian looked left and right and saw that many yers around were all busy with their errands, and no one paid attention to them. Luo Jian thought for a while and ced his umbre on his shoulder. He stared at Clown¡¯s eyes. Clowns was in his teenage years. His facial features appeared tender and immature, and he had not yet grown into what he would look like in the future. But the shape of his eyes were very good looking. If he didn¡¯t have ayer of strange white powder on his face, he would definitely be a handsome boy in the future.

    Luo Jian once again lowered his voice. Sometimes even if he did not use his weapon, he could still hypnotize others. He found that it was an interesting method to give other cues. With the undtion of his voice, his subtle movements, and the message he sent to others when he looked them in the eye, he could use all of these to give cues to others.

    Luo Jian would gradually deepen these cues. When the cues reached the limit, no matter who the person was, the person would be controlled by him. Then, Luo Jian could easily control the other party¡¯s action and use words to control the other person¡¯s behavior. This had be a very easy and simple thing to aplish for him.

    So Luo Jian looked into Clown¡¯s eyes, lowered his voice, and whispered in what was like a gentle and light tone, ¡°Can¡¯t we be teammates?¡±

    Clown gazed at the child for a second. His pupils dted, and that was a sign that one had been hypnotized. Thereupon, he replied to Luo Jian as Luo Jian expected: ¡°Of course, we can be teammates.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Luo Jian asked him.

    Clown slightly smiled: ¡°My name is Hong. That single character only. The ¡®Hong¡¯ in ¡®CaiHong.¡¯¡±

    Luo Jian was stunned, for he suddenly realized that something was wrong. He felt that the name was familiar to him, and he had seen it somewhere. Luo Jian soon remembered the stone b billboard that he had just seen. The fellow who was first in the ranking of the strongest individuals seemed to be also named &#k2018;Hong.¡¯

    Was it a coincidence? Or perhaps both of them just had the same name.

    Luo Jian tilted his head and asked, ¡°Are you really a newbie?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have just experienced my fifth secret chamber, and after that, someone told me that I coulde here to see the trading grounds. So I came.¡± While talking, Clown suddenly reached out his hand. This action shocked Luo Jian. It was not within his expectations. Hypnotized people were not supposed to do something out of his expectations!

    But Clown did it, and his hands reached over. His hands inched forward to Luo Jian¡¯s cheeks and pinched them hard. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t hypnotize me.¡±

    ¡°You know?¡± Luo Jian was really terrified.

    ¡°I know. I¡¯m conscious inwardly, but if you ask me some questions or ask me to do something, I¡¯ll follow your orders.¡± Clown stated, and he seemed surprised, ¡°How amazing. I heard that in this ce, no yers¡¯ weapons can be used, and the means of attack or defense are invalid. How did you do it?¡±

    Luo Jian pursed his lips. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know how I did it. Now, let¡¯s try to sign a team contract. Do you have an invitation letter?¡±

    It was not known where Clown took out a piece of paper from. The printed note with purple patterns was a symbol that represented the secret chamber. Luo Jian thought that he had not seen this thing for a long time, and Luo Jian had a bad impression of this note.

    Although Luo Jian had the identity of GM, the GM in many games could integrate into the game as a yer. Therefore, Luo Jian could form a team with other yers, using a yer¡¯s status. He wrote a few lines on the note and requested Clown to sign on it.

    Clown nced at the note and said with a smile, ¡°Your words really don¡¯t look like what a child would write, but...... you are called Abyss?¡±

    Luo Jian did not speak. Abyss was obviously not his name, but it was the name of the body, or rather, the name of the game. Originally, the game designed by Ying was known as <<Abyss>>.

    The word abyss originated from the word deep abyss. The reason why they named the body Abyss was because once you descended into an abyss, you wouldn¡¯t be able to extricate yourself from it. Ying and his team originally wanted to design a game that the public loved so much that they couldn¡¯t extricate themselves from it. It was not his original intention to design a secret chamber or something akin to it. However, this strange game had developed to a point where it spiraled out of their control.

    Luo Jian did not want to rify this wonderful misunderstanding. Anyway, from now on, he was known as Abyss. His real body was dead, and his soul could only stay in this body. He had nowhere to go and did not have any way to get back. Therefore, he could only use this identity to survive, even if he was irked by others or numb to everything.

    Clown generously signed the note, and the Hong character was written at the bottom of the note. After writing on it, clearly nothing happened, but both felt wondrously connected at the same time. Clown waved the note in his hand, and the note slowly disappeared.

    ¡°Well, now you are my captain. How terrible. I merely wanted to peacefully enter the secret chamber alone.¡± Clown¡¯s voice seemed to sound a little aggrieved, but he had a smile on his mouth. This caused the clown makeup on his face to also appear to be smiling, but no one could tell he was unhappy.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Luo Jian said, expressionlessly.

    ¡°You should make it up to me. I have made a great sacrifice.¡±

    ¡°How can I make it up to you?¡±

    Clown tilted his head to think about it and excitedly said, ¡°Let me hug you. You look very cute.¡±

    Clown¡¯s strange cravings were satisfied. Luo Jian hesitated for a moment and slowly walked over to let Clown pick him up. His child¡¯s body was so small that he had to raise his head up when he looked at others. When he was held up, his line of sight suddenly levitated quite a lot, and it reminded Luo Jian of the times when he was picked up by his cousin.

    Luo Jian wrapped his short arms around Clown¡¯s neck and pasted his face to feel the other party¡¯s temperature. He was recording Clown¡¯s body temperature and body information and, in passing, made a mark on Clown¡¯s body so that the next time he leaped, he coulde directly to him. However, this method of recording could only take effect for a short while aspared to not having much of a problem when recording therge-scale spatial coordinates of locations, such as A Lone Boat.

    However, for an individual such as Clown, it was estimated that Luo Jian would lose Clown¡¯s coordinate signal after a few leaps. Therefore, he should try to leave something on Clown that wouldn¡¯t be found by the secret chamber yet would also not be eliminated by the secret chamber as a meaningless object. This thing could guide Luo Jian and record Clown¡¯s spatial coordinates at any time.

    After that, Clown walked around the whole A Lone Boat trading ground with Luo Jian in his arms. Atst, he went to the billboard, pointed to the one ranked first in the strongest yers on it and said to Luo Jian, ¡°Look! My name is written on it!¡±

    Luo Jian was expressionless: ¡°You merely share the same name and surname with that person.¡±

    Clown scratched his head. ¡°If I were on the list, would there be two ¡®Hong¡¯s on the rankings?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for the day when you can go up in the rankings.¡±

    There was nothing much to see in the trading grounds. The two people left very quickly. The sole difference was that Clown left the trading ground while Luo Jian leaped through time and space again and went to the next time space. Because he had recorded Clown¡¯s information previously, he followed the little signal he left on Clown to leap over. This would cause some errors in Luo Jian¡¯s leaping, but fortunately, because he and Clown had already established a team rtionship, no matter whether there were errors in leaping or not, he would enter the same secret chamber Clown was in.

    The sole difference was merely time¡¯s sequence.

    If you want to know how it felt when someone leaped through space time, Luo Jian would answer that it felt like you were being dposed into the smallest and tiniest of units, and generally, you¡¯d feel that you were being dposed into photon units. His whole body, soul, and consciousness were all transformed into an energy body, which spread through the universe or primal chaos at a terrifying speed. It might be only for a moment, or it might be only for less than a moment.

    Luo Jian would appear in another ce.

    He was in a secret chamber now. He appeared in a stairway-like ce, and above and below him were all stairs. Luo Jian checked his belongings. He was still dressed in the same way as he did in A Lone Boat trading ground, but there was a note on his body given to him by the secret chamber. From now on, Luo Jian would be regarded as an ordinary yer with intermediary strength. His strength was insufficient for the secret chamber to monitor his coordinates, but the secret chamber might also ssify him as part of the yers who would be stalkers.

    As long as Luo Jian does not act out of the ordinary, the secret chamber would also be rendered helpless by Luo Jian.

    The following was written on the note, and even his name had changed:

    [Esteemed Mr. Abyss:]

    [You and your partner are now in a special secret chamber. Due to some illegal machinations, you and your partner will be punished to a certain extent, so the chamber has been erged to make it more difficult for both of you.]

    [You are located in a never-ending stairway.]

    [The time limit is three hours.]

    [Hint: Do not touch the red doors. Do not open the ck doors.]

    There was also a sentence written on the back of the note:

    [I¡¯m always being chased by something scary. I ran out of the house. I descended down the stairs. I wanted to get out of here.]

    ¡°Very interesting.¡± Luo Jian nced at the note andughed.

    T/N: New secret chamber!!

    Please wee my new editor, Humu, who will be editing EIC along with Kitty !

 Chapter 149 - The Corridor of Time (V)

    <h4>Chapter 149 - The Corridor of Time (V)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    This was an old stairway located in an old house in the 1980s. Each level had two doors, one on the left and one on the right of the stairway with the floor numbers written in the middle. Because there was no light source here, Luo Jian turned his umbre into amp with a dark fire lit inside it, emitting icy blue light. He raised themp and let the light illuminate the floor number of the stairway. There was an archetypal sign stuck on it, and on it was written¡ªBasement Floor 1.

    ¡°The first floor of the basement?¡± Luo Jian pulled the corners of his mouth up. Then he moved hismp away and looked toward the two doors nearby.

    The door on the left was red and the door on the right was ck.

    ¡°This means that there are no doors avable that I can open,¡± Luo Jian said to himself. He recalled that the note mentioned the red door should not be touched and the ck door should not be opened. In this case, what was the significance of these doors here?

    Both doors were very old wooden doors with many rotten cracks and moss growing on them. Luo Jian seemed to be able to see beyond the door through the cracks in the door, but it was very dark inside the rooms as if there were nothing in them.

    Luo Jian could not curb his curiosity, so he raised hisherfiremp and squatted in front of the ck door to peep inside through a crack of the door. Only a little light could prate beyond the darkness. The darkness inside the door seemed to be swaying. Luo Jian seemed to be able to hear some strange sounds from the crack of the door, much akin to the wind passing through the crack. It was the sound of howling wind.

    But truth be told, Luo Jian did not feel the wind.

    Just when Luo Jian was disappointed and wanted to avert his eyes, he suddenly made a new discovery. There seemed to be something behind the crack of the door. He saw it. Thus, Luo Jian focused his attention on the darkness behind the crack. Then, Luo Jian seemed to see something in the dark rushing towards him. Just like Luo Jian, it squatted in front of the ck door. They were only separated by the door.

    Then the bizarre thing behind the door squatted down and looked at Luo Jian through the crack of the door.

    Luo Jian only saw a pair of pale eyes. There were no ck pupils, just a pair of white eyes with streaks of blood vessels on them. From the other side of the door, it was gazing at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian was not afraid. Perhaps someone ordinary would immediately retreat when they suddenly saw this pair of eyes, but Luo Jian had already thrown away his fears. He had been in the Asura Realm for ten years. He had seen many yers or monsters who used strange means. Some fellows used ¡®fear¡¯ as weapons.

    Luo Jian merely squatted there and had a face-off with the pair of eyes. He waited for the owner of these eyes to act. Sure enough, it seemed that because of Luo Jian¡¯s unexpected reaction, the other party began to hit on the door with much of its strength. Bangs started sounding out from the ck door as the other party began to thump on the door.

    But the broken and rotten ck wooden door firmly stood there; the thing inside could note out and the people outside could not get in.

    Luo Jian stood up, having lost his interest. The banging on the ck door stopped after he left. It seemed that the thing did not thump on the door anymore.

    Luo Jian did not head over to observe the red door. The red door could not be touched because he found that it was covered with strange and disgusting green moss, which grew in the crack of the door. Some moss even grew along the door to the wall beside it. The door looked like it had rotted and had not been touched or opened for a long time.

    Luo Jian had no interest in touching the sticky moss because these disgusting nts were poisonous and highly toxic. But do not ask how Luo Jian knew it. This was the life lesson Luo Jian had learnt after experiencing numerous cycles of dying and reviving after being poisoned to death many times.

    ¡°I hope Clown won¡¯t take the road to the ruin and touch these,¡± Luo Jian said to himself. He didn¡¯t want to stay on Basement Floor 1. He decided to head up first, so he headed up along the old stairs that seemed ready to copse any time. The handrails of the stairs were made of iron and were rusty. Some of them looked like they would break after a person touched them. Therefore, Luo Jian did not want to touch those handrails.

    He walked up the stairs. He thought he should be able to go to the first floor, but when he went up the stairs and used the light to illuminate the sign that indicated the level number, the sign still read¡ªBasement Floor 1.

    ¡°I see. Is it telling me to go down?¡± Luo Jian was still on Basement Floor 1. He once again looked at the two doors on the left and right sides. He found that these two doors were indeed the doors on the first floor that he had seen earlier.

    ¡°One can only head downwards. Hm, Basement Floor 1, Basement Floor 2, Basement Floor 3...... Can we continue down all the way to the 18thyer of hell?¡± Luo Jian did not hesitate. He raised his foot and started walking down the stairs. When he walked to Basement Floor 2, he found that it looked the same as Basement Floor 1. On both sides of the floor were a red and a ck door. If not for the sign indicating this was Basement Floor 2, even he would feel that he had yet to descend another level.

    A never-ending stairway.

    How interesting. If what he deduced was true, it would not be urate for him to continuously descend. Maybe after one had gone down hundreds or thousands of levels, there would still be a never-ending stairway below them.

    So what was the use of this? Even if one tries their best in descending, one will not see the exit at all. Based on the hint provided, it merely mentioned that the red door and ck door could not be touched. On the back of the note, a baffling sentence was printed. Wait...... Let us try to hypothesize what I would do if I were the protagonist. Something terrifying was chasing me so I ran out of the house and descended down the steps. When I got to the first floor, I found that there were more stairs on the first floor, but there was no exit.

    But the thing behind me was close at hand, so I kept running down and kept fleeing......

    Luo Jian imagined the scene, and he hypothesized as he went down the stairs: ¡°In fact, it¡¯s very simple. The protagonist has been running down, but the stairs have no end. He must be afraid. He does not dare to go downwards, but he also does not dare to go up. The thing chasing him will devour him, and his only choice is...¡±

    Luo Jian stopped walking. He stopped on Basement Floor 10 and realized he had gone down ten levels unconsciously.

    ¡°The only option left for him is what he¡¯ll do. He¡¯ll open one of the doors and enter into it.

    ¡°If it is the NPC who opens the door, it will mean that I didn¡¯t touch the red door or open the ck door. I just walked through a door that was already opened.

    ¡°The only thing I have to do is to find the door that was already opened.¡±

    Luo Jian carefully observed each level even though he had already descended ten levels. The red and ck doors were all tightly shut. There were no abnormalities. Only the monotonous stairway apanied him.

    Luo Jian continued to walk down, repeating the process of checking the stairs and doors every time he descended. After descending more than 20 floors, Luo Jian finally made a new discovery. He found that some coagted blood stains had appeared on the ground, and there were bloody fingerprints on the wall. Looking at it, it felt as if someone who had been seriously injured was slowly walking down the stairs, using the wall as a support.

    And the bloodstains were new.

    Luo Jian squatted next to a pool of blood and dipped his hand into it. The blood was even warm and fresh. The injured person had been here not long ago, and he was still walking downwards as if being chased by something.

    ¡°The blood of the living.¡± Luo Jian put his bloody finger in his mouth and licked it. It was not known if it was because of the blood, but he started to feel excited. The pitiful plight Luo Jian was in while he was stuck in Asura Realm could clearly be witnessed. Luo Jian would always start to feel his blood boil because of the blood sshing on the battlefield. He had no other way to calm down his heart that yearned to kill except by killing constantly.

    But he almost lost his sense of reason because he was muddled by the yearn to kill. For a period of time after he walked out of the battlefield, Luo Jian even that he didn¡¯t want to save hispanions. He was toozy to destroy the horrifying secret chamber. At those times, he wanted to return to the Asura Realm, to that battlefield.

    In the end, however, he overcame this when he cut his throat with his knife.

    Killing someone, or killing yourself, was something that would excite people.

    Luo Jian self-mockinglyughed at himself. Following the bloodstains, he slowly descended. He knew that the man was not far away from him. The man was still here. He had heard the heavy breathing of the other party. How did the fellow get injured? After all, along the way, except for those strange things behind the ck door, Luo Jian could not see any creatures that could pose a threat.

    After descending several levels, Luo Jian saw a man squatting by the stairway. The darkness devoured the figure of this man and hid him perfectly in the dark. When Luo Jian approached him carrying themp, the other party seemed to notice the light source Luo Jian was carrying and turned to take a look at Luo Jian.

    When the other party turned around to let Luo Jian take a clear look at his appearance, Luo Jian naturally recognized Clown, Luo Jian¡¯s only teammate now. Luo Jian recalled that they had once risked their lives and engaged in a confrontation. However, the person whom he had engaged in a confrontation with was the future Clown, the grown-up Clown. But the grown-up Clown and the current Clown gave offpletely different vibes.

    So what changed him?

    ¡°Who? Who is there?¡± Clown sensed the light, but he couldn¡¯t see it. Luo Jian found that his face was covered with blood. Soon, he realized that Clown¡¯s eyes were injured. His eyes were blinded.

    ¡°Hong?¡± Luo Jian called out his name, and the other party heard it. He seemed excited and jumped up and rushed to Luo Jian. Even if he was blind, Clown urately rushed to Luo Jian¡¯s face and embraced him.

    Luo Jian was a little surprised by how emotional Clown was as Clown pulled him into an embrace. However, after looking at his bloody face, Luo Jian estimated that something horrible had happened to him. That was why he was pleasantly surprised when he met hispanion.

    ¡°Sob, sob...... I was scared to death.¡± Clown miserably tried to act cute as he rubbed against Luo Jian in his embrace.

    Luo Jian felt it was a little funny, but he recalled that the other party was only a teenager. He may be a little naive and a little foolish because he had not fully grown up. He was but a child.

    So he patted hispanion on the back andforted him, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you see them?¡±

    Interestingly, Clown seemed to be puzzled by his indifference because Luo Jian could not see them. Clown touched Luo Jian¡¯s face and pinched him hard, confirming that the one he held was indeed Luo Jian. He nodded and said, ¡°En, you¡¯re definitely student Abyss.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense, who else could I be?¡± Luo Jian frowned.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the phantoms?¡± Clown¡¯s words surprised Luo Jian for a moment. He really did not see any phantoms. He merely went all the way down.

    ¡°What phantoms?¡± Luo Jian could not help asking. Now he knew that there were some other things in this strange secret chamber that Luo Jian could not see.

    Clown said: ¡°At first, I did not realize that it was a phantom. After I appeared in the secret chamber, I descended nearly twenty levels. I met it and thought it was you. The fellow apanied me a long way down. Then he asked me to open the door, but I did not want to, so he attacked me.¡±

    ¡°Then why would you feel that I¡¯m not a phantom now?¡± When Luo Jian heard what he said, he could not help touching Clown. Yes, the body temperature and body information were exactly the same as those recorded by Luo Jian, which made Luo Jian sure that he was indeed Clown. He never doubted his own judgment because he was always right.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I blinded my eyes. I couldn¡¯t see anything, but I could hear sound.¡± Clown continued: ¡°But when you came, the voice disappeared...... Oh! God, you are such a good tool to ward off evil spirits!¡±

    Clown dered this excitedly and continued to hug Luo Jian. It was as if he regarded Luo Jian as a big, soft bear toy.

    T/N: Thank you ChrysAmans for your Kofi! Two bonus chapters will be posted this week.

    (<del>This chapter is unedited for now</del>. Humu: not any more~)

 Chapter 150 - The Corridor of Time (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 150 - The Corridor of Time (VI)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    Because Clown blinded his eyes, the following journey became much more difficult. However, to some extent, Luo Jian did not understand why Clown blinded his eyes. Even if he could see the phantoms, he must have had many other ways to stop seeing them. Unless what Clown saw was so unusual that he had to use self-muttion to get out from his predicament.

    ¡°The phantom is too real,¡± Clown said: ¡°The phantom-you even had warmth which was the exact same as what I remembered, but there was one thing that he couldn¡¯t do. He couldn¡¯t hypnotize me like you do; he could only confuse me.¡±

    ¡°If you want me to open a certain door, you don¡¯t need to talk too much nonsense. If you give me a cue, I¡¯ll do what you say.¡± Clown seemed to be a little angry at this, and he reached out to pinch Luo Jian¡¯s small face again until Luo Jian reached out to grab his ws in a funny manner.

    ¡°How horrible; even if I close my eyes, I can still feel the phantom, and I can still feel it attacking me, but I can¡¯t attack the other party, and the injuries on my body...... only the feelings of pain are strangely real.¡±

    Clown said, ¡°What¡¯s worse is that the phantom always tried to let me see my past, something which I don¡¯t want to recall ever in my life, so I went to blind my eyes in a fit of anger.¡±

    Luo Jian raised hismp and looked at the blood all over Clown¡¯s face. He said, ¡°You are still bleeding. Wait a minute. I have a recovery skill.¡±

    To use the recovery skill, Luo Jian needed to change the form of his weapon, which meant that his weapon couldn¡¯t be kept in the shape of aherfiremp. Without themp, it would be dark. In the stairway with no light source at all, Luo Jian first asked Clown, ¡°Do you have something that can light up? Like a shlight or something.¡±

    But Clown refused him: ¡°No! You can¡¯t turn on the light...¡±

    Luo Jian naturally felt strange and tilted his head and said, ¡°Why can¡¯t I turn on the light?¡±

    ¡°When I went down the stairs, the first thing I used was the fluorescent wand. That was an item that I have yet to finish using after preparing it for thest secret chamber. But maybe the light of the fluorescent wand was not particrly bright, so I changed into holding a brighterntern. After the light was illuminated, the shadows would appear, like shadow monsters spreading in the dark. That¡¯s really horrifying, and that thing will attack you...¡±

    As Clown said, he showed Luo Jian his wounds. He rolled up his sleeve, and Luo Jian found that his arm had several deep, beast-like w marks that caused the wound. Some emergency treatment was done to the wound and a few rounds of bandages were wrapped around it. It could be seen that Clown was very skilled at wound dressing, but the blood still dyed his sleeve red. But as witnessed, Clown had his own carry-on secret chamber and was well prepared for anything.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like themp I¡¯m carrying...... emits very faint light.¡± Luo Jian watched Clown swing hisherfiremp that emitted pale blue light.

    Thismp was imitated and copied from an interesting yer in the Asura Realm. That yer could summon ghosts through thismp. Unfortunately, the dead could revive in the Asura Realm, so there were no ghosts for him to summon. However, that yer was not resigned. He tried to activate a new skill for his weapon.

    That yer could useherfire to attack others. This me had a special effect. If a person was burned by this me, the soul would leave the body. When the yer forced another person¡¯s soul out of their body, he would collect their soul and put it into hismpshade.

    Every time there were more souls in thempshade, the me would burn more vigorously.

    However, because of the special ¡®revival¡¯ effect in the Asura Realm, people whose souls were separated from the body would also be regarded as dead. Therefore, once the soul left the body and the body died, after lying on the ground for five minutes, the soul taken away by that yer would disappear from hismpshade.

    Therefore, the yer using theherfire as a weapon would have a wide area of effect when utilized. He would burn a patch of people with the fire, collect their souls, continue to burn others, and continue to collect souls, and repeat the process. It was just that once he identally died, he would have to restart the process again.

    ¡°I think that this chamber has something to do with ghosts.¡± Luo Jian, who was lost in thought, guessed, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the voices of the phantoms disappeared when I arrived? I think...... what they fear is not me, but themp in my hand.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything strange about yourmp?¡± Clown did not know what he meant.

    Luo Jianughed: ¡°Very strange. It can capture wandering souls, regardless of them being wild ghosts or vicious ghosts. Any kind of ghosts.¡±

    ¡°Not only that, but themp can also absorb some of the soul¡¯s abilities...... maybe something like its Yin energy, in order to ensure the me stays ignited. And previously, I had taken thismp to walk around the woods in the wilderness. It was a small forest in the countryside. There were many earth graves in the mountainous areas. I think thismp must have absorbed a lot of souls¡¯ power, so it is burning vigorously now.¡±

    As Luo Jian was speaking, he paused momentarily. He found that the fire in themp was burning more vigorously now, and the dark blue light illuminated most of the stairwell. Luo Jian said, ¡°It seems that this damned ce is full of yin energy, and themp is getting brighter.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great, this thing can catch ghosts! You¡¯re a lucky star!¡± Clown fumbled on Luo Jian¡¯s body and excitedly said, ¡°Next, can we find the exit smoothly with thismp?¡±

    Luo Jian grabbed Clown¡¯s paw that was moving wildly again. This fellow could not remain docile. Probably because he was blind, Clown relied on Luo Jian very much and wanted to be able to hold on to him all the time.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. We have to put out the lights.¡± Luo Jian thought for a moment and suddenly said so.

    This surprised Clown a little, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to attract more ghosts; only they can tell us where ¡®that door¡¯ is.¡±

    ¡°That door? Let me guess, was it that door that the NPC opened?¡± Naturally, Clown had also deduced a lot. It must have been hard for him to survive through the secret chambers alone previously. If he wasn¡¯t smart enough, he wouldn¡¯t have survived until now.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any signs of a door that had been opened before. Or we can go down one level at a time, but it¡¯s a waste of time. Or we¡¯ll ask some wronged souls for directions, and if we were lucky enough, we might find the souls of the NPCs.¡±

    Clown said, ¡°Oh, you mean...... you think that the NPC is dead?¡±

    Luo Jian looked around and continued: ¡°This stairway is very old, and the dust on the ground is very thick. After stepping on it, some shallow footprints can be seen. Other than the traces of blood that you left previously, other dirt or human traces have dried up. From this, it seems that either the NPC has escaped, or he has died here and was doomed to stay here forever. If he¡¯s alive, at least the marks he left would be new.¡±

    ¡°So which of the two possibilities do you think is greater?¡± Luo Jian raised his head and looked at Clown.

    Clown covered his face that had blood all over it and said, ¡°Indeed, he is more likely to have died here.¡±

    ¡°Do your eyes feel very painful?¡± Luo Jian saw that he covered his eyes, but there was still blood flowing down his fingers.

    Luo Jian thought for a moment and said, ¡°I must treat you. In fact, I don¡¯t need to turn on other lights. I can see clearly in the dark.¡±

    His night vision was amazing. Luo Jian did not know how he got this power. He once met such an enemy who used a special skill to trap Luo Jian in the endless darkness. Because he was trapped, he was not dead. So the ¡®revival¡¯ effect of the Asura Realm failed. In the endless darkness, Luo Jian lost the ability to see light, but what he adapted to was darkness.

    Since then, for Luo Jian, darkness was no longer something that would cause him to panic and be frightened. He could naturally find his way in the dark, and Luo Jian did not know what was guiding him in the front; perhaps it was his obsession that he was unwilling to give up on, or perhaps...... it was nothing.

    Luo Jian extinguished theherfiremp, and his weapon transformed into a fist-sized crystal ball, which also emitted a faint light. This was a weapon of therapeutic form. Holding the crystal ball in the palm of your hand would get one in the state of ¡®HP up.¡¯ Luo Jian ced the ball naturally into Clown¡¯s palm and allowed Clown to hold the crystal ball with both of his hands.

    Clown was ufortable. He could not see anything now. He swayed to the left, to the right and said, ¡°Do I have to hold the ball with both hands? Can¡¯t I hold you? I can¡¯t see anything now! Give me a sense of security, boy!¡±

    Luo Jian ruthlessly exposed Clown, who was harboring bad intentions, and said: ¡°Don¡¯t pretend, I know you can judge your position even if you can¡¯t see, or you must have enough confidence that you can act in the dark even if you can¡¯t see, which was why you blinded your eyes.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Clown screamed, ¡°I don¡¯t have any confidence to do so. I really don¡¯t have any confidence!¡±

    Interesting fellow. Luo Jian could not helpughing, turned to look at Clown, but also began to be soft-hearted. He said: ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll hold onto the helm of your clothes and lead you down.¡±

    ¡°Really, can¡¯t I hold your soft hand?¡± Clown asked pitifully.

    ¡°What¡¯s with your strange cravings? Pedophilia?¡± Luo Jian was a little speechless.

    ¡°No! I just really like small things that are particrly adorable! You see, children¡¯s hands are so small, so soft, and so warm that I can¡¯t help but pinch them every time I see them!¡± When Clown said these words, it could be seen that he was serious. He rubbed the crystal ball in his hand, and he called out, ¡°You can¡¯t diss what I like. As long as there is that in the world, it is enough to satisfy me!¡±

    Luo Jianughed even more joyously. He felt that he had not been so happy for such a long time, and the person who gave him that joy was actually Clown...... the Clown who might have died in the tomb in the future.

    Luo Jian sighed and unconsciously muttered to himself, ¡°Why did you turn out that way in the future?¡±

    ¡°Turn out like what?¡± Clown was ignorant, naive, and curious as he asked.

 Chapter 151 - The Corridor of Time (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 151 - The Corridor of Time (VII)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    Luo Jian did not answer Clown¡¯s question. He avoided talking about it andughed indifferently in response. Then he tugged onto Clown¡¯s sleeve and led him forward. As he walked, he said to him, ¡°Let¡¯s try to attract these phantoms.¡±

    ¡°Using light?¡± Clown remembered the phantom that he had attracted when he just lit the oilmp.

    ¡°It won¡¯t attract much when we use a light source, and it will waste the burning fuel in themp.¡± Luo Jian shook his head. He nced at Clown and said with a smile, ¡°Listen, Mr. Hong, don¡¯t look down on me. I¡¯m stronger than you think. So no matter what I doter, you should not be scared, let alone be afraid, alright?¡±

    ¡°Afraid?¡± Clown could not understand the true meaning of Luo Jian¡¯s words for a while because Clown didn¡¯t feel that he would be afraid. Although he had not experienced many secret chambers, he would neither panic nor be so afraid that he would be unable to extricate himself from such feelings.

    However, Clown soon understood why Luo Jian told him not to be afraid.

    Seeing that the crystal ball had healed Clown¡¯s injury, although Clown still could not see anything, he had stopped bleeding, so Luo Jian took the crystal ball back and changed the form of his weapon again. All of a sudden, what appeared in his hand was a spirit-evocation banner.

    ¡°What did you do?¡± When Clown heard Luo Jian¡¯s movements, he seemed to hear the sound of the g pping. Then, Luo Jian exined to him, ¡°I made a spirit-evocation banner.¡±

    ¡°Spirit-evocation banner? Is this really useful?¡±

    Luo Jian said indifferently: ¡°Maybe. I have not tried to copy this thing previously, so this is the first time using it.¡±

    ¡°Copy this thing? First time using it?¡± Clown didn¡¯t understand, but he still grasped the main points: ¡°That is to say, you haven¡¯t tried to use this device to evoke spirits before, have you?¡±

    Luo Jian said: ¡°I don¡¯t have so much free time that I¡¯d run to the graveyard with this thing, and the ce that I used to stay had no spirits either...¡±

    Clown became even more confused, but he firmly uttered, ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t understand this. I don¡¯t know anything about ghosts. I¡¯ll leave this to you!¡±

    Luo Jian stabbed the spirit-evocation banner on the ground. The banner appeared like a big red g with all kinds of strange characters painted on it. The g was tied to a bone rodposed of many bones. The bone was filed to be very smooth to the touch and felt strange. This was also the reason why Luo Jian was not willing to use it since the day he had copied the weapon.

    ¡°Well, let me see, how is this used?¡± Looking at the soul-evocation banner, Luo Jian began to recall. He remembered that this was copied from thepanion of theherfiremp¡¯s owner. Both of them were pretending to be ghosts or gods and dressed like Taoist priests. But though they did have some capabilities, they did not have the temperament of beings like Taoists or immortals but acted like a medium.

    Although the spirit-evocation banner could summon spirits, the banner was best used to summon souls, but because there were no souls in the Asura Realm, the owner of the spirit-evocation banner also came up with new abilities. Since the spirit-evocation banner could not summon souls, it could trigger arge-range illusion. In short, it could create illusions.

    This was simr to the way most phantoms attacked others, and the same effect could be achieved by this spirit-evocation banner.

    Ordinary ghosts could not materialize. If they wanted to attack someone, they must first cause that person to mentally break down. In short, they had to frighten others to death and use illusions to arouse others¡¯ fear. When the fear reached a certain level, some people may be so scared that they fainted instantly, while others would experience cardiac arrest and die shortly after.

    Ghosts were very sensitive to the smell of fear. They had no corporal bodies, so of course, they didn¡¯t have any sensory abilities. They could be described as a group of energy bodies. If they wanted to sense others, they would first have to sense the emotions that a human put out and their pheromones.

    Of all the pheromones emitted, the scent of fear was the strongest and most obvious to them.

    The principle behind the power of the spirit-evocation banner was probably simr to that. It lured ignorant spirits by sending out a strange pheromone, and most spirits would respond to it. Because it was an nondiscriminatory call for them, so as long as there were spirits and ghosts in the vicinity of the spirit-evocation banner, the strength of the spirit attracted would depend on the strength of the banner¡¯s owner.

    If the person holding the g was not strong enough to utilize its full abilities, then those powerful ghosts would not follow the call of the g because the strong would disdain responding to a weaker person¡¯smand.

    But it was not known if Luo Jian was too strong.

    After he ced the spirit-evocation banner down, a gust of wind blew in the empty and enclosed stairway. Luo Jian took the oilmp that Clown used to illuminate the area previously and set themp on the ground. The me of the oilmp jumped in the dark and narrow space. Luo Jian paid attention to the oilmp given to him by Clown. It was a very old kerosenemp, which was used before electricmps were poprized.

    Clown also felt the deep and gloomy aura emanating in the air. Suddenly, he felt restless. His heart seemed to be equipped with a motor, and it kept ticking and ticking unstoppably. That made him feel suffocated. Then soon, Clown felt strangely frightened. The sense of fear came inexplicably. It was clear that nothing could frighten him, but deep down, he felt fear.

    Luo Jian suddenly opened his mouth and said:

    ¡°Ghosts can emit negative energy all the time. They will remind you of some horrible things, things that you are afraid and scared of and upsetting memories. All these memories can make you feel negative. Ghosts will help you recall them in your mind.¡±

    ¡°Why are you so clear about it? I saw that you have theherfiremp and the spirit-evocation banner, eh...... Oh, I see! You must have been a medium previously!¡± Clown instantly thought of that and understood. He was extremely sure about what he imed.

    Luo Jian speechlessly pulled Clown¡¯s sleeve: ¡°I¡¯m not...... I just battled countless enemies before this, and that¡¯s what I¡¯ve learned from them.¡±

    ¡°Enemies? Is your enemy a medium?¡± Clown eximed: ¡°Then you must be a ghost! I see. No wonder you are not afraid of ghosts at all!¡±

    His height was too hateful! Luo Jian was eager to jump up and p him on the head.

    However, disregarding the nonsense that they spoke, Luo Jian also slowly found that the ghosts gradually gathered here, and an unexpected number of ghosts was here. They were all in a translucent state. Of course, most ranged in levels of transparency. The more powerful the ghost was, the closer the ghost would be to its corporeal body. Luo Jian even saw severalpletely-materialized ones, which were slowly emerging from the walls and ceiling of the stairway and from under the floor. Some of them were so weak that they appeared to be almost a cloud of fog, and some of them were so clear that they had been restored to what they looked like when they died.

    ¡°So many powerful ghosts have been summoned. It proves that I¡¯m extraordinarily strong?¡± Luo Jian whispered to himself: ¡°How strange; my strength should not be reflected even on the spiritual side.¡±

    Clown was still standing there pitifully and expectantly asked, ¡°Are you really a ghost?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Luo Jian answered peevishly.

    Clown had to shut his mouth. He was now even more pitiful, like he had no attacking power. Luo Jian did not expect him to be someone who could fight. He was allowed to remain on the spot to draw circles. However, Luo Jian stood next to the spirit-evocation banner, staring at the ghosts that were slowly approaching. Most of the ghosts¡¯ feet could not touch the ground. They did notunch any attacks. Many translucent orpletely transparent ghosts were harmless, while the powerful ones dared not even approach Luo Jian¡¯s vicinity.

    Luo Jian did not feel how terrifying he was at all, but these ghosts seemed to be scared to death and remained a certain range away from him. One of the brave ones finally took the initiative tomunicate with Luo Jian.

    Ghosts do not have organs to speak. They do not even have bodies, so naturally, they would not have speech organs. However, if they were fully materialized ghosts, they could even attack physically. Naturally, they could open their mouths and voice out horrifying voices. As the ghost trembled, the ghost asked Luo Jian, ¡°Excuse me...... This lord...¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyebrows raised, and the ghost suddenly could not even properly speak his entire sentence. Luo Jian found that the ghost was dressed in ancient garb, which meant that the ghost had been dead for a long time. He was wearing coarse linen clothes and had long hair. He had almost condensed into a corporeal body, but his facial features were still vague. He was afraid of Luo Jian, and his tone was also erratic: ¡°Wh...... What can I do for you?¡±

    Luo Jian thought for a moment, and pointing to Clown¡¯s eyes and his injured arm, he said, ¡°Who attacked him just now?¡±

    The ghosts looked at each other as their gazes swept from left to right, and they parted automatically, giving way to a little ghost standing behind. It was indeed a little ghost, and she was still a little girl. The girl was more powerful than that old ghost in ancient garb. Her body hadpletely materialized. Her feet were on the floor, but she had no shadow. She looked extremely horrifying. Her eyes seemed to have been dug out before she died. In ce of her eyes, there were only two hollow holes.

    The little ghost saw Luo Jian hade looking for her. Although she was afraid, she did not want to hide. She came forward and said, ¡°This is the never-ending stairway. Someone told me that as long as we kill the living and let them take our ce, we can get out from here.¡±

    ¡°The secret chamber¡¯s trickery. Allowing ghosts to find a recement for themselves.¡± Luo Jian sneered, and he also did not pity these ghosts.

    Most of them may have originally been yers whoter morphed into ghosts. If a newbie yer became a monster, their memory would bepletely erased by the secret chamber. Sometimes, the secret chamber would even reconstruct new memories for them, such as Luo Jian¡¯s experience in the Burial Grounds secret chamber. Later, Ying told him that the two, ¡®God and Ghost,¡¯ probably did not exist at all but that a certain yer was morphed into ¡®God.¡¯ The yer¡¯s memories were wiped clean and new memories were constructed. It was a pity that the yer fell in love with an illusion over thousands of years...... Ah, of course, even those thousands of years may have been fictional.

    How tragic, wasn¡¯t it? All yers were akin to toys in the secret chamber. They would do what you wanted them to do. Happiness, anger, and sadness were controlled by an unnecessary system. No matter how strong the yers were, the secret chamber would not let any yer escape out of this ce.

    Ying told this to Luo Jian.

    So far, in the entire secret chamber, no yers had ever escaped. Those who were allowed to get out of here were the ones who werepletely dead to the point where even their souls were wiped out.

    Luo Jian did not want to stay in this kind of ce. Even if he may lose everything including his body, abilities, memories, and even soul, he did not want to stay in the secret chamber. He had already started to act on his n. Now, he had long lost his body.

    He approached the little girl and said to her, ¡°This ce, when someone came here previously, did anyone open a door¡ªa ck or a red door?¡±

    ¡°Only one door was opened.¡± The ghost thought for a moment and replied to Luo Jian, ¡°But I don¡¯t know which door it is. There are many doors here.¡±

    ¡°So is the person who opened the door still here? I mean, if he¡¯s dead, is his spirit still here?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Another ghost answered Luo Jian¡¯s question. It was the old ghost in the ancient garb. ¡°But you have to go down 30 more levels. He only lingers in that area. You can descend and do another spirit summoning again. You can let him lead the way for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Luo Jian politely expressed thanks, and with a wave of his banner, the ghosts disappeared.

    After Clown, who stood at a corner, listened to how everything progressed, he immediately called out: ¡°Student Abyss is so powerful! Are you really not a medium?!¡±

    ¡°If you continue talking about mediums, I¡¯ll beat you!¡± Luo Jian felt that he could not get angry with him.

    T/N: What have all the years that passed by done to Clown qaq. The teenage Clown is so adorable.

 Chapter 152 - The Corridor of Time (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 152 - The Corridor of Time (VIII)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Luo Jian continued to support Clown as they descended down the stairs. Even if Luo Jian did not light themp, there would be no ghosts that would bother them. This time, Luo Jian realized a problem. He found that the ghosts were not afraid of theherfiremp, but they were afraid of Luo Jian himself.

    Because I¡¯m a GM? Luo Jian frowned and thought about this problem, but he quickly shook his head and denied his deduction. A GM was not something terrifying, and a GM would be much less scary than a stalker. In addition, Luo Jian¡¯s GM identity was very special, and even the secret chamber couldn¡¯t be involved in what he did or interfere with his behavior. Naturally, the NPCs or monsters in the secret chamber couldn¡¯t recognize his GM identity. So, of course, being a GM would naturally not be the reason why they were afraid of him.

    At this time, Clown who was beside him uttered a sentence casually: ¡°Student Abyss is really powerful.¡±

    Luo Jian raised his head to look at him and asked, ¡°What makes you feel that I¡¯m powerful?¡±

    ¡°When you don¡¯t hide yourself, your entire body reeks of blood.¡± Clown sucked in some air, and it was not known whether he intentionally or unintentionally sniffed at Luo Jian. ¡°It smells just like someone who came right out of the battlefield, mixed with blood and strong killing intent.¡±

    ¡°It makes me sometimes think that you aren¡¯t a child at all. How old are you?¡± Clown asked him curiously.

    Luo Jian was silent for a moment and replied, ¡°You can make a guess, but I won¡¯t tell you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how could you!¡± Clown was so curious that he reached out and touched Luo Jian¡¯s head again. Luo Jian pped Clown¡¯s paw and tugged on his sleeve as they descended again.

    As they descended the levels, each stairway almost had the same structure. asionally, on several levels, something inside the ck door would pound hard on the door. It seemed that the things inside could smell the scent of the living. They couldn¡¯t wait to charge out from the door that they deemed as an obstacle and break through.

    They started from Basement Floor 20 and went down 30 levels. Now, on Basement Floor 56, Luo Jian thought about what the ghosts had said previously. So he put up his spirit-evocation banner again and allowed the red g flutter with the weak wind. This time, Luo Jian attracted more spirits.

    More materialized spirits appeared than previously and there were several stronger spirits present. They were not afraid of Luo Jian. They were all almost identical to how they looked like when they were alive. They had pale faces and gloomy expressions. Some of them were bold enough to approach Luo Jian and asked him, ¡°What is the matter? My Lord.¡±

    Luo Jian wanted to ask about the NPC, but as he was about to ask, he changed his question. He asked the ghost, ¡°Why do you call me lord?¡±

    The ghost hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°In this damned ce of never-ending stairway, all of us powerful Soul Lords are known as such.¡±

    ¡°Soul Lords?¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but frown when he heard a new term pop out.

    ¡°There are strong and weak souls, and I think you can see them.¡± The ghost answered Luo Jian¡¯s question and said respectfully, ¡°In this never-ending stairway, there are a total of 1,012 ghosts, but there are only a few powerful ones. I don¡¯t know when this rule came into being, but we have to call powerful spirits &#k2018;Soul Lord¡¯.¡±

    ¡°However, we don¡¯t know why we appeared in this damned ce. We can¡¯t get out of this strange ce anyway. Sometimes a group of people will appear. Some of them will be ourpanions, and some will be transported to somewhere else. We don¡¯t know where they have gone.¡±

    When Luo Jian heard this, he suddenly felt strange inwardly. He asked the ghost, ¡°Do you think I am a ghost?¡±

    The ghost paused momentarily, raised his head and looked at Luo Jian carefully. He looked at Luo Jian for a long time. It seemed to be certain, yet uncertain. He said, ¡°You look like...... you should be a ghost, no doubt. You are no different from us, but you have a body, maybe...... Did you seize someone else¡¯s?¡±

    Luo Jian did not continue to listen to the ghost. He fell into his own thoughts. He thought of some problems that could not be ignored by him. Just like Ying once said to him in the Asura Realm, after exiting the Asura Realm, Luo Jian would be a ghost without a home, and he would never return to his body because he had no body.

    <i>I almost forgot that Luo Jian was indeed dead.</i>

    Luo Jian took a deep breath to calm himself. He continued to speak to the ghost: ¡°I came here to ask you something. Did thest person who came to this never-ending stairway open a door? Is that man still here?¡±

    ¡°Thest one who came here...¡± The ghost heard Luo Jian¡¯s words, thought for a moment, and thereafter turned and looked at the ghosts behind him. These ghosts had a tacit understanding as they got out of the way. They gave way to a small, translucent spirit that looked very ordinary and fragile. That should be the soul of the NPC. No doubt, he looked very, very weak and appeared as if he would disappear at any time.

    As Luo Jian approached, he changed the spirit-evocation banner in his hand and turned it into theherfiremp. Although theherfiremp could absorb the Yin energy of the surrounding ghosts, it could actually also enhance the spiritual energy of a ghost. Therefore, Luo Jian could also enhance some weak ghosts to a certain extent, so the ghost wouldn¡¯t appear as if it would disappear at any moment.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Luo Jian asked the NPC spirit.

    The NPC¡¯s translucent spirit looked very fuzzy. He seemed to be a young man born in the 1970s or 1980s. He was wearing a shirt of outdated style, and he appeared a little confused.

    Luo Jian knew that some weak ghosts were so weak that they would forget many things. The weaker they became, the more they would gradually forget about their past. They would forget their origins, age, name, and even gender.

    The spirit in front of Luo Jian seemed to be like that. He was at a loss. He was not afraid of Luo Jian like other ghosts. He might have even forgotten what he was afraid of.

    ¡°That ghost is very weak.¡± At this time, the powerful ghost who had spoken with Luo Jian interjected: ¡°Logically speaking, he should not turn out this way. There are many spirits here, and the Yin energy here is very heavy, but for spirits, it is a kind of nourishment. There shouldn¡¯t be a spirit that would grow increasingly weak.¡±

    ¡°In that case, he should have forgotten a lot of things.¡± Looking at the pathetic spirit of the NPC, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t refrain from sighing. It was impossible for him to take Luo Jian to the door which he had opened.

    Nevertheless, Luo Jian could not help but hold a glimmer of hope. He asked the NPC, ¡°Do you remember how you died?¡±

    The NPC finally had a reaction. He gloomily raised his head and replied to Luo Jian, ¡°I had been walking in the dark constantly. The beast without a heart had killed me. I want to find my heart.¡±

    The beast without a heart.

    Luo Jian thought about what he had said. It seemed that this was the key to this chamber. But the chamber seemed surprisingly simple.

    Luo Jian thought, turning back to look at Clown, who was in a daze. Because his eyes could not see, Clown was also very confused as he held Luo Jian¡¯s hand tightly and refused to let go...... It was not known when he grabbed onto Luo Jian¡¯s hand. This fellow also ced Luo Jian¡¯s small hand in his palm and poked his hand here and there, revealing a dirty smile from time to time.

    He was unable to endure it! Luo Jian angrily withdrew his hand, and his weapon changed into a rod in an instant, and he used it to knock on Clown¡¯s head. Clown¡¯s forehead suddenly swelled. He whimpered and covered his head with his hands.

    Then, Luo Jian said to the NPC, ¡°Can you take us to find the beast without a heart?¡±

    The NPC raised his pale face. His facial features appeared blurred in the dark stairway. He said, ¡°I cannot find it myself, but I know it is...... Two levels down, I opened the ck door. It¡¯s always there, behind the door. It has never left.¡±

    After saying that, the NPC did not speak any more. No matter what Luo Jian asked him, he only looked to be in a trance. So Luo Jian did not waste his efforts. He lifted the spirit-evocation banner and dragged Clown down. After they descended two levels down, as expected, they saw a ck door that had been opened.

    The ck door was half open. It was so dark inside that even Luo Jian¡¯s night vision did not work. He could not see what was in the deep darkness. It was as if there was nothing behind the ck door.

    Luo Jian was not afraid. He boldly opened the ck door and dragged Clown as they went into the pitch-dark ce where darkness would swallow the shadows of the duo. Silence and serenity were fully disyed in front of Luo Jian.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t experienced this kind of darkness for a long time.¡± Luo Jian talked to himself. This scene before him was very familiar to him. He encountered one such enemy in the Asura Realm that used darkness as a weapon. Before that, Luo Jian was defeated several times by that enemy, and he also gained the ability of night vision. In the dark, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t really see things. He could only rely on hearing, his sense of smell, and various creatures and objects which emitted pheromones that ordinary people could not decipher to identify objects in the dark.

    However, in theter periods when Luo Jian was able to defeat him, he repeatedly thought up new strategies to challenge Luo Jian, topete for who was the most powerful. He remembered that the enemy had shown him such darkness. The real darkness. His body and soul seemed to fall into the endless darkness. At that time, Luo Jian could not even feel the passage of time. He could not see or feel anything. He could only remain stuck in the darkness as he wandered around in it.

    He would sometimes deduce certain things, and he would sometimes think of Xing Yan. He remembered that Xing Yan once said, ¡®He is a soul born from infinite darkness and primal chaos.¡¯ So, Luo Jian would wonder if Xing Yan was also born in this kind of darkness that almost drove people crazy? Why was he born? Why? Was he born because the secret chamber intended him to, or was it just a coincidence under abination of certain factors?

    And here, in this deep and never-ending stairway, once again, such feelings roused within Luo Jian. When he came in, he could not even feel the existence of Clown. Turning back, he found the door behind him disappeared, and it was pitch ck. Then Luo Jian changed his weapon and turned it into theherfiremp. He found that even the light of themp could not prate the darkness.

    ¡°That¡¯s interesting.¡± Luo Jian swayed theherfiremp in his hand, and he could not even see the slightest hint of light.

    In fact, the darkness that the yer engulfed Luo Jian in was a kind of magic. Naturally, he could not really move Luo Jian into apletely dark and fearful space. He used this magic to force other people to have mental breakdowns. The yers who fought with him had all crazilymitted suicide. Even the ¡®revival¡¯ effect in the Asura Realm could notpletely eliminate the sequ caused by the darkness.

    ¡°So, is this a kind of magic or something set in reality?¡± Luo Jian murmured to himself, ¡°The real darkness can only be fully unfolded after one experiences death. Any other ¡®darkness¡¯ is just the adjustment of the environment and psychological misjudgment. In fact, there is light in this ce. However, from the moment I entered here, I entered an illusion. It made my brain think that I could not see, hear, or feel anything. It shut down all my senses and prevented me from correctly understanding and reading my surroundings...... And human beings are, ultimately, creatures who require their senses to perceive the world.¡±

    Luo Jian shook his head. ¡°But this doesn¡¯t affect me.¡±

    When he said this, the world lit up.

    The darkness suddenly retreated and vanished while the surroundings clearly showed that behind this horrifying ck door was just a small narrow room that was dirty, empty, and had no windows. There was nothing here. There was only a corpse that was leaning against the wall in the room, and much of it had rotted away, leaving only white bones.

    There was also Clown standing behind Luo Jian. He stood motionless. Luo Jian raised theherfiremp in his hand and shook it in front of him. Clown did not react at all. It was estimated that he had not left the illusory darkness. However, Luo Jian wasn¡¯t in a hurry. He let him remain there.

    Luo Jian went to check the skeleton that was supposed to be the NPC¡¯s corpse. Because it had be all bones, he went to search through his clothes and found a letter in his pocket that was crumpled into a ball of paper.

    Luo Jian unfolded the paper, and in the letter, a few simple sentences were written on it:

    [I thought you shouldn¡¯t be so weak, but I¡¯m still disappointed, so this myst letter to you. Please don¡¯t contact me again. I don¡¯t ever want to see you again.]

    There was no signature. It was just some lines of words. It felt like what a lover would say to the other when they were about to break up. The paper seemed to have been kneaded repeatedly by its owner. It seemed that he could have wanted to tear up the letter at any point in time but was reluctant to do so no matter what had happened.

    ¡°A beast without a heart.¡± Luo Jian stared at the handwriting on the letter and said to himself.

 Chapter 153 - The Corridor of Time (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 153 - The Corridor of Time (IX)</h4>

    Thank you so much ChrysAmans for your kind support¨CBonus Chapter (1/2)

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    ¡°A beast without a heart is a wonderful description,¡± Luo Jian said to Clown, ¡°The protagonist is hurt and abandoned by his beloved, so he defines the other party as a beast without a heart and thinks that his heart has been snatched away by him or her.¡±

    Clown had just emerged from the endless darkness and was in a state of shock. He was still baffled when he heard Luo Jian¡¯s talking. Clown took the letter in his hand and asked him, ¡°Why are you so sure? Maybe it means something else.¡±

    ¡°Because the secret chamber has only given me this many clues that I can take into consideration.¡±

    Luo Jian sighed, ¡°But this protagonist is also a fool.¡±

    ¡°Why is he a fool?¡± Clown also held on tightly to the letter as he took a long time reading it.

    ¡°Because there¡¯s something on the back of the letter.¡±

    Clown froze momentarily and quickly turned around to look at the back of the letter. There was a strange list of addresses written on the back of the letter: XXX street, No. 10, 4th Floor, Red Door resident, Time: July 14, 12:00 sharp.

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Clown did not understand the string of sentences which was the address, but he thought there was something wrong with it.

    ¡°It¡¯s just telling us where the door to this secret chamber is.¡±

    Luo Jian said, and thereafter, he searched through the corpse to check for other items. On the clothes he was wearing, inside his pants was a rusty key. Luo Jian gripped the key in his hand, observed it, and afterwards stuffed it into his pockets.

    ¡°Where is the door to this secret chamber?¡± Clown was still at a loss.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it written in the letter?¡± Luo Jian said that as he continued to look for something else on the corpse. He got an old-fashioned analog watch after removing it from the corpse¡¯s hand, and that watch was still working. He looked at the time on the watch and said, ¡°The door is at Building No. 10, 4th Floor, Red Door resident¡¯s apartment.¡±

    ¡°But we are at the basement levels. Is the red door on the fourth floor the exit?¡± Clown felt that this was not that simple of a matter.

    Luo Jian shook his head: ¡°Of course, the door can¡¯t be located in the basement levels. We have to go up to the positive levels and open the door on the fourth floor because the key that the corpse got can only be his house¡¯s key.¡±

    ¡°It is obviously impossible for us to head there. We can¡¯t get to a positive level at all. No matter how much we go up, we¡¯ll always be at the Basement Floor 1.¡± Clown had tried to ascend previously, but he couldn¡¯t go up the levels.

    ¡°Of course you can go up as long as it¡¯s the right time to do so. For example, this strange stairway is a ce simr to a space that exists in a different dimension. There must be an entrance and exit in this ce. Naturally, the entrance and exit are the stairway from the first floor to the second floor. So what changes have taken ce to turn this staircase into the entrance of hell?¡±

    Luo Jian waved the old, worn-down watch in his hand, showing it to Clown. The time on the watch was 11:45 p.m.

    As the hands of the watch slowly ticked by, Luo Jian continued: ¡°The time written on that letter is the day when the gates of hell open. The time when the gates of hell open is 12:00 sharp on July 14. When the time is reached, the gates of hell would open.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean that when the gates of hell open, we¡¯ll be able to go up?¡±

    ¡°The secret chamber should have set it that way.¡± Luo Jian thought, ¡°The time limit given is three hours and half of the time has passed and we have triggered the conditions to open the gates of hell. If the yer at this moment correctly understands the secret chamber¡¯s message to the yer, they can easily find clues, get out from the never-ending stairway, and escape from this chamber.¡±

    ¡°On the contrary, if the yer doesn¡¯t find the urate clues and walks down the stairs aimlessly, he will never be able to get out. Is that right?¡± Clown touched his chin: ¡°If you didn¡¯t know how to summon spirits, we¡¯d have to find the open door level by level. During this period, we would have to endure the harassment and attacks of various ghosts. We would waste a lot of time. We may have also found the door opened by the NPC only after most of the three-hour time limit given by the secret chamber had passed. After entering, we¡¯d be stuck in the endless darkness illusion for quite some time. After that, we would be able to obtain the clues. And at that time, we would only have very little time left of the three hour time limit.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re almost correct. ording to what an ordinary yer would do usually, the secret chamber is actually very difficult.¡± Luo Jian said that, as he couldn¡¯t help scratching his head: ¡°But with me joining, it seems that the chamber is too simple. I hope it won¡¯t lead to any bad consequences.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really too simple. When I met you, from the start to the end, it was a smooth process. This speed! It¡¯s inconceivable!¡± Clown eximed, ¡°You must know that it¡¯d take ayer of my skin for me to escape from the secret chamber previously.¡±

    ¡°If we escape too early, we¡¯ll allow the secret chamber to discover an inkling of what urred.¡± Luo Jian frowned. In fact, he had affected the result of the secret chamber escape to a certain extent. Given the secret chamber¡¯s character, it was never willing to see yers escape from the secret chamber too easily andfortably. The secret chamber¡¯s will gave him a feeling that it could not wait for every yer to die in the secret chamber.

    ¡°Can¡¯t escape too early?¡± Towards that, Clown did not have any opinion. ¡°As long as we don¡¯t dy until the time when we won¡¯t be able to escape.¡±

    Luo Jian said with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s do something interesting.¡±

    It was not known if Luo Jian¡¯s tone was ambiguous and would cause someone to misunderstand, but Clown suddenly blushed. Although it could not be seen because his cheeks were dabbed with white powder and stained with blood, he embarrassingly swung his hips and stated to Luo Jian in a delicate voice, ¡°Towards that, I don¡¯t have any opinion, but you...... are you really fine with that?¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly felt that he could not maintain his apparent calm. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his weapon morphed into a rod again. He continued to beat Clown¡¯s head fiercely several times, and only when several bumps on Clown¡¯s head surfaced and Clown hugged his head as he shrieked out loud did he stop.

    ¡°Stop putting on a show to amuse me! I just want to test your current fighting prowess!¡± Luo Jian shook the rod in his hand, and with great momentum, he pointed one end of the rod at Clown. He said, ¡°How strong are you? Let me see it.¡±

    ¡°Ah? But I can¡¯t see anything, so wouldn¡¯t I be very weak?¡± Clown said innocently.

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense. This ce is pitch dark. Even if you can see, it may not be useful.¡± It was not known what Luo Jian thought of. He said to Clown, his tone carrying deep meaning: ¡°You can rank first in the ranking list. It seems that your abilities are not bad.¡±

    Clown suddenly stopped talking. He was silent for a moment. He seemed to want to exin: ¡°You got it wrong. It¡¯s just someone with the same name and surname as me.¡±

    ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be so many people in the world whose names are merely one character and are called ¡®Hong.¡¯ The probability is too low.¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly shook the rod in his hand and struck it towards Clown. Clown jumped up to avoid it and jumped to the back. He raised his hands to indicate his surrender and said, ¡°Don¡¯t do this! I can¡¯t beat you in this state at this moment!¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Luo Jian said that as he twisted his neck and felt that his body was too small. Compared with the body of an adult, firstly, he felt that he was too short, which led to a serious drop in the things he could see. In addition, his physical strength was rtively weak and his strength was too small, making his body feel strange and uncoordinated. Although Luo Jian¡¯s ability would not decline, he was not used to the inconveniences this body brought about when battling.

    However, Luo Jian did not back down. He felt that he needed a fight, an ebullition, to forget those bad memories and to use blood and battle to help his inner self push all the darkness out of him. That was what Luo Jian urgently needed now. It did not matter who would give it to him, but Luo Jian needed it.

    Clown, standing over at the other side, had no choice but to sigh and said aggrievedly, ¡°Student Abyss will only bully me.¡±

    After he finished speaking, he felt around his body for a long time before he found a scalpel. He shabbily postured for a while, but after quite a long time, he couldn¡¯t get his battle posture right. When he was posing, it felt like he was up to his monkey tricks, and he swayed here and there, as if he was about to fall down anytime. Even the corners of Luo Jian¡¯s eyes began to twitch. He said, ¡°Are you trying to bluff me?¡±

    Clown, standing over at the other side, cried, ¡°I really can¡¯t fight!¡±

    ¡°How the hell did you live to this day?¡± Luo Jian shook the Shaolin rod in his hand and stabbed him with the rod.

    Clown shook his body weakly and went on to say pitifully, ¡°To tell you the truth, it¡¯s me on that list, but it¡¯s also not me.¡±

    Luo Jian withdrew his Shaolin rod and frowned: ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°My skills...... uhm, or my weapon, it¡¯s a little strange.¡± Clown touched his scalpel in distress. He said bitterly, ¡°I am a student studying in an ordinary medical school, majoring in surgical matters. In the future, I will be a surgeon who will work on the operating table. So I don¡¯t think it strange to give me a scalpel as a weapon...... But... ¡±

    Luo Jian saw that he stopped speaking, so he asked, ¡°Is there anything strange about that knife?¡±

    ¡°Look! It¡¯s like this...¡± Clown suddenly changed his tone. He raised his scalpel and stabbed at his own temple. This happened so quickly that Luo Jian was caught unprepared. He had no time to stop Clown. He was surprised to see Clown stab the knife into his head.

    The blood gushed out, just as Luo Jian expected. The sight of a knife stuck in Clown¡¯s head made one feel that it was hard to look at. Although Luo Jian was surprised, he thought that Clown should not be so reckless, so he did not feel too surprised. He calmed his mood down and silently abided.

    Clown fell to the ground with a knife stuck in his forehead. After about ten minutes, Clown quickly got up by himself. When he got up, his skin began to turn blue. Luo Jian lit up hisherfiremp and looked at Clown¡¯s current appearance. Clown¡¯s face had be very stiff. He slowly reached out and grabbed the knife in his head, and the knife was pulled out by him.

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing that you¡¯re dead, but you don¡¯t seem to be dead.¡± Luo Jian reached out and touched Clown¡¯s exposed skin. It was already cold.

    ¡°That¡¯s it. As long as I kill myself with this knife, I won¡¯t really ¡®die.¡¯ Therefore, whenever I encounter danger and am on the verge of death, as long as I kill myself, I can survive.¡± Clown said that as he tilted his neck, and his bones made a clicking sound.

    ¡°And it¡¯s strange that I¡¯m very strong in this state. Sometimes I feel that my brain is upied by another consciousness, and I think it¡¯s the consciousness of the weapon that¡¯s trying to devour me. I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s a good thing or a bad thing, although it does make me stronger.¡±

    Luo Jian licked his dry lips and whispered, ¡°So that¡¯s all because of this weapon, right? Don¡¯t you know the specific capabilities of your weapon?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a scalpel,¡± Clown said. When he said those words, he sounded like he was in a trance, and his face had no expression. It was like he was simply reading it from the script. ¡°The scalpel has many functions. It can bring my patients back to life. Simrly, it can also cause some changes in others. It can transform the human body, improve the physical quality of the body, reconstruct someone¡¯s personality and memories, and hold the ability to transform. It can change someone from weak to strong; that¡¯s its strongest ability.¡±

    ¡°To transform...... it?¡± Luo Jian¡¯s voice became lighter: ¡°Will you transform yourself?¡±

    ¡°Maybe, in order to better survive,¡± Clown said mechanically.

 Chapter 154 - The Corridor of Time (X)

    <h4>Chapter 154 - The Corridor of Time (X)</h4>

    Thank you so much ChrysAmans for your kind support¨CBonus Chapter (2/2)

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Luo Jian and Clown exchanged moves briefly in order for Luo Jian to test his strength. Because the space here was rtively small, big moves couldn¡¯t be used, so the two people simply made a casual demonstration of their abilities. However, despite it being a casual demonstration, the small narrow room was still destroyed, and everything was strewn messily. They could not decide who was victorious. Of course, it wasn¡¯t important who won or lost.

    What was important was that Luo Jian merely wanted to experience Clown¡¯s strength.

    Later, Luo Jian found that Clown¡¯s strength was mainly reflected in his strong ability to recover that seemed to go against the heavens. No matter if one chopped him into several slices or even broke him into pieces, Clown would quickly recover in a short time. This was especially prominent when he found that his strength was not as great as Luo Jian¡¯s. Clown would then insert a knife into himself again. ording to him, this was to transform his body structure. Clown could turn himself into any shape he wanted. He could even transform himself to have the wings of a bird.

    Clown could transform without limits. Especially when he attacked others with a scalpel, he was also transforming the bodies of others. He would weaken the enemy and make himself stronger. He used this knife to read the enemy¡¯s bodily information, skills, and even memories. He imitated, learned, and reconstructed.

    ¡°This ability is a little against the heavens.¡± After a preliminary understanding of Clown¡¯s ability, Luo Jian always felt that this fool¡¯s outer appearance wasn¡¯t a reliable reflection of himself. No wonder the number one on the ranking was really Clown, who had just entered the secret chamber space and had merely experienced escaping from the secret chamber five times.

    ¡°I can only use my skills in the state of ¡®death.¡¯ When I¡¯m living normally, I am aplete g. When I¡¯m alive, I can throw my scalpel out like a flying knife. Although the de is sharp, the de¡¯s edge is too small.¡± One could hear the distress in Clown¡¯s tone, though he was still expressionless.

    Luo Jian thought about it carefully. He said, ¡°Clown, don¡¯t use this skill frequently, alright? Only use this skill if you are in danger and at the risk of losing your life. Other than that, don¡¯t use this skill.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s words made Clown puzzled. He asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    Luo Jian said: ¡°Let me briefly summarize what your ability is. Aftermitting suicide, you will be in a ¡®state of death.¡¯ When you¡¯re fighting in this state, you can transform the enemy¡¯s body, learn what advantages the enemy possesses, and even learn the other party¡¯s skills. Then you can transform yourself through learning, and that¡¯s one of your skills to be more powerful. Is that right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s basically it.¡± Clown nodded.

    ¡°And it¡¯s hard for you to die in this state. As long as you are still holding onto your scalpel, you can transform and reorganize your body infinitely, right?¡± Luo Jian continued to speak.

    Clown nodded: ¡°Yes, yes.¡±

    Luo Jian frowned and said, ¡°Dear Mr. Hong, you have to understand that after you escape through five secret chambers, the secret chamber will determine that you have officially entered the ranks of the senior yers. After that, you will be forced to join a certain team directly by the secret chamber in order to join team battles. The more outstanding you are in battle, the higher the secret chamber¡¯s evaluation of you will be. And it will bestow upon you an inexplicable title of an &#k2018;Oracle,¡¯ which will enable you to sessfullyunch the ultimate secret chamber¡¯s final test.¡±

    ¡°The final test?¡± Clown knew nothing about it, so he was naturally curious.

    ¡°It¡¯s the final test to be able to escape from the chamber forever. You¡¯ll encounter a bunch of stalkers. Every chamber you go through will be incredibly difficult. Moreover, it must be a team battle. The team members with you are either strong yers who would be dragged into the team by you unfortunately, or they would also be Oracles like you.¡±

    Hearing this, Clown was shocked and said, ¡°This whatever final test...... is it mandatory for me to join? ¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Luo Jian spread out his hand and said with a smile.

    Clown heaved a sigh of relief and stated: ¡°Then that would be fine for me. I don¡¯t have to deliberately seek death.¡±

    Luo Jian grimly smiled: ¡°Yes, you can choose not to take part in the final test, but the secret chamber will tell you that if you don¡¯t take part in this final test, you will lose the opportunity to leave the room forever. Then the secret chamber will acquiesce that you have signed a lifetime contract with it, and you will have to experience an infinite number of secret chambers and enter into a cycle where you have to wander through the secret chambers again and again, forever.¡±

    When Clown heard this, he seemed to be dumbfounded. He mulled about it for a while, thought for a moment, and said, ¡°Although I like ying the game of escaping from the secret chamber, for me to y it forever, it would really tire me out and I wouldn¡¯t wish for it to happen.¡±

    Luo Jian understood what Clown meant: ¡°So there¡¯s only one way you can stop this.¡±

    ¡°What can I do?¡±

    ¡°Reduce your sense of existence, don¡¯t do anything too eye catching, and don¡¯t perform too well in battles. In every secret chamber, don¡¯t hurry to escape and don¡¯t be too fast in escaping. You need to be an ordinary person, so ordinary that you¡¯ll even seem a little weak, and be a person that everyone around you will not pay attention to.¡±

    Clown ruminated the meaning behind Luo Jian¡¯s words and said, ¡°You¡¯d have me pretend to be dumb to take advantage of others?¡±

    Luo Jian said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s what it means.¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s not very difficult to do, no matter how much I reduce my sense of existence and suppress my ability, I will still grow up slowly. One day I will still have to face all this.¡± Clown grasped his head in agony and turned his ragged hair into something that appeared like a chicken coop.

    Luo Jian also thought for a while. He was thinking whether to formally pull Clown to his side. Luo Jian knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to fight against the entire secret chamber alone. He wanted to find a way to destroy the secret chamber. He wanted to rescue hispanions who were still trapped in the punishment chamber. Perhaps he might be a hero, or perhaps he might end up failing while he walked on this path.

    But it was impossible to do it without some help. Luo Jian did not think that he could save the world by himself. He was not determined enough to walk down this path alone. Because truthfully speaking, even the current Luo Jian was still very afraid somewhere in his heart. He was afraid to face everything, even in the Asura Realm where blood sshed about everywhere and the sun never sunk. Luo Jian had never been so afraid.

    But fear or confusion could never solve the problem.

    So Luo Jian raised his head to look at Clown. He did not mean to do it, but he opened his red umbre and let the handle of the umbre rest on his shoulder. He talked in a tone as if he was hypnotizing Clown, but he did not do it. Luo Jian simply said to Clown, ¡°Hong, would you like to help me?¡±

    Clown nced at Luo Jian with his head tilted. Thenguage and actions of the young Clown gave off an effeminate and cute vibe. Although his expressionless face destroyed how lovely and cute his actions appeared, it did not affect Luo Jian¡¯s impression of him. Clown said, ¡°What do you want me to do for you?¡±

    ¡°It will be terrifying, it¡¯ll be hard, and you may even die at any time,¡± Luo Jian said briefly and humorously, ¡°True death. As long as you make any mistakes in the process, you will bepletely wiped out of the world by the secret chamber¡¯s will. However, once we havepleted doing this, we can eliminate the secret chamber from this world and be heroes, although no one will remember our feats.¡±

    Unexpectedly, Clown did not worry when he heard this. He was still very excited. Although his terrible-looking face did not show his excitement, his tone exposed it. Clown said excitedly, ¡°Oh! Destroy the secret chamber! This is something truly meaningful! It¡¯d be way more fun than experiencing the final test!¡±

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help sighing: ¡°Don¡¯t be too happy. It¡¯s not something that easy to aplish. You have to abandon a lot of things. You may start to regret the moment you step on this road.¡±

    Clown asked Luo Jian, ¡°Do you regret it?¡±

    Luo Jian was silent for a while, and he replied to Clown: ¡°There had been such a moment where I actually regretted it. But now I am d that I have already made up my mind to cut off all routes of retreat so I can¡¯t return any more if I regret. Fortunately for me, this way, I can walk down on this ck path till the end, and even if I regret, I have to carry on walking.¡±

    ¡°This is how determined you are because you even broke the cauldrons and sank the boats, right?¡±

    Luo Jian smiled: ¡°Yes.¡±

    Clown told Luo Jian, ¡°In fact, when you tell me this, I have not made any mental preparations. But I don¡¯t think I need to prepare. I¡¯m a casual person. If doing it makes me happy, I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    Clown said, ¡°But I don¡¯t like the secret chamber. However, I do admit that in reality, I am really interested in the body of the patients on the operating table. I have many ideas as to how to reform other people¡¯s bodies and I have also had the idea of trying to transform myself before...... This is probably the source of my strange ability.¡±

    However, Clown shook his head and said regretfully, ¡°But I¡¯m not someone like Frankenstein. I¡¯m a medical student now. I want to be a doctor to help the wounded and not to kill people with a scalpel.¡±

    Clown looked at Luo Jian seriously, in a manner he never did before: ¡°If you truly...... are not lying to me, if you really have a way to wipe out the secret chamber from the world, my answer is that I am willing to help you.¡±

    ¡°Even at the price of your life?¡± Luo Jian emphasized this sentence.

    Clown nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, even at the price of my life.¡±

    But Clown could not maintain his suave image for more than three seconds. Within mere moments, he softened his tone, trembling, as he said: ¡°The premise is that you really didn¡¯t lie to me, I don¡¯t want to die inexplicably! Although it feels great being a hero that people won¡¯t know and it feels like I have be a superhero in the movies or some swordsman or the like, I¡¯m still afraid of death... ¡±

    Luo Jian choked on his saliva momentarily and tried to resist the urge to use the rod to hit his head. He sighed: ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m not in a hurry to send you to death. Moreover, at this point in time, my n is still in the initial stages. You can live a leisurely life for a while and enhance your strength. However, I think it will take awhile before I can meet you again.¡±

    The duo had finally reached a consensus in their discussion. After a period, Luo Jian felt that time was almost up, so he took Clown as they ascended the stairs. Both of them were quite fit. Because they did not want to waste time, they quickly returned to Basement Floor 1. Luo Jian touched the key in his pocket and looked at Clown, who was covered in dirt and had grime on his face next to him.

    The two continued to ascend. Luo Jian¡¯s conjecture was not wrong. This secret chamber did have the interesting setting of ¡®the opening of hell gates.¡¯ Anyway, this time, they really walked out of the basement levels, went to the first floor, and continued to climb the stairs.

    The levels above ground were quite different from those basement levels. First of all, there were bright lights on the levels above ground. The walls were all newly painted. Although the two doors were still red doors and ck doors, the two doors still appeared new. The only bizarre part about this was that there were no windows in the stairway, so one wouldn¡¯t be able to see what was outside.

    Of course, he knew that even if there were windows along the stairway, all he would probably see was pitch ck darkness, just like what he had experienced¡ªthe lone train driving in the dark.

    They came to the fourth floor and opened the red door with the key. Behind the door, it was pitch ck, and there was nothing but darkness. Luo Jian knew that they had found the exit, but he did not expect that the exit would be so easily and simply found.

    Before going out of the exit, Luo Jian deliberately put some dirt and grime on his face. The purpose behind him fighting with Clown was for him to reduce the rise of the secret chamber¡¯s evaluation on their strengths. The secret chamber would not observe each yer¡¯s secret chamber¡¯s escape individually. ording to Ying, what the chamber did was judge the strength and power level of each yer through the various conditions triggered, mechanisms, progress, and final results of each yer.

    However, asionally, the secret chamber would observe the entire process of how certain yers escaped from the chambers. For example, they would observe yers when they tried to escape from punishment chambers or when the yers were attempting to challenge the final secret chamber. At that time, the secret chamber would observe every yer¡¯s actions throughout the entire process. The purpose behind why the secret chamber did this was to ensure that every yer couldn¡¯t escape from the chamber.

    Ying¡¯s words asionally rang out beside Luo Jian¡¯s ears:

    ¡°Luo Jian, I heard that you briefly spoke about your experiences in the punishment chamber. The reason why Xing Yan forcibly sent you to this ce was to let you escape from the secret chamber and escape from the supervisory control of the transmigration system¡¯s monitoring system. However, your escape will certainly make the secret chamber pay close attention to you. Therefore, if you leave the Asura Realm as ¡®Luo Jian,¡¯ you will die the moment you go out, and the secret chamber will mercilessly obliterate you even if it goes against the rules that it consistently abided by.

    ¡°And the only way to avoid the secret chamber¡¯s obliteration is to truly die.¡±

 Chapter 155 - The Corridor of Time (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 155 - The Corridor of Time (XI)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty & Humu

    After that, Luo Jian left the chamber with Clown.

    However, before that, Luo Jian had to first solve some problems; he could not leave extraneous problems that may cause trouble for him.

    However, Luo Jian knew that he did not have enough free time to escape every single secret chamber with Clown, so when he left, he had to dissolve the team contract with Clown. But that was not hard to do. As far as Luo Jian¡¯s GM identity was concerned, he just needed to adjust a few simplemands.

    Therefore, Luo Jian found a nk purple printed note in Clown¡¯s pocket and wrote a letter to terminate the team rtionship. After Clown signed the letter, the wonderful team contact was dissolved. When Luo Jian dissolved his team contract with Clown, his status reverted back to that of a GM, and he was no longer a yer and would not be able to act as a yer.

    And Luo Jian could not continue to apany Clown to escape from the secret chambers. The following things must be done by Clown himself. However, Luo Jian was not particrly worried. When he learned about Clown¡¯s ability from him, he knew that Clown was an interesting special case in the secret chamber and had a cheat-like ability.

    However, Luo Jian had to leave something on Clown so that he could locate Clown¡¯s position, find him smoothly the next time, and arrive at Clown¡¯s side urately.

    When ordinary yers entered the secret chamber from reality, the secret chamber would automatically remove some ¡®items that couldn¡¯t be brought into the secret chamber¡¯ from the yer. For example, if a yer carried a short knife and ced it somewhere on their body, after entering the secret chamber, the secret chamber¡¯s will would clear the knife away, and the yer would not be able to bring it in.

    yers could only bring in their weapons, equipment, and carry-on secret chambers with them.

    Of course, if the space in the carry-on secret chamber wasrge enough, one could put anything in it, including knives, guns, weapons, food, and medical supplies. If there was enough space, one could drive an armored car or a tank, fly a helicopter, or even cram in a transformer. The yers in the secret chamber were in all shapes and sizes, so it was not as if no one had ever done that before.

    Clown had a carry-on secret chamber with him. He got this after he escaped his third secret chamber. However, the carry-on secret chamber would block Luo Jian from locating Clown. Therefore, what Luo Jian left on Clown must be something that could only be put on Clown and could not be put into the carry-on secret chamber. Moreover, this thing would not be cleared away by the secret chamber¡¯s will when he went into the secret chamber.

    But what should it be?

    After thinking for a while, Luo Jian could not help but look up at Clown. He asked Clown, ¡°Hong, do you have the habit of wearing essories? Such as studs in your ears.¡±

    Clown snorted in contempt: ¡°That¡¯s something only a sissy would wear!¡±

    When Luo Jian heard this, he could not help touching his ears. At that time, he had his ¡®own¡¯ body. When he was in high school, he had actually worn one. That was when he was suffering from chuunibyou, and at that time, the seductive look was particrly fashionable. To have tattoos on one¡¯s body, to have one¡¯s nose perforated, and to wear nose rings was a hyped-up trend. Although he was not as chuunibyou as that, he had an ear piercing, and he had gotten it together with Ah Lan.

    Because at that time, the female students in the ss always gossiped about the tall boy with ear studs. He had a shocking hairstyle, and when he was wearing his ck school uniform while standing in the corner near the wall, he looked particrly handsome and so on. Therefore, the boys began to inexplicablypare ¡®who was more handsome¡¯ between themselves, and the trend of pretending to be cool began. So Luo Jian and his ssmate Ah Lan were forced to wade through the turbid water once again.

    The past memories, however far away, seemed so beautiful that he could not help but force himself not to think about it. He looked at Clown again, frowned, and thought that he should get something for Clown. When he saw the white powder dabbed on Clown¡¯s face, he could not help asking him, ¡°Why do you always put on such ridiculous makeup? But then again, the powder on your face actually has not been cleared away by the secret chamber. This should be a kind of prop?¡±

    ¡°This is what I got by ident during my second secret chamber. It is said to have the effect of concealing my identity. I could not help but try it, but it seems that this prop is permanent. Anyway, every time I enter the secret chamber, this strange thing will appear on my face. I truly am not so stupid! I don¡¯t want to put this stuff on my face all the time either!¡±

    As soon as Clown heard Luo Jian¡¯s question, he burst into tears and continued: ¡°I¡¯m too miserable. Even if I use water or some other things to try to wash it off, it won¡¯te off. Fortunately, I don¡¯t look like this in reality, otherwise I¡¯d really cry!¡±

    Luo Jian, who heard what he said, felt that it was funny. Heughed so much that his stomach began to ache. He covered his stomach and said, ¡°Haha...... Yeah! In fact, didn¡¯t the effect of this prop already begin to show itself? Even now, I can¡¯t really see what your face looks like.¡±

    Clown grinned bitterly, wiped off the bloodstains on his cheek with his sleeves, and muttered: ¡°If I knew earlier on that it would work in this way, I would not be so stupid to use such inexplicable props.¡±

    ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll give you a prop, too.¡± Inspiration suddenly struck Luo Jian, so he said that.

    Clown also didn¡¯t bother to be polite with him. He reached out his paw and asked for props from Luo Jian. Luo Jian waved his weapon in his hand and made his weapon morph again. The weapon turned into an ordinary pen.

    ¡°Have you ever heard the story of The Magical Brush?¡± Luo Jian said to Clown as his weapon morphed.

    Clown nodded andughed: ¡°Of course; I read this story in my textbook when I was a child.¡±

    ¡°Move your face closer,¡± Luo Jian said again.

    Clown was blind now. He did not know what Luo Jian was going to do, but he squatted down obediently and moved his face closer in the direction of Luo Jian¡¯s voice. Luo Jian looked at Clown¡¯s face. Although his face was covered with blood, Clown¡¯s makeup still remained on his face under the bloodstains, despite it looking a little messed up.

    Luo Jian found a wet cloth to wipe the bloodstains on Clown¡¯s face andmanded him to close his eyes...... Of course, because of his eye injury, his eyes were always closed. Although he could wipe the blood away from Clown¡¯s face, the white powder on his face could not be removed. Clown¡¯s makeup was put on messily by himself. So Luo Jian borrowed Clown¡¯s scalpel and made a small cut on his wrist. He used his blood as a pigment to put on makeup on Clown.

    He painted the corners of Clown¡¯s eyes and his lips red. He appeared gorgeous.

    ¡°All right.¡± After he was done putting makeup on him, Luo Jian put away his pen and said, ¡°This way, I can find you wherever you are.¡±

    Clown was still baffled: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would give me props?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I already gave it to you,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°The makeup on your face was ugly, and now it looks much better. That is the prop I gave you.¡± Because of Luo Jian¡¯s blood, the masking prop on Clown¡¯s face would have an extraordinary effect in hiding his identity. Unless someone formed a team with Clown in the future, people who see him in the future would soon forget his existence.

    Mainly because Clown¡¯s makeup was a permanent prop, it would not be cleared away by the secret chamber. Even if it could not be seen in the real world, it would also y a role. Luo Jian could easily locate Clown¡¯s coordinates because he added a few strokes in his makeup.

    Clown was a little disappointed, ¡°Is that all? I was still hoping you would give me something that can ward off evil spirits. You were so handsome when you summoned the spirits just now! The thing I¡¯m most afraid of are ghosts. The seniors in the medical school always frighten me when they tell me there are many ghosts in the hospital. For example, they would hear moaning on an empty bed, and they tell me ghosts would beughing in the morgue. I feel terrible when I think about it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The makeup I¡¯ve drawn for you can definitely help you expunge evil spirits and scare ghosts away.¡± After hearing what Clown said, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but curve his mouth and fiercely smiled. Clown could not help but be frightened when he saw his strange smile. He said, ¡°What kind of makeup did you put on my face?¡±

    In fact, the makeup on teenage Clown¡¯s face was not the same as that which Luo Jian once saw on Clown¡¯s face. Thetter was more ferocious and terrifying. It was the kind of horrifying makeup that could frighten people in a fight. He had pale powder on his cheeks while his bright red lips were as red as blood. The red-coloured corners of his mouth were dragged very long, as if his lips cracked to the back of his ears.

    Beneath his eyes, there were traces of blood and tears, and it gave people the feeling that the corners of his eyes had turned inside out. Some red pigment was dabbed on his nose. His entire face appeared disgusting¡ªnot like a funny-looking clown, but more like a devil who had crawled out from a crypt.

    Although he looked more terrifying now, Luo Jian still thought that it was much better than the previous disorderly make-up. When Clown had put on his makeup, he had done it messily. It felt like red and white hues were both mixed directly on his face. If it were not for his familiar voice, Luo Jian wouldn¡¯t have even recognized this as the Clown in the future.

    So when Luo Jian put on his makeup for him, he put it on ording to his impression of himter. After Luo Jian finished putting it on, he felt that something was wrong. It seemed that he might have just coincidentally affected Clown¡¯s future.

    Just like how Luo Jian drew on his original impression of Clown and painted it on the current Clown.

    Does this mean that the reason why Hong will be that way is all my fault?

    Luo Jian threw his brush away and turned it into a red umbre again. But he was not willing to continue to think about this profound problem. He was not willing to specte on the consequences, specte on the oue, because the oue had been clearly visible. No matter what the future would be, Luo Jian did not care anymore. He had no way of retreat. He only held one belief now.

    I can¡¯t fail! Absolutely not!

    This was the only GM body Ying left. If Luo Jian failed, Ying would lose everything in the gamble against the secret chamber. He waited for a hundred years for Luo Jian, the sole winner. Luo Jian could not bear to let him down.

    More importantly, he did not want to disappoint hispanions.

    Ah Lan, Duan Li, his cousin Luo Feng...... and also Xing Yan.

    If I fail, I will never see them, and solely because of this, I absolutely cannot fail. Absolutely not!

    After a brief exnation to Clown, Luo Jian left. He stepped into time-space again and went to his next destination. Luo Jian did not know where he was going. He tried to recall some things that Ying had told him. Ying said that when their team was building the secret chamber, they specificallybined it with a studio, and there were some research materials left regarding the secret chamber in their studio. And Luo Jian¡¯s goal now was to find that data.

    Just where was the studio?

    Luo Jian knew that the studio would have been hidden somewhere by the secret chamber. The studio not only held information regarding the secret chamber but also hid part of the chamber¡¯s core. Because when the ¡®transmigration system¡¯ arrived on Earth after leaping 100 million years into the past, it was almost destroyed, and the core was divided into eight pieces. In order to set up the secret chamber, Ying and his team put the core back together, but only one piece was destroyed so badly that it could not be put back.

    The core of the transmigration system was a cube-like object with four edges and looked very colourful. And there was a missing corner, and that missing thing happened to be the ¡®autonomous system¡¯ of the transmigration system. This was a special ¡®lock¡¯ that human beings would add to the system in the future.

    Now, the lock was gone.

    Perhaps this was the biggest reason why the secret chamber was out of control and it evolved to the present situation. At that time, Ying and his team did not know the importance of this ¡®lock.¡¯ They felt that even if the lock was not added, the operation of the system would not be impacted much, so it was fine if the system was not controlled. They were muddled by the things they could grasp in their hands¡ªthe opportunity, technology, and knowledge.

    ¡°Although we can¡¯t fix the ¡®lock¡¯ back, there is still a fatal connection between the lock and the transmigration system. Once the lock is destroyed, the secret chamber willpletely disintegrate. This is caused by the lock¡¯s security mechanism. In the future, human beings have expected that once the lock is separated and does not work, they can use this method to destroy the system.

    ¡°So, the secret chamber will hide the lock. It will strictly hide its own ¡®lock¡¯ and hide its heart, and our goal is to find it, and that¡¯s our sole hope to be able to destroy the secret chamber.¡±

    The Ying in his memories was sitting on his lonely rock b with his hair down. He described the scene to Luo Jian at that time:

    ¡°If we had reached half the level of science and technology as that of the future, we would not be in such a mess today, but we did not have it. We couldn¡¯t make up for the gap in science and technology across a period of 100 million years. We thought that with our current standard, we could control things from the future. Yes, this is the worst end. Mypanions, my friends, even my...... lover: all of them lost their lives because I foolishly picked up this thing......

    ¡°But it¡¯s toote for me to regret or feel remorse. I need to do everything I can to salvage the situation.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t leave here. I can¡¯t leave Asura Realm. Once I leave, the secret chamber will not hesitate to wipe me out. It will track me down and kill me at any cost because I know its secret. And the copse of the Asura Realm will also cause me to lose myst hiding ce. The yers who live in the Asura Realm and the monsters transformed from yers will also lose theirst shelter.

    ¡°I¡¯ve put my bet on you, Luo Jian.¡±

    Ying had originally long grown tired of waiting for a winner in the Asura Realm. He had been impatient and already nned to give this opportunity to a stalker. It was not known if it was a coincidence, but he originally wanted to put the responsibility on Xing Yan, who had be a stalker.

    But now it was Luo Jian who took on the responsibility.

    Luo Jian would not evade the responsibility although this may not be something he had to bear, and the fault of others should not be ced on him. However, if Ying waited for a hundred years in the Asura Realm for his arrival, Luo Jian knew that only he had the ability to bear the heavy responsibility.

    When Luo Jian crossed time and space again, he opened his eyes and appeared in a busy street.

    A child holding a red umbre appeared out of thin air, and there were only a few people who were surprised. Luo Jian looked around and knew that he was lucky to appear in reality. There were a lot of peopleing and going around, and the scene before him was a busy city street. Now, it was noon, and the sun was high in the sky.

    ¡°It seems that Ying had originally established his studio in a suburb of AND city. In order to prepare the funds for the studio, they sold a small part of the future technology given by the core of the transmigration system, relying on technology patents to cooperate with somepanies and manufacturers to obtain arge amount of capital.¡±

    Luo Jian said to himself, as he held an umbre and walked slowly along the street, ¡°I want to record the time and location of this ce to confirm my coordinates. First of all, I have to go to the time point where Ying was present. However, it is likely that the secret chamber has tampered with that time point. In order to hide itself, the secret chamber must have set something up...... things like traps or something like that.¡±

    ¡°This is a dangerous journey, so I better be prepared.¡±

    While Luo Jian was walking and thinking, he suddenly saw a familiar figure running through an alley from the corner of his eyes. To that, Luo Jian felt a flicker of interest and couldn¡¯t help lifting his feet to follow the figure.

 Chapter 156 - The Corridor of Time (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 156 - The Corridor of Time (XII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Humu & Kitty</i>

    It was Feng YuLan.

    Luo Jian stood in front of the alley with an umbre. He saw that person slowly walking into the alley. He was very short and was about seven or eight years old. He wore his school uniform and short length pants. He carried an interesting Mickey school bag. However, he was awkwardly walking forward. His foot seemed to be injured, and his body was slightly nted as he walked.

    Luo Jian¡¯s father and Ah Lan¡¯s parents were close friends. They met when they were very young and were ssmates in the first and second grades of elementary school. At that time, they were neighbors. However, Luo Jian was sent to the countryside by his parents to nurse him because he was ill. Later, when he was in junior high school, he returned to the city.

    Therefore, to be exact, it was only in junior high school that Luo Jian really got to know Feng YuLan. In elementary school, there was arge time gap before they reallymunicated. At that time, Feng YuLan was someone Luo Jian did not know.

    Was he often bullied when he was a child?

    Luo Jian held his umbre and approached the child, Feng YuLan. Little Ah Lan kept his head lowered. There were blue and purple marks around his mouth, arms, and legs. Luo Jian could tell that he had fought with others. This was hardly strange because Ah Lan had always been soft tempered and not as strong as other boys. Although he was very cheerful, there were still some people who felt that he didn¡¯t look pleasant to their eyes.

    When Ah Lan and Luo Jian were together, they often beat people who came to find trouble with them. Usually, Luo Jian was the one who was more talented in fighting, so he was the one who stood in front of Ah Lan to protect him. However, each of them had their strengths. For example, in academics, Ah Lan had always been more intelligent, and he remembered things very quickly. Even if he never studied anything before the exam, he just needed to cram everything in his head the night before the exam. This fool would then be able to get a high score.

    Thinking about it now, Luo Jian thought that the extraordinary ability to remember and learning ability of Ah Lan was also a kind of embodiment of spiritual power. After all, the power that the secret chamber felt was a reflection of Ah Lan¡¯s capabilities was magic.

    Oh right, Ah Lan seemed to somewhat have split personality disorder, but he did not know when it started.

    Luo Jian thought about problems like this. He held an umbre to keep up with little Ah Lan¡¯s footsteps and ran to his side. What made Luo Jian a little surprised was that he seemed to notice something and suddenly turned his head to look in Luo Jian¡¯s direction.

    When he was a child, Feng Yn¡¯s face was tender, pink, and plump, and his eyes were dark and bright. In all manners, he was very cute. However, his expression on his face was too stiff and rigid, which didn¡¯t look like an innocent child...... On the contrary, seeing Feng YuLan¡¯s expression, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but recall the expression of Owl in the punishment chamber.

    Although little Ah Lan seemed to be aware of Luo Jian¡¯s existence to a certain extent, he actually could not see anything. He looked around to the left and to the right. Seeing that there was no one around him, he continued to walk deeper into the alley. He could not see that there was a distinct living person trailing behind him.

    Little Ah Lan headed deeper into the alley. There was a small door in the innermost part of the alley. Inside, it was an empty abandoned room. The room was very small and narrow, and there was nothing in it. There were even some sundries from the former owner. On the ground, there was an old cotton wadding and an old bed sheet. There was a person lying on the simple ¡®bed¡¯.

    Little Ah Lan entered the room. The first thing he did was to close the door, and in the moment when he turned to close the door, Luo Jian crept into the room behind him. But Ah Lan did not notice. Instead, he nervously looked around the surrounding environment and saw that there was no one around the abandoned and dirty alley, so he closed the door firmly.

    Then the room darkened instantly.

    Little Ah Lan groped around in the room for a long time. There was no electric light in the abandoned house, so he directly lit the candlestick on the ground, and the light illuminated everything in the room.

    The room was left unattended to. It was estimated that this was the sundry room of a certain owner. It was specially used for stacking sundries, boxes, andrge bags. There were some tools, supplies and parts, but they were all covered with thick dust. No one had used it for a long time. There was also an old bicycle in the corner of the room, which was parked against the wall.

    The debris was cleared and stacked aside, and the empty space was covered with old cotton wadding and old sheets, and a temporary bed was set up. The person lying on the bed was covered with a nket, and the person curled up and put his head underneath the nket. Judging from the figure of the person, it seemed that he was not an adult, but a teenager.

    This was the first time Luo Jian hade across such a hidden ce. He had never heard Ah Lan mention it before. Come to think of it, Ah Lan also kept some secrets and he did not tell Luo Jian those secrets. However, although Luo Jian felt that it was not good for him to pry into the secrets of his good friend, he was unwilling to leave. He put his sight on little Ah Lan.

    Luo Jian felt that he had not seen his friend for a long time.

    Although he was able to see him using such mystical methods today, the other party couldn¡¯t know the existence of Luo Jian. He couldn¡¯tmunicate with him directly, couldn¡¯t shout out his name, and couldn¡¯t hug him.

    And he didn¡¯t know in which year and month their next meeting would be.

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help sighing. He looked at the movements of little Ah Lan. Ah Lan lit the candle and rummaged around in his school bag. He dug out a lot of things, such as water and some snacks as well as gauze and medicinal liquids.

    Little Ah Lan seemed to move in an orderly way. He took out a towel and wet it with water. Then he went to the man who was lying on the bed. He knelt at the edge of the cotton wadding and slightly lifted the nket covering the person. The person lying in the bed seemed to have noticed and had keen senses. He suddenly reached out, and in his hand was a shiny de.

    In that instant when the other party¡¯s knife swung forward, little Ah Lan was suddenly startled. Luo Jian took a step forward. He thought that the other party wanted to hurt Ah Lan, and he instinctively wanted to move into a protective position. However, before the action was taken, the man lying on the bed withdrew the de and sat up with much difficulty.

    He was a teenager, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with long ck hair...... His hair, which seemed to have not been cut and tidied for a long time, scattered in front of his forehead. His clothes were a little dirty and stained with blood. Luo Jian felt he looked like a vagabond.

    But even so, Luo Jian still recognized this young man...... It was Duan Li.

    Luo Jian could not help blinking. He realized that Duan Li and Ah Lan had known each other since a long time ago.

    But it seemed that after this, they once again encountered each other, but they drew their knives, pointed them at each other, and pretended that they didn¡¯t know each other. Luo Jian remembered that Duan Li had also chased after Ah Lan in an attempt to ughter him, which was why he didn¡¯t like Duan Li very much, but...... was that why?

    Little Ah Lan was not afraid that the boy in front of him would sheath his knife and stab him. He held his wet towel up, climbed up to Duan Li¡¯s body, and wiped the other party¡¯s cheek with a towel. Duan Li did not resist as he held the child¡¯s waist with one hand and let him hold a towel to wipe his face.

    Duan Li had not been disfigured at this time. After wiping his face clean, a handsome face was revealed. His hair was too long and too disorderly. Moreover, there was a bloody wound at the corner of his mouth, which seemed to have been cut by some sharp weapon. When he wiped Duan Li¡¯s face, little Ah Lan would be very considerate as he avoided the wound.

    ¡°I brought you water and snacks.¡± A smile finally appeared on Little Ah Lan¡¯s stiff face, slightly showing the naivety and innocence a child would have. He also rubbed against Duan Li¡¯s chest to show his dependency on him.

    Duan Li¡¯s attention was not on what he said. He touched the child¡¯s face and frowned: ¡°Did you fight with your ssmates again?¡±

    Little Ah Lan frowned unconsciously. Thinking of this, his small face was wrinkled into a ball. Ah Lan said, ¡°They scribbled on my exercise book and put glue on my chair. I told the teacher and they came to beat me up.¡±

    ¡°How useless.¡± Duan Li bad-temperedly pulled Ah Lan¡¯s face, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you beat them back?¡±

    ¡°There were too many of them. Alone, I can¡¯t beat them all, but it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Little Ah Lan showed a cunning smile, ¡°Anyway, what I told the teacher will pile up, plus the ss monitor will testify for me, the teacher will definitely call their parents individually, and they will be beaten by their parents when they return home.¡±

    Duan Li alsoughed and pinched Ah Lan¡¯s cheek. He whispered, ¡°You cunning boy.¡±

    ¡°Big brother, don¡¯t get into fights with others.¡± Ah Lan looked at Duan Li who was in a good mood and said: ¡°You bleed every time, and you don¡¯t want to go to legal hospitals. The ck-hearted clinic there must have charged a lot more money when you visit there every time.¡±

    Duan Li smiled and touched Ah Lan¡¯s head: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I, your big brother, have money.¡±

    Ah Lan saw that his persuasion failed, and he angrily puffed up his cheeks, ¡°All your money will be squandered away, seeing how fast you spend them.¡±

    Luo Jian stood quietly at the corner as he listened to their conversation. He carefully looked at Duan Li in front of him. The distance between them was still very small. Duan Li did not give him good vibes. Luo Jian knew that Duan Li had already entered the secret chamber because as a child of that age, he began to emit the smell of blood.

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He did not know whether it was good or bad for the two children to have a rtionship, but Luo Jian was powerless to stop anything because he found that the two children seemed to have known each other for a period of time. Little Ah Lan couldn¡¯t help but call out to his big brother and climb on his body.

    Duan Li also allowed him to do so. At this time, Luo Jian could not see the slightest hint of Duan Li¡¯s distorted personality in the future. Duan Li was so gentle now it was unlike him. The duo conversed for a while, and they seemingly became bored. The child dug out Gobang from his bag and began to have a match with Duan Li.

    ¡°Where did you get this Gobang?¡±

    ¡°It rained in P.E. ss so it was changed to chess ss. The sportsmittee members took many of these board games so I secretly took one as well.¡±

    ¡°How absurd!¡± Duan Li began to pull Ah Lan¡¯s face: ¡°This is stealing.¡±

    ¡°Not really. I indicated to the sportsmittee member that I will return it secretly next time.¡± Ah Lan shook the chess pieces out and turned the ck and white chess pieces on the ground over. The two people begin to pick up the chess pieces under the dim lighting of the candle.

    After that, the two began to childishly y Gobang and discussed certain not-so-marginal topics.

    Luo Jian, who was beside them, stayed silent in the dark corner with his umbre not leaving his hand and watched the two people ying chess by candlelight. This scene seemed a little far from Luo Jian. He felt that he and the duo were like people from two different worlds. No matter how much Luo Jian wanted to head over, he could not.

    However, Duan Li¡¯s casual statements suddenly attracted Luo Jian¡¯s attention. And when he talked about this topic, Luo Jian was even given a shock by him because he heard Duan Li say, ¡°I yed an interesting and terrifying game, you know, the one I told you before.¡±

    Little Ah Lan incessantly nodded: ¡°En, en, I know, you told me before.¡±

    Duan Li seemed to be struggling about whether he should or should not talk about these with Ah Lan. However, he thought that Ah Lan was still so small, and he couldn¡¯t remember much of what he said. Moreover, if he coincidentally intentionally divulged to someone, most of them couldn¡¯t understand it. Now, Duan Li couldn¡¯t wait to find someone to talk to.

    So Duan Li said: ¡°That terrifying game, it seems that a huge group is responsible for it. Ah Lan knows what the word group means?¡±

    ¡°A big family consisting of many, many people.¡± Ah Lan tilted his head to think about it, and answered Duan Li: ¡°The teacher said that our school is funded by some kind of group, so the school was established!¡±

    Duan Li rubbed Ah Lan¡¯s head with a smile: ¡°Almost, but this group is terrifying. There are many, many bad people in it. There are also some good people in it. They were caught by the group and forced to do certain things. I have encountered such a...... He was crazily seeking for help, hoping someone can help him.¡±

    ¡°Caught by bad people? Why can¡¯t we call the police uncles?¡± Little Ah Lan asked innocently.

    Duan Li¡¯s face darkened: ¡°Because even a police uncle is one of the members involved in this terrifying organization.¡±

    What Duan Li had said made Luo Jian feel anything but reassured.

    It seemed that there were some problems Luo Jian constantly did not perceive.

    T/N: Thank you ChrysAmans for your kofis ! Three bonus chapters will be published by this week.

 Chapter 157 - The Corridor of Time (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 157 - The Corridor of Time (XIII)</h4>

    Editor: Kitty & Humu

    Duan Li did not reveal too much to little Ah Lan. He just told the child, told little Ah Lan, that he was asked for help by a poor man in the group. However, Duan Li did not say who the poor man was and what kind of help he needed. Duan Li did not exin. When Little Ah Lan asked him again, Duan Li just gave a gentle smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to go home. It¡¯s getting dark.¡± Duan Li observed the change in time outside from the light through the crack of the sundry room¡¯s door. When the sky outside gradually became dark, Duan Li urged Ah Lan to go home.

    Ah Lan frowned and whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go home.¡±

    ¡°Your parents will worry about you.¡± Duan Li gently coaxed him and rubbed little Ah Lan¡¯s head with his hand. He even reached over and kissed him gently on his forehead. However, Ah Lan was still very unhappy. He stretched out his short ws to grab Duan Li¡¯s clothes and looked at Duan Li with pitiful and expectant eyes.

    ¡°Big brother, I¡¯m going to sleep with you tonight.¡±

    Duan Li seemed to be a little sad while he was rubbing little Ah Lan¡¯s head, but he seriously shook his head: ¡°No, you can¡¯t stay here. You have to leave. You have to go home.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go home...... My mom and dad are always quarrelling. Anyway, they won¡¯t care about me...¡± Ah Lan also showed his skill at acting cute. With his bright eyes, he rolled into Duan Li¡¯s arms. ¡°Big brother, big brother, I wanna sleep with you. I want to sleep with you.¡±

    Duan Li seemed to want to frighten him. He gloomily picked up little Ah Lan and pressed him in his arms. He lowered his head and moved face-to-face with Ah Lan. He put his hand on Ah Lan¡¯s stomach. Ah Lan was still very small, and his body was very small. He was also soft to touch, and his skin felt veryfortable.

    Duan Li said in a gloomy manner: ¡°Does Ah Lan really know what it means to sleep with me?¡±

    To his surprise, little Ah Lan was not afraid at all. He stretched out his lotus root-like little arm and hugged Duan Li¡¯s neck. Then he inched closer to Duan Li¡¯s lips and gave him a kiss like what a dragonfly would give someone on Duan Li¡¯s lips. He chuckled and said, ¡°Ah, yes, once I¡¯ve slept with my big brother, I¡¯ll be my big brother¡¯s man.¡±

    Duan Li was stunned for a moment. He stared at the little brat in his arms for a long time. After a while, he could not help holding onto the child tightly. He even rubbed his face into the child¡¯s embrace.

    ¡°This is what you said...¡± Duan Li talked to himself in a voice that almost only he could hear. He did not even know that his voice was choked. ¡°This is what you said. You can¡¯t go back on it.¡±

    But Luo Jian¡¯s hearing was very good. Even if he shrank in a corner, he still could not help raising his head when he heard Duan Li muttering to himself. He could not help but raise his head and look at Duan Li carefully. Although he was not disfigured, his personality was not distorted, and he is very gentle and mild, he seemed to be burdened by heavy things which were much heavier than what a child in his teens would carry.

    After that, Duan Li still sent out the child that was in his embrace. Although Ah Lan was not willing to, Duan Li still made him go home carrying his school bag on his back, crying. In order to make Ah Lan stop crying, Duan Li had to make a lot of promises such as waiting for him here tomorrow.

    Luo Jian stayed in the corner to observe the whole process, but he did not follow Ah Lan home. He decided to continue to stay in the dark sundry room to monitor Duan Li¡¯s actions because Luo Jian had always been very concerned about what Duan Li had said about that &#k2018;terrifying group.¡¯ He knew that as long as he stayed here and remained by Duan Li¡¯s side, he would be able to get the answer.

    However, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t stay too long in reality. He must travel through space-time once in a while, otherwise he would be rejected by the space-time¡¯s will. The result of the rejection would be Luo Jian being forcibly removed from the world.

    At most, he could only stay in this space-time for three days, and that was the limit.

    If the answer had not been found within three days, Luo Jian would have to contact Duan Li and make a mark on him so that he could continue to track this person after shuttling through space-time.

    Oh right, should I make a mark on the current Ah Lan now?

    As soon as he thought of this idea, Luo Jian shut it down. Ah Lan was still very young, and he was clearly not suitable for this. Luo Jian still remembered Ying told him not to casually affect the people in the past because Luo Jian¡¯s influence may easily make the secret chamber pay attention to them. Now, as a GM, wherever Luo Jian went, he would inevitably leave some traces.

    The secret chamber would track Luo Jian down ording to the traces left by him to grasp Luo Jian¡¯s actions.

    However, although this made him easily traceable, Luo Jian could also use this to mislead the secret chamber¡¯s judgement. When he left countless identical traces in different space-times, some in different ces and even some in unrted ces, he was afraid even the secret chamber could not correctly judge Luo Jian¡¯s actions.

    Having figured out this point, Luo Jian was not in a hurry. He stayed in ce quietly and looked at Duan Li silently.

    Duan Li seemed to have been injured. After he watched Ah Lan leave, he took the bandage that Ah Lan had prepared for him, lifted the nket covering him, took off his coat, and exposed his abdomen, which was wrapped with thick circles of bandages. The white bandage had been stained with a little blood, and it was obvious that his wound had reopened.

    It was an abdominal wound.

    Luo Jian frowned. He remembered that Duan Li had just allowed Ah Lan to crawl on him andughed with him. He did not frown at all and did not let Ah Lan know that he was seriously injured. How strong of a will would it take for him to do that?

    Luo Jian nced at Duan Li tending to his own wounds as he changed the bandage and the dressing. The wound was a knife cut on his abdomen that was not deep, but it absolutely hurt enough for him to drink a jug of wine. The wound had been stitched, and the ugly stitches forcibly upied Duan Li¡¯s strong abdomen. One could see that not long after, it would leave a ferocious scar.

    But how exactly did he get the wound?

    Maybe I can get the answer directly from his mouth. Just as Luo Jian thought of that, he blinked as he started to approach Duan Li, carrying his umbre. But unexpectedly, Duan Li seemed to have noticed Luo Jian¡¯s existence. He suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction of Luo Jian.

    He was very keen, more alert than most people. He had never taken his eyes away from him but merely looked in the direction of Luo Jian. It was not that he saw Luo Jian. In fact, he did not see anything, but he still felt the existence of someone. Someone was here in this narrow, dirty, and dark sundry room.

    Luo Jian saw that Duan Li started to get nervous. He arched his back, curved his body, and felt for the knife that he used for self-protection beneath the pillow. It was an ordinary fruit knife. And Luo Jian also noticed Duan Li¡¯s weapon, the tang sword, was leaning on the pile of dusty debris.

    ¡°Who? Who¡¯s here?¡± Duan Li stood up. It was not known whether he did it intentionally or not, but he backed away and leaned towards his weapon. His upper body was naked, and he was only wearing a pair of grey shorts, but his eyes were as sharp as a wolf cub¡¯s. Luo Jian also intended to test him, so he did notpletely suppress his breathing to allow Duan Li to find him.

    ¡°I just want to ask you something.¡± Luo Jian did not fully reveal his body, but he spoke out, and he knew Duan Li could definitely hear his voice.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Duan Li was still young after all, and he did not conduct himself in the mature and steady manner that Luo Jian would see in the future. He looked a little frightened. He asked, ¡°Where are you?¡±

    Duan Li could not see anything. In the dark sundry room, no one seemed to be there except him, but Duan Li did hear a strange voice, which seemed toe from somewhere in the dark, sounding rather gloomy and faint.

    Luo Jian spun his red umbre. He lowered his voice and threatened: ¡°The child who went out just now is called Feng YuLan, right?¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s tone showed that he got even more frightened: ¡°What do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°All you have to do is answer my questions. That way, I won¡¯t do anything,¡± Luo Jian sighed slightly. Sometimes when he wanted to get the information he wanted as soon as possible, nothing was more simple and violent than using threats.

    Duan Li was not willing to remain idle. He realized that the man who came for him was much stronger than he imagined. Duan Li could not even see the enemy¡¯s figure, and he could only hear his voice and feel a trace of his breath, but that may have been because the enemy wished to reveal that to him.

    Such an enemy was too powerful. Now, nothing would help, no matter what he did. Duan Li ced his knife down and replied, ¡°What do you want to ask?¡±

    ¡°I want to know what you just said about the group,¡± Luo Jian said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ve been here listening to you all this time.¡±

    ¡°Always?¡± Duan Li was surprised; he did not notice at all.

    ¡°When Ah Lan came in, I followed after.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell you everything I know. I¡¯ll say it...... as long as you don¡¯t hurt him. Don¡¯t hurt the child.¡± Duan Li¡¯s tone slightly trembled. Luo Jian suddenly realized that the man who had always been very powerful in his impression was afraid. He was actually afraid. However, Luo Jian unexpectedly felt that he seemed to have used the wrong method against him.

    Luo Jian had always regarded Duan Li as a powerful man in his opinion, the unruly teammate, unfamiliar but a team member that he trusted. Luo Jian had always disliked this man and he had a subjective rejection and aversion to Duan Li, which was why he kept his guard up against him. However, Luo Jian forgot that Duan Li was just a teenage boy who was inexperienced.

    And he actually went to threaten a child.

    Luo Jian rubbed his temples, feeling his head aching. He mockinglyughed at himself. He softened his tone and tried to cate Duan Li. He said in a soft voice, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. I won¡¯t hurt anyone. I just want to get some information from you.¡±

    ¡°You mean regarding the group?¡± Duan Li could not put down his guard. He kept retreating until he found his tang sword. When the weapon was in his hand, he felt a little relieved. Luo Jian did not stop him and continued to ask:

    ¡°I know you¡¯ve been through that mystifying and terrifying game, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    Duan Li looked around: ¡°Yes, I am a yer. You are too?¡±

    ¡°In a sense, I used to be.¡± Luo Jian added: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the group you¡¯re talking about?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Duan Li seemed to be a little surprised and said: ¡°I think all the yers in the secret chamber should know.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    In fact, Luo Jian was not a senior yer. He had not experienced many secret chamber escapes. Moreover, it seemed that due to the secret machinations of the secret chamber, the difficulty of the secret chambers he had experienced was so great that Luo Jian was very tired and needed to spend most of his efforts on escaping from the secret chamber. He had no time to think about other things. However, it seemed that he could not advance and learn like ordinary yers did¡ªlearn, improve, and progress.

    But it was also because of this that Luo Jian realized that he seemed to have overlooked a lot of things.

    T/N: Duan Li was an innocent and adorable child. qaq

 Chapter 158 - The Corridor of Time (XIV)

    <h4>Chapter 158 - The Corridor of Time (XIV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Humu & Kitty</i>

    ording to the senior yers in the secret chamber, after they entered the secret chamber and passed the newbie¡¯s challenge, they would have a newbie guide to guide them and help them progress in their next game. Most of the newbie guides were senior yers, so some people couldn¡¯t help but think...... Who guided the first batch of yers that entered the secret chambers?

    But in fact, no one paid attention to this issue because whether it was new yers or senior yers, their focus would always be on how to survive in the secret chambers. They would pay attention to the props, clues, and plots in the secret chamber, and never considered other things.

    Then, with the passage of time, yers gradually formed such a system.

    Because the secret chamber would only recruit a fixed number of ordinary people in a city and invite them to join the secret chamber, the number of yers in each city was basically fixed at only about 10 to 30 yers, and this number would fluctuate up and down. Whenever a poor yer died in the chamber permanently, the secret chamber would take the initiative to choose an ordinary person to be a new yer in the city to fill the yer¡¯s position.

    Because the yers in each city were fixed, the yers in each city had gradually formed such a system. They gathered amongst themselves, discussed, formed teams and shared experiences. Thereafter, they connected with other cities to form awork of their own.

    Unknowingly, arge number of yers in various countries and even the world had be an established power, although because of the limitations of the secret chamber, these yers were generally severely limited in reality. Some of them couldn¡¯t even use one percent of the power they possessed in the secret chamber. Moreover, they couldn¡¯t spread any information about the secret chamber. However, their abnormal actions andnguage would draw close attention from all sides and forces.

    There was no airtight in the world. What was more, although the secret chamber¡¯s will restricted yers from disclosing information, there was no strict punishment for yers who did it. Therefore, information about the infinite secret chambers spread in this manner, and every nations¡¯ higher-ups must have obtained relevant intelligence about it, but because they did not want to cause panic among the masses, the information had been blocked by relevant departments.

    The machine named ¡®world¡¯ repeated day after day in the passage of time. It was as if people were just living in a dream. They were not willing to face the reality. However, no one could underestimate the threat and risk caused by it.

    After that, it was not known when, but amongst the yers, such intelligence spread among them. It was not known who released the information or who the source of the information was referring to. They just said¡ªthere was a terrifying group in the city ofwlessness.

    ¡°Where is the city ofwlessness?¡± When Luo Jian heard this, he could not help asking Duan Li. Duan Li was squatting in the corner with his tang sword. He stroked the de with his fingers. Hearing Luo Jian¡¯s question, the young man raised his head slightly. He looked in Luo Jian¡¯s direction. He felt that Luo Jian was there, but he could not see him.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a city. Lawlessness seems to be the nickname of this city. It means that there is now in this city...... Rather, there are no rules there.¡±

    Luo Jian didn¡¯t understand it, ¡°There is a city without...... rules?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this city is the center of that group. The intelligence I have gotten is that the whole city is under the control of that group. There are no moralws and no rules there, so it is known as &#k2018;the city ofwlessness.&tjfy;¡±

    When Duan Li said that, Luo Jian already thought a lot more things. He unconsciously turned the handle of his red umbre with his hand. He thought of the studio that Ying once spoke about.

    In order to establish the secret chamber¡¯s system and obtain arge amount of funds, though he had intended to set up theboratory in a big city, Ying did not do so. At that time, they seemed to be targeted by a certain force. Because Ying made a lot of profits from the superior technology brought about by the core of the reincarnation system, it inevitably attracted the attention of several groups of people who had other motives.

    In order to avoid these groups tracking them down and for Ying¡¯s group to establish their transmigration system, Ying changed the location of his studio to the edge of a remote city close to the sea. In that city, it was spring all year round. It had good transportation facilities and good information connectivity. The city could be regarded as a rtively prosperous area.

    But thinking about it now, after entering the secret chamber, Ying was trapped in the Asura Realm, and the ¡®lock¡¯ of the chamber was still left in the studio. ording to Ying, the secret chamber could hide its core, that was, the core of the reincarnation system in the secret chamber created by itself, but it couldn¡¯t hide that lock.

    The core of the reincarnation system was a cube whichcked a corner, and the missing corner was the ¡®lock.¡¯

    The ¡®lock¡¯ was a small object simr to a regr triangle. It had a mysterious golden inscription on its surface. The secret chamber couldn¡¯t put this gadget in the secret chamber that it created to hide it, but it would never leave the lock in the studio, so the secret chamber would take some measures.

    This lock was the shackle that the human beings in the future put on the secret chamber, no, the transmigration system. It had a self-destruction mechanism. When it was destroyed, the core of the transmigration system would be destroyed.

    It couldn¡¯t be affected by any external variables, especially towards the transmigration system¡¯s power, which made it impossible for the system to take action in any case. However, it really had wanted to hide the lock inside a secret chamber created by itself.

    Therefore, the secret chamber would certainly try to do something in reality to protect its ¡®heart.¡¯ And although the secret chamber¡¯s will could control the yers in the secret chamber wantonly, it couldn¡¯t interfere that much with reality. It was obviously not ready to expose its existence to the eyes of all mankind.

    But Duan Li¡¯s ¡®city ofwlessness¡¯ also gave Luo Jian some ideas.

    A city with no rules to speak of, a citypletely controlled by a mysterious group, and the information of this city was initially leaked among yers. Would this be a trap deliberately set by the secret chamber for Luo Jian or the key to Luo Jian¡¯s breakthrough?

    But in any case, he could not give up such intelligence of obvious value.

    He continued to ask Duan Li, trying to dig out more information from Duan Li¡¯s mouth, ¡°Do you really not know where the ¡®city ofwlessness¡¯ is?¡±

    Duan Li shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I know of the existence of this city because I heard it from many others, but no one has been there. But it¡¯s not known who the intelligence came from as well.¡±

    ¡°So what you said previously, regarding the group within the city ofwlessness¡ªsomeone in it had asked for help¡ªis that true or false?¡±

    Duan Li thought for a moment, as if he thought of something he was troubled about. He frowned and his voice was somber. ¡°To be exact, it¡¯s not that someone asked me for help, but I¡¯m asking for help from others...¡±

    Luo Jian was slightly surprised. He smoothed the tone of his voice and gently asked, ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±

    ¡°yers in the secret chamber will only pay attention to the happenings in the secret chamber. Even if ordinary yers have heard the intelligence about the city ofwlessness, they would merely listen to it. For them, the safety of a possible city in reality is far less important than their survivability in the secret chamber.¡±

    Luo Jian narrowed his eyes: ¡°But why do you pay so much attention to this ¡®city ofwlessness¡¯?¡±

    In the dim candlelight, Duan Li¡¯s expression seemed a little miserable. His face lost any redness, and he replied to Luo Jian: ¡°Because I found that I had unconsciously be a member of the group in the city ofwlessness.¡±

    Luo Jian was a little confused. He said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you haven¡¯t been in the city ofwlessness?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I haven¡¯t been there, but I didn¡¯t realize it was the city ofwlessness when I went there.¡± Duan Li paused for a moment and replied to Luo Jian, ¡°After I thought about it, I realized that where I went was not normal. After that, I thought about going there again, but I couldn¡¯t find the entrance to the city again.¡±

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t quite understand what you said.¡± In the narrow and cramped sundry room, Luo Jian wandered slowly. He said: ¡°A city may exist or possibly not exist. You have been to the inner areas of the city, but you didn¡¯t realize that you were in the city...... Did this city look like any other city on the surface?¡±

    Duan Li said: ¡°There is no difference. The city looks very ordinary. There are peopleing and going in this city. People get up early to work. They work, eat, and sleep. There is not much of a difference.¡±

    ¡°Then how did you perceive that something was wrong?¡±

    Duan Li recalled, ¡°There are several reasons. First, I remember that I was in a certain room, trying to escape from a secret chamber. It was a secret chamber with many doors. The back of the door led to different ces. It was like a maze. Only by constantly opening the right door, could I escape smoothly. But I may have opened the wrong door...... Behind the door were spacious roads, streets, people, and vehicles.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that I had opened the wrong door. I even thought that I had managed to escape from the secret chamber and return to reality. However, every time I returned to reality, I should wake up in bed, and it was only this time when I went through the door and entered a strange city.

    ¡°There seemed to be no difference from an ordinary city. There were people walking around the streets, big roads, and alleys. But at that time, what surprised me was that the city was very quiet. Although there was the sound of vehicles, the sound of people walking, and music being yed from the radio, I didn¡¯t hear anyone talking to each other. In my impression, the people there were tending to what they were doing expressionlessly...... They were even repeatedly doing what they had done.

    ¡°They maymunicate with each other, but what they said were the same. It was as if they could only say the same things and do the same things.¡±

    When Luo Jian heard this, he could not help but cut in and said, ¡°Could it be that they would repeat the same thing that they did every day?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. They repeatedly do the same thing they did everyday.¡±

    Duan Li shook his head again, ¡°But I didn¡¯t feel anything wrong at that time. I just wandered aimlessly in the city. At that time, I needed shelter. I went to look for ces like hotels. I talked to those people, but they ignored me.

    ¡°They really ignored me. Even if I stood in front of them, their eyes would only look beyond me to other ces instead of looking at me. They would not respond to my voice. Even if I reached out to them to stop them, they would just bypass me and head to the ces they intended to head to.

    ¡°People in that city ignored me, as if I was someone transparent.¡±

    After Luo Jian heard Duan Li¡¯s words, he shook his umbre in his hand. Of course, he knew this feeling. He knew how it felt to be ignored by everyone. Because the current Luo Jian was experiencing such a thing.

    Duan Li said with a wry smile: ¡°In fact, it was a sort of novel experience. At that time, I only thought it was interesting, but I didn¡¯t think too much about it. So I just wandered around the city. I climbed the high-rise buildings and crossed bridges. I went to the center of the city, where there was a church.¡±

 Chapter 159 - The Corridor of Time (XV)

    <h4>Chapter 159 - The Corridor of Time (XV)</h4>

    Thank you so much, ChrysAmans for your kofis ¨CBonus Chapter (1/3)

    <i>Editor: Kitty & Humu</i>

    ¡°What¡¯s in the church?¡± Luo Jian asked Duan Li curiously.

    Duan Li shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t remember. I vaguely feel that there was arge, empty room, and there seemed to be a big statue in it. I can¡¯t remember the rest. When I came to my senses, I was already outside the church. I didn¡¯t go inside the church again but went out. This time, something horrible happened.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°They surrounded me.¡±

    ¡°They? Who are they?¡±

    Duan Li recalled with much difficulty: ¡°Those people, the people on the street, the people in their houses, those who ignored my existence, suddenly collectively sensed my existence. Every time I went anywhere, they would approach me. They held all kinds of weapons: stic cans they picked from the floor, steel pipes or knives, even garbage...... They threw these things at me, and they chased after me.¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s words made Luo Jian feel a trace of suspicion. In Duan Li¡¯s description, people in that strange city seemed to be controlled by something. They repeated the things that they did the day before every day and repeated something or many other things they did every day, just like...... they were stuck in a cycle.

    Yes, a cycle that continuously repeated itself. This made it so that Luo Jian could not help but recall what happened in the punishment chamber. All the plots and tricks in the chamber were strung in a circle. It also put yers into such a loop. It allowed yers to circle around this terrifying loop, this never-ending loop.

    As a result, yers were trapped in the ¡®loop¡¯ as if they werepletely isted from the outside world. They could not go out of or avoid the circle. They were shackled and trapped by the secret chamber. They were unable to get rid of the shackles all their lives. Their souls were constantly and endlessly moving forward in the cycle of reincarnation regardless of whether they felt pain or happiness.

    Duan Li was still narrating his experience. He said: ¡°Those people are ordinary people.¡±

    ¡°Ordinary people?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I realized that when I tried to attack them with my weapons, the ordinary people who surrounded me had no fighting power and could easily be knocked down, so I did not choose to continue fighting with these people because it was meaningless. They were just living corpses.¡±

    Duan Li said, ¡°But these people were everywhere. They would follow me wherever I went. When I was surrounded by these people, they would start talking to me.¡±

    ¡°What did they say?¡±

    ¡°&#k2018;You can¡¯t be here.&tjfy;¡± When Duan Li said this, he pulled out a strange smile and said, ¡°Those people spoke these words, a single word at a time. They were all expressionless. Some of them said &#k2018;you¡¯ while some people said &#k2018;can¡¯t be¡¯ and others spoke the &#k2018;here¡¯ out loud. With that, theypleted the sentence&#k2014;you can¡¯t be here.

    ¡°They repeated this sentence countless times, and I fled in a fluster. I didn¡¯t know where I should go, but I had a strange feeling at that time. It was like a premonition. If I continued to stay in this strange city, I would be one of those people, and I would repeat these meaningless things like them, like a puppet permanently strung up.¡±

    The expression in Duan Li¡¯s eyes appeared frightening. He had been staring at Luo Jian¡¯s direction all this time. Even though he could not see him at all, he seemed to have realized that Luo Jian was standing there, facing him, at a distance that was neither too far from nor too near him.

    ¡°I ran around everywhere until I got to where I was, the door where I first entered the city. I returned to the door, and when they started to crazily surge up to surround me, I opened the door and returned. And then I went back to the original secret chamber with countless doors.¡±

    Duan Li¡¯s expression seemed confused. He said, ¡°That was a very strange experience because it was not until I returned to the secret chamber that I found that I had not really escaped from the secret chamber. I had opened the wrong door and had entered the ¡®city ofwlessness.¡¯ However, it is still unknown why I could coincidentally open the door and enter the city.¡±

    After listening to Duan Li¡¯s experience, Luo Jian felt that there were some parts of the story that he took to heart. He could not help asking Duan Li, ¡°Did you find out that the city you went to was the city ofwlessness afterwards?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I heard the rumors about the city ofwlessness, and I suddenly felt that the city I had been to might have something to do with the city,¡± Duan Li said.

    ¡°Why, then, did you tell me that you are still asking for help? Now that you¡¯ve managed to escape from this strange city, why ask for help?¡± Luo Jian stated.

    Duan Li shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯tpletely leave the city. I feel that part of me was left there.¡±

    Luo Jian felt that he did not understand: ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    Duan Li insistently shook his head. He suddenly became like a lunatic and became emotional. He stood up and grabbed his weapon, the tang sword! He drew his sword out of the scabbard, and the bright de was exposed to the air. His de was moving very fast and could cut anything. Luo Jian had seen the strength of this man, and he knew Duan Li would be very powerful even though that was something of the future.

    Now, Duan Li was still very naive. He could not hide his restlessness and anger. He said to Luo Jian, ¡°You can¡¯t understand my feelings, can you?! As long as you have been to that city, you will understand! That horrifying ce, I feel that the city seems to be taking my soul away, and some part of my body was left there! They are aware of my existence! That group! They want to catch me and put me back there!¡±

    ¡°Calm down, Duan Li.¡± Luo Jian felt Duan Li¡¯s lunacy. He approached Duan Li and lowered his tone in an attempt to make himself sound gentle. Luo Jian knew that this was very effective. His red umbre and hypnotic abilities would cause Luo Jian to magically be able to pacify others. He had tried this repeatedly in the Asura Realm.

    Duan Li calmed down within moments, but he still held his de up. He said to Luo Jian, ¡°Don¡¯t get close to me again!¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s tone was gentle, just like earlier: ¡°Of course. I won¡¯t get close to you, and I won¡¯t hurt you,¡±

    Luo Jian emphasized: ¡°I just want to help you.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t help me!¡± Duan Li¡¯s hands were shaking. Luo Jian did not understand the sudden outburst of anger and uneasiness, but he could understand his feelings of loneliness. He knew how Duan Li felt. He was alone and no one could help him. He would only have himself to depend on in everything that happened to him, and all this would crush this young man. He was far less mature than Luo Jian imagined¡ªat least, the current Duan Li was not mature enough now.

    ¡°I can absolutely help you.¡± Luo Jian used a positive tone. His self-confidence would bring forth simr feelings in Duan Li. Thus, Duan Li would feel his strength, and that would make Duan Li believe him.

    Duan Li still shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. I can¡¯t even see what you look like. For a person like you who doesn¡¯t even want to expose his true appearance to others, how can I believe in such a person like you?!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to know what I look like, Duan Li,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°Although it¡¯s easy for me to make you forget.¡±

    Luo Jian could not help sighing, but he finally shook his red umbre. He removed his disguise and exposed himself in this small sundry room so that the teenager opposite to him could see him.

    Duan Li was surprised when he saw Luo Jian. He said in astonishment: ¡°Is this really your true appearance? Are you sure you didn¡¯t use any props to disguise yourself?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. If I were to disguise myself, I would just make it so that you wouldn¡¯t be able to see me, like what happened just now.¡± Luo Jian was still shaking his umbre.

    ¡°But you are still a child.¡± Duan Li could not believe it. He looked at the child in front of him. He was a ten-year-old boy dressed in grey clothes. He held a red umbre bigger than himself. He was so thin that it seemed he would copse as soon as the wind blew. But someone of this age...... made Duan Li recall Ah Lan.

    ¡°Do I sound like a child?¡± Luo Jian asked Duan Li.

    Duan Li shook his head: ¡°Not at all.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t think of me as a child. You can think of me as an adult much older than you, even if I appear like this,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t really like this look myself.¡±

    ¡°Can you really help me?¡± Duan Li was still harboring doubts inwardly, ¡°How would you benefit from it if you help me? Maybe such a way of thinking is not really good, but I feel that any action a human would make...... is purely driven by interests.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I am willing to do so because I have some purpose.¡± Luo Jian blinked as he stated: ¡°I want to go to the city ofwlessness once.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing good in that ce. There will only be people staring at you.¡±

    Luo Jian asked something he was concerned about: ¡°Is the person who is after you the so-called group?¡±

    Duan Li also indicated that he did not quite understand, ¡°The intelligence I received is limited, but in my opinion, everyone in the city should be members of the group or...... is a member controlled by the group.¡±

    ¡°After that, I investigated a lot of information about the city, and I finally found interesting information.¡± Duan Li went on to say, ¡°I found that the city ofwlessness was actually a city that existed in reality. But this city disappeared from the eyes of people around the world. Even if such arge city disappeared, it did not attract most people¡¯s attention. Nations and people did not realize that a city had lost contact with them, and no one noticed it either.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    Duan Li said: ¡°Although ordinary people would not notice the disappearance of a city, some yers have noticed it. Some people wanted to look for the city, but they couldn¡¯t find a way to enter the city. The city seems to bepletely isted by some invisible force. It clearly exists in this world, but it seems to be isted in another dimension.¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly understood that the only power in the world that could make a whole city disappear was something the secret chamber possessed. In other words, it was the secret chamber that made the city disappear and turned the city into the ¡®city ofwlessness¡¯ as dubbed in the rumor spread by yers. However, why did the secret chamber need to do this?

    In fact, the answer was very simple.

    The reason why the secret chamber made the whole city disappear was because of a certain thing that existed within the city. The secret chamber wanted to hide something in the city. One was afraid that what the secret chamber wanted to hide at such a high price could not be more obvious.

    The heart of the secret chamber was the ¡®lock.¡¯ It could not be hidden in spaces created by the chamber itself. The chamber could only leave the lock in reality, but it would never be at ease. Therefore, the secret chamber would find a way to ensure the safety of its heart.

    The city ofwlessness was that safe ce. The secret chamber had eliminated the whole city from the world map and eliminated the memory of the entire city from all human beings. Everyone had forgotten the existence of this city. Then the secret chamber may have yed some tricks. It had set up a ce simr to a border or put up a prohibition spell. This thing had surrounded the whole city ofwlessness. Although the city still remained in reality, there was no way or path to enter the city in reality.

    As for the people in the city ofwlessness, they were all turned into puppets or something like puppets by the secret chamber. These people existed only to protect the heart of the chamber. Obviously, this was something that the secret chamber was proficient in doing. After all, the secret chamber had turned countless yers into various monsters, stalkers, NPCs, and other strange things.

    In front of Luo Jian now, Duan Li was probably one of the unfortunate people involved in this incident. Although it was not known how Duan Li did it, Duan Li obviously entered the city ¡®by chance.¡¯ He had hit the probability of 1/1,000 or even 1/10,000, and he miraculously entered the mysterious ¡®city ofwlessness¡¯ through a certain door.

    But Duan Li¡¯s misfortune caused the secret chamber to take notice of Duan Li¡¯s existence. Luo Jian could already foresee what kind of means the secret chamber would use to torture the poor boy.

    ¡°What happened to you after you exited from the city ofwlessness?¡±

    Duan Li heard Luo Jian¡¯s question, so he suddenly showed his abdominal wound to Luo Jian. He said, ¡°This is a cut I coincidentally got when I was walking on the streets. It was inexplicably done by a passerby on the streets.¡±

    ¡°Passerby?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it was just a passerby. She was an ordinarydy who was strolling around the streets with her friends. She snatched a knife from the butcher next to her and swung the knife towards me. What¡¯s amazing is that even if this woman cut me in public, no one noticed. No one called the police; no one looked at us. The owner of the stall with the knife snatched away did not even change his expression. It was as if something like this happening in the streets was normal.¡±

    Luo Jian, who heard what he said, frowned and touched his chin. The secret chamber unexpectedly could also use such despicable means? He thought Duan Li was likely to be killed by the secret chamber¡¯s will because the secret chamber would raise the difficulty of his secret chambers instead.

    ¡°Don¡¯t doubt it.¡± Duan Li seemed to see through Luo Jian¡¯s doubts. He continued: ¡°This kind of thing happens almost every day. Whenever and wherever I appear, someone will chop me with a knife. It¡¯s almost impossible to prevent this...... but I don¡¯t think these people really want to kill me because they would tell me something.¡±

    ¡°What did they say?¡±

    ¡°It was that sentence again......¡± Duan Li sneered: ¡°You can¡¯t be here.¡±

 Chapter 160 - The Corridor of Time (XVI)

    <h4>Chapter 160 - The Corridor of Time (XVI)</h4>

    Thank you so much, ChrysAmans for your kofis ¨CBonus Chapter (2/3)

    <i>Editor: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Duan Li thought that those people might be sending a message to him. They meant to tell Duan Li: You can¡¯t stay in reality, that is, you can¡¯t be here.

    Duan Li thought that those people wanted to bring him back to the city ofwlessness because the city ofwlessness was a city that someone could go into but couldn¡¯t get out of. Since Duan Li had been in the city, he couldn¡¯t get out of the city. He must continue to stay in the city and be one of its walking dead.

    However, Luo Jian had a different perspective.

    He felt that since the secret chamber wanted to build a fortress using the city ofwlessness to protect its heart, some armed forces were needed in the fortress, and these strong and powerful forces would be sharp weapons to protect the heart. But ordinary people obviously couldn¡¯t be good weapons, so the secret chamber would find or set its hand on yers.

    Now Duan Li was the yer who the secret chamber had ¡®set its hand on.¡¯

    Although Duan Li was quite different from how Luo Jian saw him in the future, the present Duan Li was not strong and mature enough. However, Duan Li still had good qualifications. With cultivation and training, Duan Li could certainly be transformed into a powerful watchdog.

    After all, the secret chamber had turned countless yers into all sorts of weird things like monsters, stalkers, even NPCs, or some things even more bizarre.

    The secret chamber clearly had such power.

    But what Luo Jian was worried about now was whether this was a trap specially set by the secret chamber for him?

    However, after careful consideration, Luo Jian knew it was impossible.

    First, the secret chamber did not know that Luo Jian was ¡®Luo Jian¡¯ because he had changed his body and even his weapons had changed. In addition, Ying had dealt with him specially. Therefore, the secret chamberpletely would not be able to tell the past ¡®Luo Jian¡¯ was the present Luo Jian. At most, the secret chamber only thought that Luo Jian was a special GM.

    When Ying designed the game, he did not design too many GMs in the secret chamber; only the GM ¡®Abyss¡¯ was designed. The body of the GM ¡®Abyss¡¯ had always been in a state of deep sleep. Now when the body suddenly awakened, this would naturally attract the attention of the chamber.

    Although a GM had the highest authority so that the secret chamber couldn¡¯t do anything excessive to Luo Jian, it could still monitor, track, and record the GM¡¯s actions. These were all things the secret chamber would be able to do autonomously.

    If Luo Jian kept trying to hide and avoid the chamber, dodge the secret chamber¡¯s monitoring, and attempt to reduce his sense of existence, on the contrary, the secret chamber would pay more and more attention to him. This was because sneaky fellows would cause people to pay more attention to them.

    However, as long as Luo Jian went out and had a face-to-face conversation with the secret chamber and willingly exposed himself to the secret chamber¡¯s line of sight, he would be able to do much more. The secret chamber would lower its vignce against Luo Jian. He could let the secret chamber belittle, ignore, and underestimate him.

    This way, there would be more opportunities for Luo Jian to act.

    So what should the next step in his n be?

    Luo Jian thought as his eyes rested on Duan Li in front of him. Duan Li instinctively stared at the little boy in front of him. The boy¡¯s expression was really not like what a child would have. His expression appeared too gloomy, and it even made others feel that he had gone through many vicissitudes in life. His body was shrouded with the scent of blood. When he was quiet and silent, the boy exuded an especially strong, frightening, and hair-raising aura.

    Apart from the child in front of him, Duan Li had only felt the same aura in one person, that type of strong, terrifying aura. When he stood in front of you, it was akin to hundreds and thousands of soldiers with proper gear charging towards you...... that sort of feeling.

    Unfortunately, that man was already dead.

    ¡°Can you do me a favor?¡± At this time, the meditative Luo Jian looked up at Duan Li with a smile, which dispelled his gloomy breath. He said, ¡°I really want to go into the city ofwlessness. Can you take me there?¡±

    Duan Li shook his head helplessly: ¡°I can¡¯t do it. I don¡¯t know where the entrance of that city is. It has beenpletely erased from the map. I know nothing of where the entrance and exit of the city are. We can¡¯t run around like headless flies, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. We can let others take us,¡± Luo Jian said.

    ¡°Since those people want to take you back to that city that adamantly, it¡¯s better for you to be taken away by them.¡±

    Duan Li was reluctant. In his impression, every corner of the city seemed to be ying a ck-and-white puppet film. Duan Li did not want to be in that ce ever again in his life. He said, ¡°This is not a good idea. Do you think I will be able to return?¡±

    Luo Jian opened his mouth to reassure him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be with you. Even if we can¡¯te back, it¡¯s both of us that can¡¯te back.¡±

    ¡°Will you threaten me if I don¡¯t agree?¡± Duan Li said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me do that, Duan Li.¡± Luo Jian¡¯s tone turned gentle. ¡°You have to learn to make the right choice.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand. You¡¯re merely making what you consider the right choice for you.¡±

    Although Duan Li was reluctant, he still obediently followed Luo Jian¡¯smand under his coercion and convincing. However, before implementing their n, Duan Li proposed that he must first go to see little Ah Lan. This was his farewell to Ah Lan.

    ¡°Do you like the child very much?¡± When Luo Jian thought of their strange rtionship in the future, it seemed to him that the rtionship between them was too tangled up to unravel. But simrly, the rtionship they had between them seemed to be devoid of feelings and entanglements. This was especially so because Luo Jian had always thought Duan Li was bullying Feng YuLan.

    Duan Li hesitated for a moment. He warily nced at Luo Jian and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t like him, but just because he helped me, I have to repay him.¡±

    ¡°But you were clearly worried about him just now, when I said that I wished to use the child as a bargaining chip.¡± Luo Jian smiled strangely.

    Duan Li did not speak and did not look at Luo Jian. Instead, he turned his head in silence.

    After Duan Li dealt with his wound, he clumsily began to change the bandage for his abdominal wound. Maybe he was injured often, so he would still know how to tie it. But the bandage was tied messily, and it seemed that he was not afraid of pain. The strength he used was great, so his wound soon began to ooze blood.

    ¡°It¡¯s a miracle that you¡¯ve lived to this day.¡±

    Luo Jian was rather experienced in his medical treatment techniques because he learned these from his mother. So, he took the initiative to wrap the bandage for Duan Li and said to him, ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±

    Duan Li obediently remained still and allowed Luo Jian to circle the bandages around his wound.

    After changing the bandage, Luo Jian said, ¡°When shall we start?¡±

    Duan Li thought: ¡°It¡¯s toote tonight. If you¡¯re not in a hurry, we can continue our n tomorrow.¡±

    After discussing the n, in order to nurse his wounds, Duan Li continued to climb back to the simple bed made of cotton wadded sheets in the sundry room to recuperate. Naturally, Luo Jian would not sleep with him. Because he made a mark on Duan Li¡¯s body when he changed the bandage for Duan Li previously, Luo Jian was not afraid to lose track of him, so while it was still early, Luo Jian decided to head out to visit someone.

    Luo Jian felt that he had not been strolling in the modern city at night for a long time.

    He had experienced a lot of battles. His body, soul, and even the depths of his consciousness seemed to be muddled with countless battle experiences. For the present Luo Jian, the memories that had the most impression on him were the days he spent in the Crimson Asura Realm. He stayed there for a long time and killed many enemies with his knife. Up to now, Luo Jian¡¯s fingers could still recall the touch and the feeling when his de cut into delicate skin.

    Luo Jian stood on the street in a trance. He opened his red umbre and let his sense of existence disappear from the world. He tried to make himself recall some better memories, his past memories and hispanions. This was the reason he was working towards his goals. He could neither forget these goals, nor forget his original purpose because of his lust for killing and blood.

    ¡°Damn it, how terrible.¡±

    Luo Jian stopped walking. He frowned and felt a strange agitation surging through his body. His blood seemed to be boiling. He said to himself, ¡°Is it because I left the battlefield? I urgently need to fight now. Damn it, I want to fight someone. ¡±

    It felt as if he was addicted to drugs.

    Luo Jian walked around irritably. He shuttled through countless ordinary people. In the lustrous and dazzling street of streetmps and cars whistling by the street, he found a public bench on the road and sat down as he watched peoplee and go anxiously or hastily, having happy or sad expressions. This day passed by so ordinarily that Luo Jian would not be able to imagine it happening.

    Luo Jian suddenly realized that he was no longer his original self.

    He longed for battle and blood. He began to indulge in the ups and downs in the secret chamber¡ªno matter whether he was in a desperate situation or putting his life on the line, no matter how powerful the enemy was, he was no longer afraid. On the contrary...... he was excited.

    After experiencing too much of these emotions, Luo Jian would asionally think of several questions. If one day he really destroyed the secret chamber, could he still be himself?

    Fortunately, Luo Jian, who was so powerful now, had be tough mentally. He was no longer stubborn about this issue. It was better for him to focus on the immediate goal. What would happen after destroying the secret chamber? Luo Jian was toozy to think about it.

    He felt that now, he had to find a ce where he could fight with others.

    But there was certainly no ce in reality to properly fight with others.

    So should he simply ¡®leap¡¯ and go somewhere else? For example, in the secret chamber, he could jump into a team battle and give himself the identity of a stalker? Anyway, the current Luo Jian had the right to do many things. As long as he did not directly interfere with the oue of the victory or defeat of both parties in the secret chamber of the team battle, the secret chamber¡¯s will couldn¡¯t control Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian licked his lips. It was a very tempting idea. Moreover, he had already marked Duan Li¡¯s body, just as he did on Clown previously. Luo Jian could remember Duan Li¡¯s bodily signals and the space-time coordinates, and he could return to this worldline after fighting.

    As he was thinking of doing it, Luo Jian shook his umbre in his hand, and his entire person disappeared in the endless stream of people on the street.

    Although Luo Jian¡¯s space-time leap was said to be random, there were certain rules to abide by. Usually, he would appear around the ces he cared about or was familiar with. However, due to the randomness, there might be differences in time or space, which also led to the random time points that Luo Jian would appear in if he did not memorize the space-time coordinates. He might go to the past, and it might also be possible for him to go to the future. But because of the instability of the future, most of the time he went to the past.

    Simrly, if Luo Jian did not deliberately recall or remember the ce he was going to cross to, the location of his appearance would be random. It might be in a secret chamber, in North America, which was half the world away, or even in a gxy hundreds and billions of light-years away.

    However, what was interesting was that when Luo Jian used his GM authority, he would get all kinds of privileges just like a stalker. For example, he could freely shuttle around any secret chamber to rece the identity of any NPC in the secret chamber. He could change his identity at will. Depending on his identity, he would be covered with a halo of ¡®can¡¯t be destroyed in any way.¡¯

    Of course, he also had some special rights, such as inquiring about a yer¡¯s detailed information and knowing a yer¡¯s weapons and props.

    He could bestow a yer some special props¡ªany props that Luo Jian knew of, he could freely give them in the secret chamber.

    He could also force a yer into instion¡ªthat was, throw a yer into a single yer¡¯s instance.

    And he could also forbid a yer from entering certain special instances¡ªsuch as prevent yers from entering A Lone Boat trading ground in the secret chamber.

    Most importantly, he could also force a yer out of a secret chamber instance, that was, he could force a yer to go offline and ban the yer from entering the secret chamber again during a certain time frame.

    Although these so-called special rights did sound very tempting to utilize, they couldn¡¯t be easily used by Luo Jian generally because it was easy to destroy the bnce of fairness the secret chamber provided the yers with in the game, which would cause the secret chamber to take some actions against Luo Jian. Although it would not directly kill Luo Jian, it was better not to take such risks.

    Just thinking about having the rights to do something made his heart itch.

    Luo Jian remembered the ranking he saw in A Lone Boat trading grounds. He recalled the names of several teams listed there. Although he wanted to contact the team Ghost Shadow, he eventually gave up. Therefore, when he leaped through the next space-time, as he wished, he appeared in a secret chamber that was hosting a team battle. And he entered the battlefield as a stalker.

 Chapter 161 - The Corridor of Time (XVII)

    <h4>Chapter 161 - The Corridor of Time (XVII)</h4>

    Thank you so much ChrysAmans for the kofis¨CBonus Chapter (3/3)

    Editors: Kitty & Humu

    After having a fight with some fellows he did not know, Luo Jian pretended to be defeated and broke away from them before exiting the secret chamber.

    Of course, Luo Jian did not realize that his appearance had in fact scared the yers who were unlucky enough to be used by him as practice targets.

    But Luo Jian could not be bothered to care so much. Following that, he recalled Duan Li¡¯s space-time coordinates. After leaping through it, he returned to Duan Li¡¯s side. He appeared in the small sundry room where Duan Li was sleeping.

    There was some error in his timeline when he came back to this world. He came back a littleter, and now it was about 3:00 a.m. in the middle of the night. It was the darkest before dawn, so it was very dark outside the house.

    However, this did not affect Luo Jian. He checked Duan Li, who was still asleep, to make sure that he was back in the right world line. After that, Luo Jian sat in the corner and took a nap to wait for dawn.

    But after daybreak, while Luo Jian was waiting, an unexpected guest arrived.

    Little Ah Lan entered the small sundry room, carrying his school bag on his back. Maybe he wanted toe over and take a look at Duan Li before ss started in the morning and bring him breakfast. So as soon as the sky started to brighten up, Ah Lan left home early and went to find Duan Li.

    ¡°Big brother?¡± Ah Lan pushed the door open carefully, but who he saw first was not Duan Li but Luo Jian in the corner. This obviously scared Ah Lan. He looked at Luo Jian hesitantly.

    Luo Jian had been in a half-asleep and half-awake state. When he felt safe, he would allow himself to sleep a little. In fact, Luo Jian had not really had a good sleep for a long time.

    He was not used to it because in the Crimson Asura Realm, he didn¡¯t need to sleep. If anyone died on the main battlefield, that person would revive in almost five minutes. When the person was revived, the person would recover all their physical strength, state, and mental strength. Sleep did not belong in that kind of life that they led.

    Therefore, when Luo Jian left the Asura Realm, he felt so ufortable that he actually needed sleep. Although he felt that this was a waste of time, his body urgently needed this dormancy mechanism. Therefore, Luo Jian chose to take a nap when he was sure that his surroundings were safe.

    Luo Jian could still maintain his low sense of existence ability while he was asleep. However, it would consume a huge amount of strength if Luo Jian kept his skills up all this time. Now Luo Jian could no longer consume his life and strength like how he did in Asura Realm. This would not be advisable for someone for a warrior who was heading towards the battlefield.

    However, in the shallow sleeping state, Luo Jian still kept his vignce. He soon realized that someone had opened the door to the sundry room, but before he acted upon it, he noticed that it was Ah Lan who opened the door. Then he slightly pressed down the handle of the umbre he had lifted up and continued to shrink in the corner without saying a word.

    Ah Lan, who was standing by the door, was obviously scared by him. With a small hand on the edge of the door, he had an appearance that revealed he wanted to step in but was afraid to do so. At this time, the patient who was lying on the bed woke up. He reluctantly got up and said to Ah Lan, ¡°Ah Lan,e to my side.¡±

    Ah Lan hesitantly looked at Luo Jian, who was in the corner. Luo Jian noticed his line of sight was on him and raised his head to look at the younger Feng YuLan. This child was very cute and tender. He wore thick clothes because his body was weak. It was not known if the wind in the morning was too cold because his small face was red due to the cold.

    The current Ah Lan was obviously afraid of strangers. He looked at Luo Jian timidly and walked through the door after hesitating for a very long time. He pulled the door to block the cool wind outside and moved to Duan Li¡¯s side.

    ¡°Big brother...¡± Ah Lan, after seeing Duan Li, was obviously relieved and unconsciouslyid on Duan Li¡¯s body.

    ¡°Why did youe?¡± Duan Li rubbed the child¡¯s head.

    Ah Lan timidly said: ¡°Mother made breakfast. I kept some and brought it for Big Brother.¡±

    Ah Lan was holding a stic bag with breakfast in a small lunch box. This action made Luo Jian¡¯s eyes narrow slightly. He remembered that Ah Lan was always such a person. He would be very good to the people he cared about. When Luo Jian and Ah Lan grew up together as children, they had a very good rtionship, and when they ate, they even had to eat using the same pot.

    Bute to think about it now, it seemed that it happened a long time ago.

    Have I been forgotten by the world?

    Ah Lan did not stay in the sundry room for long because he still had morning self-study, so after he sent breakfast to Duan Li, he went out. Duan Li also did not mean to say goodbye to him. He just said to Ah Lan, ¡°I am leaving for a while, just like before, so don¡¯te to look for me after school today.¡±

    It was obvious that Duan Li disappeared often before as he would do now, but he would eventually return, so Ah Lan was not suspicious. He nodded cleverly: ¡°When will Big Brothere back?¡±

    Duan Li rubbed the child¡¯s face and dropped a kiss on his forehead: ¡°Soon. I will contact you when Ie back; wait for me.¡±

    ¡°En, I¡¯ll wait for my Big Brother.¡± Ah Lan looked forward to seeing Duan Li.

    This may be another promise that could not be fulfilled.

    After that, Ah Lan left the sundry room in a hurry. Although he went to school not far from here, it was still ten minutes away. If he waste, he had to stand outside the ssroom, which was not what Ah Lan wanted. He preferred to sit in the warm ssroom and read books.

    So he left, and he did not see Duan Li looking at his back withplicated eyes. He kept staring until Ah Lan disappeared from Duan Li¡¯s sight.

    Luo Jian also watched Ah Lan leave, then he said to Duan Li, ¡°Is this fine?¡±

    ¡°He will forget; he is still very young. After waiting for some time, one day he will naturally forget me. Anyway, at the beginning I did not want to be too close to him. I have been trying to find a way to leave him.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you implicated the child?¡± Luo Jian said.

    Duan Li nodded: ¡°So it¡¯s better not to continue maintaining our rtionship.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a mistake.¡± Luo Jian regrettably stated: ¡°He will be a yer of the secret chamber one day.¡±

    Duan Li frowned, somewhat anxious, ¡°Why? He should not have been chosen by the secret chamber... ¡±

    Luo Jian was silent for a moment and replied, ¡°It¡¯s just your wishful thinking that he won¡¯t be selected by the secret chamber. However, he has this kind of qualification...... Probably, this is fate.¡±

    Soon after Ah Lan left the house, Duan Li and Luo Jian cleaned up and left. They walked on the cold street. Luo Jian easily let himself be ¡®invisible¡¯ while Duan Li, the patient, walked ahead, wrapped in a miserable coat in the early, frosty morning.

    It was about six o¡¯clock in the morning and there were very few people in the streets.

    ¡°What should I do?¡± Duan Li could not see Luo Jian, but he could feel that Luo Jian was nearby, so he began to ask for his opinions.

    ¡°Since you say that people attack you everywhere you go, you have to simply hang around here and wait for the attack.¡±

    Duan Li painfully covered his already-injured abdomen, ¡°That is to say, I have to be stabbed, right?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m here, and I won¡¯t let you get stabbed.¡±

    The n sounded simple indeed. Duan Li covered his abdomen in pain as he thought about it. He had been on the run for quite some time. No matter whether he was in reality or in the secret chamber, he tried to ask others for help. However, whenever he had such an idea, those who pursued him would start to attack more fiercely as if they had guessed his intention and were trying to stop his behavior.

    Two people aimlessly shuttled in the streets, Duan Li walking slowly in front while Luo Jian stealthily and slowly followed behind. It was not known if it was a psychological effect, but Duan Li started to walk in the direction of the elementary school where Ah Lan was. He wanted to listen to the sound of children doing their morning readings, and that would calm his mind down.

    But something unexpected happened again.

    In an alley near that elementary school, Duan Li actually saw Ah Lan!

    Yes, it was Feng YuLan. The child was standing in the alley with his school bag on his back. He did not go to his ssroom to study earlier. He squatted in an empty alley, shrunk in the corner near the garbage can. As he was squatting, he grasped something on the ground with his hands.

    ¡°How could he be here?¡± Duan Li could not help but approach the child. Although Duan Li always said that he wanted to leave Ah Lan and didn¡¯t like Ah Lan, in fact, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was very concerned about the child and cared about him very much.

    Luo Jian, who was following Duan Li, was vaguely aware that something was wrong, but he did not take action. Luo Jian knew that he needed to wait, wait for that moment to arrive

    ¡°Ah Lan...? Why are you here?¡± Duan Li finally came to Ah Lan¡¯s side. The child¡¯s body was very thin. He squatted in the corner and curled into a small lump. Duan Li recognized the clothes on Ah Lan and his back; Duan Li couldn¡¯t help but stretch out his hand, wanting to pull the child up.

    But in the moment when Duan Li reached out, he felt a trace of killing intent.

    It was a strong sense of malice. Duan Li¡¯s intuition was quite excellent. He had intuition that was as sharp as a beast¡¯s. He relied on this intuition to avoid danger. Therefore, Duan Li could escape from the palm of death countless times.

    Ah Lan, squatting on the ground, suddenly stood up, quickly turned around, and stabbed Duan Li with a simple pencil sharpener.

    And Duan Li drew his knife at that moment. Duan Li¡¯s weapons emphasized a lot on the word ¡®fast,¡¯ but young Ah Lan was obviously not someone who was skilled in handling a knife, so Duan Li chopped the poor pencil sharpener in half att a speed as quick as lightning.

    Fortunately, Duan Li was very restrained. He did not hurt Ah Lan at all. Ah Lan did not even lose a hair.

    However, the child obviously refused to give up. He casually threw away the half of the pencil sharpener that was in his hand. Unexpectedly, he found a triangr ruler to use as a weapon. He bared his teeth and rushed up. Although his body was very thin, a trace of madness could be seen in his actions.

    Duan Li easily restrained him. He could deal with a child, so Duan Li bound the child¡¯s hands and held him in his arms. But this was an unwise move because Ah Lan stretched his neck and bit Duan Li¡¯s shoulder.

    Duan Li had to let go due to the pain he experienced. Ah Lan was as flexible as a wild monkey. He jumped to the ground with one foot on Duan Li¡¯s stomach. Then he picked up the pencil sharpener which was cut in half by Duan Li¡¯s knife on the ground and held the de of the pencil sharpener.

    The child seemed to be not afraid of pain and held the de deeply in his palm, and suddenly his blood flowed.

    Duan Li was distressed. He yelled in a low voice: ¡°Stop it! Let him go!¡±

    ¡°You¡ª¡± Ah Lan held the de and looked up at Duan Li.

    Luo Jian, who had been watching the battle at the side, noticed the expression of little Ah Lan. His face was very stiff, his eyes were dazed, and he had no self-consciousness. Well, since the secret chamber could control these ordinary people wantonly in order to build the city ofwlessness, Ah Lan, who still belonged to the category of ordinary people, could also be someone controlled by it.

    ¡°You can¡¯t...¡± Over there, little Ah Lan was still speaking sluggishly, ¡°be here...¡±

    ¡°I know!¡± Duan Li just wanted to rid Ah Lan of this thing that was controlling him as soon as possible. He was a little flustered. He tried to calm his breathing and heartbeat. He said, ¡°I really can¡¯t be here, so where do you want me to go?¡±

 Chapter 162 - The Corridor of Time (XVIII)

    <h4>Chapter 162 - The Corridor of Time (XVIII)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    ¡°Hehehe¡ª¡± Little Ah Lanughed strangely. That was a strange sound that he would never make. It was like his voice was squeezed out of his throat. He said, ¡°Go to hell.¡±

    When the child finished speaking, he suddenly raised the de of the pencil sharpener he held in his hand and stabbed it hard at his temple.

    A hole in a temple would be a fatal wound to any human.

    Duan Li could not go any faster because he did not have that kind of strength now, and although he had the ability to move at an amazing speed in the future, he could not react in time now. He even felt a little desperate when he tried to stop Ah Lan.

    However, Luo Jian would not let this happen. He morphed his weapon. At this moment, nothing was faster than the speed of a gun bullet. There were many yers who used guns in the Asura Realm. They had all kinds of guns. These guns could also shoot strange bullets, and the mostmon one was a type of¡ªanaesthetic bomb.

    So Duan Li only heard the sound of gunfire behind him. He felt the heat brush past his ears again. At that moment, his heartbeat thumped violently. He even thought that Luo Jian wanted to kill the child.

    But no.

    Luo Jian¡¯s aim was not particrly good whenpared to those sharpshooters. However, he was proficient in all kinds of weapons. He could still hit nine out of ten rings with a gun, especially when shooting at close range. He did not need to adjust his own collimation and calcte the trajectory and wind speed.

    However, close-range shooting would cause an impact force. Luo Jian first hit Ah Lan¡¯s arm. He thought that the bones of the child¡¯s hand would fracture or the child would experience some other problems akin to that. The anaesthetic bullet would only take effect in a few seconds. After that, the child would be unable to move.

    Ah Lan, who was unable to move, fell head-down as he copsed to the ground but was caught by Duan Li in time. Duan Li brought Ah Lan to his arms.

    ¡°Did youe to test me?¡± Luo Jian walked over and muttered in a low voice.

    Duan Li did not understand the meaning of his words, but something unexpected happened. Suddenly, Ah Lan, who was in Duan Li¡¯s arms, opened his mouth. He said in a very rigid and mechanized tone: ¡°The program number is 39450. Answer: This is only a temporary n because we have monitored that you are in a close position with Duan Li, the yer, and we have made contact with you. We tried to get in touch with you using yers as a medium.¡±

    Luo Jianughed, ¡°I see: not only do I want to contact you, but you are also trying to contact me.¡±

    Luo Jian approached Ah Lan. He changed the gun into an umbre again and let the handle of the umbre lean on his shoulder, ¡°So, the purpose is?¡±

    Ah Lan continued to reply stiffly: ¡°The inference is that you are a trapped yer in the Crimson Asura Realm. You know part of the truth about us by having contact with Ying and his team. The body you have now is the best proof. But we have no intention of being in a conflict with you. Because of our programming, we can¡¯t interfere with the actions of roles holding the highest authorization. And to implement protective measures, we decided to have a face-to-face negotiation with your esteemed self.¡±

    Luo Jian was silent for a moment. He said softly, ¡°Well, what kind of results do you want to achieve in this face-to-face negotiation?¡±

    Ah Lan did not answer immediately. Instead, he first looked at Duan Li, brimming with icy-cold intent. It was unknown what Ah Lan was feeling. Duan Li was puzzled. He did not understand what they were talking about, but he only listened to Ah Lan mechanically continue: ¡°To ensure the confidentiality of this negotiation, we earnestly ask you to help eliminate the relevant insiders. Otherwise, it will be considered as the negotiation having broken down.¡±

    Luo Jian could not help but show a ferocious expression. Heughed: ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±

    ¡°Humans define this behavior as a threat.¡± Ah Lan¡¯s tone was serious: ¡°So, yes, we are really threatening you.¡±

    At this moment, even if Duan Li was stupid, he would be able to understand the significance of the inexplicable conversation between them. It seemed that Duan Li was a sacrificial victim in their negotiation. The one controlling Ah Lan obviously wanted to kill him.

    Duan Li could not help but take a look at Luo Jian, but in the dim light in the alley, he couldn¡¯t see the expression of the boy with the red umbre. For a moment, he felt cold sweat constantly emitting out from him. He knew that his strength was inferior to the other party¡¯s. In addition, the child in his arms hadpletely be a controlled chess piece. Such a situation was really horrible.

    Luo Jian, who was silent for a while,ughed again. He acted leisurely and seemed to have an indifferent attitude. His disguising technique was that good. He simply whispered: ¡°You want me to kill this poor...... what¡¯s his name, Duan Li fellow?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Do it in passing after the negotiation,¡± Ah Lan said solemnly, ¡°Wipe out the body that I currently control now as well.¡±

    Luo Jian had a slightly gloomy expression. Under the cover of his red umbre, no one could see what he was thinking. He sneered and said, ¡°Oh! I don¡¯t know if you understand an important principle of human negotiation.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the principle?¡±

    ¡°Sincerity.¡± Luo Jian let himself appear a littlezy. He continued: ¡°When the negotiations have not yete to an end, you wantonly order me to do this and that, but I cannot see your sincerity at all. Why should I obey your orders? Just because the negotiation will break down? Come on, what if the negotiation broke down? Would you kill me?¡±

    The GM¡¯s identity was his trump card. It was a role that Ying and his team set up using future technology to interpret and decode the system¡¯s password. This role was directly linked to the core program of the system. Therefore, Ying assured Luo Jian that the secret chamber might restrict and detain his body, but there was absolutely no way it would kill him. Instead, the secret chamber would even protect him. Because as soon as the body died, the system in the secret chamber would copse.

    At that time, Luo Jian could not help but ask, ¡°So why not just kill this GM¡¯s body and let the system crash?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.¡± Ying in the memories replied: ¡°If the system crashes, as long as it reboots, there will be no real damage to the system. However, the current secret chamber cannot easily take such a risk because if it copses, all the secret chambers will copse together. The game yers, the various props, the transformed monster settings, and other systems in the secret chamber will copse together. In this period, if the secret chamber system cannot establish any effective defence measures, it is likely to suffer from various yers¡¯ attacks or attacks from other forces established on Earth. It will cause incalcble losses, so the secret chamber absolutely does not dare to take such risks.¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly understood what Ying meant. ¡°This is really interesting. I think this is your n¡ªif I fail to destroy the secret chamber, I can still use suicide to create opportunities for you. Am I right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed to admit it, but that¡¯s exactly what I nned.¡± Ying stared at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian understood that Ying was only using him to aplish his own purpose, but there was no way he was going to refuse Ying¡¯s obvious intentions of making use of him.

    Ah, he had no other way! It couldn¡¯t be helped because, like Ying, Luo Jian urgently wanted to let the secret chamberpletely disappear from this world! This idea seemed to be rooted in Luo Jian¡¯s heart. Except for this, he couldn¡¯t think of any other thing that he wanted to live for.

    In that case, what was there to fear?!

    So Luo Jian arrogantly raised his face, and at this moment, he challenged and ridiculed the entire secret chamber. He opened his umbre, spread his arms, and said grimly, ¡°Kill me if you can do it!¡±

    The secret chamber, who was controlling Ah Lan, was silent for a long time. Of course, it could not kill Luo Jian. So it finally said, ¡°Well, how would you like us to show our sincerity?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually really scared.¡± Luo Jian did not answer the question posed but tantly talked nonsense instead, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in destroying you. I was selected by that man. He thought I had such a qualification, so he let me inherit this body. But what benefits can I get? I just want more power and freedom.¡±

    Ah Lan, who was over at the other side, was silent for a moment. Then, he answered Luo Jian: ¡°We can give you more freedom and strength.¡±

    Luo Jian showed a smile that revealed that his schemes were sessful: ¡°Well, let¡¯s negotiate first. As for the two insiders...... Why kill them? With such good qualifications, they will certainly be excellent yers, and most importantly...... if all the insiders died, if I were killed by you one day, wouldn¡¯t everyone else not know that I¡¯m dead. That would be horrifying, right?¡±

    The meaning behind Luo Jian¡¯s words was very obvious. He was actually threatening the other party. He wanted Duan Li andpany to live. This would not only make Duan Li an insider, but also make him a witness in this negotiation. Having the identity of an insider or a witness might make Duan Li and Ah Lan¡¯s standing different, and that might save Duan Li and Ah Lan¡¯s lives.

    However, the secret chamber was afraid that Luo Jian had truly not dared to act upon it. Now, both sides had to step back because they both hoped that this negotiation could be sessful.

    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t make things difficult for you,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°I have a way to erase their memory. After our negotiation, I will make them forget everything. But you have to pay attention to the fact that if I die one day, their memory will be restored immediately, and the contents of this negotiation will be publicized to the world.¡±

    ¡°We understand what you mean. You want to set up two witnesses for this negotiation to ensure the safety of your life.¡± Ah Lan¡¯s rigid tone was rarely apanied by a trace of a cold sneer: ¡°It is all but a human¡¯s stupid behavior...... But we ept such conditions and we are willing to show our sincerity. But first of all, we must remind you that although your identity makes us fear you, it does not mean that we really care about your life. If you do something out of line, we will take action regardless of the cost.¡±

    ¡°I know that very well. May I begin?¡±

    The negotiation was carried out in this quiet alley. It happened in an old alley where no one passed by, in the corner where no one noticed.

    And Luo Jian imperceptibly aplished something that would alter every secret chamber yer¡¯s fate.

    He might have been aware of this, but Luo Jian was not willing to think about it. He would rather think that this was just an ordinary day in his life. After today, tomorrow would still follow after.

    The contents of his negotiations with the secret chamber were also very simple.

    The secret chamber regarded Luo Jian as a time bomb. It thought that Luo Jian would explode at any time and anywhere. It wanted to closely monitor him and even lock Luo Jian up directly and efficiently.

    But Luo Jian was not willing to be locked up. He needed a wide range of personal space and the ability to move autonomously.

    If he was unwilling to do something, the secret chamber couldn¡¯t coerce him. Although the chambers could monitor and limit the behavior of Luo Jian, it would aggravate his rebellious mentality, and that would cause conflict to arise between them. Both parties were not willing to see a lose-lose situation.

    So, they gave way.

    The secret chamber said that it would not restrict his actions and monitor him unless he vited some regtions in the chamber. At the same time, the secret chamber would unlock the GM privilege for Luo Jian, and he could possess all rights and authorization. Simrly, on this basis, the regtions could not be vited.

    At the same time, the secret chamber decided to allow Luo Jian to cooperate with the secret chamber¡¯s action, that was, to allow Luo Jian to help the secret chamber carry out relevant work. For this, the chambers would reward Luo Jian. It would help him enhance and train his strength.

    Luo Jian thought that the secret chamber system was trying to turn their rtionship into a kind of employment rtionship simr to that in society. It was simr to the kind of rtionship where ¡®if you help me, I will give you some benefits¡¯. Moreover, the secret chamber was likely trying to let Luo Jian rely on the secret chamber slowly. Because any human being who had tasted the power of dominating everything would be willing to endure hardship dly for it and even be unable to extricate themself from it.

    At that time, it would be effortlessly easy to control Luo Jian.

    However, Luo Jian did not care so much about that. His goal had been clear from the beginning. No matter what moves the enemy dished out, he did not feel that he would shrink back.

 Chapter 163 - The Corridor of Time (XIX)

    <h4>Chapter 163 - The Corridor of Time (XIX)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    The negotiation ended.

    Luo Jian kept his umbre and looked at Duan Li and Ah Lan, who was in his arms.

    The secret chamber¡¯s will had left Ah Lan¡¯s body, so Ah Lanid in Duan Li¡¯s arms as if he was asleep. However, the poor child had previously been shot in the arm by Luo Jian, and the impact of the bullet made his wrist appear twisted and stained with blood. Duan Li felt so sorry for him. He pasted his face on the child¡¯s. He felt that would not be able to meet the child again for a long period. When he thought of that, Duan Li felt a burst of pain in his heart.

    The results of this were still rathermentable; it was a pity that Luo Jian didn¡¯t get any valuable and specific information about the city ofwlessness, such as the most important information: how could he enter the city?

    Luo Jian unconsciously licked his lips with his tongue. Forget it, the secret chamber would neither expose its cards to him so quickly nor make it so easy for Luo Jian to find out about this. Luo Jian had to seek out another way to find the secret chamber¡¯s will¡¯s weakness. Only by grasping the weakness of the enemy would Luo Jian be able to defeat him.

    Its trump card, the city ofwlessness. That was the key.

    Now, Luo Jian must cooperate with the secret chamber¡¯s will and act under the other party¡¯s instructions. There were advantages and disadvantages, but as a whole, there was nothing bad about it. At least for now, Luo Jian only needed to pretend to listen to the secret chamber.

    So he approached Duan Li and Ah Lan. Duan Li noticed the sound of Luo Jian¡¯s footsteps and turned back to look at him.

    ¡°Are you going to do your duty?¡±

    Duan Li was ready for what would happen next. The conversation between Luo Jian and the secret chamber¡¯s will had been going on in front of Duan Li since the beginning. Although Duan Li was still confused and did not understand what they were talking about at the beginning, he finally figured out roughly what they were saying and was shocked by the truth.

    Their lives were ced into the hands of a mysterious intelligent will, and they were wantonly tortured and yed around with by ¡®it.¡¯ However, it was very careful, just like it was ying with and making borate and wonderful toys. ¡®It¡¯ crafted yers with the care and precision of a sculptor, perfected them, and destroyed them.

    However, Luo Jian was talking to ¡®it.¡¯ In a certain space-time, he used some abnormal means to have face-to-face contact and a confrontation with it. They both held some secrets and wanted to make the enemy dormant, but simrly, both of them felt helpless against the other.

    Only Duan Li was caught in this gap; he may have be the one closest to the truth at this moment, but it was only at this moment. Now, Luo Jian had approached him, and he had to fulfill the agreement with the secret chamber¡¯s will to eliminate Duan Li¡¯s memories. Duan Li would forget everything he had seen and heard, but maybe......

    In the long future, Duan Li would recall everything today¡ªat the cost of Luo Jian¡¯s death.

    ¡°You must abide by the agreement to keep the secret,¡± Luo Jian said to Duan Li.

    Duan Li shook his head in agony: ¡°But everything that happened was something I could not control. I don¡¯t want to be a witness.¡±

    Luo Jian stroked the edges of his red umbre. That was a habit he had formed for a long time. He said, ¡°You have to do this, or you will die today&#k2026;&#k2026; along with the child in your arms.¡±

    Duan Li clenched his teeth and showed an expression of suffering. He looked at Ah Lan, who was in his arms. The child frowned in his sleep.

    ¡°I may be at your mercy at this moment, but it doesn¡¯t mean that I will be the same in the future.¡±

    Duan Li seemed to show some determination. And Luo Jian realizedter that Duan Li seemed to regard the secret chamber¡¯s will and Luo Jian as the same kind of person. Although it was clear that Luo Jian and the secret chamber¡¯s will were at odds, he felt that they stood as a united front after the negotiation was established. Therefore, Duan Li also regarded Luo Jian as the enemy and thought that Luo Jian stood on the same side as the secret chamber¡¯s will.

    Luo Jian sighed in his heart. He had known that from the moment he set foot on this road, he would not be understood by anyone. This was probably destined to be a lonely journey. Following that, Luo Jian did not spare unnecessary time to sigh sadly. He said to Duan Li, ¡°I¡¯m going to make you forget all this now. If you have anything you want to say, you¡¯d better say it as soon as possible.¡±

    Duan Li said, ¡°Can I make a request?¡±

    ¡°What is your request?¡±

    ¡°Your skills to make others forget will make me forget what happened today, right? And what happened to me previously when I identally went into the city ofwlessness. After that, the secret chamber won¡¯t send anyone to hunt me down, right? I¡¯ll get back to my normal routine, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. You don¡¯t have to carry too much of a psychological burden,¡± Luo Jian stated.

    ¡°Can I request that you...¡± Duan Li said, lowering his head downwards to look at the child in his arms, and continued, ¡°Please let us both forget each other. Cut off the connection between us and eliminate the karmic ties between us. From here on, I will hit the high road, while he will cross his log bridge.¡±

    At this moment, Luo Jian suddenly understood why Duan Li and Feng YuLan appeared like strangers when they met in the future.

    Was I the cause of everything?

    Although Luo Jian admitted that the cause of everything was him, he still felt guilty and uneasy. He knew that history would still head towards a simr path. Time was like a fierce, flowing river. No matter how you made waves, the river still rushed towards the end. Things would always return to the origin, and the end was a vast and broad ocean.

    Everything in the world was destined...... Could we really not break away from the cycle and our fates?

    No! This was impossible!

    Luo Jian knew that people would inevitably make mistakes in their lives, but they would not always constantly make mistakes. Everyone would only understand how to take detours and know how to turn around after they had stubbornly insisted on their own ideals and thus experienced all kinds of setbacks and torments. Then would they be able to realize their mistakes and correct everything.

    Now, Luo Jian was in the process of correcting his mistakes. In this process, everything he had done was not toote.

    It was not toote. It was not toote.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± Luo Jian lowered his head a little and asked Duan Li while seeking his final opinion. ¡°I will practically erase the memories of both of you. You willpletely forget everything about each other, and it is very likely that it will be difficult to retrieve your memories in this lifetime...... I think that everyone¡¯s memories, whether they are sad, painful, or happy, are worth cherishing. So I ask you again: are you sure you want to do this?¡±

    Duan Li hesitated for a while. After a long time, he seemed to have made up his mind and nodded firmly to Luo Jian: ¡°I¡¯ll entrust this to you.¡±

    ¡°So...¡± Luo Jian took a step forward and continued to whisper, ¡°Can I ask why you made this decision?¡±

    Duan Li pulled out a helpless smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that I¡¯ll bring more trouble to this child because I¡¯ve never been a lucky person.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to go through a lot of tragic things,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°When you go on a lonely journey, when you are in danger, no one wille to save you; when you drown in darkness, no one will guide you; when you fall into hell for eternity, no one can pull you back to heaven...... Even so, do you really not mind?¡±

    Duan Li replied firmly: ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    After hearing what he had said, Luo Jian took a step back. His tone was still low and gentle without undtions. He said, ¡°Well, I wish you good luck, Duan Li.¡±

    Luo Jian held up the red umbre in his hand. At this moment, his heart seemed to be somewhat at peace. Although feelings of sadness and pain were not always shrouded in his world, Luo Jian found that he has never been so calm. Because the friends that once stood in front of him, whether in the past or in the future, whether they remembered or forgot, Luo Jian vowed that he would protect all of them!

    Protect everyone that was in front of him!

    Luo Jian reached out and ced his hand on the shoulder of Duan Li, who was still kneeling on the ground. He stretched out the edges of his red umbre. Duan Li keenly noticed that the bright red edge seems to be permeated with some sort of mysterious scent, which spread from the edges to Luo Jian, covering his entire body...... Like the scent of the red blood of a hunted prey, it seemed to be luring Duan Li to do something, causing him to lose focus for a moment.

    At this time, Luo Jian said gently: ¡°To end all this, you know what to do, Duan Li.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s tone was too gentle, but the gentler the tone his tone was at this moment, the more alluring Luo Jian was. He seemed to be emitting a sweet and fatal scent all this time, which made people blindly follow everything Luo Jianmanded and made people instinctively act ording to his words. The feeling was akin to his falling into a big web carefully knitted by spiders, and no matter what, he was unable to extricate himself from it.

    So Duan Li obeyed the order of Luo Jian, and he nodded dully: ¡°I know what to do.¡±

    ¡°Yes...¡± Luo Jian slightly bent down close to Duan Li¡¯s face. He unconsciously turned the handle of his umbre with one of his hands and pressed the other on Duan Li¡¯s shoulder. He looked at the other party¡¯s eyes. This body had a pair of dark grey eyes, which made Luo Jian look as if he was in a daze, but miraculously, the way he looked caused others to feel that he appeared much more alluring.

    ¡°Forget all this; everything you saw today, and the people you love, forget it all. Take this memory out, put it in a sealed box, and put it behind a door deep in your heart that can never be opened. However, when my body dies, my strength will no longer be able to close the door in your heart. At that time, you will find all the sealed memories together with your lost feelings...¡±

    Luo Jian repeated the words beside Duan Li¡¯s ear. After determining that Duan Li was indeed affected by this amnesia, Luo Jian said with a voice as light as feather: ¡°Sleep.¡± Duan Li then closed his eyes and leaned on the ground. He was suddenly unconscious.

    But it was not known whether it was because of Duan Li¡¯s obsession or what was wrong with Luo Jian¡¯s abilities again; Duan Li still held the child in his arms instinctively. Little Ah Lan curled up like a baby who had returned to his mother¡¯s side. He could not bear to part with Duan Li¡¯s warmth as he greedily absorbed it. When Duan Li fell to the ground, he seemed to be aware of it and opened his eyes in a daze.

    The secret chamber¡¯s will left Ah Lan¡¯s body. Now, he had recovered his senses. He was still a very young child. He knew nothing about danger. He simply nced at Luo Jian strangely. He did not understand what happened, but he can still feel the strength of Duan Li, who was holding him tightly.

    ¡°Big brother...¡± Ah Lan found that he was being tightly held by the sleeping Duan Li and could not help but touch Duan Li¡¯s chest. Duan Li¡¯s warm embrace and strong heartbeat gave the child a sense of security.

    It was only when Ah Lan started to move that he noticed the pain. One of his hands had been hit by Luo Jian¡¯s anesthetic gun. The bullet fired by that gun was very special. It was a long and thin dissolving needle. When it entered an organism, it would automatically dissolve and quickly y its role as an anesthetic. However, even if it was a slender needle, the force of the impact it brought could still make the bone of a child¡¯s hand crack.

    So the child¡¯s eyes were red with pain. He could not lift his right hand. Duan Li held him tightly as he looked around in a daze. When he saw Luo Jian, he shrank his head in back fear and began to drill into Duan Li¡¯s arms.

    Luo Jian carefully looked at the eight or nine-year-old child in front of him. Ah Lan was very cute when he was a child, and his face was a little chubby. But the blood stains on his face somehow destroyed this innocence, much like how a clean, white paper was stained.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid,¡± Luo Jian said to him, and the tone he used was simrly gentle.

    ¡°Are you a friend of my Big Brother? On your body, there¡¯s something scary...¡± Feng YuLan shrank his head back and opened his dark eyes as he gazed at Luo Jian. His eyes were mixed with innocence and fearlessness. What made Luo Jian more surprised was that Feng YuLan seemed to have a strong sense of perception since he was a child.

    Luo Jian could not help butugh strangely. ¡°What¡¯s the scary thing on my body?¡±

    The child just shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s a scary thing.¡± After a long time, he said, ¡°Like the man-eating monster in the legends...¡±

    After Luo Jian heard this, he immediately fell silent.

 Chapter 164 - The Corridor of Time (XX)

    <h4>Chapter 164 - The Corridor of Time (XX)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    After he finished dealing with little Ah Lan, Luo Jian thoroughly treated his arm. After leaving Duan Li alone, he picked up Ah Lan and flew lightly into the school gate of the elementary school. He casually put him in a corner of a stairwell. Of course, the teacher would find a student sleeping in the stairway and pull him to make him stand up. But this was none of Luo Jian¡¯s business.

    He had stayed in this space-time for too long. Luo Jian had to leave for the next ce. From now on, his life would not be as easygoing. Although the secret chamber would not restrict him too much, it would constantly give him tasks to do. In fact, Luo Jian also had the right to refuse the tasks. However, in the initial stage of cooperation with the secret chamber, it was not very advantageous to have an awful dispute with the secret chamber.

    So what should I do?

    Luo Jian¡¯s goal was to find the ¡®heart¡¯ of the secret chamber, which was the missing lock.

    However, the secret chamber would be on guard against Luo Jian. No matter whether the secret chamber had found out Luo Jian¡¯s real identity or not, and even if they had negotiated and established a preliminary ¡®harmonious and friendly superficial rtionship,¡¯ he was afraid no one could really trust each other privately.

    Therefore, Luo Jian understood that his present predicament was worse than what he faced previously, but he also knew that this was the road he had to take. If he could not even take this basic step, it would have been better to not walk out of the Crimson Asura Realm in the beginning.

    Luo Jian was deliberating, and he took out a printed note with purple patterns from his pocket. There were a few lines written on it. It was a message from the secret chamber:

    [Dear Abyss, we need your help to do something, and this task is not difficult and very simple. It helps us understand your strength and make a series of ns for you in the future.]

    [First of all, please join any team and enter the secret chamber.]

    Such a message was very short, and when Luo Jian finished reading, the words on the note slowly disappeared, and it became nk. However, Luo Jian knew that those words would appear again. When the secret chamber¡¯s will wanted to order Luo Jian to do something, words would appear again in front of Luo Jian.

    ¡°Temporarily, I¡¯ll be taking one step at a time while nning for the next.¡± Luo Jian crumpled the note into a ball and put it into his pocket. He decided to be flexible and adaptable to any moves the chamber dished out. He had many routes to choose from. Maybe it was a good choice to try to gain the trust of the secret chamber.

    After that, Luo Jian, who was thinking about it, disappeared in the street. No one noticed his absence. Of course, even if someone did, that person would gradually forget all of this.

    On the street after he left, the early morning sun scatteredzily, printing on the grey stone floor, ted with ayer of golden glory. In these countless days and nights, such scenes would appear every morning. Though something different from the ordinary day urred, no one would pay attention to the story that unfolded hidden in the dark corner, and these urrences would disappear like dust blown away by the wind.

    Once again, Luo Jian once again went to A Lone Boat trading grounds. On the huge circr tform, floating on the sea of clouds, was an excellent ce to form a team. Tens of thousands of yers flew there every day. The rankings on the tform were updated at any time and anywhere. There was also a special team formation tform, which was next to the b ranking list, and there were many yers standing around there, waiting for suitable teammates.

    Luo Jian¡¯s purpose was to go there. Since the secret chamber allowed him to form a team at will&#k2026;&#k2026; why not just go straight to the strongest team? Team Ghost Shadow was still on the top of the list.

    It was worth mentioning that Clown, who was the first one on the individual rankings, suddenly fell to the bottom of the list. Clown¡¯s n to y dumb had been implemented, and he had rapidly acted upon it.

    However, Team Ghost Shadow was hard to find. Luo Jian first turned around on the tform of A Lone Boat. He did not even see a trace of Team Ghost Shadow.

    So he squeezed into the crowd of yers in the surroundings to listen to what they were saying. Sometimes, some intelligence was revealed in the conversation of these yers, which made it convenient for Luo Jian to collect information that was beneficial to him. And the secret chamber¡¯s will did not give him a time limit on when he needed to form a team to enter the secret chamber, so he had a long time to make some preparations.

    After wandering more than 10 minutes on A Lone Boat, Luo Jian finally got the information he wanted to know from a middle-aged man who had been talking to his peers about other teams. They stood in front of the b andmented on each team at the top of the list.

    Then the middle-aged man mentioned a little about Team Ghost Shadow, but he did not say much. The tone of his voice revealed that he seemed to know Team Ghost Shadow well. So after the man separated from hispanion, Luo Jian ¡®seized¡¯ this uncle away by using some unconventional means, hypnotized him, and induced him to obtain a lot of information from his mouth.

    This uncle said that Team Ghost Shadow seemed to be short of one member because one of the five members died in a secret chamber, so now they were secretly recruiting capable fellows.

    The uncle also said that the team seemed to have a very stringent selection method, and they only selected yers from the channels they trust. Moreover, they never selected the ¡®strong individuals¡¯ on the ranking list because personal strength did not necessarily mean that they would have the ability to work well in a team. Those who fought alone were often used to being alone and choosing such a lone ranger to join a team was usually not a good choice.

    It seemed that Team Ghost Shadows did not like yers who were ¡®of unknown origins¡¯ and tried to join them with ulterior motives. It might be because they were in the limelight now, so their recruitment was carried out secretly.

    Therefore, it was still a bit difficult for such ¡®irrelevant¡¯ characters such as Luo Jian to get in touch with them.

    However, the uncle hypnotized by Luo Jian blurted out some new information.

    ¡°I know when Team Ghost Shadow wille to recruit yers. In three days in the evening, when most yers have to enter the secret chamber and yers start to prepare in advance for their escape, at that time, the number of online yers in A Lone Boat will be the lowest. Only yers who have the information will be there to try to contact Team Ghost Shadow in an attempt to join them.¡±

    ¡°What are the conditions?¡± Luo Jian questioned.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that one merely has topete with the team captain of Team Ghost Shadow once.¡±

    ¡°Is it possible topete in A Lone Boat?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can apply for a separate room solely used for fighting.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Luo Jian got what he wanted. He waved his red umbre in front of the uncle and said, ¡°Forget me, forget our conversation. Now, return to yourpanion¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± The uncle nodded with a dull face and turned away.

    Luo Jian watched him walk towards the direction of hispanions. His figure was quickly engulfed by people in A Lone Boat. Luo Jian looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he turned and disappeared.

    There was still plenty of time left for him to wander around. For example, he could go to some secret chamber that was having a team battle or some other secret chambers with a special identity. He was eager to fight with others. The secret chamber¡¯s will did not seem to restrict his love of fighting. And Luo Jian could not give up his crazy, bloodthirsty desire for fighting. The only thing that made him feel dissatisfied was thatpared with the yers in the Asura Realm, thebat effectiveness of these yers in the secret chamber was simply weak.

    Luo Jian began to miss the battlefield again.

    But he couldn¡¯t go back. He could go anywhere except back to the Asura Realm. It had already be a forbidden area for Luo Jian now. The secret chamber would not give him such a chance, so...... he could not seek Ying¡¯s help, and there was no way of retreat.

    Three dayster, on A Lone Boat, evening.

    Luo Jian was afraid that he would make some mistakes when he leaped over here, so he was an hour ahead of schedule. When he appeared there, there were still a lot of people on the trading ground. After calcting the time, Luo Jian went around the entire trading ground, and he began to stroll around through the stalls there.

    There were many strange stalls on the trading ground. yers would choose the periphery of the circr tform to set up their own stalls. On A Lone Boat, yers couldn¡¯t use their weapons or other offensive props. In addition to their carry-on secret chambers, one could see yers ¡®pulling¡¯ out all kinds of strange-looking things from the air.

    The sellers around tried to decorate their store more ¡®luxuriously¡¯ to show their dazzling goods. Luo Jian even saw a yer taking out an armored car and treating it as a disy board. That person hung all kinds of guns and weapons on the car, marked the goods with small productbels, and sat on the roof to inspect the visitors.

    Thermal weapons were still very popr and suitable for yers with lower skillsets who waded in shallow waters.

    There were many booths selling all kinds of firearms, machinery, and other weapons that could carry out physical attacks. But far away, there were also some gloomy-looking guys who wrapped themselves inrge ck robes selling some inexplicable props, most of which were in the ¡®magic category.¡¯

    There was a strange dividing line between weapons in the secret chamber. On one hand, there were yers who used modern thermal weapons, futuristic weapons one would see in fantasies, and cold weapons. These weapons were all categorized under the ¡®physical category.¡¯ On the other hand, there were yers who used magic wands, magic charms, and other kinds of weapons rted to ghosts and spirits. They were categorized under the ¡®magic category¡¯¡ªas for why it was called magic category and not sorcery category, Luo Jian did not even have an inkling.

    A few of them possessed special weapons, which were ssified into the ¡®special category.¡¯ Weapons that were neither used for physical attack nor magic attacks were ssified under this¡ªLuo Jian¡¯s weapon was ssified into this category.

    Luo Jian¡¯s understanding of the secret chamber was not enough. At least, he was quite unfamiliar with many props in the secret chamber and did not understand what uses these props had. The GM¡¯s authority gave him the right to check various props, but he was not willing to use this kind of authority.

    Because when Luo Jian was in possession of this body, he always felt that it would give him a wrong impression.

    He felt that he was the only master of the vast and countless secret chambers.

    It was really scary, wasn¡¯t it? Especially when he conceived such an impression, the secret chamber¡¯s will seemed to unlock more of its functionality to him intentionally or unintentionally, resulting in Luo Jian¡¯s growing power. He could totally do whatever he wanted in any secret chamber.

    Most of the time, human beings were unable to resist the temptation and entitlement to power.

    Fortunately, as long as Luo Jian recalled how he had a hard time sweeping through the fields in the Crimson Asura Realm, he would calm down.

    Blood turned him into a lunatic, and blood could also calm him down.

    He began to grow stronger in ways that he did not realize.

    When the blue sea of clouds around A Lone Boat turned into a bloody sea of clouds in the sunset, the number of yers on the trading ground became much less, and the yers left the beautiful space one after another. At this time, several strange figures appeared in the ¡®spawn point¡¯ of the trading ground. Not many yers could be seen spawning at A Lone Boat at this time.

    Luo Jian had been staring at the spawn point for a long time. Around him, some yers hiding in the corner also paid close attention to the spawn point. They were waiting for the appearance of Team Ghost Shadow: the strongest team in the legends that was always on the top of the team ranking list and had never fallen down since they moved up. The time they were on the top of the list was much more than that of the previous teams.

    Their strength could probably be guaranteed, so being able to join them was also a guarantee of survival.

    The members of Team Ghost Shadow wore the same clothes. They kept their heads lowered as they muttered softly. They donned ckbat outfit and boots, wearing ck knitted hats and tactical gloves. In fact, such attire was verymonly seen among yers. Other than some unconventional fellows, most of them dressed like soldiers or mercenaries. Therefore, the members of Team Ghost Shadow did not appear conspicuous. Just by inferring from this, it could be seen that they were quite a low-key group of people.

    There were only four of them, and it seemed true that they were missing one yer.

    Luo Jian looked left and right with widened eyes. Although others were paying attention to the team, they were just watching them from a distance. Only Luo Jian was bold and indulgent. Since Team Ghost Shadow appeared, he walked towards these people. He had really wanted to see Xing Yan. It was undeniable that Luo Jian had really longed for the stalker.

 Chapter 165 - The Corridor of Time (XXI)

    <h4>Chapter 165 - The Corridor of Time (XXI)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    Luo Jian seemed to have miscalcted the time.

    Because the one who appeared in front of him was Xing Yan, and just like Duan Li, he was just a teenager. Although he was very tall, one could see a trace of immaturity in his face. The young man was wearing a thick ckbat uniform and slightly lowered his head. He actually wore a ck mask to conceal his facial features, but just by looking at his eyes, Luo Jian could easily recognize Xing Yan.

    Xing Yan had a pair of very good-looking eyes. He was not a stalker yet, so the colour of his pupils was still dark and deep, unique to Asians. There was no bloodthirsty red in his pupils indicating the identity of a stalker, and there was not a hint of grey when the red retreated. The teenage Xing Yan had an unique vibe to him, just like a green and immature fruit, but some semnce could be seen. The Xing Yan who was not mature enough did not know how to hide his sharpness, so when Luo Jian came close, he could clearly feel the youth¡¯s biting cold ferocity.

    But there was something slightly strange about him.

    Luo Jian did not hide himself, and he did not care that he was holding a big red umbre. He was standing overly close to Team Ghost Shadow. He raised his foot lightly and walked as if he were floating. He did not make any sound, but he revealed his breath, so Team Ghost Shadow noticed him.

    The four people could not help but fix their eyes on the child in front of them.

    He was a child who was about ten years old, and his thin body made him look younger. Children were rarely seen in the chambers. Even if there were some young or underage yers who were drawn into the secret chamber, they were mostly about 13 to 18 years old. For children who were too young, it would be hard for them to differentiate danger.

    Therefore, once Luo Jian did not use his ability to cover himself, he would naturally be conspicuous among yers, although because of the red umbre...... An after effect of using his weapon caused his sense of existence to be weaker than that of ordinary people.

    Luo Jian did not pay attention to the other team members in Team Ghost Shadow. His eyes were only focused on Xing Yan. Because the look in Luo Jian¡¯s eyes was too focused and fervent, Xing Yan had to lower his head down to look at the child shorter than half of his height. Of course, he did not recognize the current Luo Jian. To him, Luo Jian was just a strange child in the secret chamber.

    However, he was a child with value.

    Xing Yan narrowed his eyes a little. The child was too young. For him to appear in the secret chamber was unnatural. Moreover, if the child could appear in A Lone Boat trading ground, he must have experienced escaping a secret chamber five times. He must have been a yer who had a step into the ranks of senior yers. At such an age, he could aplish this, so in Xing Yan¡¯s eyes, naturally, his future was limitless.

    ¡°Are you Xing Yan?¡± Luo Jian stared at the young Xing Yan for a long time, frowned a little, and sighed unconsciously.

    The young Xing Yan slightly tilted his head to look at the child. His eyes appeared as if they were inspecting Luo Jian. He did not show much emotion when he looked at Luo Jian. He seemed to be just estimating the value of Luo Jian, as if he were looking at some kind of goods that was put up on sale.

    ¡°Do you know my name? That¡¯s interesting.¡± Xing Yan started to smile, although under the ck mask, that smile was almost unnoticeable.

    At this time, a member of Team Ghost Shadow interjected: ¡°Captain has never disclosed his name. Where did you get this information?¡±

    Luo Jian paused for a moment. He did not look towards the team member who interrupted but just stared at Xing Yan persistently: ¡°Are you Xing Yan?¡±

    Xing Yan almost narrowed his eyes to make himself look cunning. He said, ¡°Of course I am Xing Yan.¡±

    However, Luo Jian stepped back. He felt disappointed and shook his head: ¡°No, you are not.¡±

    What he said made everyone else feel inexplicable, or at least Xing Yan felt so. He began to feel that the child was a bit of trouble. He said impatiently, ¡°Of course I am Xing Yan, the captain of Team Ghost Shadow. If you have nothing to do with us, don¡¯t get in the way.¡±

    Luo Jian pursed his lips. He was very disappointed, so he stepped backwards a few steps and consciously made way for Team Ghost Shadow. He went to the corner alone and squatted, holding the red umbre bigger than his body.

    That was not Xing Yan&#k2014;No, rather, it was not the &#k2018;Xing Yan¡¯ that Luo Jian knew.

    The Xing Yan Luo Jian knew was the Xing Yan after he became a stalker, and the necessary conditions for him to be a stalker&#k2026;&#k2026; Ying also gave Luo Jian a brief exnation. Although stalkers were made from yers, a yers¡¯ soul and self-consciousness had beenpletely expropriated by the secret chamber. The secret chamber would stuff some programs into the empty bodies to control these soulless dolls.

    That stalker was an exception. He was a soul born in the darkness and primal chaos of the secret chamber. He inadvertently encroached on the body of Xing Yan, inherited all Xing Yan¡¯s memories, and had Xing Yan¡¯s power and weapon. Because his soul was originally born in the darkness in the chambers, the stalker could resist and vite themands given to him by the secret chamber to a certain extent.

    Therefore, the stalker that Luo Jian fell in love with was not the present Xing Yan. Now, Xing Yan was just an ordinary yer even though he was an excellent yer and had that body.

    As Luo Jian thought about it, he suddenly felt that his heart began to ache. He covered himself with his big red umbre and rubbed his chest with his fingers. He felt a tinge of pain in his heart, although it might have just been him hallucinating.

    He spent 3,650 days fighting day and night in the Asura Realm. Adding up to ten whole years, he had abandoned almost everything that he was persistent and could not forget about on the battlefield. But the moment he exited the battlefield, he found them all again. He missed the man very much, he missed the stalker, he missed him so much that he felt a pain like a knife twisting in his heart and he felt extreme agony.

    Could this be love?

    Luo Jian could not remember what love was.

    He had been numb for a long time, and he was slow to react to his feelings. Although he sometimes felt that he was far away from everything and did not feel much fear, sadness, or agony, maybe that was because he had been alone for too long.

    Luo Jian did not squat in the corner for long. The tenacious him naturally climbed back up quickly from his slump. His n did not change. He wanted to see Xing Yan at first, but Luo Jian was also ready to suffer from a psychological blow. So he stood up and walked towards Team Ghost Shadow.

    Team Ghost Shadow was recruiting yers. Some yers had long been attracted to this ce, hearing their famed reputation, as they waited for a long time. But good and bad yers intermingled within. The captain appeared as if everyone was unpleasant to his eyes. Although he was wearing a mask, one could still see a trace of contempt in his eyes. Come to think of it, the captain of Team Ghost Shadow was still very young, and he did not know how to hide the look in his eyes.

    However, he did have the capital to be arrogant.

    That probably also caused some dissatisfaction, so some yers who had been watching quietly exited from the trading ground.

    The number of yers on A Lone Boat was not many, and when one left, many of them followed. Only a few people were left on the trading ground, and Luo Jian was one of them.

    Team Ghost Shadow began to look for the yers they thought were fit for the team to open a fighting arena to test the strength of the new yers. However, the member conducting the test was not the captain, but a short and thin man in Team Ghost Shadow. This man was terrifyingly skinny, and one would describe him as emaciated. Although he was wearing gloves, one could still see that his wrist was so skinny that it looked like a bone from a skeleton. However, that man seemed powerful and brought a few yers who were interested in joining Team Ghost Shadow into the fighting arena. And they exited from the room in a few minutes.

    All the yers who came out left with bleak faces.

    Several members from Team Ghost Shadow got together to discuss for a while. Parts of their conversation were transmitted to Luo Jian. Luo Jian heard several words and phrases. Perhaps they felt that this batch of yers was subpar. Perhaps they felt that they had to wait for the next time before they allowed a new member to join their team.

    Luo Jian licked his lips. It was not known where he took out a bag of choctes. He tore the wrapper and sent one into his mouth. Not to mention, this chocte was also a prop. It seemed that it could enhance spiritual value, but he gobbled it, treating it as a snack.

    At present, Luo Jian had a lot of authority. The secret chamber gave him the ability to use any props arbitrarily. Therefore, Luo Jian didn¡¯t need something like a carry-on secret chamber any longer. What he needed could be obtained by him with a wave of his hands.

    Of course, this permission could only be used when he was in the secret chambers and when his identity was not a yer/stalker/NPC. In other words, he could only use this permission when he was a GM.

    Once he joined a team, he could no longer freely eat his choctes.

    But there were other methods.

    Luo Jian ate his chocte as he deliberated. Luo Jian thought that in the secret chamber, even if he was not using the GM¡¯s identity, he could still adjust the probability of props appearing in the secret chambers to obtain them, and he could still set whatever prop he wanted. He should simply just set it as a pile of choctes.

    Moreover, this kind of chocte props had little value. And if Luo Jian ate the choctes, it would not affect the plot the secret chamber provided and the oue of the yers, and it was not against the regtions that the secret chamber stipted for Luo Jian.

    As Luo Jian thought, he could not help shaking his head. His attention had all gone to choctes. But he could not be med for this. After ten years of staying in Asura Realm, he did not sleep well or have meals. His poor sense of smell and taste buds could only smell(taste)¡ªthe smell(taste) of blood.

    However, the food-type props in the secret chamber were usually quite delicious.

    Luo Jian opened a packet of chocte and chewed on it. Just as he was nibbling on chocte, he felt someone walking towards him. He raised his head to take a look. It was the captain of Team Ghost Shadow again.

    ¡°Kid, I think you¡¯ve been here for a long time, and you¡¯ve been staring at us. Are you interested in joining us?¡± However, even so, Luo Jian still recognized a trace of expectation in his tone. It seemed that the young man had been paying attention to Luo Jian and seemed to be optimistic about him.

    Luo Jian did not like him. He did not like a stranger draped in Xing Yan¡¯s skin, although it was really shameless to say so...... After all, this body should have belonged to the young man in front of him.

    However, ording to the future developments, this fellow should have failed in the secret chamber before he was turned into a stalker.

    Luo Jian bit his chocte and raised his head to look at Xing Yan. The look in his eyes appeared gloomy.

    The look in the child¡¯s eyes was so gloomy that Xing Yan vaguely felt a sense of oppression. He was surprised that a child could give him such a feeling. He was also a little excited, as if he was caught unprepared to find such a treasure.

    Just as he wanted to say something, the child suddenly interrupted him: ¡°I really need to join a team.¡±

    Luo Jian blinked: ¡°Your team seems to be good, too.¡±

    Xing Yanughed and said: ¡°I want to test your skills.¡±

    ¡°Fighting arena?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Xing Yan said as he took out a piece of paper from his pocket. On it, several big words were written on it: ¡®Single yer application to join a fighting arena.¡¯

    ¡°You just need to touch the note and say the four words ¡®I agree to join,¡¯ and you will be able to enter the room with me.¡±

    Luo Jian nced at the short and thin man in Team Ghost Shadow: ¡°I thought he¡¯s the examiner today.¡±

    ¡°Different people should be treated differently. Besides, you aren¡¯t afraid of how powerful I am, are you?¡± The tone of the boy was as arrogant as ever.

    However, Luo Jian responded with a gloomyugh: ¡°Just be happy if you don¡¯t get your teeth smashed in by me.¡±

    Of course, Xing Yan did not think that he would be beaten by a little brat to the state where his teeth got smashed in. Luo Jian also didn¡¯t want to expose his strength too much in front of the teenager. Since he had left the Asura Realm and returned to the secret chamber, Luo Jian tried his best to restrain himself. Although he often looked for people to fight while carrying a stalker¡¯s identity, he still kept it in check. He only took out one-tenth of his strength and pretended that he was fighting with all his strength.

    He was even willing to allow others to beat him up so much that he became a mass of bruises.

    There was no other way because in Luo Jian¡¯s opinion, these yers in the secret chamber were fragile and ss-like. It seemed that they would be broken just by his using a little force, forcing Luo Jian into a situation where when he beat people, it felt like he was tickling them instead. Although just by tickling them, his strength would bash their faces in.

    In Crimson Asura Realm, everyone fought to their deaths. Everyone would do their best to fight until they died. They did not know how to control their strength. They did not need to worry about other people¡¯s lives. In any case, everyone woulde back to life. After getting used to this kind of battle......

    Luo Jian could not wait to build another Crimson Asura Realm!

    The fighting here was too subdued! Couldn¡¯t even have a good time ying!

    From after he exited from the Crimson Asura Realm until now, the only time Luo Jian ever had a good fight was with Clown. Although it was just a simpleparison, the strength of Clown was obviously much stronger than that of ordinary yers, especially his skill that would allow him to transform himself without limits.

    However, today, Luo Jian once again felt such good prowess from the young man Xing Yan. Spatial weapons were really cheat-like weapons. They could appear invisible or visible and could hide the other party¡¯s breath. In particr, young Xing Yan had a strange intuition which enabled him to sessfully avoid Luo Jian¡¯s attack at various times. He deserved the nickname Ghost Shadow. However...... he was still a little inexperienced.

    There were yers and monsters in Asura Realm too numerous to count who possessed cheat-like skills.

    Luo Jian had always thought that if he failed to truly destroy the secret chamber, he would have tomit suicide. Ying would probably open the doors to the Asura Realm and let the monsters who had been fighting together for ten years, decades, or even longere out to bombard the chambers. These monsters did hold the possibility of destroying the secret chamber.

    ¡°It¡¯s like a Gu,¡± Luo Jian thought and muttered to himself.

    The youth opposite him was short of breath and did not understand what Luo Jian had said. He looked to Luo Jian: ¡°What do you say?¡±

    ¡°Ah, I mean Gu, that Gu, do you know about Gu?¡±

    Xing Yan frowned and did not quite understand the child¡¯s unconstrained thinking. The entirety of the child gave off strange vibes. Now they were engaged in a fierce battle, but the other party did not seem to be involved in the fight. When they fought, the child¡¯s actions were filled with carelessness. The child almost did not make any moves. He simply avoided the attacks and asionally knocked Xing Yan¡¯s head with an umbre. Although he acted in this manner, his power¡ª

    This was the first time that Xing Yan felt how the word ¡®unfathomable¡¯ was written.

    ¡°The insect you mentioned is a kind of witchcraft. I remember it was said that the poisonous insects were put in small containers and allowed to fight and devour each other. The insect that survived atst would be something terrifying,¡± Xing Yan said, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it, but it seems to be that.¡±

    ¡°So...... what if the poisonous insects were reced by human beings? Or other monsters with simr human intelligence? Hundreds of thousands of them put together, and let them fight each other. What do you think will happen?¡±

    Xing Yan could not understand what the child was thinking about, but he was not quite like a child to think of these.

    ¡°Maybe the final winner would be an incredibly powerful monster, if it could stand out among hundreds of people.¡±

    After hearing these words, Luo Jian suddenly raised his head and raised his umbre. He pointed the tip of the red umbre at Xing Yan. Then heughed grimly and said, ¡°Do you want to see it? The monster that stands out among thousands of people!¡±

    T/N: Apologies in advance-I¡¯ll be taking a 1-2 weeks¡¯ break from Tuesday onwards. My lovely editors chose to edit the chapters I will be supposedly posting if I¡¯m not away, so I¡¯ll post those chapters after I¡¯m back. (I¡¯ll be making a discord announcement as well on Tues/Weds exining this.) In the event where there are kofi chapters, I¡¯ll be posting them when I¡¯m back as well.

 Chapter 166 - The Corridor of Time (XXII)

    <h4>Chapter 166 - The Corridor of Time (XXII)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    Why did that happen?!

    Xing Yan was sweating as he gazed at the child standing in front of him. The child had been standing here all this time. Since he entered this independent fighting arena, he had never moved at all, not even an inch!

    The arena was simr to an ancient Roman bullring with a huge circr tform in the middle, surrounded by spectators high up, although there was no audience in the audience sitting area. The arena was incredibly quiet. There was a dazzling sun in the sky. The sun was too bright and hot. When Xing Yan retreated to a safe distance, he could not help wiping his forehead.

    Luo Jian was standing in the middle of the arena. He was no longer holding his red umbre but held an ordinary short knife. The knife was exactly the same as the de in Xing Yan¡¯s hand. At first nce, it appearedpletely identical.

    ¡°I have the same knife as yours.¡± Luo Jian raised the de in his hand. It was an ordinary ck tactical assault knife. The total length of the de was only 20-30 cm. The de was very dark and could not even reflect light.

    ¡°But the difference is......¡± Luo Jian continued: ¡°The knife in my hand is just an ordinary one. It does not have any power. It is ordinary and unimportant. Even in the eyes of many powerful yers, it is quite fragile, and it will break when it is folded...¡±

    Luo Jian held the ordinary knife and allowed the weapon to flip flexibly between his fingers. He tilted his head, raised his eyelids, and looked at Xing Yan as if he was mocking someone. He said, ¡°But even so, you still can¡¯t break through into my perimeters.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, I have to admit my inferiority in shame...¡± Xing Yan did not intend to give up. He stepped back half a step as he felt cold sweat emitting from himself. The de in his hand trembled slightly. When he finished thest syble of this sentence, his figure disappeared from Luo Jian¡¯s sight.

    Luo Jian knew that the other party had once again entered the ¡®invisible¡¯ state. No, it should be said that he used his spatial power to create a space door for a short time. Then, Xing Yan could cross through this door and reach another ce from one ce in just an instant.

    It was a bit like Doraemon¡¯s Anywhere door in his childhood memories.

    Because it did not take time to cross through space, it might be more appropriate to use ¡®blink¡¯ to describe it. And in the process of ¡®blinking¡¯, Xing Yan¡¯s body and breath would disappear from the world temporarily. No one knew where he would appear in the next second. It might be on top of your head, behind you, or even under your feet.

    It was very difficult to deal with such an enemy because it was impossible to predict his attacks. His behavior and trajectory werepletely unpredictable. He might appear directly in front of you and send a knife at you, or he might appear behind you...... but who knew? Most people had already had their throats cut by him in that instant when they discovered where Xing Yan was.

    However, Xing Yan found that his attack had no effect on Luo Jian.

    No matter where he appeared¡ªbehind Luo Jian, above his head, and of course, he had tried appearing head on...... Luo Jian almost instantly perceived where Xing Yan would appear...... No, or before he appeared, he had already known where Xing Yan would attack, so every swing of a knife he waved at Luo Jian would be blocked in time by him.

    The battlested more than ten minutes, and Xing Yan consumed a lot of mental and physical strength, but Luo Jian still stood in the same ce.

    No, it can¡¯t go on like this. I have to change my way of attacking.

    For the first time, Xing Yan met such an enemy that was so difficult to deal with.

    Xing Yan always had a congenital advantage in strength. Since he could first use his spatial ability, he could defeat most of his enemies. Even if some people were more powerful than him, it guaranteed that he could defeat the other party.

    Therefore, this was the first time that Xing Yan met a person like Luo Jian. With an ordinary short knife, Luo Jian could build himself into an iron wall to defend against all possible attacks from all directions.

    ¡°You have great strength,¡± Luo Jian said. He felt a little nostalgic, ¡°You let me recall my days on the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Battlefield?¡± Xing Yan opened up a distance between him and Luo Jian as he had a standoff with Luo Jian. When he heard the other party speaking, he absent-mindedly answered the other party.

    Luo Jianughed. ¡°Yes, the battlefield. It was a very chaotic ce. Everyone around me was my enemy. I never knew what kind of attack would appear all around me in the next second. These attacks were out to kill me or deal with me. Therefore, I had formed a habit¡ªtaking up defense became instinctive for me.¡±

    Luo Jian showed the de in his hand to Xing Yan. He looked at Xing Yan. ¡°I will not guess where you will attack because no matter what kind of attack you use, I am sure I can block it. This is something instinctive for me. Before your attack arrives, my body has been ready to defend against any attacks.¡±

    ¡°Inst... inctive?¡± What Luo Jian said turned Xing Yan¡¯s inner world into a spectacr mess. He lowered his voice and asked, ¡°You said you spent your days on a battlefield previously...... Is there such a ce in the secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°Who knows?¡± Luo Jian shook his head. He suddenly threw the knife in his hand and changed it into his red umbre again. But after that, he ced the umbre on the ground casually, and thereafter, he said to Xing Yan, ¡°Now, it¡¯s my turn to attack.¡±

    ¡°Attack? Aren¡¯t you going to use your weapon?¡± Xing Yan inconceivably nced at Luo Jian. He seemed to be angry: ¡°Are you looking down on me?¡±

    ¡°No, how could I...¡± Luo Jian cunningly exined: ¡°For a period of time, because I had no weapons, I took away the enemy¡¯s weapons to deal with them, and in fact, my umbre was not suitable for fighting...¡±

    Xing Yan did not reply immediately. First, he narrowed his eyes a little, and after that, he squatted down to stare at Luo Jian. Luo Jian¡¯s height was much shorter than his. Only in this way could he maintain the same line of sight as the other party, and he tried to understand Luo Jian¡¯s mentality this way.

    ¡°You¡¯re smart. You¡¯ll learn from your opponent inbat. Observe, imitate, learn, and master it.¡±

    Luo Jian stared at what Xing Yan was doing. Somehow, his interest seemed to be sparked. Such an interest inducedughter from Luo Jian. He seemed to posture himself into his attack pose, and at the same time, he said to Xing Yan: ¡°Now, let me test your skills.¡±

    ¡°The captain has been in there for more than an hour.¡±

    On A Lone Boat trading ground, the remaining three members of Team Ghost Shadow huddled together to discuss. As they could not see what was going on in the fighting arena, of course it would be impossible for them to know the situation in the arena. However, time dragged on. Almost all the yers in A Lone Boat¡®s trading grounds had emptied out, and only these three people were left.

    ¡°Was it the brat who went in with the captain?¡± Today¡¯s examiner team member in Team Ghost Shadow started talking. He was only about 1.45 meters tall and was a little shorter than most girls. He could almost be called a dwarf; he was also very thin. His stature appeared like Luo Jian¡¯s because both had a child¡¯s stature. He was wearing a ckbat suit that did not match with his body, but he carried a big crossbow bigger than himself on his back.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the child who talked to the team captain previously, but he doesn¡¯t look very powerful.¡± The other party opened their mouth. The person had covered their entire body up tightly, wearing a mask, gloves, and a hat. They only revealed a pair of eyes and even wore goggles.

    One would not be able to tell this person¡¯s gender. Their voice sounded rather unisex.

    Finally, thest person also spoke. He looked like a very ordinary tall man, probably of European descent. His hair was xen, his eyes were brown, and he had distinct facial features, but he appeared more like an Asian. He was 1.9 meters tall. With his tall stature, he appeared rather dashing. He said:

    ¡°But a little brat trapped the captain in there for a full hour. We will have to start our next secret chamber escape soon. If they don¡¯te out, we will be forced to enter the arena.¡±

    ¡°Could it be that an ident urred?¡± The short dwarf said, lugging the crossbow on his back.

    ¡°Not likely; with the captain¡¯s ability, even if there is any ident, he can easily escape.¡±

    Then, while several people were waiting anxiously, there was a space distortion on the trading ground. Then the door of the fighting arena was opened, and Xing Yan and Luo Jian returned to A Lone Boat.

    The arena was a secret chamber for specialbat training. There was no ¡®death¡¯ in the arena. Even if a yer experienced a fatal attack in the arena, the victim would stay on the verge of death and would never truly die. Simrly, any damage you received in the arena would disappear the moment you exited from the arena.

    But though physical injuries would be eliminated, it did not mean that the mental injuries would easily dissipate simply if one said so.

    A typical example would be the current teenage Xing Yan.

    From the moment he came out, he almost had doubts about his strength. His self-confidence was hit to some extent. He was wondering whether he had the strength to continue to lead his team.

    ¡°You do possess it.¡± At this time, Luo Jian seemed to have guessed what Xing Yan was thinking. The child stood beside him and held one of Xing Yan¡¯s hands, used to depending on him. He raised his head and looked at Xing Yan. He uttered, ¡°You have incredible potential.¡±

    ¡°Are you really praising me?¡±

    Xing Yan was deeply frustrated by his ridiculous defeat. He had never lost so thoroughly before, in such a way that he did not even have the time to counterattack. Within mere seconds, he was instantly KO¡¯d by a child.

    He did not even see how the other party acted. He felt a pain in his neck, and just like that, he was hit by a hand chop from the enemy. At that moment, he fainted. When he woke up, the child was lying on his body in a strange manner...... Yes, he was lying on his body with his small face on his chest. When he woke up, he was still staring at Xing Yan with his grey eyes.

    The child¡¯s body was soft and squishy. It seemed that he had no strength at all, especially when Luo Jianpletely shrank into a ball when he curled up. He looked like some sort of pitiful little animal, and when Xing Yan fought with this child in the beginning, he even had the misconception that he seemed to be ying with a child.

    But soon he knew that it was not his misconception.

    What was the matter with those thin arms and legs...... that possessed such monstrous power!?

    Xing Yan held Luo Jian¡¯s small hand and ced it into his palm, pinching it. After their fight, Luo Jian suddenly became very obedient. If Xing Yan called for him, he would head over. When Xing Yan touched his little hand, the child would not resist. He also stared at Xing Yan incessantly with his big teary eyes, making others feel that he was very obedient and loveable...... Xing Yan did not know where this feeling came from, but he simply felt that.

    But when the child fought, he was really like a devil that came from hell. Killing intent and the scent of blood shrouded himpletely. When the child stood in front of him, Xing Yan felt like he was facing an army that had been tempered after charging out from a sea of blood.

    But when he was not fighting......

    Xing Yan picked up Luo Jian and raised him up. The child was very light. When he carried him, he felt that Luo Jian was about the same weight as a kitty. He would hug his red umbre and curl into a ball. When he was carried, he would look at Xing Yan timidly. No matter how fragile one wanted him to look, he would appear like that. No matter how pitiful one wanted him to look, he would appear like that as well. Compared to the killing god that would kill a buddha when a buddha appeared and kill a devil when a devil appeared...... it was a vast difference!

    Could it be that this fellow was acting?

    Xing Yan, holding the child in his hands, could not help but deeply frown. He vaguely felt that there was something wrong with the child. However, he thought about it carefully and could not understand what was wrong.

    At this time, the child also interrupted his thoughts with a soft voice. The child said, ¡°Now, I am qualified to...... join your team?¡±

    ¡°With your strength, there is no need for you to join a team.¡±

    This was the great truth. Although Xing Yan did not really know what kind of things the child had experienced, his strength and IQ were notparable to that of a child. The only proper exnation was that the child was not a real child, but a highly experienced yer. Only by using a highly experienced yer¡¯s props or other methods could he turn into the current appearance of a child.

    If this was the case, then there was no need for such a powerful yer to join Team Ghost Shadow. Even though Team Ghost Shadow was now the strongest team in name, that was only for now. He knew the strength of his team, and there were countless teams of yers waiting to catch up to them.

    Moreover, it might not be a good omen for Team Ghost Shadow to be in the first ce all the time. Xing Yan was quite clear on the principle that destruction pursued the great. Therefore, in recent years, he also intended to stay low-key. He even intended to find a yer who was not particrly powerful to join in to lower the overall level of the team.

    Luo Jian seemed to find that Xing Yan was not willing to keep himself within his bags. Luo Jian was in a hurry and crawled up to Xing Yan¡¯s body. He leaned against the other party and said, ¡°I will be an ordinary transparent person.¡±

    Hearing this, Xing Yan found it both funny and annoying: ¡°What is an ordinary transparent person?¡±

    ¡°Well...... Someone not offering their help, not interfering and not participating.¡± The child replied solemnly, ¡°Your secret chamber escape will be aplished by you. You can think of me as a passer-by who is just here to buy soy sauce.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of allowing you to join?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s some meaning in it!¡± Luo Jian suddenly narrowed the distance between himself and Xing Yan. He almost stuck his nose onto Xing Yan¡¯s. Grasping his umbre, he covered himself and Xing Yan. He seemed to see through Xing Yan¡¯s everything, he said¡ª

    ¡°Because I know that you want to obtain such strength from me, whether you openly snatch it or secretly steal it.¡±

    Luo Jian was right.

    Xing Yan really wanted to gain strength. It was the first time he met such a powerful opponent, but in the face of defeat, he was actually the kind of person who would get braver the more he failed. He did not think that he would fail again and again. Luo Jian¡¯s appearance made him want to defeat Luo Jian......

    And the best way to beat your opponent was to learn from your opponent.

    Without thinking too much, Xing Yan took out the note in his pocket and wrote a short invitation for Luo Jian to join the team. Thereafter, Luo Jian signed the note with a stroke of a pen. They had officially be team members.

    The other members of Team Ghost Shadow were still confused, but they did not have time to ask because their next secret chamber escape was about to begin. A Lone Boat was floating along the sea of clouds as the breeze blew. Thest stters of dusk light disappeared, and night gradually arrived.

 Chapter 167 - Ancient Remains (I)

    <h4>Chapter 167 - Ancient Remains (I)</h4>

    Editors: Kitty & Humu

    Crimson Asura Realm.

    Ying stayed under the big tree day after day for a long time. He crossed the battlefield that was filled with shing knives and swords and came to the ce from which Luo Jian had left. The big grey wolf was nestled tightly there, and his soft fur covered the ground.

    ¡°I should have thought it was yours.¡±

    Ying climbed up the steep rock, walked to the wolf, squatted, and touched his head.

    The wolf did not move and kept his eyes tightly shut, and he was calm as if he were dead. Ying knew what he was waiting for, and Ying knew why he did not want to leave. Because this wolf was the embodiment of a part of Xing Yan¡¯s soul.

    In earlier periods, the stalker had entrusted a small part of his soul to Ying. In fact, such a way of describing it was very abstract because generally speaking, a person¡¯s soul was inseparable. If it was forcibly divided from the person, the person would be delirious and their bodies would weaken until they died, and the broken soul could not bebined into one again. Finally, it would disappear, and the soul could not obtain an afterlife.

    But the existence of the secret chamber may vite this.

    The stalker had always told Ying that his soul was born from the darkness and primal chaos of the secret chamber. But in fact, Ying himself understood that there could never be any life or will in the real darkness or primal chaos because there was nothing in the endless darkness¡ªno matter, no life, and no soul could exist.

    The secret chamber would never make such a low-level mistake as allowing a strange soul to enter the stalker¡¯s body to control the stalker¡¯s actions. Because of the secret chamber¡¯s will, the props it could control should not have a self-consciousness. No one wanted to attack the enemy with a weapon that would not cooperate with their actions, would disobey theirmands, and would wipe clean the chance they created.

    So when the secret chamber¡¯s will turned yers into stalkers, they would lock their souls, smash their self-consciousnesses, and turn them into obedient puppets. From then on, they would never be able to speak andmunicate, and they could only act ording to orders. They would never live their lives beyond the cages made of their bodies, which trapped their self-consciousnesses, never to obtain afterlives.

    Logically thinking, the secret chamber should have discovered and destroyed such an atypical stalker long before, but up to now, as a stalker, Xing Yan still lived very well, and he was even alive and kicking. asionally, Xing Yan even boldly disobeyed the orders of the secret chamber, such as when he grandly saved Luo Jian¡¯s life a few times.

    In fact, Ying was quite puzzled. He guessed that something strange had happened to Xing Yan, which was rted to the secret chamber¡¯s will. It could allow him to disobey orders without receiving punishment, and he could keep his will but not be destroyed...... All these factorsbined shaped him into how he was today.

    But what exactly happened?

    Before Luo Jian arrived at the Crimson Asura Realm, Ying had nned to hand over the body of ¡®Abyss¡¯ to Xing Yan. He wanted to hand over to him the fulfillment of the task to destroy the secret chamber and save the world. Xing Yan had extraordinary willpower and fighting capabilities. If he were free, he could be trained in the Asura Realm.

    However, after thinking for a long time, Ying was unable to decide. That was because there was something he was especially doubtful about on Xing Yan¡¯s body. What exactly happened, and what were the reasons that would cause Xing Yan to be different from the rest when he became a stalker? Why could he be out of sync with those of the ¡®same kind¡¯ around him?

    Was it just an ident, or was the secret chamber deliberately setting a trap for Ying?

    These suspicions made Ying feel that it was hard for him to move forward with his n. He did not carry out any actions because of his suspicions. He could only silently continue to keep his calm and irritably wait patiently. Then, Luo Jian appeared.

    But who could guarantee that Luo Jian¡¯s appearance in the Asura Realm was not also a trap specially designed for Ying by the secret chamber?

    However, when Luo Jian told Ying that Xing Yan&#k2026;&#k2026; who was the stalker, deliberately used his spatial skills to transport Luo Jian to this world, somehow, Ying breathed a sigh of relief.

    He understood that the stalker was on his side.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but you have to understand that he may never return to this ce again.¡± Ying squatted down and continued to touch the fur of the wolf with his hand. The soft touch he felt on his hand made him feel too fond of it so that he was unable to part with it.

    The wolf finally had a little reaction. He raised his eyelidszily and looked at Ying. His eyes twinkled under the blood-red light under the blood-red sunset. He turned his head to the side, changed his posture, and continued to lie on his stomach. Luo Jian had been away for a long time, and the residual smell had disappeared. But the wolf still loathed to leave this ce. He scratched the ground with his big ws, and his ears drooped. When he acted this way, he appeared strangely pitiful.

    Ying thought it was funny, but he also had tofort him: ¡°Don¡¯t worry; actually, you won¡¯t be waiting for too long.

    ¡°Because we are about to have a decisive battle soon.¡±

    .

    .

    .

    In a multi-yer secret chamber instance.

    Location: Ancient Remains in Space.

    Time limit: Three Hours

    Number of people: Five.

    Objective: These remains in space were an abandoned space station floating in space. Due to the wrong directives given out by unknown space aliens, the asteroid would collide into and destroy this ce in three hours. The mission objective was to find a lifeboat to leave the space station.

    Special tips: This time, the secret chamber only allowed the use of modern hot weapons or ordinary cold weapons. Futuristic weapons had been unlocked and could be used. Magic props were not avable. Magic weapons and skills would be weakened to the greatest extent.

    This was written on the back of the note that described their mission:

    [Those things came in, but how did theye in?]

    ¡°Oh! Heavens! You can¡¯t use magic...... Won¡¯t I be deemed useless here?¡± The tall and handsome man of mixed ancestry and brown hair in the team voiced out. His name was John. Luo Jian did not know his Chinese name. His face was covered in a pained expression, and apanied by a tone as if he felt the situation was inconceivable, it would seem that he was this group¡¯s magician.

    But Luo Jian still wanted to rebuke him.

    This fe was at least 1.89 m tall. He had a tall and strong figure. If one said that he was not great in closebat just by carrying a machete and swinging it around, Luo Jian would not believe it. However, this fool was a magic user because Luo Jian could already see that he had taken out a super long magic staff with arge icy-blue crystal gem on top of it.

    ¡°We were also given a map of the space station with the location of the lifeboat on it.¡± The dwarf, who was almost the same height as little Luo Jian, started to speak as he shook the map on his hand. His name was Wang Yue. In this team, his role was a scout. Because he was small and very flexible, his weapon was a crossbow.

    The captain, Xing Yan, also took the map and looked at it. He frowned slightly and said, ¡°This space station is very big. It has four floors. The lifeboat is ced on the bottommost level of the station. But we don¡¯t know where we are now...... Anyway, we should just head down.¡±

    ¡°This time, the secret chamber that we are supposed to escape from is really high-end, and the background has actually be a futuristic space station,¡± Wang Yue continued. He was rather eloquent. He was obviously interested in future technology and immediately began to observe the surrounding terrain.

    They were now in a room simr to a rest area, and the squarish room felt very clean. There were several resting pods fixed on the ground. There was a small, high table next to each resting pod. Some things simr to t tes were fixed on the tables. It seemed that these t tes could be used to open the resting pods so one could use it.

    But the power indicator was off, and the rest area was dark. The only light source was the shlights held by the four people in the team.

    Incidentally, Luo Jian also held amp in his hand, and themp had be a deformed version of theherfiremp. Because magic weapons had been weakened, the use of themp seemed to be only for lighting. Of course, because Luo Jian¡¯s strength was too great, themp could still be used. If others used thismp, it was estimated that themp would not even light up.

    Xing Yan took out his weapon and waved it at will. He also said, ¡°My spatial abilities will probably be affected...... No, I think there¡¯s not much of an influence on it, so we can only use hot weapons or ordinary cold weapons here.¡±

    Wang Yue said: ¡°In fact, it means that we can only use ordinary weapons. It¡¯s the first time that magic weapons have been weakened to this extent...¡± Wang Yue said. He suddenly looked at Luo Jian, who was beside Xing Yan, and said: ¡°It¡¯s the first time that I saw someone who would actually continue to use their weapons when their weapons were weakened to such an extent.¡±

    Luo Jian shook themp in his hand, and the faint blue light caused his surroundings to be in beautiful blue shades.

    The one who did not speak in the team was the one who wrapped up their whole body such that one could not tell their gender. Luo Jian only got to know their name from Xing Yan. Their name was Jiang Li. Their weapon was a little rare and special. Their weapon was an inexhaustible powder. They used poison.

    Wang Yue said to Luo Jian: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you introduce yourself?¡±

    Luo Jian pointed to himself: ¡°Me? My name is Abyss.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything else you can say besides your name?¡±

    ¡°My hobbies are eating chocte and fighting.¡± After Luo Jian was done talking, he took out some chocte from his pocket in passing and chewed on it. Before entering the secret chamber, he had stuffed a pile of chocte into his pocket because in the secret chamber, he could not use a GM¡¯s authority at will.

    Wang Yue felt that after asking that question, it was the same as not asking at all, so he looked at Xing Yan. Xing Yan looked at Luo Jian, who was ncing at Xing Yan as he leaned on him, tightly hugging his thigh. He was at wit¡¯s end, so he picked up the child and let him curl in his arms and continue to eat chocte.

    Xing Yan¡¯s behavior made several teammates around him turn silent. This development was not quite right: was the captain the kind of person who liked children? Where had the usual noble and cool manner gone?

    However, even though the team members did not understand, Xing Yan didn¡¯t want to exin too much. As he hugged the child, he felt that the child¡¯s body was soft and warm, and the child¡¯s fragile heartbeat could be easily detected. It seemed like if he used a little strength, the child in his arms would break.

    Such a feeling was very strange. Xing Yan did not quite understand what was going on. He suddenly felt that there was something in the child that felt familiar to him. It felt the same as when he met an old friend. However, Xing Yan was also sure that he had never seen the child anywhere before. So where did this misconception of familiaritye from?

    On the contrary, Luo Jian did not think so much. He ate all the chocte and wiped his mouth using his clothes. He rubbed himself in Xing Yan¡¯s embrace. He was secretly a little pleased inwardly as he hugged Xing Yan¡¯s neck in anticipation. He was even not willing to get down from Xing Yan now.

    Because not long ago, in the arena A Lone Boat, Luo Jian had discovered something about Xing Yan.

    The stalker once told Luo Jian that he was not the true Xing Yan.

    Luo Jian thought what he meant was that Xing Yan, the yer, was different from Xing Yan, the stalker.

    However, it seemed that that was not quite right.

    Although there were differences in their personalities, the wavelengths of their souls were the same. Rather, it seemed that the yer Xing Yan seemed to be...... moreplete. As a stalker, Xing Yan seemed to be missing something.

    He was still him, but he seemed to be no longer him.

    Luo Jian felt this difference. His perception was so keen that he could easily see through some things, but he was also muddled about some things. However, he could confirm some facts: Xing Yan was indeed Xing Yan, and he was not some other soul that upied Xing Yan¡¯s body after Xing Yan died......

    The confirmation of this fact made Luo Jian feel a little relieved because in this way, Xing Yan, whether his soul or his body, would belong to Luo Jian.

    This was the first time that Luo Jian had felt happy in the many days aftering out from the Asura Realm. He tightly hugged Xing Yan¡¯s neck. Regardless of whether he was familiar with him or not, he boldly and arrogantly directly bit the handsome face of the other party.

    Afterwards, Xing Yan touched his cheek helplessly. It was strange that he was not angry at such rude actions made by the child. His heart was filled with the incredible feeling of wanting to indulge and care for the other. This feeling did not belong to him, but it also actually belonged to him. It was like the feelings had crossed through space and came from another space-time.

    The ultimate belief of wanting to protect someone.

    T/N: I¡¯m back! 2 Chapters a day will be released until Monday. Then releases will go back to 1 chapter a day from Thurs-Sun. Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes and your continuous support in EIC. Love you guys. I read each and everyment and really appreciate all yourments. I¡¯ll not still too well now, but I¡¯ll still try my best to reply to everyment that needs replying.

 Chapter 168 - Ancient Remains (II)

    <h4>Chapter 168 - Ancient Remains (II)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    ¡°The secret chamber¡¯s mission seems to be a little simple, without many puzzle-solving elements. It¡¯s just a simple escape mission. In this case, we should pay attention to what kind of monsters will appear in the space station, and the problems lie in fighting.¡± Wang Yue spread the map on the ground and began to discuss their uing n to escape from here with everyone.

    As expected, the professional team was poles apart. The entire team carried out their ns strictly and had a proper division ofbor. Even if Luo Jian could only be regarded as a yer that came to buy the soy sauce, they still gave Luo Jian a task¡ªto obediently hang on the shoulders of Captain Xing Yan.

    As it happened, that was what Luo Jian had wished for. He immediately climbed on Xing Yan¡¯s shoulders. He shook his head and said that he would not participate in whatever they wanted to do when escaping from the secret chamber. Although Luo Jian knew that, maybe because of his participation, the secret chamber would raise the difficulty of the mission by more than one level higher when Team Ghost Shadow was trying to escape from the secret chamber.

    Since Luo Jian had joined ¡®any team,¡¯ ording to themands given by the secret chamber, he thought that he should have been given his next task by the secret chamber. Thinking of this, Luo Jian quietly took out the note in his pocket and looked at it. The words on the note were indeed updated and became a sentence like this:

    [Dear Abyss, congrattions on joining Team Ghost Shadow sessfully. Please gain the trust of your team in the following time.]

    [Here, we must remind you that we have worked out a preliminary n to enhance your strength, so in this Space Remains secret chamber, we will raise the difficulty of the chamber to the highest level: Hell-level difficulty. You may encounter an unprecedented fatal threat. Please do not conserve your strength; do your best to protect yourself and the safety of your team members.]

    ¡°F*ck!¡± Luo Jian stared at the note in surprise for a long time. After some time, he could not help but blurt out a swear.

    Luo Jian¡¯s hurling of invectives did not sound soft, and his voice immediately spread to the ears of every member of the team. All of them turned their heads to nce at Luo Jian but only saw his pale little face.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Xing Yan noticed that the child was looking at the note that dispatched their mission and kneaded Luo Jian¡¯s head. How fluffy.

    ¡°I was cheated.¡± Luo Jian squeezed the paper into a ball. Although he wanted to tear it into pieces, unfortunately he could not, so he could only frown as he deliberated, and after that he put the paper ball into his pocket.

    Xing Yan noticed something. He questioned Luo Jian, ¡°Is the content of the task on your note different from ours?¡±

    Luo Jian said: ¡°Far from that the same, it¡¯s simplypletely different from your note! Is it trying to put me in my ce now?¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly jumped down and leapt off of Xing Yan¡¯s shoulder. He went to stand in front of everyone, took a deep breath, turned to all his team members and said, ¡°My friends, it seems that our action n will be changed.¡±

    ¡°Changed into?¡±

    ¡°All of you will only have to heed this single statement. In our following actions, you have to follow my orders.¡±

    After Luo Jian spoke, he was met with strong resistance. Several members of the team said they did not understand. Wang Yue first retorted: ¡°Why? You are just a neer who just joined our team. When ites to giving us orders, you don¡¯t have the qualifications.¡±

    ¡°What if Captain gives me that qualification?¡± Luo Jian looked at Xing Yan.

    The other teammates turned their heads and looked at Xing Yan. Because they had all rushed into the secret chamber instance, Xing Yan had no way and time to exin too much about Luo Jian. Although he knew that doing so might leave a knot in his heart for his team members, Xing Yan inexplicably trusted Luo Jian a lot, disregarding that he was just a child whose origins were unknown.

    That felt too weird. It was like being controlled by something.

    However, Xing Yan found that he did not want to get rid of this control. He wanted to continue feeling that way, and he wanted to continue feeling it from the bottom of his heart. No matter what kind of abyssal hell or something akin to that he faced in front of him, he didn¡¯t want to stop feeling it because if he stopped feeling it...... he felt as if he was about to lose everything.

    ¡°I will only ask you one question.¡± Xing Yan stared at Luo Jian and hesitated for a moment. Then, he said, ¡°Why did you change your mind and want to be involved now?¡±

    After that, Luo Jian had a smile as dazzling as the sunlight on his face, ¡°Because I want to protect you.¡±

    Xing Yan instantlypromised and said: ¡°I give him this right.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not logical!¡± The brown-haired John immediately cried out, and the tall magician came up to Luo Jian and lifted the thin and frail child with one hand, allowing his feet to dangle off the ground and hanging his body up in midair.

    ¡°Look at his small body, thin arms and legs...... I suspect he can¡¯t even shoot flies, let alone lead the whole team!¡± John pleadingly gazed at his captain and seemed to strongly hope that Xing Yan would change his mind, ¡°He will definitely kill us!¡±

    Smack! While John was talking, Luo Jian suddenly reached out and smacked somewhere with much force as if he was trying to kill a mosquito by pping his hands. His palms came together and sounded out with a smacking sound. Then, he looked at John and said, ¡°There are no flies here, but I¡¯ve killed other flies. Do you want to have a look?¡±

    With that, Luo Jian had opened his hand, and there was a patch of ck, a flying insect carcass of unknown species, in his originally-clean palm.

    Interestingly, the liquid secreted by the remains of the flying insect turned out to be green. It looked extremely disgusting.

    John instantly screamed in horror, ¡°F*ck, there are insects!¡± Following that, he threw Luo Jian down immediately. Contrary to his tall appearance, he was actually afraid of small insects. Was this the portrayal of the legendary theory that things would develop in the opposite direction when an extreme was reached?

    Luo Jiannded gorgeously and wiped his hands with a tissue that appeared out of nowhere. He looked around and said, ¡°This is an abandoned space station. It is located in the vast universe without life, air, and sound. However, we can stand here in good condition. It means that some equipment in the space station is still working and can provide us with oxygen and.......¡±

    Luo Jian stepped on the steel floor and continued: ¡°Oxygen and gravity. Therefore, this ce is still suitable for some living things and, therefore, giving ¡®life¡¯ to these existences.¡±

    ¡°We can first predict the dangers we may encounter in this space station...... or the enemies. First of all, this is a secret chamber set in a futuristic background. Here, we can only use restricted magic skills and weapons, so there will be no magical creatures like ghosts. The remaining options are much simpler...... What kind of threats are there on a space station in space?¡±

    ¡°Alien invasion?¡±

    ¡°Asteroid impact?¡±

    ¡°Sucked in by a ck hole?¡±

    ¡°The disintegration of a spaceship or the space station?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s words made several team members specte. Luo Jian said: ¡°On the back of the note given to us by the secret chamber, there is a line like this: ¡®Those things came in, but how do theye in?¡¯¡±

    Thus, Xing Yan said: ¡°It clearly implies that there are other creatures invading this space station, which are different from human beings.¡±

    ¡°That is also a possibility.¡± Luo Jian went to the resting pods in the rest area. When Luo Jian walked over, they finally had a clearparison on the difference in physiques. The people in the team found that these resting pods were different. These...... were extremely huge pods. They were about three meters long. They were very different from the average height of ordinary people on Earth.

    ¡°This space station, it could be an alien space station.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Wang Yue noticed all this and took out the map of the space station that was given by the chamber, ¡°But this map......pletely adopted symbols that humans can understand, and there are Chinese and English signs on it.¡±

    ¡°Because it was specially prepared by the secret chamber for fear that we could not understand thenguage of alien creatures,¡± Luo Jian said, carrying hisherfiremp as he went to the door of the rest area. This door was made of pure metal with special patterns on it, appearing rather...... retro and different.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll just listen to yourmands.¡± After Luo Jian uttered a few sentences, John also noticed how different the child was from an ordinary child. He alsopromised and said, ¡°So what should we do next?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just head to our destination,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°The secret chamber is telling us to find a lifeboat. Before that, we have to determine which route we should use to go forward......¡±

    ¡°Wang Yue, it¡¯s up to you,¡± Luo Jian said, turning his head to the short man, and he said with a smile, ¡°Can I trust you?¡±

    Wang Yue had no choice but to turn over the map and said with pride: ¡°Of course you can trust me. I am the one who possesses the legendary ¡®passive GPS¡¯ function.¡±

    What he said seemed to make Luo Jian a little confused. He looked at Xing Yan next to him. Xing Yan seemed to understand what Luo Jian was thinking and gave him a rare smile, saying: ¡°This guy is in danger most of the time...... such as always being chased by monsters. Therefore, he can find a way out in the shortest time, no matter whether he has read the map or not. Therefore, we all think that he possesses an instinct that can be used in escaping, and we call this ¡®passive GPS.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s really amazing!¡± Luo Jian immediately eximed.

    After discussing the way forward, they set out. They first walked out of the rest area and went to a long corridor. This corridor had a surreal design style, and it was set in a futuristic style that only existed in people¡¯s imaginations. The distance from the ground to the ceiling was very high, and obviously, this corridor was not designed for the height of Earth¡¯s humans.

    The walls and aisles were all made of metal. There were special and strange patterns carved along them. It was hard to describe how these patterns looked, but they looked like some sort of totem.

    However, as they approached these metal walls and touched them with their hands......

    ¡°The wall is not made of metal.¡± It was Jiang Li who touched the wall. They wrapped their whole body up and down to prevent even a trace of skin from being exposed. They spoke very little. Throughout the whole discussion, they remained silent, but they spoke at this time.

    Jiang Li¡¯s words aroused Luo Jian¡¯s interest. Luo Jian also went forward and touched the wall which looked like a ¡®metallic material.¡¯ Soon...... he also found a distinctive fact.

    ¡°It¡¯s as if it¡¯s alive.¡± Wang Yue also came to touch the wall. He pressed his finger on the wall. There was some dust on it. The corridor seemed to show no sign of biological activity for a long time. The ground and walls were covered with dust.

    Although it was covered with dust, asionally, they would feel that the wall seemed to be undting, but the undtion was so small that it was invisible to the naked eye, so even humans would be unable to feel it.

    ¡°It¡¯s really alive. I even feel something like a pulse,¡± John also said, ¡°It¡¯s as if the wall is breathing and it is almost as if we are in the body of some giant living creature.¡±

    Living creature......?

    Luo Jian felt that he thought of something and something shed in his mind, but when he tried to capture his thoughts, that sh of inspiration disappeared.

    ¡°Forget about it and move on.¡±

    Luo Jian said this, leading the party to continue to head forward. Through Wang Yue¡¯s superb road recognition skills, they soon...... got lost.

    ¡°Is that what you call passive GPS?¡± Luo Jian stood along with the others in front of a sealed-off walkway. They passed through several simr long corridors and walked through a few rooms that housed strange instruments. They endlessly felt deja vu; a feeling of ¡®did I pass through here?¡¯ arose, and finally they reached a dead end.

    Wang Yue retorted instinctively: ¡°Mine is a ¡®passive GPS.¡¯ When I am actively using it, I can¡¯t start it...... Well, probably.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean I have to make you feel a sense of crisis before you can activate your passive GPS function perfectly?¡± Luo Jian started to threaten the other party.

    Wang Yue felt the threat and immediately waved his hand in a panic: ¡°This is not the same! I headed here in ordance to the map...... It¡¯s strange that it clearly shows that this road can be crossed. Why is this so?¡±

    Because their progress was hindered, the people were very aware that they were in a team and started to investigate around to see what could be triggered...... like a mechanism or something like it. John looked at the wall that blocked their way for a long time. He found that the totem-like patterns on the wall were not the same as those on other walls.

    ¡°Is this a door?¡±

    Wang Yue also agreed: ¡°Yes, this must be a door! The map that the secret chamber gave us should never be wrong.¡±

    ¡°So we have to find the key?¡±

    Luo Jian shook his head: ¡°There is no keyhole on this door. Except for the totems, the surface of it is almost smooth...... I think it is turned off because there¡¯s no energy.¡±

    This was a space station, that was, a huge spaceship. Since it was a product of future technology, it was necessary to have ¡®energy¡¯ to maintain the continual spaceship navigation¡ªof course, we did not know whether this spaceship, which may be a product from outer space, needed electricity or not.

    ¡°There¡¯s an energy control room on the map. I think that¡¯s what we call the power room.¡± Wang Yue was quite reliable in the end. He immediately made some markings on the map to mark it. But following that, he said: ¡°However, the power room seems far away from here...... but it¡¯s interesting that this huge space station has a lot of venttion ducts, so we can get to the power room quickly.¡±

    The venttion duct was very narrow. For these strong aliens who might be as tall as three meters, it was merely a small hole that was impossible for them to crawl into, but for human beings, they were just the right size...... No, it was still a little narrow.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re the only ones among us who can go in.¡± After everyone nced at the entrance of the venttion duct, they all focused their sights on Luo Jian and Wang Yue. Among them, these were the two people with the smallest figures.

    Luo Jian looked at Wang Yue, unsatisfied. He said, ¡°May I know how old you are, brotha? Why do you look to be my size?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an adult!¡± Wang Yue seemed very sensitive to this and immediately roared, ¡°It¡¯s only because of the influence of a special permanent prop in the secret chamber that I became this way. In the real world, my height is 1.8 m! One meter eight! I have to emphasize the important things twice! Don¡¯t look down on me!¡±

    Luo Jian helplessly smiled: ¡°Yes, yes, I understand.¡±

    ¡°But why are you so small?¡± After Wang Yue was done roaring, his curiosity on Luo Jian was also aroused. He stared at Luo Jian, looking at him from his left and his right, ¡°With your IQ, you also should not be a child.¡±

    ¡°As for me, of course we are different,¡± Luo Jian said with a gloomy face, ¡°First, let me introduce my identity! I am the only GM in the secret chamber! In order to satisfy the preferences of certain special yers! I will appear like a lovely child forever!¡±

    Of course, although part of what Luo Jian said waspletely true, no one in Team Ghost Shadow seemed to believe it. They eitherughed it off or muttered, ¡°Who are you lying to? The ghost?¡± They took it for granted that Luo Jian simply didn¡¯t want to tell what happened to his body, so they were very considerate and no one continued to ask.

    In the venttion duct, only Luo Jian and Wang Yue could fit. The rest of the team members had to remain in the same spot, waiting for them to head to the power room to turn on the power so that they could open the door and rid themselves of the status of being lost.

 Chapter 169 - Ancient Remains (III)

    <h4>Chapter 169 - Ancient Remains (III)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    ¡°Is this really a venttion duct? It looks rather disgusting.¡±

    Luo Jian squatted at the entrance of the venttion duct and looked around. The material inside looked like a type of silvery grey metal, but it felt like the skin of a living creature. This was especially so when the pipe was very narrow, which gave Luo Jian the illusion that he was climbing in the intestines of some giant creature.

    ¡°The symbol on the map says that this is the venttion duct. The alien creatures in this giant spaceship also seem to need air and oxygen. They made the atmosphere in the spaceship into the right environment for them through equipment like central air conditioning and venttion ducts...... most probably.¡±

    Wang Yue looked at the map as he spoke. At the same time, he took a nce at the group of team members who couldn¡¯t crawl into the venttion duct.

    ¡°Brothers, we will finish this task in 20 minutes. You guys can stand by. This ce is so big that it¡¯s horrifying. If you walk around, you¡¯ll get lost easily.¡±

    After Wang Yue instructed his team members, he took the lead as he bent down and crawled into the venttion duct, carrying his crossbow. Luo Jian watched him move but was not in a hurry to follow him. He first took a look at Xing Yan, and he noticed that Captain Xing Yan was also staring at him.

    Luo Jian felt that he seemed to see through Xing Yan¡¯s intention, so he took a small step and jumped in front of Xing Yan, reached for the hem of Xing Yan¡¯s clothes, raised his small head, and looked at Xing Yan with cute eyes.

    Xing Yan wanted tough a little. Their height difference waas too big. The child was almost as tall as Xing Yan¡¯s waist. He was not only small but also had a small face and hands. When that child stared at him with expectant eyes, Xing Yan felt that he could hardly suppress the strange and impatient impulse in his heart. It was like being scratched by a kitten¡¯s paw: very itchy.

    So he squatted down, touched the child¡¯s head, and asked him, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Luo Jian raised his chin slightly and said naturally, ¡°Kiss me.¡±

    This sentence not only surprised Xing Yan but also surprised the several yers around them.

    But following that, something even more astonishing happened...... Captain Xing Yan seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then he put out his hand to hold Luo Jian¡¯s small head and bit Luo Jian¡¯s lips.

    Naturally, the lips of such a small child were soft. Xing Yan felt some regret after kissing him. Naturally, he did not think he was a pedophile since Luo Jian also said that his appearance and his real age were totally inconsistent.

    However, Xing Yan did truly have some hidden intentions towards the child. When the other party made such a rude request, Xing Yan even felt that he did not think about it or hesitate to act.

    That was weird, wasn¡¯t it?

    Xing Yan never thought that he was the kind of person who did things without thinking. He felt the same as he did previously, but he felt that he was controlled by something. However, he did not feel the need to resist when he realized the thing was controlling him. His sixth sense seemed to perceive some things, but after careful thinking, he did not know what they were.

    Only the lovely child in front of him was real.

    Luo Jian was very happy. He rubbed Xing Yan¡¯s neck in his arms and pecked Xing Yan¡¯s mouth. Then he slowly turned back and followed Wang Yue into the venttion duct. The venttion duct was really like the intestines of some kind of creature. When Luo Jian entered it, he even felt that the venttion duct was wriggling.

    And behind Luo Jian, all the members of the team were shocked by what had happened just now. All of them stared at their family¡¯s captain, dumbfounded. John was stunned for a long time and suddenly yelled: ¡°Captain! You, could it be that&#k2026;&#k2026; the type you really like is this type?!¡±

    Xing Yan nced at the entrance of the venttion duct expressionlessly and replied, ¡°How can it be?¡±

    ¡°But...¡± John caused a greatmotion as he pointed at the entrance of the venttion duct, and the figure of Luo Jian had already disappearedpletely.

    ¡°He gave me a strange feeling,¡± Xing Yan muttered, deep in thought.

    Jiang Li, who had constantly not spoken and covered their body fully, spoke rarely: ¡°That child also gives me a strange feeling...... as if he could disappear at any time.¡±

    ¡°Why can¡¯t I feel anything?¡± John said, having his wires crossed. He waved his huge staff. ¡°I¡¯m the one being a great magician, ah!¡±

    ¡°You are too slow-witted,¡± Jiang Li responded.

    At the other side, Luo Jian followed Wang Yue¡¯s ass and climbed through the venttion duct. This reminded Luo Jian of what had happened in the Burial Grounds instance. It was just that at that time, he was being hunted and it was a matter of life or death...... Right, at that time, Clown hade to kill him. At that moment, had Clown already started to y dumb?

    ¡°So, in that way...... I was lucky not to be killed by him.¡± Luo Jian talked to himself as he crawled. But soon he felt that something was not right. He remembered that he had met another version of himself in the Burial Grounds. Yes, he was the other boy who had a red umbre, and that boy appeared exactly the same as the current Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian could not help but reveal a smiling yet unsmiling expression, ¡°Did I seed?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Wang Yue thought he was talking to himself when he heard Luo Jian¡¯s soliloquy behind him. He could not help turning his face to ask him about it.

    Luo Jian said: ¡°Nothing, I just recalled some things.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there; up ahead is the power room,¡± Wang Yue said. After saying that, he sped up and they quickly crawled to the end of the duct, but it was blocked by a small round door. Wang Yue took out a wrench from somewhere, after a burst of knocking sounded out, he directly destroyed the small door violently and entered the power room.

    The power room¡¯s space was veryrge. At first nce, it seemed that there were a lot of instruments which functions were not clear at first nce. Therefore, a few of the instruments were still on. It seemed that they were still working. Wang Yueid the map on the ground, illuminated the map with the light of a shlight, and pointed to a marked dot on the map.

    ¡°We are in the power room now. This dot represents where we can turn on the power switch. I think the secret chamber has specially prepared everything we need¡ªfrom mechanism to instruments¡ªto escape from the secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like ying an escape room game in an interster setting.¡± Luo Jian looked at the map for a second, stood up, and swayed around the huge power room that was the size of a basketball court. It was almost full of all kinds of equipment that no one understood the use for. These equipment were arranged in a line, and each of them were three or four meters high.

    ¡°Ah, the chamber itself is a huge yground.¡± After checking the map, Wang Yue stood up and said, ¡°And it¡¯s a real game that will cost your life. Every mistake made is enough to make us fall into hell forever.¡±

    Luo Jian felt his interest perk. He turned back to nce at Wang Yue. The dwarf was only a little taller than Luo Jian, who looked like a child. Wang Yue also wore a strange mask that looked to be a gas mask, only showing only a pair of smart eyes.

    ¡°What are your opinions on it?¡± Luo Jian asked him.

    ¡°Opinions?¡±

    ¡°What are your opinions on this terrifying yground, as well as the secret chambers?¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly wanted to know what these yers thought, whether they felt injustice or panic, whether they felt they really needed to leave and escape in this terrifying and distorted space-time. Or would some of them be happy to stay forever in this dangerous but thrilling world?

    ¡°No opinion.¡± Wang Yue¡¯s answer seemed very casual, and he said, ¡°I just want to survive.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just that?¡± Luo Jian doubtfully asked: ¡°When you can obtain great power from the secret chamber, when you can do whatever you want, don¡¯t you feel like you want to stay here forever?¡±

    ¡°So what if I obtain it, and so what if I lose it?¡± Wang Yue said. He found the switch in the power room and climbed up therge instrument. While pondering over the instruments, he deliberated on how to answer Luo Jian¡¯s question carelessly. He said, ¡°Human beings, like all living creatures, will survive even in such a terrifying and dangerous environment, no matter how difficult it is.

    ¡°I used to desperately want to escape from the chambers, but now, I don¡¯t think so much about it,¡± Wang Yue continued, ¡°Because I know enough about the secret chamber, I know that the hope of escaping forever is very slim. So now, I just want to live longer and go further.¡±

    ¡°Well, if there was such an opportunity for you topletely destroy the whole secret chamber and escape from this deadly space, how would you deal with it?¡± Luo Jian then asked, phrasing his question this manner.

    Wang Yue thenughed: ¡°Haha! I would never let go of such a good opportunity!¡±

    But after a while, Wang Yue suddenly and sadly said: ¡°In fact, even if you can really destroy the secret chamber, the things lost can never be returned.¡±

    Wang Yue finished speaking, and without waiting for Luo Jian to understand the meaning of his words, it seemed that he finally understood how to use the instruments in the power room. He found a huge pull rod. Compared with his dwarf¡¯s body, the pull rod was so huge that he had to tie it with a rope, and using a small tool such as an axle, he fixed it and pulled the pull rod.

    When the huge pull rod was pulled, there was a strange sounding from somewhere like the sound of some kind of machinery being activated and the long and heavy sigh of some ancient creature when it was revived. With the loud noise roaring as it dragged on in their ear, soon, the light in the power room was on.

    ¡°It worked.¡± When Wang Yue spoke, the power room waspletely on. The lights inside the space station did not seem to use light tubes and light bulbs, but the walls all around them were shining. The light emitted was not very strong but was gentle. It was an icy blue light, giving the whole space an icy-cold feeling.

    ¡°It¡¯s as if when we pulled the switch, the power in this area was restored,¡± Wang Yue said.

    However, Luo Jian frowned unconsciously and said, ¡°On the contrary, I feel that...... It seems that this energy is waking up certain ufortable things.¡±

    As if to confirm what Luo Jian said, they soon heard a strange rustling sound. The sound sounded like a lot of small creatures densely crawling together. It was scalp-numbing. These sounds first appeared on the ceiling above them, and soon they were heard outside the only big door in the power room.

    There were some terrifying creatures outside the door. Listening to this sound, it seemed that the creatures were small, but arge number of these small things were densely packed outside.

    ¡°Something¡¯sing.¡±

    Luo Jian froze for a moment and said to Wang Yue, ¡°It¡¯s outside the door. We should climb back along the venttion duct.¡±

    Although Wang Yue was shocked, he was not muddled: ¡°You first, I go after.¡±

    Luo Jian could not be bothered to care about him and immediately climbed back into the venttion duct. Maybe because the energy had been turned on, the central air conditioning of the space station was also turned on. Therefore, Luo Jian felt that the air in the venttion duct began to flow because he could clearly hear the rustling of wind, running wildly along the disorderly passageway in the venttion duct.

    ¡°Wang Yue, hurry up!¡± Luo Jian turned back to look at Wang Yue, who did not keep up with him in a timely manner. He yelled: ¡°The venttion duct is not safe either! We need to get back as soon as possible!¡±

    Wang Yue over there did not speak. He took a look at the door of the power room. The rustling things outside seemed to be hitting the door. However, Wang Yue took things out of his carry-on secret chamber in an orderly way and installed them on the surrounding walls and equipment. He was setting traps, which were necessary and could effectively help the team members and themselves dy for some time.

    Wang Yue¡¯s actions were carried out very fast, after installing the props messily, he immediately followed in Luo Jian¡¯s footsteps, climbed up the venttion duct, and blocked it with the small door that had been previously damaged. He even welded the door back as if he had used an electric welder. He took out a variety of different props from his carry-on secret chamber, and it was shocking how fully equipped he was.

    Seeing this scene, Luo Jian could not help sighing. Indeed, he was from an elite team, quite different from the teams he met before. He had a good sense ofbat, cooperated well with his team, and was worthy of being in Team Ghost Shadow.

    Luo Jian had no such ability: he was more used to fighting alone, which may have been his weakness, but was also his strongest point.

    The two men went back in the air duct, but as Luo Jian had expected, it was clear that the secret chamber would not have such a simple arrangement for them. Soon, when Luo Jian, along with Wang Yue crawled to the middle of the pipe, they heard the strange and creepy rustling sound again. And these sounds came from the venttion duct not far away from the two of them.

    Luo Jian stopped his crawling and quietly halted. Wang Yue, who was following him, said in a low voice: ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°We are surrounded,¡± Luo Jian also responded in a soft voice.

    Then, Wang Yue heard a more terrifying and creepy shrill in the power room behind him. It was like the scream of some small creature. However, as soon as the scream was heard, they could determine that there was more than one of them, and he could see all the hairs on Wang Yue¡¯s body stand. Wang Yue could not help but softly murmur, ¡°The me mechanism I set was triggered.¡±

    ¡°me mechanism?¡± Luo Jian said: ¡°Did you set up a me mechanism in the power room?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the energy used by this ship-shaped space station seems to be different from ours. I don¡¯t think it will explode so easily.¡±

    Perhaps the creatures who stepped on the mechanism behind them had screamed so miserably that it served as a warning to other creatures. Luo Jian heard those rustling sounds again, but this time, those creatures seemed to be retreating.

    ¡°They ran away,¡± Wang Yue stated.

    On the contrary, Luo Jian frowned deeper. ¡°This is not that simple.¡±

    T/N: Thank you guys so much for your good wishes! And sorry for thete wishes, but merry christmas and happy holidays guys! For those people who already celebrated christmas, I hope you guys had an awesome christmas! For those who don¡¯t celebrate christmas, I hope you guys had a good rest and a nice holiday!

 Chapter 170 - Ancient Remains (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 170 - Ancient Remains (IV)</h4>

    Editor: Humu

    Luo Jian and Wang Yue returned all the way back to the original venttion duct. However, after they crawled back, they found that Xing Yan and others had disappeared. Only the door that was closed had been opened because the power was on. At this time, the door was obviously opened, revealing the areas unknown to Luo Jian and Wang Yue.

    Wang Yue took out the walkie-talkie from his pocket and tried to contact other members of the team. He had tried it in the venttion duct previously, but he didn¡¯t know why but as long as the walkie talkie was turned on, it would make strange noises, and the noise could also attract the monsters who made rustling noises. The monsters who were attracted by the noise would crawl towards Luo Jian andpany,ing from all directions.

    They had to turn off the walkie talkie.

    Wang Yue fiddled with the walkie talkie, this thing could only sound out shrilly, and thereafter, it was renderedpletely useless. Wang Yue had to put it into his carry-on secret chamber. Then, he took out the map to have a look.

    Wang Yue came over and grabbed Luo Jian¡¯s little hand. The dwarf was a little taller than Luo Jian but it was no problem for him to hold Luo Jian¡¯s hand. He said, ¡°Captain and the others, they may have encountered these rustling monsters. We have to find a way to contact them......don¡¯t worry. My team members are always very smart. They would leave signals when they flee, such as this one¡ª¡ª¡±

    Wang Yue said, pulling Luo Jian to the corner of the corridor. On the wall, a shallow scratch left by a knife was there. The de scratched from left to right, indicating the direction of where they fled.

    ¡°To the right.¡± Wang Yue looked at the scratch and said, dragging Luo Jian to leave with him, but Luo Jian did not move. He stated:

    ¡°Wait...¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°The scratch is disappearing.¡± Luo Jian looked at the scratch, his face a little gloomy.

    Luo Jian was right. The scratch on the wall was slowly bing shallower. It was estimated that it wouldpletely disappear in less than a minute.

    Wang Yue soon noticed this. He was shocked and greatly frightened. He eximed, ¡°This wall can repair itself!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up and follow the signs before they disappear!¡±

    The two men made up their minds and immediately turned around and ran. Wang Yue took the lead in leading and observed the traces left by the team members along the way. They turned left and right in the huge space station. The space station was so big, and it had four floors, each with five or six huge areas. The upper and lower floors were roughly divided into living areas for space station employees, docking and transition areas to connect various space stations, fuel storage areas, and, of course, various docking areas for spacecraft and key experimental areas.

    The map showed that Luo Jian and his team were now in their living areas.

    This was not thergest area, but the mostplex area. There were all kinds of rooms and crisscrossed venttion ducts above them. Luo Jian who had been following behind Wang Yue spun around so much that he had a headache. He couldn¡¯t tell which direction was the southeast and the northwest. And Wang Yue, who led the way, sprinted ahead without speaking.

    ¡°The mark haspletely disappeared.¡± After they ran to arge space with dim lights, Wang Yue finally stopped chasing those marks. He looked at the scratch on the wall, and his expression was a little gloomy.

    ¡°Ipletely can¡¯t hear any noises at all.¡± Luo Jian touched the walls, and the walls gave him a feeling that it was breathing. Then, Luo Jian suddenly thought of something strangely suspicious.

    Because he had been fighting in the Asura Realm for a long time, Luo Jian had an amazing sense of perception. His five senses along with his sight, smell and hearing were far beyond ordinary people. In addition, his wonderful sixth sense made up his amazing perception. In fact, Luo Jian was better at tracking than Wang Yue......after all, it¡¯s not hard to follow some marks, was it?

    ¡°Wang Yue, we are in the wrong ce.¡± Luo Jian stroked thepletely disappeared scratch on the wall, and he suddenly his lips curved up into a smile.

    Wang Yue did not understand what he said for quite some time before dubiously stating, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We are following the wrong mark. At the beginning, I could feel his breath on the mark, but half-way here, the scent disappeared&#k2026;&#k2026;¡±

    ¡°You mean...¡±

    ¡°Something forged these marks half-way through and led us here.¡±

    Wang Yue was surprised to hear what Luo Jian had said. He did not have the same strong perception that Luo Jian had. Therefore, he had some doubts about what Luo Jian had said and could not help asking Luo Jian to prove it: ¡°Are you sure? If it can forge the mark......then in this space station... ¡±

    ¡°There are other creatures indeed, and there may be many more, among which there are definitely intelligent creatures.¡±

    Facing such an unsatisfactory situation, Wang Yue indicated that he was out of his wits: ¡°We are in a terrible situation now, and we arepletely separated from Captain.¡±

    ¡°I said in advance that I¡¯m not very good inbat. I belong more to the scouting type, and I am the kind who will escape in face of dangers. Even if I fight, I will only stand at a distance to shoot a cold gun.¡± Wang Yue did not hesitate to admit the basic information about himself, in order to let this new teammate, understand him and make ample psychological preparation in advance.

    ¡°Well then, you are very lucky.¡± After listening to what Wang Yue admitted, Luo Jian answered him with a smile.

    ¡°Lucky? I don¡¯t think so. In our team, Captain, Jiang Li and the magician are the main strength output. Of course, magicians are useless now......the teammate that we lost previously belongs to one specializing in auxiliary. So now we have lost contact with the main fighting forces. It could be said that we are isted.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand me.¡± Luo Jian shook his head. ¡°Now, I am the number one output power in the team. Therefore, I am not worried about the situation of the two of us. On the contrary, I am more worried about their situation. ¡±

    ¡°Do you mean you are strong?¡±

    ¡°You can think so.¡± Luo Jian answered it naturally. He neither boasted, nor showed off pompously, but he was very serious.

    In Wang Yue¡¯s first impression, Luo Jian did not look like a master specializing inbat. However, Wang Yue was not a preconceived person. In addition, Captain Xing Yan trusted him this much. As soon as Luo Jian joined the team, hepletely handed over the authority to lead to Luo Jian, and that also caused Wang Yue to be more impressed by Luo Jian.

    ¡°Something¡¯sing.¡±

    Without waiting for Wang Yue to deliberate, Luo Jian felt that there was a strange creature approaching them. He was afraid that it was the intelligent creature that led them to this damned ce by using the knife marks.

    Shortly after, Luo Jian saw the real body of that intelligent creature.

    An alien.

    This was very normal, since this space station was originally an alien space station. It was not surprising that this kind of creature would appear here. However, to Luo Jian¡¯s surprise, he thought that this alien......looked very familiar.

    No, no, no, it could not be considered ¡®familiar¡¯. Instead, Luo Jian felt that he had heard someone describe the appearance of this alien somewhere. Therefore, as soon as the alien appeared in front of him, he would naturally recall those memories. Hence, he felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, as if ¡®he had seen this thing somewhere before¡¯.

    The height of the alien was around three to four metres and its stature very simr to that of human beings. It stood on both feet and had two arms. What was different was that they were very strong and had a long tail. The extra high ceilings on the corridors and huge spaces in the space station were designed for its special stature.

    The alien¡¯s head seemed to be wearing something like a helmet, blocking its face. Moreover, the helmet was very simr to that made by some living creature¡¯s skull, just like how those uncivilized barbarians in ancient times on earth would wear.

    Aliens also wore armor, which seemed to be made of some kind of creature. They wrapped the body of other aliens tightly around them like tights. Protuberances in joints and other ces could be seen. If one looked carefully, one would find that the armor seemed to be alive, because it would wriggle from time to time.

    ¡°Bio......technology? ¡± Luo Jian suddenly remembered what Ying said. He recalled what Ying said, in regards to one hundred million yearster, the people of earth broke out of the sr system and led their troops to invade a gxy called Pris. The indigenous people there used ¡®biotechnology¡¯ quite different from people from earth.

    From Ying¡¯s description, the aborigines seemed to look like this......

    ¡°Truly......what an amazing background setting.¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help touching his red umbre. He knew that the secret chamber intentionally did this, it deliberately arranged for him to enter a secret chamber with such a background. Oh....... perhaps, the secret chamber set this up based on what could be seen in the future originally.

    ¡°Human......Humans...¡± Pris aborigines, temporarily called Prisians, seemed to have some technology that worked like a trantor. Luo Jian saw that he found something on his armor and put it on his helmet. Then, he spoke one of thenguages of the earth inurately. He actually spoke Mandarin.

    Luo Jian remembered that in the Ying¡¯s narration, the people from earth and Prisians were in a state where they would fight the other to one¡¯sst gasp. On one side, one was the invader while the other was the one who was getting invaded. Moreover, the people on earth had also failed and were driven out of Pris, after both sides suffered heavy losses. But human beings seemed to be ambitious. After acquiring Pris¡¯s technology, they were likely to make aeback.

    Although he did not know what era and what year the secret chamber set the background in, they should not rx our vignce in any way. Therefore, Luo Jian changed his red umbre into a long sword. He had a variety of attack methods, such as spears, swords and so on.

    Moreover, he was good at fighting weaponless. Taking away the enemy¡¯s weapons to counterattack against them was what he does often because, in this way, he could better copy and imitate the enemy¡¯s weapons to meet the needs of his ever-changing red umbre.

    The Prisian standing opposite them was stunned momentarily. It seemed that he had never seen a weapon like Luo Jian¡¯s that couldpletely transform itself. In his impression, only Pris¡¯s technology could make such a weapon. After he was slow to react for a long time, he opened his mouth and said: ¡°I don¡¯t want to have conflicts, human beings.¡±

    The Prisian continued: ¡°This space station has been dormant for a long time. You have just switched on the energy and awakened me from my resting pods......but I must remind you that there is another terrifying creature here.¡±

    ¡°This could be the NPC.¡± Wang Yue next to him did not think so much about this. Naturally, he did not know the story about Pris, and he did not know the truth about the origin of the secret chambers. For him, this was just a secret chamber with a futuristic background. The NPC in the secret chamber was an alien, but what about it?

    ¡°Another terrifying creature, what is that? And what are you......biologically? ¡± Wang Yue couldn¡¯t help asking. For him, it was just a casual question. He wanted to know more about these strange creatures, but the Prisian was obviously stunned and looked at Wang Yue in doubt.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what we are!?¡± The Prisian suddenly unleashed his anger. Though that emotion of his was not obvious, but the keen Luo Jian sensed that and he thought the alien would attack them at that moment, but the Prisian was only agitated and soon calmed down.

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s 300 years since that war, and this space station has been drifting in the vast universe for 300 years. I don¡¯t know the result of that war. Maybe you humans are really the victors, and we......we are just a race that has been eliminated from the universe.¡±

    The other party said something that Luo Jian and Wang Yue are somewhat unclear about. Wang Yuepletely did not understand what he said, but Luo Jian frowned. What the other party said seemed to be different from what Ying¡¯s said in his impression. Reasonably speaking, human beings were the one who have failed in their conquest, right?

    Or, because they were located in a different time, humans had made aeback and they had really upied Pris?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mentioned about battling or not battling.¡± Wang Yue was confused and interrupted when the other party was speaking. He said, ¡°Do you know where mypanions are? Half-way through, you forged the mark and led us here?¡±

    ¡°Yourpanions? I¡¯m afraid they might already be dead.¡± The Prisian shook his head and said regretfully, ¡°Those creatures are everywhere, and they are in abundance. The whole space station has be their nest.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think Captain will die that fast.¡± Wang Yue did not agree with the alien, he said, ¡°Tell me where to find them? We don¡¯t have much time! ¡±

    The alien did not answer for a while. He tilted his head. There were two dark holes in his helmet, which looked like eyes. These eye-like things were staring at Luo Jian and Wang Yue. Luo Jian seemed to be able to perceive his gaze, that kind of gaze that was scrutinizing and examining them.

    After that, the alien said, ¡°Yourpanions are being chased by those creatures. I don¡¯t know where they are, but if you can turn on the surveince system on this level, you might be able to find yourpanions¡¯ location.¡±

    ¡°Surveince system?¡±

    ¡°The biological monitoring system on the space station that can supervise everything......as long as it is a living creature, it can be monitored. Our spaceship itself is like a living organism. It controls each and every corner of the ship perfectly.¡±

    What the alien said made Luo Jian and Wang Yue exchanged nces with each other. At the same time, they stated: ¡°What should we do?¡±

    The alien seemed to beughing: ¡°I can show you the way, but be careful, along the way, there would be many monsters.¡±

    The alien agreed to it easily, and this, on the contrary, made Luo Jian¡¯s heart tremble inwardly. He always felt that this secret chamber was not so simple. Since the secret chamber had warned him that the difficulty had been raised to hell level difficulty in advance, the situation they were facing now should not be so easily resolved and simple.

    What should hell-level difficulty be?

    Luo Jian did not think about it for long, because he was able to quickly experience it.

    Luo Jian and Wang Yue followed an alien on the road and thereupon, a wondrous team was formed. The Prisian first took out his weapon, simr to a gun, and its shape was also very......hard to describe. It had a style like abination of barbaric primitive style and surreal technology of the future......

    At the beginning, neither Luo Jian nor Wang Yue really saw those ¡®terrifying creatures¡¯ the alien said. They only heard the sound of densely-packed creatures crawling. Therefore, Luo Jian expected that he might have to deal with things like insects. He transformed his red umbre into a firecracker.

    Luo Jian felt that his ability was limited to a huge extent, especially magic and magic weapons werepletely useless. However, most of the weapons that Luo Jian¡¯s umbre could simte were almost magic weapons. There were all kinds of guys in the Asura Realm, but most people thought that magic weapons had higher attack power.

    Although there were many modern firearms, the futuristic weapons he saw could be counted with a hand.

    In his mind, Luo Jian envisioned what kind of weapons he would use, and tried to recall the feeling of fighting with those weapons. In front, the alien walked ahead without speaking as he led the way. Wang Yue followed afterwards in the second position, and Luo Jian at the rear.

    They walked around in the intricate terrain and felt that wherever they went, they felt a semnce of d¨¦j¨¤ vu and ¡®have I been here previously?¡¯. All the corridors and rooms looked almost the same, and because the switch in the power room was turned on, and the walls lit up brightly with blue light.

    ¡°There¡¯s an arsenal up ahead, and I think you¡¯ll need it.¡± They didn¡¯t walk for too long before the alien turned to Luo Jian and Wang Yue as he said that. With that, they quickened their pace.

 Chapter 171 - Ancient Remains (V)

    <h4>Chapter 171 - Ancient Remains (V)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Speaking of the arsenal, Wang Yue thought that he would be able to destroy everything in his path with hand-held weapons given by the alien. When he went there, he found that he got some weapons like grenades, smoke bombs, sh bombs, frozen bombs, and what was said to be a simple defense suit that had its own defence mechanism. But as for real weapons......

    The alien disdainfully eyed the two short Earthlings: ¡°You can¡¯t use this weapon.¡±

    ¡°Our weapons recognize their masters by their strength, and if you don¡¯t meet their standards, they will kill you.¡± After the alien was done speaking, he picked up a huge bazooka from the table in the arsenal. It looked like a shoulder-mounted bazooka, wrapped in something that seemed like a wilted vine.

    And it seemed that this weapon was really alive because the vines twined on the alien moved with the alien¡¯s actions. When the alien rested it on his shoulder, the vine actually entangled itself with the alien¡¯s body. These vines spread along the alien¡¯s shoulder to half of his body and tightly clung to his body to form a shape like full body armour on him.

    The arsenal was very huge. The walls and cabs were filled with all kinds of dazzling lineups of weapons. Most of them were things that Luo Jian andpany had never heard of or seen before. However, it seemed that they had not been used for a long time because they were covered with a thickyer of dust.

    At the end of the arsenal, Luo Jian saw a huge mecha standing alone.

    That kind of technological equipment was like what one would see in futuristic science and technology novels or animation.

    The mecha was pure ck and in the shape of a human. The material did not reflect light and was about seven or eight meters high. It had wings as thin and transparent as a pair of dragonfly wings. Luo Jian was not able topletely tell what material it was made out of. The aggressiveness and superiority of this thing could reach the heavens. Luo Jian felt that he could not even move his eyes away from it. Every boy would mention that they dreamed of having it.

    ¡°You have good taste. That¡¯s the only weapon human beings can use. During the war, they often attacked us with this weapon.¡± The alien noticed Luo Jian gazing at the mecha, and a cold smile was evident, ¡°But it broke a long time ago.¡±

    Luo Jian took his eyes off the mecha, took a glimpse at the alien, and asked, ¡°My name is Abyss. Can I get to know your name?¡±

    The alien did not voice out, but he also eyed Luo Jian. Under the helmet made of unknown material, Luo Jian seemed to be able to feel the scrutinizing line of sight, but finally, the other party answered him. The alien said, ¡°My name is ¡®Noen.¡¯ In ournguage, my name means ¡®life.¡¯¡±

    ¡ª¡ª

    The teenage Xing Yan.

    He found himself floating in a sea of stars.

    That was what he truly felt. It was a vast ocean of stars and gxies. Far in the darkness, there existed arrays and arrays of beams of starlight that were both big and small. Xing Yan saw a huge floating in the darkness above his head. Because it was so close, he could clearly see the exosphere distributed on the. Under the atmosphere wasnd and ocean.

    That was Earth.

    Earth spun itself, and at the same time, it was constantly circling around the most dazzling star in the sr system.

    This angle of view provided him with a magical view. Standing in the middle of the universe, looking at Earth and the that he lived in brought an iparable shock to Xing Yan¡¯s mind. This shock, for a long time, became engraved on the soft apex of Xing Yan¡¯s heart, causing him to gaze at the for a long time.

    ¡°She¡¯s beautiful, isn¡¯t she?¡±

    Xing Yan was staring at the. He could not sense the loss of time while in space. He almost forgot why he was here and how long he stayed here. Just as he was lost and confused, Xing Yan heard a familiar voice sounding out behind him. He was stunned for a moment and quickly turned back.

    There was also a man floating behind Xing Yan, a very familiar and strange man.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Xing Yan looked at the man. They were floating in the boundless and chaotic space, surrounded by deep darkness. Only the dazzling stars provided them with light and sight.

    Xing Yan knew that he was not really floating in space. He might have been just dreaming because it should have been soundless in space.

    The stalker raised his head and took a glimpse at Xing Yan. The expression on his face was rigid and all colour was gone from his face.

    The stalker was still wearing that bodysuit...... the one he got from the punishment chamber, that was, the Arcanum Train secret chamber, ck cat¡¯s suit. It was grey and blue and appeared like a prisoner¡¯s uniform. Bloodstains were on his clothes.

    ¡°I am you,¡± The stalker replied to Xing Yan.

    Xing Yan also looked at the stalker. This man looked really familiar, but at the same time, he looked awfully strange. His body and appearance were simr to his own, but he was more mature and indifferent. But for some reason, Xing Yan saw a trace of fragility from this mature and indifferent man, feelings that caused him to be...... very much in pain and agony.

    ¡°Are you me?¡± Xing Yan could guess the identity of this man. Though this assumption was very bold, the possibility was the highest.

    ¡°This is the intersection of chaos of space-time. In the chaos of space-time, only you...... and I can reach here as and when we like.¡± The stalker exined to Xing Yan, ¡°You are the present you, I am the future me...... Or I am who I am now, and you are who you used to be.¡±

    Although the stalker phrased his words in a profound manner, Xing Yan immediately understood the meaning of the man¡¯s words. He looked around the stars and said, ¡°I know because our abilities are simrly spatial...... and it seems that because of some changes in the timeline, we can both enter the crack in space-time at the same time, right?¡±

    ¡°Not at the same time.¡± The stalker shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time, because in my memories, I remember I was lucky enough to get into this crack in time, so I¡¯ve been here to connect with the past me.¡±

    Xing Yan seemed a little surprised. He said in amazement, ¡°Were you waiting for me here? However, this is a crack in space-time. Time is not stable at all. The possibility that you can meet me is...¡±

    ¡°Very low, I know.¡± The stalker nced at him expressionlessly. ¡°So I¡¯ve been here for a long time.¡±

    ¡°How long have you been there?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The passage of time here is quite unclear. I may have stayed for more than ten years, hundreds of years, or thousands of years, or...... just for a moment.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you waiting for me here?¡± Xing Yan did not quite understand. He once heard from his predecessors who had spatial abilities like him that a crack in space-time was a very chaotic space. Although it was not very difficult to escape after entering, the problem was...... it was extremely easy to get lost in it.

    The literal meaning of lost.

    These spaces were incredibly alluring. If the minds of the people who entered these spaces were not firm, they would be swept away by the torrent of time and space, never to return to their own space-time.

    And the man in front of him said that he had been here for a long time, just to wait for Xing Yan.

    ¡°I want to tell you something,¡± The stalker answered Xing Yan, ¡°Something that you will encounter in the future but can¡¯t avoid it.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to understand; I just want to tell you.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    The stalker did not immediately reply. He stood quietly in the vast darkness, just like what Xing Yan was doing. Xing Yan felt that a distant and strange light seemed to engulf his figure. The stalker¡¯s expression was almost sad. As if he seemed to be able to experience that helplessness and powerlessness, the pain that was carved into his...... bones.

    The stalker whispered, ¡°Xing Yan, don¡¯t regret¡ªdon¡¯t leave him alone.¡±

    After that, Xing Yan woke up from his sleep, and his teammate Jiang Li shook his shoulder and shouted softly: ¡°Captain! Wake up!¡±

    In a cold sweat, Xing Yan opened his eyes and nced at Jiang Li. Jiang Li¡¯s whole face was covered by theirhis mask and goggles. Jiang Li waspletely covered by dark fabric, and for Xing Yan to suddenly see such a face gave him a shock. Xing Yan frowned, pressed Jiang Li¡¯s head with one hand, and said, ¡°What¡¯s the situation now?

    ¡°We¡¯repletely surrounded.¡± Jiang Li said: ¡°The walkie talkie doesn¡¯t work at all. John is trying to get in touch with Wang Yue using magic, but...... the secret chamber limits magic so much that he can hardly use the simplest light magic to light the area.¡±

    ¡°Then he¡¯s basically useless,¡± Xing Yan said impolitely. He lowered his head and covered the wound on his arm with his hand. The wound had been treated simply. It was wrapped with bandages, but there was still blood seeping out. The white gauze was dyed red.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. John can at least use a gun. After all, he was a Special Forces officer before that.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think my ability is very useful. Although my spatial abilities are not exactly considered to be of the magic category, it is still weakened. I can only take the group of you to move through space once more.¡± Xing Yan¡¯s face was a little gloomy, ¡°This time this secret chamber...... The difficulty of it is too ridiculous.¡±

    Yes, it was truly too ridiculous.

    It was not as if Xing Yan had not seen all kinds of strange monsters in the secret chamber. He knew that some monsters were yers that hadter turned into monsters. At the same time, he also understood the origin of stalkers to a certain extent. It was precisely because Xing Yan was a senior yer that he was used to seeing such things and could survive tenaciously in any difficult and arduous environments.

    Xing Yan had experienced many, many secret chambers. The first kind was the kind of ¡®secret chamber¡¯ with open spaces but where the chamber would restrict connection to the outside world. For example, an empty deserted ind, an isted underground cave, and a valley that only allowed one to look at the sky from the bottom of the well. There were stranger ones, such as a lone floating ghost ship on the sea, a sunken ship that had remained dormant for many years in the bottom of the sea, or a ne about to crash flying in the sky...... Oh, Xing Yan could still remember that he had been to a floating city in the sky set in a fantastic backdrop.

    In addition to these, the other kind was to be stuck in a small space in the secret chambers¡ªfor example, to be stuck in an enclosed room in a narrow indoor environment like a ward in a mental hospital, a morgue where the dead crawled at night, and the simplest and mostplex chambers like eerie little rooms that would allow yers to infinitely wander around in a loop.

    But these secret chambers had one thing inmon, that was, no matter how you changed the background, no matter what kind of arduous environment the secret chamber threw at you, the secret chamber would leave you with considerable clues and resources for survival. These were the prerequisites for your escape and survival.

    It was worth mentioning that all the secret chambers that Xing Yan had been to were mostly in the modern background or set in the ancient or fantasy background. This was his first time experiencing a background set in a futuristic space station.

    It was because he had experienced so many secret chambers and seen all kinds of strange things that it provided Xing Yan with ample experience in the face of different difficulties. He was mature and stable, different from a newbie. He knew clearly what he should do under different circumstances.

    But this time, it was different.

    There were only three hours provided for them to explore such a huge space station. The chambers had hastily left them a map that was neither detailed nor simple. On the printed note issued by the secret chamber, although it clearly stated that they should head to the parking bay located at the bottom floor and take a lifeboat to leave, the secret chamber had not left them with any more useful hints.

    What was worse was that in this secret chamber background, they were severely restricted from using magic and magic-like skills and rted weapons. So in this team, as a magician, John waspletely useless. The magician was almost equivalent to the main power output and almost equivalent to half the power output of the team!

    At the same time, it meant that the strength of their team had been weakened wholly by half! But the funny thing was, although magic had been weakened, the scientific and technological weapons and skills had not been enhanced at all. They had to take up ordinary guns in the modern background to fight against the horrifyingly superior creatures in the futuristic background!

    These superior creatures were creatures like Zergs that appeared densely packed together. They appeared in gaming novels and movie screens envisioned by humans! They could survive in any type of harsh environment. And regardless of whether they were small or big in size, they were living creatures with huge poptions that could go up to tens of thousands!

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the space station haspletely be a nest for these insects.¡±

    The trio¡ªXing Yan, Jiang Li, and John¡ªwere presently in a small space. They did not know what kind of room they were in. It was Xing Yan who had used his spatial abilities to ¡®teleport¡¯ here as he brought along the other two together with him because moments ago, shortly after Luo Jian and Wang Yue left, they werepletely surrounded by monsters.

    T/N: <del>This chapter is unedited, because Kitty¡¯sputer is faulty. The edited chapter will be up hopefully soon though </del>

    Humu has kindly helped to edit this chapter ~ This chapter is edited.

 Chapter 172 - Ancient Remains (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 172 - Ancient Remains (VI)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    ¡°We have no choice but to escape. From the beginning, this chamber had not left us with any space to fight. As long as we face these monsters, we have no possibility of survival.¡± Xing Yan simply judged the current situation and made a preliminary assessment of their team¡¯s situation.

    ¡°But the map is in Wang Yue¡¯s hands. This ce is so big that I can¡¯t even tell southeast from northwest,¡± John said dejectedly. He suffered a great blow because he could not use his magic power. John always liked to rely on magic to distinguish direction. He believed that the wonderful spirits in nature would show him the way.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just head down. I¡¯ve looked at the map twice. Although this space is veryrge, the structure of this ce is not much different. First, we need to find the elevator leading to the next floor.¡±

    Xing Yan said this with an unruffled expression on his face. He was the captain of the team. If the captain of the team was flustered as well, the team would soon meet their extinction.

    ¡°Then, should we ignore Wang Yue?¡± John got nervous and asked.

    Xing Yan nced at John. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If that fellow wants to escape, he will definitely be the fastest one to escape among us. With his investigative ability, we should let hime to us rather than let us go to him.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± John nodded approvingly, and suddenly thought of something. He asked the captain, ¡°What about the child...... well, I mean our new team member.¡±

    Xing Yan did not answer for a while. He was silent for a moment. He frowned, deliberating: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that child is very strong, and he should be the one among us most likely to survive.¡±

    Jiang Li suddenly interrupted: ¡°Captain, I want to know something while there is still time...¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°That kid, Captain, do you really trust him?¡± Jiang Li¡¯s voice under the mask was very low. ¡°ording to previous regtions, every new member of our team must be monitored and inspected for a certain period of time so that we canpletely trust that person. It was the same for me when I joined Team Ghost Shadow, but Captain broke the rules this time. I was very puzzled by your actions.¡±

    After listening to what Jiang Li had said, Xing Yan seemed to have thought of something. His face appeared cold under the dark blue light. Then he answered Jiang Li: ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t understand my actions as well.¡±

    Jiang Li felt theirher doubts arise: ¡°What?¡±

    Xing Yan seemingly helplessly shook his head. He said to Jiang Li and John, ¡°Have you ever felt this way? One day, you meet a stranger who has never appeared in your recollections. However, you have a very good impression of him and want to protect or even rely on him......¡±

    Before Xing Yan finished speaking, Jiang Li said, ¡°Could it be that...... Captain, are you......?¡±

    ¡°I know it¡¯s puzzling, and I think so myself.¡± Xing Yan¡¯s face became darker. He continued, ¡°I had even wondered ifdoubted that the child used some means to control me, but this kind of doubt...... As long as he stands in front of me, it disappears, and I feel like my emotions are out of control. ¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡± John immediately eximed, ¡°I knew that child was not anything good! They are all little demons in the shells of angels! And he used insects to scare me!¡±

    Jiang Li speechlessly nced at John, ¡°Come on, you¡¯re the only one that¡¯s afraid of insects.¡±

    ¡°Listen, gentlemen,¡± Xing Yan said calmly, ¡°You don¡¯t need to trust the child. I have a hunch that he won¡¯t stay in the team for long. I don¡¯t feel any hostility from him. So to some extent, we can use him.¡±

    At another corner, Luo Jian and Wang Yue were still following the alien on their way to the control room. They were both ordered by the alien to wear something like a gas mask because the alien, Noen, told them¡ª

    ¡°These monsters will spread gues and unknown viruses. Among them, there¡¯s a green insect, about the size of a palm. Like a parasite, it will crawl on you and release toxins that make you immobile. When necessary, they scratch your skin, hatch thervae in your body, and turn you to a nest, and you will be eaten alive from the inside.¡±

    Noen exined, supplementing a sentence, ¡°That¡¯s how many of mypanions died.¡±

    ¡°How terrifying. Are there any other types of insects?¡± Wang Yue who had merely listened to Noen¡¯s narratives already felt his hair stand.

    ¡°There are many different kinds, but I don¡¯t know the specifics.¡± Noen said: ¡°With our technological standards andbat level at that time, this spacecraft was still upied by those insects in less than 24 hours. Although there were a lot of unexpected elements, we did not have effective means to deal with those insects now.¡±

    ¡°No other survivors other than you?¡± Luo Jian questioned.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. At that critical moment, I escaped to the living area and headed for the cryochamber. I froze and sealed myself up. Maybe because of my being frozen, I lost all signs of life, so the insects ignored me.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you mean these monsters can identify us through our signs of life?¡±

    Noen slightly smiled: ¡°Of course, there seem to be scouts among the insects. They are well organized, like an army. I believe one of them can control the whole swarm, which is simr to the existence of a queen bee.¡±

    ¡°And the queen willy a lot of eggs.¡± Luo Jian touched his chin and thought, ¡°Afterwards, these insects will roam to find arge space for thervae to hatch, and they will find some worker bees to take care of them.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a point in that.¡± Noen seemed to have been reminded by Luo Jian of something. He also tilted his head to think, ¡°Big space...... the biggest space on our spaceship is the bottom dock, which is our docking area.

    ¡°Because it¡¯s a ce to dock all kinds of small ships and lifeboats, when it¡¯s not opened, the dock ispletely sealed. It is protected by doors and walls made of thick materials. It¡¯s also the safest ce when the space station is attacked.¡±

    When Wang Yue heard this, it seemed that he also understood something now. In unbearable agony, he said: ¡°Heavens! That¡¯s the most unfortunate news I¡¯ve ever heard. It means that if we want to find a lifeboat and escape from this space station, we¡¯ll have to worm ourselves into the insect nest, right? ¡±

    Noen nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what it means.¡±

    Luo Jian said: ¡°I have already imagined that the docking area would be full of insect eggs...... What if the lifeboat is filled with insect eggs?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; certain small lifeboats purposed for special use need permission to open. The outer wall is a seam-free, automatic defense energy cover. Without instructions, the door of the lifeboat can¡¯t be opened in any way, so there¡¯s no need to worry about these insects stuffing their eggs into the lifeboat.¡±

    ¡°Do you have the right to use the lifeboats?¡± Luo Jian asked a vital question.

    Noen turned back to look at Luo Jian and replied, ¡°Our authority is separatedyer byyer. As soon as the people of the upper levels die, the spacecraft system will automatically hand over the authority to their subordinates, so...... I was just a guard on this ship, but now I have the highest status and authority.¡±

    ¡°It means that everyone above you is dead.¡± Wang Yue bitterly listened to what the alien said, and he couldn¡¯t help bute to such a sad conclusion.

    Noen did not answer. He was originally walking at the front, but now he had stopped walking quietly. At the same time, both Luo Jian and Wang Yue could clearly hear the dense rustling sound ringing in the corridor in front of them, and it was very close.

    ¡°It¡¯s very difficult to defeat these insects in a face-to-face confrontation. They arerge in numbers, and they are not afraid to die. As long as you are targeted by them, they will bite you until you are gnawed into a skeleton by them!¡± Noen sped up his speech and drew his weapon out¡ªthe rocketuncher on his shoulder.

    ¡°Can we really beat those bugs?¡± Wang Yue was so timid that he began to shiver. He drew his pitiful crossbow. He was not good at dealing withrge-scale targets, especially swarms of insects. Not only that, but he had slight trypophobia. When he saw swarms of insects, he would feel his legs go weak. Moreover, with so many targets, Even in the best-case scenario, he could only kill two insects with one arrow.

    At this time, Noen positioned and postured himself appropriately and pointed the barrel of theuncher at the entrance of the corridor that the rustling sounds travelled from. He raised his volume and said to Luo Jian and Wang Yue, ¡°We don¡¯t need to fight them head-on, we just need to pass by them! At mymand¡ª!¡±

    Luo Jian cooperated with hismands and arched his back. He postured himself into a position as if he was ready to run at any time. Wang Yue next to him also plucked up his courage to follow him. And then, almost at the same time, at the entrance of the corridor, the swarms of insects swarmed in! With that, they rustled on the ground, walls, and even the ceiling. Their figures appeared in Noen, Luo Jian, and Wang Yue¡¯s sights!

    It was a swarm of insects the size of a fist with big ck sickles as their mouths, and their outer shells appeared to be entirely pitch ck! They appeared like a tidal wave from the entrance of the corridor in front of them, and they immediately swarmed towards Noen and the others.

    With his ¡®bazooka¡¯ on his shoulder, Noen directly fired. The deafening sound of the firing of the bullet roared in the entire broad, open space! The sound was so loud that the eardrums of Luo Jian and Wang Yue began to tremble!

    It seemed that Noen¡¯s bullet was not an ordinary bullet but was one that would emit high temperatures. All the insects turned into soot under the high temperature. The high-temperature bullet sted a huge hole through the entrance of the corridor, and the surrounding walls were turned into ck ashes!

    ¡°Run! Carry on running forward!¡± With his weapon on his shoulder, Noen led the group, followed behind by Luo Jian and Wang Yue. Wang Yue was still worried, but when he saw the powerful high-tech weapons of the alien, a lot of worries in his heart were put to rest, but soon, he began to worry again.

    Although Noen killed a lot of insects with one shot, very quickly, something that contributed to how terrifying the insects were soon manifested. Arge wave of insects came out from nowhere again. There were still that many of them, densely packed together, that they came from all directions. The insects were so crowded together that there were almost no spaces one could see in their sight! They could only see insects other than insects!

    And Noen, lugging along the two humans, sted a path through the swarm of insects using his bazooka. While he was shooting, he shouted: ¡°The control room is in front of us! We just have to hang on a little longer¡ª¡±

    But it waspletely impossible to hang on. Even if the control room was just steps away from reaching as long as they walked through the corridor and took a turn, it seemed that time was infinitely lengthened in that few seconds. Wang Yue was running behind at the rear, but he didn¡¯t dare to look back because he felt that the insects were right behind him. They were crawling too fast, and the crawling sound of these arthropods was so incredibly close to him that it was inconceivable. He knew he was going to be inundated by insects soon!

    Within a few seconds¡¯ time, Wang Yue knew that he would be gnawed by this group of insects, and maybe not even his bones would be left!

    The god of death was right behind him!

    What should I do? What should I do? At that moment, Wang Yue¡¯s mind was full of these thoughts, but within moments, his brain formted several solutions to rid himself of his current predicament. He was good at lurking and scouting. He could use his petite body to drill into any possible passageway avable and had the ability to set traps. He also had a crossbow, and he could be considered to somewhat be a sniper......

    But all the abilities he could use and advantages that he possessed required time for him to set up. At this moment that could decide his life and death, Wang Yue couldn¡¯t think of any way to save himself. If hispanions were still around, he would not cut such a sorry figure¡ª

    At this time, Luo Jian, who was running in front of him and closely following Noen, suddenly stopped and eyed Wang Yue.

    ¡°Get down!¡± Luo Jian roared.

    Wang Yue obeyed the orders of Luo Jian and instinctively flew to the ground. At the same time, Luo Jian held his weapon, the methrower, and a huge me lunged towards the swarm of insects in front of him.

    Luo Jian¡¯s methrower was also a weapon copied from a yer in the Asura Realm.

    There was also a yer in the Crimson Asura Realm who controlled insects as a weapon. However, the yer¡¯s insects were not as big as the ones they encountered now. The insects were all small creatures the size of nails, and they could not spread any gues or viruses. However, the insects were very, veryrge in numbers, and their breeding speed was extremely fast. The number of insects was uncountable. Moreover, they could also parasitize human bodies and kill a human within a few seconds. They could gnaw their skeletons¡ª

    Yes, Luo Jian had experienced dying in this manner, being gnawed alive into g by a group of insects.

    That person who controlled insects was also one of the most hated enemies Luo Jian had in the Asura Realm. In fact, people in the Asura Realm all hated this fellow. In the Asura Realm, death was toomon, and no one wouldin about it. However, to torture someone before killing someone would be too f*cking disgusting.

    However, the person controlling the insect swarm was too terrifying. As long as you were a little careless, once one or two of these insects crawled onto your body, you would be almost half dead.

    In order to deal with the person controlling the insects, Luo Jian specially went to find such weapons that could suppress the insects. And he finally found a methrower that was wielded by a certain character who wasn¡¯t particrly powerful. That was the best weapon to deal with them.

    The owner of this methrower was a typical arsonist. His me had a special effect¡ªinfection.

    As long as something was touched by his me, the me would continue to spread everywhere, turning all the surrounding terrain into a sea of fire. A ssic representation of what people said: a single spark could start a prairie fire.

    However, there were many other yers who used fire in the Asura Realm. To curb fire...... naturally, one would use water. In addition, the arsonist was not particrly powerful. Therefore, conversely, no one knew of him.

    But the methrower in Luo Jian¡¯s hands showed apletely different effect.

    The fire swept across arge area of insects behind Wang Yue. The high-temperature me seemed to be the most frightening thing for these insects. Their shells seemed to be stronger than ordinary insects, but they were still unable to resist the power of Luo Jian¡¯s methrower. They all curled up on the ground and began to howl bitterly.

    Luo Jian immediately pulled Wang Yue up to catch up with the alien in front of them.

    However, when Luo Jian turned back, he was surprised to find that although the me had burned some of the insects, there were still more insects continuously crawling out. They covered the trembling insects that were burned by Luo Jian with his methrower and also covered the burning mes with their bodies.

    ¡°Not powerful enough,¡± Luo Jian murmured, seeing this scene. Wang Yue found that there was a trace of excitement on the face of the child. Yes, he carried a look of excitement. The child said to himself, ¡°But it is effective. I just need to exert a little more power.¡±

 Chapter 173 - Ancient Remains (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 173 - Ancient Remains (VII)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    As Luo Jian used these mes to clear a way out, the alien finally brought Luo Jian andpany to the central control room. There was a disy of giantputers and operating panels in arge room, wrapped in a steel-like shell.

    When Luo Jian and others closed the heavy protective door of the control room, they finally blocked the insects that were hiding the skies and covering the earth. Then, Luo Jian and others cleaned up some insects that also crawled into the control room and finally got a short time for respite.

    ¡°It¡¯s too terrifying. Even we are in such a mess. Will what Captain is facing be worse?¡± Wang Yue was very nervous. Although he kept talking, he did not stop working. He sat down on the ground and began to take out parts from his carry-on secret chamber. He predicted whichever crevices the insects mighte out from and installed traps and defences on the crevices.

    ¡°You have a good hand in doing it.¡± The alien noticed Wang Yue¡¯s actions and seemed to be smiling under the ck helmet.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long we¡¯re going to be here, so we have to be prepared in advance...... When we can kill these monsters, we should kill as many as possible. I cannot help but wish the whole space station is full of these traps. Anyway, I have a lot of parts, brimming full in my ¡®backpack.¡¯¡±

    Different from Wang Yue¡¯s busyness, Luo Jian stared at his weapon thoughtfully and fiddled with it from time to time. He was adjusting the temperature and range of his methrower, trying to turn the space station within his reach into a sea of fire .

    Alien Noen also began to do his work. He told Luo Jian and Wang Yue, ¡°I need to restart the system in the control room. It takes a period for the system to self-check and to adjust. Looks like it will take about 10 minutes. During this period, if any insectes into the control room, it may hinder me, so I¡¯ll be counting on the both of you.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know...¡± Wang Yue squatted in the corner and installed a small range of fire ignition traps, at the same time, he stated, ¡°This round we have to protect the NPC.¡±

    Time was so tight that everyone¡¯s nerves were stretched thin, and there was no time to breathe. The door to the control room had been tightly shut. The heavy doors of the space station were all high-level protective doors. Once closed, not even a gap would remain. If the insects outside wanted to enter the control room, they must find another path.

    At this time, the intricate venttion ducts on the space station became shortcuts for the insects.

    Soon, Luo Jian and Wang Yue heard the insects crawling within the walls. Wang Yue was long ready. He set up numerous me ignition traps and highly explosive bombs at the entrance of the venttion duct.

    He did not worry that he would blow up the entire control room because Noen had said that the walls of the space station were made of special materials. The biomimetics could repair themselves endlessly. No matter how powerful the explosion was, the space station would be destroyed only under one condition, that was, when all power was exhausted.

    ording to the n put forward by the alien Noen, after they entered the lifeboat on the lowest level and escaped from the space station, they would remotely start the self-destruction system of the space station. The system would stop transmitting power to the space station and use all the remaining energy to blow up the space station into bits and pieces in space!

    The best way to escape was to destroy the swarms and nests of insects in the entire space station. That was also agreed by Luo Jian andpany.

    But before that, they had to find theirpanions.

    Luo Jian and Wang Yue guarded as they remained in front of the venttion duct in the control room for 10 minutes, but 10 minutes seemed very long for them. Every minute, insects would crawl out from the duct. Wang Yue¡¯s traps were triggered, but they still could not stop the insects.

    But they could not weld the venttion ducts shutpletely because it was the only source of air. Noen said that every small room in the space station was a perfectly sealed chamber. For special reasons, the walls would breathe like living creatures. If the venttion ducts were sealed, the oxygen would be consumed quickly.

    Suffocating to death was not a good way to die.

    ¡°Noen! Are you ready?¡± Wang Yue felt that he was almost unable to stand up. He was as anxious as ants on hot oil. There were as many insects as tidal waves. Some of them had already started to climb onto Wang Yue. Wang Yue felt that he had been bitten on his leg, and as a conditioned reflex, he took out the knife tied on his thigh and cleanly cut the insects crawling on him in two.

    On the other side, Luo Jian calmly took his methrower to torch the insect pile. The mes became like a prairie fire, and the insects were destroyed patch by patch. The debris of the insects on the ground was pavedyer byyer, almost forming into a hill.

    What was worse was that even if these insects were dead, their remains still exuded a pungent and intolerable strange scent. That scent seemed to make people feel dizzy after smelling it for prolonged periods. Wang Yue was bitten two times by insects. He was the first to get inflicted, and soon he felt dizzy. It was as if the whole world was spinning around him.

    ¡°These insects seem to be poisonous...¡± After recalling that he was bitten, Wang Yue felt a little ufortable.

    ¡°If there are therapeutic injections in the bag, give it to yourself. It shouldst for a while. I¡¯ll take a look at you when it¡¯s safer.¡± Luo Jian squeezed out a brief gap of time to take a look at Wang Yue¡¯s leg that was bitten by insects.

    ¡°Surveince is on. I¡¯m looking for the whereabouts of yourpanions.¡± Noen squatted in front of the supeputer and knocked. Soon, he seemed to find something and said in a loud voice, ¡°I found them!¡±

    Luo Jian pulled Wang Yue up and pushed him to his back. ¡°You go and have a look. I¡¯ll keep them at bay!¡±

    Wang Yue knew that Luo Jian, this brat, was a little too overpowered, so he turned around and headed for Noen. The giantputer disyed the virtual screen suspended in the air. It really showed how Captain andpany were doing. Interestingly, Xing Yan chose a different road from the others. They took the waterway.

    ¡°How smart. Those bugs don¡¯t like water.¡± Noen looked at the virtual screen and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how they got down, but they were on the next floor, near the pump, which was originally used to drain water. The power room stopped working after the power supply stopped, so all the water is in there.¡±

    ¡°What can we do to get there!?¡±

    ¡°One way is to take the elevator down, but the elevator is a little far from here, and after getting down, there is still a detour to get to their location! The other is to st a hole on the ground that can lead to the next floor, but...... considering that the buildings of the space station have the ability to repair themselves, and the partition between the two floors is four or five meters thick, it is very difficult to do this...¡±

    While Noen was talking and thinking about how to get down to the next floor, they heard a huge explosion sounding out from Luo Jian¡¯s side. The explosion was akin to lightning that ttened the ground! As the sts continued, the whole train station shook! Wang Yue subconsciously covered his ears because they had begun to ring. And now, for a short period of time, he could no longer hear any sound.

    Wang Yue turned his head and looked at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian¡¯s methrower hadpletely deformed. He had found a new use of the gun. When he tried to continuously improve the me temperature of the gun, the color of the me changed from ordinary red to wonderful blue-white mes. To Luo Jian¡¯s knowledge, the highest temperature of this kind of blue and white me could reach 4,990 degrees Celsius. That temperature was the highest temperature that modern humans had artificially created.

    The temperature of the sun¡¯s surface was about 6,000 degrees Celsius, and that was a terrifying number because at such high temperatures, all matter could only exist in the form of gas. Therefore, the so-called sun was a hot gas ball which continuously emitted its light and heat to the Earth.

    Now, under Luo Jian¡¯s gun, even the partition board with a thickness of five or six meters could only be sted into a huge hole. The remains of the swarms of insects crawling around were not left, and they begin to evaporate as soon as they are burned by the me! At this moment, the swarm of insects, which had been marching forward and surging forward like waves, seemed to be frightened by the shocking light and heat transmitted by the fire, and they even began to retreat.

    Unfortunately, the power consumed by this high-temperature me was also huge. Luo Jian could clearly feel that the strength in his body was being sapped away at an obvious speed, so he could not keep up with this manner of sting for long. Soon, the mes extinguished themselves because there was no fuel. Luo Jian stood in the middle where even the walls began to melt. Under his feet was a huge hole burned by the fire.

    ¡°Very good, we can head down!¡± Luo Jian happily put away the methrower in his hands and looked down at the next floor under the huge hole.

    Not hearing any response, Luo Jian doubtfully turned his head to look at Noen and Wang Yue, only to see the two standing there, both looking at him stupidly.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Luo Jian also inexplicably tilted his small head, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go while these insects have note forth.¡±

    Both human and alien were silent for a while, obediently went over, and surrounded the sides of the huge hole.

    ¡°I had belittled you previously, human child. What did you say your name was?¡± Noen looked at Luo Jian and raised his chest in embarrassment. Luo Jian even suspected that his face under the helmet began to turn red: ¡°We, the Pris race, had always worshipped the strong, and you have my approval.¡±

    ¡°My name is Abyss.¡±

    Noen nodded and eximed, ¡°You look so small that I didn¡¯t expect you to have such a powerful weapon. It¡¯s estimated that this weapon is an independent type developed by you humans when you researched our biotechnology, right?¡±

    Luo Jian thought of the history of Pris, nodded, and said, ¡°Indeed, this weapon was developed bybining the technology of your race.¡±

    Wang Yue could not understand their conversation. Therefore, he could only look puzzled: ¡°......¡± What the hell are you guys talking about?!

    In fact, it was also true that the secret chamber itself was a special system developed due tobining Pris¡¯s extraterrestrial technology with that of Earth.

    It was developed to train future soldiers to learn and integrate this special autonomous weapon. Unfortunately, the secret chamber had fled ten thousand years ago to reach 21st-century Earth. However, the people living on Earth in this era did not have the physical quality and spirit to integrate these special weapons.

    Even if the yers were given these weapons by the secret chamber, these weapons would only be somewhat useful in the secret chambers. If they left the chamber and returned to the real world, their ability would be suppressed...... No, it should not be described as suppression. It should be said that this was the original strength of these yers in reality.

    Yes, Luo Jian thought that this was the purpose of the secret chamber. It just wanted to create a warrior who met the standards of the futuristic world. However, for modern yers, the distance of 10,000 years was that of heaven and earth, unable to be coveredirreparable.

    Because no one met the criteria, the chamber would not allow any yers to leave the chambers permanently.

    They had to keep fighting. And unless they became strong enough to satisfy the secret chamber, their only end was death.

    ¡°No wonder we lost the war. It turns out that you humans have be so powerful.¡± Noen¡¯s words brought Luo Jian back to reality from his thoughts. He sighed with regret: ¡°Although I understand themon sense of natural selection and that some species will eventually be destroyed, it is still hard to ept the thought that my people will disappear with the ebbs of time.¡±

    After hearing what Noen said, Luo Jian turned his head and looked at the tall alien. The alien¡¯s way of thinking seemed to be very different from that of human beings. They did not regard personal interests as supreme. On the contrary, they attached great importance to team interests and collective interests. Among Ying¡¯s narration to Luo Jian, the most frequently heard sentence was¡ª

    ¡°The collective interests of the team are supreme!¡±

    The Prisians were born to be soldiers. No matter old or young, women and children, all of them would take up arms. They were born as people of this race and would die for this race. Their personal feelings were quite weak, so they only acted for the sake of collectivity...... It was very different from the people of Earth.

    Therefore, Noen¡¯s view of things was not from a personal point of view. They did not value hatred, and they did not even feel sad when theirpanions were killed because they were a whole. When necessary, they did not even hesitate to allow theirpanions to sacrifice for the group, or...... thesepanions of theirs had already been consciously aware that they had to sacrifice themselves and even took the initiative to stand up and die themselves.

    What a cruel and rational race!

    Unfortunately, because they were too unified, if one of them encountered the same situation as Noen did, one would start to feel at a loss.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Noen. Now you¡¯re ourpanion.¡± Luo Jian suddenly raised a smile and expressed his kindness to the alien, ¡°We Earthlings may be different from you. In our concept, as long as we face the same enemy, then the enemy of the enemy is apanion...... We may not be as united as you are, but the advantages of humanity...... is probably that we are rich in feelings.¡±

    ¡°You can trust us.¡± Luo Jian continued to boost his morale: ¡°We will get out of this ce.¡±

    ¡°How amazing.¡± Noen said: ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of other humans during the war. You are all creatures filled with emotions, very demagogic, and very good at deceiving others.¡±

    Luo Jian did not speak but just kept smiling at Noen.

    Noen was defeated by the look in his eyes and seemed to havepromised, ¡°I¡¯ll believe you. Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    .

    .

    .

    ¡°Captain, over there!¡± Jiang Li grabbed Xing Yan and pointed to a dry area not far in front where there was no water. It could be used as a temporary rest area to let them get away from the heavy, icy-cold, stagnant water.

    Xing Yan swept a nce at the two teammates who followed him. Their hands and feet were cold, and their faces were blue. Although they felt that they faced a certain risk in their security here if they continued wading in the cold waters, if they met enemies, they would have no energy to fight the enemies.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Xing Yan nodded and agreed. The two members almost jumped up and cheered. They immediately climbed out of the heavy water, stood on the edge of the water source, and began to knead their clothes.

    ¡°When those insects were chasing after us previously, they didn¡¯t chase us after we jumped into the water. I feel like they do not dare to head into the waters,¡± Jiang Li said.

    ¡°Since they are not afraid of fires and bombs, how can they be afraid of water? I think if necessary, those insects would even fill their corpses up with water,¡± Xing Yan said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not conducive to take action in the water, so they didn¡¯t chase after us. I suppose there is more than one kind of insect here, so there may be some big insects that can move in the water.¡±

    ¡°Does it mean that even the waterways are not safe?¡± John asked as he pressed for an answer.

    ¡°Probably.¡± Xing Yan also felt a little tired...... They were now judging their location based on the distance from the elevator using their memories. They had to take the elevator to head to the next floor. Time was too tight. They were chased by a group of disgusting insects all the time. Even if they were Team Ghost Shadow, they still felt that at this moment, their spirits were weak but their flesh was willing.

    Then, the worst thing they could imagine urred.

    ¡°There¡¯s something in the water.¡± It was not known who said that. All three of them turned their attention to the waters in front of them. The waters were very deep. If one descended down, the water could submerge one¡¯s shoulders, only revealing one¡¯s head.

    At this time, many ripples surfaced on the surface of the water. There were some kinds of creatures spitting bubbles under the water.

    T/N: <del>Again, this is unedited. Edited chapters will be up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. </del> Humu helped to edit this chapter

 Chapter 174 - Ancient Remains (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 174 - Ancient Remains (VIII)</h4>

    Editor: Humu & Kitty

    What appeared in front of Xing Yan andpany was a big insect that no one had ever seen before.

    It looked a little simr to a giant centipede. It twisted and turned in the waters and had a huge ck head with two sharp devil horns on its head. One couldn¡¯t even see its eyes, and it had a big mouth with a sharp mouthpiece.

    It wriggled out from the waters. Although it had no eyes, it still correctly turned its head towards Xing Yan¡¯s direction. A strange roar rumbled out from its mouth. The sound was very long and sharp, but for humans, it sounded very soft.

    And after the big centipede made a sharp call, Xing Yan and others suddenly realized that there were more and more bubbles surfacing from the waters. These strange and huge insects surged out from certain corners, and they emerged from the water, one by one!

    Xing Yan¡¯s group of three suddenly felt that they were in danger. They looked around to observe the environment. Unfortunately, there was only water around this damned ce, and there was no other way to escape. If Xing Yan wanted to live, he could either swim with these giant centipedes or w his way out of this encirclement.

    ¡°Captain...... what to do? ¡± John unconsciously had his staff out but soon realized that magic would not work in this chamber. However, when battling in this secret chamber, he realized that he was too used to relying on his weapons. He was used to relying on magic that he had thought was omnipotent. When he lost all these things, he felt flustered.

    Xing Yan was also a little distressed. In fact, if he was alone, he could easily survive. After all, he had spatial abilities. Even though his skills were somewhat limited in this chamber, it was not hard to save his own life. The difficultyid in the fact that he couldn¡¯t leave hispanions alone.

    ¡°Do you think we can swim pastthrough these big centipedes?¡± Xing Yan said.

    Jiang Li stepped forward, subconsciously spilled a handful of powder, and at the same time said: ¡°Looking at their body shape, it seems that they are very well-adapted to life underwater.¡±

    John just frowned and said, ¡°Oh? How can a centipede swim?¡±

    ¡°This ce can¡¯t be exined bymon sense.¡±

    After a brief discussion, the three of them all assumed postures for when they were prepared for a battle. John simply put away his weapon and turned himself into a fort full of all kinds of guns in a short time. When the huge and disgusting centipedes climbed out of the water and tried to attack them, they turned the area where they wanted to have a short respite into a battlefield.

    The big bugs were afraid of bullets and mes. By densely suppressing them with fire, they would curl up temporarily and retract their bodies into the water, but they would bounce out again in a few minutes and climb out from all around them in all directions. They were inching closer and closer to Xing Yan and the others. Now, they hadpletely surrounded Xing Yan andpany.

    ¡°What a damned mess! I can already imagine the insectsing up and biting off my head!¡± John opened fire crazily and yelled. He did not need to aim. There were too many huge insects. They were in arge area and there was a huge number of insects. When he swung his gun casually, any bullet could hit a target.

    But thispletely could not stop the swarm of bugs from moving forward!

    ¡°Jiang Li!¡± At this time, Xing Yan called out the name of his teammate. He reced his weapon with a methrower from his carry-on secret chamber. This gun belonged to the prop category, which could emitrge-area, high-temperature mes, which would help them resist the pace of the swarm of insects for a period of time.

    Xing Yan held the methrower and fired away as he circled around the huge centipedes crawling in all directions. Jiang Li had paid attention to what the Captain meant, and theyhe also stepped forward. The powder in theirhis hand was inexhaustible, and the red powder was sprinkled into the me by themhim. The me seemed to receive some sort of support as the mes swooshed forward.

    ¡°The fire powder is a special fuel that can keep mes burning at a high temperature for a long time.¡± Jiang Li sprinkled the fire powder on the mes around themhim. In this way, the fire formed a big fire circle, which not only trapped Xing Yan andpany in the fire circle but also temporarily blocked the insects outside.

    ¡°These insects are very afraid of the high-temperature mes. Crawling over the circle of fire will burn them into soot and provide more fuel for the me. As long as they attack more fiercely, the fire will burn more vigorously, which should be sustained for a period of time&#k2026;¡± Jiang Li said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if these insects became smarter, they will climb back into the water and wait for a period of time or spray water on the circle of fire. That way, the circle of fire will be easily extinguished.¡±

    Xing Yan frowned, his face as pale as paper. He did not seem to be in a good state: ¡°At least we can fight for a period of time.¡±

    ¡°What should I do now?¡± John said, and after a pause, he said to Xing Yan, ¡°Are you OK, Captain? You don¡¯t look well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. We have to find a way to get out,¡± Xing Yan said as he kept his eyes on the roaring insects outside the fire ring, ¡°I don¡¯t believe these insects have no weakness.¡±

    ¡°They are afraid of fire.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just fire. As long as they are living...... there should be more ways to eliminate them!¡±

    Several people were at a loss when the walkie-talkie on John¡¯s body suddenly rang.

    ¡°It¡¯s Wang Yue,¡± John eximed in surprise and immediately turned on the walkie talkie. Wang Yue¡¯s voice rang from it: ¡°Captain!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here. How are you?¡± Since they were in a dire situation, Xing Yan cut his long story short.

    ¡°I¡¯m somewhere near you. Stay there! I¡¯ll head over to find you guys.¡± Wang Yue also knew that time waited for no one. After speaking that, he hung up.

    ¡°Very good. It seems that we will receive external aid soon.¡±

    Xing Yan showed a rare smile although his face was still pale beyond recognition.

    That made John and Jiang Li worry incessantly. Jiang Li said, ¡°Captain, you look really unwell. I think you need treatment.¡±

    Xing Yan was also aware of his physical condition. He was not the kind of person who would try to be strong at such a critical moment because it would only bring more danger to the team members in the future. So the three people sat on the ground while Jiang Li squatted beside Xing Yan, pulled up the Captain¡¯s sleeve, and smeared powder on the other party¡¯s arm.

    ¡°It¡¯s strange, Captain...... You do not have any external wounds, but your vitality is constantly being consumed.¡± Jiang Li¡¯s powder seemed to have a special function, allowing Jiang Li to know a person¡¯s physical condition through this magical loose powder.

    ¡°There won¡¯t be parasites in the water, will there?¡± John interposed at the side, but he may have inadvertently hit the truth. Xing Yan and Jiang Li¡¯s faces suddenly became ugly.

    Finally, the alien led Wang Yue and Luo Jian to find Xing Yan and his party. They cleared the way as they waded through the waters with mes and bullets, killing insects all the way while they tumbled through the water and finally came in front of Xing Yan andpany.

    Luo Jian¡¯s fire yed a great role. Although it consumed most of his strength, Luo Jian was not worried. His ability to recover was also very tyrannical.

    The insects around had been almost cleared, but the people knew that they couldn¡¯t breathe a sigh of relief because the number of these insects was so huge that they could surge back up in less than a quarter of an hour without giving them any time to breathe.

    And now they were in a considerably worse situation.

    Luo Jian squatted beside Xing Yan. Now, his face had turned ck, and his lips were purple and blue. Heid on the dry ground with his eyes closed as if he was dying. Luo Jian touched his cheek and neck with his fingers to detect his condition.

    ¡°There are insect eggs in the water. If they invade the body, they will consume a lot of energy. They are like a vampire that can¡¯t be seen by the naked eye. They will never stop consuming until you be a corpse.¡± The alien saw the state of Xing Yan and took time to exin to Luo Jian.

    At the same time, the alien also looked at John and Jiang Li, ¡°These two guys are also parasitized, but the parasite merely acted slower.¡±

    John and Jiang Li looked at each other, faces pale. Due to the urgency of time, they had no time to ask Wang Yue and Luo Jian who the alien who had suddenly appeared was and had no time to express surprise and shock at the mysterious appearance of the alien. Soon, they were forced to put their attention on their team captain.

    ¡°Can you cure him?¡± John asked the alien carefully and anxiously. But Noen just gave him a nk look and replied, ¡°if I had a way, the space station would not have fallen.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± John was at a loss for a moment.

    Noen did not mind John¡¯s absence of mind. He patiently exined, ¡°The eggs are very small and invisible to the naked eye. Generally, they will invade your body through wounds, circte in your blood vessels, and gradually encroach on your body. Dizziness due to excessive blood loss is the first symptom one will feel.¡±

    Noen said, and suddenly he found something simr to a needle on himself. He said to John, ¡°The parasites on your body have not acted yet. Use this to keep them down for a while.¡±

    With that, Noen dragged John and Jiang Li over to give them the injection.

    Luo Jian had no time to pay attention to them. He lowered his head and looked at Xing Yan. The other party lied quietly on the ground. asionally, there was a trace of pain evident on Xing Yan¡¯s face. Although Xing Yan had always been such a person with great forbearance, he couldn¡¯t help showing his vulnerability when he was in deep sleep.

    ¡°How¡¯s Captain?¡± Wang Yue also stared at Xing Yan, his heart restless. He had witnessed a lot of death, but he hated when death encroached on the people he attached importance to.

    ¡°I can get the bugs out of him, but I need some time.¡± Luo Jian took Xing Yan¡¯s hand and gently stroked it. Then he turned his head and looked at Wang Yue standing beside his. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have much time, but I need time. If those insectse again, can you help me block them off? ......You have to know that when I¡¯m treating him, not only Xing Yan, but also me, possess no power to attack. Once I am interrupted, Xing Yan will die.¡±

    After spending a short time with Luo Jian, Wang Yue had established an initial trust in Luo Jian. He immediately nodded and obeyed, saying that he would definitely keep those disgusting insects out. Luo Jian was relieved and focused on Xing Yan¡¯s body. He morphed his weapons and took a deep breath.

    Luo Jian was not short of weapons to morph. His weapons were so various and varied that even he couldn¡¯t count them. So he could only use what he was good at and would be effective. Inbat, weapons of therapeutic type were necessary and indispensable. However, such weapons were too rare in the secret chamber and could be called a scarce resource.

    Previously, Luo Jian once gave Clown a crystal ball in the never-ending stairway. That was also a kind of healing weapon. However, in fact, the crystal ball was a weapon of the yer known as ¡®Diviner.¡¯ Although it did have a therapeutic effect, the effect was not really great.

    Not only that, but in this chamber which heavily restricted the use of magic weapons, that crystal ball could only y a much smaller role.

    At this time, he had to change his healing technique.

    ¡°This is the first time I use this. I don¡¯t know if I will be able to sessfully utilize it.¡± The red umbre in Luo Jian¡¯s hand spun and gradually began to change into a small scalpel. If Clown was still here, he must have been able to recognize that this scalpel was the weapon used by Clown himself.

    ¡°If you can transform others, you can also transform yourself. Since you can make yourself stronger, in theory, you can also make others stronger.¡± Luo Jian held the scalpel and stuck the de to Xing Yan¡¯s chest.

    In fact, Clown¡¯s weapon should belong to the rarest type of treatment weapon, which might have some connection with him, who was also a medical student. Although Clown did not know about it, Luo Jian could see the essence of the scalpel at a nce.

    It could be used to kill people but also to save people.

    Luo Jian did not hesitate too much. As time went by, every moment of hesitation would cause Xing Yan¡¯s life to flee out of him. Luo Jian lowered his head and almostid on Xing Yan¡¯s chest. The team members around him had spontaneously stood up and began to resist another round of insect attacks. However, Luo Jian could only hold his breath and gently cut the scalpel into the skin of Xing Yan¡¯s chest.

    At that moment, he realized how the weapon was used.

    It was very mystifying. It seemed that there was something strange about the edge of the knife. It allowed Luo Jian to analyze the whole structure of Xing Yan¡¯s body in an instant. It seemed that he could feel the cries of the cells in Xing Yan¡¯s body through this small scalpel. It made people shudder and made Luo Jian suddenly understand what Clown had thought.

    The thought to use this knife to transform others.

    However, the consumption of mental energy was also huge. Luo Jian held the knife and felt that he could only focus his attention for one minute. He immediately felt that his head was splitting in two down the middle, and the pain caused his entire body to emit cold sweat.

    It was not easy to control, this weapon.

    Luo Jian swallowed his saliva. He used more force as he pushed down the de. The de cut through Xing Yan¡¯s skin. Beads of red blood seeped out, spreading bright colours all around his chest.

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes darkened, but his de did not stop moving. At the same time, he scraped many wounds on Xing Yan¡¯s body. Blood sshed out, but this was necessary. Through the wounds cut by this special weapon, the insects that invaded the body would gush out, following the blood.

    Simrly, Luo Jian took out some props from Wang Yue¡¯s carry-on secret chamber. The injection used to replenish blood was a verymon prop. After giving Xing Yan an injection, sure enough, Xing Yan looked much better.

    I might be able to kiss him.

    Luo Jian stared at the blush spread on Xing Yan¡¯s cheek. For a while, he was a little confused. However, he did not want to be aggrieved or endure such feelings, so he went over and pasted his lips on Xing Yan¡¯s lips.

    And in the next second when he kissed Xing Yan, Xing Yan opened his eyes.

    T/N: Happy New Year Eve guys!

 Chapter 175 - Ancient Remains (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 175 - Ancient Remains (IX)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    When Xing Yan opened his eyes, he saw student Abyss kissing him.

    The child¡¯s face was quite small, his lips were pink, his eyes were closed, and his long eyshes trembled slightly. Seeing this, he felt that the tight string in his heart seemed to have broken. So he reached out his hand and held the child tightly, exhaling a breath and biting the other party¡¯s lips. His tongue rolled over, and he sucked hard.

    Luo Jian¡¯s lips were kissed numb by him, but Luo Jian couldn¡¯t bear to pull away.

    There was too little time to be intimate together, too little.

    Luo Jian suddenly remembered that he had not seen Xing Yan for nearly ten years. He was rational and silent for too long, and all the ups and downs in his heart were wiped out in the fighting. When he saw Xing Yan again, his heart was rippling again. But he was doomed to be unable to act as when he was young and frivolous, always putting his best effort forth.

    But these warm emotions still surfaced on the tip of Luo Jian¡¯s heart.

    He felt that he was like some kind of animal that was bitterly wallowing in marshes, and he had finally grasped the straw to save his life. He would seem too stupid if he let go of it again.

    However, while the two were inseparable, their teammates who were struggling to resist the insect attacks were dissatisfied. John held up FFF inquisition¡¯s torch...... Ah, no, John broke apart the two reminiscing lovers with several deafening gunshots. After that, Luo Jian reluctantly climbed down from Xing Yan, ignoring the zing hot look in Xing Yan¡¯s eyes.

    The centipedes, who had once retreated to the water, climbed out of the water again. The numbers surged, and they rose from the surface of the water again. They floated and dipped down along with the waves, staring at the people of Team Ghost Shadow.

    ¡°We have to head back into the water again! This is the only way to get to the next floor!¡± Noen, who was on the front line, yelled while swapping positions with Luo Jian. So instead of Noen, Luo Jian stood at the frontline and began to burn the insects with his own methrower as he aimed towards the surface of the water.

    The terrifying heat made even the water boil, and the monsters in the water were struggling to climb up. Wang Yue also followed behind Luo Jian. He never stopped moving. Taking advantage of his fast speed in assembling traps, he quickly crossed through the waters and the ground and set traps all around them. As long as those big centipedes climbed up, they would immediately be burnt to ashes by the ignited mes.

    Noen withdrew from the battlefield and took out several new sets of protective clothing from his space because Xing Yan andpany did not have such protective clothing. In order to avoid them from being parasitized by insects in the water again, it would be better to wrap them in defensive clothing.

    However, when Noen took his clothes andpared it to the figures of Luo Jian and Xing Yan, he frowned and said to Xing Yan andpany: ¡°Why are the bodies of you humans so different?¡±

    John immediately stepped forward to show his strong muscles and beautiful figure, ¡°My figure is the golden ratio among human beings.¡±

    After hearing this, Noen was stunned momentarily. He turned his head and looked at Luo Jian and Wang Yue, who were still standing in front of the insect swarm. Their thin figures were jumping around in front of him. Then, Noen turned back to look at the tall men in front of him.

    Noen scornfully despised: ¡°You humans let your cubs go to war!?¡± Even the inhabitants of the Pris, known as the cosmic fighting race, were not so cruel!

    John, who was attacked by Noen¡¯s scorn, immediately jumped: ¡°How do they look like cubs? Especially the one with the methrower. He¡¯s a monster, alright?!¡±

    Noen was toozy to argue with John. He put the protective clothing one by one into the hands of John andpany to let them put it on. ¡°It¡¯s cold-proof and can keep you warm. It can also absorb attacks, and there¡¯s also a diving assisted-breathing system....... By the way, even in a vacuum, it can provide an hour of oxygen supply. I hope you fragile humans don¡¯t die so fast.¡±

    These few people did not continue squandering time. They quickly put the clothing onto their bodies carelessly. Their protective clothing had a mask and a helmet attached to it, but they could be taken off when necessary. However, several people who put on protective clothing felt the same feeling. It was as if the clothes on their bodies were alive. They would alter in ordance to their body shape to tightly wrap around their bodies and even rise and fall along with their breaths.

    As the party prepared, Noen immediately yelled, ¡°Get ready to head out with me!¡±

    Hearing this, Luo Jian in the very front immediately gestured to Wang Yue. Wang Yue had almostpletely ignored his team leader and began to follow Luo Jian¡¯s orders. After understanding what Luo Jian meant, he began to scatter traps on the ground as if he was scattering beans. Although his weapon was a crossbow, this bow had its skill points upped to the maximum points on setting traps. This was why Wang Yue could set traps everywhere happily every day.

    After that, Noen began to lead the way. Luo Jian was at the rear while the rest of the people were sandwiched in the middle. They dived into the water one after another, eliminating or avoiding those serpentine centipedes in the water, and they set forth on a thrilling underwater escape journey.

    The main output of Team Ghost Shadow in the past had be the one requiring heavy protection, but Xing Yan did not seem to care at all now. He even turned back to see if the Luo Jian, who was at the rear, had followed. However, John was glum. He felt that his strength in this secret chamber had been weakened too much and he had be the most useless one.

    Every time he thought about it, John felt so sad that he felt his heart twitch.

    Maybe because he was too upset, he made a small mistake while diving.

    In the deep water, there were not only arge number of insect eggs and huge centipedes floating around, but the waters were also covered with a milky-white colloidal substance which looked very disgusting. It would spread and sway left and right with the fluctuation of water flow.

    No one wanted to touch this disgusting jelly-like thing, but when the brawny John swam, his movements were too huge. Therefore, his legs touched it slightly. To his surprise, he merely touched the strands and felt that his feet were immediately bound by something.

    John¡¯s feet were entangled, and he could not swim. At that moment, he felt his heartbeat race faster. He lowered his head to look at his feet. Afterwards, he was surprised to find that the milky-white gtinous substance that covered the waters seemed to be a strange mucus secreted by insects. It was just like smearing 502 glue on John¡¯s feet!

    John, who was identally stuck, immediately disrupted the entire team¡¯s journey, but the team could not stop moving because right behind was a huge swarm of insects. These long andrge centipedes were sliding through the water like t snakes, and they opened their mouths ferociously and rushed at the group of people in Team Ghost Shadow.

    If they were onnd, they would still be able to manage, but now they were in the water. The dense and cold water would cause many people¡¯s skills to be unable to y a role. For example, Luo Jian¡¯s methrower could emit ultra-high temperature me, but it was totally useless in the water.

    So Luo Jian could only temporarily switch to using melee with a long knife.

    Only alien Noen¡¯s bazooka could withstand a blow from him.

    In this situation where the insects tried to chase and overtake them, if the team stopped for even a moment, it would be enough for them to be threatened by mass destruction of the team. So Noen did not stop. He did not even turn his head backwards. Jiang Li, Wang Yue, and Xing Yan followed after him in an orderly manner. They did not turn back to look at John again even though he was a very importantpanion.

    Of course, in fact, John did not ask for the help of hispanions. Naturally, he understood what he needed to do and what his team needed to do at this critical moment. His captain had told them long ago that in the face of a crisis that would destroy the team, if yougged behind, you should not expect anypanions to return to save you because turning back was tantamount to death.

    John had toe up with a way to save himself at this moment.

    He immediately took out his knife and tried to cut off the 502 glue that had trapped him but to no avail: the milky-white substance not only had terrible viscosity but also was very tough and stic.

    In fact, John could have taken off his shoespletely, but unfortunately, the milky-white disgusting mucus would still climb up onto his legs and stick to his protective clothing.

    So, John had two choices: either to take off his shoes and protective clothing or to be stuck here until the insects gnawed him to bits. It was obvious which choice he would choose without much thinking.

    But just as John was about to go all out to pluck his clothes out, Luo Jian, who had been at the rear, came over. He took a look at John and swung his knife. With a wave of the long knife, the 502 glue on John¡¯s feet disappeared.

    John looked at Luo Jian gratefully, but Luo Jian was filled with impatience. He grabbed John¡¯s clothes, and John only felt a strong force pulling him. He was thrown directly out of the water by Luo Jian, heading towards the direction of Noen andpany.

    In the waters, John felt that his body was out of control. When he adjusted his posture and looked in the direction of Luo Jian, he found that the few seconds that Luo Jian had dyed for him actually made him be trapped in the swarm of insects.

    The centipedes found Luo Jian, who was left alone. One by one they surrounded him. Luo Jian floated in the middle of the water, holding a long knife that was not in line with his body size. It looked like he would be swallowed by insects at any time.

    At this time, the exit of the water channel had appeared in front of them, and the exit was close in front of them. As long as they worked hard for a few moments longer, they would be able to leave the dense and cold waters and leave those annoying centipedes that were wading at the bottom of the waters.

    One after another, Team Ghost Shadow members climbed out of the waters. They crawled onto the bank and in an undersigned coincidence, they mentioned that Luo Jian was still trapped under water.

    But now, it was unwise to go back to the waters to look for someone because everyone had already seen arge army of enemies sweeping across the waters.

    Noen straightforwardly said: ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about him. Let¡¯s go immediately. There are more swarms charging to where we are. He¡¯ll be able to follow uster.¡±

    Wang Yue was dissatisfied with what Noen had said because he had developed trust in Luo Jian: ¡°Although I know it¡¯s easy to escape with his strength, it won¡¯t take much time for us to wait here for a while.¡±

    Noen rebuked: ¡°He can¡¯t use a methrower in the waters. He will need more time. If we stay here, we¡¯ll just be surrounded by insects and cause him more trouble.¡±

    Jiang Li indicated that this issue should not be contested.

    John hesitated for a moment. The other party had just saved his life, and now, within mere moments, he would turn his head and abandon him. It would be immoral for John to not properly consider, so he turned to ask for Xing Yan¡¯s advice.

    Xing Yan was also hesitating. His reason told him that what Noen said was not wrong. He had seen the strength of the child; he did not think that Luo Jian couldn¡¯t escape by himself. Moreover, if they stayed here and waited, there would be more insect swarms charging towards them to block the surface of the water. At that time, it would be difficult for Luo Jian to get out of the water.

    And if they continue to move forward, the swarms would easily pursue the bigger targets first, so Luo Jian would not be attacked again by those swarms, and his journey in escaping from these swarms would be much smoother.

    But it was not known why that sentence inwardly sounded out again within Xing Yan. That person told Xing Yan not to leave someone, but who was this someone? Clearly, that person had only said it once but Xing Yan could not forget what that person said no matter what. This made Xing Yan feel as if he was possessed. As if he was trapped because he was shackled or trapped in some kind of loop. When he wanted to get rid of everything shackling him, he appeared quite helpless to do so.

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡± Xing Yan began to regret the moment he said this sentence, but he knew that logically, he should have chosen that.

    His choice should not be wrong.

    But his heart seemed to be coated with ayer of sand, and he seemed to feel something terrifying......pared to what they were facing now,pared to any dangers they had faced, or any enemies they faced. Something more terrifying than all that.

    T/N: Happy New Year guys!! I hope you guys would have a great year ahead!

 Chapter 176 - Ancient Remains (X)

    <h4>Chapter 176 - Ancient Remains (X)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Thest thing imprinted on Xing Yan¡¯s retina was a huge explosion that shook the heavens and earth.

    He remembered that his team followed the alien all the way as they moved forward. In fact, he wanted to turn back to find Luo Jian, but he finally gave up. Xing Yan¡¯s responsibilities forced him to be unable to leave his team and look for a neer in his team of unknown origins.

    Now that he had decided to move on, Xing Yan would not be one of those people with indecisive and lingering personalities.

    However, their team¡¯s luck was not good in this chamber. Just as they were making a lot of turns with Noen, they were surrounded by insects, and thereafter, the hair-raising explosion urred.

    The explosion was not a masterpiece of Team Ghost Shadow or Noen. It might have been caused by the rise of some sort of mechanical air pressure of the space station because before the explosion, Noen said that the fire rm on the space station rang.

    Xing Yan lost consciousness for a short period during the explosion but soon woke up. When he woke up, he touched his clothes unconsciously and could not help butment that alien technology was really incredible.

    His protective clothing perfectly blocked most of the st¡¯s impact and protected him from some injuries. Although he might suffer some internal injuries, Xing Yan took out a few injections from his carry-on secret chamber and injected himself. His entirety felt much more rxed after that.

    Then he began to observe his surroundings. But after such an observation, even Xing Yan would also unbearably shudder with fear.

    He found himself to havepletely separated from his teammates in the explosion and seemed to have fallen into an unknown ce that would y a decisive role in this chamber.

    There was a huge hole over his head that had been widened by the explosion, but due to the space station¡¯s self-healing properties, the hole was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    What surrounded Xing Yan was thickly-dotted insect eggs.

    These eggs were not small. Each one was the size of a football. The eggs were milky-white in colour and were translucent, oval eggs. They were crowded together and stacked upyer byyer. Hills and hills of eggs were piled up into a mountain that surrounded him in all directions.

    And each egg was filled with all kinds of twistingrvae. It seemed that one egg could give birth to a swarm of insects. They appeared extremely sticky and disgusting. Seeing all this made Xing Yan feel nauseous.

    He had fallen right into the insects¡¯ nest.

    One had toment his luck. Was his lucky value bar hitting the maximum level or did he have E-rank luck?

    Xing Yan got up from the pile of eggs because he had fallen directly into the hill-like pile of eggs. The eggs were surprisingly soft, so apart from the impact of the explosion, Xing Yan could be said to have been undamaged.

    But that did not mean that he was not in danger. In fact, the perils he would face would ce him in a much more difficult position than others.

    Yes, since falling into the insect nest meant falling into the enemy¡¯s headquarters, at any moment it was possible for him to be gnawed by these swarms of insects until there was no residue left of him. That was very likely, so Xing Yan had already postured himself appropriately and was ready to teleport himself out of here. However, after a while, he found that there were no insects attacking him.

    Although the eggs were densely packed all around him and although the shells of these eggs were undting, they would not hatch so quickly. So the small insects were still making their rounds around the eggs.

    Although Xing Yan did not encounter any danger for a while, he did not rx his vignce. He began to lower his back as he walked over the eggs of all sizes. Soon, he found that he was really in the insect nest, deep in the insect colony and in the queen¡¯s unique spawning room.

    Because in front of him, there was a...... something hard for him to describe. Her huge body was more than ten meters tall, and she looked like a hill because she was too fat. Her limbs andor antennae looked very thin inparison. In her abdomen, there was something like a brood pouch. The bag was translucent and full of insect eggs.

    This was the queen of the entire insect swarm.

    It was inappropriate to measure how ugly she was because she was totally out of line with human aesthetics. Xing Yan guessed that this big bug might have not moved its body for a long time. She had been nesting here andying eggs. After all, that was her only function and the embodiment of the meaning of her life.

    If this was the queen¡¯s personal spawning room, she should be protected by threeyers of insects both internally and externally. However, there was an ident today and a hole was sted in the ceiling, so Xing Yan fell right down.

    The queen did not seem to notice the presence of Xing Yan. She snored and exhaled a painful moan. She rolled herself into a big ball, and her hand¡ªwhich could be barely described as a hand¡ªwas holding onto something tightly.

    Xing Yan boldly approached the queen. He raised his head to look at the huge monster. Following that, he ced his line of sight on the object held by the queen.

    It would be fine if he did not pay attention to it, but when his eyes focused on it, the object appeared extremely bizarre.

    This big bug was actually holding a cube the size of a human¡¯s fist.

    And this cube was emitting glimmers of light. How magical. It seemed that this cube held a mysterious power. Centered around it, a naturally spherical barrier formed around it, making it look like a huge ss ball with a small little cube inside.

    The queen grasped the cube. She couldn¡¯t touch the cube directly. She could only hold the thin ball of light outside the cube. The queen stered her face right outside the ball of light as if she was drawing strength from the cube.

    If one was an ordinary yer, one might not be interested in this cube and would only try their best to think of a way to escape this huge spawning room. Unfortunately, Xing Yan...... was not an ordinary yer.

    He did not know why he was interested in such a cube. Although the light emitted by the cube seemed to tempt Xing Yan to approach her, he never found that he was ced in such a situation like now, where he had no control of his body. He felt like a puppet under control. He could not help but step forward and even climb directly onto the queen¡¯s body.

    The queen did not respond but painfully moaned as a response. Although she trembled slightly, her movements did not affect Xing Yan¡¯s climbing. Therefore, Xing Yan smoothly climbed all the way up to the cube.

    The cube was suspended in the center of the light ball. The material seemed to be made of some kind of stone. It could not truly be considered a ¡®cube.¡¯ It was just that nine grids were carved into the six sides of the cube. Each grid was carved with mysterious patterns, and light radiated from the patterns and scriptures.

    Unfortunately, there was a corner missing from the cube. It appeared as if it had been violently destroyed by something. One of the six corners of the square was chiseled off, and the light emitting from the scriptures on its patterns was also iplete due to the missing small angle.

    But it still possessed unparalleled power.

    Xing Yan felt that there was a voice in his head that was whirling around.

    The voice called: Go over, go over...... Obtain it, take it away.

    Xing Yan could hardly control himself. At that moment, he might be defeated by fate again, so he stretched out his finger. Unlike the queen, who could only touch the round outer wall of the cube, and under the influence of unknown forces, his hand prated the transparent light ball outside the cube, and he directly reached into the insides and touched the cube.

    It felt cool and slightly cold to touch.

    Xing Yan did not continue deliberating any longer. He grabbed the cube and pulled it out of the ball of light and directly stuffed it into his pocket. But the moment he took the cube, the queen woke up.

    The queen felt for the first time that the thing belonging to her had been seized. She quickly lowered her head down to look at the cube in her hand, but the cube had disappeared, and the light ball outside the cube gradually disappeared. The disappearance of such a power source made her feel weak in that instant.

    She howled angrily, and shortly after, she felt Xing Yan, who was still hanging on her body.

    In fact, in that instant, he was extremely confused. Truthfully, when he saw the cube and when he could not help stealing it, Xing Yan always felt that his consciousness was extremely dazed. Until the cube was really in his hand, he felt that his consciousness cleared up in that instant.

    But when he woke up, he had to face a furious insect queen.

    However, this was not something difficult for Xing Yan. Xing Yan jumped down from the queen flexibly and straightforwardly. She was huge and slow in movement. She merelyid eggs constantly and possessed no fighting ability.

    The queen did not pose a threat, but the queen¡¯s call could.

    In the spawning room, the queen¡¯s call was immediately sensed by the insects surrounding the perimeters. Almost in the next second, countless insect swarms swarmed in from all directions. Could you imagine the sight of insects densely flocking into your vicinity from all directions? Xing Yan had seen that at that moment.

    Aware that he was in danger, Xing Yan immediately drew his weapon and was ready to make an instant teleport to escape this area.

    However, to his horror, Xing Yan found that he could not use his skills.

    In the past, he was always able to move freely in any ce. Although in this futuristic background, his ability had been greatly weakened, it did not mean that he could not teleport.

    But why couldn¡¯t he use his abilities?

    Xing Yan¡¯s experience enabled him to keep calm, but cold sweat still covered his forehead. However, he was not like John, who was so dependent on his weapon and skills. Now that his weapon could not work, he had already thought of what to do next. He turned his head and focused on the huge queen.

    The biggest weakness of the insect swarm lied in front of him!

    Xing Yan drew his knife out and was ready to pounce on the queen. No matter how intelligent these insects are, the queen always had the authority tomand them. Under the threat of losing the queen¡¯s life, he could always think of a way to drive back these disgusting insects.

    But to Xing Yan¡¯s surprise, instantly after his weapon stopped working, he began to be unable to move his body.

    Motherf*cker, what was going on?!

    Xing Yan rigidly stood in ce, and the insects around him gradually surrounded him, but he was unable to move now. He gradually stopped sensing his limbs. His body was out of control and refused to budge. Thereafter, a kind of inexplicable panic gradually took root in his mind. Xing Yan was not afraid of death, but in that moment, he suddenly remembered how Luo Jian looked like when he was quietly nesting in his embrace.

    Damn it, I still end up regretting it.

 Chapter 177 - Ancient Remains (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 177 - Ancient Remains (XI)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    Now, Luo Jian was sitting on a pile of insect corpses and took a deep breath.

    Although the insect corpses were disgusting, Luo Jian was a little tired and toozy to move. It was not a good idea to keep chopping them down. The terrifying numbers of insects made it impossible to chop them allpletely. Finally, using the tang sword copied from Duan Li, Luo Jian increased his speed so that he could break through the encirclement.

    ¡°Duan Li¡¯s sword is really easy to use.¡± Luo Jian randomly waved the de in his hand. The length of the sword was almost the same as the height of his body. It was not veryfortable to hold and swing it, but the weapon¡¯s skill that allowed him to elerate in speed felt great to use.

    In fact, Luo Jian could have escaped with a better weapon. For example, his ability to reduce his sense of self-existence could only be used when the weapon was in its red umbre state. Because the red umbre had almost no attack ability, the hypnotic ability became the only defense¡ª

    However, it seemed that this skill did not work well for these insects. Maybe hypnosis was better for intelligent creatures. And for creatures such as insects which could only obey simple orders, as far as it was an insect, when he used his hypnotism, it was the same as when he did not use it.

    Another example was Xing Yan¡¯s spatial knife. What he originally copied was Xing Yan¡¯s weapon. His red umbre had also mimicked the magical spatial knife for ages. Although instantaneous movement was restricted by the secret chamber, it did not mean that Luo Jian could not use it.

    But Luo Jian did not know why but he was not willing to use this knife in in sight in front of Xing Yan. Even though he had been separated from Xing Yan for a while, as long as he thought of the possibility that he would be seen by him, Luo Jian started to feel ufortable.

    Also, Luo Jian had always felt strange here. He always felt that all around and at all times in this space station, every corner was packed with something to survey them, as if there was surveince present, causing him to deeply realize that he and his team members were under some kind of monitoring.

    Someone¡¯s monitoring us? No, or, perhaps someone was purely monitoring me?

    Luo Jian sighed wearily. With the support of his tang sword, he stood up. His rising movement made him aware of something strange. He reached out and touched his back. Lowering his head, he found that his hands were red with blood.

    ¡°Tsk, I was careless.¡±

    Luo Jian then started to rummage in his carry-on secret chamber, found some medicine, and gave himself a jab casually. Although his recovery ability was very strong, he was still injured, and he couldn¡¯t possibly ignore it and let his vitality slip away. And in this rmingly dangerous secret chamber, it was not as if he could revive himself to his best-conditioned self just like in the Crimson Asura Realm. Luo Jian knew that he must restrain himself.

    He was too used to the way of fighting in the Asura Realm and did not know how to save his energy. He hoped that in the future, when he was battling, he could adapt as soon as possible, otherwise it would be terrible for him sooner orter.

    Subsequently, Luo Jian left the spot where he was presently located and began to track down Xing Yan.

    He had left a mark on Xing Yan¡¯s body. That mark was left when they were in a deep kiss previously. With the mark, Luo Jian was fearless and knew that even if the other party ran to the ends of the world, he would be able to follow after him. This feeling made Luo Jian feel a littlecent.

    En, but it was a little strange?

    Luo Jian just started tracking, but he suddenly felt that his mark on Xing Yan seemed to have a slight change. Although he could clearly trace the destination of Xing Yan now, he also felt that something horrifying had happened to Xing Yan.

    Just after Luo Jian sensed the strange change in Xing Yan¡¯s body, something horrible happened one after another, and the note that Luo Jian kept it in his pocket all this time...... The printed note with purple patterns, which was unique to the secret chamber, ignited itself, a zzzz sound rang out, and smoke started bellowing from his pockets.

    Aware of this, Luo Jian immediately reached out of his pocket and took out the note. He found that the printed note given by the secret chamber had started to burn, and the mes were jumping around the soft paper surface. And soon, the paper was burned to ashes.

    Impossible! It¡¯s impossible!

    This pile of ashes in the palm of his hand made his heart almost jump up to his throat. The secret chamber¡¯s note was a symbol of the power of the chamber and a symbol of its authority. As long as the note still existed, it meant that the space in the chamber was still under the control of the secret chamber¡¯s will. However, if it burned up, turned into a pile of ashes, and disappeared in Luo Jian¡¯s hands, he certainly knew what it meant.

    The system was offline!

    System error? Program disconnected? Program not responding? Would the secret chamber¡¯s will withdraw from this battle? One could casually think about it but in short, Luo Jian understood that the huge space station was no longer under the control of the secret chamber¡¯s will, that was to say, the secret chamber.......

    Luo Jian¡¯s face was pale, and he muttered to himself, ¡°It¡¯s really be a true secret chamber.¡±

    The secret chamber without the control of the secret chamber¡¯s will would be like an ind in the sea. When the secret chamber¡¯s will was still there, the chamber would use its powerful power to build a very, very long bridge to this ind. This bridge was at the exit of the secret chamber space. After the yerpleted the task, he could return to reality from the bridge.

    But now that the secret chamber¡¯s will had disappeared, the system was offline and the bridge was gone.

    The secret chamber that had lost control of its will became a real secret chamber. During this period, nothing in the secret chambers would be protected or buffed! For example, the most typical items or props that were originally set as ¡®not to be destroyed¡¯ could now be destroyed; the NPCs, who were originally controlled by the secret chamber¡¯s will, would turn on their coats at anytime; the most crucial and most terrifying point was that¡ª

    The props and weapons provided by the secret chamber¡¯s will for all yers were all under the blessing of the secret chamber¡¯s will. Now that this blessing had disappeared, it meant that all yers in the space station had be ordinary people now!

    Of course, this ¡®ordinary person¡¯ was not truly very ordinary. They were still much stronger than ordinary people in reality. However, in this dangerous space station, even a strong man was not much different from ordinary people.

    As a result, after magic skills and weapons had been greatly weakened, these skills that could still be used now would be useless. Now, yers in the secret chambers would possess their lowest strength ever.

    However, this was also their original standards of their abilities, just like the basic ability value after removing all equipment and status bonus.

    It was like fighting a boss in an instance with bare hands and without weapons.

    Especially when the boss was difficult to deal with.

    ¡°F*ck! F*ck!¡± Luo Jian could not help but curse twice. He tried to start his own carry-on secret chamber again. Sure enough, even the carry-on secret chamber could not be opened. The secret chamber¡¯s will had thoroughly gone offline from this battlefield, and Luo Jian didn¡¯t know how long it would take before it could go online.

    During this period when the secret chamber¡¯s will couldn¡¯t start up, the death rate of everyone in their teams would rise to an unimaginable high. They would find that some of their skills that could be used were unavable now, and their weapons would be more sluggish than usual.

    The process of discovering this fact would make yers feel that they couldn¡¯t adapt for a while. They were like a child that instantly grew to an adult. They could have done more damage, but now they couldn¡¯t even lift something heavy.

    This sudden process, to arge extent, would make yers exhausted and even make them identally die in the battlefield.

    Even if Noen was here, he had to find hispanions quickly!

    Luo Jian was in a hurry and did not want to linger. He stepped forward, following his senses. He waved the tang sword in his hand casually. But after taking a few steps, Luo Jian found another problem.

    Although the aura blessing buff bestowed by the secret chamber had disappeared, Luo Jian felt that his strength had not been weakened much. And he did not feel much that the strength in his body had weakened.

    Later, Luo Jian tried to change his weapons into different states and found that his weapons did not change much. It was as if the secret chamber had never bestowed the aura blessing buff on his weapons.

    Oh right, the Crimson Asura Realm! The secret chamber created by Ying and his team was not under the control of the secret chamber¡¯s will. There was no power and blessing by the secret chamber¡¯s will except that the yers there could be quickly revived in their best states and back to how they previously looked. Without the secret chamber¡¯s enhancements of their strength and buffs, all the yers in there were evoking their true strength normally!

    With this in mind, Luo Jian felt he could not help noticing something he had been neglecting.

    Could it be said that since he entered the Asura Realm, he had been fighting with his true level? He did not get any buffs or strength enhancement by the secret chamber. He could only use......

    His own body.

    ¡°In this case, if the group of people in the Asura Realm coulde out...... wouldn¡¯t they be extremely strong?¡±

    Luo Jian touched his chin and thought for a little while, but he was toozy to think too much. His strength was not weakened. He could hardly be better. After that, he morphed his weapon into Xing Yan¡¯s spatial de. Although it was not known what made him feel dissatisfied with this knife, it was an issue of life or death now and it would be fine if he used it asionally.

    Because he was privately concerned for Xing Yan, Luo Jian decided to first sh to Xing Yan¡¯s side.

    Then he quickly changed the weapon form, and his entire person disappeared on the narrow ce where he took a pit stop, but when he appeared in the next second, what Luo Jian saw really scared him.

    It was freezing.

    This was the nest of insects, the queen¡¯s personal spawning room. It was densely packed with insect eggs that appeared like mountain peaks. There were also piles of densely packed insects stacked on the eggs. There was a huge queen insect in the distance. For sure, this was where Xing Yan was located. Yes, but...... every living creature here, no matter whether they were worms, eggs, or even the huge queen, was covered with a thickyer of ice.

    Soon, Luo Jian found Xing Yan, who was frozen. His whole person was sealed in the ice. He was still kept in a posture showing that he was ready to attack with his knife. There were dense swarms of insects around him, and they all kept their attacking postures. He was surrounded and helpless. However, the expression on his face did not show a trace of fear. This man had always shown that he waspetent and so much stronger than others.

    Luo Jian did not know, so he could not understand why Xing Yan directly ran to the insect nest and waspletely frozen with the insects and the queen. However, this ice caused a bad premonition to surface within Luo Jian.

    ¡°Icebound, frozen.¡±

    Luo Jian spoke to himself and went forward to touch Xing Yan. The ice outside caused him to be unable to directly touch his skin. Then Luo Jian carefully raised the knife in his hand and slowly chiseled away the ice.

    This ice shouldn¡¯t have been so tough, but Luo Jian¡¯s knife couldn¡¯t leave any trace on it. It was as if these ice blocks had been given an ¡®not to be destroyed¡¯ attribute by the secret chamber. However, the problem was that the secret chamber¡¯s will was now clearly offline.

    Xing Yan remained standing in that posture as if his time froze at that moment, keeping his life and soul in that eternal moment.

    Luo Jian stared at Xing Yan in a daze for a few moments. At this point in time, he had yet to think of any methods to get Xing Yan out of these thick ice. He merely stared at him, obsessed, and indulged in a kind of emotion that was hard to extricate himself from, that was, fear and panic.

    ¡°Their time has stopped.¡± At this moment, footsteps sounded behind Luo Jian, and a familiar voice rang out. Luo Jian paused for a moment and turned back. The alien Noen came out of nowhere and stood behind him.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Luo Jian looked at Noen, and suddenly his face was a little cold. ¡°What about the others?¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. Although there are still a lot of insects here, it seems that most of them are frozen because of the ice. The rest seem to have shrunk back because they did not receivemands from the queen...... We went smoothly straight down to the lowest floor without obstructions.¡±

    Noen raised his hand, poked a few times on his armor, and added, ¡°I connected to the space station system and found you here, so here I am.¡±

    Luo Jian did not reply for quite some time. He looked up and down at the alien in front of him. Noen wrapped himself in solid armor. His distinct body structurebined with the way he acted was just like a Prisian, showing that he was hundred percent an alien.

    So Luo Jian tilted his head slightly, and with his head to one side, he nced at Noen. He asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

 Chapter 178 - Ancient Remains (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 178 - Ancient Remains (XII)</h4>

    Editors: Humu & Kitty

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m Noen. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°No, of course you¡¯re not Noen. Even your aura has changed.¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°And the system is now offline, so the NPCs will recover their true appearances and memories at any time. The fighting prowess of you Prisians is remarkable. I believe that your recovery ability is not inferior.¡±

    Noen shook his head. He thought for a moment and replied, ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m Noen, but I¡¯m not Noen...... so, who am I?¡±

    Noen kept his back straight. The look in his eyes was sharp, and it was nailed onto Luo Jian. ¡°Yes, I remember.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a traitor.¡±

    Noen¡¯s memory could be traced back to hundreds of years ago. At that time, he was just an ordinary citizen of Pris. Although he had extraordinary fighting prowess, he was just a drop in the ocean among the huge poption, so he was not worth mentioning.

    In Pris that prized collective interests, every resident must take responsibility and sacrifice for the collectivity. The same goes for Noen. In his years of ideological education, the concept instilled into him by adults was just a simple sentence¡ªThe interests of the collective were supreme!

    But one day, the people of Earth came as attackers; they wanted to upy a ce on Pris, and they were naturally defeated in the war and were driven out. But in the war, some of the enemies Noen had contact with left a deep impression in his heart.

    He began to doubt his ideas.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t think that the concept that the interests of the collectives were supreme was incorrect, but he felt that...... maybe I can change my way of life?

    People on Earth were very strange. Most of the time they were selfish, but sometimes they were so selfless. They could give everything to certain people but treat other people cruelly. Wasn¡¯t this such a strange thing? At least on Pris, Noen¡¯s race was not like this at all.

    Noen¡¯s people would contribute selflessly to collective interests, and each n regarded self-sacrifice as an honor. However, this race was also a race that highly advocated force. Weak people would be bullied and pushed out to be victims.

    Children would be protected because they were the future; women would also be protected because they were tools of reproduction; but when necessary, women could be pushed out and so could children. All Prisians thought it was natural. They had no concept of family, no self-awareness, and they would only do everything that was right for the collective, although it might be very cruel.

    Noen should have been used to it, but he also questioned it.

    There was nothing wrong with serving the collective. Indeed, doing this would serve to make Prisian¡¯s future brighter and themselves stronger. They would undoubtedly be one of the powerful races in the universe. However, Noen also deeply felt conflicted after he learned that in this world, there were certain feelings, certain feelings of love, that had the power to shake his soul.

    Noen betrayed his race.

    He was the first to begin taking such a step to betray his race, but he did not know if he was thest. He wanted to pursue more things, and such things were impossible to have on Pris.

    ¡°Then, I left Pris, and I joined a team of Earthlings and participated in one of their pilot projects.¡±

    Noen stood there and gave a brief ount of his background. He looked at Luo Jian thoughtfully and said, ¡°I think you know the n¡ªthe n of building the transmigration system.¡±

    Luo Jian widened his eyes and stared at the alien in front of him in surprise. An unprecedented guess quickly formed in his mind. Instead of waiting for the next word to be said, he directly interrupted him. He said, ¡°You...... Could you be...... the creator of the secret chamber!?¡±

    Noen did not answer immediately. He came to Luo Jian¡¯s side. Following the frozen sculptures,yers of frozen ice, he saw Xing Yan still maintaining that posture, ready tounch an attack. However, there was an obvious protuberance in the pocket of Xing Yan¡¯s clothes, and a corner of the cube was exposed outside.

    ¡°You see, that is the core power source of the secret chamber. I call it ¡®cuboid.¡¯ You can simply call it ¡®cube.¡¯ This cube is the essence of the reincarnation system. Once destroyed, thousands of secret chambers built by the system will be destroyed in an instant. Its powerful energy will affect the order of time and space, and the consequences will be so horrifying that I doubt you would like to witness them.¡±

    Noen squatted in front of Xing Yan, touched the ice on his body with his w, pointed to the magic cube in his pocket, and said to Luo Jian: ¡°It has incredible power, and to a certain extent, it isbined with the biotechnology of the Pris, so it can also be called a living creature, a living creature with a consciousness.¡±

    I¡¯m one of the developers of the cube. I provided biotechnology to the people of Earth and helped them build the transmigration system. But it was a huge mistake. In my long life, I didn¡¯t know whether what I was doing was right or wrong.¡±

    Although what Noen said was shocking, Luo Jian had already known a little about it from Ying. But now, he still had some problems that he didn¡¯t understand. Taking this opportunity, he began to ask Noen: ¡°But the transmigration system is from the future, developed 100 million years after the present Earth today. How can you appear here? Are you brought together by the secret chamber?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just a projection, a projection from the future.¡± Noen stood up and lowered his head to look at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian opened his eyes in surprise: ¡°The projection of the future?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I was identally connected to its signal...... To put it simply, it¡¯s amazing; it¡¯s as if you dialed the wrong number identally on your phone to your future self more than ten yearster. This is the case now. I am still in the future in a hundred million years, but by some means, I am unconsciously linked to the ¡®me¡¯ in this secret chamber, so right now, I can have a face-to-face conversation with you.¡±

    Now, the power of the secret chamber has no way to support itself to leap the distance of 100 million years, so it can¡¯t go back to the future. That is why it will act recklessly in the ¡®present¡¯ on Earth.¡±

    Luo Jian never thought that he could coincidentally meet the alien in the future from a hundred million yearster!

    This was a terrifying opportunity that could never be missed. Taking advantage of the offline system and the opportunity now that the secret chamber¡¯s will was not be able to control many aspects. He could get some important information from Noen¡¯s mouth, such as how to destroy the secret chamber!

    ¡°The most direct method is to destroy the cube. However, with the current technology of you Earthlings, this is impossible. Even if it can be done, it will have terrible consequences.¡±

    ¡°What terrible consequences?¡±

    ¡°To put it bluntly, just imagine this cube as a super bomb that can destroy the sr system with a single st.¡±

    Noen¡¯s words stunned Luo Jian. He stood there for a long time, unable to speak. He shivered and said, ¡°That is to say, if I can¡¯t handle it well, can this thing drag everyone on Earth to bury together with it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve calcted its energy units, and with its power, it can definitely do that.¡±

    This was something that Ying had never said. However, Luo Jian did not me Ying. How could Ying control the futuristic technology¡¯s brains? Naturally one couldn¡¯t imagine that the core of the secret chamber had such huge power reserves. Now, Luo Jian, who heard what Noen said, had to overturn his previous idea and begin to think about other ways to destroy the secret chamber.

    ¡°Is there no other way?¡±

    ¡°Of course there is.¡± Noen continued pointing to the cube in his pocket and said, ¡°Did you notice this? The cubecks a corner, and that corner is the security mechanism, simrly meaning that you would give a lock to the cube. Now, this lock is missing, so the cube will rampage, build one independent space after another, and trap yers here to experience life and death. You just need to find the missing corner, that is, find the lock, put it back on the cube, and lock its power.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it!? I mean...... Is that lock absolutely indestructible?¡± Luo Jian could not help but frown. This was quite different from what Ying said. ording to what Ying meant, he told Luo Jian to destroy the ¡®lock¡¯ and also told Luo Jian that as long as the lock was gone, the secret chamber would naturally disintegrate.

    ¡°Destroy?¡± Noen frowned and looked at Luo Jian inexplicably and said, ¡°Of course not! With the current technology levels on Earth, you would not be able to craft a second lock. But you also cannot directly destroy the cube...... The power it holds could destroy an entire gxy! If the lock is destroyed, how do you control the secret chamber?¡±

    Again, Luo Jian was stunned. He stared at Xing Yan in front of him. His eyes were ced on the cube in his pocket. He could hardly move his sight away. There was only one thought left in his mind¡ª

    Was Ying lying to him!?

    No! Why lie to him? Would he gain any advantages by doing so?

    Wait, there was another fatal issue......

    Luo Jian raised his head and looked at Noen. He asked, ¡°Since the lock is the security mechanism of the secret chamber, why does the secret chamber hide it instead of destroying it by itself?¡±

    This question made Noen slow to react for quite a while. He sighed: ¡°In fact, if you destroy this lock, you can destroy the secret chamber as well because the lock is the remote control of a remote-controlled bomb. As long as the lock is destroyed, the cube will explode¡ªin our time, if we want to destroy a cube with such high energy, we will throw the cube into a gxy void of life and destroy it by using another remote control.¡±

    ¡°I see. Because the bomb is too dangerous to handle, you would just drop it where there is no one and detonate it automatically.¡± Luo Jian suddenly understood something. He realized that Ying had not deceived him.

    ¡°That¡¯s it, but do you really have the ability now to drop bombs far away from the sr system?¡± Noen touched his chin and seriously discussed with Luo Jian, ¡°First, you must have at least one spaceship that can get out of the sr system; second, the secret chamber wouldn¡¯t simply allow you to send it out of the sr system; third, you have to find the lock hidden by the secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°With this, it¡¯s very difficult to implement this method.¡± The sess rate was terrifyingly low, and it took a lot of time to do this.

    ¡°There¡¯s a third way.¡± Noen burst intoughter, though his smile could not be seen clearly under his mask. ¡°As I said before, just put the lock back on, put it on the cube, and let it recognize you as its master.¡±

    Luo Jian, who was listening to what he said was instantly shocked. He turned back to nce inexplicably at Noen, ¡°Eh?¡±

    T/N: Thank you ChrysAmans for the kofis!

    Because we have 10 bonus chapters now, I¡¯ll temporarily stop offering bonus kofi chapters for EIC until my team and I are done with publishing the 10 bonus chapters. Sorry about that! Over the next two to three weeks, my team and I will be publishing the bonus chapters thank y¡¯all for understanding and supporting the series.

 Chapter 179 - Ancient Remains (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 179 - Ancient Remains (XIII)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    ¡°You are joking with me. How could the secret chamber ept me as it¡¯s master?¡± At that moment, Luo Jian felt that what Noen suggested was somewhat hrious. However, Noen was very serious. He reached over, taking advantage of his height, and easily pressed his w on Luo Jian¡¯s small head and whispered:

    ¡°I¡¯m one of the creators of the system, and if I say you can do it, it means you absolutely can.¡±

    Luo Jian felt puzzled: ¡°Why do you have such self-confidence?¡±

    ¡°The transmigration system was originally set up by the people of Earth in order to cultivate supersoldiers from one hundred million yearster. Combined with the technology of Pris, it has amon feature of Pris¡¯ biotechnology.¡±

    Luo Jian suddenly thought of something: ¡°You said previously that all weapons of Pris have consciousnesses and only recognize powerful people and allow those people to use them...... is that the characteristic you are referring to?¡±

    Noen nodded. ¡°Yes; as long as you are strong enough, it will recognize you as its master.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s even more impossible.¡± Luo Jian shook his head. ¡°Although I think I am very strong now, I think there will be someone stronger than me one day. There are so many favourable encounters in this world. Who can guarantee it?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so self-deprecating. Why not be ambitious and aim for ¡®I want to be the strongest below the heavens¡¯?¡±

    After thinking about this possibility carefully, Luo Jian suddenly smiled: ¡°I did have such an idea once, but now, I only want to get the people I value out of this sea of misery.¡±

    ¡°And that is all the more reason to do it.¡± Noen rubbed Luo Jian¡¯s head several times. ¡°You be the strongest and attack the secret chamber, but as the master. At that time, as the master, the secret chamber must obey your orders or whatever you want to aplish. In this way, isn¡¯t it an easy-peasy way to protect the people you value?¡±

    However, at that time, Luo Jian did not give him an exact answer because he did not know what the chances were that he would be the strongest. But at least, he felt that he could make efforts in this direction.

    However, the discussion between Noen and Luo Jian was not over. A sudden change in events interrupted their conversation. They found that the frozen insects and the queen, as well as Xing Yan, had begun to thaw at the same time.

    That hard and transparent ice withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, at an extremely fast pace. Generally speaking, ice would melt into water, but here, those iceyers did not be water. The ice gradually dissolved and disappeared instead. Finally, Xing Yan and the insects who were bound had their restrictions slowly removed, and they were liberated from being trapped at that time.

    But the interesting thing was that although both Luo Jian and Noen were ready to be attacked by the swarm of insects, the insects did note forward to attack. The insects still kept their original positions, as if they were still frozen by the ice. They were all stiff and motionless and did not even emit the slightest of sounds.

    Xing Yan was the only exception.

    Xing Yan began to move his body after thawing and stepped forward a few paces as if he could not adapt to the changes.

    Luo Jian was happy when he swa Xing Yan, but when he raised his foot to step towards him, Noen, who was beside him, pressed him down. Shortly after, Noen shook his head at Luo Jian.

    As a result, Luo Jian did not try to have physical contact with Xing Yan. He saw that Xing Yan calmly took out a cube from his pocket. The cube was slightly suspended in his hand, and nine grid patterns on the cube were slightly bright. It looked mysterious and shocking.

    This scene also dazed Luo Jian, and a bad premonition surfaced in his heart. And in the next second, the premonition came true. After that, Xing Yan raised his head expressionlessly. His face was illuminated by the light of the cube in his hand. That look was unprecedentedly mechanical and rigid. At this moment, his soul had been pulled away by something, leaving only his body standing.

    After that, Xing Yan held the cube in his hand and kept his eyes on Luo Jian and Noen. So he spoke first, and the sentence was actually directed at Noen:

    ¡°Long time no see...... Father. ¡°

    Noenughed: ¡°For you to call me Father, how ttering.¡±

    Luo Jian knew everything in that instant when the other party opened his mouth. Like Ah Lan, he was being controlled, but the matter now was moreplicated and difficult to deal with because the culprit...... was in Xing Yan¡¯s palm.

    And after this ended, what would happen?

    ¡°Just now, there was an error in the system¡¯s calction. Therefore, I have brought you an unpleasant game experience. I¡¯m very apologetic for it.¡± Xing Yan held the cube seriously, and his eyes shifted from Noen¡¯s to Luo Jian¡¯s.

    Luo Jian felt a subtle impatience inwardly. When he realized that Xing Yan was under the control of the secret chamber¡¯s will, this impatience became very obvious. He could not help but shake off the hand, allow his weapon to turn back into the red umbre state, and stretch it on his shoulder. He did it unintentionally, but this action showed that he was nervous, and opening the umbre made him feel as if he was being protected.

    ¡°I want to know what happened,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°Under the control of the secret chamber¡¯s system, how can things such as calction errors ur?¡±

    The secret chamber¡¯s will, who stood over at the other side, unexpectedly said straightforwardly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to keep this a secret. It¡¯s because of this......¡± He then pointed to himself, ¡°Because this yer had touched my power source of his own will.¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s eyes swept over the cube held by the other party: ¡°That¡¯s your power source?¡±

    ¡°After paraphrasing my intents into human colloquial, what I mean is for us to speak frankly and make it clear. In fact, I think you already know almost all about it.¡± Xing Yan said, ¡°This cube is my power core, which can also be called noumenon. I can¡¯t be a human being, but my ability allows me to control other living creatures to move.¡±

    It was not known whether Luo Jian asked intentionally or unintentionally, ¡°That¡¯s such a coincidence. Why is your power core in this chamber?¡±

    ¡°Just as you think.¡± Xing Yan continued, ¡°Naturally, I put it here for you to find. By the way, the background of this secret chamber is also set this way because I set it on purpose. I hope you can understand my background and understand my origins.¡±

    ¡°You want me to know?¡± Luo Jian was confused. ¡°Why?¡±

    The secret chamber¡¯s will did not immediately answer Luo Jian¡¯s question. He suddenly said, ¡°I was hoping you could get this core.¡± The secret chamber said as the cube in his hand was raised a little, ¡°But the result is a failure.¡±

    He said, pulling out a stiff smile, ¡°But it¡¯s not toote.¡±

    ¡°You want to give me this thing?¡± Luo Jian could act vigntly. He said, ¡°Why give it to me? You don¡¯t want to control me like how you control Xing Yan, do you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, esteemed sir.¡± The secret chamber¡¯s will slightly tilted his head, ¡°yers can be controlled by me because they are powerless in the face of my overwhelming strength, but you are different. I¡¯m sure you have enough strength to bear my power.¡±

    At this time, Noen suddenly raised his foot and went to Luo Jian¡¯s side. He squatted down and put his w on his shoulder. He whispered in his ear, ¡°This is the first step. Try.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Luo Jian was puzzled.

    ¡°In our Pris, for biological weapons to recognize masters, the process is divided into several steps. For weapons, they are looking for masters who are worth trusting. They will use their own strength to prove the strength of their masters. If you get their approval, they will give up everything to protect you, guard you, and make you stronger.¡±

    Luo Jian felt his face twitch. ¡°Do you mean it¡¯s ready to recognize me as its master now?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. It¡¯s a long process, especially for a powerful biological weapon like the secret chamber. It will only spend more time looking for the right candidates. In fact, I think the reason why the secret chamber draws so many people into the chamber to y survival and escape games is because it just wants to select the strongest one from a group of people who meet its requirements.¡±

    Coupled with the fact that it was created to cultivate the strongest soldiers, what it¡¯s doing now is befitting of that purpose.¡±

    ¡°To do this, it has manipted yers¡¯ lives, memories, and even souls!¡± Luo Jian could not help clenching his fist.

    Noen just chuckled, ¡°Dear Abyss, you have to understand that it was born for war and the sole reason for its existence was for the strong. It will do everything in its power to make yers stronger. Once it finds out that a yer can¡¯t be stronger, the yer will no longer have value in its mind, and they are no different from garbage.¡±

    Noen¡¯s eyes were sharp. ¡°Would you feel guilty about destroying a pile of garbage?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s fist clenched more tightly. He bit his lower lip subconsciously, and his bite almost caused blood to seep out. ¡°Looking at it from this perspective, before I became Abyss, I was also garbage.¡±

    Those yers in the Crimson Asura Realm were also thrown away as garbage by the secret chamber? But looking at it now, once they coulde out of the Asura Realm, they would immediately be the strongest and craziest group in the secret chamber!

    Those days and nights of endless fighting and struggling, all to adhere to the concept of staying on the battlefield, using blood and strength as food! Why should they meet such an end?! They clearly could be stronger, but in the beginning, because of some inevitable failure, they were denied such a possibility!

    ¡°I have to say that the secret chamber¡¯s methods to cultivate the strong...... are extremely horrendous!¡±

    Luo Jian spat that out word by word as he gnashed his teeth, ¡°I don¡¯t want to obtain this whatever secret chamber. I don¡¯t want to rely on this kind of thing to be the strongest person!¡±

    For a moment, Noen was a little surprised. But after some time, he smiled. ¡°No, you need it. If you don¡¯t want to rely on it, engulf it.¡±

 Chapter 180 - Ancient Remains (XIV)

    <h4>Chapter 180 - Ancient Remains (XIV)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    ¡°In the end, the result is still a failure.¡±

    In the dim sea of stars, a faint voice rang in Xing Yan¡¯s ear. Xing Yan opened his eyes in a trance and looked at the man in front of him. The stalker¡¯s expression was dark. His voice seemed toe from far away.

    ¡°I thought that with a warning, fate could change.¡± The stalker whispered, ¡°It¡¯s naive to think so.¡±

    ¡°What destiny do you want to change?¡± Xing Yan could not understand, so he asked the stalker.

    The stalker did not answer him. He was silent for a long time. In the vast sea of stars, he was wandering at the edge of darkness and light. Countless stars raced past him, and meteorites roared. It was clear that there would be no wind in the universe, but Xing Yan felt that there was a typhoon.

    ¡°This space can¡¯tst long. It¡¯s going to die out soon.¡± The stalker lowered his voice as he faced Xing Yan. Although his voice was really low, it could still be transmitted to Xing Yan¡¯s ear.

    ¡°You will be me.¡± The stalker added, ¡°The established facts can never be changed.¡±

    Xing Yan still failed to understand what the stalker meant, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll soon know what it means.¡± The stalker said, ¡°Xing Yan, no matter what happens, just remain true to yourself.¡±

    After the stalker spoke, there was a storm in the dark space. Countless stars flew in front of Xing Yan one by one. The torrent of time and space rushed out ferociously from the end of the source. Xing Yan saw that all gxies were beginning to break up, and a huge force drew him into the endless torrent. Xing Yan did not know what happened at this moment, but even if he knew what happened, he could not stop it.

    After experiencing a long turbulent journey, Xing Yan seemed to feel that countless forces had poured into his body. It would be better to describe his body integrating with the river of stars and torrents than to say that he was an innocent person involved in this torrent. He felt as if his body was fragmented. After a short period of feeling pain as if his heart had torn and lungs cracked, his soul was scattered into countless particles in the river as they spread all over the sea!

    It seemed like a long time had passed, about a year or two, a century to a thousand years, or maybe hundreds of millions of years.

    Xing Yan did not know how long he had been drifting in the seaposed of stars. He did not even know that he was drifting. His broken soul made him lose the ability to self-conceptualize. He felt that he was divided into many individuals, each of whom was wandering in different spaces at different times.

    Instinctively, he knew that he was torn by some strange force, broken into countless pieces, and scattered in the space of darkness and light, between time and space.

    He needed to get all these pieces back.

    In the end, his mind was only filled with such thoughts, which drove him crazy. When he had gone through an unknown period to pick up and assemble all his scattered pieces one by one, his memory and consciousness began toe back to him......

    It seemed that all this had happened in an instant. The process where he had gone through hundreds of millions of years had not happened, and the process of finding his soul fragments did not happen. All are just because Xing Yan experienced a mood swing and, in that instant, an inconceivable torrent came forth.

    So, Xing Yan opened his eyes again and found himself standing in a small dark room.

    The walls were all sealed shut. There were no doors or windows. There was a simple light bulb hanging on the ceiling. There was nothing else in the room. Xing Yan stood here in a daze.

    ¡°You are dead...... for the time being.¡± There was a voice travelling out from nowhere, reverberating in Xing Yan¡¯s ear.

    ¡°Who? Who¡¯s talking? ¡±

    ¡°I am the secret chamber¡¯s will,¡± The man continued.

    After being dazed initially, Xing Yan soon calmed down. He quickly recalled what had happened previously. He found a cube in the queen¡¯s spawning room full of insect eggs, and then...... He was unable to move for unknown reasons. Hisst memory was that he was surrounded by insects......

    ¡°What happened?¡± Xing Yan found that he was unprecedentedly calm. Panic or fear seemed to be stripped away by him. He felt his body was very full, as if he was still in the vast sea of stars, where the constant light of countless stars could still give him eternal strength.

    ¡°It¡¯s really interesting. You seem to be able to draw strength from your spatial abilities to keep your soul stable. Even if I shackled your soul here, you still wouldn¡¯t copse and go insane like other yers.¡±

    The voice continued.

    In fact, Xing Yan did not understand what the other party was saying. His memory was a little disordered, and that made him rapidly forget certain things. Xing Yan was very confused. He decided to be quiet for a while, so he sat down and sat cross-legged in the empty room, ignoring the sound of the voice. He merely calmed his heart down.

    The voice quietened and did not speak any longer. In the narrow space, even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard. However, Xing Yan could not hear his heartbeat, or maybe he had no heartbeat.

    But Xing Yan was so calm now. His disorderly memories did not cause him to panic. He merely kept recalling the only beautiful memories in his heart. The mostmon scene he recalled was the child who raised his head to look up at him with his bright eyes.

    ¡°How mystifying...¡± Xing Yan said to himself, ¡°In some moments, I seemed to connect the future and the past.¡±

    Yes, Xing Yan was at a certain crevice between space-time. Not only that, but he was also torn into countless pieces in that wonderful spacetime crevice. He remembered that he had spent a long, long time searching for his soul fragments. Each piece of it gathered a considerable amount of power, but in that space, the concept of time was too unclear.

    It was clearly a hundred billion years, but in retrospect, it was just a moment.

    On the other hand, Luo Jian did not ept the invitation from the secret chamber.

    He refused to touch the cube which looked very strange and full of power because Luo Jian knew that it was not a cube; it was just a bomb.

    On the other hand, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t figure out why the secret chamber¡¯s will wanted to let him hold its most important core because that was just as stupid and dumb as giving away his fatal weakness to the enemy. However, Noen quickly exined the answer to him:

    ¡°As I said, it is just testing you. The core of the secret chamber is the most powerful energy. It firmly believes that no yer will be uninterested and curious. Moreover, it knows that its core is very difficult to destroy, so it would grandiosely test you. As for whether you take it or not, it will imply something else.¡±

    ¡°What if I take it? What if I don¡¯t? ¡±

    ¡°If you ept it, you are a person who is strong but can¡¯t control yourself. Being strong is not bad, but it is bad if you can¡¯t control it. If you take it in the first step, it¡¯s considered a failure. On the contrary, if you refuse him, he will pay more attention to you. At least at this stage, you don¡¯t have to worry about putting your life at risk if you are targeted by the secret chamber.¡±

    Luo Jian instantly understood, ¡°Oh, I see. This guy is the kind of guy who gets more motivated the more times he gets rejected.¡±

    The secret chamber¡¯s will didn¡¯t care about the conversation between Luo Jian and Noen. It also did not care too much about his rejection. It knew that all human beings were greedy, and human beings advocated power and violence. This was a characteristic of every biological being, whether they were humans or other organisms.

    Therefore, the secret chamber knew that Luo Jian wouldpromise one day, and that day was not far away.

    The secret chamber did not want to waste any more time. It said to Luo Jian, ¡°You are the only human with such qualifications that I think highly of. Coupled with your special GM body, you are almost integrated with me. There is no doubt that as long as you ept me, the word ¡®strongest¡¯ is definitely not an illusion or a dream!¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Luo Jian replied, ¡°Since you want me to ept you, why not just liberate this chamber and liberate all yers? After all, you¡¯ve achieved your goal, haven¡¯t you? Don¡¯t you just want to train the strongest human?¡±

    ¡°You are not strong enough.¡± The secret chamber straightforwardly spoke: ¡°So I need you to fulfill certain conditions, which can make you more perfect.¡±

    ¡°And.¡± The secret chamber controlled Xing Yan to tilt his head and turned his head to look at Noen. ¡°There are still some problems to be solved. I have to pave the most perfect path for my masters. All enemies who hinder you, allpanions who can restrain you, your esteemed one...... None of them should be needed.¡±

    ¡°This guy is crazy.¡± Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but step backwards. He turned his head and looked at Noen. At the same time, Noen also took a look at Luo Jian. ¡°This guy has been rampant for a long time. Its goal is to create the strongest and this strongest one...... must have no weakness.¡±

    ¡°No weakness, no fetters...... Noen, you are pitting against me. There are so many people I care about.¡±

    Noen lowly replied, ¡°Really? Originally, I thought you were always alone.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± The secret chamber opposite them seemed to hear their conversation, but the secret chamber did not mind. He allowed such resistance from them.

    ¡°I won¡¯t do anything extra.¡± The secret chamber¡¯s will stated, and at the same time, it pointed to the body it was possessing, ¡°This time it¡¯s just an ident. I¡¯ll soon return the soul and body of this fellow back to him. You must continue the game. It¡¯s far from over.¡±

    After that, the secret chamber¡¯s will fixed its eyes on Noen. He understood what the other party meant. He sighed, andpromised: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my consciousness has not been connected here for a long time, and I will leave soon. I¡¯m afraid there will be no chance to contact you again next time.¡±

    The secret chamber¡¯s will nodded his head. Then, he turned to look at Luo Jian. ¡°After my consciousness leaves, I will purely be the same NPC previously. Be careful. He may backstab you in the end. And your otherpanions, I have sent them directly to the lifeboat below, and only you and the other one is left.¡±

    Noen decided to be a good fellow to the end. He had finished exining all the things he had to exin. After that, his expression appeared dazed. But he soon returned to his senses and looked at Luo Jian inexplicably. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Where is this? ¡±

    From his expression, Luo Jian knew that Noen from the future had left. Now, Noen was just a data projection created by the secret chamber.

    After that, the secret chamber truly did not squander any more time. It ordered an insect to run away with his cube in his hand, and it generously returned the body and soul of Xing Yan. After all, in this ancient remains secret chamber, Team Ghost Shadow and others had notpletely won this secret chamber. Even for the secret chamber¡¯s will personally, it did not want to interfere too much with the yers¡¯ games, and this time it had done something out of its boundaries.

    Following that, when the secret chamber¡¯s will left Xing Yan¡¯s body, the insects around him became active in an instant, and the queen and swarms were screaming strangely. In the next second, the insects gave up screaming and rushed to Luo Jian andpany.

    Xing Yan was unable to stand up now when the secret chamber¡¯s will had just left him. Because of his huge size, Noen sessfully took up the responsibility of carrying him. Luo Jian morphed his weapon form and began to clean up the surrounding insects.

    However, the task of wiping them up was not as easy as imagined. The swarm of insects kepting out from all directions, and the queen made a high-pitch shrill. So, Luo Jian turned back to look at the huge queen insect, and thereafter, he jumped up flexibly and directly at the queen.

    The queen was the core of the insect swarm, and the swarm of insects immediately rushed forward to surround Luo Jian. However, Luo Jian was not someone who could be easily blocked. He stood out from the thousands of troops and directly stepped on the Queen¡¯s huge body after he traversed through the swarm!

    This was the first time that Luo Jian morphed his weapon form so quickly after he left the Asura Realm. He almost instantly morphed his weapon into a knife. He cut all the insects around him into half like cutting cabbage, so fast that he could not catch sight of Noen nearby.

    Shortly after, his goal was the queen¡¯s brood pouch, which was densely full of eggs. Therefore, Luo Jian cut the queen¡¯s stomach with a knife, letting all the sticky eggs about the size of a chicken egg leak out.

    Instantly, the queen let out a shrill cry. The queen waved her limbs and tried to get Luo Jian off her body. However, Luo Jian was too small and flexible. Her huge and slow movements could not catch up with the flexible human beings!

    As a result, Luo Jian created wounds on the queen¡¯s body while holding a methrower to wantonly burn the surroundings. After that, Luo Jian jumped on the queen¡¯s head and pointed the tang sword in his hand to the eyes of the huge insect.

    ¡°Tell your insect army to stop moving, or I will have you killed, understand?!¡±

    Luo Jian threatened the queen with the sword, and the queen screamed miserably. However, this fellow was very smart, because after screaming, the insects around stopped moving.

    Over there, Noen was still baffled as he carried Xing Yan. He only managed to repel a few insects and called to Luo Jian: ¡°Hey! Abyss, you haven¡¯t told me what¡¯s going on. Why am I suddenly here?¡±

    Luo Jian held up his knife and replied, ¡°I¡¯ll exinter. Now we are in a perilous situation. We are already at the lowest level. After breaking through this encirclement, we can go directly to the lifeboat.¡±

 Chapter 181 - Ancient Remains (XV)

    <h4>Chapter 181 - Ancient Remains (XV)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    ¡°Ah! The captain is awake.¡± There was a familiar voice sounding out by his ear.

    Xing Yan opened his eyes, raised his head, and swept his gaze around him. There were several familiar and strange faces around him. It was hard for him to recall who these people were. Currently, he could hardly recognize hispanions with whom he had been through life and death together.

    But hispanions knew nothing about his current state at the moment. John was the first to rush forward, bear-hugged Xing Yan tightly, and almost cried out in tears, ¡°Captain, it¡¯s so nice to see that you haven¡¯t died!¡±

    ¡°Tsk, crow¡¯s mouth. With Captain¡¯s capabilities, how would he die!¡± Wang Yu punched John who was beside him although his thin body could only hit John¡¯s leg.

    John did not care. He rubbed at Xing Yan who was in his embrace in excitement until Xing Yan started to frown. He put his hand on John¡¯s head and moved his face away. Xing Yan secretly suppressed his inner irritability that was surging up and could not help but take a look at his own hands.

    His hands were shaking slightly. They were shaking so faintly that it was hard to tell.

    Strange, very strange.

    I feel like...... I am currently forgetting certain things, certain people, certain urrences at a rapid rate.

    But why would I forget?

    ¡°Are you all in the lifeboat?¡± Noen standing over at the other side suddenly opened his mouth. He checked the safety settings at the door of the lifeboat. After making sure that there was no problem, he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to the crowd and said, ¡°We must first open the valve at the dock outside so that the lifeboat can fly out. But Abyss has already gone to do that. Now our goal is to guard the lifeboat and check whether there are insects and other things in the boat.¡±

    After Noen spoke, people spontaneously scattered to explore this small lifeboat. But Xing Yan did not look like he was in a good state, so Wang Yue and others helped their captain to sit in the seat of the spaceship¡¯s cab to get some rest. After that, several people left the cab temporarily.

    But Noen did not go. He watched several human beings leave the cab one by one. Under his mask and helmet, it was hard to decipher what expression he had on. He remained silent for quite a while. Then he turned around and walked towards Xing Yan, who was lying there resting.

    At that time, it was not known what kind of thoughts drove Noen. He neither really hated human beings nor was he afraid of death. He did not even have any conflicts of interest with this group of humans. But suddenly a voice in his mind told him to do so, so he followed themand of that voice.

    He took out a knife-like weapon from his armor and walked slowly towards Xing Yan.

    The first one to die was always the one left behind. This was always the case in movies.

    He went behind Xing Yan and held up the de in his hand.

    He thought he would be able to do it easily, for Xing Yan looked very weak: his limbs were listless and pale, and when he walked, he looked as if he was floating. All these signs showed that he would not be able to resist.

    In fact, Xing Yan was really powerless. The secret chamber¡¯s will lingered in him for a period of time and drained all his energy. It even destroyed and upied his soul to a certain extent. He should have been extremely weak at this point in time.

    But oues were always very unexpected.

    Just as Noen swung the de of his knife and chopped down at his opponent¡¯s head, he felt the incredible paining from his right hand, which was holding the knife. At that moment, he turned his head to look at his right hand holding the knife. He found that his hand had been cut off inexplicably!

    Blood gushed out and sshed onto the helmet on Noen¡¯s head. His amputated hand, still holding the de, fell to the ground with a crash. Pain pulsed from the wound and crawled and filled his brain.

    The other party was not holding a knife, and there was no one else behind him. The other members of Team Ghost Shadow were not present. So why?

    Noen turned his head in horror to nce at Xing Yan, but he saw that Xing Yan, who should have been weak, sat on his seat as he slightly raised his head before turning to look at Noen...... The expression in the depths of his eyes looked unusually sharp and incisive.

    This fellow!? Even before he screamed, he felt a sharp pain in his legs. He looked down in surprise and found that when he was unaware, a straight, bloody line was cut across his legs. It was like an invisible de had cut his leg!

    Without the support of his legs, Noen fell to the ground uncontrobly. He was still a strong fighter, and he did not let out a scream. He only breathed out heavily.

    ¡°It¡¯s strange...... It¡¯s strange......¡± Xing Yan looked at the fallen Noen as he murmured to himself, ¡°I feel like I¡¯m constantly forgetting something...... Something has eroded my soul.¡±

    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Everything in the universe and the stars is eternal. The spatial powers will give me great power.¡±

    Xing Yan showed a ferocious smile, ¡°It is me who should be the strongest human being.¡±

    ¡°Kill me, and none of you will be able to fly this ship.¡± Noeny on the ground, gasping helplessly. He who had lost his hands and legs was losing blood at a very quick rate. There was ack of oxygen in his brain, and his sight became dark. But he did not forsake his calm judgement.

    He did not know why he had wanted to do it, but he had already done it, and he had to find a way that would lead him to victory.

    ¡°That was why I didn¡¯t kill you.¡± Xing Yan slowly collected himself from the chair. In fact, his body was still very weak, but he still felt a very strong and vast energy that filled his soul. Xing Yan suddenly wanted to understand where the energy came from. Yes, it came from the crevice between spacetime.

    In the crevice of spacetime when he was torn into countless pieces.

    Xing Yan walked to Noen¡¯s side and lowered his head as he gazed at Noen.

    At this time, the members who had gone to check the lifeboat returned to the cockpit one by one. Wang Yue was the first one to return. As soon as he came in, he stood at the door and did not dare to move. There was alien blood on the ground...... The blood of a Prisian was white.

    ¡°Capt...... Captain?¡± Wang Yue felt that he was in a dilemma. He had already seen the dying alien lying on the ground, and Xing Yan was standing next to the alien. When he heard Wang Yue¡¯s voice, he looked back at him, and the look in his eyes was brimming with killing intent.

    Wang Yue had never seen Xing Yan look at hispanions in this manner.

    ¡°Ask Jiang Li to stop his bleeding.¡± Xing Yan¡¯s voice was also full of indifference. He seemed to be stripped of all his feelings of warmth, leaving only his cruelty and cold-bloodedness.

    Wang Yue did not dare to disobey the order. He immediately turned around and ran to find Jiang Li.

    And this time, Luo Jian also returned from killing the insect swarm.

    When he returned, he was already exhausted. Even though he had the ability to deal with the swarm, Luo Jian¡¯s energy was not infinite when facing an endless insect swarm. In the end, he was still weak. So when he returned, he was almost on hisst breath and carelessly let some insects bite him.

    ¡°Pain, pain, pain...¡± Luo Jian rubbed his aching arm, and his fingers even began to turn white. He raised his head and looked at the huge valve on the top of the cabin. As soon as the valve was opened, the air in the cabin surged out. At once, Luo Jian felt a bout of shortness of breath.

    He understood that he had to get back to the lifeboat quickly.

    At this time, the door to the lifeboat opened in front of Luo Jian. Luo Jian had an excited expression, and his fatigue was immediately swept away. He rushed to the lifeboat with all his strength and swept away some insects that wanted to climb into it.

    But when Luo Jian ran to the door of the lifeboat, an unexpected figure appeared at the door, blocking his way.

    ¡°Xing Yan?¡± Luo Jian stopped running and breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°It¡¯s good that you woke up¡ª¡±

    Before Luo Jian was done speaking that sentence, he felt an unpleasant aura. He instinctively stepped back and immediately felt some invisible de cut across his chest, which merely made a hole in his clothes. The clothes he was wearing were protective clothing made by future technology. Just like this, it was damaged by that invisible de.

    But fortunately, his keen instinct andbat awareness saved his life.

    That was the spatial de, which could cut off all power!

    Luo Jian raised his head as he gazed in shock at Xing Yan. He knew that only Xing Yan could use his spatial abilities, but he saw Xing Yan¡¯s cold expression which made Luo Jian suddenly recall the first time he met the stalker. That expression was exactly the same as the stalker¡¯s.

    But he was not a stalker because his irises were not red.

    ¡°Why?¡± Luo Jian would not be muddled by his feelings because of his attachment to Xing Yan. He calmly held his de in front of his chest. He knew that there must be something wrong with Xing Yan which he did not understand and did not notice.

    Did the secret chamber do something to him?

    Xing Yan just looked at Luo Jian with cold eyes, ¡°You hold too many uncertainties. I can¡¯t trust you.¡±

    What was going on with this guy? Luo Jian narrowed his eyes and his mood fluctuated. He said to Xing Yan, ¡°Did you choose to abandon me at thest moment? Have you forgotten everything previously?¡±

    ¡°Previously?¡± Xing Yan¡¯s expression did not change, ¡°There is no previously.¡±

    Luo Jian was no longer weak now after he exited the Asura Realm. If he was the same as his past self, he might have felt that he was dealt a huge blow and hurt because of Xing Yan¡¯s attitude towards him. However, the current Luo Jian was different. Luo Jian did not want to retreat because of this. He knew that he must find a way to fix this situation.

    ¡°Xing Yan! I don¡¯t know what you are thinking, but from the beginning to the end, I didn¡¯t do anything wrong when I entered the secret chamber with you. Even if you don¡¯t believe me, you can cancel the team formation contract after we escape from here. Why are you falling out with me now at this moment?¡±

    Xing Yan stood at the door of the lifeboat with a sneer. His smile was very horrifying. ¡°You are too strong. You will be a stumbling block on my way forward. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to get rid of you here?¡±

    He was crazy! This was definitely the root of the problem!

    Luo Jian had thought that even if the present Xing Yan did not have the feelings he would have for him in the future, judging from the various attitudes he had shown before, he at least held good feelings towards Luo Jian. Moreover, his attitude towards him was not as cold and cruel as he was being now.

    Could it be......

    ¡°Xing Yan, tell me, is there something wrong with you?¡± Luo Jian waved his de and cut an insect that was hovering by him into two. However, his eyes did not leave Xing Yan, and his face became gloomy.

    ¡°Something wrong?¡± Xing Yan standing over there tilted his head, and he raised the corner of his mouth to show a smile. In an instant, that appearance would remind Luo Jian of the stalker from the first secret chamber that he escaped from, specifically Luo Jian¡¯s newbie secret chamber. He could remember the stalker¡¯s slight smile.

    Damn! Luo Jian gritted his teeth with indignation, but inwardly, he began to feel helpless. He changed his mind and skipped through numerous ns to break this deadlock. However, he still could note up with a good n. Finally, he found that it would be better to fight Xing Yan and knock him down. It was fine if he was unreasonable, but now he was too overbearing. However, this method could only control Xing Yan for a short period. After all, the time limit for this chamber was three hours, and they did not have much time left.

    So Luo Jian raised Duan Li¡¯s knife with his right hand, bent his legs slightly, leaned forward, and using the back of his left hand, he supported the sword in a standard sword-holding posture. He said to him, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t let me into that spaceship, but I don¡¯t want to stay in this damned ce forever, so I can only......do a disservice to you!¡±

 Chapter 182 - Ancient Remains (XVI)

    <h4>Chapter 182 - Ancient Remains (XVI)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for your kind support¡ªBonus Chapter (1/10)

    <i>Editor: Humu</i>

    Luo Jian reached out and touched his left eye.

    After touching, he took a look at his palms, and found his hand was bloody.

    One of his eyes was blinded. Although he will recoverpletely after leaving the secret chamber, this is the first time that he suffered such serious injuries since he left Asura Realm.

    Luo Jian lowered his head to look at Xing Yan, who was sitting against the wall in the corridor. The other party closed his eyes. He had already fainted.

    Luo Jian unconsciously shook his body. He almost copsed on the ground. He stuck his sword into the ground, barely supporting his body. Not only his left eye, but also all parts of his body had different degrees of wounds, which were cut by the formless spatial de.

    It was not as if there were no yers who possessed spatial abilities in Asura Realm previously, but they were too rare. This kind of ability was an ability that could only be possessed once in a blue moon. Xing Yan not only had this rare ability, but also was one of the best among them.

    The most terrifying thing was......

    Xing Yan¡¯s strength had risen to a terrible level.

    He did not know how to describe it, but clearly, Luo Jian had exchanged moves with him previously. At that time, although Xing Yan could teleport and use other means to attack, but regardless, spatial ability was something rather dangerous. Even as the wielder, Xing Yan must be careful. But now, it waspletely different. Without even showing his weapons, he had begun to manipte space wantonly. He had learned how to use the de of space he did not know how to previously!

    Not only had he learned, but he could also attack using the spatial de at the same moment. Regardless of whichever angle he attacked from, one would not be able to sense its aura. The speed of the spatial de was even faster than Duan Li¡¯s knife. If it wasn¡¯t for Luo Jian¡¯s miraculously sharp senses, he would have been killed several times.

    Luo Jian finally won because of his richbat experience. The ten years of endless fighting in the Asura Realm was not in vain. Luo Jian could see from the first sight that although Xing Yan fought using his spatial powers, his body seemed to be very weak. And if they were fighting in close quarters, one was afraid that his attacks would be hard to defend against.

    ¡°This bastard...... the way his power grew is too odd.¡± Luo Jian sat butt down, hand holding his sword. At this time, he had entered the lifeboat and closed the door. Several people from Team Ghost Shadow came out from the corner and surrounded him.

    ¡°Captain is acting strange. He cut off the alien¡¯s hands and feet just now.¡± Wang Yue shuddered as he said to Luo Jian, ¡°Speaking of which, he is also brimming with killing intent, as if his whole personality altered.¡±

    ¡°Forget it. I don¡¯t think he knows me anymore.¡± Crying, John took out a handkerchief and rubbed it on his face. ¡°It¡¯s frightening!¡±

    Jiang Li did not speak. He began to spread his almighty powder on Luo Jian. After quite some time, he said, ¡°He¡¯s possessed by the devil.¡±

    John cried again, ¡°Captain doesn¡¯t practice ¡®Cainishi Kongfu¡¯. How would he be possessed by the devil?¡±

    ¡°Stupid!¡± Wang Yue said, ¡°it¡¯s just a metaphor. Being possessed by the devil generally means that something went wrong in practice, causingsting psychological and behavioral abnormalities. If it¡¯s serious&#k2026;&#k2026;he would turn into a lunatic.¡±

    ¡°The captain became a lunatic &#k3J3;(&#k3063;&#kK0;&#k414;&#kK0;;)&#k3063;!¡± John painfully screamed.

    This time, even Jiang Li could not bear it. He raised his paw to smack John¡¯s head. John was beaten to the extent he had to hug his head and wipe a handful of bitter tears. He pitifully retracted into the corner.

    Luo Jian sat by Xing Yan¡¯s side, listening to the conversation of several people in Team Ghost Shadow. Then he looked back at the man who had fainted beside him, and sighed with frustration.

    ¡°Is the end still the same?¡±

    Would it never change?

    Luo Jian reached out his ws and touched Xing Yan¡¯s cheek. His skin was warm, which proved that Xing Yan was still a yer, not a stalker...... Luo Jian did not know whether he expected Xing Yan to be a stalker or to remain his current status quo. He did not know what kind of person he had fallen for, but as long as he knows that he was still him......

    He would be inexplicably at ease.

    I¡¯ll be at ease if you¡¯re here.

    Luo Jian took a deep breath and said to the rest of Team Ghost Shadow: ¡°He has not hurt the group of you, which proves that he still has some sense. If possible, I will investigate what happened to him, but...... I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll be away for a while, and everything else afterwards would have to depend on the group of you.¡±

    The few people in Team Ghost Shadow nodded to Luo Jian like a chicken pecking rice. Luo Jian was also a little relieved and turned his head to see Xing Yan.

    As a matter of fact, Luo Jian knew that he would not return to Team Ghost Shadow again, because fate had already embarked on its established track. Before that, he met his cousin Luo Feng, Clown, Duan Li and Ah Lan......

    Every time, Luo Jian hoped that he could change the fate of these people a little, but every time fate went on its prescribed route.

    Xing Yan was no exception. He was doomed to turn into this. When Luo Jian first entered the secret chamber and heard about Team Ghost Shadow from others, they said that the captain of Team Ghost Shadow was a cruel, cold-blooded and merciless man.

    In fact, when Luo Jian met Xing Yan in A lone boat trading grounds, he felt that there was something wrong with what he heard. Although he had some strength, he was also sensitive and resourceful, and had a rational and calm judgment on matters, and had nothing to do with cold-blooded cruelty.

    So, what changed him?

    Luo Jian showed a smile that looked like he was about to cry. He knew what had changed him, and it had clearly disyed itself in front of Luo Jian.

    It was fate.

    It couldn¡¯t be defeated, the fate of man, the fate of things, and the fate of the world.

    So, we couldn¡¯t change it, we could never change it, we could only cheat it.

    By relying on coercing and threatening Noen, the lifeboat started to move. The huge valve in the dock had been opened. Outside, it was not a vast river of stars, but chaotic darkness. But these people did not stop moving. They drove the lifeboat into the deep darkness.

    Hope was always in front.

    Even if what was in front of them was a sea of darkness.

    The secret chamber of Ancient Remains was sessfully cleared.

    Instead of asking Xing Yan to sign, Luo Jian directly used his authority to forcibly terminate the rtionship between himself and Team Ghost Shadow. Atst, he hesitantly gawked at Xing Yan, then turned around and left. He leaped through spacetime, and did not specifically specify a destination, and in this manner, he arrived in the next location.

    By Clown¡¯s side.

    Currently, Clown was squatting in a secret chamber and struggling hard in it. Luo Jian¡¯s sudden appearance made him stab him with a scalpel, but he was easily blocked by Luo Jian.

    Then, Clown also responded, almost throwing his scalpel out, and eximed excitedly, ¡°Cute and adorable student Abyss!¡±

    With that, Clown pounced on him, hugged Luo Jian and began to wriggle......

    ¡°Let go.¡± Luo Jian said, with a ck face.

    Clown was frightened by the killing intent he released. He trembled and let go of his paws. He said pitifully, ¡°Why are you acting this way, you¡¯re so fierce.¡±

    Luo Jian took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not in a good mood.¡±

    ¡°Why are you in a bad mood? What¡¯s the problem?¡± Clown asked curiously.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a big problem.¡± Luo Jian slightly lowered his head, but after a while, he raised his head to look at Clown. ¡°Time is running out. My n is about to start. I have to train you from now on.¡±

    ¡°Train...... me? ¡± Clown crooked his head. He justcked the act of sucking his fingers to act cute.

    Luo Jian was in a better mood for some reason. His mouth arced into a demonic smile, and he looked at Clown who was in a daze and didn¡¯t know that he was in deep waters and scorching fire and said, ¡°I want to make you stronger...... strong enough that at least you would be thest man standing in the battlefield.¡±

    Listening to Luo Jian¡¯s words, Clown could not help but shiver.

    How cold.

    And after a period, Clown finally understood what Luo Jian meant by training.

    Luo Jian had the authority of GM after all. He gave himself the status of a stalker and headed into whichever secret chamber Clown was. He chased him from one chamber to the next for a long time. In other words, every time Clown entered the secret chamber, he must be well prepared, because he knew that Luo Jian would be waiting for him in it.

    Clown also grew up rapidly in this highly-tensed up state. He was naturallypetent. Forced by Luo Jian, he made great progress.

    Meanwhile, during the period when Clown did not enter the secret chambers and took a rest, Luo Jian also received a new invitation from the secret chamber¡¯s will. The secret chamber also intended to train Luo Jian, and it seemed that because Luo Jian had always given himself the status of a stalker during this period, so this time, the secret chamber simply let Luo Jian be a stalker and let him participate in the team battle that involved various Oracles.

    At this point, there were many strong yers in the secret chamber, and there were many Oracles who had opened the final test mode hoping to escape from the chambers sessfully through the final trial. However, Luo Jian became their stumbling block and tried every possible means to block these yers from achieving their goals.

    After all, he was no longer a naive newbie. He had no weakness at all. He cut people like he cuts vegetables. Psychologically, Luo Jian also felt that for a moment, that he was back into the state when he was in the Asura Realm, numb and mechanical.

    Sometimes he would think, could I really destroy the secret chamber? Even if it was destroyed, he couldn¡¯t return to the past, right? There were too many dead people, and there were quite a number of people who died under his hands. Even if the chambers were destroyed, who could be saved?

    Or, as Noen said, conquer the secret chamber and be its master? So, he could release all......no, they couldn¡¯t be released. The yers had trained in the secret chamber for too long. Their strength was so strong that they had the strength and power far better than ordinary people. Moreover, the secret chamber developed their bloodthirsty nature, if the chamber let them out, wouldn¡¯t it cause chaos in the world?

    ¡°I think it would be better to get the cube...... even though I still hate this power.¡±

    ¡°But yes...... It was this disgust that made me realize that my......kindness still exists.¡±

    Luo Jian stood numbly at the secret chamber that hosted a team battle and talked to himself. He did not know how long he had been standing here. At this time, the door beside him was opened, and a group of yers poured in. Seeing Luo Jian, they immediately put on various fighting postures.

    Luo Jian couldn¡¯t speak in front of the yers. He merely looked quietly at the yers in front of him.

    Everyone¡¯s face was full of different emotions, astonishment, anger, vignce, panic......

    If time could be reversed, would you like to live an ordinary life in a world filled with stability, or would you want to repeatedly let out a battle cry in the bloody battlefield as you face death?

    T/N: 4 of the 10 bonus chapters will be published over the next few days ~

    The rest will be published over the next 2 weeks ~

 Chapter 183 - Valiant Battle (I)

    <h4>Chapter 183 - Valiant Battle (I)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for the support¡ªBonus Chapter (2/10)

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°Is this ce fine, Dr. Hong?¡± Several workers from the movingpany quickly crammed furniture and other things into the room, but the room was not very big, and the living room soon became packed.

    The workers from the movingpany could help assemble the furniture, but as for the other scattered objects, they had to deal with it themselves.

    Hong nodded, took his wallet out from his pocket and began to tip them one by one. He was very generous. Several bearded workers touched their heads and were embarrassed to refuse. They epted happily. Thest worker from the movingpany looked curiously at the child beside Hong and asked:

    ¡°Dr. Hong, is this your son?¡±

    Hong lowered his head and looked at the child who was holding his clothes. The child had a drowsy expression on his face that showed he had yet topletely wake up. He had been this way since he had gotten up in the morning. He also opened his mouth and yawned from time to time.

    ¡°No, he¡¯s not my son. I¡¯m not married yet.¡± Hong reached out and touched the child¡¯s head. ¡°This is my master.¡±

    The workers did not think it was the truth and only thought Dr. Hong was joking. Theyughed as they left. When everyone from the movingpany was gone, there were only two people and a pile of misceneous things left in the room.

    Hong gazed helplessly at the pile of sundries and sighed, knowing that he would have to do all the work. He rolled up his sleeves in agony and merely stepped forward to clean it up. However, he felt his clothes tighten, and the child next to him still refused to let go of the hem of his clothes.

    ¡°Ah Jian, are you awake? I have to work on this. Let go of my hands... ¡±

    Hong had been rushing about these few days. His voice sounded faint and weak, and his nerves were constantly in a tensed state. However, in reality, there were stillrge and small things to deal with. Even for such a patient doctor like Hong, he also felt it was unbearable.

    But he knew that the child was no better than him.

    Luo Jian rubbed his eyes and murmured in dissatisfaction, ¡°Don¡¯t tidy up. Go to bed first.¡±

    ¡°I have to go to work tomorrow, and if I can¡¯t deal with this today...... But you can go to bed first. I¡¯ve prepared your bed in advance.¡± Hong reluctantly rubbed the child¡¯s head. This child...... It was as if he had not grown for several years. Hong did not know whether it was the limitation of this body or if there were other reasons behind this.

    Under Hong¡¯s urging, the child stepped back into the room and went to sleep, the sleepsting until the afternoon. Hong also sorted out the sundries they brought here after they moved. He was so tired that his head was dizzy, and he could see stars spinning around him. Afterwards, he headed into his room and copsed on his bed in a muddle-headed way.

    And at this time, Luo Jian had just woken up.

    The time allocated to sleep was very precious. Luo Jian did not often sleep well. Every day, when not in a life-or-death battle, he was either chasing people to kill them or being chased by people who wanted to kill him. The secret chamber assigned him all kinds of inexplicable tasks every day. But speaking of this, it was still fine for Luo Jian, who was rather fond of fighting.

    However, if he could take a day off asionally, of course, he would prefer to take a walk outside.

    As Luo Jian thought of this, he went out.

    Clown had just moved to this city, bringing him along. For him, this was a familiar city because it was his hometown.

    Maybe I can head to take a look at my parents¡¯ home?

    Luo Jian thought as he immediately got right to work, carrying an umbre as he traversed through the streets until he came to his parents¡¯ old abode, only to find that his parents were not at home.

    At the same time, he also stood in front of his old home, seeing a familiar but strange figure.

    It was Luo Jian himself.

    No, it should be his past self.

    In the past, Luo Jian hesitated for a long time in front of his house. He did not notice that he was standing at a ce not far behind him. Abyss looked at him, holding an umbre, and could vaguely feel how Luo Jian felt at that time. He had not seen his parents for a long time, so when he went home for the first time after being driven away, he was inwardly full of anxiety.

    But soon he would be disappointed.

    Grandpa Wu, the neighbor he had in his hometown, came out and said something to Luo Jian. Luo Jian was stunned for a moment, nodded to Uncle Wu, and turned to leave.

    Abyss also followed Luo Jian and left. He knew that Luo Jian was going to his uncle¡¯s house. It was not far away from where they were from now. After walking past about two streets, he would be able to reach there. However, he passed by a person who he unexpectedly saw on the road.

    Abyss held the umbre and looked at the man who carried a big guitar bag and kept his hood down. He pursed his lips.

    The man seemed to notice Abyss sweeping his gaze past him. He stopped walking momentarily and turned his head to nce at Abyss, but when he turned his head, he only saw the crowd behind him.

    Was this a misconception?

    Someone was looking at me just now.

    Luo Feng frowned slightly, and there was a feeling of uneasiness in his heart. He was a person who had signed a lifetime contract with the secret chamber. Logically speaking, in reality, no one could see him, and the only people who could see him were¡ªthis kind of ominous premonition made Luo Feng stop moving forward, turn around, and walk back.

    At another ce, Luo Jian had already gone to his uncle¡¯s house, and after hesitating for some time, he finally bravely knocked on the door of his uncle¡¯s house. He was soon weed in by his mother, who opened the door, and the door was soon closed.

    Abyss stood neither far nor near to watch. This was the first time he had seen his mother after so many years. Unfortunately, he only looked at her from afar and only saw her side view.

    In fact, as long as Abyss wished to, there were many ways to head inside. He could go into the house with dignity and look at his rtives at a close distance. However, Abyss did not do so. He felt that he was not qualified to do so. After all, he had already abandoned Luo Jian¡¯s identity and be another person.

    ¡°What¡¯s the point of seeing or not seeing? It¡¯s no longer mine.¡± Abyss¡¯s lips crooked up into a sarcastic smile, and he turned around and was just about to leave when he suddenly stopped again. He raised his head up and saw Luo Feng casting nces left and right with his huge guitar bag on his back, standing on the street opposite him.

    Although he knew that the opportunity was slim, Luo Feng also tried to find the source of the gaze that was watching him. He always had the misconception that a person who was watching him did not stray far away from here. Only, people wereing and going in this big street. Luo Feng, standing in the crowd, was at a loss.

    Was it still a misconception?

    Just as Luo Feng was thinking about it, a voice nearby rang out:

    ¡°Are you looking for something?¡±

    Luo Feng was stunned for quite some time before he turned his head. However, he found a very short child standing in front of him, but he did not see the child¡¯s face because the child actually held an umbre bigger than himself on such a sunny day.

    ¡°You are...?¡±

    Luo Feng was slow to react for a moment before he realized that the child might be a yer just like him. Otherwise, how could he talk to him and see him? It was just that the child looked too young.

    However, it was strange that the child only said such a sentence before he carried on with what he was doing and walked around Luo Feng as he walked away, holding an umbre. Luo Feng looked at the child¡¯s back inexplicably. He had no reason to catch up with him. The other party obviously did not want to talk to him.

    Luo Feng did not think much and left slowly with his bag on his back.

    But the next day, Luo Feng still came to the neighborhood. He sat on a public bench, full of expectations as he stared at that ordinary shop located at that street. The uncle who opened the store may be someone who he had forgotten in his memories, and this person always strangely made Luo Feng feel that he was familiar.

    However, Luo Feng was somewhat surprised when he saw the child who had said a sentence to him yesterday still holding his extremely big umbre, standing on a nearby sidewalk.

    However, under the strong hypnotic effect of the umbre, Luo Feng soon forgot about the red umbre and the child. When Luo Jian came to talk to him, he hadpletely forgotten that he had spoken to the child before.

    Although Luo Feng had forgotten about the child, Luo Jian was still keenly aware of something. He could not help but look at the street opposite him. Under the traffic light, the child was holding an umbre bigger than himself with his head tilted and his eyes fixed on him.

    Luo Jian felt his heart beat violently. He wanted to go to the child¡¯s side, but a truck slowly passed by the road, blocking his sight. After the truckpletely passed by, the child had disappearedpletely.

    It felt like a scene from a dream, yet it also felt that he misconceived it.

    Luo Jian dazedly thought about it. He had no alternatives but to turn his body to speak to his uncle. At that very moment when he turned his body, he had already thrown the issue regarding the child back to the depths of his mind, so he didn¡¯t know that the child was still standing behind him.

    The other Luo Jian was still standing there.

    ¡°Great, it¡¯s about time. We can start now,¡± Luo Jian said to himself, ¡°There is only room for sess, no room for failure.¡±

    ¡°Ah, let me join a team?¡± Clown...... also known as Hong, had just gotten up from the bed and scratched his head, which looked like a chicken¡¯s nest. He said in agony, ¡°Ah, you really won¡¯t give up unless you torment me to death.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯ve been saying since a long time ago. How am I tormenting you?¡± Luo Jian sat solemnly on the bed, curling up his legs, and in his chest, he hugged the thirteen Confucian scriptures as he taught Clown a lesson.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wouldn¡¯t torment me!¡± Clown looked like he was going to cry. He replied weakly, ¡°I¡¯ve been tortured by you every day for so many years. And due to this, when I¡¯m working, I can¡¯t concentrate well. Until now, I¡¯m still a nobody, a little doctor!¡±

    Luo Jian frowned a little, bowed his head, and said solemnly, ¡°We are the ones who will aplish great things......¡±

    ¡°Stop! I¡¯m fed up with that. Don¡¯t say such old and decrepit things with such a lovely child¡¯s appearance!¡± Clown scratched his head that looked like a chicken nest hard, ¡°OK, OK, I¡¯ll listen to you. You¡¯re the boss!¡±

    Atst, Luo Jian was a little satisfied and showed a smile. When heughed, his feelings of gloominess were swept away, and he really looked like a child. Clown was pleased with that as he stared at Luo Jian because his only joy during these hellish years was derived from seeing this child act cute.

    However, this little boy was also the main cause of his hellish life. And now, he immediately threw a note to Clown. Clown touched the note and found it was an invitation to join a team.

    ¡°It will be good if you keep your current status quo after entering the team. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re the best at acting as an ipetent person who will incur odium.¡±

    Clown felt that he was so angry now that his mouth and nose were about to be crooked. ¡°When exactly can I get rid of such an image? It¡¯s as if I¡¯m really a clown......¡±

    ¡°From the beginning, you were a clown.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just make-up!¡± Clown was discontented and went ballistic as he rolled around his bed, ¡°I strongly protest;pensation must be given! My image has been destroyed by you, ahhhhh!¡±

    Luo Jian sighed speechlessly. Over the years, this fool still had not had his ¡®foolishness¡¯ cured. So Luo Jian reached out his ws and pressed them on Clown¡¯s face.

    Clown got excited, grabbed Luo Jian¡¯s w, and began to rub at it. After a while, he kneaded it again.

    Hand fetish perverted pedophile.

    He liked hands a lot, especially if they were very small hands, but normally, one could not see how abnormal this person was...... Uh, actually, he was not too abnormal. At least Clown was a person who could restrain himself. In addition, this fellow not only liked the hands of children but also the ws of cats and dogs, especially those meaty paws. To him, they were so cute that he would copse on the floor and wouldn¡¯t be able to get out.

    As expected, such behaviour was still abnormal!

    Luo Jian stretched out his hand and let Clown roll around in excitement. Atst, Clown was so excited that he finally could not bear it. He did not manage to catch his breath and directlyy on the bed, suffocating.

    Luo Jian retracted his hand and nced at Clown, who was already foaming at the mouth.

    However, when ites to battles, he was still reliable.

    T/N: Sorry, this might be a little unclear in the text but I would like to rify that the stalker who wiped out XY¡¯s team was not LJ! As for who it is, it will be revealed in theter chapters! And LJ was merely a stalker that wiped out other teams in the final test, not XY¡¯s team. ^^

 Chapter 184 - Valiant Battle (II)

    <h4>Chapter 184 - Valiant Battle (II)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for the support¡ªBonus Chapter (3/10)

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    After Clown joined the team, they followed the new team to escape in a simple secret chamber, and thereafter, the main highlight came. Yes, the team battle arrived as scheduled.

    Although Luo Jian had made full preparations, when he found himself in the familiar secret chamber, he still sucked in a cold breath, and inwardly, he could feel mixed emotions interchanging inside him.

    The secret chamber tasked him to win in a secret chamber team battle. This was a must.

    In fact, even if the secret chamber did not put forth such a request, Luo Jian would have to win. Luo Jian did not care what the consequence of it would be. One should know that Luo Jian had been preparing for theing final trial for too long. When things came to a head, if he had to give up because of his weak feelings, Luo Jian would never forgive himself.

    Yes, Luo Jian was standing in the secret chamber he had once experienced¡ªBurial Grounds.

    Luo Jian lit up hisherfiremp and found his strength had improved rapidly in this period. Therefore, themp could be suspended directly and float around Luo Jian¡¯s side. In passing, something to note was that his umbre could also be suspended from his hand. All weapons that he copied would be able to do this.

    ¡°Truly disgusting.¡± Luo Jian sighed helplessly. For him, everything that he had experienced in the secret chamber seemed to have happened a long time ago. It seemed far away and unfamiliar, but he could still remember some details asionally, but he had forgotten much more of these details.

    However, the change in his side made him feel agonized. He once thought he could be a just man, but in the end, he was still someone who killed indiscriminately. There was an old saying that people used to say...... There were always some people who, when grown up, couldn¡¯t help but be what they hated most when they were young.

    History was constantly stunningly simr.

    Luo Jian walked alone in the narrow tunnel in silence. The burial grounds were filled with many ghosts that ordinary people could not see. Their existence made theherfiremp around Luo Jian burn vigorously, and it also scared away many demons and ghosts hiding in the dark, waiting for opportunities to strike. Therefore, Luo Jian¡¯s journey was unimpeded.

    ¡°Oh right, I recalled something.¡± Luo Jian touched his chin. He thought of the time when he first entered this secret chamber, en...... He did something jarring with the stalker, and after that he was chased by the enemies and almost died in the narrow and hard-to-move-in tunnel.

    ¡°The one who chased me seems to be Hong...... En, is this retribution? He retaliated against me for chasing him in the secret chambers every day, but that¡¯s not true. After all, he was the one who chased me first...... No, I went back to the past to kill him first...... No....... Damn!¡±

    Luo Jian was surprised to find that he was stuck in a loop. This problem was as boring as the problem of whether the chicken and egg came first. Instead of thinking about this problem, Luo Jian thought it was better to find Clown first and stop Clown from killing his past self.

    ¡°Oh my, I think that the mysterious man who saved my life at that time was really myself...¡±

    At this moment, Luo Jian suddenly felt this was a little terrifying, and all fates began to coincide. Fate was running right in front of him with dignity, and he was unable to change it. He suddenly felt that this might be a power that even the secret chamber¡¯s will could not master. The person with such power should be the real ¡®God.¡¯

    Without further deliberating about these extremely terrifying issues, Luo Jian boldly began to search for where Clown was. He was afraid that he was thest member to enter the secret chamber. It seemed that every time the team battle began, the order of admission of both teams was disordered. Some people woulde early, and others wouldete.

    But most of the time, it was a rule that the weak would arrive first and the powerful would arrivest.

    The secret chamber¡¯s ¡®affinity to yers¡¯ was embodied here, giving the weak the right to be familiar with the battlefield first.

    So Luo Jian was thest one to arrive.

    In passing, something to note was that the stalkers and other NPCs only started to enter the chamber after the members of both teams hadpletely entered. Generally, ording to the lineup of both sides, if there was an oracle in the team, the stalkers¡¯ hatred would be generally attracted to that team. If there were no oracles, the stalkers¡¯ hatred would be pushed on the strongest person in both teams.

    However, Luo Jian did not have to worry about his hatred value for the time being. After all, the two that would attract the most hatred would be in his previous team. But now, he really felt that his previous team lineup really did not know the immensity of heavens and earths.

    T/N: the immensity of heavens and earths: have an exaggerated opinion of one¡¯s abilities

    Luo Jian locked onto Clown¡¯s position and began to look for the best and fastest route to get to Clown¡¯s side in thebyrinth in this tomb. In fact, it was not impossible to use teleportation. However, in this damned ce, every road was too narrow, and there were mechanisms that would change the route constantly. If he was unable to control it well, he might be teleported to some unknown ce where it was hard for him to move.

    Xing Yan was the most skillful yer Luo Jian had seen in using his spatial abilities. However, Luo Jian himself, because he could use too many weapons and had a variety of fighting methods, had no way to be well-trained in using spatial abilities. It was good enough for him to be able to teleport within a certain range. If the distance was too far away, it would be easy for him to make mistakes on the transmission position.

    And as for Luo Jian who had the ability to leap through space-time as a GM, it must not be used when he was involved in a battle in the secret chamber.

    Because Luo Jian was caught up with this issue, he arrived finally, a littlete. When he found Clown at the narrow, vertical tunnel, Clown had stabbed his scalpel into his forehead, and his former self was in a crisis, having his life suspended on a thin line.

    Luo Jian¡¯s skill in medical treatment was no worse than Clown¡¯s. After spending a long time with Clown, Luo Jian had learned a great medical skillset. In a very short period of time, after he stopped the bleeding, surgically stitching his wounds, and bandaged it, he finally saved his former self¡¯s life.

    ¡°Whelp, this boy almost killed me. I yed dumb too much. I¡¯ve belittled this fool.¡± Clown squatted at one side, swearing. Luo Jian looked at Clown expressionlessly. ¡°Recently, you are not in a good mental state. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ve been too nervous. Therefore, youmitted such a low-level mistake.¡±

    Clown sat on the ground in embarrassment. He had already entered ¡®a state of death,¡¯ and the expression on his face was rather stiff.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it. Actually, you can¡¯t me me. I don¡¯t know why but I went too soft on this fellow. Ah, I think he looks like you...... He gave me a strange feeling that was very simr to you but quite different, and he feels more vulnerable than you, so I did not dare to use too much force.¡±

    ¡°Simr to me?¡± Luo Jian lowered his head at the other him lying on the ground. He even felt strange. How long had he not seen this face so close? It felt like ages ago. He even thought that this person was another person, not himself.

    But this feeling was truly horrifying.

    Luo Jian took a deep breath and also sat down. He sat next to his other self. After staring at his face for a long time, he found that...... En, I used to look pretty good. No wonder the stalker would like me...... Uh......

    Luo Jian knocked his head unconsciously and pulled his thoughts back.

    ¡°Well, why save him?¡± Clown found that Luo Jian¡¯s expression looked like he was a little absorbed in looking at the enemy, and he could not help but be curious.

    Luo Jian said, ¡°Because he can¡¯t die.¡±

    Luo Jian paused momentarily and said, ¡°Hong, if you have nothing to do, help me carry out a task. Search for the ¡®god¡¯s tomb vault¡¯ nearby, drag out the ¡®God,¡¯ give him a good interrogation after torture, and ask him where the exit is.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Clown jumped up and did not dy handling the matter. He left.

    Seeing that Clown had run away, Luo Jian couldn¡¯t help but lower his head as he looked at his past self. After hesitating for a moment, he still took his other self and decided to put him in a safe ce. En...... it was better to put him close to hispanions.

    After Luo Jian had finished handling the other Luo Jian, he began to head towards the god¡¯s tomb vault based on his memories. However, as soon as he went in, he saw that there were huge flower buds, one of which was two meters high. The ground was covered with vines and roots that looked like blood vessels.

    Luo Jian swore that he did not do it on purpose. However, he did not know why, but when he was walking perfectly fine, a flower bud nearby suddenly opened its big mouth and swallowed him in.

    Luo Jian: ¡°......¡±

    Sure enough, it was a cannibal with high acidity...... It seemed that the flower wanted to digest him. However, Luo Jian knew he was the kind of food that was difficult for it to digest. He was quite at ease...... However, his clothes had corroded.

    Did he have to go out naked? It seems that I haven¡¯t brought my carry-on secret chamber with me. Speaking of which, I seldom use that thing. After all, I¡¯m an all-rounder: I can block and fight, gank, assist, and cure. In my carry-on secret chamber, I merely put some food, clothes, and so on. When I need to use it, I always use Clown¡¯s......

    t/n: gank: To kill much weaker yers in an online video game in such a way that they cannot defend themselves. Common methods include attacking in much greater numbers or taking a well-equipped high-level character to assault yers in a starting area. (Cr: wiki)

    If he went out naked...... he would be very troubled!

    Luo Jian twisted and turned in the bud as he felt more and more entangled. Then, he suddenly heard a huge explosion outside followed by a series of explosions. The roar rang in his ears. The distance seemed to be very close. The flower bud he was in was also affected. However, his ability to fight back was still good, but this flower bud...... he was afraid it was not a flower bud because it actually pitifully let out a short squeal, and Luo Jian felt it shaking violently as it circled one round on the ground.

    He was afraid that it was suffering from indigestion.

    Luo Jian felt that this thing seemed to want to vomit him out, but he was not willing to go out naked. What should he do if someone was outside? Although he could use the hypnosis skill of his red umbre to make people forget...... it was still embarrassing!

    Just then, Luo Jian seemed to hear the footsteps of someoneing.

    Who was it?

    However, Luo Jian soon got his answer. The man seemed to want to kill the monster who had swallowed him. Luo Jian felt that the other party had sent a sword flying over. The strength of the de was quite strong. The sword prated the entire monster. Although he was still in the monster¡¯s stomach, he was quite small now, and the other party¡¯s sword had merely brushed past the top of his head.

    Luo Jian ufortably swayed and finally decided to get out. To be swallowed by this sort of monster, such a matter really made him unhappy. What should I do if there is someone I know outside? Just the mere thought of what happens after makes me embarrassed!

    However, when Luo Jian got out of the monster¡¯s stomach and swept his gaze around, hey, it was his little Ah Lan.

    Luo Jian was at ease, inexplicably at ease, and he naturally began to tidy up and clean the sticky liquid on his body. Ah Lan opposite him was surprised and kept his guard up. He stared at him, the look in his eyesplicated and curious. Luo Jian was not embarrassed and naturally straightened his chest. Then, after considering, he decided to use this sentence as an introductory remark: ¡°I¡¯m very happy to be able to see you again.¡±

 Chapter 185 - Valiant Battle (III)

    <h4>Chapter 185 - Valiant Battle (III)</h4>

    Thank you so much for your support, ChrysAman¡ªBonus Chapter (4/10)

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    In fact, before entering the god¡¯s tomb vault, Luo Jian had met with Clown.

    Clown acted very fast. Luo Jian had just arrived at the gate of the god¡¯s tomb vault, and coincidentally, Clown had just exited from it. As soon as he came out, the two people huddled together for a discussion for some time. Clown had used the props Luo Jian had given him to torture the NPC in the god¡¯s tomb vault.

    ¡°There¡¯s a team that has already entered and started to fight with the NPC. It¡¯s very chaotic now. I took the opportunity to run out to report this message to you. I didn¡¯t expect that you had already arrived.¡±

    Luo Jian naturally asked, ¡°What did you get out of the NPC¡¯s mouth?¡±

    Clown replied honestly, ¡°The exit of this secret chamber is under the huge tree in the god¡¯s tomb vault. There is a cave under the roots of that tree. If you enter the cave, it will lead you to the insides of the huge tree trunk. Afterwards, you can go up the naturaldder inside the tree trunk, and you can get out of the chamber.¡±

    However, if we want to enter the cave under the tree roots, we must first activate some mechanisms, so we need to kill the NPC first and get the jade pendant from the NPC. But there are two jade pendants, one on the god and one on the ghost.¡±

    In passing, I would like to add that there is a misleading map in the secret chamber. This map is fake and will send yers into the underground river that has no exit...¡±

    Luo Jian made a stop sign, ¡°Enough, I know enough. The ghost¡¯s jade pendant is in my hands.¡±

    Clown looked at Luo Jian in surprise. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re quite efficient.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as easy as blowing dust,¡± Luo Jian said, ¡°I seized it in passing from the body of the yer who was almost killed by you previously.¡±

    ¡°Therefore, the next step we should carry out is to kill the NPC, ¡®God.¡¯¡± Clown rubbed his hands and seemed eager to try doing it.

    However, Luo Jian shook his head and said, ¡°Hush. We can let others do that, and we can sit back and take advantage of the benefits of fishing.¡±

    After the discussion, Luo Jian separated from Clown. Clown slipped into the tomb of the god again to inquire about the current situation while Luo Jian waited for a long time after Clown went in.

    Therefore, what happened after was that he was swallowed by the flower bud. Aftering out of the flower bud, he saw Ah Lan.

    Sometimes it was not the original intention of Luo Jian to control a person, but unknowingly, it had be instinctive to do so.

    Of course, he seldom controlled others to do something that the other party did not want to do. Most of the time, Luo Jian used the hypnotic ability of the umbre subconsciously to make others forget his existence.

    Usually, he would keep himself in a ¡®transparent person¡¯ state. Thus, he was able to enter into unchartednds. However, he had used the ability too much. When he used it, he felt as if he really did not exist. It was as if he was transparent, nonexistent, and invisible to others.

    This could be said to be a habit, a terrifying habit.

    But sometimes, Luo Jian also wanted to talk to someone. It would be best if that person could never neglect his existence and best if they could notice him themself. They could stand close together, cast away the gap between them from when they pulled apart, and throw away the masks hanging on the surface so that Luo Jian¡¯s heart could regain the warmth of the past.

    Ah Lan was such a person. Luo Jian remembered that when he was still his friend, they talked about everything. All his troubles could be confided in the other person. All his feelings of pain that could not be expressed in front of others could be exposedpletely in front of his friend, and his friend was such a gentle person that he was willing to ept all his troubles.

    However, when Luo Jian appeared in such a body, he suddenly did not know how to pour out his troubles to Ah Lan like how he did before. All the words he could say were insincere, and all the emotions he wanted to express were utterly destroyed.

    However, Luo Jian was no longer a weak newbie. He was already one of the strong who had been well-tempered. If necessary, even if he was a very importantpanion for Luo Jian, what was the harm of using him? Moreover, they were no longerpanions, but enemies.

    Luo Jian revolved around Ah Lan. He still felt entangled as he finally let out a sigh. He controlled Ah Lan and gave him some orders. He also took away his carry-on space. Of course, Luo Jian only took a set of clothes and some medical supplies from the carry-on space and finally gave it back to Ah Lan.

    Clothes were what he needed, and medical supplies were what would possibly be needed.

    Because Luo Jian had already felt that his several temporary members were nearby, and one of them was weakly breathing but was obviously injured.

    Although he was a temporary member, he was also a member of a team. If Luo Jian could take care of them, he would do so. If he could not take care of them, he would bezy to even care.

    Luo Jian quickly returned to his temporary team. The woman in the team was injured and was burned beyond recognition by the explosion. Relying on the treatment methods learned from Clown, Luo Jian began to give the woman some basic treatment. He took the scalpel copied from Clown to cut the flesh for the woman and thereafter used some medical props and items to stop bleeding.

    After hastily treating the woman, Luo Jian looked at the woman who was half-dead and felt that it was necessary to ount for certain things.

    His temporary team...... to be honest, except for Clown, some members of the team did not trust Luo Jian, and Luo Jian had no intention to force them to trust him. Anyway, he knew that he would not stay in this team for a long time. Moreover, the reason why the secret chamber allowed Luo Jian to join certain teams was because its ultimate goal was to let Luo Jian head into this battlefield to suppress other teams.

    Luo Jian did not trust others too much, so when he joined a certain team, he usually dragged Clown along. He acted as a transparent person in the team, and Clown would y the viin. After mixing with the team for a period, he would leave, join the next team, mix with them for a period, and leave again before heading to the next team.

    And days passed in this manner.

    The woman in front of Luo Jian was actually a strategist in the team and a very intelligent character. She could do very well in certain chambers that required decryption and, on the battlefield, she could be a strategist. However, her fighting prowess was too weak, and her defence was poor. She could only rely on the protection of others. Such yers had no other role except to make suggestions, even in team battles; when the other team¡¯s assassin arrived, they could instantly wipe her out.

    At least Luo Jian did not see any special power from the pen in this woman¡¯s hand. This pen seemed to be able to turn the things written into reality, but how were such things realized? Luo Jian really could not understand anything.

    But it was fine for him to copy it. Maybe this weapon would be useful.

    During the period when the woman copsed, Luo Jian decided to be the temporary strategist of the temporary team. However, the vampire team captain expressed his serious dissatisfaction. He tried all kinds of ways to probe him and confronted Luo Jian about his doubt. However, Luo Jian easily solved the crisis......

    Of course, Luo Jian used his same old method, a simple hypnotic cue would be able to resolve this fellow.

    Luo Jian knew the plot and the general direction of what would happen in this secret chamber, and he also knew that he did not need to intervene too much. Things would soon be the same as he expected. In fact, the present Luo Jian had long forgotten the ¡®future self¡¯ he had once met. What kind of attitude did the other party use to talk to him, and in what manner did he use to face the other party?

    Although Luo Jian forgot, he used a special method to recall it. When he had experienced all this, he could remember everything.

    After some consideration, Luo Jian decided to go back to Ah Lan¡¯s side, standing in his original position, with the same angle he used to face the other, to face everything.

    Therefore, soon, Ah Lan found that the little boy who had taken away his carry-on secret chamber had momentarily disappeared for a period and now came back to him again.

    At this moment, Ah Lan was in a discussion with his team members about this secret chamber. They had to face the attack of the NPC and the attack from the enemy team. Everyone could not help but express their own opinions. When Luo Jian came over, he found that everyone he knew were standing here. Seeing each of these faces, Luo Jian could not help but shout out these names agitatedly.

    However, when Luo Jian came to Ah Lan¡¯s side, he found that Ah Lan was in a daze. He seemed to be looking at his team members. He had an expression on his face that said that he wanted to express something but could not speak of it. Luo Jian noticed Ah Lan¡¯s expression, so he could not help asking him¡ª

    ¡°What do you want to say?¡± Luo Jian asked this way.

    Ah Lan who was over there trembled almost unnoticeably when he heard Luo Jian¡¯s question. He turned his head and looked at Luo Jian. He found that the mysterious boy was standing beside him. However, all the members of the team seemed to be blind and consciously ignored the existence of the boy.

    Noticing Ah Lan¡¯s concerns, Luo Jian thought it was funny, ¡°They can¡¯t see me.¡±

    Luo Jian said, ¡°I am always easily ignored by others. No matter what kind of dazzling clothes I¡¯m dressed in or how conspicuous this umbre is, they will always easily neglect my existence.¡±

    Ah Lan¡¯s face was very stiff. Although he looked at Luo Jian, he did not utter a single sound.

    Luo Jian suddenly remembered that Ah Lan was a mage with extremely high mental power. Moreover, Luo Jian once imposed aprehensive memory-loss hypnosis on Ah Lan when he was younger in order to allow Ah Lan to forget the times he and Duan Li spent together.

    Also, if hypnosis was repeatedly applied to the same person, that person would gradually develop a resistance to a certain extent. However, as long as Luo Jian¡¯s ability was strong enough, he could still hypnotize a person repeatedly and impose strong cues on the person to control them to achieve his goal.

    However, for Ah Lan now, although Luo Jian¡¯s hypnosis andmands could indeed produce restraint and effect, he was afraid that there was still a ce in the other party¡¯s subconscious where there was still reason. In other words, Ah Lan may stay awake to a certain extent and respond to Luo Jian¡¯s words.

    Ah Lan¡¯s reaction was also very obvious: he was on guard against Luo Jian and was afraid of him.

    Luo Jian suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his heart. He felt that he was doing a very stupid thing, but he did not know what to do. His heart was also full of fear and pain...... He even felt like he was shaking. As a result, Luo Jian forced himself to smile and unconsciously spun his red umbre to respond to Ah Lan¡ª

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. Your current state will notst for a long time......¡±

 Chapter 186 - Valiant Battle (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 186 - Valiant Battle (IV)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    The current situation in Burial Grounds.

    Xing Yan, the stalker, was now officially on the side of Duan Li andpany, and he was now fighting against the NPC in God¡¯s tomb vault. He was instructed by the former Luo Jian and took the initiative to fight with the NPC.

    As a stalker, Xing Yan had the basic attribute of ¡®can¡¯t be destroyed by anything except yers.¡¯ Therefore, as an NPC, it was absolutely impossible for the god to defeat the stalker. Halfway through the fight, the NPC was no longer able to withstand the attacks, and he quickly and tactfully distanced himself from Xing Yan.

    Now, Xing Yan had be the cruel and cold-blooded stalker in Abyss¡¯s memory.

    In the past few years when Abyss and Clown were training together and chasing to kill each other, they always joined different teams, but Abyss had never tried to return to Team Ghost Shadow. When he separated from Xing Yan at that time in the spaceship at Ancient Remains, he had not seen this man again for a long time.

    After that, Abyss would only listen to information about Team Ghost Shadow from some senior yers. They all said that Team Ghost Shadow was bing more and more powerful, but the mortality rate was also very high. Batches and batches of team members of Team Ghost Shadow changed. In addition to the captain, Luo Jian had only heard that Jiang Li remained there.

    He did not know where Wang Yue and John went, and thereafter, Abyss also roughly understood Duan Li had recently joined. But soon, Team Ghost Shadow disappeared in the currents of history. They seemed to have failed in the secret chamber¡¯s final trial. After that, Abyss never heard of Team Ghost Shadow again.

    When Abyss found that he was back in the Burial Grounds secret chamber, he thought that he might see Xing Yan again, but he didn¡¯t expect to see Xing Yan so quickly because the man was standing in front of him now.

    It might be just a subconscious instinct; therefore, Abyss did not use his ¡®transparent person¡¯ hypnosis ability on Xing Yan. So when Xing Yan retreated from the battlefield and came to hispanion after fighting with the NPC, he naturally noticed little student Abyss standing beside Feng YuLan.

    A sh of bright red.

    Xing Yan noticed the child. He was carrying a big red umbre. The umbre made him feel very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere long ago. The color seemed to represent blood and death. At the same time, the color also made Xing Yan feel unspeakable pain in his chest.

    It seemed that a long time ago, he also felt the same kind of pain, which filled his soul and made him at a loss.

    Xing Yan¡¯s attention was almostpletely attracted to the child, and hardly concealing it, he stared straight at Abyss.

    In fact, the child was also looking at Xing Yan and even smiling towards him.

    The stalker could not move his eyes away. Instead of paying attention to Luo Jian¡¯s line of sight that was floating over, he focused all his attention on the strange boy who almost appeared out of thin air. The boy was not surprised by Xing Yan¡¯s gaze sweeping over. His smile grew even brighter. He even said to Xing Yan¡ª

    ¡°Hello, Xing Yan, I really miss you.¡±

    Abyss, who said this sentence, suddenly felt agonized. He could even recall when he and Xing Yan were still in the Ancient Remains secret chamber. Their feelings at that time were very strange and abrupt. They seemed to have a sudden burst of emotions, but at the same time, it seemed reasonable to possess these emotions.

    But at that time, Abyss did not care. He just missed this man madly. In moments when he climbed out of the Asura Realm and was resisting the secret chamber alone, he missed and detested Xing Yan.

    Detest, he detested him.

    Xing Yan noticed that the child¡¯s face in front of him was pale. It was obvious that the child¡¯s smile was extremely mild, and his tone was quite gentle. However, Xing Yan still felt a little ufortable. He felt that there was a ferocious convulsion in his heart, pulling out the blood vessels connecting his internal organs, causing him to tremble in pain.

    However, as a stalker, Xing Yan knew that he should not have such feelings. On the surface, he was still expressionless, and that made him even appear heartless.

    Luo Jian nearby noticed how unusual the stalker was acting and could not help but stretch out his hand and pull the stalker¡¯s hem, ¡°......Yan, what are you looking at?¡±

    The stalker was finally pulled back to his senses by Luo Jian. He moved his eyes from Abyss and looked at the man beside him again. Luo Jian was a yer Xing Yan knew from one of the small secret chambers. He was not strong enough, he might even be ordinary, but he gave Xing Yan a strange feeling.

    Why did he feel that Luo Jian was very simr to that child at that very moment?

    But what were the simrities?

    The stalker felt that his heart still felt very painful, but the pain was relieved by the man in front of him. The stalker could not help but raise his hand and rub Luo Jian¡¯s head. Luo Jian was half a head shorter than him. His hair was very soft andfortable to touch. asionally, this feeling would give the stalker a familiar misconception.

    It was because of this wonderous misconception that he had a feeling that he already loved Luo Jian. Everything Luo Jian gave him was so familiar yet so foreign. Every time he tasted him, Xing Yan would find something in Luo Jian¡¯s body that he had once lost, back into his embrace again...... It was a wonderful and happy feeling.

    So Xing Yan began to want to protect Luo Jian, want to have him, want to possess him, want to never lose him again.

    He did not want to ever regret, to ever lose him, and to ever experience pain!

    Xing Yan put his w on Luo Jian¡¯s head and could not help rubbing it. However, he did not consciously turn back to take a look at the child. However, he was surprised to find that the mysterious little boy had disappeared, as if he had never appeared before.

    But he did appear just now. Xing Yan frowned inwardly though his expression did not change.

    Probably because of the disappearance of the child, Xing Yan felt that the unexined pain in his heart was relieved a lot.

    At this time, only Feng YuLan noticed how unusually the stalker acted, so Feng YuLan also kept his eyes on Xing Yan. Ah Lan understood that just now, this stalker, like him, noticed that there was an extra child standing among the team! But it was a pity that the stalker couldn¡¯t talk; he couldn¡¯t tell their team that there was a dangerous person near them!

    Ah Lan was a little flustered. He had been controlled by this strange child once before. The other party had means to strongly influence others, and that had always caused Ah Lan to act in ordance with the child¡¯s orders unconsciously. He tried to resist the child¡¯s hypnosis and the cues given to him, but whenever he wanted to open his mouth to tell his team members...

    That kind of strange power would stir trouble within him and try to stop Ah Lan¡¯s action.

    Feng YuLan was extremely anxious. He felt as if he had be another stalker now. He couldn¡¯t express his words correctly. What was the difference between him and a stalker who could not speak?

    It was probably because Ah Lan had descended into a spiral of restlessness, and at the same time, changed the way he would typically behave as well. Several people in the team were discussing for quite a long time. In the end, it was Luo Jian who knew him really well to notice that Ah Lan had never said a word, so he immediately asked.

    ¡°Ah Lan, why are you not talking?¡±

    Feng YuLan shook his head and could not help looking at the stalker. He knew that miracles would not happen, but he still wanted miracles to happen. Simrly, he also responded to Luo Jian and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    This sentence left a trace of doubt in Luo Jian¡¯s heart, but he did not express that doubt immediately. After thinking about it, he decided to ask Duan Li. Duan Li had been staying with Ah Lan all the time. Maybe he would know something.

    Therefore, Duan Li also roughly exined, ¡°When Specter was fighting with those monsters that appeared n arge scale, because Specter is a long range attacker, I went to support him and left Ah Lan at that same spot for the time being. However, because I had been paying attention to him, I found that there was someone around Ah Lan at that time, and that person had a long conversation with him. But when I rushed back to Ah Lan, the figure disappeared. Ah Lan also said that he didn¡¯t see anything...... No matter what I asked, he denied that he had such a person around him.¡±

    After Duan Li said this, he simply expressed what he meant by that. He said that he intuitively felt that there was someone in the enemy team that could manipte people because Duan Li confirmed that Ah Lan would never lie to him. Moreover, they were now in the same team, and for the sake of mutual interests, Ah Lan did not need to lie.

    Since Ah Lan did not lie, Duan Li also confirmed that what he felt was not wrong.

    Duan Li thought that there must be someone among the enemies who was close to Ah Lan and had spoken to him. But when the man mysteriously disappeared, Ah Lan¡¯s memories were wiped out. This method of controlling memories must be based on the weapons rted to controlling people¡¯s minds.

    After Duan Li expressed his opinions, Abyss, who had been ¡®invisible¡¯ beside Feng YuLan, couldn¡¯t help nodding. Duan Li was rather smart and could analyze what had happened. Of course, he was a very talented person. If given more time, he should be able to reach greater heights.

    Although several people in the team discussed for a long time, they did note to an urate conclusion. So they decided on what they should do next. The stalker and Luo Jian would remain at this spot to deal with the ¡®God¡¯ NPC that would pop out while the others went to meet with the group of enemies from the enemy team.

    Abyss did not stay with Luo Jian and the stalker but continued to follow Ah Lan.

    Of course, Abyss knew that Luo Jian would not be in danger if he stayed with the stalker. He was very relieved to ce him there. Even now, he felt that he missed his best friend more. He wanted to stay with Ah Lan, a friend who always supported him. He always knew that only this friend would never betray him.

    So Abyss took small steps as he followed behind Ah Lan. He hesitated for a moment, but he could not help but stretch out his little w and grasp Ah Lan¡¯s finger. At this time, Abyss suddenly remembered that time when he met the young Ah Lan. At that time, little Ah Lan had shown extraordinary perception abilities...... It could even be said that Feng YuLan¡¯s perception was more sensitive when he was younger.

    Because when he was younger, he was innocent and not polluted by the secr world, the power Ah Lan possessed would be the purest power in that period.

    Abyss could not help talking to Ah Lan. He did not know what he should say. He just said what he knew. For example, he analyzed the current modus of the two teams and analyzed thebat effectiveness of his side and that of the enemy.

    Abyss always felt that he was still Ah Lan¡¯s best friend andpanion, so he unconsciously put his position to Ah Lan¡¯s side. He tried to recall the scene in which he fought together with this friend of his at the beginning, although they were very new, ignorant, and stupid at that time.

    Yet, they were all so staunch.

    Ah Lan, who had his fingers grasped by him, did not answer Abyss, but Abyss noticed that he unconsciously bent his fingers and grasped Abyss¡¯s small ws. This was an unconscious action, which might not even be noticed by Ah Lan himself.

    However, Abyss noticed that; somehow, he was suddenly a little happy. Compared the fear and vignce on Ah Lan¡¯s face just now, he liked the tenderness that the other party had shown inadvertently.

    Mutually, they definitely did not have feelings of love, but Abyss still felt that this feeling was very precious.

    Perhaps because of the past experience, Abyss could not help the waves of those emotions. He could not help but recall some of the times he and Feng YuLan spent a long time ago. Finally, he took out a thing from his pocket.

    It was an ear stud.

    Abyss thought that he had to go back to the punishment chamber, but the positioning of the punishment chamber became a big problem. Now, Ah Lan happened to be here. Anyway, he would like to enter the punishment chamber in the future. It would be better to ce a position marker on Ah Lan¡¯s body.

    This way, it would be easy to track him...... Moreover, Abyss also had a n. He wanted to use the ¡®train carriage that infinitely looped¡¯ in the secret chamber of the train to do something important. This matter would have a bearing on whether he could sessfully snatch the ¡®lock¡¯ hidden by the secret chamber¡¯s will. As long as he grabbed the lock first, Abyss would have already seeded halfway.

    After that, Abyss only needed to send several of his team members to Asura Realm to avoid the pursuit of the secret chamber. Anyway, the secret chamber would not act against Abyss, but he was not so sure about others. Moreover, if he sent them there, they could also practice in the Asura Realm.

    As he thought of this, Abyss acted upon it. He took out the prop he specially created himself. The prop created by him was a prop made by yers using their skills and weapons. In any secret chamber...... whether it was a punishment or other secret chambers, they would not be confiscated or be disposed of by the secret chamber¡¯s will, and their existence would be the key to victory.

    Abyss took the ear studs and could not help saying to Ah Lan, ¡°Your ears were pierced, I remember...... When you were in middle school, you liked those actors with temperament. You thought they were very handsome when they wore ear studs, so you decided to try it too.¡±

    But after he had gotten his ear pierced, he howled in pain for about a week. Everyday, he would be at Abyss¡¯s side, wildly shrieking and howling as he begged for Abyss tofort him.

    As Abyss thought about it, he felt it was funny, but after that, he suddenly felt that he had exposed something that the current role he was acting should not know. When he raised his head to look at Feng YuLan, he saw Ah Lan staring at him unbelievably.

    ¡°You...... Could it be......¡±

    Abyss was flustered and could not help but float up and interrupt Ah Lan¡¯s words. He put the ear studs on Ah Lan. Fortunately, although Ah Lan did not like to wear earrings most of the time, his piercings were not closed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make guesses. Also, don¡¯t say what you know. Forget me,¡± Abyss absent-mindedly said. He tried to hypnotize this person again, but he found that his hypnotism was useless now. He could only lower his head, upset. He nervously spun his red umbre.

    He said, ¡°You must lose this team battle, for fate has decreed that you will have to face this loss.¡±

    It was such a pity that the current Abyss had no other alternatives but to heed to fate¡¯s flow, but he forgot that he had to continuously resist fate.

    T/N: Ah Lan is such a great friend. Honestly, for Luo Jian to have a friend like Ah Lan...he already won in life.

    Bonus chapters #5- #8 will be published from Sun-Weds.

 Chapter 187 - Valiant Battle (V)

    <h4>Chapter 187 - Valiant Battle (V)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    After Abyss left an ear stud prop on Feng YuLan to locate him, his heart that was floating about was finally able to calm down, and he returned to his temporary team...... He had to go there. Although it was a temporary team, he still had to hand over certain things.

    Abyss had saved Luo Jian¡¯s life from Clown¡¯s grasp, so he took Luo Jian¡¯s jade pendant, which belonged to the ¡®Ghost.¡¯ However, Abyss took care to leave another fake jade pendant on Luo Jian¡¯s body, hoping to confuse him with the false jade. However, when Abyss put the fake jade around Luo Jian¡¯s neck, he remembered one thing.

    ......The future self I met previously also seemed to use the same false jade trick on him.

    Time paradox.

    In fact, such a paradox had started a long time ago. Abyss had already been trapped in this spiral of panic and could not extricate himself. He thought...... In fact, Abyss himself had been in an endless time loop, and in the case where he had never been free from such a time loop, he had been caught in the endless loop......

    If so, what should he do?

    Could he stop? Would the loop break, would......

    Abyss could not help but reach out and touch his neck. If he had been Luo Jian, there would have been a ouroboros on his neck, which was a symbol of cirction and reincarnation. It was given to him by the stalker, and it also represented the meaning of the secret chamber.

    But after he got through the punishment chamber as well as the train chamber, the sign was gone. Xing Yan used the power of his space to help Luo Jian open a door in space through this infinite cycle. The moment Luo Jian stepped into the door, he was gone. Now there was only Abyss left.

    If the so-called loop had unknowingly been broken, how would he deal with it?

    It was then that Abyss, who had sunk into his thoughts, was unable to extricate himself.

    At this time, the two teams in Burial Grounds were ready topete. There were two oracles, Specter and Duan Li, on Luo Jian¡¯s side, so the power level of their team was very high. In addition, the two men had a tacit understanding to attack and block ordingly from left to right, so they were able to beat the enemy to a sorry state.

    In the enemy team opposite them, only the vampire team captain took part in the battle. Although there was a tall and strong Brawny beside him, Brawny was taking care of the seriously-injured female strategist in their team and was obviously unable to leave.

    Although the vampire team captain was forced into a sorry state at that moment, he still looked very rxed andcent, and he seemed to be waiting for something.

    ¡°Captain! It¡¯s time.¡± Brawny, who was behind the vampire team captain, picked up the female strategist and called out to the vampire team captain. The vampire team captain immediately withdrew from the battlefield and returned to his team members¡¯ side.

    Duan Li and Specter looked at each other and did not seem to intend to pursue him. Since the vampire team captain could deal with fighting two oracles alone, he was considered quite skilled. They were afraid that the enemy still had hidden tricks, so they did not dare to rashly move at that time.

    After conversing with the vampire team captain for a while, the three turned their heads at almost the same time and looked at Duan Li and Specter. The look in their enemys¡¯ eyes was mixed andplicated; wondrously, their eyes felt insidious and cunning. The two of them froze. Later, they found that there were more uninvited guests on the battlefield.

    Yes, it was the stalkers who hade to hunt the oracles.

    Since the beginning of this instance of Burial Grounds, Specter had never met any other stalker except Xing Yan. However, Duan Li and Ah Lan met another when they were trapped and circling around in the tomb vault. Duan Li arrogantly swiped the first kill and killed the stalker.

    In terms of the number of stalkers in the secret chamber team battle, there were four stalkers who were sent to cause trouble in this team battle. At this time, in addition to Xing Yan and the one Duan Li killed, there were only two stalkers left. Now, these stalkers either came for them together or separately, and they coincidentally appeared at this time, skillfully blocking the two oracles.

    ¡°What a coincidence for them toe now!¡± Duan Li murmured discontentedly, but he kept his high spirits to deal with these stalkers. He faced the two stalkers who suddenly appeared. The two stalkers seemed to be twins. Their faces appeared very simr, and the weapons in their hands were all boxing-rted.

    When the enemy team saw the stalkers appear to block the oracles, the three calmly turned around. The vampire team captain held his female strategist and swaggered to head under the huge tree in the god¡¯s tomb vault, followed by Brawny.

    God¡¯s tomb vault was as big as several thousand square meters. The roots of that big tree nketed the ground. Each root was as thick as a water bucket, and they swayed and wriggled on the ground. asionally, when someone stepped on them, the roots would tremble as if someone trampled on it.

    It was very inconvenient to walk on such a road. It was clear that the huge tree was almost in front of these people, but there was still a long way to go. The vampire team captain held the female strategist and smoothly spread his bat wings to fly low, leaving Brawny to follow behind them.

    Here, student Abyss returned to Feng YuLan¡¯s side. He felt that time was almost up. During this time, Luo Jian and the stalker might have killed the NPC and found the jade pendant from the NPC. Abyss¡¯ goal now was to get the jade pendant belonging to God. However, it would be easier for him to take it from Ah Lan¡¯s hands instead of grantly snatching it away from Luo Jian¡¯s hands.

    As he thought of this, Abyss began to urge Feng YuLan: ¡°Let¡¯s go to find Luo Jian.¡±

    ¡°Look for... Luo Jian?¡± Ah Lan said in a trance and had a strange expression as his eyes swept over Abyss¡¯s body, ¡°You want to find Luo Jian?¡±

    ¡°Yes, can¡¯t I?¡± Abyss said.

    Ah Lan looked up at the twopanions who were fighting with the stalkers and said, ¡°Of course you can...¡±

    Ah Lan wanted to tell Duan Li and Specter that he went back to meet Luo Jian alone, but Specter didn¡¯t agree with Ah Lan¡¯s unauthorized actions. Therefore, Ah Lan thought for a moment and took out his grimoire to create a mirror reflection to let the reflection remain where he was originally to deceive Specter and Duan Li, who were still fighting, creating the illusion that Feng YuLan was still here.

    Specter and Duan Li were both fighting with the two stalkers, but asionally they would float over to see if Ah Lan was still there to protect him. No one had found that Ah Lan was no longer there. Following that, Ah Lan could naturally run away with Abyss.

    ¡°What on Earth do you want to do?¡± Along the way, when Ah Lan was following Abyss, he did not give up. He seemed to want to dig out some information out of Abyss¡¯ mouth. He could not help looking for a topic. ¡°How could you appear here?¡±

    Abyss did not speak. He still walked by Feng YuLan¡¯s side, and his little paw was still held by Ah Lan. This feeling was really incredible. Ah Lan felt that he was holding a child of unknown origin by his hand...... And he chose to help the child who might be his enemy even though the child was brazenly trying to take advantage of him.

    But it was impossible for Ah Lan to not help him.

    Ah Lan lowered his head to look at the little boy beside him. The boy was pale and expressionless. He looked very fragile. He dragged his umbre on the ground, and when he walked, he was even trembling.

    This child made a strange guess inwardly pop into Ah Lan¡¯s mind. This guess was very bold and mystifying, but because of Ah Lan¡¯s keen intuition, it was the most consistent with the truth.

    Feng YuLan almost wanted to ask the child to verify his guess, but before he could do so, they had quickly found Ah Lan and the stalker, as well as the NPC who had be a corpse, lying on the ground.

    Abyss first paid attention to the NPC. In fact, he knew that the NPC would not die. As long as the tree did not die, the NPC would be able to resurrect indefinitely, and death would always be temporary.

    After, Abyss¡¯ attention was soon attracted to Luo Jian and the stalker because they were kissing.

    It was very interesting to see him and his lover kissing while he just stood by and looked at them. This scene made him feel very strange.

    But surprisingly familiar.

    How naive and stupid I was at that time, Abyss thought, and he could not help but smile at himself. Then he turned his head and looked at Feng Yu Lan. Ah Lan had no problem with his best friend kissing the stalker.

    Anyway, as long as Luo Jian was willing, there would be no problem. After all, Luo Jian was a person with his own definite views.

    And simrly, Ah Lan himself was caught in an entanglement with Duan Li.

    Thinking of Duan Li, Ah Lan could not help but frown. He did not even understand why he had epted this viin so easily and simply. It was clear that he had done a lot of things to make Feng YuLan hate him. But Ah Lan did not choose to hate him.

    Maybe because Duan Li¡¯s body was emanating a familiar scent.

    The scent reminded Ah Lan of his childhood. In those distant but vague memories, Ah Lan always felt that he had forgotten an important person who had gently embraced him at the most helpless point in his life.

    Even without any evidence, Feng YuLan always believed that Duan Li was that person.

    At this time, Abyss suddenly spoke and drew him back from his thoughts into reality. He simply exined the characteristics of Ah Lan¡¯s weapon. He said he knew that Ah Lan¡¯s weapon had its own will and that for a short period, his weapon could be transformed into human form. The human version of his weapon looked exactly the same as Ah Lan.

    ¡°Does it feel like looking at a mirror¡¯s reflection?¡± Abyss asked him.

    This was a hint obvious enough. Abyss was giving a solemn hint of his identity to Ah Lan, probably because Feng YuLan had almost guessed it. Abyss simply did not want to hide his identity any longer. He simply used this kind of signal-like means to prompt Ah Lan.

    Ah Lan could not help but stare at the little boy beside him.

    The boy¡¯s height was only up to his waist. He was short and weak. His face was pale, and his feet were not touching the ground. He looked like a ghost wandering around the underworld.

    Lonely and restless ghost......

    Feng YuLan almost wanted tough, but he could notugh at all. He felt that his heart was full of contradictions. He wanted to go to Abyss immediately and question him aloud, but he did not dare to act rashly because he was worried that the other party was caught up in a bad situation......

    Inwardly, Feng YuLan was almost roaring. I know who he is...... Of course I know who he is!

    But I am also afraid to know who he is and afraid of knowing his identity. How can I help him? Should I help him or not!?

    Is helping Abyss tantamount to betraying Luo Jian now? But if I don¡¯t help him, am I also betraying Luo Jian?

    Ah Lan lowered his head a little, and even though his mind was turbulent, he calmly answered Abyss¡¯s question:

    ¡°If you humanize weapons...... Shadow and my esteemed self are different entities. Our personalities are not the same. But if I take a glimpse at him in that way, he truly feels like a mirror reflection.¡±

    Abyss was silent for a while and suddenly raised his head, pointing to the stalker and Luo Jian, who were entangled together. ¡°I see. What do you think of them?¡±

    Feng YuLan moved his sight to Luo Jian and the stalker.

    The stalker seemed to notice something and let go of the man in his arms but still kept his arms around his waist. The stalker began to look around vigntly. Luo Jian was dazed by his kiss, but now he was nestled in the stalker¡¯s arms, having a trance-like expression.

    The past and the future were a dividing line.

    And where they were heading towards, nobody knew.

    It was not so important whether he helped or did not help, betrayed or did not betray. If he had to make such a choice, Ah Lan felt that he would choose to help the him from the future because even if the present Luo Jian did not understand, he would certainly understand in the future.

    After all, Abyss was standing here alone.

    Ah Lan only looked at Abyss and knew that he had been standing here alone all the time. He saw in Abyss¡¯ eyes that he had been lonely for too long. He was afraid that Abyss would disappear from his sight. If he disappeared, then in the distant future, where should I go to find him?

    Ah Lan almost trembled. He turned back again and fixed his eyes on the child beside him. The child felt Feng YuLan¡¯s gaze and turned to look back at him. After a long time of looking at each other, Ah Lan said, ¡°Luo Jian is my best friend. I¡¯m willing to support him, no matter what he wants to do or where he wants to go.¡±

    T/N: I think many of you might be confused about Abyss¡¯s modus operandi, but it¡¯d all be rified in future chapters ^^! In any case, this is the final arc before the extras, so everything will be rified ^^~

    If you guys are still confused after the end of the main text, I¡¯ll be avable at CG discord to answer questions or I¡¯ll just create a page to answer any queries ~

 Chapter 188 - Valiant Battle (VI)

    <h4>Chapter 188 - Valiant Battle (VI)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Ah Lan¡¯s words almost touched Abyss. He always felt that Ah Lan meant something. He could not help smiling inwardly. He always knew that Feng YuLan was a gentle person, but he never thought that he could be so gentle.

    ¡°Alright, but no matter how determined you are, you can¡¯t stop me.¡±

    Ah Lan replied, ¡°I don¡¯t need to stop you.¡±

    Now that he had clearly said it, Abyss felt that he did not need to disguise anything, so he asked straightforwardly, ¡°Have you recognized me?¡±

    Ah Lan replied, ¡°You are very easy to identify although this feels extremely inconceivable and the contrast between what you look like now and what you looked like previously is a big difference! Also, I can¡¯t imagine how you turned into this and how you are able to appear here.¡±

    Abyss did not answer Ah Lan¡¯s question. He skillfully took advantage of his body, raised his eyelids, and looked at him with watery eyes: ¡°Will you help me, please?¡±

    Ah Lan seemed helpless, ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to be young. Alright, I don¡¯t know the reason why, but I will help you.¡±

    Abyss could not help worrying. Ah Lan¡¯s gentleness made him feel moved, but this gentleness was too worthless. ¡°If you help me, it means you¡¯re betraying your team, betraying yourrades.¡±

    ¡°Are you not myrade?¡± Ah Lan was staring at Abyss.

    Abyss immediately admitted, somewhat frustratedly, ¡°Of course I am yourrade...... but not now.¡±

    Abyss¡¯s words made Ah Lan a little angry. His anger was like a string of bubbles rolling up from the bottom of the water, floating to the surface and surfacing with a bang. Although these bubbles were very small, a string of bubbles constantly surfacing would inevitably turn up a magnificent tide in Feng YuLan¡¯s heart.

    Therefore, Ah Lan questioned the child. His face was stiff, and he said in an angry tone: ¡°Why not? What is the meaning ofradery you have in your mind? Are you considered a stranger to me when you leave the team? Or could it be that after wearing a mask, you can pretend you don¡¯t know me? Or maybe, you can use me like a doll to make me do this and that!?¡±

    Feng YuLan was still very angry. No matter what kind of hardship Abyss had been through, he did not think that the other party would make use of Ah Lan so openly and naturally and even use skills to control him. This kind of behavior made his heart chill, especially when Ah Lan had already discovered the real identity of the other party.

    Abyss felt a bit weak, and he floated backward in fear of making Ah Lan more angry. He rarely made such a concession now. However, in front of his former best friend, Abyss could not help showing his weak side. He almost shrunk into a ball, trying to make himself appear smaller.

    In an agreeable tone, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Don¡¯t be angry. Originally, I didn¡¯t want to do this......¡±

    However, Abyss also knew that he had to do this. The secret chamber required him to defeat this team, to win, to treat his formerpanions in the way that he treated the enemy. Therefore, he must do so, and he must not leave any ws to allow the secret chamber to have a hold on him. Yes&#k2026;&#k2026; he had to satisfy the secret chamber.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let him... discover me...¡±

    Abyss shook his head. He couldn¡¯t say any more. He did not know how to open his mouth. Feng YuLan was surprised by the series of inexplicable things he said. He just wanted to ask Abyss what ¡®he¡¯ meant. However, Abyss had already noticed that Luo Jian and the stalker over there had already seen themotion, so Abyss waved his hand to make himself invisible again.

    ¡°Ah Lan, why are you here?¡± Luo Jian, who was here, had noticed the sudden appearance of Feng YuLan. Luo Jian immediately escaped from the stalker¡¯s arms nervously. Later, he found that Ah Lan had just appeared out of thin air because previously, he did not even feel Ah Lan¡¯s breath.

    However, although Luo Jian could not feel it, the stalker around him had been staring at Feng YuLan thoughtfully. The stalker felt that there was another person¡¯s temperature in the air, which was extremely warm.

    Ah Lan was still troubled over what Abyss had said just now. He guessed that what Abyss faced was something very terrifying and difficult to deal with. It was so difficult to deal with that the already-powerful Abyss would show that kind of tense look. He seemed to have been acting carefully. Every step he took must be carefully considered before he acted.

    But what was it? Something that could make Abyss feel nervous, could make him show that kind of expression.

    It was probably because Ah Lan¡¯s thoughts had been wandering around that Luo Jian over here had to speak out louder to interrupt Ah Lan¡¯s dazed state. Atst, he was pulled back to his senses by Luo Jian. He looked up, seeing Luo Jian, surprised to find that he had begun to see the shadow of someone in the current Luo Jian. Luo Jian was standing there within reach.

    Luo Jian had already felt the look in Ah Lan¡¯s eyes. When the other looked at him, he seemed to be looking at a ce far, far away that he couldn¡¯t touch......

    Luo Jian almost wanted to ask Ah Lan. He wanted to ask him: What are you looking at?

    But Ah Lan interrupted Luo Jian¡¯s desire to speak and said, ¡°Some of the enemies have fled, but Duan Li andpany have been held back by two other stalkers, so I came to take a look at how the situation here is. Did ¡®God¡¯ say where the exit was?¡±

    Luo Jian shook his head regretfully and nced at the stalker. ¡°No, the stalker killed him.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s dead? That will be troublesome.¡± Ah Lan frowned and shortly after said to Luo Jian, ¡°Haven¡¯t you gotten any other clues from him?¡±

    Luo Jian froze momentarily, reached out, and took out two pieces of a jade pendant from his pocket. ¡°I got this, and I also got half of it in Ghost¡¯s tomb vault previously. But it¡¯s strange because these two jade pendants should be a pair, but they do not match.¡±

    Ah Lan narrowed his eyes a little. He felt the pressure of Abyss on his shoulder, which made him realize that Abyss had pressed his little ws on his shoulder. Then, Abyss approached Ah Lan¡¯s ear and whispered, ¡°The darker coloured one...... Bring it here.¡±

    At that moment, Ah Lan felt his fingers were shaking.

    Was this right? Or should he stop? Did I do something wrong? Should I stop, yes...... I should stop. No matter what, no matter who he is, I shouldn¡¯t betray my current team, should I?

    Abyss still did not speak, but the fingers on Feng Yu Lan¡¯s shoulder seemed to exert a little strength. Ah Lan felt that the child seemed to have put his head on his shoulder and his whole body was lying on his back.

    Ah Lan pointed to the darker jade pendant and asked Luo Jian, ¡°This, is this one the one obtained from God?¡±

    Luo Jian answered yes, and at the same time, he narrowed his eyes. He was keenly aware of Ah Lan¡¯s state. Ah Lan seemed obviously absent-minded, but at the same time he was asking some very important questions, and...... when Luo Jian took out the two jade pendants, he did not specify which one belonged to ¡®God¡¯ and which belonged to ¡®Ghost.¡¯

    But Feng YuLan had easily seen through all this.

    Was there something wrong with it?

    Luo Jian had not thought anything else, but Ah Lan, over at the other side, was staring at Luo Jian with dark eyes and at the same time whispered, ¡°Can you show me?¡±

    Luo Jian felt that his heart missed a beat.

    Luo Jian finally decided to believe in Feng YuLan, just out of the most primitive trust in his heart.

    The three people did not say a word and were silent for a long time. Luo Jian took the jade pendant in his hand and looked at it for a while. Finally, he could not help it. Then he said, ¡°Ah Lan, I want to ask you a question.¡±

    Luo Jian thought that certain things had changed without his knowledge, and such changes were bound to be astonishing, turbulent, and capable ofpletely rewriting everyone¡¯s destiny.

    ¡°Ah Lan, are werades?¡± Luo Jian asked Feng YuLan that.

    Feng Yu Lan froze momentarily. He suddenly thought that he had asked Abyss almost the same question just now. He could not helpughing and replied, ¡°Of course we arerades.¡±

    Luo Jian believed him, and because he believed him, he naturally handed the jade pendant in his hand to Feng YuLan. Ah Lan held half of the jade pendant in his hand with aplicated expression. He was still hesitant and still doubted all his decisions, but he was more willing to trust his friend, just like how Luo Jian had believed him.

    ¡°You can choose not to believe me.¡± Abyss had already seen the dilemma Ah Lan was stuck in. He began to find a reason to reassure him. He said, ¡°Push the responsibility back to me and tell them that I was controlling you, and honestly, this is true.¡±

    But they were different, passively acting and actively acting. There was a clear dividing line.

    Ah Lan once again looked at Abyss beside him. He felt that he had seen through the deepest part of the boy¡¯s heart. Because Ah Lan himself possessed the power tomunicate with souls, he had clearly understood the boy¡¯s soul, and he clearly knew everything.

    So what am I hesitating about?

    Abyss seemed to have noticed Feng YuLan¡¯s determination. He put his hands on Ah Lan¡¯s shoulder and removed the ¡®transparent person¡¯ skills, exposing his body to the public¡¯s eyes. Then Luo Jian and the stalker who were over there saw the childing out of thin air beside Ah Lan.

    In fact, it was not as if he hadpletelye out of thin air. In fact, the feeling was like d¨¦j¨¤ vu, but somehow in the depths of their heart, they felt there was no need to pay attention to the area where the child was. However, at this moment, with the draw to attention and consciousness, people unconsciously put all their attention on the child in front of them.

    Then, the child reached out his hand to take the jade pendant in Feng YuLan¡¯s hand.

    Arrogantly and presumptuously, he directly reached out and took it. The speed was so fast that Ah Lan was a little surprised. But when he took it, he rubbed against Ah Lan. Afterwards, the stalker was the first to react and moved. He reached out to catch the clever kid. But the child also floated back flexibly, and as soon as he retreated, he opened a long distance between them.

    When their things were robbed, everyone naturally wanted to get the jade pendant back. Xing Yan¡¯s first strike did not make it. Luo Jian pulled out his weapon to keep up with him and lunged at Abyss.

    Luo Jian¡¯s de was invisible, which was his disguiser weapon in its ¡®sealed¡¯ state. However, initially, it had acquired some unique features, such as invisibility. This de was not really invisible. It was just a skill simr to what Abyss had used, which made all creatures who saw the knife ignore it subconsciously.

    But this kind of weapon was doomed to have no effect on Abyss.

    The weapon that everyone around them would ignore, except for the master of the weapon. He would never ignore it.

    Therefore, when Luo Jian broke through and lunged over, Abyss easily stretched out his fingers and mped the thin de.

    This kind of power was simply too weak.

    ¡°The current you...... I see, you were that weak?¡± Abyss held his red umbre in one hand and subconsciously covered his face with the canopy of the umbre. When he saw Luo Jian¡¯s invisible de, he felt a burst of sadness and disappointment.

    Too weak! Such a weak me, how can I have the power to save others?

 Chapter 189 - Valiant Battle (VII)

    <h4>Chapter 189 - Valiant Battle (VII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°Oh, why did youe to my side?¡± Clown squatted on the ground as he dug a hole. He turned back to look at Abyss, who had suddenly appeared by his side. He knew that the other party must have used ¡®teleport¡¯ or other skills of his to appear so mysteriously.

    Abyss¡¯s entire face showed his depressed mood as he held the two pieces of jade pendant to y with and looked at Clown doubtfully. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been ¡®dead¡¯ for too long,¡± Clown said, ¡°My muscles are a little stiff, so I¡¯m doing exercise.¡±

    ¡°Exercise? By digging a hole?¡± Abyss indicated that he did not understand. He speechlessly stated, ¡°It¡¯s better for you to find several people to fight with.¡±

    Clown said, ¡°But I can¡¯t find anyone to fight. You absolutely wouldn¡¯t allow it. I saw that you¡¯ve been busy for quite a while jumping between two teams, seeming very merry.¡±

    Abyss could not stand Clown¡¯s idleness and began to assign him tasks. ¡°You should guard the exit of this secret chamber first and remember to escape faster than anyone else so that our temporary team can win.¡±

    ¡°What if someone gets in the way?¡± Clown abandoned the pit that he had dug half-way.

    ¡°Just block them. There¡¯s no need to kill them.¡±

    Clown seemed to feel more suspicious, turned his head, and looked at the Abyss seriously, ¡°You were not so soft-hearted before this.¡±

    Abyss sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be soft hearted, but this secret chamber is very important to me. I have to go to the punishment chamber. I have to.¡±

    ¡°How will you get there?¡± Clown was even more puzzled and said, ¡°In fact, as long as we lose this time, we can enter the punishment chamber. Why make such a big fuss?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, but we don¡¯t know what kind of punishment chamber the secret chamber will send us into. As far as I know, there is only one punishment chamber with ¡®infinite doors.¡¯¡± Abyss recalled what had happened in the train secret chamber. To him, the mere recollection of it caused him pain, but he had to take advantage of it.

    ¡°What are the infinite doors?¡± Until now, Clown did not understand what he was saying. Although he knew that Abyss was nning something, Abyss did not exin it to him in detail.

    Abyss seemed to feel that the time hade, so he decided to exin to Clown, ¡°It¡¯s the literal meaning of infinite doors: endless doors. After opening one door, there will lead to another behind. Generally speaking, we may experience many doors in the secret chamber, but there is always one door which is the exit. But the chamber with infinite doors is different¡ªthere will always be a next door waiting for you. And this is basically what ¡®infinite loop¡¯ means.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s always a next door waiting for you.¡± Clown muttered and repeated this, and with his face covered with white powder, he turned to Abyss, ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that there is no exit in that secret chamber? Why do you want to go to such a secret chamber?¡±

    Abyss seems to have also made ample considerations: ¡°In order to find the secret chamber¡¯s &#k2018;lock.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Lock?¡± Clown was even more confused. He knew what ¡®the secret chamber¡¯s lock¡¯ that Abyss spoke of was and of his determination to find the lock. But why did he want to look for it in a secret chamber that infinitely looped? Could he be sure that the lock was in this secret chamber?

    ¡°Have you forgotten? I told you before,¡± Abyss continued, ¡°The story of me having a friend who the secret chamber was out to kill after he broke into the city ofwlessness.¡±

    The secret chamber hid its lock in the rumored ¡®city ofwlessness.¡¯ Outsiders remained unable to enter the city using any methods and means. It was ced in another ne by the secret chamber thatpletely disrupted spatial coordinates, causing Abyss to be unable to find the location of the city.

    Moreover, the secret chamber would also fill the city with all kinds of monsters to protect it. The city was also full of ordinary people who were trapped and controlled. Because the ¡®lock¡¯ had a security mechanism, the secret chamber would not be able to protect the ¡®lock¡¯ in a space that the secret chamber had created by itself like it had its ¡®cube,¡¯ so the secret chamber could only put the ¡®lock¡¯ in a city in the real world.

    And the city was sealed off, thus creating the rumored famous city¡ªcity ofwlessness.

    When he was a teenager, Duan Li unintentionally opened a door in a secret chamber that was actually connected with a door in the city ofwlessness. Therefore, Duan Li muddleheadedly went into the ¡®city ofwlessness,¡¯ which was restricted, so unfortunately, the secret chamber was trying to kill him until he met Abyss.

    Abyss realized this important problem after he met with the youthful Duan Li. The secret chamber not only cordoned off the entire city but also transferred the whole city to...... a space crack different from the real world or any secret chamber space, that was to say, the city was in a crevice of space-time. As for how to get to that damned ce, even if Abyss had smashed his head in, he could not think of any ideas on how to do so.

    But after he recalled what happened to the teenage Duan Li, Abyss found the answer.

    Although the secret chamber did not set entrances or exits in or out of the city ofwlessness, it did not mean that there were no other entrances and exits in this city.

    Although the crevice in space-time was a special space, this kind of space had a very typical characteristic. It was an ¡®arbitrary gate¡¯ that would randomly move and appear.

    Arbitrary gates may appear in any space-time, any ce, any door.

    You may open the toilet door of your home and, after walking through the door, enter the legendary ¡®city ofwlessness.¡¯ Of course, this was not only limited to the door of your toilet but also the door of a room, the gate of a shopping mall, or the old door of a dpidated house...... many, many other doors.

    But the probability of an arbitrary door appearing could be said to be one in a billion. This probability was low, too low. For Duan Li to find this door and return safely through it was simply miraculous.

    However, through this incident, Abyss realized that the probability of encountering an ¡®arbitrary door¡¯ in the secret chamber was likely to be slightly higher than to finding a door in reality that could spread its legs and run about. The probability would be slightly higher.

    After all, the city ofwlessness was thrown into the crevice of space-time by the secret chamber¡¯s very hands.

    In that case, Abyss had to make a bold decision.

    If, among the thousands of secret chambers created by the secret chamber¡¯s will, I look for a chamber with many doors or even infinite doors and open these doors one by one, do I have a chance to encounter the ¡®arbitrary door¡¯ of the city ofwlessness?

    After all, this was actually a matter of probability. If you would not meet with such a probability, you could create a probability. Since you could open so many doors, there was always a chance that the ¡®arbitrary door¡¯ would mischievously run to be one of these doors.

    After you opened the door, you could sessfully enter that magical city.

    Chances were very slim, but if you did not do it, there would never be hope. That was why Abyss decided to go to the punishment chamber once. In fact, he had not seen so many or even infinitely looping doors in any secret chamber. Abyss did not know what the punishment chambers of others were like. Maybe there would be infinite doors in other punishment chambers, but he did not dare to make such a gamble using his luck. He preferred to choose the things that had been put in front of him and were easy to get.

    His n had already begun long ago.

    Abyss told Clown to return to his temporary team. As soon as he returned, he found that his temporary team members seemed to be talking about something. However, Abyss was toozy to investigate thoroughly. He told the female strategist that the ¡®God¡¯s jade pendant¡¯ had been obtained and asked her to take out the ¡®Ghost¡¯s jade pendant,¡¯ which had temporarily been left in her care.

    The female strategist took the jade pendant out of her pocket.

    Abyss was absent-minded. In fact, the jade pendant he gave to the female strategist was also fake, simr to the one given to Luo Jian. All the real goods were in his hands. His kingly way of handling the important things was for him to keep everything to himself.

    ¡°The enemies seem to be catching up with us.¡± The vampire team captain seemed to have sensed several lurking breaths nearby. It was very easy for them, who somewhat possessed some detection ability, to sense whether there were enemies nearby.

    ¡°Then deal with them,¡± The female strategist said, ¡°Drag them behind for some time; I have something to tell Abyss.¡±

    The vampire team captain nodded and naturally walked away from the team to fight with several enemies who had caught up with them. Those who had caught up were Duan Li, who was the fastest; Luo Jian and the stalker; and Feng YuLan, who started to remain silent.

    For the vampire team captain to deal with four people all together was obviously very difficult for him, but fortunately, at the beginning, only Duan Li came out to fight, and the two fought alone for a while.

    After all, the female strategist never trusted Abyss. Hearing that he had gotten the God¡¯s jade pendant, she opened her mouth and naturally asked Abyss to hand it over. In fact, Abyss could not be bothered with her. He minded his own business as he turned his head to spectate the fight between Duan Li and the vampire team captain.

    Time was running out.

    Abyss no longer paid attention to the female strategist¡¯s chatter and floated to the vampire team captain¡¯s side with his umbre in his hand. He pushed aside the vampire team captain to rece him on the battlefield. The vampire team captain did not stop him. He deliberately exposed where Abyss was standing and exposed a thin, pale, poor little boy in front of a line of tall men like Duan Li.

    There were no opening remarks. Since it was a team battle, the default rule for everyone was to start fighting when they met.

    Neither Luo Jian nor Ah Lan took part in the battle. Duan Li cooperated with the stalker to fight side by side. Although it was two to one, there was no fairness or unfairness in a battle. Such a principle was adhered to in all battles.

    Not to mention, Duan Li and the stalker were really capable. At leastpared to the yers Abyss encountered before, they were more skilled. So in front of them, even Abyss did not dare to act rashly.

    Abyss intended to reveal his face not far away from them in the midst of the battle. He especially did not want to let the present Luo Jian see what he looked like. So he used his red umbre to cover his face, but in doing so, he would have little means of attack.

    However, since it was a battle, there were always chances that something unexpected would happen. Abyss and the stalker had almost never exchanged moves. The two of them unconsciously stared at one another. Xing Yan looked at Abyss with a strange look in his eyes. The stalker¡¯s eyes were pure blood-red. In fact, Abyss should be familiar with his eyes, but now he felt a little foreign towards them.

    He would recall the gaze ck cat used to gaze at him in that punishment chamber.

    Abyss¡¯s heart trembled, so he quickly separated himself from the enemy. Xing Yan standing over there did not know why he did so, but he withdrew his hands and stopped attacking Abyss. He actually withdrew from the battlefield naturally although he still put his eyes on Abyss.

    So the only one who fought with Abyss was Duan Li.

    This boy had grown up a lot since Abyssst saw him. Abyss noticed that Duan Li was still wearing various types of exotic masks, and he could take out masks from his carry-on space to change masks anytime, anywhere. After he remembered that Duan Li seemed to have been disfigured now, he thought that he did not know how the other became disfigured.

    He should not have been disfigured in any of the secret chamber spaces because after exiting the secret chamber space, all damage would be repaired. It was not possible for the secret chamber to not recover a disfigured face, so...... Duan Li must have gotten hurt in reality.

 Chapter 190 - Valiant Battle (VIII)

    <h4>Chapter 190 - Valiant Battle (VIII)</h4>

    Thank you so much ChrysAmans for your support¡ªBonus Chapter (5/10)

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Abyss easily pressed Duan Li down so much that he could not lift his head up. Without the stalker impeding Abyss, Duan Li who came out alone could be easily dealt with. But if this feunched his ultimate skills, it would not be good. In fact, even Abyss himself couldn¡¯t move as fast as Duan Li.

    Such moving speed that could almost catch up with the speed of light in a brief moment might even be faster than teleportation.

    Although Abyss had been fighting Duan Li, he asionally paid attention to Luo Jian and Feng YuLan¡¯s situation. Both Luo Jian and Ah Lan merely watched the battle from afar because they were not particrly strong inbat, and if they headed up to battle, it would make the current situation worse.

    Luo Jian seemed to notice that the stalker had been staring at the child on the battlefield. He was a little nervous, so he wanted to traverse through half of the battlefield to reach the stalker¡¯s side, but Ah Lan over here reached out to stop Luo Jian.

    Ah Lan was trying to say something to Luo Jian. With a mere look at Ah Lan¡¯s expression, Abyss understood what Ah Lan was doing. He wanted to tell Luo Jian the existence of Abyss. However, this move was doomed to fail. Abyss had already changed his umbre into another weapon¡ªa dagger. In a sh, he threw the knife like a throwing knife. The dagger charged towards Ah Lan¡¯s forehead.

    He just wanted to stop Ah Lan¡¯s mouth, of course. He did not want to hurt Feng YuLan. A second before the dagger hurt Feng YuLan, he suddenly appeared next to the de and reached out to catch the flying dagger in the air. Then, Abyss grandiosely turned around and immediately walked behind Ah Lan, lying on his shoulder directly.

    Everything happened in just a matter of seconds, but in a blink of an eye, Abyss had easily controlled Feng YuLan, held him hostage, and began to openly threaten Duan Li andpany.

    After that, the next thing he needed to do was very simple.

    If Abyss wanted to open the exit, he must first open the underground passage under the tree so that Clown, who had been guarding there, would be the first to enter the underground passage and the first to reach the exit.

    But the one who opened the door must be Luo Jian because the person who opened the door could only be a NPC or a yer with the identity of the NPC. Now it seemed that the god had passed away. Although he would reviveter, it was also troublesome to look for him, so he simply took advantage of Luo Jian in front of him.

    After all, Luo Jian currently possessed the ghost¡¯s identity.

    So Abyss talked nonsense in in sight and said in a panic that he wanted to make a bet with Luo Jian. He gave both jade pendants to Luo Jian and asked Luo Jian to open the door. The two teams set out at the same time to see who arrived at the end first. He also said that as long as the other party won, he would return Feng YuLan, the hostage.

    Due to the fact that Ah Lan was still in the enemy¡¯s hands, Luo Jian stared at the child in front of him vigntly. Even if the other party was very thin and looked like he would copse under one blow, Luo Jian did not dare to be careless. He also thought about the possibility of winning the bet and began to bargain with Abyss.

    Now, Luo Jian did not know that he and Abyss were going through a very mystifying duel.

    It was a magical urrence. As the past and the future collided, they stood on a stage that no one could reach.

    It was a pity that Luo Jian did not know what was happening at this very moment, and the current Abyss did not care.

    In this special secret chamber that hosted a team battle, Burial Grounds, if any one of the two teams found the exit first and stepped out of this chamber, that team was the final victor.

    After Abyss deceived Luo Jian and lured him to use the jade pendant to open the door of the secret chamber, the huge tree in the god¡¯s tomb vault shook like an animal rising up and began tomand its tree roots to stand like a human being. It was so huge that it almost prated the entire Burial Grounds tomb, and the entire tomb¡¯s ground shook and the sky quaked.

    Because of Abyss deceiving them, Luo Jian andpany thought that climbing up to the top of the tree might lead to the exit. Even the trio in Abyss¡¯ temporary team thought that what Abyss said was true. In fact, to get out, one had to climb into the vacuum inside the tree trunk, entering through the cave under the tree root to find the exit.

    Abyss had Clown guard the exit earlier, but unexpectedly, Specter who was in Luo Jian¡¯s team was left behind earlier on. When he was keeping up with his team, moving at full speed, he identally found Clown and followed Clown all the way to the exit.

    Clown was also very depressed. In fact, he had been squatting under the roots of the big tree to hide himself. He was ready to jump in immediately after the entrance under the tree roots surfaced. As a result, the tree moved so suddenly that Clown could not respond. Then he was swept by the lively roots and fell into the hole he had dug himself. Then afterwards, a handful of yellow soil buried the entirety of Clown, who was counted as a ¡®corpse¡¯ now.

    Clown: ¡°...¡±

    What the fuck! This is simply a self-inflicted injury! He feels like dying! Hello, my body is stiff! I can¡¯t move, hello! Hello, I want to get out of here!

    Fortunately, Clown was still a bit lucky. These moving roots trembled and shook Clown out of the pit again. Clown¡¯s face was very stiff as he climbed out with much difficulty. But as soon as he climbed out, unexpectedly, he met Specter.

    As soon as Clown saw a person from the enemy team, his entire body became stiff, and he began thinking of what Abyss had said before.

    Should he just wipe him out? It seemed like he couldn¡¯t kill him, could he? But his silly figure had been seen by someone! He was so stupid that he should be sent home for falling into a pit that he had dug!

    F*ck, his silliness was still witnessed by others, AHHHHH!

    In fact, Clown misunderstood it. After all, Specter only saw Clown climbing out of the pit. In addition, there were dead bodies everywhere in this tomb. It was normal for something to climb out from pits.

    But Clown did not understand. He was still immersed in his ¡®shame.¡¯ He began to disguise himself unconsciously. In fact, as a doctor, Clown was a very kind guy. Although he saw much life and death on the operating table, he still felt that his heart got heavier when he had to kill someone.

    In reality, he was the one who saved the lives of so many patients. Why must he take the lives of others in these cruel spaces?

    It was because he was a doctor who helped the dying and healed the wounded that Clown could understand the weight of life. Human beings were so fragile, yet so staunch. All everyone thought of doing was struggling to survive. No one could deprive them of this belief, no matter how cruel it was.

    The belief that you wanted to survive. And that was something worthy of respect.

    So every time he entered the secret chamber, when he was faced with a situation where he had to personally deal with the enemy, he would flip his personality around, y various roles, turn himself into another person or other creatures, in an attempt to escape from this sense of guilt. Unfortunately, he had never let go of his sense of guilt, but his acting skills had reached their peak.

    As a matter of fact, he acted like a robot in front of Specter. In fact, Abyss told him previously to disguise himself in front of all kinds of people in various secret chambers. His strength should not progress too fast. In short, he should not let the secret chamber¡¯s will seize his little tail.

    Clown would also follow Abyss¡¯smands as he acted, and he and Specter had a carefree and uninhibited fight.

    Specter was quite capable, but his strength was reflected in his long-range attacks. In closebat, he could only allow others to ughter him. Coupled with Clown¡¯s cheat-like transformation skills, it was really easy topletely obliterate Specter.

    However, half-way through the battle, seeing that Clown was about to wipe out Specter, this fool, student Abyss, popped out to hinder Clown again.

    Abyss knew at a nce that Clown had started role-ying again. He took a deep breath and let him do as he liked. However, he repeatedly told Clown not to hurt Specter and asked him to quickly run and head for the exit.

    Willful kid!

    Clown roared in his heart, but in the blink of an eye, he had turned around and jumped into the hole under the roots of the trees. Then, while walking through the tree¡¯s hollow, he wanted to return to request a series of rewards from student Abyss, such as allowing him to pinch his little ws or something simr......

    Oh! Little ws!

    Clown covered his cheeks and swayed.

    However, the swaying Clown did not expect that he would be beaten beyond recognition by Specter. And he still had to endure the pain. He was constantly melted down by his strange bullet, and he had to use his skills to regenerate himself.

    And he still had to reach the exit faster than Specter!

    His current predicament couldn¡¯t be worse! Clown howled in his heart. He did not want to hear what Abyss had to say. Before he exited, if he did not send a knife to Specter, he would be sorry to himself!

    When Clown stepped out of the tomb tunnels in Burial Grounds, the secret chamber decided that Abyss¡¯ side had won, and all the members of the defeated team would be sent out at the same time. They would wake up in a punishment chamber, and it would be hard for them to escape that chamber.

    Abyss no longer cared about the remaining people in the secret chamber. Afterwards, he followed Clown¡¯s footsteps all the way to the exit. However, when he reached the exit, he saw a pool of blood on the ground. He lowered his head and gazed in silence. After that, he lifted his leg and walked out, sighing.

    This time, he did not know what kind of oue they would face.

    If I do not do this in Burial Grounds but let the team of Luo Jian andpany win, will the oue be different? Maybe, because in this way¡ªmaybe I would not exist now because I changed history, I changed my own past. After the past changes, the present me will not exist.

    After such a change, Luo Jian andpany might be cheated by the secret chamber¡¯s will again during their next secret chamber escape. Then, Luo Jian might be another person. He might be a good or bad person, be alive or dead, but he would never be the current Abyss.

    One thing Abyss was certain of was that he would no longer have the opportunity to destroy or conquer the secret chamber, and that was a chance that could be obtained once in a blue moon.

    Abyss pinpointed Ah Lan¡¯s location as soon as he left Burial Grounds. Maybe the time he pinpointed was a bit messed up, but he had to head there. He took a deep breath and went to Clown¡¯s side first, giving Clown some props that would allow him to leap over space-time.

    This thing was made using a weapon¡¯s skill, personally crafted by him. It had been tested many times, and he was finally able to craft this final product.

    In fact, the ear studs that Abyss put on Ah Lan were also one of these props. They were used to locate the spatial coordinates and simrly open a spatial door for him.

    Now, he was going to that train to find his team members.

 Chapter 191 - Valiant Battle (IX)

    <h4>Chapter 191 - Valiant Battle (IX)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for the support¡ªBonus Chapter (6/10)

    Trigger Warning: Slight Gore

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    What was the feeling of shuttling through space-time? Abyss had experienced his body being broken down into countless, innumerable, tiny, invisible particles countless times. When you shuttled through an energy tunnel, you could feel that there were countless energy particles around you, travelling along with you. However, there were countless doors in front of you, and each door was tempting you to open it.

    If the wrong door was opened, where would you head?

    Abyss did not do that because it was stupid to do so. So when he opened his eyes again, he saw Feng YuLan sitting on the sofa seat of a train, seemingly shocked by Abyss¡¯ sudden appearance.

    Oh, I¡¯ve arrived.

    As Abyss thought, he stood up and straightened his body. After feeling that there was nothing strange, incited with excitement, he lunged at Ah Lan. This action seemed to surprise Feng YuLan. Ah Lan was stiff for quite some time. He could not help responding to Abyss and hugging the child tightly in his arms.

    Abyss buried his cheek in Ah Lan¡¯s arms. He hesitated for a long time before releasing Feng YuLan. He said uneasily, ¡°If I was still an adult, I could give you a big bear hug.¡±

    Feng YuLan blinked inexplicably and tilted his head to gaze at him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk. We have a lot of things to do,¡± Abyss said to him, lowered his head, and began brewing thoughts in his head for some time, ¡°The previous Luo Jian, you just sent him away, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Ah Lan nodded; he did not deny it.

    ¡°Then from the moment he went out, this secret chamber copsed,¡± Abyss said, ¡°Because he is the protagonist, no...... In other words, he is the murderer, and the murderer is the protagonist in this secret chamber. He is the starting point that can drive the development of the plot. If he did not exist, the starting point would not exist. Although the cycle is still there, the circle cannot rotate.¡±

    ¡°Circle...... can¡¯t rotate?¡± Feng YuLan could not understand what Abyss¡¯ words meant, but it didn¡¯t matter. He had a lot of confidence in the boy in front of him.

    As long as this trust existed, he didn¡¯t feel afraid of anything.

    ¡°It feels like time has stopped. This train will stop here. It won¡¯t go forward. Naturally...... it won¡¯t retreat, and things in it will pause, such as these chairs, these suitcases, these messy things. Even if you destroy and trample them on the ground so much so that they are beyond recognition, they will recover after a period of time.¡±

    Abyss casually took a ss bottle on the table in the train carriage and threw it on the ground. The ss bottle was smashed to pieces. But within a short time, the broken ss bottle suddenly began to disappear. Simrly, it reappeared at its original position on the table.

    ¡°You see, things will recover. In fact, you will too, but you can walk around, your mind is still working, you can think and breathe...... Oh, it reminds me of Asura Realm.¡±

    Ah Lan still could not understand, but he liked it when the child preached something he could not understand, so he did not interrupt the other party and listened to the child.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you out of here and everything will be better, alright?¡± Abyss grabbed Feng YuLan¡¯s hand and clenched it. Ah Lan looked at the child¡¯s bright eyes in a trance. His eyes were very sincere and seemed to be saying something. Ah Lan did not answer. He simply could not help but reach out and touch Abyss¡¯ head.

    Ah Lan never spoke.

    Abyss stood up and began to look for the key. This was carriage No.13. Logically speaking, the key of this carriage was originally put in the victim¡¯s pants pocket...... In this case, since the beginning, the key was in Feng YuLan¡¯s pocket.

    Abyss turned around in this messy odd-numbered carriage, turned around, and ran back to Ah Lan. He reached for his pocket. As expected, he reached for the metal material and took it out. It was a small key.

    Wait a minute. Abyss remembered that he was...... Yes, he remembered the first time he hade to the train secret chamber. He found Owl¡¯s body in a terrible luggage and got the key from the corpse.

    In that case, Owl was actually Ah Lan. After Ah Lan died, he was put into the box by the murderer. Then the murdererid down, forgetting everything. He forgot the process where he killed someone.

    But after Abyss woke up at that time, Owl was already standing in front of him, but he was not the one who had revived in the trunk: the one in the trunk was another Owl, and he was also dead...... It should be said that the one in the trunk was a living corpse.

    Abyss clenched the key and raised his head to look at Ah Lan. Ah Lan did not know why he was looking at the child in front of him. He finally made a sound and said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Where is the ne?¡±

    ¡°Ne...?¡± Feng YuLan thought for a while, suddenly bent down, and picked up a ck cross ne from the ground. He said, ¡°Is this it? Just now, when I saw Luo Jian off, he dropped it.¡±

    It was really the ne.

    Abyss narrowed his eyes and said to Feng YuLan, ¡°Just wear it. Don¡¯t drop it.¡±

    Ah Lan was very obedient and listened to what he said. He put the ne around his neck, but Ah Lan himself also felt strange. He did not feel suspicious toward the boy. He felt that he believed in the other unconditionally, just like...... well, as if he had been given cues or was controlled.

    Abyss opened the door with the key. After opening the door, they arrived in carriage No.12.

    Abyss directly used his weapons and morphed it into a marker. He wrote a number 12 on the key he got in carriage No.13 to make a mark. Then he put carriage No.12¡¯s key into his pocket and patted it.

    After confirming that the key was in his pocket, he took Ah Lan into carriage No.12.

    There was a ck cat drowned in the sink in carriage No.12. Without much of an expression, he dissected the ck cat quickly and coldly. He felt around for the key of carriage No.12 and wrote an ¡®11¡¯ on the key. Then he opened the door of carriage No.11 and carefully put the key into his pocket.

    There were two men trying to kill each other in carriage No.11. This situation was not difficult to deal with for Abyss. He easily subdued two big men who were twice as tall as himself. Yes, he beat up both of them. Afterwards, he threw Duan Li to Ah Lan and dragged Xing Yan over for him to touch.

    ck cat was Xing Yan. Although he was still suffering from amnesia at this moment, when he realized that he had been beaten by a little brat, he felt extremely surprised and unwilling in his heart, even if he didn¡¯t show anything on his face.

    But the strange little brat reached out his ws and touched his head as if tofort him.

    It was really strange. Xing Yan crouched on the ground with a frown as he was touched by Abyss. Somehow, most of the resentment in his heart dissipated. He could not help but feel at ease. He felt as if he had been drifting for a long time in a sea where he could not see anynd and had finally met a ship.

    Abyss got excited when he touched him and hugged Xing Yan¡¯s neck as he rubbed himself against him. Now there was no Luo Jian of the past...... Yes, it was undeniable that Abyss was envious of Luo Jian, envious of himself. Before, he had begun to feel extremely jealous in the Burial Grounds secret chamber. However, this time, Xing Yan could bepletely owned by him.

    In order to ensure that his things always belonged to him, Abyss opened his mouth and bit Xing Yan¡¯s face, leaving small tooth marks on his handsome face. Xing Yan, who was bitten by him, touched his face as if he was chagrined.

    Ah Lan and Duan Li over at the side wore inexplicable and confused expressions on their faces. Duan Li was very pitiable because a person had beaten him so much that his nose bruised and his face swollen. What he could not believe was that the person was a 10-year-old boy. He could not take it. But before he could resist the attacks, he was being thrown by the little brat towards Ah Lan¡¯s body.

    Ah Lan instinctively reached out and hugged Duan Li.

    The four eyes of the two people met. One person gazed at the other while the other looked at the person. In particr, Ah Lan was still princess-carrying Duan Li. Although Duan Li was actually half a head taller than him, Ah Lan was also a prim and proper man, and he still had some strength.

    Ah Lan did not know why but when he stared at Duan Li¡¯s face, he could not help but swallow his saliva.

    Duan Li was so scared that he struggled as he jumped out of Ah Lan¡¯s arms. He began to bluster; it seemed that he did not want to show weakness in front of Ah Lan.

    Because he did not want to dy time, Abyss did not get too caught up with Xing Yan. He raised his voice and told the three men in front of him to follow him. They all looked at each other, but no one seemed to object. A strange harmony developed in the team, and several people naturally walked together.

    Abyss continued to lead the team. He remembered that there was a lot of ss in carriage No.11. The key was also made of ss. Moreover, it was ced in a ss bottle filled with poison. All ss here seemed to be covered with phosphorite powder. What they had to do was wash the phosphorite powder with water to clean it. This was that so the light emitting from the key in the ss bottle would not be covered by the light emitted by the other phosphorite.

    This was actually something simple to aplish. In fact, Abyss did not need to wash it with water at all because he remembered where the ss bottle was ced. He went over directly, picked up the ss bottle, poured out the poison inside, took out the key with a pair of leather gloves, and went to the bathroom to wash it.

    Because the ss key was very fragile, it would break when one opened the door to carriage No.10. However, there was no need to worry about it. Anyway, the items in the train secret chamber could recover themselves at this point in time, so Abyss only needed to pick up the pieces of the ss key and put them in a small bag.

    It would recover in a moment.

    Carriage No.10 was simpler: there were only bloody footsteps on the clean ground, and the key was in front of the door to carriage No.9.

    Abyss picked up the key to carriage No.9 and marked ¡®9¡¯ with a marker.

    After that, he opened the door to carriage No.9. He could already almost anticipate who was inside. It was really Specter...... That was Luo Feng and the skinny monster in the carriage No.9, who would never be full.

    It was probably because Abyss and his party moved forward too fast, but when they came in, Luo Feng and the monster were not engaged in a fight. Luo Feng did not kill the skinny monster. He was still rummaging around looking for food for the monster.

    Abyss and his party came suddenly. As soon as they came in, they immediately surrounded Luo Feng. Luo Feng was surrounded by a group of people and had no time to act suave. Then, he was squeezed into the sofa seat in the carriage and several people all sat together.

    Abyss began to try to beat the monster who did not have enough to eat. How could the monster resist the amazing and furious student Abyss? It was immediately beaten to the ground by student Abyss. Abyss thought for a second and recalled that it would only spit out the key if it had blood and flesh to eat. Other ways seemed to not work. He wondered if he could find the key by cutting open its stomach?

    As Abyss came up with the idea, he immediately acted upon it. And at that moment, a bloody scene was put on disy in carriage No.9. Several onlookers around him unconsciously covered their eyes and listened to the monster¡¯s miserable howl.

    Abyss could not find the key in the monster¡¯s stomach, so he angrily grabbed the viscera of the monster¡¯s body and put it into its mouth. Unexpectedly, it swallowed its own internal organs.

    Abyss¡¯s eyeballs revolved around and around, and he started to pull pieces of viscera from its body and push them down to its mouth.

    The sight was too inhumane and bloody!

    Ah Lan tightly covered his eyes but left a slit to watch while Duan Li opened his eyes wide to spectate in excitement.

    Xing Yan was numbly squeezed in the middle on the seat. His eyes were blocked by kind-hearted Luo Feng¡¯s ws. Luo Feng covered Xing Yan¡¯s eyes with one hand and his own eyes with the other.

    Maybe the monster eating itself seemed to have an effect; therefore, in the end, it still spit out a key for Abyss. Abyss directly picked up the key from a pile of bloody vomit, wiped it on his clothes, and wrote an ¡®8¡¯ with a marker because this was the key to the door to carriage No.8.

    After opening the door to carriage No.8, they found a dead wolf in the carriage. Student Abyss began to dissect the wolf again and took out the key to carriage No.7 from the wolf¡¯s belly.

    ¡°Wait! What does this mean exactly?¡± Luo Feng could not help speaking. The group took him to carriage No.8 inexplicably, and no one exined what happened.

    Who were they? What were they doing? What time was it now? What the hell was this ce?

    No one exined. These people seemed to be toozy to find out the answer. They just walked, following the tide. They followed behind the little brat¡¯s butt. The kid in front of him seemed to know everything. Moreover, the kid showed extraordinary strength at the beginning but did not seem to want to say more. He just threw out a sentence:

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    That was said with such resolution. If only it was not a little devil who had said it.

    Although Luo Feng felt uneasy inwardly, he realized that he was not the only one who could not figure out the situation. But why didn¡¯t they want to figure out the situation?

    But the kid did not have time to pay attention to them. He hurriedly took the group of people to carriage No.7 and quickly cleared it as if he was on wings. There was a melodious and indistinct music box in the carriage No.7, and the key was in the music box.

    So Abyss went directly to pick up the music box and dropped it on the ground. The music box broke into pieces and parts of it scattered about. At the same time, the music stopped, and everyone felt drowsy.

    Abyss¡¯s speed was much faster. He took the key and opened the door to carriage No.6 directly. He urged the group of people toe over. Several people followed him with great hurry and bustle.

    Afterwards, Abyss wrote a ¡®6¡¯ on the key and carefully put it into his pocket. He made sure that every key was in his pocket so that he could open the door directly after they entered the next cycle, and he would not need to bother collecting any bullshit keys after that.

 Chapter 192 - Valiant Battle (X)

    <h4>Chapter 192 - Valiant Battle (X)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for your support¡ªBonus Chapter (7/10)

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    Carriage No.6 was an even-numbered carriage. There was a huge luggage in it. After opening the luggage, one could see a small owl inside. The owl had a small metal key in its mouth.

    When he saw the owl, Abyss experienced a struggle inwardly and turned back to look at Ah Lan over there. Ah Lan was still deep in confusion and had a bewildered expression. Because they were moving so fast in the secret chamber, none of them were aware of the situation.

    Abyss finally took out the key to carriage No.5 from the owl¡¯s beak inside the luggage and took the group of people to open the door to carriage No.5. After arriving at carriage No.5, Abyss went directly to the center of the carriage, took a deep breath, and turned back to look at Duan Li.

    Because the child had been staring at Duan Li, several other people also ced their lines of sight on Duan Li. After Duan Li received many gazes shooting on him, he shivered, and a sense of foreboding arose.

    He only saw that the terrifying little boy headed over and circumvented others to get to his side. And he did not know when the umbre that the boy had been holding turned into a short knife. The bright de of the knife reflected the faint light. Duan Li felt a terrible premonition rise in his heart and felt that feeling get heavier and heavier.

    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Duan Li, whose guard had been up, asked that little kid. When he had woken up and found himself in a strange carriage, his head had been foggy. There was a man in the carriage who was as confused as him. They each felt the other was unpleasant to their eyes so they had fought. But before he made a few moves, he was interrupted by the little boy who suddenly appeared.

    And he saw the boy¡¯s strange and shocking fighting prowess.

    Clearly, he was such a short kid, so how on earth did he get so strong?

    Although he was not reconciled, Duan Li was not one of those people who couldn¡¯t understand the current situation. It should be said that he was a very cunning person. It could almost be instinctive for him to speak in humannguage when he met a human and speak in ghostnguage when he met a ghost.

    That was the best method he had found as he muddled along in this turbid society. Therefore, Duan Li would not rush forward to recover his so-called dignity when he met opponents who were much stronger than himself, even if he was humiliated by the other party.

    Too many people died for dignity, and Duan Li took life more important than dignity.

    As long as he could survive, even if he was beaten, insulted, cursed, so what...... All was fine as long as they did not touch his bottom line or force him intopliance.

    However, if the other party showed obvious intentions to kill him, it did not mean that Duan Li would not resist.

    Seeing that the child had directly pulled out his de ande towards him, Duan Li was suddenly nervous. He stepped backwards a few steps, and his eyes unconsciously searched for weapons he could use nearby. The odd-numbered carriages were always in a mess, and there were all kinds of things here. Duan Li already saw one on the sofa seat beside him...... A wrench?

    There were so many weapons in the train. On the way here, they passed by many carriages. The carriages were either even-numbered carriages that were so clean that nothing in it could be used or odd-numbered carriages, which were very dirty and messy and had everything in it.

    Baseball bat, fruit knife, wrench, screwdriver, scissors, hammer...... as if it had been stuffed with all the deadly objects that you could see everywhere in daily life.

    It was also in a ce so obvious that people could see it at a nce.

    If I go get that wrench, can I win in a fight against this guy?

    Duan Li took a step backwards and stared at the little boy in front of him. He couldn¡¯t help but ask himself inwardly.

    The answer he gave was impossible.

    There was no chance of winning. It was impossible to win.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. In this ce, you will recover even when you¡¯re injured and revive even when you¡¯re dead.¡± The boy held the knife in his hand casually, and the de seemed to make a ssil sound as it broke through air.

    Afterwards, the boy smiled, and he seemed to try being gentle, ¡°And I¡¯ll only do this to you once, just once...... Well, this thing will make you feel ufortable, but don¡¯t be too afraid. We can take our time...¡±

    ¡°When you say that, you feel like a pervert...¡± Duan Li couldn¡¯t help but step backwards. He had already rushed to the sofa over at the other side and gotten that wrench. Although holding such a weapon made him feel a little weak, he couldn¡¯t show weakness or retreat. Retreating was tantamount to death.

    Abyss shrugged and spread his arms out, but he still held his knife. He seemed helpless. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t run. I really don¡¯t want to beat you first to make you submit. You know, doing this is actually time-consuming.¡±

    Duan Li did not believe him at all. He shook his head and said, ¡°I can see that you obviously want to kill me! In this case, do you think I¡¯m going to surrender without putting up a fight?¡±

    Duan Li did not seem to want topromise. He also tried to pull some people to his side. He looked at the several onlookers around him and said in a loud voice, ¡°Why can you guys watch himmit murder in front of you? Aren¡¯t you afraid that the next one will be yourself?¡±

    Luo Feng seemed to be hesitant. His eyes turned between Duan Li and Abyss. Xing Yan was indifferent to this, and his head was tilted up to the skies. Hepletely appeared cold and ssy. Ah Lan found a package of unopened french fries from somewhere and was struggling with the packaging bag......

    What the f*ck! What were these people thinking?!

    Duan Li tightly held the wrench in his hand and felt that the blue veins on his arm would burst.

    Clearly, opposite him just stood a little brat, and his height was only at Duan Li¡¯s waist. Those thin arms and legs made Duan Li feel that he could break them using one hand, but he simply felt that he had no chance of winning. What exactly was happening?!

    Duan Li felt like he was going to cry.

    And Abyss was already close at hand. On his small face, a gloomy expression could be seen. He said, ¡°Good child, be obedient.¡±

    In the end, Duan Li gave up in tears. He threw away his wrench and fell on the sofa at Abyss¡¯smand. Abyss grabbed his head and felt that he should be anesthetized first. Well, this felt like doing an operation.

    ¡°In order to ensure that there are no idents, I will use some special means to take it out, so you can sleep first.¡±

    When Abyss said that, he tapped his fingers on Duan Li¡¯s forehead. This tap seemed magical. Duan Li immediately fell into a trance and fell asleep peacefully after that.

    Then, Abyss morphed his weapon into Clown¡¯s scalpel...... Abyss wanted to p his hands together devoutly to thank the noble Lord Clown. He really felt great having a cheat-like nurse as his backup!

    Just as Abyss thought this, Clown, who was making preparations in his room, could not help sneezing.

    Of course, student Abyss over here had already unbuttoned the clothes that were buttoned up, covering Duan Li¡¯s chest area, and began to move that scalpel.

    The rest did not dare to watch the bloody operation, so they went to the seat where the dish deity was in carriage No.5 and began to tease Lord dish deity.

    As time went by, Student Abyss sessfully operated on Duan Li and took the key buried in Duan Li¡¯s chest out, and he gave him simple hemostasis. After that, the secret chamber self-recovery began to work. Duan Li¡¯s wound began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Abyss took out the key, wiped it with a paper towel, and marked a ¡®4¡¯ on it.

    Then he checked Mr. Duan Li¡¯s physical condition. After checking that there was nothing wrong with him, he got up to greet the others.

    The rest of them were sitting there happily ying the dish deity game, but at the beginning, Xing Yan seemed to be not interested in this game. After ying for a while, he started to flip through other stuff here. Luo Feng also took a nap, and his eyes closed so that only a slit was left. Ah Lan grabbed several bags of french fries and continued struggling to open them.

    Abyss stole Ah Lan¡¯s fries and hugged the bags of fries as he ate. When Duan Li had woken up safe and sound, they moved on to the next carriage.

    Carriage No.4 was an even-numbered carriage. They would not face any dangers here. There was only a dead two-headed snake in it. The key was beside the poor little snake.

    Abyss picked up the key and wrote a ¡®3¡¯ on it.

    After opening carriage No.3, they could see the obvious phenomenon¡ªthe overflowing water would submerge carriage No.3, and there were water stains on the ground.

    ¡°In this carriage, we are short of time. We shouldn¡¯t even waste a minute or a second here.¡±

    Abyss looked around, observing the environment of this carriage. He thought of all the things that happened here. He could not help but turn his eyes to Xing Yan. Then, of course, Abyss revealed his knife and indicated his intentions.

    ¡°Xing Yan, go and lie down over there.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yes! It¡¯s finally not me who is down on my luck!¡± Duan Li almost jumped up and cheered.

    Xing Yan turned his head coldly and looked at Duan Li. Duan Li, the living dog, returned a look of schadenfreude. But Xing Yan obedientlyid down.

    Xing Yan lied quietly, staring at Abyss with wide eyes.

    Abyss, who was stared at by his eyes, felt ufortable all over. He thought for a moment and leaned over to kiss Xing Yan¡¯s eyelids. Xing Yan seemed satisfied and closed his eyes.

    Xing Yan¡¯s eyshes were very long, and the slight shaking of them made Abyss¡¯s lips itch. He could not help licking them. But he realized that his action was too strange. He quickly turned back and sat up straight, and like what he had just done to Duan Li, he tapped on Xing Yan¡¯s forehead.

    It was a powerful hypnosis ability that immediately plunged someone into a deepa.

    Abyss held Xing Yan¡¯s hands, but he inwardly feltplicated.

    In this carriage, Xing Yan had died...... Maybe he had died countless times here. He would die the number of times the train secret chamber looped.

    Every time he died, he was killed by Abyss.

    In fact, regarding that, Abyss had already long forgotten what kind of feeling he had experienced. He only felt that since matters had progressed to the present state today, there would not be a need to use words to describe what had urred. Even if they could be at different space-times, different ces, and different worlds, they could still be strung together by the line of destiny called ¡®fate¡¯ through eternal darkness.

    There was no need to use any other words. With a mere look, a gesture, they would fully understand each other¡¯s entirety.

    This was a terrifying yet depressive truth.

    He got the key to carriage No.2 from Xing Yan¡¯s stomach. Abyss wrote a big ¡®2¡¯ on the key. Then, before the waterpletely flooded carriage No.3, he led the group of people to open the door to carriage No.2. They found that carriage No.2 was a very, very clean carriage without any sundries strewn about, animal bodies, or blood stains.

    Abyss went directly to the crew¡¯s lounge of carriage No.2. Inside, there was a brand-new set of clothes, which were the same dark blue clothes simr to a prisoner¡¯s uniform worn by Ah Lan andpany now. Abyss got the key to carriage No.1 from the pants pocket of this new set of clothes.

    But Abyss wrote ¡®13¡¯ on the key.

    When he opened the door to carriage No.1, it was no surprise that he got to the carriage he first arrived in.

    A loop, once again unfolded.

    Kitty: It would¡¯ve been hrious if there were also infinite Ah Lans, Duan Lis, Xing Yans, and Luo Fengs, one for each time they looped. Then at the end, Abyss would just be leading a whole crowd of them ??

    Fleur: ?????? a lil boi leading a crowd of confused men

 Chapter 193 - Valiant Battle (XI)

    <h4>Chapter 193 - Valiant Battle (XI)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for the support¡ªBonus Chapter (8/10)

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Someone asked: ¡°How many times is this?¡±

    Following that, someone said, ¡°182 times. We have repeated these carriages 182 times. I recorded it.¡±

    ¡°Ahhhhh!¡± Luo Feng scratched his hair in misery, ¡°I¡¯m going to go crazy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the one who is about to be crazy, alright?¡± Ah Lan shook his pocket and counted the keys. He looked at the door to the carriage in front of him, frowned, and asked, ¡°What is the carriage number to this door?¡±

    ¡°No.4.¡± Among the people who followed behind, one of them answered Ah Lan¡¯s question.

    Feng Yn turned back and found that it was Xing Yan who had opened his mouth. Now Xing Yan had been reduced to being a babysitter. After opening nearly 50 doors, the child finally could not stand it. He started to get angry and would not get down once he climbed onto Xing Yan¡¯s body. In the face of the child, oh, Xing Yan¡¯s character and temper were unexpectedly good. He did notin at all. He did notin that he was tired when he held the little brat throughout the whole journey.

    Abyss slept in Xing Yan¡¯s arms heartlessly. Hefortably had a sweet sleep. It looked like he could not be morefortable. asionally, Xing Yan would hold him as he sat on the sofa, and the child would subconsciously arch into his arms. So when no one saw him, Xing Yan would inch closer to kiss him on the forehead.

    Other than Xing Yan, who was being a babysitter and taking care of the child, the rest of the people began to open the door in turns, 50 doors a person. It was not known how many loops they had been through, but anyway, it was Feng YuLan¡¯s turn.

    It was not hard to open the door, but mainly...... to do something monotonous hundreds and thousands of times, anyone would feel irritated.

    Anyway, Feng YuLan was extremely irritated now.

    He took out the key to carriage No.4, put it in the palm of his hand, sped his hands together devoutly, and began to pray, hoping that the gods would bless him.

    It was not only him who did this. After several loops, everyone began to pray for the gods¡¯ blessing. Even if he knew that there were no gods in the world, he would put the key in his hand and make a praying action before opening the door.

    But most of the time, it did not have much effect. The door that opened was still that door. The scene behind the door had been repeatedly seen by them so many times that they could already recall everything. Therefore, this prayer was only a psychologicalfort to them.

    Ah Lan thought it would be the same this time. When he finished praying, he took the key to carriage No.4 to open the fourth door. When he opened the door, he did not even react. He naturally raised his foot to enter the door because in his impression, carriage No.4 was still carriage No.4, and there were no other changes&#k2026;&#k2026; Until Duan Li, standing next to him, immediately stretched out his hand and held him back.

    ¡°Wait a minute...!¡± Duan Li grabbed Ah Lan¡¯s arm and dragged him to his side. Ah Lan staggered and remained unresponsive. As he swayed backwards, one of Duan Li¡¯s hands stretched out and pushed him into his embrace.

    The warm, familiar, but strange scent caused goosebumps to surface all over Ah Lan¡¯s body when he was nestled in the other man¡¯s embrace. He wanted to break free, but Duan Li, who was given an inch, wanted a foot and hugged him with both hands. Duan Li whispered in his ear, voice trembling, ¡°Look!¡±

    All of them followed as the voice instructed as they looked through familiar door No.4, but they did not see the familiar scene of another train car behind it¡ª

    It could be described as shocking: behind door No.4 was a noisy street view! It was a sunny street with asphalt roads, brick pavements, and both new and old houses littered around.

    Next to the street was a neat line of trees taken care of by the sanitization department, vehicles on the road, and people who were scattered everywhere, walking as if in a hurry. Through the mottled shadows of the trees, sunlight flowed through door No.4, shining on the faces of Ah Lan andpany.

    ¡°Sess...¡± Ah Lan murmured to himself, ¡°We seeded.¡±

    Victory came so unexpectedly that it caught them off guard.

    Even Xing Yan was stunned for a long time before he remembered to wake up the child in his arms. However, when he lowered his head down, it was not known when the child had already woken up and turned his head along with him to gaze at the sun that was shining gaily outside.

    ¡°It¡¯s sunshine,¡± Abyss said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I haven¡¯t seen it.¡±

    This sentence made Xing Yan¡¯s heart ache. Not a violent sort of aching, but the kind of vague pain that caused him to feel restless.

    It was not that he had never seen the sun, but all the light he felt before this moment seemed grey. He could not see the warmth of the light and the hope brought by the light.

    Everything would cause him to feel lonely, so what was the difference between having light and not having light?

    Abyss climbed out of Xing Yan¡¯s arms. He looked at the group of hesitant people and took the lead in stepping through door No.4. cing his body under the sunshine of the street outside, he turned back and said with a smile to Xing Yan andpany: ¡°Come, let¡¯s continue forward.¡±

    When everyone walked out of the train secret chamber that would continuously loop around, unknowingly, their bodies rxed. Everyone could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, as if they had broken free from locks and shackles and their bodies had now be so light that they could float along with a gust of wind.

    This group of people filed out from door No.4, and after they came out, they sat in the streets. They were dressed strangely, but interestingly, none of the people in the streets turned their heads to look at them.

    ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be whatever reality we are in.¡± Noting that the crowd on the street turned a blind eye to the several of them, Abyss thought of something and said to several members of his team, ¡°You should be careful. We may be under siege soon.¡±

    Several people had not recovered their memory, and they were obviously still in a state of confusion. However, previously, in the train secret chamber, as they were in the process of opening the door repeatedly, Abyss had already exined to them the situation.

    ¡°I¡¯m your teammate.¡± Abyss felt that he still had to exin it, so he repeated, ¡°Whether you remember it or not, just follow me.¡±

    Ah Lan raised his hand and asked, ¡°Where should we go?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Abyss looked around. ¡°The goal is to go to the center of the city, but before that, I¡¯m going to do something big.¡±

    ¡°Something big?¡± Everyone subconsciously tilted their heads, as curious as babies.

    Abyss took a deep breath and felt how heavy his heart had gotten.

    In fact, Abyss had made all the preparations he could think of. However, when it came to the point where he had to release all restraints and actually act, he actually felt the long-lost emotion of fear.

    Do not cower. I cannot cower.

    Abyss led the group of people to a remote ce first. People wereing and going in the streets. However, it was like they were blind and did not see them. Therefore, it was convenient for them to act.

    They went through the streets and alleys, and after that they were taken by Abyss to an underground parking lot of a shopping mall. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. Abyss looked around and did not see any people. He thought that this should be it and began tomand his group of team members.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to do some horrible deeds now.¡± Student Abyss solemnly said, ¡°You guys¡ªtry to close the entrance and exit of the underground parking lot and tie up the extra people inside.¡±

    The group of people looked at each other, but they did not even open their mouths to ask more. Duan Li, Xing Yan, andpany were already very skillful at doing horrible deeds. Ah Lan was only slightly troubled about it, but thereafter, he distributed everyone¡¯s tasks and began acting. Interestingly, although they all had no memories, they could basically withdraw their weapons automatically.

    The punishment chamber was a very special chamber, especially the train secret chamber, which was infinitely looping. The secret chamber would confiscate all props and carry-on secret chamber, including clothes and equipment. At the same time, the secret chamber¡¯s will would temporarily seal the yers¡¯ weapons and make them unable to use their own weapons.

    yers¡¯ weapons were an exception. They could not be confiscated because yers¡¯ weapons could be stored inside the yers¡¯ bodies bybining man and sword. The secret chamber could not confiscate them, but they could be restricted temporarily.

    However, when the team of people came out of the punishment room, this restriction would not exist here. Even though their memory had not been restored for the time being, they all spontaneously took out weapons to use them instinctively. Thus, a fantastic scene urred.

    The group of people began to take over the cold butrge underground parking lot by brute force. They closed the gates at the entrance and exit, locked the door of the stairwell, and knocked all ordinary people unconscious and tied them up.

    At the same time, Abyss also used brute force to push all the vehicles in the parking lot to a corner to clear a veryrge area. Then, Abyss felt that it was almost time. He changed his weapon into Xing Yan¡¯s spatial de and began to carve a huge transmission array on the ground with this knife.

    Xing Yan himself probably did not know that his weapon could be used in this way.

    Of course, different individuals had their different ways of using weapons.

    After the transmission array was drawn, Abyss thought it almost done. He inserted his de in the center of the transmission array. Then he went out of range of the transmission array, and the circr transmission array began to glow.

    The rest of the people had already aplished their tasks. They could not help but look around, and Ah Lan could not help asking, ¡°What¡¯s that for?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s for recruiting people to help us.¡± Abyss answered that way.

    As soon as the Abyss¡¯s voice fell, the light of the transmission array became resplendent. The color of the light was like a me which immediately lit up the surroundings. Soon, figures began to appear in the transmission array, and the first one appeared¡ª

    ¡°Oh! Luo Jian, you¡¯vee to find me.¡± Ying came out of the transmission array with a spear in his hand and held it on his shoulder.

    ¡°You came out?¡± Abyss saw this man and unconsciously frowned. If Ying came out of Asura Realm, was Asura Realm about to copse?

    ¡°Of course I came out.¡± Ying¡¯s expression looked as if it was right and natural for him to be here, ¡°This is the final decisive battle. No matter what the oue is, I do not want to continue to be an ostrich.¡±

    ¡°You are abandoning Asura Realm?¡± Abyss could not helpughing.

    Ying grinned, ¡°I¡¯m abandoning it and going to make a bigger one in the future.¡±

    In addition to Ying, various figures began to appear in the transmission array. They were almost all people who followedrade Ying out of Asura Realm. In fact, Abyss knew everyone.

 Chapter 194 - Valiant Battle (XII)

    <h4>Chapter 194 - Valiant Battle (XII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Humu</i>

    There were thousands of people in Asura Realm. Abyss would not say that he had exchanged moves with all of them, but he had exchanged moves with many of them. But most of them were acquainted with each other. Maybe he couldn¡¯t name them, or maybe he might not be clear on the other party¡¯s personality. Maybe he might not have even have said a word to some of them. But in the reign of blood and fighting, Abyss got to know his opponent, and his opponent got to know him.

    ¡°All here?¡± Abyss looked at arge group of peopleing out of the transmission array. There were all kinds of people. Some of them looked considerably like normal yers. There were also abnormal creatures and monsters here as well. There were more than 2000 people in total. All of a sudden, the underground parking lot was full.

    ¡°I¡¯ve even dug up some of the hibernating ones buried in the ground.¡± Ying looked around the crowd. ¡°They were very excited to be able toe out of that battlefield.¡±

    Although Ying said so, when thisrge group of thousands of people came out, they were all very quiet. All of them sought out for their own teams, crowded into groups. No one even spoke, except for the sound of footsteps and breathing, and the sound of the collision of their weapons.

    It¡¯s not logical at all for this huge, crowded underground parking lot to be so quiet.

    However, this group of quiet people were always emitting a huge and daunting aura. They were all silent and did not speak, but for them to just stand in front of you, a bloody scent would rush forward to your face. The aggressive, sharpness and edginess imbued in their bones werepletely exposed at this moment.

    Abyss was very clear. These people were almost used to staying silent. They would seldom speak. How could you have time to speak while battling? Their struggles in the battlefield sharpened them into tough and hard to destroy stones; they were silent, cold-blooded and ruthless, people who killed so much that their eyes turned red.

    Abyss felt the same when he first left Asura Realm.

    They were no longer shrimp soldiers and crab generals, no longer nameless nobodies. Now, standing in front of Abyss andpany were a group of soldiers who had just returned from hell!

    Now, these soldiers were coincidentally led by Ying, and in this city, they wouldunch an unprecedented battle.

    Time was running out.

    Xing Yan andpany packed ordinary people in the parking lot and sent them to Abyss. But now, these ordinary people seemed to be no longer ordinary. Some changes seemed to have taken ce on them. For example, bloody lines began to appear on the face, their bodies seemed to be rotting, and sharp teeth and ws were growing. When they woke up, they started yelling at Abyss and others.

    After those ordinary people began to change, several nearby yers from Asura Realm came forward spontaneously and made these people faint.

    ¡°These people used to be ordinary people in this city, but now they are all under the control of the secret chamber&#k2026;&#k2026; The secret chamber¡¯s will had moved the whole city and its entire poption into the crevice of space-time, and we are in the space-time crevice now.¡± Abyss saw the human beings who had started morphing and turned to Ying.

    Ying¡¯s reply was unexpected, ¡°I know this city. I know this city better than you because this city is where I set up my studio. All mypanions died here.¡±

    ¡°City ofwlessness...¡± Abyss could not help but whisper.

    Ying raised his head and looked at the child beside him, ¡°Is it called the city ofwlessness now? It used to be called TB city...... ording to you, the city is supposed to have been erased from the country¡¯s territories by the secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a terrifying power, for it could move the whole city to another space.¡± When Abyss and Ying conversed, a man opened his mouth. Abyss turned back to look at the man. He was a veteran in an advanced circle in Asura Realm. Abyss remembered that this man used his hooked ws as his weapon......

    Although he did not know the names of these people, Abyss could not be more familiar with them.

    The man seemed to be aware that Abyss was looking at him. He also lowered his head to look at Abyss and held out his hand to him. ¡°Although I don¡¯t know your name, your appearance has changed greatly, but I still remember you. In Asura Realm, you have beaten me up badly...... This is our first conversation. My name is Qi Ling.¡±

    Abyss smiled, but he was surprised. His appearance had not only changed in an earth-shaking way, but he also became apletely different person. The other party could still recognize himself with a mere nce.

    Abyss reached out and shook hands with him. ¡°My name is Abyss. Nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Wait, are you not going to tell me your real name?¡± Qi Ling seemed a little disappointed, ¡°The name you had when you were still an adult...¡±

    Abyss couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°You¡¯re very sharp. How do you know I have two names? Did Ying tell you? ¡±

    Qi Ling said, ¡°No, um...... Well, how should I put it, I belong to those people that possessed shocking instincts. I can see through things or people at a nce.¡±

    He¡¯s the same as Ah Lan. Abyss thought he should be more sensitive than Ah Lan, after all, he had practised this for so long in Asura Realm.

    ¡°Now that we are officially acquainted today, there are some things I have to exin.¡±

    Abyss considered the words he should use. Then, he stepped back and stood in the middle of the crowd. The crowd around him spread out unconsciously. They let out a big, big vacuum belt to this little boy who was about one metre tall. Abyss stood in the middle. He opened the red umbre and made himself float. He raised his voice and spoke to the crowd.

    ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell everyone present here is an unfortunate matter.¡±

    The crowd was still very quiet, and everyone¡¯s attention was focused on Abyss. Abyss could feel that kind of gaze, that kind of attention. His hypnotic skills could not only make people forget themselves, but also attract people¡¯s attention. But at this moment, he was not sure whether he had used the ¡®attention¡¯ ability.

    He continued, ¡°From the moment you step out of Asura Realm, you will never have a chance to return to the space full of killing. You will not be able to continue to kill each other, to enjoy blood, or to indulge in the pleasure of fighting!¡±

    ¡°Some of you are bound to feel dissatisfied, but I can¡¯t continue to let you indulge in this false pleasure, you know, in Asura Realm......you will not really die! You will only revive again and again and continue again and again! ¡±

    ¡°But here, I have to tell you that there is only one life and one chance for you! So this time, you can¡¯t continue to squander your life, you can¡¯t continue to spill your hot blood out...... but this is going to be an unprecedented bet, and it¡¯s likely to be thest battle of your lives!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to follow my orders, but I know what you guys want most now.¡± Abyss was extremely calm, ¡°You guys want to keep battling! You want guys to keep fighting! You guys long for blood! You guys even look forward to death! ¡±

    Just after he said this, there was a sudden burst of cheers from the crowd. All of them were shouting. They raised their weapons. They began to unt their power, causing a violent wave in the enclosed underground parking lot.

    Yes, what these people yearn for most was to fight, just like how Abyss felt when he exited Asura Realm. They have been addicted to the battle for many years, and some people have even stayed in Asura Realm for more than 100 years. Abyss was very clear that among the people in the advanced battle circle in Asura Realm, several of them had even higher strength than Abyss. They had a chance to leave, but they did not......

    Blood and fighting in Asura Realm became an invisible chain, which bound them in that world.

    But today, these chains had been untied, and a group of wild animals had been released from their cages. They were wild and hard to tame, and they could no longer return to their normal state, and they knew that very well.

    Then give them what they wanted most.

    Abyss morphed his red umbre into a long sword. Duan Li, beside him, was shocked to find that it was his de. However, Abyss had pointed the tip of the sword to the exit of the underground parking lot. He continued to raise his voice, ¡°We are going to fight a terrifying enemy today that is unimaginable. Yes, the enemy...... I think some of you already understand. The enemy who had bound you in this space and bound you to this world, the secret chamber¡¯s will!¡±

    This group of people almost began to scream. Abyss had already seen the obvious eagerness of everyone here. For them, the stronger the enemy was, the more excited they were. They could not control who the enemy was and whether they had the ability to fight the enemy, and they either only knew to kill or to continue killing!

    ¡°The secret chamber¡¯s will have controlled this city, turning the popce into demons. Now, I believe it has felt our arrival, it has already known that we are dering war on it, it will send all its fighting power, and my goal is to destroy the secret chamber...... What about yours?!¡±

    ¡°Destroy the secret chamber!¡± The crowd was in unison, and almost everyone was shouting. They held their weapons up and were all ready to charge, awaiting the order to do so¡ª¡ª

    Abyss waved the de in his hand and continued to point to the exit of the parking lot. He said in a very low voice, ¡°Go.¡±

    Obviously, the voice was very soft, but it seemed that everyone heard it. They bypassed Abyss and Ying, who still remained in the same spot, as well as Ah Lan andpany, who was a little stupefied. Like a tide, they rushed to the exit of the underground parking lot. The exit of the parking lot was still closed by the valve, but the violent group of people broke through it with violence directly and exposed themselves to the outside worldpletely.

    Indeed, as Abyss said, the city had turned demonic.

    In big streets and small alleys, all the ordinary people who were seemingly ordinary changed. They became like zombies, or became like the walking dead? Some of them have even turned into monsters and changed into something not human. Even the wild cats, dogs, insects, ants, birds, and beasts in the street have changed. They all started to howl crazily!

    As soon as the door to the parking lot was opened, the sunny city bes...... just like a scene from a fantasy world!

    ¡°What an amazing scene.¡± Ying and Abyss led the rest of the people to the damaged exit of the parking lot. A group of people in Asura Realm had already rushed out. The hellish scene did not frighten the group at all. They also began to roar with excitement madly.

    However, this group of people had obviously restrained themselves a lot. They all know that this was no longer Asura Realm, and their lives were precious. They all agreed to start to protect themselves and even protect theirpanions.

    ¡°Is it really good to let them charge around messily this way? I thought you would slightly set up a little more...¡± Ying turned to Abyss.

    Abyss shook his head, and the smile on his face was there because he seemed to be infected by the atmosphere in this chaotic world. Heughed wildly, ¡°There is no need. Originally, these people are not soldiers. It is questionable whether or not they will listen to my orders. Moreover, in Asura Realm, they are used to scuffling. They are used to fighting alone against a thousand enemies. Only when they can¡¯t hold on sometimes, will they look for teammates...¡±

    ¡°Fighting alone and wrecking chaos is what they are good at doing......let¡¯s push what they are good at to their limits!¡±

 Chapter 195 - Valiant Battle (XIII)

    <h4>Chapter 195 - Valiant Battle (XIII)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    ¡°What are we going to do next?¡± Ying watched the group of people all run out to fight, and it was not good for him to buy soy sauce. The people from the Asura Realm ran along the streets, roads, and alleys as if they were mad; they rushed at those who had already changed, and both sides collided like moths colliding against fire, and for some time, their screams rang out incessantly.

    ¡°ording to what I know...... Thanks for the sacrifice and dedication of Mr. Duan Li,¡± Abyss said, suddenly turning his head to look at Duan Li. Duan Li was puzzled by the gaze that was suddenly cast upon him. He tilted his head unconsciously and began to think of what kind of sacrifices he had made or what he had dedicated before, but he could not remember.

    Abyss continued, ¡°In the middle of this city ofwlessness, there is a church, which is a very important ce...... So let¡¯s go there and have a look.¡±

    Ying looked around the surroundings and said, ¡°The middle is far away from here. I think there will be a group of monsters blocking us all the way there...¡±

    Before Ying finished speaking, he instinctively took up his long spear and waved it. There was a mutant bird over his head, and it was split into two parts by him. The bird¡¯s body was two metres tall, and when its wings stretched open, the wingspan reached four or five meters. It had three ws on each foot and a sharp beak. It had fangs in its mouth, and its strength was enough to tear a man¡¯s flesh in two.

    Ying felt how strong the bird monster was and said, ¡°It¡¯s very powerful. Its body¡¯s strength and power are far beyond ordinary people¡¯s. It¡¯sparable to the level of some ordinary yers in the secret chamber. If this kind of monster waits for us as we make our way there...... and the poption of this city used to be about 200,000. I don¡¯t know what happened when the secret chamber moved this city away...... so we have to face at least 200,000 monsters!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much.¡± Although the monster army of 200,000 individuals was frightening, Abyss still seemed very calm, ¡°The matter of attracting the monsters¡¯ attention can be left to the bunch of crazy warriors over there. We only need to secretly sneak in.¡±

    In fact, Abyss¡¯s biggest worry now was that the secret chamber¡¯s will would threaten hispanions. But so far, the secret chamber¡¯s will had never done anything like that. It could be seen that the secret chamber¡¯s will would still adhere to certain principles, although Abyss did not know what the principles were.

    At this point, it seemed unnecessary to continue discussing his ns. Abyss was a man who was used to improvising and acting on the spot. After Abyss briefly coordinated with Ying, the two men took a rest on the road. In addition, although most of the people of Asura Realm had rushed out, there were still a few remaining by Ying¡¯s side. Qi Ling, who had said hello to Abyss before, was one of them.

    Therefore, the team had taken shape in this manner. Ying was standing at the front to open up a pathway and also guide the way. After all, he was very familiar with the city and naturally knew where the city center was. With Ying were several Asura Realm warriors who stayed beside him, and Duan Li and Ah Lan were behind them.

    Abyss was at the very end while Xing Yan was in front of him, and from time to time, he would turn back to look at him.

    Abyss saw that Xing Yan would constantly turn back to look at him and, thinking that he was worried, took small steps to catch Xing Yan¡¯s paw. But Xing Yan still looked at him frequently, so Abyss could only raise his small head to gaze at Xing Yan.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Xing Yan remained silent momentarily and suddenly asked him, ¡°Is your name Abyss?¡±

    Abyss felt his ws being tightly grasped by Xing Yan. His palm was very warm. Abyss could not help rubbing it in his palm. Then he gently replied, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What about your original name? What were you called?¡± Xing Yan asked again.

    Abyss nced at Xing Yan. ¡°You will remember it sooner orter.¡±

    ¡°I want to know. I can¡¯t wait.¡° Xing Yan held his hand more tightly, as if he was afraid that Abyss would fly away if he let go.

    Abyss did not immediately answer him and was silent for a long, long time. After that, he said, ¡°You clearly already know the answer.¡±

    What was the answer? Xing Yan didn¡¯t understand. He asionally felt that there was a figure in his heart who had been wandering in his vision. He felt that everything seemed to be predestined. No matter how he wanted to change it, he would still walk on the same road and achieve the same result.

    ¡°I remember wandering in darkness and chaos for a long, long time,¡± Xing Yan suddenly whispered, ¡°I neither saw any life and light, nor could I hear any sound.

    ¡°I remember being torn apart by something, but I stubbornly put myself together again.¡±

    Xing Yan expressionlessly continued, ¡°Then, I repeated this process again and again.¡±

    Abyss felt that his fingers were pinched by Xing Yan, but he did not struggle. He just listened to him quietly.

    ¡°And the only reason why I could hang on is all due to you.¡±

    Xing Yan turned and lowered his head to look at Abyss. He continued to ask, ¡°Who are you? Why am I so insistent on this?¡±

    Abyss did not look at him but kept his head down. He bit his lower lip and trembled. He kept regting his breaths to calm himself down. Finally, he just looked at Xing Yan with red eyes. His voice was as gentle as ever: ¡°I¡¯m probably the one who loves you most in the world.¡±

    After less than 10 minutes of advancing, they took shortcuts and walked through alleyways. Even so, they met many demons and monsters along the way. The mutated people wandered on the streets in a daze. They had rotten bodies and newly-grown des of bone. Some of them had changed so thoroughly that one could not see that they were human before.

    These monsters had almoste in waves, jumping out of any imaginable corner from all directions. They seemed to be able to smell the scent of living people, were very sensitive to sound, and came inrge groups all at once.

    Ying, who was leading the way, felt a little impatient. It took a lot of physical strength and energy to deal with so many monsters. Moreover, it was inevitable for them to get injured in the battle. The longer they dyed, the more distant victory would be from them. Therefore, Ying led the whole team as they started to flee. On the way, they tried their best to simply pass by these monsters so they would reach the destination faster.

    But on the main road, these monsters almost filled the street, and not even a gap could be seen. And while they were travelling in small alleyways, it was easy for them to be surrounded and hard for them to move forward. After pondering over the cause and effect, Ying decided to find another shortcut and take the air route.

    ¡°What is the air route?¡± A few people behind him asked.

    Ying pointed to a row of buildings in the distance and said, ¡°Climb to the top of that building, jump to the building in front of it, and jump all the way to reach there.¡±

    ¡°But there are also many monsters in the air.¡±

    Ying¡¯s face twisted into a smile, ¡°At least it is fewer than those monsters on the ground. We have a few people with floating abilities in the team; those people can escort, and others just need to take a rope.¡±

    So this group of people rushed into a military goods store and searched. All the ropes and other useful items were swept away by them. Then, Ying led the people to climb up the high-rise building that they had chosen. They decided to make a springboard here, jump over the monsters on the ground, and fly to the city centre.

    The group climbed up to the top floor and began to assign tasks.

    In fact, there were not many people with abilities to get up in the air in the team. Abyss was one. He was more versatile, but he stillcked the ability to fly for a long time. Two of the yers from Asura Realm following Ying could fly. One seemed to have been transformed into a monster by the secret chamber, unable to recover to his human form, and had the strange appearance of a human body and an eagle¡¯s legs, but he also had a pair of eagle¡¯s wings. He was a yer suited for airbat.

    The other yer used a pair of boots as a weapon. He was good at using his leg martial arts to fight. Because of these boots, he seemed to be able to stay in midair for a short time and had a skill called ¡®floatingdder in the air,¡¯ which made him quite suitable for airbat.

    And thest one who could float was Ah Lan. After all, he was a magician, but he could not fly fast. However, he had the ability to cast a protective cover for the people in the air and buff them.

    Apart from these people, everyone else werend creatures who did not know how to fly. Xing Yan could teleport there directly. However, it would be very tiring for him to teleport between so many tall buildings individually. Ying and Duan Li belonged to the type that could fly but had arge attack range, but they were also better at their strong physical skills. As long as they were given a rope, they could rapidly move ahead.

    There was also Qi Ling, who actually belonged to the same type as Ying and Duan Li. Abyss remembered that this fool was a very flexible opponent. His hooks and ws allowed him to climb on all kinds of dangerous terrains. Even if he had no rope, he could jump directly from the roof here.

    But the one who was facing the most terrible situation now was Specter, also known as Luo Feng.

    Luo Feng roared, ¡°I¡¯m afraid of heights!¡±

    Everyone remained silent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. I didn¡¯t know you were afraid of heights.¡± Abyss was the first to refute him.

    Luo Feng made a face as if he was about to cry. ¡°When I look at the height, the higher it is, the more terrified I am! Besides, I¡¯m not physically strong. I cannoty a rope and run over it like them!¡±

    ¡°Then use the wheel. It¡¯s faster and easier.¡± Next to him, Qi Ling suddenly called out. He fumbled a roller out of the backpack that he had found in the military goods store. ¡°Put this on the rope. Those who can fly will go over first, pull the rope,y the ropes, and leave another person who can fly to collect the rope and use it again.¡±

    It was a good proposal. Everyone nodded and agreed. Luo Feng had to be brave even if he was afraid. However, to do this, he had to be adaptable. After he adapted, he would not face too big of an obstacle as they carried on moving. Although they did not encounter too much of a threat along the way, Abyss always felt worried.

    Wasn¡¯t it too easy?

    So just as Abyss thought, the first threat appeared.

    After they climbed over the peaks and an unknown number of high-rise buildings, the group found an enemy standing there. He was a thin man wearing grey retro-looking robes, gilt-edged gloves, and pure ck boots. He had ck waist-length hair and bright red eyes, which indicated his identity.

    A stalker.

    The stalker could not speak, but the other party stood in the middle of the road that the group must pass through and made it clear that he would not let them pass easily. So they all looked at each other, puzzled.

    They thought there would be more opponents, but there was only one stalker.

    Abyss andpany were not newbies. Naturally, they knew that stalkers were not mythical monsters. At most, they were a group of poor fellows. They used to be yers, but they were transformed into dumb puppets. Although they would not die, they could still be defeated.

    However, just as the crowd was ready to try to beat the stalker in front of them, Xing Yan suddenly said something.

    ¡°I know him.¡±

    After that, Duan Li said, ¡°I know him, too.¡±

    This time it was Abyss¡¯s turn. He looked at the stalker carefully. Regarding this face, he remembered that he had no recollections of him. Thus, Xing Yan and Duan Li likely got to know him when Duan Li joined Team Ghost Shadow and worked with Xing Yan. After all, it was a period when Abyss could not intervene.

    ¡°Who is he?¡± Abyss naturally asked.

    Xing Yan¡¯s eyes were sharp. ¡°The stalker who destroyed our team in the final trial.¡±

    Abyss was slow to react for a moment, and he had to concentrate all his attention on the skinny man. He looked like a very ordinary fellow. Although his clothes appeared retro-looking, with the exception of that and his bright red eyes, he did not have many characteristics. His appearance was not particrly memorable, and he did not have an imposing aura.

    At this time, even Ying suddenly called out a name, ¡°Nie Cong!¡±

    Abyss could not help but appear stunned. He said to Ying, ¡°Do you know him, too?¡±

    Ying seemed to be very surprised. His face turned very gloomy now. ¡°He was a member of my studio, and in my studio, including me, there were five men and one woman. This guy was one of them...... He was my best friend.¡±

    Five men and one woman. Abyss could not help but grit his teeth. Given the secret chamber¡¯s way of handling things, wouldn¡¯t the secret chamber have morphed them into monsters or stalkers?

    Ying seemed to have thought of this, and his face became darker. He even could not help cursing in a low voice, ¡°This goddamned secret chamber, today if I don¡¯t chop its cube into pieces, Lao Tzu would not be human!¡±

 Chapter 196 - Valiant Battle (XIV)

    <h4>Chapter 196 - Valiant Battle (XIV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Humu</i>

    When the group of people faced the stalker named Nie Cong, the identity of the other party obviously made Ying appear restricted. Abyss doesn¡¯t want him to feel sad or upset just because he remembered what happened to his friends, so he took the initiative to prepare for the battle. But he felt it was necessary for him to know something before he was ready to fight.

    ¡°Do you remember what kind of weapon this guy used?¡±

    When Abyss asked Xing Yan this, Xing Yan seemed to try hard to recall, but the answer he gave was still disappointing. Xing Yan shook his head and said he could not remember.

    On the other hand, Duan Li also seemed to recall some things. He said, ¡°I only felt that he died very quickly at that time, and after I met him, I was instantly wiped out......if I did not have any live-saving prop, maybe I wouldn¡¯t be standing here today.¡±

    Abyss¡¯s heart was a little tangled for a moment. One had to know how powerful Xing Yan and Duan Li are, especially the current Xing Yan, who had been a stalker.

    The secret chamber¡¯s will had transformed him into a stalker and had simrly enhanced his abilities. Therefore, he was much more proficient in utilizing his spatial skills. He could control space to a certain extent within a certain space. Not only could he use his invisible spatial de to cause damage to the enemy, but he could also cause a spatial distortion in the area indicated in his mind.

    The so-called spatial distortion phenomenon was something that would break people apart; the head, body, hands and feet of the person may be twisted and separated and sent to different spatial positions. At that time, even if the enemy was so powerful that his abilities could reach the heavens, he would also not be able to fix his body.

    To have Xing Yan as one¡¯s opponent would be extremely terrifying. Abyss thought about whether he could defeat him at that time. However, after simting a simted war in his mind, he found that the winning rate was fifty-fifty because Abyss had already copied the weapons of Xing Yan. If he knew enough about his opponent¡¯s weapons, he could also use his spatial powers to counterattack.

    Abyss was actually jealous when he thought about it. Yes, he was very jealous of Xing Yan¡¯s talent. He was born with the ability to be someone strong. He did not even need to gain experiences through fighting like Abyss because he could already be this strong naturally. If he could give a grade to talent, Xing Yan might belong to SSS.

    However, even Xing Yan was afraid of the opponent in front of him now. Nie Cong, opposite them, stood quietly, waiting for Abyss andpany to take the lead. He seemed to be listless, but his blood-red eyes formed a stark contrast with his pale face. His thin and weak stature made him look as thin as a matchstick......

    If one had to describe him, one would feel as if this person had been tortured for long periods.

    Ying, who was standing at this side, could not help calling Nie Cong¡¯s name. In fact, he also knew that Nie Cong would never answer him, but he still could not help it. He still carried hopes that this person familiar to him could respond to his voice.

    But the result had already been expected. Nie Cong was still standing there, staring at everyone.

    ¡°It is estimated that he wouldn¡¯t let us pass by that easily. Should we charge?¡±Qi Ling who was in the team couldn¡¯t help but put in a word. Several people hesitated for a moment. At this time, Abyss said, ¡°I¡¯ll go to test the waters first, and you guys should be careful.¡±

    Everyone nodded and agreed, so Abyss waved his de and morphed his weapon into a longbow.

    In fact, it would be better if he could use long-range weapons like muskets, but Abyss preferred the longbow in his hand. The original owner of the bow was one of the top experts in Asura Realm. He was someone who could reap people¡¯s lives even if he was a thousand miles away from that person.

    Although opponents who used long-range weapons such as bows and arrows were generally weaker in closebat.

    However, on the battlefield, this bow could be aptly described as the two words: ¡¯cheat bot¡¯. Its attack range could cover the whole Asura Realm. A one-dimensional arrow could kill more than half of the crowd in Asura Realm. These arrows would fall from the void, causing a rain of arrows on the battlefield. They were all solidified bodies of energy, which would causerge-scale explosions whennding.

    This bow was almost copied by Abyss. The original owner of the bow was very careful and did not like to die at all. Heid a defence around him with an arrow array and fired automatically at 360 degrees indifferently. Almost no one could get close to him. It was worth mentioning that the arrows shot by the bow had the property of blood-sucking. When the arrow hit the opponent, it would cause damage and heal the bowman himself.

    At the same time, the original owner of this bow was also the yer who had ¡®lived the longest in Asura Realm¡¯. He was first to break the record to live the longest. Abyss came second.

    Abyss stroked the bow in his hand. It formed a perfect crescent shape. The color was dark blue. There was no need to prepare an arrow. As long as the bowstring was pulled up, it could automatically generate a translucent water blue arrow. Each time the bow was pulled, it would consume a small amount of physical strength and energy. However, if one shot continuously, hundreds of arrows would go out, and the consumption was not what ordinary people can bear.

    Although Abyss was very familiar with this weapon, he couldn¡¯t use his energy like its original owner. It did not mean that Abysscked any energy. On the contrary, because he had to use too many kinds of weapons, he had to conserve some energy.

    So, he left the team, jumped to amanding height, pulled the bow in his hand, and aimed at Nie Cong opposite him.

    Just when he pulled the bowstring, Nie Cong opposite him also saw Abyss¡¯s tant act and ced his focus on Abyss.

    This was actually an opportunity. Some people in the team soon realized this opportunity. Now when Nie Cong¡¯s attention was diverted away, Luo Feng directly assembled his weapon into a rocketuncher and aimed at Nie Cong and sent a st towards him.

    What¡¯s strange was that Nie Cong never attempted to block it. His attention was still on Abyss. When Luo Feng bombarded him, he didn¡¯t even move a step, so the shell exploded directly on him. The thick ck smoke immediately engulfed the narrow circr battlefield. Then, Abyss had now drawn the bowstring fully sent a cloud-piercing arrow passed by to disperse the smoke in the field in an instant.

    Nie Cong, who was standing there, was undamaged. The power of the explosion seemed to have not affected him at all. His clothes were clean. There was a circle around him, and the floor outside of the circle was burnt ck because of the explosion.

    The arrow that Abyss shot out was nestled in the palm of Nie Cong. The strength of the arrow seemed to be dissolved by Nie Cong and soon became invisible in his hand.

    ¡°He maxed out his defence points.¡± Abyss who had squatted on themanding height muttered to himself. But within half a second, he refuted his own remarks, ¡°No, it feels more like he¡¯s absorbing the attack.¡±

    However, when Abyss was deliberating about what urred in the battle, something startling happened. Abyss suddenly felt his eyes blur. He instinctively used the bow in his hand to pull up the defence. At the same time when he did this, Nie Cong appeared in front of him as if he moved here in an instant. Nie Cong never used any weapons but he moved his hands forward to scratch him.

    Although Abyss had instinctively avoided his scratch, Abyss was still in a state of shock. This is because he did not realize how the other party came over to him. He appeared in a blink of an eye. Does this fe also possess spatial abilities?

    But Abyss was very familiar with the fluctuation of space. Even if he had used the power of space, it would produce a certain amount of energy fluctuation when it was used......but there was no fluctuation when this guy moved! Nie Cong¡¯s body had no such fluctuation! Abyss did not feel any energy from this person. It was as if his body was hollowed out. While his body was still here, Abyss felt that the other person was not there.

    For the first time, Abyss recognized that he terrifyingly felt fear, so he took a backward jump to retract from the opponent¡¯s reach, and he unconsciously took a nce at his weapon, the bow. This crescent-shaped bow had just resisted an attack for Abyss. Somehow, the bow that Nie Cong had touched looked a little dimmer.

    Aware of the abnormality of his weapon, a terrible thought took shape in Abyss¡¯s mind. He stepped back again, went straight back to his team, and quickly said to one of hisrades, ¡°Be careful, that guy¡¯s ability is probably something rted to ¡®elimination¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Eliminat.....ion!?¡± When everyone heard this word, their reactions were all different, but they all looked worried.

    This so-called elimination was to eliminate attacks, eliminate things, eliminate creatures, and even eliminate causality.

    Either destroy, or simply eliminate, or erase, just like using an eraser to erase the things that were drawn on the white paper. If the other party touched him, one was afraid that their bodies would be erased, like how an eraser could erase a picture.

    So, after they heard Abyss said this, this group of people were shocked, ¡°This ability is also too f*ckin¡¯ abnormal!¡±

    But Abyss continued, ¡°I¡¯m afraid any other attack will not work for him, he can also eliminate the damage done. But one thing I can be sure of is that no matter what kind of ability the enemy uses, he will consume his own energy when he uses it. So, if we attack him continuously, he has to eliminate our attack, therefore, consuming his energy.¡±

    Duan Li said, ¡°That is to say, as long as we keep attacking him, it will consume his physical strength, right?¡±

    Abyss continued to shake his head. ¡°Not necessarily. What I¡¯m worried about is that the other party may also have absorption abilities and other simr abilities. If he absorbed our energy to supplement himself, our constant attacks will backfire.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that horrifying......how could this guy be so powerful.¡± Ah Lan could not help but take a careful peek at Nie Cong opposite them. He seemed to notice something, ¡°He looks really weak.¡±

    ¡°Weak?¡± Hearing Ah Lan¡¯s words, Abyss could not help looking at Nie Cong again. Yes, when he saw Nie Cong for the first time, he felt that he looked very weak, pale, and had a thin stature. He looked as thin as a matchstick and seemed to have experienced torture for long periods that his entire person appeared hollow.

    Nie Cong did not seem to like the chattering discussion of the group of enemies in front of him. He suddenly disappeared and appeared in front of the crowd. He first reached out to Duan Li, the one nearest to him. Duan Li keenly perceived it. He immediately raised his de and made a direct impact on the ground. He broke the ground apart and opened some distance between himself and Nie Cong.

    ¡°Never get close to the other party!¡± After Duan Li pushed arge distance away from him, he yelled. Everyone could not help but step back. Ah Lan was also taken care of because Duan Li jumped up again and pulled him behind him.

 Chapter 197 - Valiant Battle (XV)

    <h4>Chapter 197 - Valiant Battle (XV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Because the attack was rebounded by Ah Lan¡¯s grimoire, Nie Cong¡¯s attack reflected back on himself. As Abyss said, his attack was simr to a kind of elimination, causing Nie Cong¡¯s right hand, including the blood and flesh of his shoulder and part of his chest to be wiped away instantly. Part of his body seemed to be swallowed up by some terrifying and invisible creature in the blink of an eye, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

    Blood spattered on Nie Cong¡¯s face, but he still didn¡¯t have much of an expression. He did not feel pain or anger. He just lowered his head to look at his missing arm and turned to look at Feng YuLan in front of him.

    Ah Lan was very close to the enemy this time, and the enemy¡¯s blood even sshed on his face and body. The blood was warm, which fully showed that even if Nie Cong was the enemy, he was indeed a living human being.

    Duan Li grabbed Feng YuLan¡¯s waist when he did not react in time and quickly retreated as he embraced him. His speed was as fast as ever, and in the blink of an eye, he had retreated tens of meters away.

    Ah Lan, who was in a trance, was still in Duan Li¡¯s embrace. From a close-up distance, he had had another stand-off with Nie Cong. However, his sharp senses seemed to feel something. In the blood-red eyes of Nie Cong, he felt something.

    ¡°That guy is too weak,¡± Ah Lan said in a low voice.

    Duan Li, who was holding him, heard this sentence and could not help lowering his head to look at the mage in his arms. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the soul,¡± Feng YuLan stared at Nie Cong and spat out word by word.

    A weak soul.

    Although Feng Yn¡¯s voice was very low, Abyss, not far away, still heard this sentence. He unconsciously nced at Xing Yan nearby and thought of some characteristics that only stalkers had.

    The secret chamber would imprison the soul of the yer in their own body and drive the body to do something they didn¡¯t want to do, allowing the yer¡¯s imprisoned soul to go berserk and insane within their bodies; they could not vent, could not talk, and the darkness would corrode their soul.

    This was probably what Xing Yan had said previously. Their souls were torn up again and again, and they were constantly and tenaciously reorganized.

    The difference was that he was strong enough to repair his soul.

    But Nie Cong was not.

    He was probably the legendary &#k2018;first group¡¯ of stalkers. He may have even been the first one to be turned into a puppet by the secret chamber¡¯s will. He had gone through these terrifying ordeals longer than most people. It was a terrifying miracle that he could live to this day.

    However, although Nie Cong¡¯s body was still alive, one was afraid that the soul in that body had long been torn into countless pieces. He had no power to put it together again. Even if he had the strength, he was not willing to put it together. Such feelings of insanity had already tormented this person beyond recognition. One was afraid that Nie Cong now only sought death.

    Now, Ah Lan could also see that. He could not help but think of what had happened in Asura Realm and Burial Grounds. He remembered that when he was in Burial Grounds, he was once attacked by a stalker. Then the stalker threw his soul into the hidden quest of Burial Grounds.

    But Ah Lan easily came out of the hidden quest and drove the soul of the stalker out of his body. He remembered how the stalker looked when he was attached to his body. His soul was unclear, and it was hard to tell how he looked. He was just a white fog, and his soul was even worse than the souls of ordinary people.

    But now what Ah Lan saw from Nie Cong...... It was sad because Nie Cong¡¯s soul was even worse than that white fog. It was very light and thin. It was a sign that the soul would soon dissipate. Ah Lan knew that this guy was about to die. He would really die, and he would never have a chance to enter into the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth.

    His soul would dissipate into nothing, just like the abilities that he was currently using,pletely obliterated from this world.

    Ah Lan¡¯s heart felt unbearable.

    Why should he meet such an end, with his shell being continuously utilized, the value he possessed having been squeezed to the point where the chance of reincarnation had disappeared? Even if Nie Cong hadmitted horrible deeds when he was still Nie Cong, there was no reason for him to meet such an end!

    Unfortunately, even if he wanted to salvage this, there seemed to be no chance to do so. Nie Cong stretched out his left hand, which could still be used, and stroked the ce on his right shoulder where his arm was missing. Something magical happened. His right arm and the missing flesh and blood began to reconstruct and reorganize. First, bones, muscles, and blood vessels...... Finally, the skin recovered in less than a second, and now, his whole body was perfectly fine.

    ¡°Other than elimination, he can also reorganize,¡± Abyss confirmed, chagrined, ¡°This guy is quite troublesome to deal with.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time.¡±

    All of a sudden, Ying, who had not moved, suddenly spoke. Ying had been standing far away from them since they started battling. Abyss understood that he did not want to fight with his old friend, so he did not let him head to the battlefield. However, Ying did not seem to want to escape his karmic rtionship with the other.

    ¡°I hurt him,¡± said Ying with sadness and remorse in his voice. ¡°I can¡¯t leave him here alone. Luo Jian, take a few people with you, and I¡¯ll stay here to deal with him.¡±

    Abyss was slightly worried: ¡°Can you really handle it?¡±

    Ying said, ¡°You don¡¯t believe in my strength?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Abyss sighed and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m just worried you¡¯ll waver in making decisions.¡±

    The man waved his spear. ¡°I will never waver. Many years ago, I had already be so calm to the extent where I am unable to remain calm anymore.¡±

    After thinking about Ying¡¯s proposal, Abyss agreed. After all, there was not much time. They really could not stay here with Nie Cong, so they decided to leave Ying and some of his followers from Asura Realm here to deal with Nie Cong. Abyss took the rest of the people to move on. It was worth mentioning that Qi Ling continued to follow Abyss¡¯s gang.

    Because Ying came forward to attract Nie Cong¡¯s attention, Nie Cong did not seem to care that Abyss had left with a group of people. He naturally put his gaze on Ying. He noticed that the other was a tall man with disheveled hair, and from his impression, he felt the sense that he was familiar with this person.

    Before following Abyss and his group to leave, Ah Lan whispered a bunch of words to Ying, mainly telling him what he had seen about Nie Cong¡¯s soul. Ying was silent momentarily and said his thanks to Ah Lan. Then he took up his long spear and stood in front of Nie Cong, opposite him.

    When Abyss and his gang left, Ying raised his right foot, took half a step backwards, and put his spear on the ground in a defensive posture. He said to the stalker opposite him, ¡°Nie Cong, I¡¯m d to see you again.¡±

    Nie Cong never answered but seemed to respond to Ying¡¯s words because he slightly tilted his head, allowing his long hair to slide on his shoulder. And as the wind blew on the top floor, the hem of Nie Cong¡¯s clothes began to flutter. That should have been a beautiful scene, causing Ying to recall something that had happened a long, long time ago.

    He recognized the current Nie Cong¡¯s appearance. The retro robe Nie Cong was wearing was the test suit they wore when they were testing the game. It could be regarded as a ¡®newbie uniform¡¯ attached to the game. This robe was designed and painted by the only girl in their studio, who knew how to draw and design. Now Nie Cong...... was still wearing this robe.

    As long as he saw the current Nie Cong, Ying almost felt it was unbearable and could not hold his tears back while guilt and pain surrounded his heart. He knew that it was he who had been too stupid, he who had too arrogant. He had thought that he could do it, and that was why his beloved friends turned out this way.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry...... Sorry, Nie Cong.¡± Ying lowered his voice but waved his weapon with great momentum. He said very gently, ¡°Please die here today.¡±

    On the other side, Abyss and his group moved on because Ying had already pointed out the direction for him, and when they stood on the top of the high-rise building, they could almost see the magnificent church in front of them. The church was an European-style building with a spire that was ipatible with the surrounding buildings, and there was a huge cross on the top.

    The cross was a very old symbol. In Europe, it symbolized the sun, and the sun, in the eyes of early humans, was representative of their gods.

    ¡°It can also be said that the secret chamber¡¯s will wants to deify itself,¡± Abyss looked at the tall and magnificent building and murmured to himself. They had alreadye quite close to the church. Around the church, there were terrifying monsters.

    Beside the sacred representation of God, there was a group of monsters who seemed to have emerged from the demonic world. Abyss even saw a giant bird monster fall on the huge cross at the top of the church. The sky became dark, and the bright sun was covered by dark clouds. It was day, but now, it appeared like they had descended to night.

    It was hard for Abyss and his gang to move on because there were so many monsters on the ground. Even in the sky, there were groups of bird-variation monsters bombarding everywhere.

    However, within such a dark group of monsters, Abyss saw a differentndscape. At a crossroad in the distance, a group of yers from Asura Realm was stationed there. Their group of about 20 people seemed to be targeting the huge church in front of them.

    These 20-or-so Asura Realm yers were attracting the attention of many monsters, and they seemed to be doing so deliberately, constantly making huge noise, killing the surrounding monsters, and attracting more monsters to their direction.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that suicidal?¡± Duan Li saw this scene and criticized disapprovingly, ¡°Sooner orter they will be flooded by monsters.¡±

    Abyss did not think so because he saw several familiar faces among the group of twenty-odd people. He had fought with these people many times in the Asura Realm. ¡°It¡¯s no problem for them; these people¡¯s weapons are a bit interesting. The more enemies and the more powerful the enemies are, the faster they kill.¡±

    Ah Lan said, ¡°Does this mean that the group of monster¡¯s attention has been drawn by them, and we can pass by naturally?¡±

    Abyss shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡±

    Indeed, this group of people would help them lead away arge number of monsters, but there were still more who rushed towards Abyss and the others. Abyss knew inwardly that the secret chamber had purposely gone against him. It seemed that if he wanted to head to the church in the middle, he still had to continue fighting for a while longer.

    Although several people had exhausted their strengths when killing monsters, their ultimate goal was in front of them. There was no need to continue to work hard, so they all started their frenzied mode of killing because the church was right in front of them. However, they still had to go through its gates in order to get in, so they still came down from the top of the high-rise building and squeezed through the dark patches of monsters that upied the ground.

    Ah Lan was not used to being involved in such a crazy battle, so Duan Li had to spare some energy to protect him. Of course, soon, he was pushed to the middle position. He chanted spells to form a circle of protection for several people and opened a way out from within this dense monster pile.

    The church¡¯s front gate was pure white, but these strange monsters blocked its front. Some monsters looked like depictions from legends and mythology. With their bat-like wings and horns and their ws and tails, they stood in front of the church gate symbolizing God, as if they were the gatekeepers of that door.

    God¡¯s door was guarded by demons.

    T/N: Nie Cong...is quite pitiable. The two bonus chapters will be published tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

 Chapter 198 - Valiant Battle (XVI)

    <h4>Chapter 198 - Valiant Battle (XVI)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for the support¡ªBonus Chapter (9/10)

    Editor: Humu

    Even if the strength of the monsters were not top-notch, but under the siege of so many monsters, everyone couldn¡¯t help but be injured to a certain extent. Luo Feng was the one who was seriously injured, probably because he was not good in meleebat. Therefore, Abyss who was standing beside Luo Feng would take care of him frequently.

    But even so, sometimes there were times when Abyss really couldn¡¯t take care of him.

    Xing Yan was the more rxed one because all the monsters who dared to get close to him were torn apart by his invisible spatial de, and probably due to his long-lost sense of teamwork reactivating, he and Duan Li cooperated well, and also took into ount the safety of Ah Lan in the middle;

    At the same time, Xing Yan would also find the opportunity to help Abyss. After finding that Abyss did not need his help, he seemed to feel a bit lost.

    Unexpectedly, Qi Ling was very powerful. His hooks and ws were poisonous and infectious. Arge group of them copsed under the attacks of his ws. He also cooperated with Abyss to protect Luo Feng¡¯s safety in closebat.

    Luo Feng was actually the one with the strongest attack power. His long-range weapons probably belong to the kind with strong output. Unfortunately, his ability to survive was also quite weak. However, Luo Feng was probably used to being injured for a long time, and his recovery ability was also very good.

    Ah Lan was very rxed and happy in the middle of the team. He did not have to worry about being attacked by monsters. All attacks were blocked by the surrounding team members. All kinds of buffs and healing treatments were cast by him like they were free. He did not need to waste much energy and could dish out more spells to make the team more efficient.

    Originally, it was a solidbination. They almost reached the gates of the church. But at this critical moment, no one knows what Qi Ling, who had been following the team, was thinking. He suddenly stretched out the hook of his ws and hooked Ah Lan by his arm. Ah Lan was originally standing in the middle and in the safety zone......

    Ah Lan only felt a sharp pain in his arm. When he raised his head in shock, he saw Qi Ling who was in the team having some kind of ferocious and grief-stricken expression. Qi Ling whispered something in Ah Lan¡¯s ear, and Qi Ling hooked onto his arm and threw him out. He was thrown out of the safety zone and right to the center of where the sea of monsters was.

    And because this happened so suddenly, the yers around who were only concerned about the monster group in front of them. Since they gave each other¡¯s back to their trusted friends, they never expected to be met with a betrayal. And such acts of betrayal actually happened inches away from them.

    No one could react in time. Even Abyss looked surprised. He instinctively reached out his hand and wanted to catch Ah Lan. But it¡¯s toote because their hands failed toe into contact with each other in midair. Afterwards, Ah Lan was immediately engulfed by monsters. The slight fear on his face froze at this frame and was captured by Abyss¡¯s line of sight.

    When Feng YuLan¡¯s life was on the line, no one could save him.

    Ah Lan was very aware of this at this very moment. He had no time to think about why the guy named Qi Ling threw himself out and attacked him. Ah Lan had no time to think about this.

    He just thought, <i>how am I going to survive?</i>

    <i>Was death something that could happen in such an instant?</i>

    <i>Am I going to die?</i>

    Ah Lan fell to the ground, and the surrounding monsters swarmed around him. Each of them opened their bloody mouth wide, like a sacrificial bowl, and revealed their sharp fangs. Each one of them waved their sharp ws and howled. Ah Lan soon felt that his body seemed to be pierced by some monster¡¯s ws. He felt a terrifyingly sharp pain in his chest.

    Before he died, all his lost memories almost flowed to his brain like a tide. He raised his head up and turned to look at Abyss who was not far away from him. Abyss had already left the team, and like a moth attracted to a fire, his young body suddenly plunged into the sea of monsters.

    He came towards him, and he held out his hand.

    Ah Lan knew that as long as he could still stretch out his hand, he could still be saved. He knew that Abyss was very strong......it should be said that he was Luo Jian. Yes, he was Luo Jian, the friend he cared about and loved.

    The one he entrusted all his trust.

    Those feelings he had for him that could not even bepared to love.

    But no, Feng YuLan had no strength. No matter how he tried tomand his arm, he had no way to raise it up an inch. Those monsters were like starving ghosts holding him and grasping onto him......

    Then, Ah Lan saw a burst of light.

    These sacred lights were like messengers who dispelled the darkness, turning all the monsters around him to ashes. Soon, he saw Abyss crawling over in a panic, holding a crescent bow in his hand, with his face was covered with bright red blood.

    ¡°Ah Lan, you......Are you all right? ¡°Feng YuLan heard the other party¡¯s trembling voice.

    He originally wanted to say that he was fine, but when he opened his mouth, a mouthful of blood surged up and muddled his voice. Abyss stretched out his hand to touch his face. The child¡¯s hand was shaking, but his voice pretended to be calm, ¡°It¡¯s ok......It¡¯s ok. I¡¯ll cure you soon. There¡¯s nothing wrong. You¡¯re fine...¡±

    Ah Lan felt warm blood dripped on his face. He tried to look at Abyss¡¯s face clearly, but his vision was so blurred that Ah Lan vaguely felt that the surroundings of Abyss were shining. That might be because he fell into a trance due to the traumatic wound he had. But this person appeared so strong, yet so beautiful. It seemed that the darkness and coldness around him could be dispelled by this person¡¯s aura.

    Ah Lan did not know why, but he felt a little relieved. As long as he looked at Luo Jian, he felt at ease.

    When his consciousness was about to dissipate, Ah Lan saw Duan Liing. The man set his <i>tang</i> sword at the core of the array and set up a defensive formation within the monster pile to block the surrounding monsters. Then he knelt down beside him and seemed to want to reach out to hold him up. However, the blood on the ground made him feel helpless. He was at a loss and sought help from Abyss.

    ¡°You can save him, right?¡±

    Abyss did not even have time to speak. He simply morphed his de into a clown¡¯s scalpel. But somehow, he was so flustered that his fingers were shaking in front of the friends he cared about.

    ¡°Stop the bleeding......you have to stop the bleeding first.¡± Abyss said over and over again, using ready-made clothes as cloth strips, constantly morphing his weapon to cast a healing effect. But inexplicably, Ah Lan¡¯s wound recovered so slowly. It recovered so slowly that Abyss felt despair!

    ¡°By the way, it¡¯s that bastard!¡± Abyss suddenly remembered that Qi Ling had attacked Ah Lan......and Qi Ling¡¯s weapon was poisonous. It was a kind of poison that could corrode people. It made human organs fail from the inside, and......there was no cure for it.

    In Asura Realm, Abyss never cared about this kind of toxin. He could be revived after being poisoned. Anyway, he could be revived......yes, it¡¯s just this damned way of thinking that as long as he could be revived, nothing matters......

    Abyss howled and mmed his fists to the ground. He urged himself toe up with a n to save his friend quickly. Then he almost wanted to p himself. He suddenly pulled an ear stud down from his ear, and he allowed it to fall to the ground directly.

    The ear stud broke into pieces, and rays of light scattered in all directions. But soon, the light began to regroup and a figure appeared.

    Clown appeared with a bewildered expression on his face.

    However, before he understood the situation, he was pulled over by Abyss, and his face had almost nted on the ground. He almost looked like a dog had taken a bite on him. Following that, he absent-mindedly drew out his scalpel and began to treat Ah Lan ording to Abyss¡¯s wishes.

    ¡°F*ck, this is poisoning. And there are so many wounds.¡± Clown went to his carry-on secret chamber to find all kinds of medical equipment and began to toss it at Ah Lan.

    But within a quarter of an hour, Clown¡¯s forehead was covered with thin sweat. He frowned and said, ¡°Is this poison a kind of skill? I can only stop the spread of the toxin, but I can¡¯t stop his organ failure.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! ¡°Abyss almost started yelling, ¡°You have to save him!¡±

    Clown paused for a moment and replied, ¡°......I understand. I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    Abyss rarely got agitated and rarely could not control his emotions, which made Clown take another glimpse at the child. He had never seen such an Abyss. No matter how bad the situation was, the tough child never showed any fear. Clown once thought that Abyss was as powerful as how he acted. However, it was so obvious that he¡¯s vulnerable now.

    The city ofwlessness was not a secret chamber space created by the secret chamber. Therefore, in this damned ce, death was equivalent to truly dying here. There were no settings that could restore their ailments when they return to reality. Abyss wouldn¡¯t expend so much effort just to have his cherishedpanionse out alive from the chambers and copse to their deathbeds here.

    He did not reach this step to witness such events happening, and he wouldn¡¯t fight so hard for such a conclusion! He wanted to save hispanions, and there shouldn¡¯t be one lesspanion he didn¡¯t save! To achieve this, he gave up almost all he had! His life, his time, and his fate that was constantly contradicting were all sacrificed. And in the end, the reward he got was to have everything conclude in this manner?!

    How could he be reconciled to such an end!?

    Abyss focused all his efforts to restrain himself from gnashing his teeth to not crazily seek revenge. Then, Xing Yan and Luo Feng over there joined hands to bring Qi Ling, who tried to escape, back. Qi Ling was beaten half dead by Xing Yan. His hands and feet were now lifelessly hanging, and he was lying on the ground in a miserable posture¡ª¡ªXing Yan would never be soft on betrayers.

    ¡°Why did you do that?¡± Abyss tried his best to force himself to stay calm. He asked the man who had fallen to the ground, but Qi Ling did not answer. Hisughter sounded out from his hoarse throat. Theughter was harsh and unpleasant. Xing Yan frowned and stepped on his chest and made Qi Ling cough twice in pain.

    Qi Ling was on hisst breath. Half-dead, he spoke, ¡°Why? The answer is in my pocket.¡±

    Abyss stood up and went to Qi Ling. He groped in his pocket for a while. Unexpectedly, he found a piece of paper that was familiar to him. When Abyss saw this note, his heart chilled.

    A few short words were written on the note, which roughly imed that if Qi Ling would kill the people around Abyss before they entered the church, the reward given to Qi Ling by the chambers was that he could return to his rtives¡¯ side.

    ¡°I¡¯m just homesick.¡± Qi Ling was half-dead and gasping slowly. He seemed to have a faint hope in his eyes, as if victory was in front of him. He repeated this sentence, ¡°I miss home......I want to go home.¡±

    There were people here who acted for the sake of their goals and there were people here who struggled for the sake of their desires. Their convictions were so strong, and their desires were so intense. They were waiting for redemption, but God, couldn¡¯t you see?

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Abyss squeezed the note in his hand and slowly squatted down. He reached out and stroked Qi Ling¡¯s messy hair. The man was already very weak, but the man still did not want to give up.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you don¡¯t have a home to go back to.¡± Abyss was very cruel and said in a low voice, ¡°From the moment we entered the city ofwlessness, the secret chamber has no intention of letting anyone......go out alive.¡±

    Subsequently, Abyss left Qi Ling in that ce and let the other party be surrounded by a group of monsters. But there was nothing to be worried about because Qi Ling would not die. Before Abyss left, he drew a defensive formation for him, which would allow him to struggle for a period.

    Whether he could survive or die depended on his destiny.

    Clown felt that the noisy and morous environment around him was not suitable for the patient to rest. He suggested that everyone should find a change in resting ce. So, Duan Li picked up Ah Lan and the group walked towards the church in front of him.

    The front of the church was covered with blood because of the fighting. They stepped on the snow-white steps in front of the gate of the church that was covered with bloody footprints. Although the monsters were guarding the church¡¯s gate, they somehow refused to get close to the white gate of the church.

    Feng YuLan¡¯s condition was not very stable. Although Clown repeatedly told Abyss that he had basically stabilized the patient¡¯s condition, Abyss was still very nervous. He frequently went to observe Ah Lan¡¯s condition. Ah Lan seemed to have fallen asleep.

    The other person who was nervous was Duan Li. His nervousness was very obvious because he never showed this kind of hollow and helpless expression previously. It was as if his calmness and arrogance were all thrown out of the sky by him, and as if he had no idea what to do. He held the mage in his arms carefully, for fear that he would identally lose him.

    Currently, Xing Yan also felt Abyss¡¯s unstable mood. He went to touch the other party¡¯s head. On the spot, Abyss turned around and threw himself into Xing Yan¡¯s embrace. He hugged his waist and rubbed against Xing Yan¡¯s clothes. This action was very adorable and made Xing Yan¡¯s heart flutter.

    Then, they went to open the big gates of the church, allowing the scenery within the church to fall entirely within their line of sights.

    In the church stood a statue of the Passion of Jesus. And in front of it stood a figure.

    T/N: Qi Ling¡¯s betrayales a bit unexpected.

 Chapter 199 - Valiant Battle (XVII)

    <h4>Chapter 199 - Valiant Battle (XVII)</h4>

    Thank you ChrysAmans for your support¡ªBonus Chapter (10/10)

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    The team had one less Qi Ling but one more Clown now. The appearance of Clown caused most people¡¯s expressions to change. Although Xing Yan, Duan Li, and Luo Feng were all experiencing partial memory loss, Luo Feng was the first to recall Clown as he pointed to the other party¡¯s nose and said:

    ¡°F*ck, you son of a bitch!¡±

    At the same time, Clown also pointed to Luo Feng¡¯s nose and said in unison, ¡°F*ck, I was about to say that, you bastard!¡±

    ¡°You have not ounted for when you stabbed me in Burial Grounds!¡± Luo Feng began to provoke him.

    Clown was not reconciled, ¡°What am I ounting for? Did you count how many bullets you shot at me?!¡±

    ¡°At that time, you looked like neither a human nor a ghost, and you didn¡¯t feel the pain when I shot you, right?¡±

    ¡°You fired so many shots, so I just stabbed you! Don¡¯t you feel apologetic?!¡±

    Abyss said with a gloomy face on his face, ¡°Shut up both of you.¡±

    Because Abyss always exuded a gloomy aura, the two suddenly shut their mouth but still secretlymunicated with each other using their eyes. Their eyes glimmered in all manners, exchanging flirting nces...... cough, cough, not right.

    However, when they walked into the church, they were all attracted to the huge crucifix in front of them. At the same time, there was a figure standing under the statue. This man had his back to Abyss and was wearing a ck robe adorned with red sides. His outfit also included a ck hood and a pair of white gloves. He was dressed up as a priest.

    ¡°Wee to the Temple of Time.¡±

    When the several people were standing below the stairway up to the crucifix in the church, the priest standing on the steps seemed to hear their footsteps, but he did not look back but spoke those words in a moderate tone.

    Abyss felt a heaviness in the air. He was staring at the priest who was on the stairway and noticed the priest¡¯s thin hands hanging at his sides. Then the man turned slowly. He could not see his whole face under his hood; only his pale lips and clean chin appeared visible.

    The priest lowered his voice slowly. His voice was mechanical and numb. He whispered, ¡°I am a priest and judge. I know what you¡¯re here for, and what you want is right here.¡±

    When the priest said this, a mechanism was activated on the steps, and an exhibition cab popped out from the floor. In the cab, there was a very small fragment, like some kind of stone corner, on which familiar andplicated patterns were carved. That was the corner missing from the cube and also the lock of the cube.

    ¡°Is it really good to put things out in such a grand way?¡± Abyss was bold and presumptuous. He directly raised his feet, walked up the steps towards the middle of the church, and approached the lock of the cube.

    The priest gave Abyss a brief nce and lightly said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry; it will belong to you sooner orter. As long as you have the ability to take it away, I will give it to you personally.¡±

    ¡°Hearing what you say, it seems that I have to fork out a high price to take this away.¡± Abyss rigidly gave a smile. When he saw the lock in front of him, he did not feel he had won. He was calm, but he felt very tired and lethargic.

    He longed for the end of all this. He hoped that he could sleep for a long time and wake up to see all the people he cherished beside him, just like how an ordinary person would live their entire life. Nothing would be more fortunate than to experience that.

    But the enemy would never let him go easily. The priest voiced out a sound like a light chuckle and continued, ¡°Today, almost all the selected people are gathered in this church.¡±

    Before waiting for Abyss to understand the meaning of this sentence, they suddenly heard a loud noise sounding from the back of the church gate. Someone kicked open the white and holy church gates violently and walked in with neither light nor heavy footsteps.

    Abyss turned back to take a look, and instantly, he felt his heart shake. He saw that the guy who had broken into ande in from the gates was a familiar figure. He was the expressionless Nie Cong, who was dressed in a retro robe!

    What was more, Nie Cong dragged a badly mutted man in his hands, and he dragged him all the way here. When Abyss fixed his line of sight on him, he found that the badly-mutted fellow was actually Ying!

    Nie Cong dragged Ying and threw him onto the stairs of the church, and Ying fell to Abyss¡¯s side directly. Currently, Ying was conscious and did not faint. He just looked at Abyss in embarrassment and burst into a smile at him: ¡°Really...... sorry, I have no way to...... do it to him.¡±

    Although Abyss understood, he did not agree, ¡°If you don¡¯t do it, it¡¯s you who will die. Do you already understand that?¡±

    Ying still shook his head weakly. ¡°I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t...... kill him a second time.¡±

    This sentence made Abyss¡¯s heart tremble. He realized that Ying¡¯s words unintentionally revealed some information. Could it be that Ying¡¯s formerpanions were killed by him?

    But at this point, there was no room for Abyss to think about more things. The priest on the stairs over there had already spread out his hands and continued in a high tone, ¡°Look, everyone is here.¡±

    ¡°What does it mean, ¡®everyone is here¡¯?¡± Abyss listened to that priest inexplicably talking, and inwardly, he faintly felt an ufortable premonition.

    The priest who was over there seemed to be a little excited, but he exined patiently, ¡°The secret chamber¡¯s will has chosen three people, and these three lucky people have already appeared here today; among the three of you, there must be a decisive victory, and the reward of the only winner will be the prize ced in front of you! So...... Either die here today or be the strongest one!¡±

    Thispletely-uncalled-for speech made all the people present feel cold. Abyss frowned and asked, ¡°What about the people other than those three?¡±

    The priest seemed to beughing at something, and he said, ¡°Others? They¡¯re just a pile of rubbish. However, they still have some value, so they can be used as a sacrifice to witness the birth of the strong......¡±

    Abyss couldn¡¯t listen anymore. He interrupted and said, ¡°Fine, I see what you mean. You just want these three selected hapless brats to kill each other so that the winner can get the lock of the cube, and the rest will die, right?¡±

    The priest smiled. ¡°Yes...... That¡¯s right...¡±

    Before the priest was done speaking, Abyss, standing at the other side, directly rushed forward with a knife and charged towards the priest, wanting to cut his waist into two.

    But Abyss was merely pulling out his knife to cut water. He withdrew his knife and retreated. His movements were agile and had beenpleted in one go. It took less than a few seconds from the beginning to the end. But what was terrifying was that although Abyss was so decisive, the priest did not seem to be able to be easily cut to death. His waist was cut, but his body appeared like a holographic projection that had glitched. His body began to unnaturally fracture and group together again.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a living person,¡± Abyss sighed. When he first saw the priest, he felt that the breath that the other exuded was very strange. He could not feel the presence of life from this man.

    Abyss¡¯s knife also verified his belief that the other party was nothing but a holographic projection. But this mightplicate matters a little because he was still considered as something having a material body.

    The priest¡¯s body showed that its data frames were currently being torn apart, but it soon returned to normal. After returning to normal, the priest did not care about Abyss¡¯s sudden attack. He just said mildly, ¡°I¡¯m not human, and I won¡¯t die. Please don¡¯t do such meaningless things.¡±

    The priest continued, ¡°Next, I¡¯m going to announce the names of the three lucky people. They are...¡±

    The priest said, looking down at Abyss, ¡°Dear Mr. Abyss, Mr. Xing Yan, and...... Mr. Nie Cong.¡±

    This conclusion was not beyond Abyss¡¯s expectation. It was better to say that the three most powerful people standing in this church hall were indeed these people. In fact, if Ying had done his best and had not been beaten half-dead by Nie Cong, he may have also been shortlisted. However, considering that Ying¡¯s identity was almost equal to a creator, one was afraid the secret chamber could not help but want to strangle him to death.

    Although matters had already reached this point, Abyss still felt a little dissatisfied. He interrupted the priest again and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s unreasonable.¡±

    The priest seemed to smile. ¡°What¡¯s unreasonable?¡±

    Abyss raised the knife in his hand and pointed to Nie Cong over there. Nie Cong stood there in a trance, looking like a puppet. In fact, he truly was a puppet.

    ¡°Is that a stalker? If he¡¯s under the direct control of the secret chamber, what¡¯s the difference between letting him participate in this fight and allowing the direct participation of the secret chamber?¡±

    The priest¡¯s mouth raised into a more exaggerated smile, ¡°He was originally a tool used by the secret chamber to participate in battles. If you defeat him, you will defeat the secret chamber.¡±

    ¡°Can I join hands with Xing Yan to kill him?¡±

    Instead of answering Abyss¡¯s question immediately, the priest asked Abyss, ¡°Are you sure that Mr. Xing Yan will help you?¡±

    This sentence stupefied Abyss for a moment, and he subconsciously turned his head to look at Xing Yan. Xing Yan stood still and was looking at Abyss all this time. Two people gazed at each other for some time. Abyss suddenly turned pale and yelled at Duan Li and Luo Feng, who were supporting Ah Lan next to Xing Yan, ¡°Duan Li! You two back off!¡±

    Duan Li and Luo Feng instinctively followed themand and retreated. Simrly, Xing Yan also drew out his own de and swept his sharp de at where they were originally. Fortunately, the two people avoided it.

    As for Clown, he had hidden himself from the beginning.

    Abyss looked at Xing Yan with a gloomy face. In less than a few minutes, his pupils had turned from ck to red, and once again he returned to the stalker¡¯s form. As a matter of fact, Abyss had already predicted that. How could the secret chamber¡¯s will give up squeezing the lives out of these poor stalkers to work for it?

    He had known that it was only a matter of time before Xing Yan would recover his status as a stalker.

    ¡°My opponents have be stalkers, but in the end, they are still aiming at me, aren¡¯t they?¡± Abyss unconsciously waved the de in his hand, and his face was full of sarcasm. He yelled, ¡°What other high-sounding reasons do you need toe directly at me?¡±

    In fact, he knew the reason why the secret chamber targeted Abyss that much. It was probably because he held ¡®Abyss¡¯s¡¯ identity, because he was a GM. In the secret chamber, he could possess certain authorities. He was regarded as a thorn in the side by the secret chamber.

    At the same time, the secret chamber also realized that Abyss was the best candidate for the strongest in its mind, not only because of his strength but also because he has a GM¡¯s body. He was inseparable from the secret chamber. Once the secret chamber was destroyed, Abyss would be destroyed with it together as the GM. This was also the reason why the secret chamber had no fear. It believed that no intelligent human would take his own life as a joke.

    In particr, Abyss had a strong will to survive.

    Therefore, the secret chamber¡¯s will was determined, and Abyss would eventually obey it. In order to survive, Abyss would ept all the conditions it imposed. Abyss would naturally be a part of the secret chamber. From then on, they would share the same destiny, and there would be no force in the world that could separate them.

    Therefore, the secret chamber¡¯s will had no scruples about putting its cards in front of Abyss. It could not wait to know what choice Abyss would make, whether to sacrifice hispanions in order to survive or to sacrifice himself for those doomed to die?

    No matter what the choice was, in the eyes of the secret chamber¡¯s will, human beings were wonderful yet ignorant creatures.

    T/N: For those interested in supporting the EIC team, but EIC Kofi goals are open again. But I¡¯m only offering <strong>two </strong>bonus chapters, since we are already at chapter 199, and the novel ends at chapter 206 (inclusive of extra chapters). If anyone supports more than the amount, the amount would just be split among the team for us to buy some coffee.

 Chapter 200 - Valiant Battle (XVIII)

    <h4>Chapter 200 - Valiant Battle (XVIII)</h4>

    Editor: Humu

    Duan Li hugged Ah Lan and pushed him to the corner together with Luo Feng. In the passing, he dragged the badly mutted Ying on the ground there as well. In order to avoid being affected by the scuffle of the several people in the church, Duan Li had to protect Ah Lan who was seriously injured and unconscious. Therefore, they could only crouch in the corner and wait for everything to end in silence.

    But at this time, Clown who disappeared after he met the priest in the church appeared out of thin air. When Duan Li and others asked where he had gone, Clown replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t go around much. I just went to explore the church.¡±

    ¡°So, what did you gain?¡±

    Clown hesitated for a moment, shaking his head as if he was regretful, ¡°Nothing, but I found that there are more and more monsters outside the church. They all seem to want toe in, but they are afraid of something.¡±

    Ah Lan, who had been held in Duan Li¡¯s arms, opened his eyes. He seemed to be awake for a while but soon closed his eyes again.

    On the other side, Abyss was under the attack of two stalkers. He was doing quite well when dealing with Xing Yan. Abyss was very familiar with the attack mode of Xing Yan. But Nie Cong was really not very easy to deal with. He couldn¡¯t touch the enemy. It was better not to touch him with any weapons because anything that touched this person would turn into nothingness in his hands.

    So when the two strong stalkers joined hands to deal with Abyss, the possibility of Abyss¡¯s defeat was great. Abyss did not want to hurt Xing Yan at all. They fought in the Ancient Remains instance before, and Abyss also did not want to hurt him at that time. In the end, they decided to knock him out back then. But now, Abyss couldn¡¯t find a chance to make Xing Yan faint.

    Compared to Abyss who was exercising caution, Xing Yan did not care about Abyss at all. His attack became more and more ferocious, and his strength got stronger and stronger. Abyss felt upset inwardly and felt his hands shaking when he took up his weapon. He knew that the secret chamber¡¯s will had reached its goal. It had hoped that Abyss and his cherishedrades would mutually annihte one another.

    The strongest one did not need to be fettered.

    That was why Abyss felt that he could never be the so-called strongest.

    He would rather be a tiny ant as small as the sand that was hard to identify on the ground. At least ants had a chance to live happily with their rtives and friends. However, in this terrifying space, Abyss couldn¡¯t see any hope.

    All along, he had been too strong. And because of this, until the veryst moment, Abyss began to feel afraid. Fear shrouded his heart. He could not help but deliberate about what he should do if he wouldn¡¯t be able to aplish his task at hand, and what to do if the oue was different from his imagination?

    There was no chance to restart, no room to retreat.

    Abyss was very scared.

    However, no one could understand his fear. What he showed in front of everyone was how strong and how gentle he was. He was strong but restrained. Everyone knew of his strength, and everyone trusted him to do it. Even he thought that he could do it.

    But what if he couldn¡¯t? In case he failed, the result would be horrifying. As long as he thought that this step he took was rted to the fate of everyone in the future, Abyss was almost unable to move. He was eager to beforted by the people he loves, but he always had a cold face in front of Xing Yan.

    At that very moment, he almost couldn¡¯t hold back his tears.

    However, in reality, Abyss merely calmly picked up his weapon to block the attack from the two stalkers in front of him. His inner fear and cries could not be revealed on his face. His self-esteem and firm attitude did not allow this. He should be everyone¡¯s pir.

    So, how could he cry?

    If he couldn¡¯t cry, what should he do now?

    If the most powerful person was destined to abandon all emotions, all fetters, and all things sentimental.

    So what would I be?

    The true battle of life and death actually took ce over a few minutes, but it felt like centuries long. The noises and fighting in the church finally ceased. Finally, it was Abyss who was still standing on the stairs. He won again.

    In fact, he did not know how he won. It seemed that he had entered a state of selflessness, which allowed him to return to the state when he was in Asura Realm. Throughout the numb battling and fighting, Abyss would no longer feel the pain.

    ¡°It¡¯s not over yet.¡± The priest stood calmly and leisurely under the crucifixion, peeping at Abyss under his hood. ¡°They¡¯re not dead. You have to kill them.¡±

    Nie Cong and Xing Yan were only beaten half-dead by Abyss. Although they were badly injured, they did not die.

    The numb Abyss turned his head and looked at the priest with extremely cold eyes. The look in his eyes made the priest couldn¡¯t help but shiver. But this was illogical. The priest was not human. How could the priest feel fear like how a human being would?

    He suppressed the uneasiness in his heart. The priest raised his head slightly and continued to say leisurely, ¡°Kill them.¡±

    Abyss did not act, but said coldly, ¡°Give me the lock.¡±

    It seemed that such a simple battle had quietly changed something orpletely morphed Abyss into something beyond anyone¡¯s knowledge.

    Only a few minutes had passed, but at this moment, Abyss¡¯s eyes, look, and even the tone of his voice were so cold that a chill ran behind their backs. Obviously, the child¡¯s appeared just like a weak child. Before that, he was just an ordinary man who was strong but had the tenderness of an ordinary person.

    But now, the priest suddenly felt that this man was no longer the previous Abyss. He seemed to be a different person, and some unknown soul had reced him in his body. From his top to his bottom, he hadpletely transformed his appearance into a terrifying appearance.

    No, I shouldn¡¯t have emotions like fear.

    The priest insisted, ¡°You have to kill the enemies to get the reward.¡±

    Abyss raised the corner of his mouth and pulled out a sneer. The smile appeared crueller and colder now. The priest felt ayer of goosebumps on his back merely because of the other party¡¯s smile.

    Abyss said, ¡°Kill the enemies? Sure, if you put out all the rewards you can give me.¡±

    The priest was a little stupefied, and looked at the exhibition cab beside him, ¡°Isn¡¯t the reward right in front of you?¡±

    Abyss slightly raised his head, face disdainful, ¡°This is not enough!¡±

    The priest hesitated for a moment. ¡°What else do you want?¡±

    ¡°Give me the cube, too.¡± Abyss seemed greedy, like a snake that wanted to swallow an elephant. The smile on the face was somewhat twisted, ¡°I want the entire secret chamber!¡±

    He spoke arrogantly, but the secret chamber¡¯s will seemed to really believe in his words. Then, a data disorder was projected in the priest¡¯s body. Thereafter, the priest¡¯s projection was directly controlled by the secret chamber¡¯s will. He changed his tone to a mechanical tone and answered Abyss. However, even the secret chamber¡¯s will did not know that its voice was mixed with excitement that only human beings had.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve already tasked someone to get the cube delivered.¡±

    ¡°As long as you kill everyone present here, I will sign a lifetime contract with you and invite you to be the master of the secret chamber.¡±

    Yes, the secret chamber¡¯s will knew that it seeded and sessfully created a cold-blooded and ruthless powerhouse with the strongest strength, which was in line with its ideal of the strongest. This was what it wanted and this was its ultimate goal. Today, it could almost achieve it!

    When it came to this backward space-time and sucked in these backward and small human beings, its disappointment would not dissipate......

    But today, the secret chamber felt that it did not need to be disappointed.

    Right by here, there was a body seeping in blood. It was Abyss, with a hand holding a de that gave it renewed hope!

    ¡°Luo Jian!¡±

    However, Duan Li, who witnessed everything nearby, could not help calling out. Maybe it was because Abyss¡¯s demeanor had thoroughly changed, and that made them all uneasy. They could not help but call out his name.

    Abyss merely turned back and gave them a nce.

    ¡°To establish the contract, I have to kill these people, right?¡± Abyss muttered in a low voice as if he was talking to himself.

    However, the secret chamber replied, ¡°Yes, regardless of whatever way you use.¡±

    ¡°When will the cube arrive?¡±

    ¡°About five minutester.¡± The secret chamber¡¯s will spoke in a passionate manner, which was unprecedented.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start with the appetizer, then.¡± Abyss shook the de in his hand and dragged the tip of the de toward Duan Li and the others. As he took one step at a time, his momentum surged fiercely. A wave of terrifying killing intent rushed to their faces.

    Duan Li and Luo Feng looked at each other at the same time, and they both felt that the current situation they were in was horrible.

    ¡°Luo Jian......What¡¯s the matter with him?¡±

    Clown looked at Abyss who was charging towards them. He replied, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, he chose the secret chamber and intends to abandon us.¡±

    ¡°How could that be possible?¡± Luo Feng was the first one who expressed he did not believe this, ¡°Luo Jian is not that kind of person!¡±

    ¡°How do you know he¡¯s not that kind of person?¡± Clown also had a provocative sneer on his face. ¡°The burden on him is too heavy. It¡¯s time to throw it away and have a good time.¡±

    When Clown said this, Abyss had already walked in front of him, and Clown did not dodge. He looked straight into Abyss¡¯s eyes. The child¡¯s cold eyes made Clown sigh. Clown knew that this man was pushing himself too hard, and he carried too many burdens on himself, and that was why he could no longer stand it now.

    One day, the burden would crush him. He would copse, suddenly turn hostile, and he would trample on these burdens under his feet, just like what the current Abyss was doing.

    ¡°Your reward is already at the door.¡± Clown lowered his voice and said to Abyss very gently. But as soon as he finished his sentence, Abyss had already pulled out his de and shed Clown¡¯s head.

    Clown¡¯s head was separated, and blood sshed everywhere. It sshed on Duan Li and Luo Feng beside him.

    Both of them were stunned.

    In the beginning, they all thought that Abyss would never do kill them. Even if Abyss walked in front of them, they were sure that the other party would never kill them. This was impossible. It would never be something that someone like Abyss would do.

    But such a thing happened in front of their eyes.

    Abyss did not care what they thought and went straight to Duan Li. Duan Li was still holding Ah Lan tightly in his arms. However, it was not known when Feng YuLan woke up. He reached out and grabbed Duan Li¡¯s clothes and sat up next to him.

    Then Ah Lan turned back to look at Abyss and said something strange. He said, ¡°The cycle......do you want it to repeat?¡±

    ¡°For thest time.¡± Abyss answered him and his de went down.

    Duan Li closed his eyes at thest moment and only cared about holding the man in his arms tightly. He deliberated about certain matters for a long time. He remembered that long ago, he also tried so hard to hold such a person tightly.

    At this time, a man came through the door of the church. He was a very tall humanoid monster who was wearing strange armor. The armor appeared like a living creature. It was lying on his body, and it even trembled slightly. The monster held a cube glowing with dark blue light in his hand.

    When the monster came in with the cube, Abyss had just killed his cousin. The priest stood at the stairs, extremely emotional. All his attention was focused on Abyss¡¯s body. He urged Abyss, ¡°Hurry up, please kill them. The moment ising!¡±

    Abyss turned back to nce at the priest, and lowered his head to gaze at the dying Ying on the floor. Ying¡¯s breath was weak, and he couldn¡¯t form aplete word. Abyss hesitated for some time before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll see you again under the setting sun.¡±

    As a response to this remark, the badly mutted Ying barely gave him a smile on his face that one could hardly see as a reply to him.

    After killing all these people, Abyss returned to the priest¡¯s side and was prepared to chop down the two half-dead stalkers on the ground. He first swiped Nie Cong¡¯s neck with a knife. And at the very moment, the poor man closed his eyes. This was a blessing for him. Death was something he felt at happy and pleasant to receive.

    Then Abyss went to Xing Yan¡¯s side. He lowered his head to look at the man who had fallen on the ground, and suddenly turned his head to look at the strange humanoid monster who had arrived with the cube.

    The monster was three meters tall. It looked like a human that had strong limbs and muscles. A special avant-garde armor was wrapped all over its body. There were only two ck holes in its helmet. A line of sight peeked out from it.

    The monster holding the cube went directly to the side of Abyss and even presented the cube to Abyss. He held the cube in his hand as if he was waiting for something.

    ¡°Hehe......Hahahaha......¡±Abyss suddenly could not help butugh.

 Chapter 201 - Valiant Battle (End of Main Text)

    <h4>Chapter 201 - Valiant Battle (End of Main Text)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Kitty & Humu</i>

    Over there, the secret chamber¡¯s will who was controlling the priest was a little stunned. He did not seem to understand the meaning of Abyss¡¯s sudden smile. In his opinion, Abyss had already done everything he had hoped for, and there was only thest step...... or maybe he was too happy?

    He knew that all human beings were very greedy. Maybe they needed power and strength to be firmly held in their hands, and this supreme feeling made Abyss feel happy. Because of such happiness, human beings wouldugh.

    However, Abyss¡¯s next move was unexpected. Instead of giving Xing Yan the final blow, Abyss directly reached out to get the cube presented by the monster. The priest who was over here subconsciously stepped forward and said, ¡°Wait a minute...... You are too hasty... ¡±

    He had yet to finish speaking when Abyss had already taken the cube and shouted at Xing Yan, ¡°Open the door quickly!¡±

    Although Xing Yan was lying on the ground and on hisst breath, his blood red eyes were filled with unprecedented calm. He smiled at Abyss, lifted his right hand, and opened a space-time door by his side. As soon as the space-time door was opened, Abyss threw the cube directly into it.

    Seeing Abyss no longer held the cube, Xing Yan waved his hand again, and the space-time door disappeared immediately.

    The way they coordinated in less than a few seconds was considered perfect and seamless, and the priest¡¯s movements had already started to stagnate because Abyss had already thrown his body through the space-time door into unknown and distant areas. The signal it used to be able to control the priest suddenly became weak, so even the priest¡¯s body became weak......

    ¡°You...... What was this for?¡±

    The priest¡¯s body had be half-transparent, and he turned his head to stare at Abyss. ¡°......Think you can escape my control? This city is in a space-time crevice without me! In this city, all of you will be swallowed up by the turbulent flow of time and space. None of you will be able to return to reality!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going back to reality.¡± At this time, the humanoid monster who had presented the cube suddenly opened his mouth and spoke in broken Mandarin, ¡°The energy unit of the cube is equivalent to a bomb that can destroy the sr system. This kind of explosion will trigger the formation of ck holes. Moreover, if the cube is thrown into a space-time crevice close to our world line and then detonated, it will cause arge area of...... time reversal or time dislocation.¡±

    ¡°You! You are...¡±The priest stared at the monster in surprise. ¡°Noen!?¡±

    ¡°Long time no see,¡± said Noen, graciously bowing to the priest who was under the control of the secret chamber¡¯s will.

    ¡°I see! You found some helpers!¡± The secret chamber¡¯s will was inplete disorder, but what it didn¡¯t understand was that its way of speaking at the moment was not like a system at all, but it had a human tone.

    ¡°You¡¯ve be more and more human-like.¡± Noen looked at the priest with a smile, obviously aware of this.

    ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯m not a little human being! I¡¯m the secret chamber¡¯s will! I have the greatest&#k2026;¡± The priest could not finish the sentence because he had already disappearedpletely.

    In this empty church, his voicepletely and also his whole personpletely disappeared. God did not exist in this church, and from the beginning, there was nothing here.

    Luo Jian squatted down, helped Xing Yan up, and let him lean on his shoulder. He could not help touching Xing Yan¡¯s cheek and dropping a kiss on his forehead.

    ¡°Is it over?¡± Xing Yan asked. He was very weak, but he could not help reaching out to hold Luo Jian and rubbing himself on him.

    Luo Jian replied, ¡°Not yet...... It¡¯s just the beginning.¡±

    ¡°Will I die?¡± Xing Yan asked again.

    Luo Jian smiled. He inched over and gave a peck to Xing Yan¡¯s mouth. ¡°Yes, and I¡¯ll die with you.¡±

    ¡°Without the power of the secret chamber, the city will begin to crumble.¡± Noen raised his head. As he said this, the city had already begun to turn upside down. The ground began to tilt and shake. It was like a super earthquake. Every building was howling, and at the same time, the monsters outside were screaming and yelling. The sound almost broke through the sky.

    At this point, the body that the current Noen used was still the NPC that the secret chamber had crafted, and his body had be transparent. It was clear that his body was about to disappear. The same was happening to Luo Jian.

    ¡°We will disintegrate together.¡±

    He went to the disy cab, broke the ss, and took out the lock.

    Now, the cube had been thrown into another space-time crevice opened by Xing Yan. The space-time crevice was a chaotic space that had violent explosions urring in it all the time. There was no life there, only huge amounts of energy. Therefore, detonating a bomb in the space-time crevice was an obvious choice. They did not have to worry about endangering any other lifeforms.

    ¡°Once this huge amount of energy is detonated, the order of time will be chaotic, and the ¡®order¡¯ will start to repair itself. Therefore, all of us may experience arge-scale ¡®rebirth.¡¯ All of us, whether dead or alive, will go back to the past...... Go back to the past before the secret chamber appeared.¡± As he spoke, Noen took the lock in his hand and crushed it. The lock was as fragile as tofu, and with some pressure, it shattered into pieces.

    When he crushed the lock, Luo Jian seemed to hear something breaking, a very insignificant sound.

    Noen, still staring at Luo Jian, continued, ¡°There¡¯s only one ¡®person¡¯ who can¡¯t live through this rebirth, and that¡¯s the secret chamber because the secret chamber is not something of your time and exists in a different space. The order of time and space will not repair it, so...... you don¡¯t have to worry about going back to the past and having another secret chamber space disrupt your lives.¡±

    Luo Jian looked at Noen, and for some reason, he trembled. ¡°I won?¡±

    Noen smiled. ¡°Of course, you won. You beat the strongest opponent in this goddamn, who-knows-where ce.¡±

    Luo Jian wryly smiled, ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware of that. It feels like having a long nightmare.¡±

    ¡°Think of it as a dream,¡± Noen uttered, tone gentle, ¡°When you go back to the past, you will all lose these memories. All traces of the secret chamber¡¯s will will disappear, and all the effects of the secret chamber¡¯s will be cleared. Your world will return to its normal order, you will experience normal birth and death, and whether you can continue to be together depends on fate.¡±

    Noen could not help but praise him, ¡°However, at this moment, I want to admire you, Luo Jian. You are a hero.¡±

    Luo Jian shook his head helplessly and hugged Xing Yan. ¡°Without the help of friends, I could never have gotten to this step.¡±

    Yet Noen stated, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be humble. A person¡¯s ability is reflected not only in himself but also in the people around him. You are strong enough to influence everyone around you.¡±

    Their two bodies had almost disappeared, and the surrounding buildings were gradually copsing. The ceiling of the church copsed to form a huge hole, and the light in the sky was strangely dazzling. Those lights were very luxuriant and covered the whole city.

    Luo Jian looked up at the sky in a trance. He seemed to see the distant universe through those clouds. Countless stars were shining. The sr system was there, and so was the Earth.

    Noen stated, ¡°It¡¯s almost time. I have to go. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t have a chance to meet again, so...... this is farewell, my friend.¡±

    Hearing this, Luo Jian was in a trance and wanted to respond with something, but he did not say anything. Xing Yan, who was beside him, held him tighter. He heard the man¡¯s heartbeat echoing in his ears.

    ¡°This time, let me be the one to find you...... Be sure to wait for me, alright? Ah Jian...¡± Xing Yan said in a low voice. The man held him very tightly, and he seemed to feel that the other party was crying. However, Luo Jian¡¯s senses were very weak, so he could not see whether Xing Yan was really crying.

    Ah, idiot, at this time, you shouldugh.

    Didn¡¯t they beat all their opponents? So why cry? Clearly, this should be a happy ending.

    However, Luo Jian was also crying. He knew that he would never see Xing Yan again. He would not see the once-powerful Xing Yan in the secret chamber. He would not see the Xing Yan who had be a cold-blooded and ruthless stalker. And Luo Jian would no longer be the present Luo Jian. He would return to that distant past, that familiar but iparably strange past.

    In his past, would Xing Yan exist?

    It was impossible for him to know this because Luo Jian disappeared.

    The building waspletely covered by light, and all existence in it melted and copsed under this inexplicable and strong light. Then, the city, which had been transferred to the space-time crevice, disappeared.

    In some distant chaos, the old god of time hobbled back to his clock room, which was full of all kinds of clocks, big and small, each one swinging in an orderly way.

    But the god of time was looking at a ticking clock. There was something wrong with the pointer of this clock. The clock stopped, swayed in ce, and did not move forward. So the god of time considered it and moved the hand of the clock back.

    And he moved the pointer back just one minute.

    And this minute, for tiny human beings, was a long, long, long time.

    After wasting so much energy and expending so much effort and even sacrificing so many lives, it was only for the return of...... this single minute given by the god.

    But this minute was worth cherishing. Not everyone had the chance to obtain it. Not everyone had the chance to save everything. When you had such a chance to do so, wouldn¡¯t you boldly attempt it once?

    Maybe this time, you would seed.

    ¡ªend¡ª

    T/N: Guys, please stay around for the extras for the endings of the main couple and the side couple, plus one extra surprising side couple! There are still 5 more chapters left, so please stay tuned ^^!

    P.S.: This is still a HE!! So please stay for the extras ^^

 Chapter 202 - Extra (I)

    <h4>Chapter 202 - Extra (I)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Humu</i>

    ¡°The child¡¯s condition is getting worse over time. If it hadn¡¯t been for your support, we didn¡¯t know what to do.¡±

    In the ward, the Luo couple were very grateful. They said their thanks to a couple about the same age as them who was standing in front of them, ¡°We are really, really grateful to both of you. Next year, once we earned more money, we will be sure to return this sum of money to both of you.¡±

    The couple who had received their gratefulness looked at each other with a smile and shook their heads. ¡°Don¡¯t thank us. It¡¯s my son who is moring for me to help his friends. That¡¯s why I came to support your family......But it¡¯s true that my son is bad-tempered. Whoever can make him pay so much attention to must be a child good at both learning and has a great character.¡±

    The two families stayed in the ward as they felt a chill down their spines, but Luo Jian, who was half lying in the hospital bed, looked puzzled.

    Luo Jian was ten years old this year, but as a child, his illness never got better. His family managed to gather money to send him to a big hospital in the city. The doctor meant to have a major operation, but the cost of the operation was beyond what the family could afford. While the whole family was upset, a strange couple appeared and said that they would support them. And they had really sent them arge amount of money to them.

    Right now when the operation was over, the doctor announced that Luo Jian only needed follow-up with rehabilitation treatment. This showed that the pain that had gued him for more than ten years could be officially removed today.

    But it all came so fast that it was like a pie falling from the sky. Moreover, the couple who miraculously appeared said that their son and Luo Jian were friends. That was why they returned from abroad to help Luo Jian¡¯s family. But Luo Jian felt the matter was even stranger because he remembered that he had no such friend. He had never seen the strange couple in front of him. It was simply baffling.

    ¡°Right, I brought my son here today to let the two kids talk about the old days. We can go out to chat.¡± The strange couple abducted Luo Jian¡¯s parents. Luo Jian stretched out his hand and failed to keep his parents here. So, he watched the adults leave one by one. After a while, the ward¡¯s door opened again, and a tall teenager came in.

    Luo Jian shrank his neck in fear. He really did not know the son of the couple. He also told his parents, but his parents didn¡¯t take his words seriously at that time. Now, the truth behind this farce was going to be revealed. What if the other party suddenly found that......<i>ah, this was not my friend!</i> Wasn¡¯t that a big joke?

    Seeing the young maning, Luo Jian could not help but stare at him.

    The boy looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. He was wearing a very casual sportswear outfit. He had a big sports backpack on his back and his haircut made him look very refreshing. And he also looked very handsome. His facial features were upright, and his face was exquisite. He was so handsome he mesmerized Luo Jian.

    When he was worried about when he should speak, the young man directly sat down on the edge of Luo Jian¡¯s hospital bed and slightly tilted his head. He drew up a gentle smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m Xing Yan, the ¡®Xing¡¯ of xingshi, and the ¡®Yan¡¯ of huoyan. I¡¯m d to be acquainted with you, Luo Jian.¡±

    Luo Jian looked at him stupidly. It was the first time that he saw such a good-looking person, and the other party¡¯s attitude was so gentle. So, Luo Jian¡¯s face could not help turning red, and his heartbeat raced faster.

    This was the scene where Luo Jian met Xing Yan for the first time. The young man¡¯s smiling appearance left a very deep impression in Luo Jian¡¯s mind. Only when he recalled itter, he felt that he must have been blind back then that he believed that this wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing would be gentle.

    Several yearster, the Luo family and the Xing family had formed good rtions. Due to the nature of their work, Luo Jian¡¯s parents had moved to another country. At that time, Luo Jian happened to be admitted to the university in the city where Xing Yan lived. So, Xing Yan said, ¡°It happens that I work in this city, and my house is very big. It doesn¡¯t matter if there is an additional person staying there. Just stay with me. At least, there¡¯s one more person here to take care of you, right?¡±

    Although Luo Jian¡¯s parents thought it was not good to let their son stay with others, they were also worried about what would happen to Luo Jian if he stayed alone outside. They thought about it twice before sending Luo Jian into the big grey wolf¡¯s mouth.

    So when Luo Jian heard that he was going to stay in Xing Yan¡¯s house, his expression was like this: &#k3J3;(&#k3063;&#kK0;&#k414;&#kK0;;)&#k3063;!!

    No, mom and dad! He¡¯s a scum of a person, AHHHHH!

    Of course, Luo Jian¡¯s parents could not hear Luo Jian¡¯s inner voice. They drove Luo Jian to the door of Xing Yan¡¯s house in a car and pushed the expressionless Luo Jian into the door of Xing Yan¡¯s house. Afterwards, his parents rushed away because of other matters. They left Luo Jian alone to stand at the door of Xing Yan¡¯s house with his backpack, staring at the tall and powerful young man in front of him.

    Xing Yan was several years older than him. He had entered society for many years. He had been sessful in his career and had been single. In the eyes of many younger sisters, he was a rich and powerful bachelor and a good gentleman who was loaded.

    But Luo Jian deeply knew the horrible nature of this man!

    This guy was a paedophile!

    Luo Jian shivered along with his backpack. He remembered the moment he had just known Xing Yan when he was a child. Back then, he was only 10 years old. At first sight, he thought that he was the type of big brother next door. And Xing Yan did show this kind of behavior. He took him out to y. He took him to amusement parks, cinemas and to eat snacks.

    From then on, Luo Jian thought he had a mobile meal ticket!

    How would he know that from time to time, the wolf would touch his head, hold his hands, and kiss his forehead? It seemed normal on the surface, but when Luo Jian got older, the other party¡¯s behavior became more and more excessive. At this time, Luo Jian realized that he had been sessfully raised by a sugar daddy?

    Seeing that Xing Yan¡¯s eyes on him were bing more and more sinister, Luo Jian who was frightened by him ran back to his home in a hurry. However, before he could live a stable life for two days, he was directly sent to the wolf¡¯s nest by his parents.

    qaq I will definitely be eaten! Luo Jian wailed in his heart.

    Sure enough, as soon as he entered the door, Xing Yan coldly and nobly hooked his hand and said, ¡°Come here.¡±

    Luo Jian threw away his backpack with a sad face. He stepped over and threw himself into Xing Yan¡¯s arms. His heart continued to howl, it¡¯s fine if I get eaten! I will go all out!

    Xing Yan smiled and hugged the man in his arms. He had not seen him for a long time. The little brat grew so big now, but he was still shorter than Xing Yan, and his head only reached his chin. Therefore, Xing Yan enjoyed slightly bending down to embrace him and to bow his head and kiss his lips.

    Luo Jian¡¯s lips became soft and ruddy after a little biting. Xing Yan liked it very much. He had been waiting for the child to grow up for too long. He simply was not able to bear it, but he was worried that Luo Jian would be afraid, so he had to endure it again and again.

    The most important thing was that Xing Yan had always been worried about this¡ª<i>What if Luo Jian did not like him? </i>

    Of course, only Xing Yan would be so worried. Luo Jian was kissed so much by him that he was muddleheaded, but he still happily put his ws around Xing Yan¡¯s neck and rubbed himself against him in his arms. He was like an octopus that could not be pulled off. A wise person would see that Luo Jian liked Xing Yan so much, and he was also worried about what Xing Yan was worried about.

    Because Luo Jian was moving in, Xing Yan specially arranged a guest room for him. And because he wanted to cater to Luo Jian, he had washed and changed three or four sets of furniture and even redecorated the house again. However, when Luo Jian moved his luggage in, he didn¡¯t pay much attention to the decoration of the house but thought about what to do next.

    What should I do? I have already lived in the wolf¡¯s abode. Will the wolf attack me at night?

    Luo Jian rolled back and forth on the bed with his pillow in his arms, and continued to fantasize; if he attacked me, would I have to resist, to be reserved, or not to resist at all? But it¡¯s not too good if I don¡¯t resist, in case the other party thinks I¡¯m a very casual person, what should I do then?

    Luo Jian became more excited as he hugged his pillow in his arms, thinking, Why is the sky not dark yet?

    In the evening, Xing Yan asked Luo Jian to have dinner. As a rich, powerful, and single bachelor, Xing Yan inevitably had great culinary skills. After all, he couldn¡¯t go out to a restaurant every day. Because Xing Yan¡¯s cooking was extraordinary, Luo Jian who was eating his food almost swallowed his tongue. After that, when it gotte, Luo Jian went back to bed. After taking a bath, he climbed into the bed and waited for Xing Yan toe at night, waiting for Xing Yan to assault him at night.

    However, to Luo Jian¡¯s disappointment, Xing Yan did note that night. He had a good night¡¯s sleep until dawn the next day. When he had breakfast in the morning, he could not help staring at Xing Yan, the look in his eyes ferocious. Inwardly, he was cursing:

    What the f*ck! Are you a man? Didn¡¯t we agree that you would assault me at night?! Such a big, fatty piece of meat ced in front of you and you are not eating it, are you a man?!

    Xing Yan did not know that Luo Jian had such a cunning scheme brewing in his heart. He only saw the child lying on the table listlessly (desires unfulfilled). He thought that the other party was ill, so he went to touch his forehead. En, it was normal.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Xing Yan asked him.

    Luo Jian stared at him with big, watery eyes and looked at Xing Yan pitifully. Xing Yan immediatelyughed. He hugged that person into his arms, rubbed against him and kissed his lips.

    Luo Jian lied in the other party¡¯s arms, sniffing, worried; <i>L</i>ook, this is the embodiment that he likes me! Why the heck are you not taking action!? Could......could it be that he¡¯s waiting for me to attack him first?

    Luo Jian, who felt that he must have secretly gotten the truth, brightened up his eyes immediately. He sat up straight and put his hand on Xing Yan¡¯s shoulder. This action made Xing Yan confused, so he had to sit there obediently as he nced at Luo Jian.

    Luo Jian took a deep breath, pushed Xing Yan down hard, and pushed the entire person on the sofa. Xing Yan still did not understand what the child wanted to do, so he had to lie down and not move. So, Luo Jian became bolder and started to pluck his clothes.

    This action made Xing Yan¡¯s eyes darken. He grabbed Luo Jian¡¯s paw and said, ¡°Don¡¯t make trouble.¡±

    Luo Jian was shy and embarrassed for a while and with many grievances, he uttered, ¡°Don¡¯t you like me?¡±

    ¡°Of course I like you.¡± Xing Yan hugged Luo Jian¡¯s waist and let him lie on his chest and rubbed his messy hair.

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you do anything?¡±

    Xing Yan could not help smiling, ¡°What do you want me to do?¡±

    Luo Jian¡¯s cheek turned red and the redness reached the root of his ears. He buried his face in Xing Yan¡¯s chest and rubbed against it unconsciously, ¡°It¡¯s......That is......confess to me, and do it with me...¡±

    Luo Jian did not dare to say anything more shameful, but Xing Yan already understood his meaning. He was even more helpless. Suddenly, he turned over and pressed the child under him. He stared at Luo Jian¡¯s eyes and said to Luo Jian, ¡°I love you, Luo Jian.¡±

    This sudden confession caused Luo Jian to dare not look at Xing Yan¡¯s face. He shrank his body into the sofa like a shrinking turtle. Seeing that he was so shy, Xing Yan felt that it was hrious and dragged the person out.

    ¡°I¡¯ve confessed to you. You have to answer me.¡±

    Luo Jian paused, blushed, and murmured, ¡°I......also love you too...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too soft.¡± Xing Yan teased him, ¡°You have to look into my eyes and say.¡±

    Luo Jian directly covered his face with his ws, ¡°Don¡¯t you bully me!¡±

    Xing Yan pressed on him and continued in his ear, ¡°What I¡¯m going to do next is really bullying you.¡±

    Before Luo Jian reacted, Xing Yan put his ws into Luo Jian¡¯s clothes, then peeled off his hand covering his cheek and started to deeply kiss him.

    The two people were entangled on the sofa, their clothes fell to the ground; and outside the window, in the early morning, at daybreak, sparrows packed the branches.

 Chapter 203 - Extra (II)

    <h4>Chapter 203 - Extra (II)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    It was said that after ¡®living together¡¯ with Xing Yan, Luo Jian¡¯s little days were spent happily. However, Xing Yan was beyond Luo Jian¡¯s expectations. Because his libido was toorge, when Luo Jian woke up in the morning, his back was sore and his legs were cramped. He coquettishly refused to leave his bed and insisted to remain in it. Thus, Xing Yan worked as a full-time nanny for him.

    However, Xing Yan could not be idle every day. He still had to go out to work. As for Luo Jian, because there were still a few days left before the start of his schooldays, he had nothing to do. What should he have done when he had nothing to do?

    Alone and bored, Luo Jian wandered Xing Yan¡¯s big house and began to shamelessly look through the master¡¯s things.

    However, Xing Yan was a person who had a good attitude in life and loved to be clean. His clothes were neatly folded and put in the wardrobe. There was a photo frame on the bedside table with a photo of Luo Jian and Xing Yan when they were children. When Luo Jian saw this photo, he could not help lying on Xing Yan¡¯s bed and giggling for a long time.

    There were aputer and a bookcase in the study. After powering on theputer, he saw that a password had been set. However, when Luo Jian tried to unlock the password with his birthday, it turned out that it unlocked as he had expected. So hey on the swivel chair andughed in a silly manner for quite a long time.

    However, there was nothing special on theputer, and there were not many games. All of them were work documents. What made Luo Jian continue to giggle was the desktop background of theputer, which was a photo of him and Xing Yan taken when they were traveling.

    Clearly, Luo Jian had never stayed in this house before, but now he felt that there were traces of him everywhere in this room. Xing Yan would ce his photos in all the photo frames that were avable and pile the gifts given to him on the shelf. He also saw an umbre that he had lent to Xing Yan, which Xing Yan put in the umbre stand on the porch. In that small umbre stand, there was only that one umbre.

    This shows how much the master of this house loves me!

    Luo Jian blushed and thought with shame. He wandered into the study again and began to flip through the cab. As a result, he found a de in the drawer.

    A saber.

    Luo Jian hesitated for a while but could not suppress his curiosity. He took up the saber and pulled the bright de out of its sheath. Maybe at the moment, Luo Jian did not realize that the way he held it was very skillful and nimble. The de naturally spun around in his palm. Then, Luo Jian suddenly burst into a strange state where his blood started boiling. Like throwing a flying saber, he aimed the edge of the de at a thick, red hardback book on the bookcase next to him. He threw it out urately, and the de hit the heart of the red book.

    ¡°Wow...¡± Luo Jian pped for himself. ¡°I¡¯m amazing.¡±

    After some time, yet again, he doubtfully tilted his head. ¡°Ah, why am I so amazing?¡±

    After a while, he subconsciously realized what he had done. He eximed, ¡°Ah! I destroyed Xing Yan¡¯s book!¡±

    Luo Jian immediately rushed forward nervously and pulled out the red book, which had been cut by the army saber. After pulling out the saber, he looked left and right. There was an extra de mark on the spine of the book, and it was extremely ugly. Luo Jian suddenly felt guilty. He could not imagine how Xing Yan would scold Luo Jian when he returned. Therefore, he decided to destroy the evidence.

    He first put the saber back in the drawer, andter, he destroyed the book.

    However, after Luo Jian thought for a while, he felt afraid that Xing Yan would find the book missing after he came back, so he decided to head out to the bookstore to see if there was the same book. If he bought the same book and put it back, Xing Yan would not find out.

    So he took the evidence that would prove his crime¡ªthe book that had been cut by the saber¡ªa book called ¡®Transmigration Night,¡¯ and following that, he went to find a bookstore in the city, and shortly after, he entered the city¡¯s bookstore.

    However, to the disappointment of Luo Jian, in any bookstore he visited, every bookstore owner told him that the book had gone out of print a long time ago and was no longer avable on the market. Otherwise, Luo Jian could only buy pirated books, but the quality of pirated books was horrible. The papers used were all rough, the printed fonts were vague, and there were typographical errors.

    Afterwards, Luo Jian returned home with the evidence of his crime and decided to apologize face-to-face with Xing Yan. After returning home, he found that Xing Yan was standing right in his study.

    He realized that Xing Yan had found his book missing. How did he find it so quickly? His insight was too great!¡ªLuo Jian had no choice but to stand in front of Xing Yan with the evidence of his crime.

    Xing Yan just took the evidence of his crime in his hand, looked at the de mark on the spine of the book, and said lightly, ¡°How did you get it here?¡±

    Although Xing Yan did not seem to care, Luo Jian was deeply aware that the other party must be trying to punish him. Luo Jian could only draw a long face and answer honestly, ¡°I stabbed a hole in it with a saber.¡±

    ¡°Why did you stab it?¡± Xing Yan looked at Luo Jian, lowering his head guiltily, and found it funny and helpless. He knew that he must be imagining how he would punish himter...... en, for example, doing it in the bathroom in front of the mirror?

    Luo Jian swayed left and right, pointing to his fingers. ¡°I found a saber in your drawer, took it out to y as a flying saber, and after that jabbed into the book.¡±

    Xing Yan¡¯s face was stern. His tone was very serious. ¡°This de has a cutting edge. It¡¯s too dangerous. How could you y with it?¡±

    The stern tone of Xing Yan immediately made Luo Jian¡¯s eyes turn red. After he gazed at Xing Yan, he almost cried. Looking at his appearance, Xing Yan felt distressed, so he could onlyfort him: ¡°Alright, I¡¯m not going to scold you. Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not crying!¡± Luo Jian sniffed and naturally retracted into Xing Yan¡¯s arms forfort, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do it.¡±

    Xing Yan kisses his eyelids tofort him. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t mean to do it, but you can¡¯t y with the saber in the future, okay?¡±

    ¡°En!¡± As soon as Luo Jian heard Xing Yan¡¯s attitude eased, he knew that the other party had forgiven him. He immediately hugged him with joy. They were all entangled and inseparable. Luo Jian was pressed on the desk by Xing Yan. After a long time, Luo Jian asked vaguely, ¡°Xing Yan, why do you have a saber in your desk?¡± Besides, it was also a military saber, which was rarely seen.

    ¡°From a friend who was a Special Forces officer,¡± Xing Yan replied. After pausing, he seemed to remember something. He said, ¡°By the way, my friend from the Special Forces just came back from his holiday and invited me out. Do you want to go?¡±

    Luo Jian, of course, had the attitude of following Xing Yan wherever he went, immediately nodding and saying yes.

    However, when Xing Yan and Luo Jian went to meet the Special Forces friend the next day, Luo Jian realized that the ce they went out to y was not quite right.

    Generally speaking, shouldn¡¯t they go out for sightseeing, drinking, eating, singing, and so on? Why the hell were they going to a gun training ground!?

    Luo Jian had a numb expression as Xing Yan and his friend brought him into a gun training ground, which was close to the army. It was estimated that many soldiers came to practice shooting in their spare time, and most of them were veterans. Although Xing Yan waas neither, he seemed to have a hobby in this respect. He had even be a member in this training ground.

    However, it seemed that men were born with a love for these weapons. Although Luo Jian did not think he was keen on guns, he was still happy when Xing Yan said he wanted to teach him how to use a gun. Then Xing Yan got him a Type 54 pistol for practice, took him to the shooting range, and put earmuffs on him.

    ¡°The gunfire is too loud. This is to protect your hearing.¡± Xing Yan helped him to put on the earmuffs. While no one was looking, he gave a little peck on Luo Jian¡¯s lips, which made him blush immediately.

    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you how to hold a gun first.¡± Xing Yan asked him to hold the pistol and was prepared to correct Luo Jian¡¯s holding posture. However, Luo Jian did not need to listen to Xing Yan¡¯s instructions. He changed his posture to a very standard gun-holding posture without the instructions of a teacher.

    Xing Yan froze for a moment.

    Luo Jian did not seem to realize what he had done. He set up his posture, pointed the muzzle of the gun at the target heart in the range, and asked Xing Yan, ¡°Is this how I should position myself?¡±

    Xing Yan was silent for a while and suddenly replied with a smile, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. Luo Jian is very smart.¡±

    When he heard his lover praising him, he was so happy that he almost threw away his gun and threw himself at Xing Yan. However, he finally endured. He listened to what Xing Yan instructed in his ear, and after opening the safety of the gun, he could directly start shooting.

    In fact, Luo Jian did not need to be taught. When he opened the safety and tried to shoot, he seemed to be so addicted to the fun of using weapons that the people next to him couldn¡¯t see that he was actually a novice, and his shooting performance was unimaginably great. In other words, among his 10 shots, he could hit nine of them.

    Xing Yan also did not speak. He just watched. His Special Forces friend came over and looked at Luo Jian¡¯s achievements. He asked Xing Yan, ¡°Is your brother really a novice? He¡¯s pretty good.¡±

    In front of others, Xing Yan said that Luo Jian was his family¡¯s brother.

    He smiled. ¡°Of course, this is probably what we call genius.¡±

    The Special Forces friend didn¡¯t believe him at all: ¡°Absolutely impossible. Even the best shooter in my team can¡¯t be like him...... Speaking of which, it seems that the first time, you used to use the gun very well too, but you weren¡¯t as good as your brother.¡±

    Xing Yan looked at Luo Jian tenderly and replied persistently, ¡°As I said, he is a genius.¡±

    Luo Jian felt good using the gun for the first time, but aftering down from the shooting range, his hands immediately turned red and swollen. Luo Jian continued to seek thefort of Xing Yan, who had to wipe his hands with medicinal wine.

    ¡°You deserve it since you kept goofing around with the gun continuously.¡± Xing Yan grasped his paws and wiped them with wine.

    Luo Jian also seemed to feel strange and puzzled. With his head tilted, he said, ¡°Am I too gifted? I have never touched a gun before, but why did I use it as if it was just instinctive for me?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing bad; it¡¯s your talent.¡± Xing Yan came to rub Luo Jian¡¯s head. As soon as Luo Jian was rubbed by him, he immediately put everything behind him and rubbed himself into Xing Yan¡¯s arms.

    They were sitting in the training ground watching people shoot.

    Fierce gunfire reverberated in his ears. Luo Jian froze for a while and suddenly asked Xing Yan, ¡°Will we always be together?¡±

    Xing Yan responded gently, ¡°Of course, unless we should separate?¡±

    Luo Jian narrowed his eyes a little and seemed to be satisfied. asionally, the bright and sunny sky would make him feel like he was in a dream. He felt that he was still having a long, endless nightmare. In the nightmare, he could not stay with Xing Yan all the time.

    However, the nightmare seemed to have ended. His Xing Yan was sitting next to him. His heartbeat and temperature were so obvious. His breath still flowed. Luo Jian felt as if he was integrated with this person.

    This so-called happiness was perhaps just this.

 Chapter 204 - Extra (III)

    <h4>Chapter 204 - Extra (III)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Humu</i>

    It was two o¡¯clock in the morning.

    Feng YuLan was sitting on the public bench on the sidewalk by the side of the road in a thin overcoat. Beside him, there was a streetmp that had been flickering due to some problems. The dim yellow light sometimes lit up, asionally illuminating his pale face, and asionally swallowing him in the deep darkness.

    Feng YuLan did not wear shoes. When he went out, he was too emotional and too crazy. He only wanted to leave quickly. So, he walked out of the house barefoot, wearing thin pajamas, and only had time to wrap himself up in a windbreaker that was not enough to keep out the cold. Although the night was not very cold, Ah Lan still felt a chill spreading rapidly in his body.

    Feeling the chill, Feng YuLan couldn¡¯t help but rub his hands, but that couldn¡¯t bring him more warmth. He rubbed his face again. The cold wind seemed to calm his restless brain a lot. Ah Lan began to recall certain memories in his past that served to warm him.

    Feng YuLan had a lover. A mature man.

    He took out his cellphone from his pocket and unlocked the screen. On the screen was a photo of Ah Lan and the man. In the photo, they were standing close together. And in the photo, they could be intimately standing that close together forever.

    Long ago, Ah Lan got to know this man. It was when he was a little boy, when he was probably in elementary school. He remembered that when he was a child, he seemed to have an easy to bully appearance. Other boys in the ss always wanted to get in trouble with him. Once out of school, he had a fight with the boys, but he was outnumbered and badly beaten up by the group......

    It was at this time that the man appeared and threateningly and forcefully drove the boys away. From then on, the man carved a deep impression in Ah Lan¡¯s very young mind.

    Ah Lan thought that it was at that time that he began to like him. He liked this arrogant man who was carrying a bit of a temper. And when he smiled, was a very gentle man.

    Because of this love, Feng YuLan abandoned a lot of things and disappointed many people. His parents and his friends did not understand why he wanted to be with such a man.

    Would there be a future when a man and another man be together?

    But Ah Lan was still so stubborn, and still so persistent. So, he was kicked out of his family as soon as he graduated from high school. From then on, he was helpless and had nothing. The man took him into his house and gave him iparable warmth in his life. Ah Lan once thought that they were so in love, so much in love that they would never be separated.

    But it seemed that all kinds of love could not resist the sharpening of time.

    They have lived together for seven or eight years. In the beginning, they mutually felt good about each other. But as time went on, passion faded, and in the end, it was a dull and boring routine. This boringness began to make them feel sick of it. Ah Lan was aware of the urrence of a crisis when he felt that, so he tried to reconstruct some passionate moments. He tried to be better to that person, but he did not know why but they always start to quarrel because of some inexplicable little things.

    In fact, both of them were not very good-tempered. In the past, they were deeply emotional and indulged their partners. Once there was some friction in their rtionship, everything would be over after receiving a smile. However, in recent years, as long as they argued, it would immediately upgrade to a fight. However, Ah Lan was always weak in fighting, so no matter how he fought, he would never win.

    So, he would always be grabbed by that man and the man would always hit him twice in his stomach. Then the other party threw him into the house, raised his foot and left the house.

    Once he went out, he wouldn¡¯t be back for at least three to four days.

    In fact, it was fine for him if he was beaten. The man was very gentle and never hit him with much force. It hurts just for a moment. It felt much better than the pain in his heart.

    Ah Lan was just worried that he would note back.

    Even if Ah Lan made a meal for two, washed all the clothes and cleaned the house, the man did note back. He did not return for a very, very, long time.

    So, Ah Lan was used to sitting alone. When he was sitting alone, his hands and feet were always cold.

    He recalled more and more memories of his past. He would turn on his cellphone and look at the photos stored on his cellphone. He would always start looking from the first photo. It was a photo of Ah Lan and the man when he was a child. Under the pretext of going for a spring outing in school, Ah Lan went out to the seaside to y with this person, and this photo was taken by his cellphone at the seaside. Later, even though he changed several cell phones, the photos were still kept until today.

    The second photo was captured when Ah Lan was secretly photographing the other party. The man was sleeping on the leisure chair. Ah Lan broke off the small yellow flowers on the road and put them on his head and took this stupid and cute photo of him sleeping.

    Ah Lan¡¯s eyes turned red when he saw this photo. He stroked the screen of his cellphone with his fingers as if he was touching the person on the screen.

    The third was Ah Lan¡¯s close shot of the other party¡¯s smiling face. Whenever this man smiled, he gave off a very gentle vibe, and after a long time, Ah Lan found that it was only in front of him that the man would smile like this.

    The fourth was a photo of the man sitting on the sofa with Ah Lan in his arms. They were very close to each other and their clothes were not neat. Ah Lan remembered that after taking this photo, the man pressed him on the sofa to do it once more.

    And a fifth, a sixth......most of them were taken by Ah Lan secretly using his cellphone. He loved this person so much that all the photos stored on his cellphone were him. He could not bear to delete any one of them. His memory card was changed several times, and all of them were filled with this person.

    Since he loved the man so much and since he was so affectionate towards the man, then why have they reached this point?

    Ah Lan did not understand. The coldness had started to freeze his thoughts. Today, he quarrelled and fought with the man again. He still could not beat the man. After being beaten by the man, Ah Lan suddenly felt it was a littleughable. He remembered that this man would always leave after beating him, so this time, he decided to leave first.

    He left the house in a hurry, and he did not take anything with him. He did not think about where to go or whether to go back. He just walked aimlessly in the streets and sat on this bench.

    On the road, cars asionally drove by at night. The lights of the street were so dim that it could not illuminate the dark night.

    After sitting in a daze for a while, Ah Lan did not know why but he suddenly felt a headache.

    The headache seemed to be an unexpected guest. At first, it was only a slight headache, but in the next second, it intensified so much that Ah Lan lost consciousness for a short time. He seemed to have a long dream while he lost consciousness shortly. In that dream, many scenes flew by rapidly, many people were talking, and many things were happening.

    Then, Ah Lan woke up in a cold sweat, and he realized that he had a nightmare.

    It was simply that he could not remember all the things that happened in the nightmare.

    The night was still so long, and he was still sitting on the cold bench in front of the bleak road next to the shing streetlights. The blowing wind was slightly whistling in his ears, and the cold made his limbs stiff, and even his tears felt cold.

    Ah Lan suddenly found himself crying.

    How terrible.

    He embarrassedly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but unfortunately, no matter how he wiped them, more and more of his tears would sprout out, so he gave up atst. He bowed his head, and his face was full of tears. Tears kept falling so much that the front of his chest was wet with it.

    Why had it turned out this way?

    Why must it turn out this way?

    Where exactly went wrong? Which exact step went wrong?

    Why treat me this way?

    He cried and choked in a low voice. He released his pain in the deserted night. And that was why he did not hear the rapid footsteps nearby. When he realized that there was a person standing beside him, he felt his head raising up to look at the person standing beside him.

    Duan Li gasped slightly and lowered his head to look at Feng YuLan. Ah Lan cried so much that his eyes were red and swollen. His thin body trembled in the cold wind. His fragile appearance made Duan Li¡¯s heart slightly hurt. His heart felt unremittingly painful, and it throbbed with pain.

    So, he went over and he picked up the person and sent him into his embrace.

    Ah Lan did not stop crying. The tears made Duan Li¡¯s shoulder wet. Duan Li found out for the first time that this stubborn man had so many tears. It was as if he wanted to squander all the tears in his life at this one time.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Don¡¯t cry.¡± Duan Li touched Ah Lan¡¯s head and hugged him tightly.

    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. It¡¯s my fault. Don¡¯t cry......Ah Lan.¡±

    There are several types of love that were sweet. But the moments of tears were always more than the moments ofughter.

    Some love was bitter, but it was more difficult for them to separate than reconcile.

    Later, Ah Lan still broke up with Duan Li. He moved out of Duan Li¡¯s house. Because his work had been rtively smooth in recent years, he had saved a sum of money and bought a small house in a good neighbourhood. He nned to spend his little days carefree and unrestrained.

    However, Ah Lan felt that his small room was still a little too big asionally. And he felt it was so empty since he was alone. However,pared with the time when he was always crying, he suddenly felt that he was much more rxed now.

    He began to work hard, went out to y with his friends, and lived a regr and healthy life.

    But sometimes, Ah Lan would see Duan Li appear below his apartment when he raised his head to look out of the apartment¡¯s window.

    Ah Lan would look at him from the window of his house and draw the curtain.

    But in fact, he did not leave the area near the window but sat by the window in a daze.

    Sometimes, it was better to separate for a period of time. Because when they reconcile, their feelings would warm up, and the people involved would cherish it more for fear of losing again.

    But if the time they separated was too long, both parties would forget each other and this rtionship.

    People could never go against the terrors of time.

    Ah Lan thought for a while, took out his cellphone in his pocket and dialled the number in his contacts.

    The phone was connected immediately. There were a slight breathing sound and sounds of blowing wind from the phone. Ah Lan was silent for a moment and said softly, ¡°It¡¯s too cold outside. Would you like toe upstairs?¡±

    The person on the other side of the phone did not have time to reply. Ah Lan only heard the rapid footsteps and the sound of someone going up the stairs. Soon, the sounds were close at hand.

    T/N: And...this ends the extra for the CP, DL x FYL. I could deeply understand how hurt Ah Lan must have felt, yet I can¡¯t really me Duan Li. Because sometimes, both parties are usually at fault in a rtionship. That¡¯s how some rtionships end if they did not reconcile. For some reason, I was reminded of a certain scene in Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Not sure if any one of you watched it.

 Chapter 205 - Extra (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 205 - Extra (IV)</h4>

    <i>Editor: Kitty</i>

    Recently, there was a freshman who had transferred over in the first year of medical college. His name only had a single character: Hong. This name that was given to him sounded a little weird, but it didn¡¯t matter since he looked handsome. Every time this person finished ss, a group of girls gathered around him, causing several malepatriots to get so angry their noses were crooked.

    But what could anger do? That person was naturally handsome, was tall enough to meet females¡¯ standards, and had a mncholy temperament. Once he smiled, his slight gentleness was revealed. asionally, certain things and words he said were also very cute. All of his actions were so cute that he made the girls who packed around him make a big fuss.

    Of course, although the new student himself did not do too much, his high poprity was able to attract many red-eyed, envious res. So some people in the ss were not satisfied with him, and these people were mostly boys. These people flocked in small groups to seek constion, subconsciously tricking all boys to iste the male student who transferred over with the highest poprity among the female students.

    Of course, Hong himself did not realize that he was excluded by the boys. After all, he was surrounded by girls all day long. The feeling of being surrounded by girls made him happy. He heartlessly ate all kinds of snacks delivered by girls and enjoyed the girls chirping around him like swallows...... Ah, although it was a little noisy.

    But this felt good! The girls were so cute and adorable, having thin arms and legs and soft ws. Hong felt very happy whenever he found a chance to touch their small hands.

    In the past, Hong stayed in a strict all-boys school with a group of nerds. He was faced with either muscr, rough men or girly gays who would prop up an orchid finger. Staying in that kind of school, he had to cover his chrysanthemum and hold on to his soap carefully all the time. For a long period, he had never seen anything good. That made Hong feel like he was about to wilt.

    Changing schools is a wonderful thing! While Hong was surrounded by girls happily, he inwardly eximed this in his heart.

    But while Hong himself was happy, a few males in the ss found it unbearable.

    ¡°Shit! That boy is too arrogant!¡± After ss, several boys gathered in the corner of the ssroom and discussed in groups. ¡°There are only five or six girls in our ss. When this fellow arrived, he snatched all the fatty meat away!¡±

    ¡°How the hell is he good looking? Isn¡¯t it just that face?¡±

    ¡°Man, this brat, you look down on today¡¯s society too much. Now...... the society just looks at your face!¡±

    ¡°When ites to looking at faces, isn¡¯t there a handsome guy in our ss?¡±

    The boys discussed and could not help but nce to thest row of seats by the window in the ssroom. This seat was always empty. The student who should have sat there had note to ss for a month.

    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t Luo Fenge yet?¡± Naturally, the boys pushed the topic to the student who never came to ss and talked about it again.

    Male student A said, ¡°I heard that something happened at home. His father or someone was seriously ill.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense, why did I hear that he went to join the army?¡± Male student B retorted.

    Male student C interrupted, ¡°From which grapevine did you hear this news? I heard the teacher say Luo Feng is going abroad.¡±

    ¡°Come on, the more you say it, the more ridiculous it is!¡± Male student D began to summarize, ¡°ording to my information, it seems that Luo Feng¡¯s skillful shooting was discovered by a talent scout, and he was transferred to the military academy.¡±

    ¡°Ah? Not studying medicine? I thought his grades were quite good. If you copied his answers in the exam, you would pass all the tests!¡± Male student A indicated how regretful he was, ¡°He¡¯s going to leave now. Who can I copy the answers from?¡±

    ¡°Come on, you¡¯re only good at doing that.¡±

    The group of boys had a good discussion here, but when they talked of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived. Luo Feng, who had not been seen for a long time in the empty seat, appeared in the ss in the afternoon. He was able toe, which surprised several people in the ss. Then Luo Feng also robbed Hong of the attention of the girls around him, and they naturally gathered around Luo Feng.

    Although Luo Feng often did note to ss, amazingly, his poprity in the ss was the best. No one could help it. He was handsome, a straight-A student, good at speaking, and good at dealing with people. After getting along with this group of people in the ss, they found that, Hey, this brat is actually quite down-to-earth. And therefore, they managed to hang out together.

    Faced with the enthusiasm of his ssmates after not meeting them for a long time, Luo Feng¡¯s smile remained unchanged. When someone mentioned how he didn¡¯te to ss for such a long time, Luo Feng said with slight regret, ¡°I might join the army, but my student records here can also be preserved.¡±

    ¡°Eh, how could it be? You had it hard when you got into medical school, right? Did your father approve of it?¡±

    Luo Feng thought about it and replied, ¡°My father left the decision to me. He says I can go wherever I want. Mainly, it¡¯s also because certain special people hoped for me to go.¡±

    This group of people around Luo Feng were chittering happily, but Hong ssmate who was ignored felt ufortable. This guy came out of nowhere and snatched all the attention from him? So he followed them and approached the crowd. When he looked through the crowd, he saw Luo Feng earnestly sitting on his seat. He seemed to notice Hong¡¯s gaze. He raised his head slightly to look at Hong. The two people¡¯s eyes met and sparks flew.

    Hong suddenly felt that this guy named Luo Feng looked so familiar, but he just could not remember where he had seen the other, and he did not know why he felt Luo Feng was unpleasant to his eyes. He felt uneasy for some reason. So he moved his line of sight away and went back to his seat.

    He naturally did not think that Luo Feng also felt the same way about him. He also could not help frowning, staring at the back of Hong. Nearby, some students also noticed Luo Feng¡¯s line of sight and exined, ¡°That¡¯s the new student, who seemed to be studying in XX medical college previously. He transferred to our side afterwards.¡±

    In fact, this should have been nothing to the both of them. Perhaps the two of them just could not get along. Luo Feng was about to leave school, and Hong had just turned around. It was most likely that they would just brush by each other¡¯s shoulders. However, on this asion, all the students in the ss learned that Luo Feng was going to join the army and decided to hold a farewell party for him before he left.

    It was a bunch of young people, so it was normal and not troublesome for them to host a farewell party. They would simply have a good dinner and sing karaoke all night. The money used was deducted from the ss funds, and everyone in ss has to attend. Although Hong had just transferred to this ss, he was already a member of the ss. Naturally, there was no reason not to attend.

    However, Hong camete for the dinner gathering that night, and the two tables in the restaurant were full of people. It was not known if it was intentional or not, but there was only one vacant seat beside Luo Feng. Inwardly, Hong felt ufortable and twitched his mouth, but he swaggered there and sat down beside him.

    The personalities of the two people were very different. They could not seem to get along with each other. Hong did not want to talk to Luo Feng because he felt strange when he saw Luo Feng for the first time.

    Luo Feng seemed to be a kind-hearted person. He always smiled at others, but when he smiled at Hong, it always felt that the smile looked like a mask, covering up all the darkness and light in his heart. But who knew what kind of things were hidden under such a mask?

    This group of people ate and drank. As the protagonist of the party, Luo Feng was always toasted with cups and cups of alcohol by many groups of people. However, this person¡¯s ability to hold alcohol unexpectedly good. Even if he downed a few cups of alcohol, his face would not be red. However, Hong next to him was implicated by the protagonist, and his stomach was also filled with a lot of wine, so he suddenly fell on the table.

    Because this group of people was drinking alcohol and leaning on the bar table as they were merrily talking, all previous unhappiness they had with each other seemed to have disappeared at this moment. This group of people nned to go to a certain karaoke parlour to sing all night. Luo Feng noticed that Hong was still lying on the bar table and nobody was paying attention to him. Usually Hong had the best rtionship with the girls, but now, the girls were too busy. Hence, naturally, no one paid attention to him.

    Luo Feng thought for a while but still decided to drag him up. He made an interesting observation. Hong did not cause a ruckus when he was drunk. He stood up when he was pulled and led by Luo Feng like an ignorant child. When Luo Feng saw that he was obedient, he naturally took the other party¡¯s ws and took Hong to participate in the karaoke.

    However, in karaoke parlours, it would be filled with a mix of both good and bad people. This group of ssmates caused too much of a ruckus. At first, they were still fine. But as time dragged on, they started to snatch the microphone and shout at the top of their lungs. It was no longer singing anymore but roaring. The lyrics were roared out word by word. The boys were the most energetic. They hugged sieves as theypeted on how much they could drink. The girls were no longer able to carry on drinking. The soft and cute girls squeezed together and huddled in small groups. They curled themselves up in small balls, using their outer coats to cover themselves as they dozed off.

    The girls were so unguarded against the group of wolves in the ss that the wolves started to howl and shrill wildly.

    As the protagonist of this farewell party, Luo Feng was estimated to have been forgotten by all. He was now sitting in the corner of the lounge. Beside him sat the strangely obedient student Hong, who was as drunk as a jellyfish.

    Hong was drunk. At first, he was quite obedient, but soon he did not know what was going on. He kept rubbing himself against Luo Feng. Hong himself had a good figure: he was tall and powerful, and his strength was not small. While he rubbed on Luo Feng, he brought Luo Feng to his embrace. Luo Feng pushed him hard, but he was stunned to find that he could not push him away.

    Luo Feng sighed but did not push him again. Therefore, Hong held him and buried his face in Luo Feng¡¯s neck. After some time, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Luo Feng with burning eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Luo Feng saw Hong looking at him, but his eyes were still foggy and he was obviously still delirious.

    Hong did not speak and inched forward to bite Luo Feng¡¯s lips.

    Luo Feng was given a fright by him, but at that very moment, he had forgotten to push the other party away.

    The karaoke parlour was still noisy. Everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the songs that were sting on the screen while those who were not paying attention to the songs were dozing off. The light in the lounge was dim, and no one noticed the abnormal behavior of the two people.

    Hong licked Luo Feng¡¯s lips for quite a long time. He seemed to murmur something, but Luo Feng did not hear clearly.

    Later, Hong let Luo Feng¡¯s lips go. He continued to hold him and buried his face in the crook of Luo Feng¡¯s neck. Luo Feng did not fight against these actions. He rxed and leaned on the sofa cushion, allowing Hong to stick to him and not let him go.

    It was but a small interlude that would soon be forgotten.

    After that, the farewell party was over. Luo Feng left school to join the army, and Hong continued his good days surrounded by various girls, but on the contrary, his medical student records were extraordinarily good. ording to what various teachers said, it was like he was born to be a doctor.

    He did not remember that he had sexually harassed another boy while he was drunk in the corner of a dark karaoke parlour lounge.

    Oh, of course, he may have remembered it, but he was too shy to recall it.

    But many yearster, he saw Luo Feng again. The other party was wearing camouge clothes, holding a rifle, and standing at the lookout post with his head and chest raised. It was something akin to what he had seen in his distant memories. He seemed to have seen such a man with sharp eyes holding a gun and aiming at him with the muzzle of the gun.

    Hong thought and thought about it at that time. And he could not help but stride forward to the lookout post where the man was. He thought it might be necessary to talk to him about what had happened in the karaoke parlour¡¯s lounge at that farewell party.

    As for the oue, Hong, hooking his lips, did not think much about it, but at this moment, he felt very happy.

    T/N: Did you guys expect this CP?

 Chapter 206 - Extra (V) - (END)

    <h4>Chapter 206 - Extra (V) ¨C (END)</h4>

    <i>Editors: Humu & Kitty</i>

    One day, an unexpected guest came to the door of Xing Yan and Luo Jian¡¯s house.

    It was a strange man donned in a duck cap, grey jacket, and jeans.

    He was standing at the door of Luo Jian¡¯s house. When he opened the door, the man gave Luo Jian a polite smile and stuffed his business card at him.

    Luo Jian lowered his head to look at the business card. On the card, beautiful white spider lilies were scattered all over. The words ¡®Zhang Ying¡¯ were written on it, and his post was written as ¡®Transmigration Night¡¯ studio.

    ¡°You are?¡± Luo Jian¡¯s face showed his baffled expression. The sudden appearance of the man caught him by surprise. At the same time, he was slightly puzzled because it seemed that he had heard this name before¡ªon the beautiful and enchanting white spider lilies on the business card, the name of the studio ¡®Transmigration Night.¡¯

    ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Ying. Sorry, you must be disturbed by my sudden visit. In fact, I want to invite you and Mr. Xing Yan from your family to a party. Do you have time next Saturday?¡± Zhang Ying went straight to the point as soon as he arrived. His smile was always on his face. In a trance, Luo Jian felt he was familiar with this person. When the other party lowered his cap and only showed the smile on the corners of his mouth, the strange sense of familiarity seemed to intensify.

    Luo Jian felt that somewhere in his heart seemed to be throbbing, as if calling him to do something. However, after careful consideration, he did not quite understand what he needed to do. Luo Jian could only hesitate slightly. Xing Yan was not at home, and no one gave him advice, but he still agreed to the invitation of the strange man: ¡°I have time. I don¡¯t know what kind of party and where the party would be held, though?¡±

    Zhang Ying¡¯s smile became even more brilliant. He replied softly, ¡°HuaTian Hotel on XiangYang Street, Lounge 205. It will take ce at around afternoon, 11 o¡¯ clock. It¡¯s not a formal banquet. I only invited a few people, so you don¡¯t need to be too formal.¡±

    Zhang Ying said and raised his head, with his eyes under his cap exposed, staring at Luo Jian, ¡°I¡¯ll be there waiting for your presence.¡±

    After he was done speaking, the man turned around and left, leaving only Luo Jian staring at the other¡¯s back with his business card in Luo Jian¡¯s hand. In fact, when Zhang Ying turned to leave, he inexplicably wanted to open his mouth to hold back the other party, but he could not open his mouth. Thinking that he could see this strange stranger again next week, Luo Jian was magically at ease.

    What Luo Jian did not know was that after the man left, he also went to several different ces, such as Duan Li and Ah Lan¡¯s new abode. They also weed the unexpected guest as he knocked on the door and made the same invitation. However, while Duan Li was still slightly confused, Ah Lan had already agreed to the other party¡¯s invitation.

    ¡°Why ept an invitation from a stranger?¡± Duan Li didn¡¯t understand so he asked. In the passing, he took his lover into his arms.

    Ah Lan quickly rubbed in his arms, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I just want to agree to it. Hm...... intuition, maybe?¡±

    Ah Lan always had this terrifying and extremely urate intuition, especially when it came to dealing with danger. Duan Li almost had an ident before. At that time, he and Ah Lan drove a car themselves as they went for a vacation. Maybe Duan Li was too tired and was not paying enough attention. At that time, Ah Lan who was sleeping beside him suddenly woke up. Then he quickly grabbed the steering wheel and swung it aside to avoid the danger of them colliding with arge truck across the road.

    There were many urrences of simr events in their lives. This terrifying and magical intuition was especially reflected in dealing with people. Ah Lan could always see at a nce what kind of person someone was¡ªgood or bad? Was this person an enemy or a friend? It was amazing that Ah Lan had such a pair of perceptive eyes.

    However, although Duan Li¡¯s talent was notparable, Duan Li also had terrifying talents in some aspects. He had learned to hold a de since he was in middle school. The master who had taught him how to use the de always praised him as a genius. If they were in ancient times, he might have been a hero on the battlefield.

    Oh, of course, in modern society, no matter how talented he was, he could not beat a gun.

    After Zhang Ying left Ah Lan and Duan Li¡¯s home, he went to other ces immediately. The other two were not easy to contact, especially the one in the army. It took a lot of effort to dig him out. The other one was rtively easier to find.

    But in fact, the other one was also not so easy to handle. He had been transferred to the emergency department. He was so busy that he was on-call for 24 hours. He seemed to be operating on patients all the time. And even in his sleep, he was still operating on others. While he was desperately busy, a nurse told him, ¡°There is a man named Zhang Yinging to see you.¡±

    ¡°Not meeting, not meeting! Let him wait a little longer. There are other patients waiting for me!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been letting him wait for two hours already,¡± The nurse stated yet again.

    Dr. Hong scratched his head and did not want the man who had been waiting for him for two hours to continue waiting. He said to the nurse, ¡°Let the doctor next door rece me. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    The nurse nodded cleverly, and Dr. Hong rushed out like a rocket. If this inexplicable fellow said a lot of nonsense to waste his time, he would definitely peel a big sum of money off him.

    Of course, the result was the same. When Zhang Ying proposed the invitation, Hong looked at the other party¡¯s face and agreed. Even he himself felt that he was baffled by his promise.

    After that, Zhang Ying ran to the army and found Luo Feng. The situation was the same. Luo Feng looked at Zhang Ying¡¯s smile and agreed with him inexplicably.

    So a weekter, a group of people gathered in the hotel¡¯s lounge magically.

    It was a strange and novel reassembly for them. They were quite different in their ages, upations, hobbies, etc., but when they sat together again, they did not feel anxious or ufortable.

    Luo Jian saw Luo Feng and eximed, ¡°Paternal cousin!?¡±

    Luo Feng also saw Luo Jian and reached out to touch his cousin¡¯s head. He also said with a smile, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for many years.¡±

    But this move was noticed by the ferocious Xing Yan. He pulled Luo Jian into his arms. Luo Feng¡¯s paw awkwardly stopped in mid-air. He could only chortle augh, but he also did not mind. In fact, he knew the sexual orientation of this little cousin of his from the very beginning.

    Luo Jian was not very well-behaved. He climbed out of Xing Yan¡¯s arms and began to pay attention to the faces of several people on the table. He felt that these people appeared so familiar to him, but he couldn¡¯t remember where he had seen them. Then his attention was attracted by Ah Lan. He somewhat uncertainly called out to him, ¡°Ah Lan?¡±

    When Feng YuLan heard someone calling himself, he turned back to look at Luo Jian and followed with an uncertain answer, ¡°Yes, Ah Jian?¡±

    When they were in primary school, they had known each other briefly. However, Luo Jian had be seriously ill and could not continue to go to school. From then on, he withdrew from Feng YuLan¡¯s life. However, it was amazing that even though they had not met for such a long time, they could still call out each other¡¯s names. Luo Jian felt as if they had never separated and as if he had just met the other yesterday.

    Ah Lan seemed to feel the same way. Suddenly, they happily flocked together, chatting joyously, leaving behind the two beside them. Then, Xing Yan, who was left in the cold, stared at Duan Li fiercely. Duan Li, who was also left out in the cold, also stared back at Xing Yan.

    Compared to the situation of Luo Jian and others, the situation of Hong and Luo Feng was not much better. In fact, Luo Feng was not very interested in Hong. His edges and corners were sharpened in the army. His sitting posture was always upright and firm, and his character was also very tough. But recently, he did not know where this Hong popped out from. He had been persistently pestering him.

    It was really annoying that he would meet him at a party.

    Luo Feng nced at Hong unpleasantly, and Hong was staring at Luo Feng with hot eyes. He ttered, ¡°We are really predestined.¡±

    Luo Feng ignored him, but Hong grasped onto Luo Feng¡¯s paw as if he was familiar with him. Luo Feng did not resist and allowed him to touch but Luo Feng did not think of why exactly he did not resist.

    Hong liked small hands. In fact, his dream before this was to marry a girl with a small body and beautiful hands.

    Luo Feng¡¯s ws were quite different from what he imagined. They were very powerful and full of calluses. These hands had held guns and knives for a long time. They were not beautiful at all.

    So exactly which part of him attracted Hong?

    Hong felt that he did not like only this pair of hands.

    Seeing this group of people naturally entered into their respective states, Zhang Ying, sitting on the master¡¯s position, exchanged nces with the good friend sitting beside him. He stood up and began to speak in a loud voice, ¡°I¡¯m d to see all of you again. Do you have any impression of me?¡±

    Although it was a weekter, everyone still remembered this young man named Zhang Ying.

    Zhang Ying began to smile. He pointed to the thin man beside him. ¡°This is my business partner. His name is Nie Cong. We have set up a studio called ¡®Transmigration Night.¡¯¡±

    Nie Cong seemed very shy. He just lowered his head slightly, but he did not speak.

    Zhang Ying then continued, ¡°I have other studio partners, but for some reasons, they are not here, so I have to introduce them to you next time. However, the reason why I invited you here today is very simple. The project of ¡®Transmigration Night¡¯ our studio is involved with is mainly to develop a very special online game.¡±

    Several people listened to what Zhang Ying said and unconsciously looked at each other but heard Zhang Ying continue to say, ¡°But this online game has some special, um...... it should be said that it is very special. In today¡¯s market, all the online games you can see can be controlled only with a mouse and a keyboard, and I made this...... which needs someone¡¯s brain to control it.¡±

    ¡°Holographic online games?¡± It was not known who said that.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Ying agreed and continued to smile, ¡°It¡¯s a holographic online game. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve done a full test of its security, but we still feel that there are some deficiencies in this game. These deficiencies can¡¯t be made up by our studio alone, so I need some help, such as...... your help.¡±

    When Zhang Ying said this, he was very confident, as if he had never thought that this group of people would refuse.

    As a matter of fact, none of the people in Luo Jian¡¯s group refused. In fact, they were very happy. Somehow, this kind of joy surged out from some ces in their hearts. As long as this group of people sat on a table, their joy would overflow and it would be hard for them to extricate themselves.

    So, just like this, hearing that they still had a chance to y a game together, this group of people found it harder to reject the offer.

    And when they sat here, they did not expect that in the future, they would create a new era of holographic online games.

    In this reality that seemed to be unreal, they seemed to have found all their lost passion in their past.

    -end-

    T/N: And this is the end!!!! Omg. I have to say, it¡¯s been great tranting for you guys and reading yourments. It¡¯s also been really great working with Kitty & Humu, who are very good at editing. It¡¯s been a great journey though, with LJ and gang. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do. And I want to thank you guys who followed the novel while I was tranting, and all the encouragingments you guys gave me. They really keep me going while I was being bored and lonely when tranting this novel during the lockdown period in my country. Love you guys. I would also like to thank any future readers, who have reached thest chapter of EIC! Regardless, thank you guys for reading. I hope to see you guys in my next novel! ¨CFalling into the Abyss.

    Humu¡¯s turn!!

    IT¡¯S THE END QAQ thank you all for reading with us till the end!! Hope yall liked it as much as i did. Did yall cry? I sure did~ do continue to support FleurDeLys¡¯s newest project! They are such great trantors and editors, it was a joy working together. Not sure if I¡¯ll pick up any new projects (besides STAS) but I sure do hope to see yall again! Endless love for LJ and gang (¨R?¨Q) ?

    Kitty: I¡¯m not great at goodbyes but I¡¯ll try... Anyway, big thanks to FleurDeLys and Humu for putting up with me forgetting deadlines and stuff hehe ?? I had so much fun editing and reading this novel, and I¡¯m so d that you guys enjoyed this too!

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!