《Congratulations on Your Successful Escape》 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Warning: This novel contains dark themes and has horror elements (corpses, blood, murder, etc.). He was falling. The heavy darkness wrapped in icy silence rushed to his mouth and nose like a tide. The sense of suffocation was crushing his chest while the deathly stillness drowned his breaths and shouts. There was nowhere to escape. His heart felt weak, dropping like a stone as hisst breath faded away. Then, all the sounds and colours slowly disappeared, leaving behind the endless darkness that seemed to be bewitching him to sleep forever. The eternal silence gently embraced him and whispered softly in his ear: ¡°Stay¡­¡± Mo Yi opened his eyes, quickly but silently gasping for breath as he squinted at the dazzling light. The thin sweat drenched shirt clung to his back, the cold sensation prating straight into his nerves. It was this dream again¡­ Slowly, Mo Yi rose, stiff soreness spreading from his neck. He blinked slowly after having adapted to the harsh white light, his sight refocusing. He was stunned at the sight in front of him. It was an old empty ssroom. An ordinary, old school ssroom. The ckboard on the wall was not very clean. In the corner, there were faint remnants of chalk while several mathematical forms were written in the middle. Simple sketches were drawn in another corner of the ckboard, which at a quick nce, seemed to be a deformed bird. Wooden tables and chairs were neatly arranged, each table was piled with stacks of papers and exercise books. The walls were painted white and on them were the words ¡°208 days before the college entrance examinations.¡± The energy savingmp on top of his head made a sizzling sound. The whole ssroom was filled with an eerie silence. ¡­What was going on? Where was he? Mo Yi frowned and racked his brain to remember but it seemed that his memory was nk. He could only recall that he was at home and had idently fallen asleep. But why did he wake up in an empty ssroom? He looked down at the desk he was lying on and saw simple drawings which were carved on the wooden desk with a knife. Pen and pencil scrawled words ovey one another on the desk, an exercise book spread on top. On the side was a pen without a cap. The elegant handwriting in the exercise book looked as though the writer was interrupted in the middle of writing. He lightly touched the handwriting, leaving blue ink on his fingers. Only then did he realize the source of wrongness he sensed. In this ssroom, it seemed that everything was only half finished, as if the teacher and students all suddenly vanished at the same time. Mo Yi got up in a panic. The back of his waist mmed into the corner of the table; the sudden sharp pain rushed up his back, causing his numb senses from sitting for too long to wake up. His sudden movement had also knocked one of the exercise books off the table and onto the floor. Mo Yi bent down to pick it up. On the cover, written in soft handwriting, were the words ¡°Senior ss 3, Zhao Qin.¡± Just then, a noise from afar suddenly came from outside the door, vaguely sounding like someone was arguing. Mo Yi was surprised, put the exercise book back onto the table, and then headed towards the door. Upon opening the door of the ssroom, an unpleasant moist smell filled his nose. The odour was reminiscent of a sealed room that had not been exposed to sunlight for months. There was not a trace of wind in the stagnant air, creating a sense of suffocation. Mo Yi followed the sound. Under the dim light, a shadowy figure could be seen at the end of the corridor. Mo Yi was also able to roughly make out eleven to twelve other people gathered together. The voice became clearer. It belonged to a man whose voice was hoarse from his panicked shouts ¡°¡­Who the hell are you people?! Where the hell is this?! If no one tells me, I¡¯ll call the police!¡± The chaos was mixed with the low sobbing of girls. Suddenly, a person standing at the edge of the crowd raised his head, looked at Mo Yi with eyes like burning torches, and then raised his voice and said, ¡°Neer?¡± After speaking, he raised his left hand and held the cigarette from his mouth in between his fingers. Smoke drifted out from his mouth, obscuring the outline of his face. Then, he lowered his voice and added in a half sarcastic and half indifferent tone, ¡°Tsk, I hope you don¡¯t have the same psychological quality as that one.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Mo Yi suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. He quickened his pace and walked over. Before he could say anything, he heard a beautiful female voice: ¡°Hello, wee everyone foring to therge-scale live escape game: STAY ALIVE.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was very beautiful and if it was not in this lifeless and strange campus, people would have even felt very happy. But here ¡­ there were no other adjectives to express except eerie and ominous. Just now, the man who was shouting¡­ His pale face was soaked with sweat as he turned around in panic and threatened the air loudly, ¡°What kind of program is this? Let me tell you! You¡¯re breaking thew! Believe it or not, mywyer can sue you into bankruptcy!¡± The girl¡¯s voice was still calm and pleasant, as if she had not been affected at all, ¡°Your only mission is to survive on campus for five hours. The following are prompts for you: 933, footless swallow, 712, unnamed mist. I wish you all a happy game.¡± When she finished speaking, she did not wait for anyone to react when suddenly, a blue countdown appeared in the air outside one of the corridor windows: 4:59, an ominous light in the dark. The ominous premonition came true. Mo Yi looked at the scene with indifference. There were countless things in his mind that he did not know what to think. Although he liked to y horror games, he never thought he could experience it in 3D one day. It was not exactly his fucking specialty. At this time, a girl who looked no more than twenty-three to four suddenly stepped forward and reached out the grab the cuff of the man who had just spoken to Mo Yi. There were tears on her face, making her look pitiful. Her voice trembled as she said, ¡°Big Brother ¡­ what¡¯s going on here? It¡¯s a joke, isn¡¯t it? Please, tell me.¡± The man coldly shook off her hand, looked up at the crowd and said, ¡°This is not a joke. If you die here, you will die in the real world. I suggest you take the hints seriously and think about them. Maybe it can save your life.¡± After that, he pinched his temple impatiently. Although his voice had be eight degrees lower, the anxiety could not be hidden as he added, ¡°Let¡¯s separate into groups of two or three to find clues that are rted to the hints which may help us to survive.¡± The man and the two people near him obviously knew one another. He nodded to the other two and they took the lead to go out. The rest of the crowd also looked at each other and began to look for people to form a team. The scene became a bit chaotic and noisy. Mo Yi stood in the same ce, his eyebrows slowly wrinkled as he thoughtfully gazed outside the window. From his position, there was no light outside the window except for the fluorescent countdown floating in the air. The thick darkness was like an entity, tightly enshrouding the whole building. The campus was like an ind floating in the boundless darkness, just like ¡­ a grave. The strange metaphor shed through his mind like a lightning bolt without warning, startling him. Mo Yi shook his head with some self-deprecation, as if to throw this idea out of his mind. Suddenly, someone pulled his arm. Mo Yi was stunned and looked at the person. He saw a man with a gentle face standing beside him. He looked ill at ease. Seeing Mo Yi looking at him puzzled, he quickly showed a slightly reserved smile. ¡°Hello, ¡­ do you want to form a team?¡± Chapter 2

Chapter 2

¡°My name is Jiang Yuanbai. What¡¯s yours?¡± The gentle faced man quietly introduced himself as they walked. Mo Yi nced at him and replied softly, ¡°Mo Yi.¡± ¡°Hello,¡± Jiang Yuanbai smiled bitterly, lowered his voice, and said, ¡°This is the second time I have entered this game.¡± Unconceble fear flickered across his eyes. His voice trembled as he continued to speak, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of evil acts Imitted in my previous life that made me experience such a terrible nightmare.¡± Jiang Yuanbai took a deep breath to cover the emotion in his voice. Then, he gave a stiff smile and unnaturally changed the topic, ¡°What about you? How many times have youe in?¡± Mo Yi looked down carefully at a group photo hanging on the wall of the corridor, and replied without raising his head, ¡°First time.¡± It was a graduation photo. The edges of the photo had turned yellow. Maybe it was taken too long ago. The faces of the people in it were blurred, but they all had brilliant smiles. On the photo clearly marked in small ck letters was ¡°June 8, 1995, Senior Year, ss One.¡± The numbers in horror games were generally meaningful, especially the ones that can be viewed, which may prove usefulter. Mo Yi touched his chin and secretlymitted the date to memory. ¡°The first time?!¡± Jiang Yuanbai yelled out, attracting the attention of others. He lowered his voice, ¡°Aren¡¯t you too calm?¡± Mo Yi straightened up and looked at him, ¡°¡­Oh.¡± He wasn¡¯t calm at all. This was not a novel. Who the fuck wanted to experience some real-life horror escape game? ¡°You don¡¯t seem to like talking very much?¡± Asked Jiang Yuanbai. He scratched his head, revealing a smile that was half helpless and half self mocking. Then he added in a low voice, ¡°In fact, most of the new people whoe in for the first time have a rather ¡­ intense reaction. In fact, the first time I entered the game, I was not much better than the shouting man just now. This is the first time I have met a neer as calm as you.¡± ¡°¡­Yes,¡± Mo Yi randomly replied. He then turned around to view the whole corridor. There was no trace of age in the corridor. The white walls were clean and smooth. Windows were installed on one side of the corridor. Between each window, there were five photographs simr to the one he had just seen. On the other side of the corridor were five ssrooms with signs beside each door, from ss 1 to 5. There was a stairwell in between ssrooms three and four which was on the first floor, but the door leading to the outside was tightly closed. The narrow staircase extended up into the darkness. Two people were on the stairwell, trying to pry open the door. Obviously, there was little hope. Suddenly, a shrill scream from the end of the corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened, and he immediately followed the sound. Beside him, Jiang Yuanbai rubbed the bridge of his nose before quickly chasing after him. Li Yunya walked into the bathroom, anxious and scared.

She was in a panic. Although this was the first time she had entered this so called ¡°game¡±, she knew that going to the bathroom was definitely not the wisest decision at this time. But she really couldn¡¯t help it. Twenty minutes ago, she had wanted to go to the bathroom, and now she had reached her limit. Fortunately, her teammates caved into her begging and had agreed to stand outside the bathroom door to wait for her. As long as she was able to do her business within the shortest amount of time, there should be no problem. Li Yunyaforted herself in her heart. The toilet was an old-fashioned squatting one, separated by a dark green partition. The lock on the door was rusty and it was a little difficult to fasten. Although it looked old, the stall was clean, she thought. Half a minute passed. Li Yunya resolved her physical needs and rushed out of the bathroom stall. She ced her hands on her knees and let out a long sigh of relief. While she was doing her business, her mind couldn¡¯t help but conjure up a picture reel of horror movie scenes, causing her heart to beat rapidly. Every two seconds she had to raise her head to look around thepartment, worried that there was something crawling on the ceiling. Fortunately, it was all in her head. Li Yunya mockingly shook her head and turned on the faucet. The sound of running water echoed in the empty bathroom as she washed her hands, the cold temperature managed to calm her down. Suddenly, she felt something touch her calf. Li Yunya frowned, confused, and looked down. A dirty ball was lying on the ground. A ball? When was there a ball in the bathroom? Li Yunya was taken aback, but in the next second, she thought of something. The school bathroom was small and quite tidy. Upon entering, she had a panoramic view of the room: there was clearly no ball in the bathroom before. It was as if¡­it had appeared out of thin air. Her face turned deathly pale and cold sweat instantly covered her body. ¡°¡­Fang Ting?¡± Li Yunya, the fine hair on her body raising, swallowed hard, shaking as she raised her voice to call out her teammate¡¯s name, ¡°Are you there?¡± There was no answer. Before, she could hear other people talking outside the door, but now there was nothing. It was as if she had entered another dimension. Frightened by this idea, Li Yunya rushed to the door and reached out to open it. However, it was like the door was wielded shut with iron. She shook the handle in a hurry, banging on the door in despair, and called out the name of her teammate. Just then, from behind her was the sound of gentle tapping. ¡°Knock,¡± ¡°knock¡±, ¡°knock.¡± She froze in ce, and the cry that was about to burst out was stuck in her throat. She could only hear the rapid beating of her heart. Beads of sweat trickled down her colourless cheeks and into the cor of her shirt. Li Yunya stiffly turned around, her back pressed firmly against the door. From the empty third bathroom stall came a persistent knocking on the door. ¡°knock,¡± ¡°knock,¡± ¡°knock.¡± Li Yunya¡¯s pupils dted and she put her hand over her mouth to prevent her panicked breathing from revealing any sound. Her tears fell silently, shaking like a leaf in the wind. She heard a faint humming from the stall. The innocent voice of a child sounded strange in the empty bathroom. It hummed the same tune repeatedly. Even though Li Yunya was too scared to listen carefully, it still entered her ears into her brain. ¡°Dear¡­e and y¡­¡± Li Yunya¡¯s legs trembled and finally could no longer support her. Her body slowly slid down and she shrank into a corner of the door. Her pale face was distorted with fear, her eyes closed with her hands over her mouth, and she started to desperately pray. But¡­ nothing happened. One minute passed, five minutes passed, ten minutes passed, and nothing happened. The knocking had stopped. Even the little girl¡¯s voice had disappeared. The only sound in the entire bathroom came from the lights overhead and the regr tick, tick, sound from the untightened faucet. Everything sounded normal. Finally, her doubt conquered her fear. Li Yunya¡¯s eyshes trembled, and she tried to open her eyes and looked around in a panic for a week: everything was normal. The ball had even disappeared, and the voice seemed like it was merely her imagination. Did she really escape from it? Li Yunya could not help but burst out into low sobs,rge drops of tears sliding down her cheeks. Drip. Something fell on her face, and she choked and reached out to wipe it off. Drip, drip. More drops fell. Li Yunya looked up. ¡°Dear,e and y.¡± This time, the child¡¯s voice rang from above her head. Fang Ting stood impatiently outside the door of the bathroom and looked down at her watch for the third time. Li Yunya had been inside for a long time, and yet toe out. Finally, her patience ran out and she pushed the door open and walked in, ¡°Are you all right¡­¡± The rest of the sentence was stuck in her throat, turning into a shrill scream. The doors of each bathroom stall were wide open, and the ground was covered with ring blood, some flowing outward. This was what Mo Yi saw when he arrived. With a solemn look on his face, the man who seemed to be experienced, walked forward to examine the scene, and came back shaking his head, ¡°There is no body.¡± There was look of panic on everyone¡¯s face. With such arge amount of blood, the missing person was most likely in danger. The crying voices of the crowd grew louder and louder. Mo Yi separated from the crowd and went to the front. After a careful observation of the bathroom, he saw that the blood covered the room. Only the third stall door was clean. He frowned suspiciously. Just as he was about to walk over, he heard a man who was searching inside suddenly yell. Mo Yi stepped forward and followed the direction of the man¡¯s gaze. The door of the bathroom was shockingly covered with nail scratches along with blood and nail fragments. The mere sight made their scalps go numb. And on the ceiling near the door, it was densely covered with a child¡¯s palm sized bloody fingerprints. Mo Yi¡¯s eyesnded on the center of the pool of blood: there was a small round area that had no traces of blood. He was surprised, and a fleeting thought shed through his mind, but when he tried to recall it, he couldn¡¯t capture it. Suddenly, without warning, there was a harsh and monotonous bell ringing in the corridor, startling everyone. The loud bell echoed in the empty corridor and ssroom, which seemed strange and frightening. Mo Yi nced out the window and his eyes sank. The number on the countdown now read ¡°4:15.¡± It had been 45 minutes since the game started. ¨C It happened to be the end of ss. The Author has Something to Say: PS: Jiang Yuanbai is not the CP PSS: This chapter is not scary at all! Look at my sincere eyes! Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The bell stopped and the corridor became silent again. Everyone looked at one another and saw their confused faces reflected in each other¡¯s eyes. What did the bell mean? What will happen next? No one knew. They were like blindfolded people, step by step walking to the edge of a cliff. No one knew if the next step will be to their doom. All of a sudden! There was a sharp noise by their ears! The whole corridor was twisting and stretching at a speed visible to the naked eye. The snow-white walls peeled off quickly, revealing the dirty grey wall underneath. The steel reinforcement beams prated the cement and contorted in a hideous manner. ¡°Ze.¡± The lights became blurred and dim. The door frame of the ssroom also became twisted and deformed. It looked like a greedy mouth opened in the darkness, and vague shadows were moving in the ssroom. ¡°Ah!¡± There was a scream in the crowd. A middle-aged man was staring at the wall beside him. His face was pale, and his fingers trembled as he pointed, ¡°¡­You, you see¡­¡± They saw that the walls were covered withrge and small crooked and twisted words written in blood that had not dried. The thick blood dripped down, revealing the cruel malicious words, ¡°Go to hell.¡± Mo Yi felt something cold from behind his back. An inexplicable feeling filled him and made his hair stand on end, but this feeling was not because of the bloody words in front of him, but from behind¡­ He turned his head and looked. A thick mist slowly spread from the end of the corridor, quietly and silently approaching. The peaks in the mist were steep and distinct from one another, and with speechless horror, approached them like a living creature. The chilling malice came from here. ¡°The unnamed mist?¡± The previous hint suddenly struck Mo Yi like a lighting bolt. He raised his voice and screamed, ¡°Run!¡± As he spoke, he ran in the opposite direction of the mist. The others turned around and saw the mist. They instinctively wanted to escape, but their heels seemed to be glued to the ground, and they couldn¡¯t move. The slow-moving mist seemed almost magical, firmly capturing their gaze. But in a sh, the mist was already closer.

The man standing at the end of the crowd suddenly fell to the ground. His fingernails dug deeply into the cracks in the floor, and screamed in horror, ¡°Save me!! Something¡¯s grabbing my leg!! Help!¡± The dense and murky mist continued to creep forward slowly, and the man¡¯s body seemed to be pulled before he was dragged into the mist. The screaming and sounds of struggling abruptly stopped. There was only the cold dead silence, as if everything had been swallowed up by the silent mist. His screams finally brought people back to their senses: Run! The inexplicable fear struck everyone¡¯s heart, making their hair stand up and their backs cold. No one doubted Mo Yi¡¯s words anymore. They all had one word left in their hearts: Run! Run like hell! The sound of pattering footsteps and panicked panting were mixed together and in the empty corridor, it was especially clear, rushed, and chaotic, while the slow-moving wall of mist behind them was moving forward quietly and smoothly, devouring everything: sound, light and shadow, and life. After the bell had rung, the whole corridor had be strangely long, and it was almost impossible to reach the end. Fortunately, the mist was not moving very fast. With everyone¡¯s quick running, the mist was no longer visible. Mo Yi slowed down, panting heavily with his hands on his knees, his face flushed from the exercise. The others also gasped and stopped, with the luck of surviving a disaster in their eyes. A man came over and patted Mo Yi on the back to help him smooth out his breathing. Mo Yi looked up and recognized him: he had greeted him in the corridor before, and he was also the first person to react. At this moment, he was squinting and looking down at Mo Yi. Just then, a man ran over. He stood still, panting heavily. The panic still remained in his eyes. It was obvious that he had not recovered from the crisis just now. He took a few deep breaths and then looked up at Mo Yi, half stunned, and half dumbfounded, and asked, ¡°You, how did you know there was something wrong with the mist?¡± Mo Yi adjusted his breathing and stood up with his hands on the wall. His voice was unsteady, ¡°The hint¡­ ¡°the unnamed mist¡±, should refer to ¡°The Nameless Mist.¡± Even though he was panting, his voice was still clear and loud. In this environment, it idently brought about a sense of horror. As his voice fell, the air suddenly became quiet. Everyone had a nk face. Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± He rubbed his temples and exined, ¡°In the Myth of Cthulhu, the Nameless Mist is mentioned in ¡°The Revtions of ¡¯aki.¡± It has another name: Nyog¡¯Sothep. It is a mysterious Outer God. It is said that no one can look directly into it because of the horrors lurking within¡­¡± H.P. Lovecraft¡¯s Cthulhu Mythos was a source of inspiration for many horror novels and the spiritual idol of many authors. But before he finished speaking Mo Yi suddenly stopped and swallowed his long speech. He looked into the eyes of the people who were still confused. He was silent for a moment, then he asked in a different way, ¡°Has anyone read Stephen King¡¯s, ¡¶The Mist ¡·?¡± Jiang Yuanbai raised his hand hesitantly, ¡°¡­Does watching the movie count?¡± Several others nodded. Mo Yi exined, ¡°The mist in ¡°The Mist¡± was based on this. In short, don¡¯t get close to it or touch it.¡± The man nodded, the previous contempt disappeared from his eyes. Then he took a deep look at Mo Yi. He held out his hand and smiled, ¡°Shen Lei.¡± ¡°¡­Mo Yi,¡± He shook the outstretched hand. Shen Lei frowned. He felt that the palm of the other party was surprisingly cool, thin with only bones left, and his hand was as cold as jade. He patted Mo Yi on the back, and he stumbled, ¡°Young man, look, you¡¯re out of breath and your body is too weak. Even if you are in the office, you can¡¯tck exercise. It¡¯s easy to die in the game.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­Cough cough!¡± Brother, please don¡¯t pat him, or he¡¯s afraid he will die in his hands before being killed by a ghost. Shen Lei let go of Mo Yi with a smile and then gave a cursory nce around: everything around him had changed. The whole corridor looked like an abstract Picasso painting, with the strange and bizarre addition of it being cracked. He frowned for a moment, then turned to the crowd and said, ¡°It¡¯s impossible that this game will not give us the chance to escape which is in vition of the rules. Although the mist is deadly, its moving speed is a weakness. As long as we are fast enough, there should be the possibility of surviving.¡± A girl sobbed and asked, ¡°Well, where are we going next?¡± ¡°Go upstairs.¡± Shen Lei had already thought about it clearly, and his reply was firm, ¡°Just now, I looked at the map of the whole school building. There are four floors in this building. The lower three floors are for Grades One to Three. The fourth floor is for the teachers. The faster we get to the top floor, the greater the chance of survival.¡± Everyone looked at each other, then nodded and agreed to Shen Lei¡¯s proposal. ¡°The stairwell is at the end of the corridor. Let¡¯s go.¡± Shen Lei brought a cigarette to his mouth and led the way while others followed. The further they walked, the dimmer the lights in the corridor, and the dim darkness made the silence more frightening. Only the faint blue countdown light was seen in the sky outside the window. Several people in the front apparently came prepared, and they pulled shlights from their backpacks to illuminate the way. After an unknown period of time, Shen Lei finally stopped. ¡°Here it is.¡± With the light from the shlight, Mo Yi saw that the scene waspletely different from before. The staircase handrail was broken, and the walls had peeled off, revealing the blue walls, and cracked cement. Dust was falling down, and the stairs were uneven, like the debris after an earthquake. A smell of decay came out. Just as everyone was about to walk up the stairs, they heard a gentle humming not far away. The sweet voice of a child was chilling. It sang, ¡°Dear¡­e and y¡­¡± A ck, round thing rolled down the stairs and hit Mo Yi¡¯s leg. Mo Yi looked down. It was a blurred, frightened pale face, wrapped in ck hair like a melting wax figure. This was the face of the missing woman. It was her head that had rolled down the stairs. The strange child¡¯s voice came closer. Itughed sweetly and sang, and then asked, ¡°Did anyone see my ball? Has anyone seen my ball?¡± The voice became clearer, closer, and gloomier. Mo Yi looked at the head by his foot, took a deep breath, raised his foot and exerted his greatest strength to kick it flying. The head rolled into the distant darkness. The child¡¯s voice, ¡°¡­¡± Shen Lei, ¡°¡­¡± All of them, ¡°¡­¡± There was a strange silence in the air. Mo Yi, ¡°What are you doing? Run!!¡± Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Everyone woke up like from a dream and desperately ran up the stairs. The steps in the stairwell were twisted into an odd angle, and it was easy to fall even when there was sufficient lighting, let alone in the dark and in the midst of panic. The sound of a bone breaking rang out, and from behind was a sharp scream, ¡°Ah ah ah! My foot! Save me! Don¡¯t leave me!¡± Mo Yi was about to turn around, only to hear an eerie and faint giggle in the staircase, which sounded like a little girl gentlyughing with a smile, sweet and content as if she had finally got her favourite toy. And then, the voice of the man was like a tape that had broken¡­ and, disappeared. The screams, begging for mercy, and cries for help, all seemed to be swallowed by the darkness, vanishing without a trace. Everyone climbed up one by one, and in addition to the fear of luckily escaping from death, their faces were full of an indescribable heaviness and dread. Mo Yi raised his eyes and swept his gaze around, silently counting in his heart. There was originally eleven people in the group, but now there were only eight people left. And now, they had only escaped from one floor. Everyone¡¯s face was covered with the shadow of death. At this moment, the metal bell rang, the monotonous and harsh sound ringing throughout the whole corridor. When the bell stopped, the whole school seemed to have rapidly changed. Only after blinking twice, the scene in front had bepletely different. The long and empty corridor, the clean white walls, the silent ssroom, the shing white lights overhead, and the rotten smell seemed to have never existed. The air was humid like on a wet rainy day.

It was as if the distorted purgatory before was just a fantasy in everyone¡¯s mind. Mo Yi, with a tight heart, rushed to the window in the corridor, looking out the window that was so dark that there was no light. He saw that the time now read 4:05. Ten minutes had passed since thest bell! Shen Lei also walked over and followed Mo Yi¡¯s gaze to the sky, a thoughtful look in his eyes, ¡°¡­45 minutes, 10 minutes, school. These two states of space and time are probably switching ording to when ss starts and when it ends.¡± Mo Yi nodded. This pattern of change reminded him of the famous horror game, Silent Hill. The time during ss was the real world, and the time out of ss was the alternate reality world. But unlike the random dimensional shifts of the two worlds¡¯ in the game, the ones here were clearly regr. In that case¡­there was still 45 minutes before the next dimensional shift. All of a sudden, his brow furrowed, and he seemed to smell something unusual. There was a strong scent of blood wafting slowly throughout the corridor, which was nearly impossible to ignore. There were whispers ofints and murmurs from the crowd, ¡°¡­Do you smell that?¡±, ¡°What¡¯s that smell¡­?¡± Someone boldly took a few steps forward and looked into a ssroom from where the smell wasing from. The man¡¯s face instantly turned white. ¡°clomp, clomp, clomp,¡± the man stumbled back, his legs grew soft and his ass fell to the floor. His trembling fingers pointed to the window. His mouth was wide open, but he could not speak. He could only make shocked ¡°ha ha¡± sounds. An ominous premonition came, and Mo Yi slowly moved forward with everyone. He took advantage of his height to look into the ssroom window. The ssroom was still clean and tidy. The books were still stacked up and the ckboard was still not clean. It looked like the students had just left. The only difference was¡­there were a few bodies in the ssroom. In the second row near the door, there was a girl sitting upright, her back straight with her hands folded on the table as if she were listening attentively. Except, there was no head on her slender neck. The cut was clean and smooth, and the fractured neck bone and trachea were visible. Arge amount of blood was gushing out along the incision. The front of her shirt and the desktop were stained red by blood, which looked startling. In the first row close to the window, a many on the table, like he was sleeping in ss. However, his head which faced the ssroom door was terribly twisted, his bluish grey face, bulging eyeballs, and clenched teeth made it look like he had seen something horrifying. His legs were stretched out by the desk, his calf was covered in blood and contorted into an unnatural arc. The white bone pierced through the skin, and blood trickled down his feet onto the floor. The whole ssroom was so quiet it was almost suffocating. Seeing such a scene, even the experienced Shen Lei¡¯s face turned green. He swallowed his saliva, took a step forward and reached out, pushing open the ssroom door. The smell of blood rushed out towards his face when the door opened, bing more intense. Mo Yi only felt a writhing in his stomach, and it took a long time to build up his mental resilience before he could suppress the feeling of nausea. A hand patted him on the back. Mo Yi looked over, only to see Jiang Yuanbai looking at him with concern. Even though his face did not look better than his, he whispered quietly, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Mo Yi gritted his teeth and nodded. Jiang Yuanbai took his hand back, his eyebrows serious, ¡°You really are too skinny, and your bones hurt my hands. Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Aren¡¯t you worried about the wrong thing? After Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s interruption, Mo Yi¡¯s mind was much calmer. He followed the two rtively brave people in front of him and entered the ssroom together. The others who remained outside did not dare approach the ssroom or they had already run off to one side and vomited. At this moment, She Lei had already roughly checked the corpses. He looked back at the few people who hade into the ssroom and said in a heavy voice, ¡°They are both our people.¡± One was the owner of the head and the other one was the one who had fallen on the stairs. The one who had been dragged into the mist was still missing. But Mo Yi was not particrly surprised. If the mist really was ¡°The Nameless Mist,¡± then if the man¡¯s corpse really did appear here, it would be unexpected. The energy saving light bulb on the ceiling made a ¡°sizzling¡± sound. The iron smell of blood became less nauseating after he got used to it, Mo Yi thought. He took two steps into the ssroom, his eyesnding on the corner of the wall. Instantly, the blood inside him seemed to freeze, and he was unable to look away. The snow-white walls hadrge words on it, ¡°208 days from the college entrance examination.¡± It was the exactly the same as the ssroom he had woken up in. The mystery that had eluded him and was unable to discover immediately became apparent. Shen Lei said that theyout of the school showed that the first to third floor belonged to the three grades of high school respectively, and the ssroom where Mo Yi had first ended up in was the same as the current ssroom. Although they were located on the first and second floors, they obviously belonged to ss three! Mo Yi turned around and searched the ssroom with some urgency. Then, he headed towards one of the desks in the ssroom and reached for the exercise book on the top of the pile of books, expertly flipping it open. He was cold all over and his heels were almost nailed to the ground. On the first page written in beautiful and soft handwriting was, ¡°Senior ss 3, Zhao Qin.¡± Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mo Yi clutched the pages of the exercise book and his thin knuckles turned white. There was a buzzing in his ear, and his brain was in chaos. Suddenly, a vague thought shed through his mind. Mo Yi turned around and quickly rushed towards the door. Regardless of how many people he bumped into along the way, he ran down the corridor with amazingly bright eyes and eagerly looked at the graduation photo hanging on the wall: June 8, 1994. Good. Mo Yi let out a long sigh of relief. The dates on the photo were still different, which showed that they were not on the same floor but have actually moved to the second floor. Just then, he heard someone behind him calling out his name, ¡°¡­ Mo Yi, Mo Yi!¡± Mo Yi turned his head and looked nk. He saw Shen Lei standing at the door of the ssroom, frowning. He said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Not feeling well? It¡¯s okay, you¡¯ll get used to it eventually.¡± Before he could reply, Shen Lei waved his hand and said, ¡°However, let¡¯s not worry about that now. We have to leave quickly.¡± ¡°¡­Leave?¡± Mo Yi was taken back. ¡°Yes,¡± Shen Lei nodded and replied, ¡°The fog should slowly spread up to this floor, which means we have more than 40 minutes to escape. The more floors we escape to in this period, the greater the chance of survival.¡± His voice deepened, and it sounded a little heavy, ¡°¡­ After all, ording to the past few games I have experienced, as long as we live for five hours, we will clear this game.¡± Something was wrong. . Mo Yi straightened and looked around at the various people around him, frowning. None of this was right. Reach the top floor and survive for five hours? Are the clearance rules for this game really that simple? If that was the case, then what was the point of the hints before the start of the game?

And this ssroom, which reappeared again and again, what did it mean? ¡°Mo Yi!¡± Shen Lei¡¯s voice got a little louder and he took a few steps forward, about to say something, but he suddenly stopped. His tone became slightly gentle, ¡°Why does your face look so bad?¡± Mo Yi took a deep breath and then sinctly shared what he saw along with his spections. In the end, he added his own thoughts, ¡°I think we missed too many clues downstairs, and that we shouldn¡¯t just leave now.¡± After listening, Shen Lei couldn¡¯t help sinking into contemtion. He looked up at the countdown on the wall and slightly frowned. After a long time, he solemnly opened his mouth, ¡°You have a point, but it¡¯s¡­too risky. You know, from my experience, if you follow the rules of the game and struggle through the time limit, the odds of survival increases. I have seen several people who wanted to find the truth and to be honest, it didn¡¯t end well.¡± Shen Lei paused. There was some struggle and pain in his voice, ¡°I have seen too much. Sorry, I can¡¯t risk my life with you. Even so, have you really decided to stay?¡± Mo Yi knew how dangerous it was. His fingers curled up to his lips which were pressed into a stiff straight line, and his heart was wracked with anxiety. Reason warned him: following everyone¡¯s actions was safer, while his intuition shouted in his ear: stay. Finally, he raised his head to look at Shen Lei and nodded slowly but firmly. Shen Lei seemed to see the persistence in his eyes, so he no longer tried to persuade him. He reached out and took a spare shlight hanging from his waist and handed it to Mo Yi, ¡°¡­ Take care.¡± He turned and left. Several people stopped to look at Mo Yi, and then followed Shen Lei to the staircase. Mo Yi closed his eyes and calmed down. Then he went back to the ssroom and went to the desk where he had beenying when he woke up. He reached out and pulled out the chair in front of the desk and began to rifle through the school bag stuffed in the desk hoping to find some clues. Just then he a heard a familiar voice by his ear, ¡°Why are you searching this desk? Is there anything special about it?¡± Mo Yi was startled, and he looked up only to see Jiang Yuanbai standing in front of the table with his arms folded, looking at him confused. ¡°You didn¡¯t follow them?¡± Jiang Yuanbai scratched his head and showed a half nervous, half soft smile, ¡°I heard what you and Shen Lei said just now. I think what you said made sense, and ¡­¡± He paused and somewhat sheepishly whispered, ¡°And, aren¡¯t we a team? Of course I have to stand by my teammate.¡± Mo Yi smiled, lowered his head again, and said as he went through the desk, ¡°I noticed that there was only this exercise book in the entire ssroom that was open, and when I was downstairs, I found that the ink in the book was not dry,¡± Mo Yi changed the subject too quickly. Jiang Yuanbai froze for a while before realizing that he was the answering the question he had previously asked. Following Mo Yi¡¯s guidance, he looked around. Sure enough, although the books on the other table were also in stacks, there was no open book or a pen without a cap. Only the table in front of him did. ¡ª- It was like someone was sitting there writing before they entered the room! Jiang Yuanbai trembled, his face turning pale. At this time, Mo Yi felt something. He put his hand into the school bag, and then forcefully ripped it. Only when he heard the ¡°shzzz¡± sound did the lining of half the school bag tear off. He took out a thin notebook which was sewn into the school bag. If one didn¡¯t carefully search, it would have been impossible to find it. No wonder the people who searched the ssroom didn¡¯t find it. Mo Yi reached out and opened the yellow cover of the notebook. On the front page, there were still the small characters written in beautiful handwriting, Zhao Qin. He flipped through the pages. Every page was nk, except for thest one. Inrge dark red handwriting that upied the whole page, were the messy and twisted words, ¡°Go to hell!¡± After hesitating, Mo Yi grabbed it in his hand, turned his head and said to Jiang Yuanbai who was rummaging through the desk beside him, ¡°I¡¯m going to the corridor to take a look.¡± Jiang Yuanbai paused, ¡°Huh? But we haven¡¯t finished searching the ssroom. What if we miss something?¡± ¡°I have a guess I want to confirm.¡± Mo Yi held up the notebook and waved it at Jiang Yuanbai, answering as he walked. Jiang Yuanbai scratched his head and looked at him with a puzzled expression. Seeing that Mo Yi was about to leave the ssroom, he quickly put down the things in his hand and followed him all the way to the corridor. Everyone else had left. The whole corridor was quiet, and only the sound of breathing could be heard. The emptiness was frightening. The ce without light at the end of the corridor was like a ck hole, making people uneasy. Mo Yi kept walking towards the bathroom. When he drew near, he couldn¡¯t help but pause and stop. Jiang Yuanbai had also caught up at this point and he followed Mo Yi¡¯s gaze to the wall opposite the bathroom. He saw a ss graduation photo hanging on it, just like downstairs. The only difference was that in this photo, everyone¡¯s face was turned to the side, and their ck pupils seemed to be looking directly at him! Immediately after, he saw them show a strange smile at the same time, and they raised their arms, pointing to the same side together ¡­ ¡°Ah-!!!¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s back was covered with sweat and he was screaming in horror. Mo Yi shuddered, looking at him in disdain, ¡°What are you screaming for? You scared me.¡± The implication was that Jiang Yuanbai was more terrifying than the photo. ¡°You¡­ you ¡­,¡± Jiang Yuanbai couldn¡¯t speak clearly. He held out his hand to the strange photo and stuttered, ¡°It¡­it¡­¡± Mo Yi opened the notebook and showed thest page to Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°Look.¡± Although Jiang Yuanbai had not yet recovered from his fright, he still couldn¡¯t hold back from trying to piece together the information in his head, ¡°¡­Go to hell? What?¡± He was confused and racked his brain for a while before finally looking up at Mo Yi, ¡°Other than it being creepy, is there anything else I need to know?¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± This man¡¯s IQ was hopeless. Pointing at the wall with the hanging picture, he said, ¡°After the ss bell rang on the first floor, the exact same words appeared on the wall. So I think there should be some clue here.¡± Jiang Yuanbai suddenly realized. He nced at the photo, and the people in the photo had been restored to its original state with them smiling brightly and serenely at the camera. Then, the eerie photo reappeared before Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s eyes. He couldn¡¯t help swallowing his saliva and asked in a hoarse voice, ¡°Then ¡­ then the direction they¡¯re pointing at is where we need to go next?¡± Mo Yi nodded. Jiang Yuanbai looked at the end of the corridor. There was no light there. He didn¡¯t know if there was no lightbulb or if the lightbulb had broken. There was not a hint of light in the darkness. Just looking at it made people uneasy. ¡°Say ¡­ what will be there?¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s voice grew even quieter, the words almost squeezing out of his clenched throat. Mo Yi shook the shlight in his hand, ¡°Won¡¯t you know if you go and see?¡± Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The circr light from the shlight swayed in the hallway and it looked ghostly in the dense darkness. The uniform sounds of footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. Even though the bright lights from the ssrooms were still on, it could not prevent the malice from seeping out of its bones. Mo Yi kept walking and stepped into an area without lights. The palm holding the shlight was sweaty, but he was unexpectedly calm. From behind him, a lightbulb made a ¡°zizi¡± sound. Mo Yi suddenly stopped. Jiang Yuanbai, who was walking behind him, almost ran into his back. As if he was afraid of rming something, he courageously asked in a low voice, ¡°¡­ What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mo Yi waved the shlight and motioned for him toe and have a look. Jiang Yuanbai moved his head from behind Mo Yi bit by bit and looked in the direction of the shlight and froze. The corridor in front of them was unremarkable, except for theck of light, it was almost identical to the other end of the corridor. There was nothing extraordinary as he had imagined! He scratched his head in a daze, walked forward, and pressed his palm on the wall at the end of the corridor. The damp cold touch spread out along his skin. Jiang Yuanbai was confused and whispered in a low voice, ¡°¡­No, it shouldn¡¯t be.¡± Did they understand something wrong? At this time, Jiang Yuanbai was shocked by a loud ¡°crash¡± from behind him. Before he could turn around, he only heard Mo Yi¡¯s voice ringing in his ear, ¡°Get out of the way.¡± Jiang Yuanbai subconsciously stepped aside. A strong gust of wind hit him. Mo Yi, holding a fire axe in his hand, smashed the wall with an unflinching posture. After hitting the wall twice, the axe de ¡°nged¡± deeply into the wall and smashed through. The sound of earth and rock crackling sounded. From the angle where Jiang Yuanbai stood, he could just see the metal reflection of an iron door behind the brick wall.

¡°Oh my god, how did you think ¡­.¡± He turned around in amazement to look at Mo Yi, and the rest of the words got stuck in his throat. He saw Mo Yi holding onto the wall, half dead, the axe held in one hand while be was bent over panting as if the action had just consumed all of his physical strength. ¡­ Puff. Jiang Yuanbai did his best to stop himself fromughing at the boss¡¯s efforts. He coughed a few times and reached for the axe in Mo Yi¡¯s hand and held back theughter in his voice, ¡°Cough, why don¡¯t you let me try next.¡± Mo Yi was bent at the waist, and he nodded weakly. Jiang Yuanbai took the axe and smashed it against the same ce Mo Yi did. The bricks under his hand were weak and seemed to be newly built. After a while, arge area had been broken open, ¡°Brother Mo, you really need to exercise properly.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­ You can keep smashing your wall.¡± If he manages to clear the game, he must apply for an annual fitness card. Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s progress was fast and within minutes, he had cracked a gap into the wall that wasrge enough for the two men to pass through. He tried to reach out and push the door, and there was almost no resistance. The iron door silently opened in the dark, revealing a pitch-ck entrance. Mo Yi was also feeling better at the moment and turned on his shlight. Jiang Yuanbai nodded and the two walked in together. A cold and moist smell blew across his face, and Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help coughing. It was as if several months of plum rain had been concentrated in this room. The smell in the whole corridor seemed to be emanating from here. The shlight¡¯s light flickered. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes wandered around the room and couldn¡¯t help but reveal a hint of surprise. In the small room, there were several dusty shelves on which old, yellowed pages were piled up into mountains. The smell of rotten paper emanated from them, making people almost unable to breath. It looked like it should be an abandoned archive room. Why was it sealed? And wasn¡¯t it a bit extreme to build a wall to hide it? Mo Yi carefully went deeper into the room, his shoes raising a pile of dust that had long umted. He turned to Jiang Yuanbai and said ¡°Let¡¯s split up. You can look over there to see what useful information is avable. We must be fast. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± Jiang Yuanbai apparently also thought of the 45-minute time limit and solemnly nodded. He fished out a shlight from his backpack and walked to the other end of the archive. Mo Yi went in the opposite direction. As he walked, he searched through the files on the shelf. Perhaps because of the humidity, most of the paper files were rotten and stuck together, and only some vague handwriting could be barely distinguished. Mo Yi was in a dilemma and looked at the material in front of him helplessly. He frowned, a little troubled, and looked up to one side. At this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s eyes fell to one spot on the shelf and stopped. A small piece of iron was nailed to the side of the shelf. Although it was rusty, the writing on it was still recognizable. Mo Yi looked at it carefully and found that it read, ¡®93. An idea hit him. Mo Yi felt some fear in his heart, but also some excitement. His violent heartbeat pounded in his eardrum in the silence. He walked out of the gap between the shelves and briskly checked the small iron pieces nailed to each shelf, from ¡®89, ¡®90 ¡­ until ¡®95. Well, this archive should have been closed after 95 years. Mo Yi recalled the graduation photo he saw on the first floor. The date on it was exactly ¡®95. Since the ssrooms on each floor were the same, could it be considered that ¡­ the whole school had closed down at the same time. That is, the graduates of 1995 went to school and left, and the second batch of students happened to enter the third year of high school this year! Mo Yi held his breath. And the ss that entered the third year of high school in 1995 ¡­ happened to be the ss of students who entered in 1993! He finally figured out another one of the hints given before the game started! 993, footless swallow. If he guessed right, 933 refers to ss 3 of year ¡¯93! ¡ª¡ª The ssroom where the corpses appeared happened to be in ss 3. Blood surged into his heart, and Mo Yi dashed to the archive shelf that said, ¡°93¡±. Sure enough, at the bottom of the shelf, under the countless rotten pages, there was a folder in perfect condition. As if it was not affected by the years of moisture, the pages were still white and looked brand new. All of a sudden, a piercing scream rang out. It wasing from the corridor! Mo Yi didn¡¯t hesitate. He grabbed the folder in a hurry, put it under his armpit, and ran out. After walking out of the archive room, the scream had disappeared, and the silence in the school was rming. Mo Yi looked out the window: 3:32. There were 12 minutes left until the bell rang. Jiang Yuanbai also ran out from behind him, his face panicked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What happened?¡± Before Mo Yi could answer, he raised his head and sniffed. He frowned and muttered to him, ¡°Do you think the smell of blood is much heavier?¡± Mo Yi was stunned. Yes, the smell of blood in the air had be much heavier, but he was too concerned about the time and didn¡¯t notice. His eyes narrowed and he walked quickly to the door of ss 3 and looked inside. Sure enough, there was another corpse. He sat right in front of the podium, staring at Mo Yi with gray and dull eyes. For some reason, he looked very short. Mo Yi looked down under the table, and he couldn¡¯t help but gasp. He was missing from the waist down. Half of his intestines flowed down the chair leg, and the pool of blood rapidly grewrger. His hand was ced under his waist in a half empty hold, as if he wanted to prevent his body from splitting open. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mo Yi recognized his face. ¡­ He was the man who had an emotional breakdown before the start of the game. His facial features had been distorted with fear and pain, and then frozen forever by death, pale and twisted like a half-melted wax figure. His dark eyes were staring into the distance in horror, like two gray ss beads. Mo Yi stepped back, resisting the difort in his stomach. He lowered his voice and said to Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we should head upstairs.¡± Jiang Yuanbai also had a sallow expression and nodded unbearably and together with Mo Yi ran towards the stairwell. The dark stairwell was close at hand. It was dark inside and only a ceiling lightbulb was faintly flickering hard. It could hardly illuminate the space, making it slightly eerie. The smell of blood grew heavier. Mo Yi turned on his shlight and saw bright red slowly flowing down the stairs, trickling into a pool of blood which was gradually expanding. Jiang Yuanbai was about to go up the stairs, but his arm was tightly grasped. He turned his head in surprise and saw Mo Yi¡¯s pale face and bright eyes. He was staring at the blood in front of him. He said in a low voice, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. Don¡¯t go there.¡± Jiang Yuanbai had already learned of the urate and terrifying insight of the person in front of him. Now, when he heard this, he couldn¡¯t help getting goose bumps, and dared not take a half step forward. Mo Yi¡¯s grip tightened, and his breathing became a little disordered, ¡°Shen Lei and the others had separated from us nearly half an hour ago. It stands to reason that they should have reached the third floor long ago, but after someone died, the blood flowed from the stairwell.¡± The answer wasing: Shen Lei and the others had been trapped in the stairwell for nearly half an hour! Jiang Yuanbai felt chills all over his body. He couldn¡¯t help but step back. In his eyes, the stairwell in front of him seemed to be a huge mouth that could swallow the light. Just being near it made him ufortable. Mo Yi let go of his hand, curled his fingers to his lips, and murmured to himself, ¡°Someone on the first floor met a ghost in the toilet. It should be more dangerous as we go up, but on the second floor, except for the dead body, there was no supernatural event that could harm people ¡­ impossible, it¡¯s absolutely impossible for people to get to the top floor so easily.¡± After that, he raised his head and frowned, looking around him with sharp eyes. Mo Yi was stunned and turned to look at Jiang Yuanbai. He asked, ¡°There should be five sses on each floor, right?¡± Jiang Yuanbai nodded at a loss. ¡°I remember that the stairwell on the first floor is between ss 3 and ss 4. We just walked pass ss 3. That means ¡­ ?on the other side, there should be ss¡¯s 4 and 5.¡± Jiang Yuanbai was dumbfounded and looked up to see that the stairwell had moved further up ahead, and there were a total of 1¡­2¡­3¡­ three sses.

He felt cold all over and he turned his head and saw that the door number on the ssroom behind him had be a conspicuous ¡°four.¡± Jiang Yuanbai trembling swallowed, but his throat was as dry as a fire. The simple rolling of his Adam¡¯s Apple made his throat sore. At this time, Mo Yi turned his head fiercely, his eyes firmly on Jiang Yuanbai and abruptly asked, ¡°Axe! Did you bring the axe?¡± Jiang Yuanbai was startled by him and quickly nodded. He wasn¡¯t good at solving puzzles, but fortunately, he liked to work out and his strength was not small. Just now when he was running, he saw a fire axe lying on the ground. He thought it might be useful, so he picked it up and took it with him. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes brightened, and he leaned close to Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s ear to whisper a few words. ¡°¡­ Are you sure?¡± Jiang Yuanbai looked confused. Mo Yi nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± Although Jiang Yuanbai didn¡¯t know what he meant, he still shrugged, raised the axe with his hand, and then shed heavily towards the photo hanging on the wall opposite the stairs! The sharp axe made a sound of slicing through the air, and ¡°stabbed¡± the yellowed photo! A horrible cry sounded, almost shattering their eardrums. The entire wall was violently shaking, and the photo was twisting and protruding, as if something was about to break through the frame and escape. Jiang Yuanbai clenched his teeth and his gums started bleeding. He also tasted the smell of iron in his mouth. He gripped the handle of the axe tightly and slowly exerted his strength. The de of the axe became more and more embedded in the photo. The dark red and stinky blood spilled out from where the axe was buried, leaving marks on the white wall. ¡°Stab.¡± The photo waspletely cut open. The split frame ttered to the ground and the screams disappeared, restoring peace to the corridor. Jiang Yuanbai gasped, panting and said, ¡°Fuck¡­fuck, how did you know¡­¡± Mo Yi was also ufortable. His head was buzzing, and it took a lot of effort to figure out what Jiang Yuanbai asked. His voice was a little hoarse and it took him a long time to find his own voice, ¡°¡­A guess.¡± ¡°It seems that I guessed it correctly. There is only one supernatural event on each floor. The first floor is the little girl holding the ball and the second one is this one.¡± He pointed his finger at the photo lying on the ground which had been covered by the stinky blood and couldn¡¯t see the specific content. ¡°The supernatural event on this floor was told to us in the beginning.¡± The photo showed the way. Jiang Yuanbai suddenly realized. Mo Yi looked up at his surroundings. The corridor in front of him had been restored to its original state. In front of the stairwell, there were two ssrooms. He breathed out a sigh of relief and continued, ¡°Moreover, it¡¯s reversed in the photo. The change in the corridor also confirmed my spection.¡± Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°¡­ Brother Mo, is this really the first time you¡¯vee here?¡± Wasn¡¯t this too damn scary? Mo Yi was about to say something, but he nced out the window. He immediately straightened up and said with a solemn face, ¡°Go, we¡¯re running out of time.¡± Jiang Yuanbai was surprised, and he looked out the window and saw the blue countdown had be 3:21. Only one-minute left! The two didn¡¯t say much and raced against the clock to head up the stairwell. This time, the stairs were extraordinarily long, and the steps were sticky which made the feeling of stepping on them disgusting. But now, they didn¡¯t care about these and rushed forward at the fastest speed. Atst! The third floor! Before they reached thest step, they heard the familiar metal bell ringing. It was monotonous and harsh, but it was a symbol urging them to their death, causing a part of their heart to give birth to fear. The whole building began to deform and elongate at a speed visible to the naked eye. The third floor, which was just near at hand, became far away, and the ground under his feet became soft and gooey. As he ran, Mo Yi looked behind him out of the corner of his eyes. He saw a bloody mouth sticking out of the picture frame hanging at the end of the stairs. Its sharp white teeth chewed on a pair of legs, which was probably the lower body of the corpse in the ssroom. It opened and closed its mouth several times and swallowed the flesh and blood in its mouth. Then, it stretched its neck to grab Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai. ¡°Jump!¡± Mo Yi shouted sharply. The two men threw themselves at the end of the stairs with all their strength. They embarrassingly rolled on the ground and crashed into the third-floor corridor. The mouth continued to stretch forward, but at the end of the stairs, it seemed to hit an invisible barrier, and then it slowly withdrew. Mo Yi¡¯s vision turned ck and his head was dizzy. This life and death crisis consumed almost all the strength in his body. He sat up with shaking hands and propped himself up using the wall. His blood pounded in his ears and his back was wet and sticky with sweat, which was very ufortable. It was decided, he will be a lifelong member of the gym after he returns. While thinking, he leaned against the wall and panted for breath. At this moment, he suddenly rxed, causing Mo Yi¡¯s joints to scream out in soreness. He knocked the back of his head against the cold wall and let out a long sigh. The twisted corridor was silent and frightening, and the blue-grey wall looked like dead skin in the weak light, emitting a rotten breath of death. The corridor was quiet and scary, and only the rapid breathing of the two could be heard. They sat in the dark for a while. Suddenly, Jiang Yuanbai seemed to think of something. He turned his head and looked at Mo Yi, panting and hesitantly said, ¡°That¡­I say, Brother Mo, what¡¯s your upation outside? What kind of profession could cultivate people like Mo Yi? As the contact between the two deepened, Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s surprises and doubts became more and more intense. That amazing reasoning ability, exceptionally urate judgment, and extraordinary calmness: except for the weak physical strength, it was simply formidable and frightening. ¡ª¡ª And this was the first time he has entered the game! Atst, Jiang Yuanbai couldn¡¯t help asking. Mo Yi lowered his eyes, and his eyshes moved slightly. Darkness enshrouded most of his face and covered his expression. Jiang Yuanbai heard him say, ¡°Idle at home, unemployed vagrant.¡± Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°¡­¡± I believe you''re a ghost! At this moment, Mo Yi beside him, suddenly straightened up! Jiang Yuanbai, who was still recovering, was taken aback by his actions, and hurriedly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t answer but stared seriously at the ground in front of him. The notebook that he found in the ssroom on the second floor and the document found in the archive room were scattered on the ground due to the embarrassing way he jumped up the stairs. The notebook was open, face up. Under the faint light, Mo Yi could see that at this moment, the pages of the notebook that were nk showed fine handwriting. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mo Yi then got up on his feet and reached out to pick up the notebook scattered on the ground. Even though he tried his best to restrain himself, his hand couldn¡¯t help but tremble slightly. The notebook was so thin that it didn¡¯t weigh much in the hand. Its corners were slightly yellowed, and it was obvious it had been read for many years, but the opened pages looked smooth and new. It did not look like a notebook from nine years ago. Mo Yi waved away the distracting thoughts in his mind and read from the beginning. He saw that on the first page, the familiar beautiful handwriting neatly wrote: ¡°X month X day 1993. My parents love me very much, and my teachers and ssmates care about me a lot. Today will be a beautiful day.¡± After turning two pages, Mo Yi¡¯s eyes became confused. On each page, except for the date, the content of each entry was exactly the same. Even the punctuation had not changed. He skipped forward a few pages, and his fingers suddenly paused. The content in the notebook was originally carried out daily ording to the date, but it suddenly stopped for seven days. In the next entry, the content had abruptly changed: ¡°December 28, 1993. My mother loves me very much, and my teachers and ssmates care about me a lot. Today will be a beautiful day.¡± ¡­ What about her dad? Mo Yi pursed his lips and continued to flip through. The subsequent pages showed signs of being torn off and smeared. Because too much time has passed, it was impossible to determine what had been written before. The next legible entry had already reached 1994: ¡°January 7, 1994. The teachers and ssmates care about me a lot. Today will be a beautiful day. The mom also¡­ was missing. Mo Yi was stunned. Suddenly, a scene entered his mind: the blood spreading in thedies¡¯ bathroom, the third bathroom stall without blood, the clean circr spot in the pool of blood, and the pale head rolling down to his feet. He was shocked and an idea shed through his mind like lightning. The previous clues seemed to be gears, seamlessly fitting together at this moment. Cold sweat slid down his back. ¡°I seem to know¡­¡±, Mo Yi muttered to himself.

Jiang Yuanbai, who was on the other side, looked at the notebook in Mo Yi hand, confused, and asked, ¡°Huh? Know what?¡± ¡°Remember thedies¡¯ bathroom on the first floor?¡± Mo Yi asked him with no heads or tails. ¡°Of course.¡± Jiang Yuanbai shivered. The blood all over the floor and the scratch marks on the bathroom door could give him nightmares for months. ¡°The third bathroom stall with no blood, the little girl who asked about the ball, the ghost on the ceiling¡­¡± Mo Yi said faster and faster, ¡°Does it sound familiar?¡± Jiang Yuanbai paled and hesitantly nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of this at first because there are too many versions of this story, and these incidents in the toilet aren¡¯t in the version the public is familiar with¡­¡± Mo Yi seemed to be immersed in his thoughts and continued to mutter, ¡°- But all the versions have something inmon, such as the little girl in the third bathroom stall and the inability to look at the mirror and ceiling after going to the bathroom.¡± Jiang Yuanbai was dumbfounded and quickly interrupted Mo Yi, ¡°Wait, wait, what version is not the version? What are you talking about?¡± Mo Yi woke up like from a dream, looked at Jiang Yuanbai and said sinctly, ¡°Hanako in the bathroom. One version was about a woman who murdered her cheating husband. She went crazy and killed her daughter in the school¡¯s third bathroom stall and thenmitted suicide. Soter, it was said that Hanako was trapped in the third bathroom stall forever. If you knock on the door and ask, ¡°Hanako,e and y?¡±, she¡¯ll appear. And, in the bathroom where Hanako appears, the most taboo thing is to look in the mirror and up at the ceiling.¡± The bloody handprints on the bathroom ceiling on the first floor entered Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s mind, and he couldn¡¯t help shaking and felt goose bumps all over his body. Immediately afterwards, Mo Yi held up the notebook and pointed out the handwriting on it to Jiang Yuanbai. ¡°The father disappeared first, and then the mother disappeared.¡± ¡°Then, look here.¡± Mo Yi tapped the lower left corner of the notebook page with a slender finger, showing a small ball drawn with a bright red pen. In the silence, the little girl¡¯s strange giggle seemed to sound in his ears again: ¡°Did anyone see my ball?¡± ¡°So¡­so¡­¡±, Jiang Yuanbai stuttered, ¡°The one in the bathroom ¡­ is actually ¡­?¡± ¡°No,¡± Mo Yi unexpectedly shook his head, ¡°That little girl should not be Zhao Qin. After all, this notebook has a follow up entry, indicating that she did not die in the bathroom.¡± Jiang Yuanbai was even more confused, ¡°¡­Then?¡± ¡°I guess that should be rted to the content of Zhao Qin¡¯s grievances, and Hanako in the bathroom has something inmon with her experience, so she appeared in this form.¡± Mo Yi raised his fingers and tapped lightly on the notebook. His eyes were dark. ¡°Today will be a beautiful day¡­¡± Jiang Yuanbai was stunned for a moment, as if thinking of something, and said, ¡°This seems to be a form of psychotherapy. Every day, you tell yourself that today is very beautiful, so your day will be better.¡± Mo Yi briefly chuckled, but there was no hint ofughter in his voice, ¡°So every sentence here is the opposite. Her parents don¡¯t love her, and her teachers and ssmates don¡¯t care about her.¡± Jiang Yuanbai nodded slowly, and the atmosphere was a bit heavy for a while. Without warning, the female voice that appeared in the beginning broke the silence and said in a cold and mechanical tone: ¡°Dang dang dang dang! Congrattions to yer No. 08, Mo Yi, and yer No. 05, Jiang Yuanbai, for unlocking the Escape Game¡¯s hidden plot! Side missions are now open. Completing side missions will reward rich points. yers, please continue to work hard!¡± Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai both froze at the same time, stared at each other, and then ran towards the window. There was no light in the ck sky, and the slow-moving countdown was still floating there. Below the countdown was a line in small blood red words. Side Mission: ??? Reward for Mission Completion: ??? ¡°Fuck, there¡¯s a reward for this game?¡± Jiang Yuanbai had a ¡°WTF¡± expression on his face and stared out the window. Wait¡­ Mo Yi keenly caught the key point and turned his head in shock to look at Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°What? Does that mean that there is no reward for this escape game?¡± Jiang Yuanbai nodded painfully. ¡°Thest time I entered this game, after I was exhausted and escaped, this garbage game gave me a worn-out note, which said, ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape. Thank you for your participation and wish you a happy life.¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s said thest sentence while clenching his throat, a polite fake smile on his face. Then, he put on a painful expression of bitterness and hatred again, and continued, ¡°¡­And on the back of the note was the countdown to the next game.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Damn it, what a pit? Was the so-called reward for winning the game proceeding to the next game? He was also an otaku and he usually liked to read online novels. He has read a lot of online articles like ¡°Infinite horror x¡± ¡­ ?However, there was no game or system that would cheat the yers with no clearance rewards and the points are obtained only by finding the hidden plots! This game doesn¡¯t follow the conventional routine,e on, hello?! Mo Yi was a little speechless for a moment and withdrew his eyes from the window. At this time, his sight idently fell on the stairwell, and his face abruptly changed, and he called out in a hurry, ¡°Not good! Run!¡± After he said that, Jiang Yuanbai also followed his gaze and his face turned pale. He saw a thick, almost solid mist, slowly creeping up the stairs. It soundlessly approached, like a lurking beast, quietly exposing its vicious fangs, silent and deadly. The two men desperately ran down the corridor in the opposite direction of the stairwell. Fortunately, after the bell rang, the corridor had be extremely long, giving them a chance to escape the pursuit of the thick mist. Mo Yi held the wall and gasp. His face was very solemn. The thick mist only appeared for ten minutes between sses. They ran to the second floor within ten-minutes of the first break, and the thick mist was still on the first floor. In the second ten minutes between sses, the dense mist had swallowed the entire second floor, and even began to devour the third floor! This showed ¡­ that the moving speed of the mist has be faster. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

But¡­there seemed to be something wrong. Mo Yi frowned, keenly aware of a sense of discordance. The speed of the mist changed too fast! At this rate, it would be able to upy the entire building during the next break. The whole process took less than 3 hours, but the survival time they were given was a full 5 hours! ¡ª¡ª This was a dead end that made it impossible to survive. A shuddering chill climbed up Mo Yi¡¯s back and he couldn¡¯t help looking out the corridor window. The window frame twisted by steel bars showed the boundless darkness outside. In the dark, the suspended countdown was shining with a faint blue light and the seconds passed quietly. However, at this moment, in Mo Yi¡¯s eyes, it seemed like it was hurrying them onwards to their death, looking down at them from mid air with cold mocking malice. Jiang Yuanbai, who was on the side, discovered that there was something wrong with him and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why is your face so bad?¡± Mo Yi was pulled back from his thoughts by his voice. He was taken aback for a second, and then he seemed to remember something. A little light of hope was rekindled in his gloomy eyes. That was right! Jiang Yuanbai and Shen Lei had survived the previous escape games! Since they were able to survive, it meant that this game would definitely leave them with a chance to live! But¡­ now, no matter whether they stayed or walked onwards, as long as the ss dismissal bell rang and the mist began to spread, they would only be left to die. ¡ª¡ª So, would the teacher¡¯s office on the fourth floor be the turning point in this deadlock? Mo Yi turned his head and looked at Jiang Yuanbai with a pale face. His eyes were startlingly bright. ¡°We have to go upstairs as soon as possible.¡± Just then, the ss bell rang. As it rang, the entire corridor changed at a speed visible to the naked eye and was finally restored to its original state. ¡°Moreover, within these 45 minutes, we must think of a way to go upstairs,¡± Mo Yi added. At this moment, Jiang Yuanbai who was slowly getting his energy back, realized that the speed of the mist had made their chances of survival almost impossible, and the blood in his face drained away in an instant. He held Mo Yi¡¯s arm a little eagerly, and said with a trembling voice, ¡°Then, what are we waiting for, we should go now ¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes, which looked at him as if he were mentally deficient, seemed to pour cold water on him, causing him to swallow the rest of his words in his throat. He let go of Mo Yi in an embarrassed manner. ¡°The ghosts on each floor are preventing us from going upstairs. Going to the stairwell now will only court death.¡± Jiang Yuanbai calmed down, scratching his head, embarrassed, and humbly asked, ¡°Then, what should we do next?¡± ¡°Look for clues.¡± Mo Yi raised the notebook and document in his hand and his lips formed a smile, ¡°Since the ghosts on each floor are rted to Zhao Qin¡¯s resentments, as long as know what her resentment is, we can figure out how the ghosts kill people.¡± ¡ª¡ª Only this way could they be prepared when they go upstairs. Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s face was a little heavy, and he nodded slowly. ording to the experience from the previous two floors, under the premise of not going upstairs, as long as they didn¡¯t court death by actively disturbing the location of the ghosts: such as Li Yunya who went to the bathroom, and Shen Lei and the others who took the initiative to step into the photo¡¯s illusion, they should be safe.? And on thispletely unfamiliar third floor, every step was likely to be met with a lightning bolt.

But the ssroom of ss 3 was a special existence: since it would appear on every floor, if there was any other existence there, he was afraid that it already would have killed him on the first floor. What¡¯s more, new clues may be found there. After making up his mind, Mo Yi pushed open the door of the ssroom and sat down on the ground in the back of the ssroom. He reopened the notebook and began to read where he had left offst time. There was very little content left. The time passed between each dated entry was getting longer and longer, the number of iplete and scribbled on pages was increasing more and more, and the handwriting had be more and more messy and iprehensible. The only thing that remained unchanged was,¡± Today will be a beautiful day.¡± One of them caught Mo Yi¡¯s attention: ¡°September 1, 1994. I was weed by my ssmates. They ¡­¡± Then there was arge section of cked out handwriting, and the final concluding remark was four small, crooked words: ¡°It will be today.¡± Then, it abruptly stopped. The sentence was not finished¡­ why? Mo Yi was a little confused and simply handed the notebook to Jiang Yuanbai, exchanging it for the folder he was reading and flipped through it. The folder was very thin, and it was obviously Zhao Qin¡¯s personal file. Mo Yi stared deeply at the photo at the top of the file for a few seconds. It was a small, thin, and weak young girl, wearing a big and dirty old shirt. She looked withdrawn and timid, showing a shy smile to the camera. Mo Yi took a deep breath, discarding the emotion that surged up in his heart for a moment, and continued to look down and read. The information given was pitiful. It contained only her enrollment time, test scores, and other cold numbers. Mo Yi turned the page, and the request for time of leave caught his attention: December 21, 1993. Requested seven days of leave. Reason for leave: Funeral. Reply: Permission granted. After seven days happened to be the 28th, which was the day when the father¡¯s name was missing from the notebook. Mo Yi was thoughtful and kept reading. On January 7, 1994, there was a new leave slip. This time, the leave slip was granted for more than half a month. The reasons for asking for leave were fright, funeral, and ¡­ record. Combining it with the story of Hanako, a clear clue was put together. The mother killed her father, and then went to her daughter¡¯s school tomit suicide. The innocent child lost her parents in just a few days and was stigmatized as being a murderer¡¯s daughter. Mo Yi turned to the next page and was immediately rmed by the dense and small red words on it. All the major and minor demerits were recorded, such as fighting, stealing, cheating, and so on. Could it that after the loss of her parents, this young girl became a delinquent? But in the next second, Mo Yi gave up on that idea. Because after every disciplinary action, there would always be several identical names. They were either involved in fighting, or they were reported and snitched on by others. Among the more than twenty disciplinary actions, the urrence rate of these people¡¯s names was astonishing, At the bottom of the page, there was a note in erged bolded text about a disciplinary action: September 1, 1994. First level disciplinary action, warning to withdraw from school. Reason: The spreading of obscene/pornographic materials. ¡ª¡ª September 1, the most unusual date in the notebook, where not even ¡°Today will be a beautiful day,¡± was written. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze became chilly and he picked up a yellowed photo from the file. The thin girl¡¯s clothes were disheveled as shey curled up, sobbing. The torn shirt couldn¡¯t cover the young developing body underneath. The traces of being beat up were printed on her skin, and several hands were stretched out from behind the camera, firmly sping her limbs to prevent her from resisting. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes darkened, and his face looked cold under the light. He know knew, on the second floor, why the photos became the ghosts that decided their lives and deaths. Mo Yi stretched out his hand, about to turn to the next page, but Jiang Yuanbai, who was beside him, eximed in surprise, ¡°Hey! Look at what I found.¡± Mo Yi looked up and saw that he had picked up a piece of paper that had fallen by his side and with a look of excitement, said, ¡°I shook the notebook just now, and this came out of it!¡± Jiang Yuanbai looked at the piece of paper. His excited expression just now became a little lost, and he said with a puzzled face, ¡°What¡­I got happy for nothing.¡± After that, he said with a smile, ¡°However, he he, it turns out that little girls of any age would like this kind of thing.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart jumped, and he looked at the crumbled paper. It was actually a magazine cover that was neatly cut out and carefully folded. The design now looked extremely simple and crude, and the colour scheme was also very harsh. However, a row of headlines in the lower left corner firmly caught Mo Yi¡¯s eye. ¡°Interesting Topic: Seven Incredible Wonders.¡± When he saw the small print, his thoughts shed through his mind like a fierce thunderbolt! All the clues were pieced together in his mind and rose to the surface. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was a little short, and his eyes were astonishingly bright. He seemed to hear his blood surging against his blood vessels, beating in his eardrum rhythmically. He was a little excited for a long time. Mo Yi took a deep breath and stretched out his finger to show Jiang Yuanbai. Jiang Yuanbai looked intently and saw the small words under the headline: ¡°Moving photos, the Thirteenth Step, the sound of a bouncing ball in the empty gym ¡­ the mirror at night, and Hanako in the bathroom. What are the Seven Incredible Wonders?¡± Jiang Yuanbai also suddenly realized, ¡°So ¡­ 712 is actually the order of the Seven Incredible Wonders?¡± Mo Yi held his breath and nodded, his voice a little unsteady, ¡°It should be.¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s voice was excited. ¡°Then we know what¡¯s on the third floor! The second one of the Seven Incredible Wonders! The Thirteenth Step!¡± The Thirteenth Step. The rumour was that if someone counted the steps of the stairs at night, they would fall into a different dimension when they reached the thirteenth count. Although he didn¡¯t know why, he always felt something odd in his heart. It was as if there was a sense of discord. Mo Yi looked out the window. Their time was running out. In 15 minutes, the bell would ring again. If they didn¡¯t reach the fourth floor before time ran out, there would only be death. He shook his head as if he wanted to get rid of the strange feelings in his mind. Then, he decisively gathered up the notebook and folder and stood up. Although he was anxious, he didn¡¯t show it on his face. He quickly said to Jiang Yuanbai,¡± Let¡¯s go. We can only give it a try.¡± When they reached the stairwell, Jiang Yuanbai suddenly stopped. ¡°If you didn¡¯t know, then it¡¯s okay. Of course you wouldn¡¯t count the steps. But now, you have to tell yourself not to count the steps ¡­ you can¡¯t help but count it!¡± He was slightly falling apart. Mo Yi thought for a moment, ¡°How about singing Two Tigers?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Jiang Yuanbai couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Mo Yi nodded sincerely. ¡°Yes, it can distract your attention.¡± After that, he began to climb the stairs while loudly singing Two Tigers. Jiang Yuanbai stood in ce with a nk face and looked at his back. He merely listened to Mo Yi¡¯s rising and falling voice from anew, ¡°You see, I¡¯ming up.¡± ¡­ Should he tell Mo Yi that his singing of Two Tigers was out of tune? Jiang Yuanbai pondered for a second. Then he decided to hide this secret in his mind. In the end, he still believed in Mo Yi¡¯s abnormal theory. He opened his mouth to sing Two Tigers and began to climb up the stairs. Sure enough, he arrived at the fourth floor safely. Although there was no mishap, it was in no way smooth. Jiang Yuanbai crouched down and took a deep breath, a thinyer of sweat covered his back. As expected, the ghosts here didn¡¯t want them to go upstairs. During the process of climbing the stairs, he heard someone whispering in his ear while slowly counting, as if tempting him to count in his mind. Fortunately, he was brainwashed by Two Tigers. Otherwise, he was afraid that he would have been lured away long ago. Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s heart rejoiced and he looked up, preparing to thank Mo Yi. But he saw the man who had been overly calm along the way, uncharacteristically showing a surprised expression, and his dted pupils were staring fixedly in front him. Jiang Yuanbai followed his line of sight and was also stunned. The stairwell was blocked by a solid wall. No traces of a gap were exposed, weighing down the people present until they nearly suffocated. Jiang Yuanbai panicked, raised the fire axe and shed, but the sharp axe de slid against the wall, leaving no trace. An atmosphere of despair slowly came. ¡ª¡ª There was no fourth floor at all. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jiang Yuanbai broke down. With red eyes, he swung the fire axe again and again and smashed it at the seemingly indestructible wall, ¡°¡­ Impossible, impossible!¡± ¡ª¡ª Watching hope crumble before their eyes, no one could withstand the despair. Mo Yi took several deep breaths before finally suppressing his beating heart and surge of restless blood. He stretched out his hand and shook Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s shoulder, trying to make his voice sound calm and reasonable, ¡°Don¡¯t chop.¡± The axe slipped from Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s weak palm. The area between his thumb and index finger was already bleeding because of the way he exerted himself. He covered his face in despair, and his voice was a little choked, ¡°¡­ Impossible.¡± Suddenly, Mo Yi¡¯s heart was stung by an impulse from nowhere. He stepped forward, stretched out his hand and pulled off Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s palm covering his face, and forced him to look directly into his eyes, ¡°You can¡¯t change anything like this. If we stay here, once the bell rings and the mist appears, we will both die.¡± Jiang Yuanbai was stunned by the look in Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. He was stunned for a while, and his eyes slowly changed. Jiang Yuanbai stopped his sobbing and stood up slowly. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and his voice had be calm again, ¡°¡­Then what should we do next?¡± ¡°Go downstairs.¡± Mo Yi put down his hand and recovered his former cold indifference, but his white fingertips revealed that he was not calm at the moment. ¡°We must have missed some important clues.¡± ¡°But ¡­¡± Jiang Yuanbai wanted to speak but stopped. But it was less than 15 minutes before the next bell rings ¡­ Even if they could find any important clues, what could they do? Wouldn¡¯t they still die? ¡°So what?¡± Mo Yi seemed to know what he was going to say. A pair of cold and bright eyes seemed to prate his soul and see through him. Then, to Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s surprise, the corners of his mouth slightly rose into a smile, ¡°Would you rather sit and wait for death or die on the road of exploration?¡± In the wake of his words, courage instantly poured into Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s heart. He nodded and smiled. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s the second kind.¡± With that, he picked up the fire axe he had dropped on the ground and walked to the stairs. Mo Yi followed him and was preparing to go downstairs when he heard a mechanical voice counting, ¡°One, two ¡­¡± Mo Yi was taken aback and suddenly reacted. He stretched out his hand to grab Jiang Yuanbai and made him stumble. Jiang Yuanbai steadied his body and looked at him nkly. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face was pale, and his expression was solemn. ¡°¡­ You were counting.¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s face drastically changed and cold sweat instantly covered his whole back. ¡°Impossible, I have no impression of it at all! And I¡¯m still humming the song in my mind! It can¡¯t affect me!¡± At this moment, Mo Yi seemed to think of something, and his face became ugly. ¡°The original version of the urban legend of the Thirteen Steps seemed to say that if a student counts when going downstairs, they would be transported into another world.¡± And here, even when going upstairs, they were already susceptible to the influence of the stairs and counted them involuntarily ¡ª¡ª let alone when going downstairs as in the legend.

Just now, the scene where Jiang Yuanbai seemed to be controlled by a Gu dwelling in his body and was unable to control the counting, was enough to make people realize how powerful the staircase was. The situation fell into a deadlock for a while. Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s heart was still fluttering with fear and he took a step back. He couldn¡¯t help but put his palm on the cold railing. The cold touch spread along his palm to his bone marrow, which made him shiver. An idea shed through his mind. ¡°Yes!¡± Jiang Yuanbai suddenly yelled and jumped up, shocking Mo Yi. ¡°Since we can¡¯t take the stairs and we can¡¯t help counting when we do, let¡¯s not take the stairs!¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up and he cast his gaze on the railing. That was right! Then let¡¯s not take the stairs! There was no way to go upstairs currently. Now, they could go downstairs by sliding down the railing! He didn¡¯t know if it was feasible, but it was the only way. The two looked at each other, then they each sat on the railing on one side and slid downstairs. The staircase seemed to realize that someone wanted to take advantage of its rules and began to violently shake. The stairs turned over one by one, undting. Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai couldn¡¯t help shaking up and down along with the stairs and were almost thrown off. The palm of a hand took shape from the melting staircase and reached out, pulling at their legs. They were already moving up and down, and now it was even more difficult to stabilize their bodies. Seeing that the ground downstairs was close to them, Mo Yi raised his voice, ¡°Now! Jump!¡± The two leaped up and once again, embarrassingly fell down onto the corridor of the third floor. Mo Yi felt that all his bones were about to shatter into pieces. He got up in pain with his palms on the windowsill and he looked out the window: There was still 6 minutes left. Regardless of the pain in his body, he ran to the ssroom of ss 3. There were only three words in his mind: Search for clues! They must have missed something previously! As soon as Mo Yi opened the door, a strong and disgustingly salty smell hit his face. When he gazed inside, he saw four more corpses of different shapes in the ssroom, with pale and frightened expressions. Their bodies were full of tear marks and were dripping in blood as theyy slumped on the desks. Mo Yi held the door frame with his palm and looked at the scene in front of him for a while, feeling a little stunned. No ¡­ These people clearly followed Shen Lei into the second-floor illusion, but they only appeared in the ssroom now, indicating that they had just died. When they first went to the third floor, Mo Yi thought that they should all be dead because the mist had already spread to the third floor. Even if they didn¡¯t die in the illusion, they would have been swallowed by the mist. So when he saw that there were no corpses in the ssroom, he was not very surprised ¡ª¡ª because the corpse after being dragged into the mist would not appear in the ssroom. However! Now, they were in the ssroom! What did that mean¡­? A bold guess surfaced: they destroyed the photo, but they didn¡¯t destroy the illusion which the mist was unable to invade. Only this way could he exin why the corpses appeared now! ¡ª¡ª So, the other people who were brought into the photo but did not appear in the ssroom should not be dead! Mo Yi felt that he was trembling with excitement. He turned around and pulled Jiang Yuanbai over. His voice was hoarse, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the second floor. I know how to escape from the mist.¡± Although what awaited them may be a more miserable hell, nheless inparison, it was better to make an effort than to sit still waiting for death. Even though Jiang Yuanbai was puzzled, he didn¡¯t ask any more questions. Time was running out now. Asking fewer questions was the best choice. He hastily nodded and followed Mo Yi to the stairwell. The faint blue numbers outside the window reminded them: there was 3 minutes left. The gloomy and cold breeze carried over the smell of blood from the stairwell. The energy saving light on top of the stairs flickered dimly, making a slight ¡°zizi¡± sound. The entire corridor exuded a touch of unknown breath. The memory of being chased by the monster just now was still vividly imprinted in their minds and looking at the pitch-dark abyss still made them shudder. But this was the only way. The two went downstairs. Under the faint light in the stairwell, Jiang Yuanbai saw that in the middle of one of the walls, was a photo hanging upright. It was a portrait of a man ced in a light silver photo frame. He looked about thirty or forty years old and was looking at the camera with a smile. Under the photo was a small line: The Best Teacher of the Year. Unlike the other photos, dark and stinky blood was slowly flowing down the silver frame, as if seeping out of the photo. ¡ª¡ª? The mouth that chased them in the beginning should havee out from there. Jiang Yuanbai slowly swallowed a mouthful of saliva and walked cautiously as if he was afraid that the thing would rush out of the frame again. Mo Yi¡¯s low voice sounded in his ear, ¡°I guess that only after the bell rings can these monsters leave their original environment,¡± His words sessfully calmed Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s tight heartstrings. He frowned and recalled: It seemed that this was indeed the case. Hanako left the bathroom only after the ss dismissal bell rang, and the mouth of the monster that had chased them before also appeared after the bell. Jiang Yuanbai breathed out a sigh of relief and continued to walk downstairs. However, in a ce he didn¡¯t see, the man in the photo behind him moved his eyes slowly, as if watching them go downstairs, and then revealed a strange smile. They walked out of the stairwell. The corridor looked exactly the same as when they had left. The photo that was cut in halfy on the floor, and the corridor was filled with a rotten and cold smell. Mo Yi looked out the window. There was two minutes left. He crouched down and picked up the photo that was split in two and put it together. A strange scene urred: the photos were slowly getting stitched together, and the smelly blood flowing on the ground was sucked back into the photo as if flowing backwards. Soon, the photo and frame were restored to normal, and the graduates in the photo showed a blurry and brilliant smile at the camera. It was as if nothing had happened. ¡°How did you know you could put it back together?¡± Jiang Yuanbai couldn¡¯t help but interject. ¡°I didn¡¯t know.¡± Mo Yi looked at the time outside the window. He eagerly stood up as quickly as possible and re-hung the photo on the wall, and said while hanging it, ¡°¡­ I just guessed.¡± There was one-minute left. Once the photo was hung on the wall, the scene before them seemed to change slightly. Jiang Yuanbai turned his head to look, and the ssroom behind him became ss 4. The illusion reappeared. Mo Yi and he looked at each other and took a deep breath. Their faces were solemn. Mo Yi nodded at Jiang Yuanbai, and then they stepped into the stairwell illusion together. There was a strange ripple in the air, like a ripple on a waters surface when a stone gets throne in ake. In the next second, there was no one in the long and cold corridor. Meanwhile, the number outside the window counted down to 2:25. The monotonous and harsh ss dismissal bell rang. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Right before their eyes, the scene suddenly changed. They were standing on an endless staircase, surrounded by boundless darkness, and countless photos, big and small, were hanging in the void. A ghostly photo frame appeared, disying an expressionless face which hollowly stared at the two people standing on the empty stairs. Mo Yi turned and looked behind him. Although the stairwell was still there when they came in, what it was connected to was no longer the corridor, but to a dark void: Mo Yi didn¡¯t want to know what would happen if he fell. Suddenly, a pale arm stretched out from a photo without warning. It grabbed Mo Yi¡¯s wrist, fast as lightning, and dragged him towards the photo. The ice-cold touch prated into his bone marrow through his skin, making his scalp go numb. Mo Yi felt as if his wrist was firmly encircled by an iron hoop. It pulled him with astonishing strength, forcibly dragging him several steps in a matter of seconds. This was bad! Seeing that he was about to be dragged into the photo, Mo Yi was anxious, and he seized the chance to fall backwards. His body sank, using his own gravitational force to counter the strength of the arm. Jiang Yuanbai suddenly stepped forward and took advantage of this opportunity to wield his raised axe and heavily chopped at the deathly pale arm. The arm split open, and the cut was neat and pale without a drop of blood spilling out. It slowly withdrew into the photo. The hand sped onto Mo Yi¡¯s wrist turned into powder the moment it was severed. Mo Yi was sitting on the stairs, panting. The intensely agitated blood pounded against his eardrums, and the overwhelming pressure caused his eyes to go ck. The cold sweat on his back firmly glued his clothes onto his body, and the cold touch prated through the skins surface. He looked down at his wrist. The skin that hadn¡¯t seen the sun for a long time was delicate and pale, making the few green and purple finger marks on it even more shocking. Mo Yi moved his wrist slightly, and a needle like stab of pain instantly shot out. Jiang Yuanbai was also shocked, ¡°¡­ Are you okay?¡± Mo Yi shook his head weakly, ¡°¡­ It¡¯s nothing.¡± He stretched out his hand to grasp Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s extended hand and made an effort to stand up. It was hard to tell whose hands was colder, but they both trembled a little. Mo Yi stood up and turned to look inside the photo of the outstretched hand. He saw that the person in the photo no longer had an expressionless face like before. Instead, he looked at him with resentment, a pair of pitch-ck eyes simr to a snake was spitting out words of malice while staring fixedly at them. ¡ª It was like it was alive.

At this moment, the surrounding photos all began to shake! One pale arm after another came out of the photo, elongating before stretching out its open palms towards them. Their hearts of the two jumped and they started to run away at the same time. Every time they passed by, one of the photos in the area would get rmed. Mo Yi looked back to the side and his heart instantly tightened. Behind him was densely packed with hands, like a surging wave of arms and fingers,peting with each other to reach out and grab them. Even just looking at it made people break out into goosebumps. Mo Yi turned around and continued to run forward. The stairs in front of him extended into the dark depths and it looked like there was no end in sight. A thought rose from his heart and chilled him: sooner orter they would run out of stamina and be caught. Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side unexpectedly and grabbed his ankle like an iron hoop and tugged him down to the ground! Mo Yi¡¯s head was knocked on the stairs and warm blood flowed down his cheeks. He clenched his teeth to hold back the sound in his throat and his vision grew dark. Jiang Yuanbai heard the noise behind him and paused when climbing up the stairs. He gritted his teeth and turned around, raised the fire axe in his hand, and cut off the hand that was tightly clutching onto Mo Yi¡¯s ankle. The pale hand turned into powder the moment it was cut off, and the remaining severed arm slowly retreated, but more arms took the opportunity to surge over like a wave and climbed up the legs of the two men and dragged them backwards. It was over. Mo Yi¡¯s heart sank. All of a sudden, a piercing scream broke through the air, and a tiny silver white thing soared over his head and was thrown into the pile of arms. The arms instantly stopped moving. Even the hands holding Mo Yi lost their strength and loosely hung around his legs. Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai took the opportunity to break free of their shackles. A familiar low voice rang out nearby, ¡°Here!¡± Mo Yi looked up and saw Shen Lei standing in front of them beckoning to them, His messy clothes were still stained with blood. Although he cut a sorry figure, somehow, it lookedplete. The two men¡¯s spirits rose, and their exhausted limbs seemed to be injected with new energy instantly, and they ran towards him as quickly as possible. The arms behind them seemed to wake up and began to twitch again. Shen Lei grabbed them, then turned around and entered a gap, and the three people staggered into an empty space. The arms were patrolling outside, searching and fumbling about. Shen Lei slowly put his finger on his lips and made a silent gesture. Mo Yi understood and covered his mouth and nose with his palm and forced back the gasping sounds in his throat to avoid making any sound. He could only hear the rapid beating of his heart and the rustling of the hands. After an unknown period of time, the hands seemed to have finally given up and then slowly retreated. Shen Lei tiptoed out and looked around carefully. Then he turned to them and nodded, signaling that everyone could make a sound. Only then did Mo Yi put down his palm, and a warm feeling dripped down the tips of his fingers. He looked down, dazed, only to find that the back of his hand had been wet with the blood from his forehead. The vivid red marks were like snakes crawling around the pale skin, bright and dazzling. He blinked slowly and his dizziness spread. Shen Lei came over and easily helped him treat the wound, and then said, ¡°It should be a light concussion. It¡¯s okay, it seems like you¡¯ll recover soon, but I ran out of hemostatic bandages. I¡¯m afraid I can only do this for now.¡± Jiang Yuanbai, who was beside him, said with a lingering fear, ¡°¡­ Just now, what was that ah?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Shen Lei shook his head briefly and raised his eyes towards Jiang Yuanbai, then exined, ¡°What I know is that they look for prey through the photos, and they¡¯ll be chased when they appear in their line of sight. The good news is that once you get out of their sight, you can escape by not making any sounds.¡± ¡°The bad news is that they¡¯re everywhere.¡± A thin voice suddenly appeared from beside him, sounding a little weak. Jiang Yuanbai was startled, and he looked towards the voice and saw a woman sitting in the corner. Her face was pale, her right arm was gone, and blood was seeping out of the white bandage. Perhaps it was because her breathing was too weak, or the situation was too tense, that Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai didn¡¯t notice her in the beginning. ¡°Yu Li.¡± The woman weakly introduced herself. ¡°This is my second game.¡± Jiang Yuanbai blinked and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m Jiang Yuanbai and this is my second game. Sitting over there is Mo Yi. This is his first time entering.¡± Yu Li smiled and lightly shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s a pity I can¡¯t shake hands with you.¡± Shen Lei stood to the side and lit a cigarette. His teeth gently held the cigarette in his mouth, and with a somewhat tired appearance between his brows, said, ¡°The difficulty of this game is at least A. At the very beginning, I found it unusual: 11 people live for 5 hours. So many people, yet this is the first time I have encountered a game with such a short survival time.¡± After a pause, he continued, ¡°It seems that I underestimated the difficulty this time. Up to now, only the two of us remained alive. But you, when we separated, I really didn¡¯t expect you to live until now.¡± Shen Lei was very straightforward. But Jiang Yuanbai didn¡¯t feel offended. He trembled with lingering fear and briefly recounted the experience after separating from Shen Lei and his party, from the secret room on the second floor to the photo illusion, and then to the disappearance of the fourth floor. Even though the words were sinct, nevertheless, it was still thrilling and shook them to the core. Hooked, Shen Lei and Yu Li listened for a long time in a daze. Finally, Jiang Yuanbai concluded, ¡°¨C To tell you the truth, I didn¡¯t expect that I would live until now. If it weren¡¯t for Mo Yi, I would have died.¡± Jiang Yuanbai added, half jokingly and half with emotion, ¡°Brother Mo is really powerful!¡± The powerful ones were a little frightening, While they were talking, Mo Yi was sitting cross legged on the ground. He had not fully recovered from his dizziness. In a trance, he seemed to hear someone call his name, so he looked up and was startled by the scene in front of him. They were staring at him, especially Shen Lei and Yu Li. They looked at him in surprise withplexed eyes, as if observing some rare animal. ¡°¡­¡± Mo Yi back got some goosebumps. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Young man, is this really your first time?¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Although he knew what the other person wanted to ask, but ¡­ why does this sentence sound so strange? Mo Yi was about to say something, but his eyes inadvertently fell on the photo frame behind him. He was stunned for a second and couldn¡¯t help but straighten his spine and carefully examined the environment around him. Although nothing attacked, there were still floating photos around them. However, unlike the other photos outside, the frames here didn¡¯t have those blurred and strange figures, but a vast expanse of white. Mo Yi looked at Shen Lei thoughtfully, and the conversation shifted, ¡°How did you find this blind spot?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t find this blind spot.¡± Shen Lei was silent for a moment and then replied, ¡°Every time a photo kills a person, it will be like this ¡­ and here, we had the most people die, so it became a blind spot.¡± The atmosphere turned heavy for a moment. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know what to say for a while, so he stared at the photo behind Shen Lei and kept pondering. And he really seemed to have discovered something. Mo Yi frowned and hesitated for a second, then stood up from the floor and walked slowly to one of the photos. He looked closer. If a person didn¡¯t look carefully, they wouldn¡¯t see it at all. The white in these photos seemed dynamic, like a thick fluid, flowing slowly in the same direction. It was like mist. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mo Yi frowned and looked at these misty photos, but his train of thought seemed to be shrouded in these dense mists, so he couldn¡¯t think of an exnation.. Just then, Yu Li¡¯s confused voice came from behind, ¡°Eh? That¡¯s strange. These photos just now weren¡¯t like this ah.¡± . Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened, and he turned to look at her. ¡°What were they like?¡± His eyes were very dark. When he unwaveringly stared at someone, it would always give people the illusion of directly facing a knifes edge. It seemed that Mo Yi was not at ease. Yu Li subconsciously averted her eyes, tilted her head for a moment, and then replied with some uncertainty, ¡°It seemed to be ¡­ a corridor and things like that, maybe?¡± Mo Yi was taken aback, and he turned to Jiang Yuanbai. ¡°Do you have a watch?¡± Jiang Yuanbai was a little confused and he nodded. ¡°En, ah, what¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°You do the calctions, is it still after ss?¡± Mo Yi said.? Each word was urate and clear. ¡°Yes.¡± Shen Lei on the side suddenly opened his mouth and looked at Mo Yi thoughtfully. Mo Yi nodded and looked at Yu Li again. ¡°You said that when you first saw these photos, they didn¡¯t change ¡­ right? Then when was thest time you saw it in your memory?¡± Yu Li frowned and thought for a moment, then replied, ¡°Probably before those photos started to move? I¡¯m not sure.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were very bright. ¡°The photos were disturbed because Jiang Yuanbai and I came in, so the photos began to move after we arrived: so, before we entered the illusion, the pictures in these photos were still stairs?¡± ¡°It should be like this.¡± Yu Li nodded. Mo Yi continued, ¡°And Jiang Yuanbai and I happened to enter the illusion when the ss dismissal bell rang, and outside of the illusion, after the school bell rings ¡­¡± ¡°¡­ There will be mist!¡± Jiang Yuanbai was stunned, and he seemed to have figured out something, and he couldn¡¯t help but loudly interject. Shen Lei couldn¡¯t help but step forward and looked at Mo Yi with piercing eyes. ¡°You mean, these photos will be a ¡­ window after it drags people inside? In other words, the scenery in these photos is actually what it looks like outside the illusion.¡± Mo Yi nodded, then hesitated and shook his head. ¡°The clues are too few. It¡¯s just my guess.¡±

¡°But¡­.¡± He continued, ¡°If my guess is correct, the good news is that the passage of time in the illusion is the same as that outside the illusion. If you stay here for five hours, you can also clear customs.¡± As if seeing the hope of living, everyone couldn¡¯t help but brighten up. Shen Lei suddenly said, ¡°What¡¯s the bad news?¡± Just now, the rxed atmosphere abruptly became serious, and several people cast their eyes to Mo Yi. The cold and venomous eyes of the previous photo that had its arm cut off shed through his mind. Mo Yi hesitated for a moment and then replied, ¡°After killing, the photo bes a window tomunicate between illusion and reality, so ¡­ where did the people in the photo go?¡± Although his voice was not loud, what he said made people feel like they fell into an ice cer, and their whole body went ice cold. Yes, where did they go? Did they just disappear? No one could persuade themselves to calmly ept this inference without any resistance. After all, in the world of escape games, no matter how ordinary things appeared, they could be fatal, let alone this photo, which at first nce, was already extremely mysterious. Everyone was lost in thought. ¡ª Mo Yi was the same Only, he was thinking about something else. Mo Yi unconsciously stroked the notebook and folder in his hand, and his fingers slowly tightened. Their cold edges and corners pressed against his palm, and the rough and hard texture was almost impossible to ignore. Since ¡­ in this illusion, they could stay in this blind spot which had no photos, and as long as they survived within the remaining time, they could clear customs. So, was it necessary for him to continue exploring? All of a sudden, Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s joyous voice rang in his ear, ¡°Look!¡± Mo Yi reigned in his thoughts, raised his head, and looked towards the direction Jiang Yuanbai was pointing to. He saw that the scene in the photos hanging in the air were slowly changing. The white mist quickly dissipated in a few seconds, revealing a brand-new stairwell. Shen Lei looked at him, and he didn¡¯t know whether his tone was relieved orplicated, ¡°¡­ It seems that your guess is right. These photos have indeed be windows tomunicate between illusion and reality. It looks like we are saved.¡± The atmosphere, after a long time, finally lightened. Mo Yi looked at them and smiled, made up his mind, and then lowered his head to open the folder. He was not destined to be a pure optimist. Because he never believed in luck or coincidences. ¡ª Or in waiting. His fingers rubbed the rough surface of the folder. The files in the folder exuded a damp smell of not having seen the sun all year round, and the pages were surprisingly white as new, as if they had been exempt from the passing of time. Mo Yi sat down cross legged and buried himself in the thin pages of the files. He had already read most of the content. He simply browsed through it and made sure that nothing was missed. Then, he turned back to the spot he had readst time. Unexpectedly, only thest page was left. There was only a single line on the nk paper: ¡°November 14, 1995. The archive was sealed.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows slowly furrowed. He had roughly calcted that 204 days before the college entrance exam in 1996 was approximately November 14, 1995: so, the day when the archive was sealed happened to be the time when the ssroom came to a standstill. So, what did it mean to seal the archive? Was Zhao Qin dead? ¡ª Wait. Mo Yi realized that something was wrong and turned back a page in a hurry. There was no difference between this page and the one he had readst time. The whole page was densely packed with small scarlet letters, and at the bottom was therge and bolded first level disciplinary action on September 1, 1994. The bottom of this page had September 1994, but the next page jumped directly to November 1995! And in that whole year, there was nothing in the file! Even if there was no disciplinary action records, there should be information on achievements and so on. He turned to the next page again. The pads of his fingers slowly brushed across the space between the two pages, and an uneven sensation was transmitted to his fingertips. There should have been a few pages there, but they were taken away. No wonder he thought this folder was surprisingly thin, it was because it was originally an iplete file! 993, footless swallow, 712, and the unnamed mist. In the prompt, there was still the hint, ¡°footless swallow,¡± which had no clues. Then, did it have anything to do with the missing files? Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and his dark eyes were clouded over. Suddenly, a hand gently patted Mo Yi¡¯s shoulder. Shen Lei¡¯s voice sounded in his ear, ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Mo Yi was pulled away from his thoughts and looked at Shen Lei, who had approached him, and replied, ¡°Before, I was looking at the files I got on the second floor. I think it may help us.¡± Shen Lei looked down at the page in his hand, stretched out his hand and took out thest page. He looked at it for a while and frowned. ¡°Maybe.¡± Then, he put the page back into the folder in Mo Yi¡¯s hand, and gently touched the folder with the fingertips of his right hand, and said in a deep voice, ¡°However, out primary goal now is to stay here for the full time and escape. Besides, didn¡¯t you say that the people in the photos are a threat? Instead of studying this, it¡¯s better to be vignt.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes unconsciously fell on his knuckles. Shen Lei¡¯s fingers were slender and well defined. However, it was obvious that because of years of smoking, his index finger and middle finger were yellowed by tobo. He looked away without a trace, then closed the folder and looked up at Shen Lei and sincerely said, ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s really not the time to do this. It¡¯s because I¡¯m too nitpicky¡°. After a pause, he continued, ¡°What¡¯s more, Sister Yu Li is still badly injured. How about this ¡­ you go take care of her first. Jiang Yuanbai and I will be on guard. We¡¯ll changeter.¡± Shen Lei hesitated for a while and finally nodded and walked towards Yu Li. Watching as Shen Lei went to Yu Li, Mo Yi tried to stand up, but he failed several times. Frustrated, he turned to look at Jiang Yuanbai and held out his hands to him. ¡°You lend me a hand. My legs are a little numb.¡± His palms were hanging in the air. His fingers were long and slender, and his thin skin was wrapped around his slim wrists, which looked as if it would snap off if he bent them. Jiang Yuanbai smiled helplessly, and then obediently walked over and forcefully pulled him up. The instant their shoulders crossed paths, he heard Mo Yi¡¯s deliberately lowered voice floating into his ears, ¡°¡ª Be careful. Shen Lei is a fake.¡± Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Mo Yi¡¯s voice was very soft, like the wind sweeping past his ears, disappearing in the next second without a trace. But the content of his words made Jiang Yuanbai freeze on the spot as if he had been struck by lightning. A sudden chill in the air made his whole body go ice cold and his hair stand on end. He uncontrobly turned his head bit by bit and it was as if he could hear the rusty rattling of his neck bones. His ears were filled with a buzzing white nose. Jiang Yuanbai seemed to be trapped in a nightmare, and he could hardly restrain himself from casting his eyes to Shen Lei behind him ¡­ A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Strong fingers grasped his shoulder des, and the cold palm didn¡¯t have a hint of warmth, passing through the thin shirt, like ice. Jiang Yuanbai shivered, subconsciously looked over, and then bumped into Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. Calm and dark. He only heard him say in a steady voice, ¡°Thank you.¡± The tone was sincere and calm, as if he really were just thanking Jiang Yuanbai for helping him up. However, from an angle not visible to the people behind him, Mo Yi shook his head slightly, as if to remind Jiang Yuanbai not to act rashly, and then naturally withdrew his palm. Jiang Yuanbai also came to at this moment, so he hurried to remedy it. He adjusted his stiff facial nerves, and forced open the corners of his mouth, revealing a distorted smiling expression. ¡°¡­It was nothing.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± ¡ª It was better not to remind him. His face was still calm and collected, and he nced back as if by ident. The thing that looked like Shen Lei happened to be facing away from them and didn¡¯t appear to be paying attention to them. Only then did Mo Yi slightly rx his copsing heartstrings. Although Jiang Yuanbai had calmed down a lot, he still hadn¡¯t recovered from the explosive news that ¡°Shen Lei is a fake.¡± He took a deep breath, and then peeked at Shen Lei. His back was still turned to them with no intention of changing his posture for the time being. So he turned his body sideways and silently mouthed to Mo Yi, ¡°How can it be! You didn¡¯t lie to me, did you?¡± ¡°Shen Lei is left-handed.¡± Mo Yi scanned the surroundings under the residual light, and mouthed, ¡°But the traces from smoking are on his right hand.¡±¡¯ ¡ª The image in the photo was reversed. The meaning was self evident.

Jiang Yuanbai only felt ayer of sweat appear instantly on his back. Although he had already expected it before, now that he had really found out that the person in the photo was by his side, no matter what he thought, it was still chilling. In fact, there was another reason for his suspicion, but Mo Yi did not say it: Just now, ¡°Shen Lei¡± said that the reason for the formation of this dead spot was that ¡°we had the most people die here.¡± So the question was, what on earth was it that caused the team to be almostpletely destroyed? Even experienced yers, like Shen Lei, got caught? At the moment, Mo Yi¡¯s heart was extremely heavy. The unknown and fear were like an enormous lead block heavily pressing down on his heart, making it almost hard to breathe. But this was not the time to be scared. He forcibly closed his eyes, exhaled a deep breath of turbid air, drove out the deep negative emotions from his mind, and then opened his eyes to secretly observe the so called, ¡°safe zone.¡± They were in a corner of the edge of the stairs, which seemed to be a buffer zone in the winding stairs, floating in mid air like a tform: much like the ce where he entered from. Mo Yi pondered for a few seconds, then walked forward slowly. He was careful not to expose his body outside the tform and turned his head to look at the ce where he was previously before he ran: The long staircase extended down into a vast white space as if there was no end to it. Densely packedrge and small photo frames were silently suspended in the void beside the staircase. The peace and quiet revealed a subtle cunningness, as if peering around and waiting for the opportunity to move. Mo Yi analyzed the ce where he had initiallye in. As expected, it was almost the same as here. Both were a tform in the middle of a staircase, just like a t buffer zone. It was like: the shape of a stairwell. Mo Yi was shocked, and his eyes lit up and he quickly turned to look at the photo frame hanging on the side which wasmunicating with the space outside the illusion. Sure enough, the scene in the photo frame showed a corner of the stairs, so this should be a stairwell! As if he saw the moon shining through the clouds and fog, Mo Yi¡¯s whole body was filled with excitement as he suddenly realized: The space inside the illusion and the space outside the illusion should be interlinked! Therefore, in the illusion world, when they ran from the first tform to the second tform, it was equivalent to in the reality world, of running from the staircase on the second floor to the staircase between the second floor and the third floor! So now, they were trapped in a different dimension within the staircase, and although this different dimension was not in the slightest bit simr to the outside world, it was still in the same geographical space as it. Mo Yi took a deep breath, pushed down the emotions of excitement to the bottom of his heart, and tried to calm down his mind. He turned his head, but suddenly met Shen Lei¡¯s gaze. His eyes were so dark that he couldn¡¯t clearly see his emotions, and he was quietly looking at him. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened. He forced himself to calm down, and his face remained calm. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± The face that was identical to Shen Lei¡¯s was directly facing him. Suddenly, he lifted the corners of his lips and cracked a smile. The pitch-ck pupils were full of sinister intent. The strange smile aroused fear from the bottom of his heart. Mo Yi¡¯s heart quivered, and a dangerous premonition instantly caused his hair to stand upright on his back, and fine beads of sweat broke out from his forehead. ¡ª Not good! He saw the thing that looked like Shen Lei slowly approaching, his smile getting bigger and bigger, almost splitting to the tips of his ears, revealing sharp white teeth. ¡°You¡¯re very smart.¡± Mo Yi calmly revealed a polite smile. ¡°Thank you. I think so too.¡± Shen Lei¡¯s smiling expression paused. ¡°¡­¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s nerves had already been tense enough to burst, but the scene before him idently squeezed augh from his throat. ¡°Shen Lei¡± hadpletely torn off its disguise now. It looked at Jiang Yuanbai viciously, and a more terrifying smile appeared on its twisted and deformed face. ¡°Since you¡¯re not soft enough to eat, I¡¯ll have to work hard.¡± As its voice fell, countless pale hands stretched out from the distance, blocking the whole tform and path leading up and down the stairs. Yu Li, who had been sitting on the ground, also stood up now. Her face was expressionless, and her joints were stiff like a puppet. She reached out with her remaining cold palm and tightly hugged Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s arm, who was standing near her. Even when he struggled desperately, he couldn¡¯t move half a step. ¡°Shen Lei¡± slowly approached. Its face waspletely deformed now. A bright red mouth nearly upied more than half of its face, and its eyes were squeezed into two narrow and thin white slits. As if ying with its prey, it approached them steadily and slowly, as if enjoying every ounce of fear from its victims. Mo Yi¡¯s mind was in a mess, and every cell in his body was screaming danger, but there was nothing he could do. All the exit points were blocked. There was no possibility of escape. He was forced to retreat step by step, and finally, he retreated to the end of the tform. Half of his heel was suspended in the air, and gravel and dust fell into the abyss. Mo Yi turned his head and looked at it nkly. A bottomless abyss. But the moment he lowered his head, out of the corners of his eyes, was a beam of silver. It was a familiar silver photo frame, hanging upright in the air. A small corner was missing in the lower left corner, and the cut seemed brand new. A photo shed before Mo Yi¡¯s eyes: In the stairwell, in between the second floor and third floor, was a photo of a man hanging on the middle of the wall and ced in a light silver frame. Thick ck and smelly blood dripped down the frame. It was the photo of the best teacher of the year! And the mouth that once chased them wasing out of this photo frame! ¡­ Wait, mouth? Mo Yi turned his head and looked at the deformed mouth and familiar sharp teeth on ¡°Shen Lei¡¯s¡± face. A bold idea gradually took shape in his mind. He turned and jumped at the photo frame! Unexpectedly, it was taken down with ease by Mo Yi, light as a feather, as if really was just floating in mid air. . Mo Yi raised the photo frame and smashed it at Yu Li who was holding Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s arm. A sharp scream erupted from Yu Li¡¯s mouth. When the photo frame touched her arm, her whole arm became weak and difficult to move. Jiang Yuanbai took the opportunity to break free from her hand. He also noticed the unusualness of the photo frame, so he rushed to the fire axe that was thrown aside, swung it upwards and smashed it down! But at this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s eyes caught sight of ¡°Shen Lei¡± standing on the sideline. It stood to one side and quietly watched them struggle with a sly smile on its face. Mo Yi¡¯s heart abruptly shrank. He subconsciously reached out to hold the photo frame and rolled to the side to avoid Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s sharp axe de. ¡ª His finger happened to be stuck in the brand-new crack in the frame. Jiang Yuanbai was still in shock. ¡°What are you doing?! I almost cut you!!¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t reply. He just stared at the photo frame for a second. Then, his eyes lit up and he seemed to have made up his mind. Without looking back, he yelled at Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°Follow me!¡± After speaking, he picked up the photo frame and rushed to the dense arm wall with a kind of unflinching posture. But what was shocking was that the arms, as if afraid of it, shrank back and made way for Mo Yi. Mo Yi¡¯s raised heart finally fell back into his chest. He made the correct gamble. The small bright silver thing that ¡°Shen Lei¡± threw into the group of arms before was indeed a corner of the photo frame. Since the hands from the photos were afraid of it, naturally, they could open up a path for their escape. As he and Jiang Yuanbai ran away, ¡°Shen Lei¡± had already cast away its current appearance, revealing another face: it was the man in the photo in the corridor. Unlike in the photo, its lips were split to its ears, revealing sharp white teeth, looking strange and terrifying. It looked at Mo Yi¡¯s fleeing figure. Its pitch-ck were cold and deep, unable to perceive happiness, anger, grief, and joy. Then, its eyes moved, and its figure slowly dissipated in the air, leaving only a soft whisper, like the hissing of a poisonous snake. ¡°Escaping? I don¡¯t think so.¡± Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The sound of the wind whistled in his ears as he ran and Mo Yi clenched his teeth, running to the top of the stairs. As he ran, he thought hard in his mind. Before the fake Shen Lei¡¯s face was exposed, it was not prepared to do anything to them. Instead, it took them to the ¡°safe zone,¡± deliberately letting them find the corrtion between the passage of time inside and outside of the illusion, inducing them to think that they could sessfully escape by ¡°spending enough time in the illusion.¡± Even after its true face was exposed, it didn¡¯t immediately act, but gave them a chance to escape. Why? Just as Mo Yi was left perplexed despite much thought, suddenly, his ears were met with silence. Mo Yi returned to his senses, only to realize that the arms that were attacking them hadpletely disappeared, and that the photos floating on both sides of him had turned into the same photo: The man in the photo. It stared at him with pitch-ck eyes with a strange smile on its face. Then, thousands of photos opened their mouths together, and the cold voice echoed throughout the empty illusion, ¡°You can¡¯t escape.¡± Mo Yi took a deep breath, forced himself not to look on either side, and continued to run up. ¡°What¡¯s the point?¡± Thousands of voices converged into a poisonously bewitching sound current, assaulting his eardrums, ¡°Since you havee in, you will never be able to get out, so why the need to struggle?¡± Mo Yi forced himself not to be affected by the sound, and mechanically moved his legs and climbed the stairs. If his inference was correct ¡­ if the spaces inside and outside the illusion were interlinked ¡­ Then, this staircase was by no means endless. It was the same as outside the illusion: It had four floors. It was just the distortion and lengthening of the space that made the whole journey longer, making the stairs look like there was no end. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know what was at the end of the stairs, but now, reaching the end of the stairs was his only choice. The voice continued, ¡°¡­ Why resist? Is it not good to stay where you are? I promise you that your death will be painless, just like falling asleep¡­¡± Stay where you are? Mo Yi was stunned, and his mind was enlightened as everything suddenly fell into ce. The photo¡¯s intentions were very clear from the beginning, but he was too blind and ignored it! It needed Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai to spend enough time in the illusion! In that case, they had a greater need to escape from this illusion! Mo Yi was even more convinced now that if he and Jiang Yuanbai really stayed here until the end of the countdown, they would only be greeted with a more terrifying sight. He clenched his teeth, changed the angle of the photo frame he was holding in his arms and mped it under his left armpit, and continued to silently run up the stairs, ignoring the man¡¯s voice.

All of a sudden, Jiang Yuanbai, who was next to him, let out a cry, ¡°Look! Inside the photo frame!¡± Mo Yi lowered his head with some doubt and followed the direction of Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s gaze. He saw that the photo in the photo frame in his hand had changed at some point ¡­ The silver frame had turnedpletely jet-ck, like ink that couldn¡¯t be washed away. The dense darkness filled the entire space within, like a natural cage. And in the darkness, he could see two shadowy figures. Mo Yi drew closer, narrowed his eyes, and took a closer look. He saw one of the figures move and raise its head, revealing a familiar face. Shen Lei?! He lookedpletely exhausted. His clothes were in tatters and were stained with dark blood, as if he had experienced a great battle. There was a deep wound on the side of his face, dripping with blood, which looked shocking. Shen Lei looked at him in a trance, as if he hadn¡¯t yet figured out the difference between reality and dreams. Jiang Yuanbai leaned his face close, smacked his hand on the photo frame, and shouted, ¡°Shen Lei! Shen Lei! Can you hear me?!¡± Mo Yi silently moved his face away and rubbed his trembling and pain filled ears with no expression. Shen Lei was stunned, and his eyes became clear. His facial expression was cold and the sharp-edged look reappeared in his pupils. He supported himself on the ground with his hand as he struggled to stand up, but it seemed like he was trapped by something. He staggered back a few steps and didn¡¯t let himself fall to the ground again with his hand. Mo Yi stared at him without saying a word. His eyes stayed on the hand on the floor for a few seconds. After confirming that his dominant hand was really his left one, he secretly moved his gaze away. He lowered his eyelids and slightly dispelled the vignce in his eyes. After all, in this current situation, being more alert was by no means a bad thing. He merely listened as Shen Lei anxiously shouted, ¡°You must not stay here! Don¡¯t trust that person!¡± ¡°Do you know how to get out?¡± Jiang Yuanbai leaned forward and asked. Shen Lei¡¯s eyebrows and the corners of his eyes were bitter, ¡°¡­ If I knew, would I still be here?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows and eyes were coldly frozen, and he wordlessly sped up the pace, opening up his mouth to ask, ¡°You came in earlier than us. Please tell me what you know. We might be able to rescue you.¡± ¡ª We have a chance to survive. The remaining words were tacitly understood by the three of them. Shen Lei nodded solemnly, and then briefly and concisely recounted what he had learned. After listening to Shen Lei, the atmosphere became particrly grim for a while, and Mo Yi also fell into contemtion. ording to Shen Lei, it appeared in the form of Yu Li at the beginning, and secretly led Shen Lei and the others to discover the corrtion between the passage of time inside and outside the illusion. They then made the decision to ¡°wait until the end of the countdown.¡± Hence, when Shen Lei discovered that there was something wrong, it revealed its true face and confined him in this space. As his life force slowly faded away, Shen Lei gradually merged with this space, and slowly learned some information that did not belong to him. The whole illusion was actually under the control of the man in the silver photo frame. Although Shen Lei was not yet clear about its objective, what he did know was that it needed toplete two steps. The first was to swallow human limbs in order to reveal its true form. and the second was to trap two humans in order to acquire their souls. Because, when the countdown was over, the entire copy of the game would close, and the remaining human souls within the illusion would forever belong to it. It was already about to seed: It trapped Yu Li and Shen Lei. However, Yu Li¡¯s body was too weak, and the bitten off arm caused her to lose too much blood, and she died before the end of the countdown. Therefore, it targeted Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanbai with its ns. Mo Yi frowned, and he suddenly remembered something. He raised his eyes and asked, ¡°So, it can take on your appearance, because ¡­?¡± ¡°Blood and flesh,¡± Shen Lei replied, turning to expose the bloody wound on his cheek to Mo Yi. Mo Yi was startled, and subconsciously reached out to gently touch his forehead. There was a burning hot sting from the wound on his forehead. He remembered that when had just entered the illusion, ¡°Shen Lei¡± had treated his wound! He quickly turned his head and was about to call out to Jiang Yuanbai, but his voice got caught in his throat: there was no one beside him. He didn¡¯t know when the photos on both sides of him had turned back to normal. The previous bewitching words had disappeared. It seemed that he was the only one standing alone in the middle of the stairs. Shen Lei seemed to be aware that something was wrong. He sped up his words and said, ¡°It can only attack you before it regains its form. After having its form, although it can¡¯t cause real harm to you, it can manipte the whole illusion. You must be careful.¡± ¡ª So that was why it just used words to confuse them to stay behind instead of using force. Not because it didn¡¯t want to, but because it couldn¡¯t. ¡°It¡¯s toote. It has already taken Jiang Yuanbai away.¡± Mo Yi looked somber and thought for a while, then bowed his head to look at Shen Lei again, and asked, ¡°After I took down the photo frame, are you still under its control?¡± Shen Lei hesitated for a moment and nodded, ¡°I should be, because even now, I can still feel it constantly absorbing my life force.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart instantly sank. Then: Shen Lei and Jiang Yuanbai. It finally got two living people. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers slowly tightened, and the fingertips holding the photo frame became abnormally pale because of the force. He lowered his head again, wanting to ask more things, but found that the photo frame in his hand had be pitch-ck at some point. Now, even Shen Lei had disappeared. There appeared to be no movement in the vast space. A deathly silence spread, and the whole illusion was as quiet as a tomb. Except for his slightly rapid heartbeat, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t hear anything. Mo Yi slowly stopped and looked around for a while in a daze. His mind was in a mess, leaving only some broken and scattered thoughts. He subconsciously raised his leg, wanting to continue to climb up, but he stepped on air and fell to the ground. The sudden sense of weightlessness made Mo Yi dizzy. The edges and corners of the photo frame in his arms were heavily lodged in his stomach. Sharp pain and nausea from the shifting of his internal organs instantly rose up, bringing him to his senses. He propped up his upper body with his arms, his palms pressed against the cold ground, and his blurry shadow was reflected on the smooth stairs. Mo Yi stared at his reflection on the stairs in a daze for a while. An idea slowly surfaced in his mind. There was a hint of light in the depths of his eyes, and he quickly got up from the floor and ran up the stairs three and two steps at a time. As he drew near, the white mist shrouding the end of the stairs dissipated before his eyes. At the end of the stairs was a wall standing before him. Just like outside the illusion, there was no fourth floor, only a wall that seemed imprable. Mo Yi slowly exhaled, raised his legs, and stood on thest step. He turned around, his back pressed against the wall, and the ice-cold touch prated the thin clothed material on his back, seeping into his skin. ¡ª Since the stairs inside and outside the illusion were interlinked with the number of floors, structure, and even space, he wondered whether the curse on the stairs would be the same? He lifted one leg and went down a step. His voice was steady and calm, as if he didn¡¯t have the slightest hesitation or doubt, ¡°One.¡± Mo Yi counted as he walked. The photo frame beside him shook, and the man¡¯s face appeared in the frame. It looked stunned and at a loss. ¡°What are you doing? Stop it!¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t reply, calmly counting, ¡°Six.¡± Just then, Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s face appeared at the end of the stairs. He held out his hand to Mo Yi. ¡°What are you doing? Stop it! I know the way out!¡± Mo Yi continued to climb down. ¡°Nine.¡± This time, Shen Lei appeared. He stretched out his bloody hand and yelled, ¡°I¡¯ve escaped! Come on! Come with me!¡± Mo Yi smiled and did not stop. ¡°Twelve.¡± He raised his leg and went down thest step. ¡°Thirteen.¡± The stairs underneath his feet suddenly vibrated, and the step disappeared. A tremendous force grabbed Mo Yi¡¯s leg and pulled him in. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Darkness, endless darkness entangled his limbs and dragged him into an endless abyss. All the colours seemed to have broken into pieces and faded, melting into the darkness of eternal night. This felt so familiar ¡­ It was like ¡­ it was like the nightmare he had been having ¡­ Mo Yi was in a trance, clenching the photo frame in his hand in vain, lettings its ice-cold hard edges and corners dig into his chest and abdomen, reminding him that he was not in a dream. Suddenly, an icy chill that bit to the bones burst out, and the monstrous malice and resentment almost solidified into an entity, merging with the surrounding darkness, and then surged towards Mo Yi. It seemed that the whole world wanted to kill him! The rms all over his whole body desperately rang! Screaming warnings about the impending danger! Mo Yi¡¯s merely felt cold and stiff all over, and his sudden fear was like a pair of invisible hands around his throat, strangling the air out of his chest. The feeling of death was so close that he could only tremble and wait for its arrival. But when the resentment approached, it seemed to stop. The photo frame in his arms suddenly began to violently shake! The pausing resentment was like a beast that found its prey, or a shark that smelt blood. It changed its direction, and then pounced fiercely and cruelly on the photo frame! Mo Yi only felt a strong force rushing towards the photo frame, heavily knocking him back, and the sweet fishy taste of rust bubbled forth from his chest. He finally touched the ground. Mo Yi squeezed out a painful gasp with difficulty and curled up on the sticky wet ground. From head to toe, he was filled with so much pain that he almost broke into pieces, but it didn¡¯t hold a match to the ripping pain in his left leg ¡­ it was probably broken. There was a damp, moldy smell lingering around his nose, just like in the corridor. He raised his eyelids with difficulty and looked to the side. The surrounding darkness wasn¡¯t like before, without a glimmer of light, but had turned into a dim turbid grey haze. It was just enough so that he could clearly see around him. He caught sight of the silver photo frame that was now damaged. It looked corroded, twisted, and charred ck, as if it had suffered from some inhumane torture. Ity beside him, giving off the appearance that it had given up all hope. Mo Yi distinctly knew in his heart that the force that nearly ripped him apart was originally aimed at him, but it had changed directions when he touched the photo frame. It could even be said that the photo frame had blocked a blow for him. He dared not imagine what he would have be if he hadn¡¯t fallen down with the photo frame. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help squeezing out a hoarse cough from his throat. His lungs were like broken bellows. Every time he coughed, he pulled at the wounds all over his body, and the pain was unbearable. Just then, out of the corners of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a strange thing which had fallen on the middle of the twisted photo frame. Mo Yi was stunned. Subconsciously, he felt that this was precisely the key he was looking for. Then, perhaps born with a high tolerance for pain, he struggled to stand up, and limply walked over and bent down and picked it up. It was a wrinkled-up piece of paper. There was only a familiar sketch on the paper, hasty and careless, as it were a child¡¯s unconscious jottings at whim. At first nce, it looked like a deformed bird. Mo Yi was stunned for a second, and a blurry picture shed through his mind: this was precisely the sketch drawn on the ckboard of Zhao Qin¡¯s ssroom. The only unexined sentence in the hint abruptly jumped into his mind with unparalleled rity: footless swallow. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was pounding, and he turned the paper over. The paper shone with triumphant brilliant rays of light. Mo Yi felt dizzy, and he couldn¡¯t help closing his eyes to avoid the dazzling light.

There was a sound of quarreling voices in his ear. Mo Yi opened his eyes in surprise and was shocked to find that he was standing in a corridor. He raised his eyes nkly. In the next second, the ck ¡°4f¡± on top of his head nearly stung his eyes. But not far away, the quarrelling voices became louder and louder. Mo Yi frowned and dragged his halfme leg to follow the sound. . Only one of the doors was open, and ¡°Principal¡¯s Office¡± was written in standard bold letters on the door. There were two men fiercely arguing about something. One of them was facing Mo Yi. He was an old man in his 50s or 60s who looked slightly bald, and he seemed to be out of his mind. And the other one was a tall and thin young man with his back facing Mo Yi. His hands opened and closed, and he was in the process of gesturing something. ¡°¡­ Please, let me do this. Or I¡¯ll really go crazy!¡± The old man was silent. Agitated, the young man continued, ¡°She wants to kill me! Don¡¯t you understand! She¡¯s going to kill me! It¡¯s self defence!¡± The old man was suddenly stirred, and he stood up, pping the table. His saliva went flying and his cheeks were flushed. ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t have done anything to her in the first ce!¡± The young man choked for a moment, then roared in a louder voice, ¡°Yes, it was that bitch who seduced me first! There are photos of that kind! What a respectable person!¡± ¡°Then neither can you ¡­ then neither can you ¡­¡± The old man pointed at the young man, trembling all over, looking like he hated iron for not bing steel. The young man dejectedly sat down on a chair, buried his face in his palms, and replied dully, ¡°I didn¡¯t want it to be like this either. Who would have known, I just pushed her head ¡­ then it struck the steps ¡­¡± Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at the old man, Mo Yi was surprised. He recognized the face: the young man was the man in the silver photo frame, the monster trying to keep him in the illusion. His voice was low and hoarse, like a hissing poisonous snake. ¡°Now that the matter has reached this stage, a dead person can¡¯t be resurrected. Her wronged soul is entangled with me and wants to drag me away to share the same fate. I can¡¯t just sit back and wait for death.¡± The young man stood up, took out a piece of crumbled up paper from his pockets, patted it on the table and showed a nervous smile. ¡°The Great Master said that this must be useful. We only need her corpse.¡± The old man was still hesitating. The young man suddenly fell to his knees with a thump and looked at the old man with tears and snot flowing down profusely and said, ¡°Please, help me again! Please, help me! Dad!¡± The old man hardened his heart, and finally nodded. The whole scene once again went aze with brilliant rays of light, dazzling him until he could hardly open his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, Mo Yi had returned to the grey space. He lowered his eyes and stood for a long time. At this moment, all the clues finally were connected, pieced together to form aplete picture in his mind. This building should be the embodiment of Zhao Qin¡¯s three years of high school. The ghosts and monsters on each floor corresponded with her bitter experiences every year. The first floor with Hanako corresponded to her mother whomitted suicide after killing her father when she was in her first year of high school; the moving photos on the second floor corresponded with the forced nude photos taken of her at school in her second year of high school, the steps on the third floor corresponded to when she was molested by the teacher, and while struggling, was killed when she was knocked down on the steps. And the teacher ¡­ was the man in the photo. Mo Yi lowered his head and scrutinized the wrinkled-up paper in his hand, only to see a few lines of illegible characters and a few rough sketches, which had be blurred and indistinct because of the passage of time. He could barely discern that what was written on it was a long-lost practise of the magical arts, the purpose of which was to seal the soul, so that it could not reincarnate, could not have a chance of rebirth, and could not stage a rebellion. Mo Yi rubbed the deformed bird on the edge of the paper with his fingertips. He was a little distracted for a moment. He finally recognized the totem. This was a Saint Martlet bird, also known as a swallow, which could be found in some Heraldry books. It has no feet and could only fly forever, just like Zhao Qin, who was trapped in despair and helplessness, and whose soul could not be freed. Unlike swallows, they keep flying until they die, and she was already dead, so her ¡°forever¡± was truly endless. Mo Yi smoothed the paper with his fingers, but he felt a folded mark at the end. He was puzzled, fumbled for the gap, and unfolded the paper along the edge of the crease. There was a strange pattern painted on it, with a line of maroon words beside it. ¡°Fear of fire, caution.¡± Mo Yi was stunned for a while, then raised his head, only to find that the darkness around him had be lighter and had almost faded to a pale greyish white. His field of vision had also broadened. Only then did he realize that he was now standing in a deep pit. The pit was rectangr, and it looked ¡­ like it was in the same shape as the whole school campus building. The bright red lines in the pit were arranged in a crisscross pattern, and the red oozing, like fresh blood, formed a weird pattern on the floor, and in every cornery a pile of pale bones. Mo Yi stood in the middle of the pattern. He took a deep breath and reached into his pocket. An ice-cold object pressed against his fingertips and he pulled it out. It was a silver lighter. Mo Yi pursed the corners of his lips with aplicated expression in the depths of his eyes. He didn¡¯t smoke. However, on his way home yesterday, he wasn¡¯t sure for what reason, he bought a lighter from a roadside stand and put it in his pocket. But he couldn¡¯t predict the future, let alone know that it woulde in handy today. Perhaps ¡­ there merely was nothing more to it? Mo Yi¡¯s mind was in a tangle, and he held the lighter tightly with his fingers until the metal case was tainted with his warm body temperature, as if this would calm him down. He took a deep breath and drove out the chaotic thoughts in his mind. ¡ª In any case, destroying this array was now the top priority. Mo Yi turned on the lighter and loosened his fingers. The ignited me was pulled down by gravity, whirling as it fell. When it touched the blood red lines on the ground, it instantly burned, and then spread at a rapid speed. Everywhere it went, there was fire. As the bones were burning, a few slight ¡°kacha¡± sounds rang in his ears, and several cracks appeared in the air. Then the whole space, as if it were unable to endure it, cracked and shattered into thick ck fragments. Immediately afterwards, the scene in front of him shed, and Mo Yi found that he was standing in the corridor of the school campus. He looked around nkly for a long time and recognized that this was the second floor, and it happened to be where he had entered the photo. And outside the window beside him, a row of numbers in the dark sky shed a brilliant bright blue: ¡°0:08.¡± ¡° ¡ª No!!!!¡± There was a piercing scream in his ear, sad and hoarse, as if suffering from all kinds of pain. ¡°Eight minutes! There¡¯s still eight minutes left! I¡¯ll have two souls in eight minutes! I can escape! Don¡¯t ¡ª!¡± What was this voice? Mo Yi was taken aback and limped to the stairwell. The silver photo frame hanging on the wall had disappeared, and the man in the photo was also gone. Only the ck and smelly liquid dripped down the wall, leaving charred and corrosive traces. He seemed to catch a glimpse of a girl¡¯s figure. When Mo Yi turned his head and looked again, there was no one there. A familiar sweet female voice rang in his ear: ¡°Congrattions to yer Mo Yi. You havepleted the side mission: Sweet Revenge. The mission reward has been sent to your ount. Please collect it after the game is over.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s tense nerves suddenly rxed, and the pain and soreness all over his body came like a tide. He was forced to reach out and hold the wall to barely keep himself from falling. The wall under his palm suddenly shook. Mo Yi looked up in astonishment, only to find that the end of the corridor had begun to copse, and the whole school campus building was crumbling! The building seemed to be violently shaking. Mo Yi was startled and clearly understood in an instant. The whole school campus building was Zhao Qin¡¯s experience, or the embodiment of her resentment. When ¡°Sweet Revenge¡± waspleted, the building obviously had no need to exist¡­ Therefore, it started to fall apart. The window joints were pressed into an odd shape by the crumbling wall, then broke apart and fell into the void, revealing arge area of flowing darkness. Only then did Mo Yi discover ¡­ the darkness outside the window was actually never empty, but a thick mist that that had practically solidified into an entity! In the wake of the copsed wall, the silent mist rushed into the breaking corridor, dashing towards where Mo Yi was! There was nowhere to escape. There was no way to go. A sense of danger struck, and the feeling of constriction was a hundred times more terrifying than in the illusion! It squeezed every trace of breath of air from his chest, choking his throat, forcing him to tremble uncontrobly. The mist slowly swallowed him. During the struggle, the wound on his forehead split open again. Warm and viscous blood covered his eyshes, dying Mo Yi¡¯s entire vision a bright red. In this bright red view, he saw the mist gathering. The surrounding mist thinned into a pale pallor, but in the middle, it slowly condensed into a tall human form! The numbers in mid air shed a faint blue light behind him, and Mo Yi was stiff. The mist around him seemed to be tangled around his limbs, so he could only watch helplessly as the man slowly approached step by step. The ice-cold breath of death lingered in his noise. The man stood still in front of him, stretched out his cold hands, and like an iron hoop, firmly sped Mo Yi¡¯s chin, and then lowered his head and licked the bleeding wound on his forehead. The ice-cold and rough tongue swirled on his flesh, and the wound that had just healed was torn open again, and extraordinary pain instantly struck. It hurt! Why did it hurt so much! It seemed that all the pain he had experienced in his life hade together, and then multiplied hundreds of times! All the pain was wedged into his head and hammered his nerves like a furious storm. Mo Yi¡¯s vision was ck, and he was almost unable to breathe. For some reason, along with the pain, a manic mood rose up, boiling along the blood vessels, steaming, and fermenting, like a sleeping beast, seizing the opportunity to charge at the cage of reason at the bottom of his heart. Roaring, howling, and venting the astonishing desire for dominance! The fury that came out of nowhere dominated Mo Yi¡¯s reason and body. He struggled to cast off the shackles of the mist around him! The body under his palm was cold and strong, as if it contained unlimited power and terrible explosive force. A desire for destruction rose in his heart. Mo Yi involuntarily showed a neurotic smile, buried his head in the hollow of the man¡¯s neck, and bit down fiercely and heavily! The sharp canine teeth pierced the skin. To his amazement, the man¡¯s blood was unexpectedly burning hot, gushing out from the wound, and the salty liquid flowed into Mo Yi¡¯s body along his throat. The warm heat filled his entire body, and his reason was almost paralyzed. The rich smell of blood made him almost addicted like it was a drug, and he increased the power between his teeth. In the hazy light, Mo Yi realized that ¡ª After he broke free, the man didn¡¯t do anything else. Instead, he turned his head indulgingly, exposing the hollows of his neck under his teeth. He even gave a deep smile. Finally, the bloody impulse had nearly passed, and he became sober and calm. Mo Yi looked over the man¡¯s shoulder and saw the faint blue light shing, and the number in the air became: 0:00. The outdated electronic music rang in his ears, ¡°Congrattion on your sessful escape!¡± All sounds and images were pulled away, and Mo Yi¡¯s vision went dark and he fainted. And the second before he lost consciousness, thest image in his retina was ¡­ the man turned his head, and then dropped an ice-cold bloody kiss on his bloody eyshes. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Like a dying fish, Mo Yi fiercely bounced up on the bed and gasped for breath, greedily drawing in the outside air. His dted pupils were staring up at the ceiling without focus. He didn¡¯t know where he was at the moment. The first thing he noticed was the thick remnant scent of blood between his lips and teeth, which was overwhelming and flooded his eroding senses. ?Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but bend over on the edge of the bed, retching, but he couldn¡¯t spit out anything from his stomach, which was overturning like the seas and rivers. He couldn¡¯t help but feel ufortable. He propped up his upper body with his elbows in a daze, and the scenes in his mind slowly came back. Mo Yi¡¯s face was pale, but his mind didn¡¯t return for a long time ¡ª Did the previous experience really happen? Or was it just a realistically scary dream? He forced his stiff neck to turn beyond its limits, and hurriedly looked around the room for a while: the same furniture, the same decorations. Everything was familiar, as if nothing had happened. The warm sunlight came in through the window curtains which were not tightly drawn, freely illuminating the edge of his bed. It had an illusory pure and dreamy appearance. Mo Yi was somewhat in a trance, and stretched out his palm, and silently watched as the light swam between his thin and pale fingertips. For a moment, he unexpectedly felt that ¡­ it was like a lifetime had passed. He reached out and lightly stroked his forehead. It seemed that there was still a faint pain, but the skin under his fingers was smooth and even, without the slightest trace of injury. Mo Yi let out a long sigh and threw himself back on his pillow, but from the corners of his eyes, he saw something on the bedside cab that did not belong to the room. His body abruptly went stiff, and he took a few deep breaths, then slowly reached out and picked it up. It was a very ordinary piece of paper. There was no design on the in white paper, only a line in nondescript ck letters: ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape. Thank you for your participation and I wish you a happy life.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± The familiarly acquainted with picture, the familiarly acquainted with pit. He turned the note over and saw another line written there: ¡°The next game will start seven dayster. yers, please be prepared.¡± . Everything was exactly the same as what Jiang Yuanbai had said. The only difference was that at the bottom of the note, there was an extra line of small words: ¡°Congrattions on finding the hidden branch plotline. Next time you enter the game, you can get the branch plotline task reward. I wish you a happy game.¡± Mo Yi was in a state of confusion. There were countless questions entangled in his brain, but no one could answer them for him. This kind of feeling was really difficult to bear.

He could only take a deep breath and try to calm himself down. At this time, Mo Yi realized that he was sticky, and his thin shirt was glued to his back, which was extremely ufortable. He wiped his face and stopped tormenting his brain. He got up and walked into the bathroom with his slippers. The spray from the nozzle poured down, and the mist from the hot water instantly rose, blurring the mirror on one side. Mo Yi took off his clothes and stood in the spraying hot water. The warm water slid down his body, dispersing some of the coldness from his body and mind. He raised his head to the spraying water, closed his eyes, grasped his wet ck hair, and slicked it behind his forehead, and tried hard to ignore the negative mental associations brought by the white mist. He had just refused to recall it, but now, the images appeared uncontrobly in his mind. Towards the end of the game ¡­ The memory of that time was like looking out through ayer of foggy ss. Even if one could still remember the general situation, the details were blurred. That crazy, reckless, filled to the brim with desire for control and destruction person was definitely not him Mo Yi knew that that he was rational and indifferent. He always ced himself in the position of a spectator and used absolute reason to control his actions. It was because of this that he was able to survive the escape game. But now ¡­ Mo Yi felt that he hardly knew himself. He clearly remembered that at that time, his mind was sober, but it seemed that he was dominated by something deeper and more hideous, breaking through the barrier of reason and overriding it. What was more terrible was that it made him almost feel ¡­ that he was originally like this. It reminded him of some very unpleasant memories. Mo Yi turned off the shower, shook his wet ck hair, and reached out to tug down the bathrobe hanging next to him. When he turned his head, the corner of his eyes swept to the side of the mirror. In the mirror, the wet mist behind him ¡­ seemed to be slowly solidifying into a human form ¡ª Mo Yi was shocked! The hairs on his body stood on end, and he quickly turned his head and looked warily at the small bathroom. The steaming bathroom was empty. There was no one except him and the white mist that was condensing into water droplets on the mirror¡¯s surface, slowly sliding down, and leaving a tear like watermark on the mirror. Mo Yi frowned suspiciously, and for a while, he wasn¡¯t sure whether what he saw was real or an illusion. Was it because he was too nervous? Suddenly, at this inappropriate time, the doorbell rang. Mo Yi dispelled the strange thoughts, hurriedly put on the T-shirt he had put aside, opened the bathroom door, and walked towards the door. He casually wiped his hair, and opened the door. The man standing outside gave him a brilliant smile. Mo Yi was stunned. At this moment, dream and reality finally blended, and he no longer suspected that he had a long nightmare: after all, there was no evidence more real than a living person. Mo Yi raised the corner of his lips and showed a shallow smile. ¡°You¡¯re not dead?¡± Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s smile grew sluggish and his eyes filled with a little sadness. ¡°Hey, is that how you treat your revolutionaryrade in arms? It¡¯s vey unlucky to say, ¡°you¡¯re not dead!¡± Mo Yi raised his eyebrows, nted his body to one side, and let Jiang Yuanbaie inside. ¡°To tell you the truth, I really thought I was going to die!¡± Jiang Yuanbai continued as he walked, ¡°When I was in the illusion, that monster turned into you to trick me. To be honest, I didn¡¯t even know when it secretly switched with you¨C God, it was so dangerous!¡± Jiang Yuanbai made himself at home and sat down on the sofa and continued with a look of lingering fear, ¡°Later, my consciousness became blurry. I should have been controlled by that thing, but I remember ¡­¡± He frowned somewhat uncertainly, ¡°There seemed to be a little girl. She seemed to ¡­ protect me? And then I heard the sound of the mission beingpleted.¡± After that, Jiang Yuanbai took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Mo Yi. The material of the paper was as simple as his one. Mo Yi turned to the back and saw that it said: ¡°The next game will start 12 dayster. yers, please be prepared.¡± Mo Yi was not surprised that their time was different. What caught his attention was the following line of small words: ¡°Congrattions on helping other yers find the hidden branch plotline. Next time you enter the game, you can receive the corresponding rewards. I wish you a happy game.¡± Mo Yi frowned and thought. Survival was the main concept of this escape game. There would be no rewards after it was reached. The next thing waiting for the yer was an endless world of horror. And there were rewards forpleting a branch plotline, or just helping others aplish a branch plotline: maybe that was the key to escaping this cycle of terror? Suddenly, Mo Yi remembered something, squinted at Jiang Yuanbai, and asked in a deep voice, ¡°Wait, how did you find me?¡± After hearing this, Jiang Yuanbai suddenly jumped up from the sofa and said, terribly anxious, ¡°Oh, I forgot the serious business ofing here! Only when you said this did I remember! In short: oh, it¡¯s hard to say. I¡¯ll take you to meet someone! You¡¯ll know when you go!¡± Mo Yi slowly shook his head. ¡°No.¡± Obviously, he didn¡¯t expect that he would refuse so decisively. Jiang Yuanbai was stunned and looked at him agape and tongue-tied. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°I¡¯m going to the gym downstairs to get a lifetime membership.¡± ¡­¡­ Jiang Yuanbai, ¡°???¡± Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Jiang Yuanbai looked at Mo Yi with a puzzled face and was at a loss for words. Just then, there was a sudden soft knocking sound of the door. Mo Yi frowned, went to the entrance hall, and opened the door, looking at the unexpected visitor in front of him. It was a slender woman with long brown hair hanging over her shoulders, with a pair of dark brown eyes the same colour as her hair, big and round, and delicate features that looked gentle and schrly. She raised her big gentle eyes, looked Mo Yi up and down from top to bottom, and then let out a long roguish whistle. Mo Yi. ¡°¡­¡± ??? The woman stroked her long hair, stretched out a fair palm with ease, and said with a smile, ¡°Jiang Yuanrou.¡± Only then did Mo Yi realize that the woman¡¯s facial features were quite simr to Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s. They both had gentle, kind, and nonthreatening appearances. He hesitated for a moment, but he still reached out and loosely held her fingertips and replied, ¡°Mo Yi.¡± After that, Mo Yi turned his body sideways, and let Jiang Yuanrou walk into the room, and closed the door behind her. Jiang Yuanbai, who had been silent until then, came forward and stood beside Jiang Yuanrou, and somewhat awkwardly introduced her to Mo Yi, ¡°Well, this is my ¡­ sister. She¡¯s also a yer in the escape game. The person I just said that I want you to meet is her.¡± Jiang Yuanrou looked at Mo Yi with arched eyebrows, and said, ¡°After thinking about it, it¡¯s better to talk in depth with someone in person, not to mention the person who saved my brother¡¯s life, so I decided to visit in person.¡± After that, she looked up at Mo Yi, and her face suddenly became serious, and she changed the subject, coldly asking, ¡°¡ª You triggered the hidden mission, right?¡± Mo Yi eyes became expressionless, and he nodded. Jiang Yuanrou took a deep breath, calmed her state of mind for a moment, and continued, ¡°This escape game has an unspoken rule. Once you trigger the hidden mission, the difficulty of the game will increase greatly.¡±

Hearing what she said, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being dazed, and the previous scene shed in his mind, and his face slowly became grave. At that time, Shen Lei had warned him who had wished to stay behind: those who wanted to find the truth had a bad ending. And ¡­ indeed, after it was announced that they had triggered the hidden mission, the movement speed of the mist began to speed up significantly, and after that, they had an even more narrow escape from death. Jiang Yuanrou raised her eyes to look at Mo Yi, and continued, ¡°Not only that, the degree of difficulty of each game is alsopletely random. You¡¯re really unlucky¡­? the first game was a copy of Difficulty A. You¡¯re lucky to be able toe out alive.¡± After a pause, she seemed to think of something and added, ¡°Oh, by the way ¡­ this game doesn¡¯t allow yers to reveal its existence to unsuspecting people in any way, so everyone ispletely ignorant when they first enter the game.¡± Mo Yi frowned. ¡°Not allowed? What do you mean?¡± Jiang Yuanrou shrugged her shoulders, and suddenly walked to the window, opened the window, and yelled, ¡°I was ¡­¡± But after she said the second word, her voice hadpletely disappeared, as if she went mute. She coughed several times in pain, staggered back, and closed the window with trembling hands. Jiang Yuanrou took a few deep breaths, and her pale face had just regained a little flush, and she said with a hoarse voice, ¡°It¡¯s almost like this. You want to speak out, or you want to type and send a message. It¡¯s like it knows your heartfelt wishes. And then it will stop you. And sometimes ¡­ a small punishment will be imposed.¡± She was somewhat swaying unsteadily on her feet, then ced a hand on the sofa and sat down. Jiang Yuanbai subconsciously took a few steps forward, but he stopped immediately and frowned at his sister. Jiang Yuanrou nced at him, somewhat touched, then turned her head and said to Mo Yi, ¡°Actually, I also knew that Yuanbai was also forced into the escape game and unexpectedly triggered the hidden mission his second time there. What¡¯s even more incredible is ¡­ after the difficulty of the copy increased, three people actually survived.¡± ¡°Three people?¡± Jiang Yuanbai was stunned. Jiang Yuanrou nodded and ced her loose hair behind her ears with her slender fingers and said, ¡°Yes, Shen Lei also survived.¡± Jiang Yuanbai was shocked and slightly stuttered, asking, ¡°Wait, wait ¡­ how do you know Shen Lei?¡± ¡°How else do you think I found out that you were dragged in?¡± Jiang Yuanrou curled her lips, but there was no smile in her brown pupils. ¡°Strictly speaking, Shen Lei was brought into this line of business by me.¡± She didn¡¯t look at Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s expression of being struck by lightning, but instead, turned to look at Mo Yi with a slight smile on her face. ¡°You know, for a neer, after triggering the hidden mission, it¡¯s unbelievable to not only sessfully aplish the mission, but to also bring three teammates out alive.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s brown eyes shed, looking at Mo Yi, and continued, ¡°However, since the protagonist is the famous ONE, maybe it¡¯s not so difficult to ept, right?¡± Hearing this, the expression on Mo Yi¡¯s face abruptly grew indifferent, and there was no emotion in his pitch-ck pupils, quietly looking at the woman in front of him. The expression in his eyes aroused indescribable feelings of fear in one¡¯s heart. Jiang Yuanrou merely poured boiling water on him and winked and covered her heart rather exaggeratedly. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t look at me like that! To be honest, I didn¡¯t expect ONE to be such a handsome young guy.¡± When she said thest sentence, she narrowed her eyes and her gaze circled around Mo Yi¡¯s body again, looking as if she wanted to blow another whistle. And Jiang Yuanbai, who was standing on the side, was not feeling well. His face was nk, and he stood in ce dumbfounded, looking at Jiang Yuanrou and then at Mo Yi for a while. The excessive amount of informationpletely caused the state of his brain to crash. Jiang Yuanrou continued in a self-serving manner, ¡°Although triggering hidden missions will bring great risks, high risks are often apanied by high returns. There is no reward for the main mission of the game, which is ¡°to survive.¡± However, hidden missions are different. They will reward corresponding points, and points can be exchanged for props in the in-game prop store, and the functions of those props are almost beyond the limits of human imagination. In other words ¡­ ?you can redeem anything you want.¡± She raised her eyes to look at Mo Yi. ¡°Including the name, upation, and even location of the person you want to find.¡± Jiang Yuanrou continued, ¡°This kind of prop is called Tracking. It¡¯s very rare. Even I only have one.¡± She sounded as if her flesh was a little pained. Jiang Yuanrou paused and continued, ¡°And ¡­ the information obtained through game props cannot be leaked to the outside world ¡ª just like what I did a moment ago. So you don¡¯t have to worry about having your identity exposed.¡± On the side, Jiang Yuanbai finally restarted his brain and recovered from his crashed state, and with a look of reverie, interrupted, ¡°So, so, Mo Yi is really ONE?¡± The world¡¯s top hacker, ONE? The legend who disappeared for nearly ten years after the most glorious ruling moment? Perhaps this could exin his thinness and weakness ¡­ after all, hackers are also programmers ¡­? ¡ª Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s train of thoughts suddenly deviated. He lifted his eyes and stealthily shot a quick nce at the crown of Mo Yi¡¯s head, and then secretly let out a long breath. Great, very dense.___________________________________________ When leaving, Jiang Yuanrou left him a business card. Her name and phone number were written in simple bold font on the silver-white card¡¯s surface. Mo Yi sat at the table for a long time. The business card was ced in the middle of the table, slightly shining in the room as the sun was setting. The sky was already dark, and the room without lights was shrouded in the chaotic faint light of twilight. Mo Yi sat motionless on the sofa, practically melting into a silhouette in the dark corner, and beside him, the note from the game was loosely enclosed in his palm. Unaware of how much time has passed, he finally stood up. However, he stumbled a little because he had maintained his posture for a long period of time. Mo Yi quickly stretched out his hand to stabilize his figure, and subconsciously pressed his palm on the TV remote control that was ced aside. The wide screen TV on the opposite wall was turned on, and the originally dark and hazy room was filled with the sounds, colours, light, and shadows floating in the screen. There was a news piece broadcasting inside: ¡°¡­ The body of the girl who was missing for 22 years was found, and the murderer is suspected to be ¡­¡± Mo Yi raised his head abruptly, and it was as if all the outlying sounds had left his ears. The only thing left in the whole world was him and the sound of the female announcer on the TV in front of him. He was stiff from head to toe, and his face was nk. A small screen was reflected in his pitch-ck pupils. On the screen was an erged old photo. It was a small and thin young girl, wearing a big and dirty old shirt. She was smiling shyly at the camera. Zhao Qin. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were deep, and he picked up the business card on the table and dialed the number on it. After two beeps, the opposite side quickly picked up the phone. He was silent, and the other side didn¡¯t make a sound out of consideration. There was a soft and even breathing sound from the other end of the phone. Finally, Mo Yi broke the silence. ¡°I agree.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Jiang Yuanrou seemed to let out a sigh of relief and replied with a slight smile, ¡°I¡¯ll pick you up right away.¡± Mo Yi ended the call. He lowered his eyes and watched the screen of his cell phone slowly dim, and once again, it finally became dark inside. Jiang Yuanrou hoped to cooperate with him. This game was a matter of life and death. If a person wasn¡¯t careful, they may die. The other party obviously possessed a lot of beneficial information and resources. Cooperating with Jiang Yuanrou was undoubtedly the best choice to maximize the benefits. Yet, it may be a little unbelievable to say ¡­ In fact, Mo Yi¡¯s heart had rejected it at first. He was a cautious and suspicious person. It could even be said that he was too cautious and suspicious, otherwise it would have been impossible to soundlessly disappear from the scene after the great disturbance shortly before the end of the new year, concealing his tracks until it was impossible to look for his trail. With regards to all the people and matters within his personal circle, he would subconsciously stay far away, and unless he had no other alternatives, he would never establish any level of ties. It was just like an isted ind among a crowd of people. Mo Yi unconsciously rubbed the business card in his hand, and his increasingly ice-cold fingertips swept across the uneven characters pressed on the surface. His eyes lowered and he sat quietly in the dark. He loathed meaningless death, so in the game that had just ended, he had mustered up all his skills, in this way, he had done the utmost to not give up and survive. However, he in now way feared its arrival, so much so that: it was undeniable that sometimes, from the bottom of his heart, he even had some secret expectations of death itself. Reality was too dry, dull, and boring, without any challenges, yet this game hid too many mysteries ¡­ This was practically an invitation he couldn¡¯t pass up, and it was difficult to control the rising impulse to explore.

Just now, when he was watching the news in front of the TV, he felt a long-lost feeling. The scalding bright red blood pounded against his eardrums, moving, and mouring to shout in the same voice: Excitement. It reminded him of the excitement he experienced the first time he saw code: watching those beautiful figures in theputer rapidly generate and wither, and the regr tempo made each and every one appear to be whirling in harmony and trembling with life, arousing his uncontroble fascination. Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked out the window. The light outside was scattered and was reflected in the depths of his eyes, as if ten thousand fireworks were set off, brilliantly shining in his pupils. He got up, opened the door, and walked out without hesitation or looking back. _________________________________________________ Jiang Yuanrou was waiting for him downstairs. The smooth curves of the sports car reflected the bright lights from the streetlights. She was leaning against the bus stop, and the scenery of a beautiful woman with a sweet car was pleasing to the eye. Seeing Mo Yie out, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyes lit up, and she ran over to the open the car door for him and asked him to get in the car with a smile. She was like a charming young female assistant. One after another, the people around him cast him looks of admiration and envy. ¡ª Humph! This face seeing world! Sure enough, only by being handsome can people do whatever they want! Jiang Yuanrou still had a smile on her face, as if she hadn¡¯t noticed in the slightest the gazes from the stranger¡¯s. ?Her eyes were shining, fixedly staring at Mo Yi. It was like, like a look he was already acquainted with. Mo Yi inexplicably felt cold all over. Why did he always have the illusion of being taken advantage of? Putting aside the irrelevant thoughts in his mind, he quickened his pace and got into the car in a hurry. The door closed behind him, cutting off his vision of the outside, making it difficult to tell if it really existed. The seats were made of expensive leather, and the interior of the car was filled with a faint fragrance of women¡¯s perfume. The air condition was adjusted to the right temperature, sending out afortable drought of cold air. Completely clean and tidy, with almost no shred of personal traces. Mo Yi withdrew his gaze without a trace. At this time, Jiang Yuanrou had already sat in the driver¡¯s seat and she stretched out her hand to put on her seat belt. She looked at Mo Yi through the rear-view mirror and said with a smile, ¡°I was scared to death. I was so afraid that you¡¯ll disappear without a trace. I don¡¯t have any spare points to exchange for your whereabouts!¡± Mo Yi¡¯s look of indifference didn¡¯t reveal any further emotions, and he just quietly lowered his eyes. He couldn¡¯t say that, as a matter of fact, that was precisely what he had intended to do at the very beginning. Jiang Yuanrou continued, ¡°However, if I didn¡¯t reveal a bit of what you wanted to know, I was scared that you wouldn¡¯t consider my proposal at all. That¡¯s why I took the risk.¡± Mo Yi narrowed his eyes and looked at Jiang Yuanrou. Their two eyes met in the rear-view mirror. ¡°It¡¯s worthy being the youngdy who can support the entire Jiang Family Group.¡± Jiang Yuanrou smiled. She didn¡¯t seem to be very surprised that Mo Yi knew her identity. She said, ¡°Since I was forced to participate in this game, I have gradually withdrawn from the public view, and have also gradually extricated myself from the management position. After all, no one knows the identity of the people who participate in the game. Suppose that someone in reality unexpectedly did something underhanded? So, in order to ¡­ in the case that something unexpected happens to me, the entire Group can operate as usual.¡± Suddenly, she remembered something and added, ¡°Moreover, all the yers who join the escape game are unable to leave behind their appearances in any image tool. Whether it¡¯s a video or a photo, their faces are all blurred when ites out. It¡¯d be terrible for this supernatural phenomenon to happen to a prominent figure of a Group.¡± Jiang Yuanrou feigned a rxed smile, but her brown eyes were still a little gloomy. ¡°So now, I¡¯m just an idle miss of the Jiang family. I¡¯m the sort who¡¯s only responsible for drinking and having a good time.¡± There was a moment of silence in the car. The neon lights outside the car shed past the car, and the bewitching phantom like lights were like blocks of shattered colours, rapidly rbining and fluctuating in shape. In the next minute, Jiang Yuanrou suppressed all the expressed emotions, and the vulnerability from before disappeared from her clear and bright voice. Her voice deepened, and the whole person became serious. ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to work with you.¡± Mo Yi raised his eyebrows, and he lifted his eyes to look at her. Jiang Yuanrou looked straight at thene ahead, her beautiful and elegant appearance was heavy, and there was no emotion in her pitch-dark pupils. ¡°You must have known that there is no reward for the main mission of this game. When you survive a copy, what¡¯s waiting for you will be more terrifying worlds, almost ¡­ endless.¡± Mo Yi frowned, and keenly grasped the key word. ¡°Almost? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jiang Yuanrou looked at him through the rear-view mirror. ¡°There is still the possibility of escape.¡± After a pause, she continued, ¡°That is toplete the hidden missions and get points. If you have enough points, you will have the qualification to exchange to leave this terrifying cycle, it¡¯s just that ¡­ the permissions of the store is gradually opening up. The more points you have, the more goods can be disyed. Unfortunately, my points aren¡¯t enough, so I still don¡¯t know how much I need to exchange for the qualification to leave the game.¡± Mo Yi nodded, and suddenly seemed to think of something, asking, ¡°Since your permissions is not enough to open the goods, how do you know that it really exists?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s hands firmly gripping the steering wheel tightened inconspicuously, and she replied, ¡°Yes ¡­ a friend of mine, he was very experienced. This is the information he gave me. However, in thest copy, he was forced to stay inside.¡± Mo Yi was not good at these kinds of situations. After thinking hard for a long time, he could only squeeze out two words, ¡°¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jiang Yuanrou smiled, then carried on with the conversation from a moment ago, ¡°If there aren¡¯t enough points, the yers wille to this bad end sooner orter. As long as you exchange points for props, you can choose who you want to enter the copy with, and regardless of whether youplete or assist others inpleting the hidden missions, you will receive points. That¡¯s why I want to cooperate with you: this is the most efficient way toplete missions.¡± She made her calctions and thoughts clear. It was obvious that Jiang Yuanrou knew that when speaking with a smart and clear minded person, being open and honest was the best choice. Mo Yi gently rubbed the knuckle of his index finger and thoughtfully looked at the floating lights reflected on the car window. There were no waves in the pitch-ck pupils. He abruptly opened his mouth and asked, ¡°Has anyone ever escaped?¡± Jiang Yuanrou went silent for a moment, and then replied, ¡°Yes. However, many of the rules and permissions in this game are linked with points. If you don¡¯t meet the points requirements, you can¡¯t get ess to the relevant information.¡± The implication was that she didn¡¯t know any more information. At this time, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s car slowed down, and then slowly stopped. Mo Yi looked out the window and suddenly had an unknown premonition in his heart. ¡°Where is this?¡± Jiang Yuanrou didn¡¯t answer directly but gave him a sweet smile through the rear-view mirror. ¡°I heard Yuanbai say that your physique is not very good? Perhaps fromck of exercise? And also, you were nning on getting a lifelong fitness membership?¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± ¡ª Was it toote for him to regret it now? Chapter 19

Chapter 19

It was as if someone was strangling his throat, gradually bringing about a strong sense of suffocation. The turbid darkness turned into an entity, surging like a tide, constricting his mouth and nose, dragging him into an endless abyss ¡ª ¡°Didi didi.¡± Mo Yi abruptly opened his eyes, his back was wet with sweat, and his chest was rising and falling as he gasped for breath. There was an endless chill all over his body, licking his skin as if it were alive, eating away at his body temperature. Mo Yi¡¯s brain was a little nk. He was stunned for several seconds before he regained his consciousness. He stretched out his hand and fumbled around slowly, pressing the button on the rm clock at the head of the bed. The ear piercing and sharp rm finally disappeared, restoring the dead silence in the room. Mo Yi turned his head and looked at the electronic clock on the beside table. The time and date were disyed on the square screen, the green light shing in the dark room. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze stayed on it for a moment, and then he looked away slightly. ¡ª May 9, today was the day he would enter the escape game for the second time. In these seven days, Jiang Yuanrou shared with him the information and rules she knew about the game, and with much enthusiasm, rushed to ask him to exercise. Unfortunately, the seven days were too short after all, and his physique didn¡¯t happen to change much.

And Mo Yi refused to recall how after Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s exclusive nutritionist and doctor examined his body, emotions such as ¡°Young people these days ¡­¡± appeared in his eyes. Was it wrong to stay at home with technology?! Did he eat their rice?! He got up slowly from the bed and walked to the bathroom wearing his slippers. ¡°Click.¡± The bathroom light was turned on, and the warm yellow light instantly dispelled the darkness, illuminating the room. Mo Yi reflexively blinked. After adapting to the sudden bright light, he stepped inside. He turned on the tap, cupped the icy water, and absentmindedly washed his face. Mo Yi woke up, bingpletely clear headed by the cold. He raised his head, and his eyes stopped on his own blurred face in the mirror. Mo Yi was stunned. He hesitantly stretched out his right hand and lightly wiped it on the mirror¡¯s surface ¡ª clear finger marks appeared on the blurred mirror¡¯s surface, leaving a wet and cold sensation on his fingers, as if they were still on the mirror. Mist. Mo Yi gazed at his reflection on the small clean mirror. His face was dripping wet, and his pale skin was stimted by the cold water, with a slightly sickly flush. The remaining water on his damp ck eyshes turned into strands and drops of water fell down the curvature of his cheeks, dripping onto his corbone and neck, bitingly cold. He stared at himself in the mirror with a gloomy expression. It wasn¡¯t too hot here in early May, and he didn¡¯t have the habit of turning on the air conditioner and humidifier, let alone getting up in the middle of the night to turn on the hot water ¡­ How could mist appear on the mirror? The unclear foreboding in his heart became more and more abundant, increasing the chaotic mess in Mo Yi¡¯s head, and prickles of uneasiness spread down his back. He remembered that in thest game, he drank the ¡°human¡¯s¡± blood. Could it be sequ? Before, during his conversation with Jiang Yuanrou, he had alluded to it, asking relevant questions, but it was obvious that she didn¡¯t know anything about it. In her opinion, the mist in the copy that appeared was responsible for surrounding the game¡¯s space, concealed, devouring those who tried to leave, fleeing with their lives, from the escape game. And Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s and Mo Yi¡¯s experiencest time in the copy was unheard of by Jiang Yuanrou. This was the first time she heard that the strange mist could actively move, confuse, and even attack yers. And the fact that the nameless mist could condense into human form, it seems ¡­ only Mo Yi knew. Mo Yi pulled down the towel hanging on the side of the mirror and wiped his face. When he looked up again, the mist on the mirror had disappearedpletely, as if what he had just seen was an illusion. Mo Yi was stunned for a few seconds. He took a deep look at the undisturbed and smooth surface of the mirror, and then looked away like he didn¡¯t care. Even if his guess about the mist was correct, there was nothing he could do now. All he could do was to confront the soldiers with generals and stem water with earth. ¡ª What¡¯s more, he had a lot of things he needed to do today. After he turned around, the screen of his cell phone, which was conveniently ced on the wash basin, lit up, disying a new message from Jiang Yuanrou. However, it was strange that even though no one was operating it, the cell phone screen flickered by itself: ¡°Message sent.¡± Next, another dialogue box popped up: ¡°Delete message record?¡± ¡ª ¡°Yes.¡± ¡ª ¡°Record deleted.¡± On the gradually dimming cell phone screen, a misty finger mark slowly dissipated and then disappeared without a trace ¡­ as if it had never appeared. Trantor¡¯s Note: New game arc starts next chapter! It¡¯s a lot longer than the school campus game arc. And spoiler: ML appears in chapter 21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

4:19 in the afternoon. Mo Yi took a deep breath and his thin fingers unconsciously tightened its grip on the straps of his backpack. It only contained a few useful necessities, such as shlights, lighters, nutrition bars, and etc. Only these were allowed to be brought into the game. Weapons ormunication tools and the like, even if they were brought, would be forced to remain behind in the real world because it would destroy the bnce of the game. He nced at his wristwatch, and the hands on it moved forward bit by bit. The moment it pointed at 12, Mo Yi sensed that it had be dark before his eyes. When he raised his head again, the darkness around him had already turned into nothingness. The familiar mechanical female voice sounded by his ear, ¡°Wee yer Mo Yi for your return to the game, points are being settled ¡­¡± Mo Yi narrowed his eyes and analyzed the scene around him. The deep and shallow depth of darkness seemed to flow slowly like an entity, and the dark abyss concealed a sensation of surging danger. Merely gazing at it gave off an absolutely unsettling feeling. A careful look revealed that there were countless strange and tiny symbols converging in the darkness, surprisingly ¡­ kind of like data? Mo Yi was taken aback, and was about to take a closer look, but retreated when he heard the female voice ring out again: ¡°Sessful settlement! Congrattions to yer Mo Yi for perfectlypleting the A: level hidden mission, ¡°Sweet Revenge¡±. Rewarding 5000 points and the in-game store is now open.¡± When the voice fell, Mo Yi only felt as if the sky and earth were spinning, and the scene before him changed in an instant. Within the depths of an azure-coloured space were countless floating icons right before his eyes, but only the first few rows were visible. ?The rest were a pale grey colour, and the names underneath were also hidden, only marked: ¡°???¡± The contents that could be exchanged for within the points store were random each time, and the ability to purchase useful things required luck. Prior to entering the game, Jiang Yuanrou had excessively warned him again and again: There were quite a few goods here that merely looked useful, but actually had all sorts of extremely odd and strange restricting conditions, which was basically equivalent tomercial fraud. For example, she once bought a shlight with the slogan ¡°Charge once, use forever,¡± but after purchasing it, she found out that it must be charged by the sr energy in the game. However, 99% of the escape game copies couldn¡¯t have sunlight at all! Mo Yi still remembered Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s heartbroken expression when she talked about it. As his gaze swept over the goods in front of him, he roughly calcted in his mind what he could purchase, and how he could maximize the use of his points and purchase more cost-effective things. Just as Mo Yi was about to turn back a page, the action paused before stopping. In the bottom corner, there was a good that was particrly eye-catching. Novice Gift Package. There was no product review or product description. There was only a section of pale grey, and it only required 10 points. Mo Yi was dumbfounded: Jiang Yuanrou had never mentioned this good. He looked at his 5000 bnce and chose to purchase it. ¡ª It didn¡¯t require a lot of points anyway, might as well try it. The moment he clicked to confirm the purchase, the mechanical female voice sounded in his ear, ¡°The purchase of special goods this time will use up the yer¡¯s chance to spend. Your purchase has beenpleted. Thank you for your patronage! I wish you a happy game!¡± Wait a minute, couldn¡¯t purchase anything else after purchasing this? Was there such an operation?

However, before Mo Yi could react, he only felt it go ck before his eyes. The female voice seemed to be released into infinity, heavily pounding in his eardrums, ¡°Game transmitting ¡­¡± Before he lost consciousness, thest thought in his mind was: ¡ª Go to your uncle¡¯s cheating game! Mo Yi opened his eyes. Under his body was a very hard bed board, and it wasn¡¯t very t. His back, which was pressed against it, hurt a lot. The narrow and small bed forced his legs to curl up, and his whole body awkwardly shrank on the bed. Mo Yi frowned and got up. It was ice-cold, and it carried the smell of dust, pouring into his nasal cavity, along with the musty odour of old wood, slightly mixing in with the gloomy and cold air. The room in front of him was not fully open. He couldn¡¯t make out the colour of the torn and peeling wallpaper, falling down, and exposing the filthy blue-grey wall underneath. The wooden beam supporting the uppermost part of the room on one side was old and dpidated. Above his head was a very old-fashioned ceilingmp, relentlessly emitting light. The dim yellow light was weak and faint, illuminating the crooked Cross hanging on the opposite wall, looking sinister and strange. There were six small beds neatly arranged in the room, each of which was the same size as the bed under him. These beds seemed to be specially made for children. They were so narrow and small that it was almost difficult for an adult to straighten out their legs in them. Mo Yi sat on the edge of the bed and stretched his legs, while subconsciously sizing up the surrounding environment. The room was not very big, it could even be said to be a little cramped. There was only a narrow and small window on the wall, but it had already been nailed securely with boards. The figures all around were old fashioned and stiff, making the entire room appear isted and stifling, and it was almost difficult to breathe in the air. He looked out the window through the irregr gaps and crevices between the boards, and once again, there was arge area of dense unchangeable darkness. Even though it was not the first time seeing it, it still gave people an intense sense of oppression. Mo Yi took a deep breath and moved his gaze away. Prior to studying the surroundings, there was one single thing he had always really cared about: what the hell was that so called Novice Gift Package? Mo Yi lowered his head, searching about his body. Even as cool-headed and calm as he was, he couldn¡¯t help but grit his teeth: This gift package wasted his entire shopping opportunity. It¡¯d better have something good in it! Finally, at the bottom of his backpack, Mo Yi saw it. It was a palm-sized box, grey and inconspicuous, with four small words written in square font on it: ¡°Novice Gift Package.¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips, and he opened it. At the bottom of the boxy a silver ribbon. The ribbon flowed with a faint brilliance. It seemed that it was not an ordinary product. Mo Yi was taken aback, stretched out his hand and picked it up. The soft ribbon obediently wrapped around his fingertips, icy and cold like flowing water. The box was instantly empty. He stared at the ribbon in his hand for a few seconds, then looked at the empty box. No ¡­ no instructions? Then what was this for? He turned the box upside down in disbelief, and the empty box was still empty. Mo Yi was silent. ¡°¡­¡± Why did he have an illusion of being pitted? He took a deep breath, suppressed the inexplicable irritability in his heart, and then with thest glimmer of hope, he wrapped the ribbon around his wrist. He wondered when he would be able to find out its use? Mo Yi packed up his backpack again, hung it on his shoulders, and stood up. For this times copy, Jiang Yuanrou had originally wanted to follow him, but her props had already been used up a few weeks ago, and the points store was too random. It had been a long time since this prop had appeared in her store. Therefore, she asked a senior person named Song Qi to join him in this copy this time: in Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s words, Song Qi was, ¡°Older, tall, and handsome, and also very powerful, but he doesn¡¯t talk very much.¡± Originally, they hade to an agreement that he would tell him a secret signal in advance before the two entered the copy, but he waited a whole day and didn¡¯t receive any news from her, and the phone call couldn¡¯t get through. It seemed that the matter may have fallen through. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes: That may not be such a bad thing. From the start, he didn¡¯t really want to form a team with other people due to the danger of having his identity exposed. On top of that, he wanted to explore many parts of the game on his own but having teammates would get in the way. Now, it was time for him to join the other yers. Mo Yi walked out. Suddenly, he felt something soft with his foot: he lowered his head and saw a brown teddy bearying beside his feet. It looked very old, and the yellow stuffing was exposed through the holes in the teddy bear. Nevertheless, it was very clean and there was no trace of dust. And in this room, every corner was covered with thick dust, as if no one had been here for many years. The clean teddy bear looked out of ce with its surroundings. The dust on the ground on one side was intact, and there was no trace of people passing by. Mo Yi bent down and looked at it carefully. The brown hair on the teddy bear was sparse, and the four limbs were barely hanging onto the body. One eye was missing, and the only remaining ck eye was cloudy, stitched crookedly on its face. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes shed with contemtion, but before he could do anything, he heard a familiar bickering noiseing from outside. And it seemed to be more intense than in thest copy ¡ª He was taken aback, no longer cared about the teddy bear, and hurried out. Mo Yi opened the door, and in front of him was a long dim corridor, and the sounds of quarrelling became louder and louder. Instead of observing the surroundings in front of him, he followed the sound and walked quickly to one end of the corridor. As soon as Mo Yi arrived in the lobby, he saw a woman in a short skirt yelling at the crowd. Her sharp voice was raised, painfully scratching people¡¯s eardrums, ¡°¡ª I don¡¯t care who sent you here, I have no time to y with you! I¡¯m leaving now, see who dares to stop me?¡± As she spoke, she walked out angrily, stretched out her hand, and opened the door. Then, the woman fell silent in an instant, and stared out the door dumbfounded. It was emptiness and darkness in the true sense, as if the entire building was deeply submerged in the darkness that had turned into an entity. The cold pressure drew near, and it seemed like it was the boundless manifestation of malice and danger. It brought silent terror and horror to people. The woman froze stiffly in ce, and several other people who had run out also froze, staring foolishly at the supernatural scene before them. Thick, dark mist merged with the darkness, and then slowly, like a living creature, reached out with tentacles towards the door and pushed its way inside¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s heart at once fiercely contracted, and the experience from thest copy immediately leapt into his mind! His hairs stood up, and the words of warning he was about to shout out unconsciously got stuck in his throat. In the next second, a man abruptly took arge stride forwards and dashed past, pushed the woman away, and ferociously closed the door! ¡°Bang.¡± The loud noise broke the deep silence in the room, and dust fell from the door that had long been dpidated, finally shutting out the endless darkness and horrifying thick mist outside the door. Wisps of mist continued to slowly dissipate from the gap under the door. The woman who was making a fuss just now was pale. It seemed that she now realized that this was not a mere joke, and she sat on the ground, cutting a sorry figure, and looked at the man who had rushed out with a disheartened face. After the man closed the door and gave her a cold nce, he no longer looked at the woman who was sitting paralyzed on the ground. Mo Yi took a deep breath and couldn¡¯t help clenching his stiff fingers. Only then did he realize that his palm was wet with cold sweat. What a close call ¡­ They now almost yed GG before the game officially started. At this moment, the familiar sweet-sounding voice of the girl rang out: ¡°Hello, wee everyone foring to therge-scale live escape game: STAY ALIVE. Your only task is to survive for 72 hours in the orphanage. The following are prompts for you: Good children, good children, don¡¯t break rules. Good children, good children, can y games. I wish you a happy game.¡± As soon as the female voice fell, they immediately caught sight of a fluorescent blue countdown appearing out of thin air in the darkness outside the window. 71£º59£º59 There was a strange silence in the air. Mo Yi pursed his lips and looked thoughtfully out the window: ¡­ Three days? Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Jiang Yuanrou once told him that the greater the number of people, the shorter the survival time, which meant the greater the difficulty of the copy. Mo Yi nced at the crowd gathering slowly, and silently counted deep in his heart: 9 people. He had gotten to the heart of the matter in his mind: 9 people were to survive for three days. It seemed that the difficulty of this copy was moderate. At this time, the man who had just rushed out and closed the door raised his eyes to look at the crowd, cleared his throat, and said, ¡°My name is Zhao Yicheng and I¡¯m a senior yer. As you saw, this game you¡¯vee to is real. If you die here, you¡¯ll die outside. However, the luck is not bad this time, and the difficulty isn¡¯t very high.¡± After speaking, he paused, looked around at the yers who had gathered, and continued, ¡°We should have a total of five senior people here, which is just enough to lead the other 5 neers in teams of two and look for clues, which increases the chances of survival.¡± Mo Yi was startled when he heard these words and raised his head ¡ª wait a minute, 10 people? There were only 9 people when he counted a second ago! The crowd now had already begun to cause amotion, and in the chaos, it was all the more difficult to clearly count the number of people. Mo Yi frowned, and his fingers gradually tightened. His trimmed, neat and round nails dug into the center of his palms, making it faintly ache. Back then ¡­ did he count wrong? Or did a ¡°person¡± sneak into here? He took a deep breath, calmed down the many mixed emotions within the bottom of his heart, and tried hard to suppress the sudden rising uneasiness in his mind: In any case, he had no other choice but to adapt to the circumstances. Everybody was now looking at one another to find a partner to team up with. It was actually very easy to identify senior and new yers. Those who were helplessly panic stricken and bare-handed were the yers who entered the game for the first time, while those who appeared calmer and were readily equipped were senior yers. Perhaps due to Mo Yi¡¯s outstanding appearance and exceptionally calm expression, two girl neers who were both crying cast hopeful looks at him. Even the woman in the short skirt who had made a fuss a moment ago was stealthily looking at him and was walking through the crowd of people towards him. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help his scalp from going numb. ¡­ He didn¡¯t want experienced teammates to disturb his exploration, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to take along neers! One of the girls had already reached him and was about to say something.

Mo Yi¡¯s mind was panicked, and he couldn¡¯t help but take a few steps backwards. The young girl who was about to speak involuntarily stiffened, throwing a wounded nce at him. Just then, a voice came from behind him, cold and deep, as if could raise vibrations in the air, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, he¡¯s teaming up with me.¡± Mo Yi was also startled by the voice and turned to look behind him. From the corner of the room, a man of tall stature walked out and stopped by Mo Yi¡¯s side, taking advantage of his height to look down on the other side. The man¡¯s appearance was astonishingly good looking. His pair of light-coloured eyes were a gloomy grey, shining with an inorganic cold light, like a cold-blooded animal devoid of emotions. Merelying into contact with his attentive gaze caused people¡¯s hearts to tremble. The pressing sense of oppression almost caused their eyes to ache, as if they were directly facing a sharp knife. The younger girl couldn¡¯t bear it and cowered. Meanwhile, the other girl arrived at the battlefield. She looked at the three of them. Although she was a little timid, she still spoke with conviction, ¡°But the elder brother just said ¡­ seniors and neers form a team. You two are seniors, isn¡¯t that not good?¡± The man¡¯s eyes moved slightly, looking at the girl who spoke, and the corners of his lips curled into an arc,cking warmth. ¡°Who told you that I¡¯m a senior?¡± The two young girls, ¡°¡­¡± Do you cheat ghosts?? How could a neer be so calm? Mo Yi stood on the side, looking at the development of the situation with a subtle expression. ¡ª Why did he have the illusion that he was the hero of a harem manga? At this moment, Zhao Yicheng who spoke just now, noticed the unusual disturbance, and walked over. Both of the young girls seemed to have seen their Saviour, and they started talking at once, each trying to get their word in, and exined the whole affair. It seemed to the first time Zhao Yicheng had encountered this kind of thing. Hearing this, he was dumbfounded. He looked up and closely examined the man for a few seconds, and then suddenly came to a realization. He consoled them, ¡°This little brother isn¡¯t holding anything in his hands. He should be a neer. Maybe I didn¡¯t look carefully just now because he was too calm and counted him as a senior.¡± The two girls looked at the man¡¯s empty hands at the same time, and then said nothing more. ¡°Well, you still have to consider this little brother¡¯s opinion.¡± Zhao Yicheng looked at Mo Yi and said, ¡°Who do you want to form a team with?¡± Mo Yi discreetly wrinkled his brows and was about to say something. However, like a sh of lightning, an idea suddenly crossed his mind: was this the person Jiang Yuanrou had found to be his senior teammate? Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked at the man standing beside him: it seemed that he was quite tall and handsome and didn¡¯t seem to like talking very much? His mind was spinning, but his face remained calm andposed. Mo Yi blinked, looked at Zhao Yicheng, and said without changing his expression, ¡°I¡¯d better team up with this brother. I¡¯ll get too shy being in a team with girls.¡± Zhao Yicheng and the two young girls, ¡°¡­¡± How did this persone up with such a ridiculous reason? Since the concerned party had already spoken, it wasn¡¯t good for the other people to get entangled anymore, so they were forced to walk away in a huff. Watching the backs of the people walking away, Mo Yu turned his head to look at the man and tentatively asked in a low voice, ¡°¡­ Song Qi?¡± The man looked at him, gently narrowed his light-coloured eyes which held an unfathomable expression, and then let out a low, ¡°En.¡± Mo Yi let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that he didn¡¯t identify the wrong person. He smiled at Song Qi. ¡°Yuanrou didn¡¯t contact me. I thought you weren¡¯ting.¡± Hearing this, Song Qi¡¯s brows wrinkled imperceptibly. He turned to Mo Yi, but before he could say anything, he heard Zhao Yicheng, who was nearby, clear his throat and say, ¡°Now that everyone has formed their own teams, let¡¯s explore separately. The prompts given by the game are extremely important and may contain clues which give us a good chance at surviving. Once someone finds something, share it.¡± After the leader gave them some instructions, everyone¡¯s mood became much more stable than before. Although everyone was still nervous, they all nodded in agreement, then dispersed in groups of twos and threes. Mo Yi keenly noticed that because Song Qi and he had formed a team, Zhao Yicheng had divided everyone into two additional three person teams to ensure that there was at least one senior yer in each team. Just then, Song Qi turned his head and said to Mo Yi, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Mo Yi hesitated for a moment and replied, ¡°Ok, but I have a ce I want to see first.¡± Song Qi nodded his head in agreement. The orphanage covered arge area, and its internal structure seemed to be quiteplicated. A ring-shaped hall connected to four dark and quiet corridors. Under the dim light, it was not clear what the end of each corridor looked like. The whole building inside was filled with a gloomy and dusty atmosphere, and it seemed like there was an unidentifiable smell floating in the air. Mo Yi started walking down the hallway from the beginning while observing his surroundings all around. The building was obviously very old. All the utensils were covered in dust that seemed to have umted centuries ago. The filthy wallpaper, preserved by time, was stained with dirt, and it wasn¡¯t clear what the original colour was. It was pasted on the wall, wrinkled, and several areas had already peeled off, revealing the damp brownish grey surface of the wall. Several ancient styled and worn-out hangingmps hung askew on the wall, emitting a faint light with difficulty, but it was unable to illuminate all of the corners. In the cold and sombre darkness, it always seemed like there was something waiting for an opportune moment to take action. The stagnant corridor was long and cramped, and the pressure made people nearly gasp for breath. However, Mo Yi noticed that although it looked old-fashioned and dpidated here, every piece of furniture and utensil was still intact, and it appeared as though they had not beenpletely abandoned. Mo Yi pushed open a door and walked into the room where he had woken up. Everything was the same as when he had left: Six narrow beds divided into two rows, neatly arranged in the cramped room. The wooden boards sealing up the window were crooked, and through the wide gaps, the fluorescent blue countdown floating in the darkness outside was visible. The overhead light was dim, barely illuminating the room. His eyes fell to the ground ¡ª The old and shabby teddy bear was gone. On the dusty ground, there was a small yellow noteying stilly. It was simply folded in half, making it difficult to see the contents. Mo Yi¡¯s heart jumped, and he stepped forward, bending down to pick up the note. The unfolded slip of paper unexpectedly had a shapeless and twisted childish drawing of an empty swinging gallows. Under the gallows was a single line written by a child in coloured crayons: FIND ME¡£ Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows slowly wrinkled, and his fingers unconsciously tightened, leaving shallow marks on the rough surface of the paper note. FIND ME£¿ He thought of the prompt given at the beginning of the game: ¡°Good children, good children, can y games.¡± This game, could it be referring to hide and seek? If so, then who would he be asked to find? Supposing that he won, what did that mean? Then, ¡­ what if he loses? There were innumerable doubts and suspicions gathered in Mo Yi¡¯s brain, and he didn¡¯t know what to think. He raised his head to look at Song Qi, wanting to say something. But was rmed when he abruptly met the other¡¯s person¡¯s eyes attentively gazing at him. The light-coloured eyes in the semi brightness were half hidden, appearing extremely focused, and the very thin pupils were like the pupils of a snake, almost arousing fear in a person. Mo Yi¡¯s heart burst, and his blood went cold as a sense of crisis began to spread from his back. With rapt attention, he once again looked, but he only saw Song Qi squatting down beside him with a normal face, looking at the note in his hand. ¡°What? What did you find?¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes and his thick ck eyshes drooped, concealing the surging emotion in his eyes. He handed Song Qi the note in his hand. As he took it and carefully looked at it, Mo Yi casually said, ¡°By the way, how did you recognize me in the first ce?¡± Song Qi replied, ¡°Jiang Yuanrou told me that you would be the best-looking person in the crowd.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± That sounded exactly like Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s style. ¡°But she also told me the specific characteristics of your appearance.¡± Song Qi raised his eyes and looked at him. ¡°Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to recognize you at a nce.¡± Mo Yi knit his brows, and once again asked the question he had not received an answer to back in the lobby, ¡°However, Jiang Yuanrou didn¡¯t inform me of your secret signal for when we meet in person. I thought that you wouldn¡¯te.¡± After hearing this, Song Qi looked at him, narrowed his eyes, and said slowly, ¡°I would have certainlye.¡± Mo Yi was stunned ¡­ eh? What was this talk without rhyme or reason?

In the next second, Song Qi had lowered his head again and exined as if nothing had happened, ¡°At that time, I had received a list of neers to look after. You were already in the game by the time the copy was over. I didn¡¯t have time to contact you.¡± Jiang Yuanrou did say that there would be a waiting period before the copy was opened. As long as the props were used during this time, it was still possible to enter the same copy. There was a clear exnation. What¡¯s more, Song Qi also knew Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s name: it was important to realize that she concealed her identity without letting a single drop leak out. Mo Yi pursed his lips and continued to ask, ¡°Speaking of which, you just told the two girls that you¡¯re a neer. What about the things you brought?¡± Song Qi¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, and he exined, ¡°It¡¯s just a simple prop exchanged from the in-game store.¡± After he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand and made a grabbing motion, and a backpack manifested by his side. When he let go, the edges of the backpack disappeared in the air again. Mo Yi nodded, and the suspicion that was hidden in his eyes finally faded a little. He took the note he had handed over from Song Qi¡¯s hand, stretched out his hand towards the railing beside him, and stood up. Suddenly, at this moment, Mo Yi paused and then stopped moving. His sight fell on the signboard at the head of the bed. The signboard was already quite worn down, and it was covered in dust and dirt, but the handwriting was still vaguely visible. It was written in beautiful fancy calligraphy: Iris Municipal Orphanage. After those few English words, it was abruptly followed by two standard Chinese characters ¡ª ¡°Mo Yi.¡± It unexpectedly turned out to be his own name? Mo Yi¡¯s back felt cold, and he stood up in a hurry. He quickly walked to the other beds and examined the name tes. ¡°Daniel¡±, ¡°Tommy¡±, ¡°John¡± ¡­ Apart from the bed he woke up on, the other signs hanging in front of the other beds all had somemon English names, which should be the names of every orphanying on those beds. Mo Yi¡¯s mind was in chaos. He stood in front of the furthest bed, and he turned to look at the bed where he had woken up on ¡ª Under the dim light, the dusty room was silent and frightening. The narrow bed was half hidden in the dark corner, looking lonely and strange, as if it quietly waiting for something. An idea suddenly shed through Mo Yi¡¯s mind: This way of signing someone¡¯s name, was like ¡­ he was a member of this orphanage. Without warning, there was an intense mour from outside the door, which pulled Mo Yi out of his deep thoughts. He had been in a trance, and instantly, his eyes became calm and sober again. Mo Yi turned his head and said to Song Qi, ¡°Let¡¯s go and look.¡± Immediately after, he took the lead to go out. Song Qi looked at the view of his back, paused, and then followed him out. As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the hall, before they even went in, they heard a sharp scream, like a fingernail scratching ss. ¡°¡ª Ah!!!¡± Mo Yi¡¯s steps indiscernibly paused, and he held back the impulse to stretch out his hands to knead his aching ears. Afterwards, he strode onwards with his long legs, his steps quickening as he walked in. The moment he entered the hall, he saw a dead body hanging from the beam near the entrance. It was a man; his whole body was stiff as it hung in the air. His blueish ck face was swollen and congested fromck of blood flow. He was staring straight in Mo Yi¡¯s direction, eyes not even closed in death. The pair of cloudy eyeballs were protruded, face horrified and distorted, as if he saw something terrifying before he died. Everybody¡¯splexion was deathly pale. A woman was slumped on the ground, her legs limp. She was trembling, not daring to raise her head, and her face was full of tears ¡ª It was obvious that she was source of the scream. At that moment, Zhao Yicheng walked out from behind the crowd and raised his voice to console them, ¡°Don¡¯t panic everyone. The most urgent problem now is to find out why this gentleman died to avoid being the next victim!¡± Another female senior also came forward to support his point, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct. This game will never randomly select people to kill. He must have done something to have ended up like this. As long as we find out the reason, and then try to avoid it, we can minimize the chances of injury and death.¡± Although there was still hesitation and panic in people¡¯s eyes, their mood had be a little calmer than before. A damp and gloomy atmosphere permeated the air, mixing in with the shallow hint of fear. Everyone was still in low spirits. After all, less than hour after the start of the game, one of the ten people had died, and everyone still had no idea how to escape. Mo Yi frowned and stepped forward, lost in thought, and closely examining the corpse in front of him. It was evident that the man had just died, and there was still a residual warmth on the body, shing with his lifeless face. A pair of lusterless eyes tinged with blood stared into a void, and his distorted facial features made nearly everyone feel physiologically ufortable. Although he was hanging from the beam in the room, his bluish ck face was not caused by suffocation, and his tongue was not sticking out due despite having his neck constricted. Mo Yi¡¯s brow grew more creased and taught, and the doubts from the bottom of his heart were on the verge ofing out. His mind was moving as fast as electricity, and in the next second, he stretched out his hand towards the chair beside him and stepped on it. His fingers efficiently ran across the corpse¡¯s shoulder, feeling his way to the back of his neck. Several people on the sideline who caught sight of this act seemed to be stricken dumb with amazement at his boldness. They couldn¡¯t refrain from gasping, stopping to look at him. Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows and eyes were solemn with concentration as he twisted his fingers. The skin of the corpse was still soft and stic. He could clearly feel the odd shape and direction of movement of the bones of the neck under the skin and flesh. Sure enough, the bones of the neck of the corpse was broken, and it was broken very cleanly. Mo Yi jumped off the chair, still immersed in his thoughts. He absently raised his head to look at the corpse dangling in mid-air, mulling over his thoughts. Neck fractures were rarely seen in situations where people were hanged by the neck. It was more like ¡­ execution by hanging. Prisoners on the gallows would abruptly drop, and the gravity would break the victim¡¯s cervical vertebra. ¡­ Gallows? Mo Yi looked stunned, and he subconsciously felt the note in his pocket. He hesitated for a few seconds, then stretched out his hand and held the note in front of him. The shapeless and twisted gallows on the note inexplicably coincided with the corpse hanging in front of him ¡ª Just then, something strange happened. A crayon drawing of a small figure hanging on the gallows appeared out of thin air, and several childish characters appeared on the note. It was bright red and ring like fresh blood: ¡°MY TURN.¡± Trantor¡¯s Notes: Sorry everyone. I¡¯m going to be only updating once a week now for the following weeks. My stockpile is running low, so I need to take some time to replenish it. Thanks for reading andmenting! Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Random surprise bonus chapter Mo Yi was shocked. He couldn¡¯t refrain from retreating a few steps, and his back bumped into a hard chest. At the same time, a low voice sounded in his ear, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mo Y couldn¡¯t help but be absent-minded for a second. Why did he feel ¡­ that this tone was a little familiar? But Mo Yi racked his brains, yet he was unable to recall where had heard this tone from. He turned his head and looked behind him, only to see Song Qi standing against the light. The light behind his body blurred his facial features, and he was looking down at him. Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Although they were about the same height, but ¡­ why did he sense that this individual was one or two centimeters taller than him? He blinked, and as if nothing had happened, slightly pulled away from Song Qi. Afterwards, he turned around and handed him the strange note. Song Qi gave him a profound look, then reached out his hand to take the note. Several other yers standing on the side also noticed the unusual activity, and without consulting one another, gathered together and came over, craning their necks to look at the note in Song Qi¡¯s hand. That line of blood red crooked handwriting nearly caused the backs of everyone to be cold, and they subconsciously held their breaths. MY TURN£¿ Did that mean ¡­ that the unknown thing was going to take action next? The entire atmosphere in the room became silent for a moment. Only the sounds of some people¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple trembling and rolling could be heard. A man finally couldn¡¯t bear the atmosphere anymore, slightly falling apart. He firmly grasped Mo Yi¡¯spel. His bloodshot eyes were protruded, and his ck pupils were constricted with violence and fear. He roared, ¡°What the hell did you do?! Do you want to kill us all to be satisfied?¡±

Mo Yi was caught off guard and was dragged over. He subconsciously gripped the other¡¯s wrist with his palms, struggling to break free. However, it was to no avail, too much of a weak chicken. The violent man even went as far as to forcibly lift him up. Mo Yi who was puzzled: ??? All of a sudden, a slender and beautiful hand reached out and gently grasped the man¡¯s hand, appearing to not have used any force. The man howled in pain and trembled, letting go of Mo Yi¡¯s hand, his body uncontrobly quivering as he fell back several steps. Mo Yi¡¯s sharp eyes saw that not far away, the man¡¯s thick and solid wrist was oddly bent in the opposite direction. Without warning, a figure stepped forward, blocking his line of sight. Mo Yi was surprised and raised his head to look at the person in front of him: ¡­ Song Qi? Song Qi¡¯s gaze was heavy, and his emotions couldn¡¯t be made out. He extended both of his hands to help him straighten his cor. His ice-cold fingertips unconsciously brushed the red marks on Mo Yi¡¯s neck. Mo Yi quivered at the ice-cold temperature of his fingers, and he subconsciously lifted his eyes. But before he could say anything, in the next second, Song Qi had released his hands as if nothing had happened. He turned to the man who had been impulsive a moment ago. The man¡¯s eyes were full of fear, and his twisted face was as white as paper due to pain. Seeing Song Qi walking towards him, he shuddered and retreated, but he couldn¡¯t make up for the length of Song Qi¡¯s long legs. He held out his hand and gripped the man¡¯s wrist. Only the distressing ¡°kada¡± sound of the wrist being put back in its ce rang out. The man was feverish with pain and sweat dripped down the contours of his face. Song Qi bowed his head and looked at him with narrowed his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I always misjudge my strength.¡± After that, he paused and unexpectedly let out a lowugh. ¡°Especially when someone is doing something to my friend.¡± The man stammered and his lips trembled. He merely protected his sore wrist, not daring to say anything more, and lowered his head to conceal the sinister and resentful expression he was casting at Mo Yi. The ambience was awkward for a period of time. Mo Yi cleared his throat. In order to alleviate the tense mood, he started to talk, ¡°I believe that this note should be a game yed by children overseas. It¡¯s called hangman. A person is hanging on the gallows, and another person has to go and look for the corpse. After finding it, the two pictures can bebined to form aplete word.¡± He looked down at the crumbled note in his hand. The blood red twisted writing on it caused one¡¯s heart to feel terrified. Mo Yi pursed his somewhat dry lips and continued, ¡°However, there are many versions of this game. ording to the prompts given at the start of the game, the rules in this copy may have something to do with hide and seek, but there¡¯s not enough clues at the moment. We have to wait until we can figure out what the specific rules are.¡± Everyone: ¡­ After listening to your exnation, we are even more scared. A weird silence permeated the air, and the fear of the unknown opened its invisible arms, slowly enshrouding the whole crowd, and quietly devoured the remaining reason in everyone¡¯s heart ¡­ No one knew what would happen next. There was a suddenmotion outside the hall. It turned out that the few people who had gone out to look for clues hade running back. The two groups looked at one another, and they both noticed the expression of confusion and fear on each other¡¯s face. The person on the other side was holding an extremely familiar looking note. Mo Yi was stunned. He quickly stepped forward, reached for the other party¡¯s note, and looked at the note in his hand: Familiar crooked handwriting, the same drawing of the gallows, and on the surface was written: FIND ME. The other party was obviously at a loss and stammered, ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know where it came from. I just went back to the room where I woke up. There was this note on the floor!¡± Several other yers behind the man also nodded, showing the exact same note in their hands. Mo Yi¡¯s brows knitted and couldn¡¯t refrain from sinking into contemtion. At first, he originally was under the impression that this was a one-to-many ghost catching game. And so at the beginning of the game, he was momentarily a ghost, but when he found the hanging victim and filled in theplete picture afterwards, ¡°the other party¡± became a ghost and wanted to catch the next victim. But now, more people appeared with notes in their hands, and the rules of the game had be moreplicated. ¡ª Moreover, what did ¡°MY TURN¡± mean in the end? There was a faint uneasiness in Mo Yi¡¯s heart. All of a sudden, he seemed to think of something. He was startled, raised his head, and said to everyone, ¡°Everyone, go the room where you woke up and see if you can find the same note!¡± Everyone woke up as if from a dream and nodded one after another. In the next second, they dispersed like birds and beasts. More than half of the people in the hall were instantly gone. Mo Yi turned to look at Song Qi who was beside him, and the corners of his lips curved, and said, ¡°Thanks a lot for back there.¡± Although Mo Yi¡¯s appearance was Grade A in attractiveness, he usually had a calm and rational expression most of the time, so he seemed very cold, indifferent, and extremely difficult to approach. His raised smile now was unexpectedly breathtaking, making it difficult for people to look away for a short while. ¡°¡­It wasn¡¯t much.¡± Song Qi stared nkly for a long time before replying, ¡°No need to care about it.¡± He paused, and the side of aggressiveness that had leaked out a short while ago almostpletely disappeared. Song Qi withdrew his slightly twinkling gaze, his jaw taught with a little nervousness, and said in a low voice, ¡°Also ¡­ You¡¯re too thin. That¡¯s not good.¡± After that, he turned around in a hurry and left behind a sentence, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go check my room too.¡± Watching the view of Song Qi¡¯s back as he quickly left, and the slightly reddening ears half covered by his ck hair, Mo Yi mulled it over for half the day, and suddenly came to a realization: The reason why ¡­ was he shy? Mo Yi was not in the least carrying any sense of guilt as he thought: This Song Qi did not seem to be very difficult to get along with in that case. A few minutester, everyone came back to the hall one after another. Everyone seemed to be frightened out of their minds, tightly holding a familiar note in their hands. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were slightly heavy, and his conjecture was confirmed. Just as he was about to say something, he could only listen as there was a sudden ear-piercing burst of a ringing bell sounding in the hall. The unpleasant sounding ringing of the metal bell reverberated in the spacious and empty orphanage, echoing, which was noisy and eerie. The bad memories brought about from the previous copy¡¯s ringing bells caused Mo Yi¡¯s body to involuntarily grow taught. However, in the next second, Mo Y¡¯s eyes shed with a look of rm: ¡ª ?He seemed to know what the ringing bell was¡­ The Author Has Something to Say: Mo, Unconscious Tease, Yi (A face of innocence): My teammate seems to be a little shy. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

T/N: Hangman rification fromst chapter Mo Yi¡¯s pursed lips tightened, and his somewhat coldplexion was tense. ¡°If I didn¡¯t hear wrong, that should be the orphanage¡¯s dining bell.¡± He turned to look at everyone and asked, ¡°Do any of you know where the dining room is?¡± The woman who had copsed at the sight of the corpse cowered for a moment, and then weakly said, ¡°¡­ I, I saw it just now. It¡¯s at the end of the corridor over there.¡± Mo Yi nodded and turned to walk in the direction the woman had pointed to. Perhaps due to his calm and reassuringposure, everyone hesitated for a moment, but nevertheless followed behind him. As they went deeper and deeper towards the serene and hidden depths of the corridor, the wallmps hesitantly flickered unpredictably, and the narrow walls on both sides tightly pressed close, making people feel almost suffocated. At the end of the corridor was a slight glimmer of light, illuminating a small area of the front of the room. Standing there were two vague shadowy figures, and they seemed to be talking about something. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. The facial features of the two gradually became clearer: It was Zhao Yicheng and the senior woman who had spoken before. They appeared to be arguing about something in a low voice, and their faces looked extremely displeased. Seeing someone arrive, they stopped talking and simultaneously turned towards Mo Yi. After listening to Mo Yi¡¯s exnation of the causes and effects, Zhao Yicheng nodded and chimed in, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. We also woke up in the room and found exactly the same note.¡± The senior woman also let out a low ¡°En,¡± and from her pocket, fished out the note with the opened drawing of the gallows.

Mo Yi lowered his eyes in thought. The topic of conversation abruptly changed. Pointing a finger at the dining room behind them, he asked, ¡°By the way, did you go inside?¡± Zhao Yicheng¡¯splexion turned ugly in a sh. He leaned his body to one side, indicating for Mo Yi to go and look inside. Mo Yi had some misgivings and strode forward a step, looking inside the dining room. It was not very spacious inside. The light inside was a bit brighter than that in the corridor. The walls were crooked and stained with grease, looking very shabby. There were several low and long tables and benches in the room. This should be the ce where the orphans dined together. It appeared simple and crude, but altogether, nothing was off about it. But for some unknown reason, Mo Yi¡¯s heart always sensed that there was a bit of disharmony originating from somewhere. He shifted his gaze towards the opposite wall and couldn¡¯t help but stare nkly. There was a drawing in simple and rough strokes, not big, however the drawing happened to be located in the middle of the wall, looking extremely eye catching. Indeed, it was a small hanging man. It happened to match the note with the gallows on it,pletely filling in the whole drawing. Zhao Yicheng¡¯s low voice came from beside him, ¡°That one neer outside who was hanged, thest time the others saw him alive was when he was about to enter this room.¡± A slight bursting chill ran down everyone¡¯s back in a sh. The dpidated and simple and crude dining room looked even more sinister now, as if there was a terrible monster hiding, waiting for the bugle horn before starting its massacre. A few people instinctively retreated several steps in session, hoping to stay as far away from the dining room as possible. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze was heavy. He attentively pondered for a second, his sharp eyes wandering around the dining room. His gaze suddenly paused for an instant somewhere in the dining room, and his face rxed slightly. Mo Yi turned his head and said to Zhao Yicheng, ¡°It¡¯s okay. We should be able to enter here.¡± He pointed to the end of the dining room where there was a dusty and stained dining table. On top of it was an arrangement of ck bread and clean water. Zhao Yicheng looked in the direction he was pointing at and stared nkly. Then, he instantly came to a realization. The other people were stull confused and looked at Mo Yi. Zhao Yicheng exined, ¡°For copies that are carried out in this kind of confined space for more than 24 hours, the game will provide yers with food and water to preserve their lives. Generally speaking, the time and location for eating are usually safe.¡± Mo Yi added, ¡°The bell a moment ago should be to remind us that it¡¯s time to have a meal.¡± Everyone rxed a little, and one by one went inside. The smell of dust pervaded the air, and the temperature was a great many times lower than in the corridor. The mmy humidity almost prated the surface of their skin. The ceiling of the dining room was very low, with traces of mildew and rust on the surface, and the surrounding walls were covered in oil, soaking and staining it. Everybody went to the dining table with their hearts in their hands. They each took some ck bread and used the cup on the side to pour a ss of water. Then, they sat down on the low bench in twos and threes, ready for their meal. Mo Yi was unustomed to curling up his long legs as he sat on the bench which was too low for his height. He lowered his eyes and took a bite of the ck bread in his hand. The cheap and dried out bread had a coarse texture, painfully scratching his throat. It was dry and hard like chewing on grains of sand. Everyone¡¯s face was ugly, slowly chewing the tasteless bread in their mouth. Someone raised a cup and tried to wash the bread down with water, but as soon as the water entered his mouth, his face changed.? The water had an extremely odd and greasy taste, like dirty water that had been left out for several months. It was almost half rancid, causing them to feel nauseous. Mo Yi had his head bowed in a trance, as if he hadn¡¯t realized that the food was of inferior quality. His face didn¡¯t change as he indifferently nibbled the bread. Just then, a hand appeared before his eyes. The five fingers were slender and fair, and the joints were well proportioned, beautiful like a work of art. In the hollows of the palmy a chocte bar. Mo Yi stared nkly and began to raise his head. Song Qi¡¯s chin was propped up on one hand, looking neither left nor right, but straight ahead, as if the chocte bar being passed over was not by him. Mo Yi blinked, lowered his voice, and said in a deep voice, ¡°You eat. I¡¯m alright.¡± He really was telling the truth. He really didn¡¯t care how delicious his food was. For Mo Yi, it was enough as long as the food could maintain his normal existence of life, and whether it was delicious or not was nothing but a worthless wrapping outside the food. Song Qi quickly shot him a nce, and then immediately withdrew the emotions in his eyes. The lines of his cold and firm lips appeared to be pressed into a straight line, ¡°I don¡¯t like sweets.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­ ???¡± Then why on earth did you still bring a chocte bar into this copy? However, since the reason had been said, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t refuse anymore, so he reached out and took the wrapped chocte bar from Song Qi¡¯s palm. Ice-cold fingertips unconsciously brushed the hollow of his palms. Song Qi¡¯s palm trembled, and with an extremely quick motion, withdrew his right hand, clenching it under the table, his face asposed as before. Mo Yi didn¡¯t notice Song Qi¡¯s little action at all. His slender fingers numbly pulled open the wrapping of the chocte bar, and then stuffed it into his mouth before others could notice. The mellow and rich outeryer of the chocte melted in the mouth, and the faint aroma of wheat mixed with the unique bitter and astringent taste of chocte. The small and rounded sensation of the nuts rolled between the gaps of his teeth,fortably warm from the tip of his tongue, and sweet to the depths of his throat. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes narrowed subconsciously, his eyshes trembling, casting a deep shadow on his face. He smiled, raised his eyes to look at Song Qi, and said with a low voice, ¡°Thank you. It was delicious.¡± Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Mo Yi patted the breadcrumbs from his hands and got up from the low bench. He moved around the dining hall, slowly walking at ease as his gaze roamed back and forth in the room, not letting a single clue slip by. A clock behind the dining table caught his eye. It was very old and shabby and half of its outer case was already falling off, exposing its jet-ck metal surface underneath. It hung askew on the wall behind the dining table. However, unlike the other things in the room, the clock didn¡¯t have a trace of dust on its surface, as if a person had meticulously wiped it clean. Moreover, it was even rarer that the clock was not broken, still stubbornly running. The clock hand was pointed towards 5:20. Mo Yi knitted his brows, his mind somewhat puzzled. Right away, the game itself had already provided a countdown, then for what reason was there a conspicuous clock set up inside the copy? He subconsciously took a glimpse outside the narrow window, and in the pitch-ck sky was the indistinct fluorescent blue numbers slowly counting down. Five hours and twenty minutes had passed by in the game. Then that implied ¡­ at the same time as when the game had just begun, the clock had also begun to move. The doubts and suspicions in his heart grew more and more, simr to a slow-moving dark cloud gathering, gradually upying every corner of Mo Yi¡¯s heart, stifling his throat, forcefully stopping his breath. The orphanage was different from thest copy. It upied arger space, and the clues were also not as closely packed together as in the school. Many times, he could only watch as the doubts increased more and more, twisting into a tangled knot, but the thread to untie it couldn¡¯t be found. Mo Yi took a deep breath and tried hard to calm down. The copy¡¯s remaining survival time was still quite long. They could only take it slowly. Finally, he took a deep look at the clock, turned around and then walked towards the wall with the drawing of the little hanging man. The little man was drawn with very simply and crude strokes, shapeless and crooked. It must have been drawn by a child. The irregr shape of the round head and the lined four limbs propped up by a thin torso on the dirty wall looked exceptionally strange. Mo Yi took out the note that was already filled in andpleted andpared it with the little man on the wall, examining it. Except for a few ces, all the details almost fit together perfectly, and the contents and drawing style appeared to havee from the same child. Mo Yi¡¯s mind seemed to have shed with a vague guess, but he could not longer make out what it was. There was nothing more to investigate in the dining room. So, he put away the note, and circled around to search for Song Qi¡¯s figure, wanting to ask him to leave together. But the moment he turned around, standing right behind him was Song Qi, and he jumped in fright. Does this person walk without a sound?! Mo Yi covered his frightened heart, slowly rxed, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s leave, ba. I basically circled around and saw everything here. Let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡± . The people in the dining room also began to get up one after another and walked towards the door. Mo Yi and Song Qi left the dining room and followed the corridor to return to the hall. The corpse that was hanging in the middle of the room had already disappeared, and only the chair Mo Yi had fetched to step on stood quietly in the dust. Mo Yi did not at all feel surprised. He attentively stared at the empty space for a few seconds, and then moved away his line of sight as if nothing had happened. He circled the hall several times, and suddenly seemed to think of something, turning to the doorway on the side and ran into the reception hall. Just now, Zhao Yicheng and several other people had arrived at the hall, and in a sh, he drew their attention as he ran past. But they only saw Mo Yi bending down, rummaging and searching the reception hall. Very quickly, from the rummaging emerged a bunch ofrge antique keys and an iplete and torn map. Every key had abel pasted on it, and on the surface were some English words. It was just that parts of it were blurred and indistinct due to the passage of time. However, this was a major discovery! Zhao Yicheng and the other¡¯s eyes brightened and instantly encircled him.

Mo Yi bowed his head, examining the dirty map for several minutes, and then selected a key and held it in the center of his palm. Next, he generously spread out therge bunch of keys on the counter, stating in front of everyone, ¡°Everyone, take these keys and search for clues in the ces on the map, ba. But you must remember toe back and hang them up after searching, or the clues might get lost.¡± After talking, he paused, and his voice sank a little, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that this process will be very dangerous. It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t act alone. Moreover, if you take a key, you have to have the courage to ept the consequences of opening the door.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s abruptly serious tone was like a basin of cold water, instantly extinguishing the excitement bubbling forth within everybody, and they once more became cautious. Just then, a senior woman who was silently standing on the side said, ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback and turned to look at her. The senior woman narrowed her eyes, strode towards him and opened her mouth, asking, ¡°You¡¯re very familiar with this ce. Whether it is the dining bells that you immediately recognized, or the degree of understanding of the location of these keys, we¡¯re no match at all¡­¡± Zhao Yicheng, who was on the side, was obviously acquainted with her, and gave a low reprimand, ¡°Sun Xiaoyan!¡± The senior called Sun Xiaoyan didn¡¯t take heed, and instead advanced another step, forcefully interrogating, ¡°Would you mind exining?¡± After hearing her words, everyone involuntarily trembled, one by one casting frightened and suspicious expressions towards Mo Yi ¡ª this person had dictated all their actions up to now! Could it be that ¡­? Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lowered, and his pale and handsome face was calm without a ripple. In the next second, he raised his eyes and looked at Sun Xiaoyan. His eyes were very dark. When there was no emotion in them, it was like a night scenery without stars, almost forcing the people being attentively watched to move their gazes away. Mo Yi said, ¡°The United Kingdom¡¯s public orphanages have a standard configuration, such as the bell and ce for the keys. In the United Kingdom, there are set regtions, and most of them have been used since World War I up to now. Are you satisfied with this exnation?¡± Sun Xiaoyan obviously didn¡¯t expect this answer. After hearing Mo Yi¡¯s words, she was stunned for a long time, but still put up a fight, ¡°Then, then can anyone prove that what you said is true? Also, what makes you think it¡¯s the United Kingdom? Could it be that you were in an orphanage in the United Kingdom¡­?¡± Hearing her words be more and more excessive, Zhao Yicheng raised his voice again and interrupted her angrily, ¡°Sun Xiaoyan! You¡¯ve done enough!¡± Sun Xiaoyan was seething and stopped talking. Zhao Yicheng gave her a quick nce, turned to Mo Yi, and said, ¡°That ¡­ I¡¯m very sorry. Xiaoyan, she ¡­¡± Before Zhao Yicheng could finish speaking, Mo Yi quickly interrupted him, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I didn¡¯t pay attention to it. Now the most important thing is to find clues.¡± After that, he turned and walked into the corridor on the other side. Song Qi took a deep look at Sun Xiaoyan, then turned around to follow Mo Yi and walked inside. In that split second, Sun Xiaoyan¡¯splexion instantly whitened, and was stiffly nailed in ce. Psychological cold sweat flowed down her back like a waterfall. ¡ª Those pair of light-coloured eyes, inorganic and cruel like the God of Death, caring not at all for the lives of people. It belonged exclusively to ice-cold and contemptuous predators, causing the depths of her soul to instinctively feel fear and tremble. ¡°Xiaoyan, Xiaoyan!¡± Zhao Yicheng¡¯s voice woke her up from her crazed state, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± Sun Xiaoyan, who was frightened out of her mind, shook her head, still panicked and in doubt, and attentively watched the backs of the two people in the distance. Why did that man ¡­why did he have such terrifying eyes? The two men, one following after the other, walked forward, and the silent atmosphere was somewhat heavy. And in that silence, only the wooden floorboards under their feet could be heard, creaking as if unable to bear the heavy load. The wallmp ahead was getting more and more dim, and it was nearly impossible for it to prate the dense entity like darkness. It could only emit a slightly faint yellow halo of light to illuminate a small area of the wall. The eerie cold air was as ice-cold as a tarsal bone marrow, climbing up along a person¡¯s tailbone. Mo Yi footsteps abruptly stopped. In front of the corridor was a teddy bear ced upright. Its brown fur was sparse and parted, and the four limbs were barely hanging onto the body. One eye was missing, and the only remaining ck eye was cloudy, stitched crookedly on its face. It was at a nted angle, and half of its body was badly damaged. The only remaining eye, full of dust and cracks, was quietly watching Mo Yi. ¡ª It was the teddy bear that had appeared in his room. Mo Yi¡¯s back broke out in a thinyer of cold sweat. Song Qi¡¯s lowered voice came from behind, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± His voice couldn¡¯t help but instantly send Mo Yi to God. In the next second, when he once more went to stare at it, the front of the corridor was already empty, without a single object. The teddy bear had disappeared just like that. Mo Yi¡¯s state of mind was chaotic. He opened his mouth to say something, and his mind was full of innumerable twists and turns. His voice was somewhat hoarse as he asked, ¡°You ¡­ did you see that ¡­ ?¡± ¡°¡ª What?¡± A child¡¯s clear and melodious tone started to ring by his ear, carrying the characteristics of a child¡¯s purity and innocence. It took over his thread of conversation and asked softly. Those two words were extremely close, as if whispering in his ear! Mo Yi¡¯s scalp exploded and turned his head around as quickly as possible! ¡ª There was nothing behind him. No Song Qi, no lights, even the corridor didn¡¯t exist, and there was no way out. Literally nothing. Only boundless darkness devouring all the light, silently extending its arms towards him to swallow him next. Mo Yi¡¯s was coldly stiff from head to toe and fine beads of sweat slowly trickled from his forehead. His dry and rough Adam¡¯s apple moved, and he turned around to attentively watch the remainder of the corridor before his eyes. The corridor was long and dark, and up ahead was a faintly visible door, tightly closed ¡ª that was his destination. Mo Yi subconsciously clenched his hands, and the edges of the antique key was hard and ice- cold, pressing against the palms of his hands until it dully ached. There was no escape route now. He settled his mind, turned towards the door, and walked over. The dust covered wooden door quietly stood at the end of the corridor. The sign on the door had already deteriorated, bing blurred, but the English characters, ¡°Dean¡¯s Room¡±, were still vaguely recognizable. A somewhat rusty slender key was inserted into the keyhole, letting out a tiny sharp and clear sound of metal colliding. Mo Yi applied force with his fingers, only to hear a soft ¡°kada¡±, and the door opened. The smell of dust assaulted his senses. Mo Yi paused, reached out to push the door open wider, and walked inside without hesitation. Unexpectedly, the light beyond the door was still bright, illuminating the spacious room through the dustympshade. The dated dark green wallpaper was somewhat wrinkled, but it was still clean and presentable. The low ceiling was slightly uneven, covered with quite a few dirty water stains. The room waspletely packed with several desks, chairs, and cabs, looking like aplete mess. Mo Yi stepped forward and hastily flipped over the stacks of junk on the table. There was an awful lot of stuff, but they were of no value. He crouched down and pulled open the drawer underneath the desk. There were numerous crumpled documentsying in the drawer, randomly stacked on top of each other. Mo Yi skimmed through them at high speed. And among them was a rough tan scrap of paper, attracting his sight: Iris Municipal Orphanage, founded in 1913. Thepleted picture of the entire orphanage was drawn with exaggerated strokes. At the brand-new gate of the orphanage were a row of orphans and nursing workers, simultaneously revealing brilliant smiles. The following lines were blurred with age. Mo Yi pursed his lips and put the pile of documents back into the drawer. This building was actually quite shoddily made. Even ayman had the ability to see that in many ces, low quality materials had been used, resulting in poor construction. It was already a miracle that it hadsted for 20 to 30 years. And now its current appearance, although wretched, was at least still intact. It seemed that contrary to his expectations, there was not too much of an age deviation as was initially estimated. However, apart from this, there was no valuable clue. Mo Yi mood was inevitably somewhat urgent. He pushed the drawer back in and turned around to open the cab on the wall, and then quickly rummaged through it, searching. Nothing ¡­ nothing ¡­ nothing ¡­ His brows were tightly creased, and there was a deep groove of contemtion printed between the eyebrows. A few drops of scalding beads of sweat slowly slid down his temple, following the contours of his face, and dripped into his cor. Mo Yi¡¯s unrelenting movements were under control, but they were obviously a little anxious. ¡ª No specific files or documents on the orphans could be found anywhere. All of a sudden, Mo Yi¡¯s movements stiffly stopped. A cold chill in the air suddenly appeared, and the temperature around his body dropped several degrees. The chill prated his skin through the thin clothing, making him tremble. Such a strange change of temperature caused Mo Yi¡¯s heart to tighten. An inexplicable horror instantly seized his heart, making his blood ice-cold and congeal. Mo Yi¡¯s brain was nk, but his body had already subconsciously rushed into action! His body suddenly ducked! A noose rubbed along the top of his head, bringing a burst of strong wind! Mo Yi¡¯s back was cold for a short period of time. He did not dare act blindly without thinking, and merely turned his head slowly to look behind him. His spine let out a ¡°click¡± ¡°click¡± sound. He could hear his blood pounding against his eardrums, impatient and agitated, desperately mouring that danger wasing! Just then, Mo Yi¡¯s peripheral vision swept across and caught an image of a shadow. ¡ª He was not the only one in this room. The goose bumps all over his body instantly burst out, andyers uponyers of cold sweat appeared on the nape of his neck. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the shadow gradually approaching. Mo Yi took a deep breath, tremblingly exhaled, and then suddenly crouched down! He dodged and rolled towards the side of the cab, extended his legs, and smashed the cab¡¯s decayed anchor point! The tall cab toppled over with a loud bang! It was just in time, falling towards the approaching shadow. Dark yellow and pure white documents and scraps of paper came out, swirling around in the air. In the wake of gravity, they lost energy and toppled over, pouring down in torrents within the entire room, like a spectacr waterfall. At this moment, Mo Yi, who was lying on his stomach on the ground grunted and sat up, wanting to lift his head, and instantly couldn¡¯t help but stare nkly for half a second. He saw that behind the cab, hung an extremely long dark yellow paper, carefully framed in a beautiful wooden frame on which many words were written in English. Mo Yi paused, and a stunned expression shed across his face. Pieces of paper were falling one after another in the room, and the heavy silence returned. ¡ª Just then, the temperature dropped sharply! Mo Yi¡¯s mind was anything but reassured. At lightning speed, he only had time to raise his palm to his neck, and felt an ice-cold breathing from the back of his neck. In the next second, the noose, which appeared and disappeared mysteriously, once again returned to attack! The rough rope wrapped around his neck, cruel and heartless as it tightened. Fortunately, Mo Yi had lifted his hands to his throat, otherwise he would have been instantly hanged. Mo Yi gritted his teeth in pain, using his palm to resist the gradually tightening rope, and the ¡°click¡± ¡°click¡± of his knuckles breaking sounded. The sharp pain ran down the palm of the hand and into the brain, and he almost couldn¡¯t breathe. At this moment, his feet abruptly rose high into the air. In that split second, Mo Yi suddenly recalled something: That man who was hanged, the cause of death wasn¡¯t asphyxiation, but rather ¡­ a broken neck. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Mo Yi¡¯s throat trembled and constricted, his back wet with sweat, and he could only hear the rapid mouring of his agitated heart. At this moment, he really felt death approaching. Suddenly, like an iron hoop, an ice-cold hand firmly gripped Mo Yi¡¯s burning aching wrist, and then pulled hard! Mo Yi only felt the rope around his neck loosening, immediately falling down weightlessly. His wrist was firmly grasped with great strength, and he was pulled aside! Mo Yi felt his nose hit something hard, and his arm hurt from the ice-cold palm wrapped around it. He was tightly guarded in an embrace: then he shamefully tumbled on the ground several times, and then stopped. He began to lift his head, dazed. His nose was red from the collision, a few physiological tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, and he looked at the person who was pressed under his body in a daze. Mo Yi was stunned for a while before reacting. ¡°¡­Song Qi?¡± He merely saw that the other party was treated as a meat pad by himself, and he was firmly pressed under him during the tumble. The two men¡¯s faces were extremely close, their breaths intertwined. Song Qi¡¯s breath hovered on the tip of his nose, enveloping him¡­like mist in a pine forest after the rain. The atmosphere was silent, and the heartbeat of the other party could almost be heard. At this moment, Mo Yi cleared his throat in embarrassment, breaking the current atmosphere. He propped himself up with his elbows. increasing the distance between the two. ¡°Sorry, did you bump into anything?¡± Song Qi was silent for a while. ¡°No.¡±

Seeing that he hadn¡¯t injured the other party, Mo Yi sighed in relief and got up from the ground, and then stretched out a hand to pull Song Qi up. At this moment, they had reappeared in the ordinary dark corridor. Although the light was still dim, it was no longer the despairing darkness of before. The path that had been engulfed appeared once again, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. Mo Yin looked back at the door marked the Dean¡¯s Room with lingering fear, somewhat unnaturally contracting his shoulders, and the rough touch of the noose seemed to linger on his neck. Only then did he notice the sharp burning pain on his palm. Song Qi, who was standing on the side, suddenly reached out and lifted his right hand. Even though his actions were gentle and cautious, Mo Yi still subconsciously drew in a cold breath. Under the dim light, the view of his index finger and right finger bent in a strange backwards arc was visible. His thumb looked dislocated and his thin wrist was swollen, the bright red finger marks standing out in relief. It was so wretched that people could hardly bear to look straight at it. Song Qi¡¯s hand trembled slightly. He pursed his lips and began to raise his head. hisplexion a little pale. The light-coloured pupils attentively gazed at him with guilt, making Mo Yi somewhat ufortable. Contrary to expectations, Mo Yi actually didn¡¯t mind, and gave a rxed shrug and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Compared to the information I obtained, this injury is worth it.¡± After he finished speaking, he paused, and raised his eyes to look at Song Qi. His dark eyes were astonishingly bright. ¡°I know how that man died.¡± Just then, a scream tore through the silence once more, reverberating throughout the entire building. ¡°Ah¡ª¡ª!!! Help!!!¡± Mo Yi and Song Qi looked at each other and ran to the source of the sound together. As soon as they arrived at the hall, they saw a man dangling from the beam near the door. Unlike the previous victim, this time the deceased obviously went through a fierce fight. His five fingers were bent outwards, dripping with ring blood as it trickled downwards, gathering into a pool of blood on the ground. His neck was rotated 180 degrees, ghastly white bones protruding from the edges of the badly mangled skin and flesh. His head was dangling at an impossible angle, and his facial expression could not be seen clearly. Several neers had almost reached the tipping point of copse and panicked talking and weeping broke out in the crowd. Zhao Yicheng had rushed over in a hurry. The second he arrived, a woman dashed out from the crowd, teary eyed, and tightly gripped Zhao Yicheng¡¯s arm, her bright red nails deeply embedding into his arm. She was crying, tears overflowing while iprehensibly shouting, ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t mean ¡­¡± Zhao Yicheng discreetly frowned and pulled off the hand holding his arm, and asked, ¡°You say it clearly. What¡¯s wrong?¡± The woman was crying and hesitantly exined. It took a long time to figure out what she was talking about. It turned out that she and a senior yer were a team. The two took a key to the library, but when she was at the door, she was timid and did not dare to go in, so the senior went in alone to find clues. Not long after, she heard the strangeughter of a childing from inside. She was frightened for a while, turned around, and ran away. When she arrived at the hall, she saw the corpse of her teammate. The atmosphere was a little heavy for a while, and only the woman¡¯s sobbing could be heard in the silent and spacious hall. This was why he emphasized before that it was best not to act alone, Mo Yi thought with regret. Suddenly, he seemed to recall something, and he abruptly stepped forward half a step, staring at the woman withplicated dark eyes, his tone urgent as he asked, ¡°Have you seen a teddy bear?¡± The woman seemed to jump in fright by him. She raised her head to look at him with teary eyes, racked her brains for a moment, and replied, ¡°Yes ¡­ it seemed like he mentioned a teddy bear or something before, and asked me if I saw it. I thought he was seeing things and didn¡¯t really think much of it.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s lips tightened, thoughts jumbled. Zhao Yicheng looked sharply at Mo Yi and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you find something?¡± Mo Yi was roused from his train of thoughts by his words, and then nodded, feeling somewhatplexed. He briefly recounted what he had experienced in the Dean¡¯s Room, then paused, and said, ¡°I know the cause of the death of these two people, in other words: one of the rules of this copy.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s words shook the heavens, and everyone couldn¡¯t help but stare nkly. Then, as if seeing the hope of survival, looked at him with bright eyes. Mo Yi took a deep breath and said, ¡°I saw the schedule of the entire orphanage behind the cab in the Dean¡¯s Room. Every hour, the orphans must act ording to this schedule. Once the rules are vited, they will receive punishment.¡± Sun Xiaoyan, who was standing next to Zhao Yicheng, was slightly stunned, and subconsciously uttered a sentence: ¡°Good children, good children, don¡¯t break rules¡­¡± The woman¡¯s voice softly whispered the seemingly innocent nursery rhyme, and the eeriness made the backs of everyone present cold. Mo Yi gave her a deep nce, and then nodded. ¡°Yes, the prompt should refer to this, and the clock in the dining room is to show us the time on the timetable.¡± Someone on the side asked eagerly, ¡°Then, do you remember the specific details?¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes, concealing the shallow arrogance deep within: even if there were hundreds of lines of seemingly irregr code, it was not in the least bit difficult for him, much less only a few lines of rules? He smiled. ¡°Remember.¡± In the next second, Mo Yi seemed to think of something. He raised his eyes and looked at the crowd. The light in the depths of his eyes was hard to behold. ¡°However, what I am worried about now is not this anymore.¡± When Zhao Yicheng heard the words, he stepped forward anxiously and asked, ¡°Then¡­don¡¯t tell me that there¡¯s something else?¡± ¡°Since we have to follow the timetable, does that mean¡­¡± Mo Yi nced at him indifferently and continued, ¡°In this copy, do we actually assume that we are one of the orphans in this orphanage?¡± The Author has Something to Say: Mo. Steel Straight Man. Yi (at a loss): ¡°Isn¡¯t it normal to ask if you bumped into anything?¡± Chapter 27

Chapter 27

After hearing Mo Yi¡¯s words, everyone involuntarily shivered from head to toe. They were a member of this orphanage by default¡­? What did that mean? A cloud of fear slowly enveloped everyone¡¯s heart, making them unable to control their imaginations from running wild. Mo Yi paused and then continued, ¡°I noticed that my name was on the sign of the bed I woke up in. If my guess is correct, it should be the same for you?¡± Everyone¡¯splexion was ugly. Mo Yi proceeded to say, ¡°When you rest today, you must return to your bed.¡± The other yers evidently also thought of this, and the look on their faces suddenly became even more bleak. The time measured in this copy was obviously based on the number of days, and every night was naturally the most dangerous time of the whole period. The rule that was discovered just now was undoubtedly meant to separate everyone at this dangerous moment. This operation was very disgusting. While everyone was thinking to themselves, Mo Yi bowed his head, rummaged through his backpack, and fished out a pen and post-it notes. He walked to the side of the table, leaned down, held the pen with his slender fingers, and scribbled on the post-it note. Soon, he stood up and stuck the post-it note on one side of the wall. Everyone promptly gathered around and looked. On the pale-yellow paper, the ink blue handwriting had not yet dried, exuding a light fragrance, and the powerful handwriting was neatly arranged on the post-it note. The content of the writing was precisely the timetable of the entire orphanage. A man on the side asked with some apprehension, ¡°Are you sure you remembered it correctly? If this is a little bit wrong¡­we¡¯ll die.¡± Mo Yi lifted his eyes and looked over and instantly recognized him. This person was the neer who had grabbed his cor and questioned him. Before he could say anything, Song Qi, who had been silent until now, suddenly stepped forward. A pair of extremely light-coloured pupils looked at the man without emotion, neither showing happiness or anger, and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it, just go and see for yourself.¡±

After speaking, he chuckled somewhat mockingly. ¡°However, regardless of the time, it¡¯s forbidden to enter the Dean¡¯s Room.¡± Perhaps because of the psychological shadow from before, the man grew timid and trembled at being watched by Song Qi, retreated several steps, and then subconsciously looked at the paper note ¡ª Song Qi was right. No matter the time, the Dean¡¯s Room was a forbidden area. Then, the implication of his words were clear: As long as you entered the Dean¡¯s Room, you were breaking the rules and you would be hanged. If you questioned Mo Yi¡¯s information he exchanged for with his life, then verify it yourself. The man was slightly terrified and kept silent. Song Qi¡¯s face was gloomy. He pulled Mo Yi¡¯s arm with a gentle force that couldn¡¯t be refused and tookrge strides forward, dragging him back to the room where he woke up. Before Mo Yi could react to what was happening, his shoulders were being pressed, and guided by Song Qi¡¯s strength, sat on the bed with his name on it in a daze. Song Qi crouched in front of the bed, carefully holding up his left hand. The thin, well-defined lips were tightly pressed, turning slightly pale. He looked at Mo Yi¡¯s hand. Due to the sudden incident, they had rushed to meet with the other yers, so the wound on Mo Yi¡¯s hand hadn¡¯t been dealt with yet. ¡­ Mo Yi carried such a wound and stayed silent until now. Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, the back of his hand was white, almost transparent, and the dislocated and fractured fingers drooped down. The five slender fingers were violently trembling, lying cold and stiff in Song Qi¡¯s palm. Song Qi lowered his eyes and stared closely at Mo Yi¡¯s palm. The expression on the cold and hard contours of his face couldn¡¯t be made out. He asked without looking up, ¡°Did you bring any medical supplies?¡± Mo Yi nodded in ce aftering to and reached out to grab his backpack but was blocked midway by Song Qi. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± He opened the chain of the backpack, rummaged through it, and took out a small bottle of antiseptic solution, bandages, and anti-inmmatory drugs. Immediately afterwards, Song Qi expressionlessly raised his head, held up his index and middle fingers, and then bent them. ¡°Look, rabbit.¡± Mo Yi looked up, dumbfounded, huh? In the next second, while Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were drawn away by his actions, Song Qi abruptly used force! Only the clear and crisp ¡°click¡± was heard as Mo Yi¡¯s two dislocated fingers were suddenly snapped back by Song Qi. ¡°Fuck!!¡± Mo Yi was in extreme pain, and swear words momentarily burst out. Practically in tears and trembling from head to toe in shock, he quivered as he repressed the acute pain in his left hand, agape and tongue-tied, unable to say anything. Song Qi unconsciously softened the lines of his face and reached out his hand to fetch the antiseptic solution and wound medicine on the side. After he treated the wound, he carefully and cautiously wrapped a bandage around it. Mo Yi was absent-minded from beginning to end, watching with a nk face as Song Qi wrapped his hand into a zongzi, and only found his voice after a long time. ¡°You¡­¡± Song Qi looked at Mo Yi¡¯s face and couldn¡¯t help softening his appearance. He smiled softly. ¡°If you feel like you didn¡¯t see enough, then next time you¡¯re injured, I¡¯ll ask you to look at the rabbit.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­?????¡± Was this arrogant and wilful man getting addicted? Although he knew that Song Qi did this to divert his attention, nevertheless, why was it that his heart was so hot? Mo Yi ground his mrs and examined his left hand which was wrapped tightly like a zongzi, drawing a lesson from this bitter experience, and was determined to reduce the number of injuries. Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to recall something, and looked slightly distracted. Then, he looked at the watch on his wrist. At the start of the game, he had adjusted the time on the watch to match the countdown in the copy so that he could view the time at anytime. The hands on the watch pointed at 8:40. This showed that up to now, the game had been carrying on for 8 hours and 40 minutes. Mo Yi pondered for a while, connecting the time when the bell was ringing with the room where the two people died, and thenbined that with the timetable he saw, and quickly came to a conclusion. Although the exterior of the building in the game waspletely pitch-ck, this copy did have two concepts of ¡°day¡± and ¡°night.¡± They should have started the game at ¡°12 noon¡± in the copy, and then entered the free time stipted by the orphanage. In ordance with the rules, during the free time, the orphans could be in the hall, bedroom, and aside from the activity yroom, entry was forbidden to the other areas. ¡ªTherefore, except for the person who entered the dining room without permission, no one was injured or killed. Then, it was dinner time at 5 pm. After dinner, they once again entered the free time period. During this time, the man who entered the library without permission, and Mo Yi who went to the Dean¡¯s Room seeking death underwent disciplinary punishment: two people, one died and one injured. ording to the timetable, the lights would be turned off at 9pm. And now it was 8:40. Mo Yi¡¯s expression instantly became serious. He sped up his speech, quickly told Song Qi his deduction once through, and then said, ¡°Now, quickly go back to your room. If possible, inform the other yers and try not to leave the room at night.¡± Song Qi nodded, helped him put the things back into the backpack, and then walked out. He stayed at the doorway for a moment, turned his head, and gave Mo Yi a deep look. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Mo Yi smiled. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± Not long after Song Qi left, the lights in the entire room were automatically turned off. Mo Yi looked at the electronic watch on his wrist: Sure enough, the hand was pointing to exactly nine o¡¯clock on the dot. It seemed that his conjecture was not wrong. Mo Yi let out a long sigh, and then somewhat awkwardly squeezed himself onto the narrow bed, putting his two long legs on the banister at the end of the bed, and was barely able to straighten out. The whole room was gloomy and pitch-ck. Only the window that wasn¡¯tpletely sealed up by the wooden boards had a little bit of faint blue light passing through. Mo Yi closed his eyes and forced himself not imagine what kind of dangers lurked in the darkness. Without noticing it, he was slowly ovee with a little sleepiness. Just as his consciousness was bing hazy, about to enter thend of dreams, Mo Yi heard a soft, child¡¯sughter in his ear, ¡°FOUND YOU¡«.¡± The voice was extremely close, as if the speaker was lying on his pillow, whispering in his ear. Chapter 28，Part 1

Chapter 28£¬Part 1

Mo Yi was falling into an abyss. He was ice-cold from head to toe, the sleepiness vanishing in a split second, and a feeling of pure terror enshrouded his senses. A chill of fear burst from the tailbone, scurrying upwards and ruthlessly seized his heart. His eyes were tightly closed as he stifflyy on the bed, slowly adjusting his trembling breathing. Fear seeped through each and every one of his pores, loudly mouring in his mind: Don¡¯t open your eyes! Don¡¯t open your eyes! Under the thin quivering eyelids, the eyes trembled uncontrobly along with the rate of breathing. Just then, a very small ice-cold hand grasped Mo Yi¡¯s hand dangling by his side. The extremely cold touch along the skin prated into the marrows of his bone, causing Mo Yi to uncontrobly shiver. The ice-cold breath moved closer to his ear, stirring up small chills along his skin. The fear was like a small, congealed tuft of wool, blocking the breath in his throat, making it almost impossible to gasp for breath. The small and soft child¡¯s voice sounded in Mo Yi¡¯s ear once again, ¡°It¡¯s your turn to find me next.¡± After that, a small, round, and hard object was stuffed into Mo Yi¡¯s palm. The ice-cold breath and the child¡¯s tiny hand left. Mo Yi was still tense all over, and the small round thing wasying in the center of his ice-cold sweaty palm. The slight chill almost made him unable to hold onto it, the iciness scalding his hand. He controlled his breathing, forcing his chest to rise and fall in a slow withdrawn manner. The silence and darkness made Mo Yi¡¯s senses all the more sharp. He warily waited for the next thing to happen, heartstrings stretched taught. The boundless darkness was like an abyss that swallowed all sounds. Continuously spreading and expanding, like a sponge, absorbing all sounds of movement and light. Unaware of how long it had been ¡ª Excessive tension and fatigue unexpectedly caused Mo Yi to unwittingly fall asleep silently. When he opened his eyes once more, all the lights had already been turned on again. Mo Yi wasying on the narrow bed in a slight daze. Even the noisy ringing of the metal bell piercing and echoing in his ears couldn¡¯t rouse his attention. He stared straight at the stained and old-fashioned ceiling, and only gradually came to after a very long time. Last night¡­ passed just like that? Mo Yi blinked, feeling like he still hadn¡¯t woken up. Sessfully survived the night in such a way?

Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to have thought of something and quickly sat up, spreading open his right hand ¡ª There was a hard object pressing painfully against the center of his palm, leaving an uneven horizontal red mark across his fair palm, looking particrly striking. And the thing that was stuffed into his palm was still there. A round, jet-ck and shiny bally still in his palm. It resembled a button, except it didn¡¯t have a buttonhole. Mo Yi stared at it nkly, and because he hadn¡¯t moved his fingers for a long time, they were a little stiff, and little by little grasped it again. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from the door, rousing Mo Yi from his train of thoughts, ¡°Are you awake?¡± Mo Yi began to raise his head when he heard what was said, looking over to where the voice came from. Song Qi was standing, leaning against the door. A pair of light smokey gray pupils watched him, his face half illuminated by the light outside the door, slightly blurring the contours of his face. ¡°It¡¯s 5 o¡¯clock. ording to the schedule, it should be morning.¡± Mo Yi looked down at his watch in afterthought: A quarter past 5. He stood up in a hurry, and casually ced the hard object that was stuffed into his handst night into his pocket. Due to falling asleepst night with all of his clothes on, Mo Yi¡¯s clothes became wrinkled even though he barely moved, having slept very peacefully. Mo Yi subconsciously adjusted his clothes, then quickly walked to the doorway and whispered to Song Qi who was standing waiting for him, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two men walked along the still dim corridor. Mo Yi opened his mouth, about to tell Song Qi about his experiencest night, but just as he started to speak, Song Qi happened to interrupt what he was about to say, ¡°Are your hands okay?¡± Mo Yi was temporarily at a loss, andter realized that Song Qi was asking about his injured hand. He lowered his head and looked down at his left hand which was still wrapped like a zongzi, and tried to move his fingers. A sore and dull ache instantly travelled up from the wound. Mo Yi answered without changing his face, ¡°It¡¯s much better.¡± Just then, the two ran into other yers who had emerged from their rooms, and it seemed as though they were preparing to go to the dining room. Several people walked in groups. Mo Yi had to swallow the words he was about to speak back into his stomach. When they reached the dining room, there were already several people waiting there. Mo Yi looked around the room without changing his expression, and silently counted the number of people in his mind: There was still eight people, no difference fromst night. It seemed that everyone got through the night without any mishaps. Seeing that everyone was present, Zhao Yicheng stood up and said, ¡°That¡¯s great. Everyone made it through the first night. Let¡¯s get breakfast, ba.¡± Mo Yi and Song Qi followed the crowd and arrived at the dining table. On the dining table this time was still arge bowl of dry ck bread, however the pot next to it no longer held water, but warm soup ¡ª calling it soup was a rather bigpliment. Floating atop the dirty yellow surface was a thinyer of grease, emitting an unpleasant odour of sewage. It was thin and had dried things in it. The only value it had was its heat. Only then did Mo Yi understand why the several people in front of them just now left with sorrowful expressions after receiving the meal, and some even only took the ck bread. The expression on his face didn¡¯t change. He bowed his head anddled a bowl of soup, ced two pieces of ck bread in his pocket, and followed after Song Qi. Together, they found a ce and sat down. Every yer stared at the food in front of them with wronged expressions. Everyone refused to swallow the rough ck bread in their mouth, and some yers with squeamish stomachs even pushed the bowl away and stopped eating. However, some senior yers were clearly more rxed than the neers with wrinkled and sour expressions. They already had game experience and knew to bring their own food into the copy. Despite this, due to the limited number of things they could bring, their food resources were not considered sufficient. Therefore, they clearly understood the principle of not revealing their wealth, and slowly took their time chewing the bread, not at all showing off their food. Mo Yi¡¯s face was calm, his head lowered as he gnawed at the ck bread in his hand, wondering whether or not to go back to open a pack ofpressed biscuits. However, water still needed to be replenished. Mo Yi clearly knew in his heart that since the game copy supplied water, he would rarely think about carrying water despite bringing food ¡ª After all, filling the backpack to the brim and excessive weight were fatal ws. However, people could go hungry for three days and live, but the same couldn¡¯t be said about being thirsty for three days. While calmly thinking, Mo Yi held the bowl of soup that was still warm and poured it down his throat. He put down the bowl, hisplexion slightly ugly. The strange bitter, salty, and sour taste permeated the mouth, and the greasy feeling of the soup seemed to linger on surface of the tongue. Mo Yi took a deep breath and tried to suppress the sense of nausea surging up in his throat, After all, it could be said that he had lived afortable and pampered life for so many years. Even if he could once again bear hardships, he was not yet ustomed to doing so. Mo Yi¡¯s brows were furrowed, and his stomach was like an overturning sea and river. At this moment, something hard was pressed against his soft lips, and then at an opportune time, was forcefully pushed inside, tapping against his hard teeth and slipping into his mouth. The sweet and fragrant fruit vour instantly spread out, overpowering the sickeningly strange taste in his mouth and in between his lips. Mo Yi was sucking on a fruit candy, one side of his cheeks slightly bulged out, and he foolishly looked over to his side. Song Qi was sitting upright, eyes lowered as he closely examined his fingers ced on his knees, as if the person who had moved just now was not him. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help his eyes from curving and said in a low voice, ¡°Thank you very much. It¡¯s very sweet.¡± After speaking, he turned his head, reached out and picked up the ck bread on the side, lowered his eyes, and continued to gnaw it with earnest. Seeing Mo Yi shifting his gaze, Song Qi also raised his eyes. A pair of light-coloured eyes closely watched the side of Mo Yi¡¯s face, his expression secretive. He lifted the finger that had just touched Mo Yi¡¯s lips. There was still the sweet fragrance of fruit candy lingering on it. The soft and somewhat rough sensation due to dehydration seemed to remain on his fingertips. Song Qi brought his fingertips to his lips and gently licked. The thin lips silently curved into a slight arc. Yes, it was very sweet. The morning period quickly ended. Mo Yi got up from the low bench and walked out of the dining room with the rest of the yers. ording to the schedule, the next period should be to attend sses at the Orphanage. Following the directions of the worn-out and iplete map, everyone passed through the circr hall towards the depths of a long corridor. Mo Yi stayed at the back of the team, silently walking while sketching a rough outline of the entire orphanage deep within his heart: The first corridor was the longest one, and inside were the resting rooms and bathrooms for the orphans. All the yers were distributed in one room after another. The second corridor next to it was the shortest with only room. It was the dining room located at the end of the corridor where the orphans ate meals. The third corridor was arranged with a library and yroom. The library and ssroom were ced together: the exact destination they were heading towards. On the map, thebels for the fourth corridor were very dirty and blurred, and some were even torn. The only thing that could be clearly seen was the Dean¡¯s Room on the outermost side. Thebels in other areas were damaged andpletely unrecognizable. Mo Yi was immersed in his thoughts and walked forward with his head down. The fruit candy in his mouth had almostpletely dissolved so he crunched and ate the remaining broken candy pieces. The extremely rich fruit vour burst in his mouth, causing him to gently squint his eyes without leaving a trace. In fact, Mo Yi had always been fond of sweets. However, he had always been exceptionally good at concealing his true preferences, erasing all traces of his personal characteristics as to not expose his weaknesses. Thus, few people knew of his taste for sweets. Since entering the copy, Song Qi had given him sweets. Mo Yi pensively pursed his lips and quickly reviewed his performance since entering the copy ¡ª ensuring that he hadn¡¯t revealed his preferences for sweets. And Song Qi himself said that he did not like to eat sweets. Then why did he bring so many sweets into the copy? Was it because it was high in calories and easy to carry? It seemed to make sense¡­? At this moment, the team came to a stop. Mo Yi blinked, casting aside all the messy spections in his mind, and raised his head to look at the front of the team. They had already arrived at the door of the library. The dark corridor was long and winding, and behind the hall, a distant ce glowed with a small faint halo of light. Before them was a door half immersed in the ambiguous darkness. A part of the sign on the door was falling off while the remaining half was covered in dirt from long ago. The small letters, ¡°Library¡±, could barely be made out. The person at the front of the group was slightly hesitant. After all,st time a man was hanged here. He took a deep breath, turned his head and looked at the numerous people behind him, gathered his courage, and put his hand on the doorknob. With just a light twist, the door noiselessly opened. Trantor¡¯s Note: In the future, I¡¯ll try to post the longer chapters without splitting them. Thank you for reading and for thements! Chapter 28，Part 2

Chapter 28£¬Part 2

It was apparent that it was the man who had died yesterday who left the door open. A cold, gloomy, and mncholic smell wafted out from the room, mixing in with the scent of old books and ever: present odour of dust. The light inside was unexpectedly bright, and everyone¡¯s raised hearts couldn¡¯t help but fall down in relief. Watching everyone in front of him walk in a line inside, Mo Yi¡¯s footsteps involuntarily paused. He turned his head to look at a closed door by his side. The door header was slightly lower than the other rooms, and the door frame appeared rough and askew. The workmanship was extremely poor. The colour of the door panel was no longer visible. Only, on one side of the door there was crooked and blurred writing in crayon: ¡°yroom.¡± Now was not the time to go inside. Mo Yi unnoticeably took onest look at the door, then turned around to catch up with the group and walked in. The room beyond the door was not veryrge. The room had two spaces. The deepest part was the library where donated books were ced while the outer room was used for sses. The floor was bare and uncarpeted. There were also a few low benches arranged vertically as well as several empty long tables gathering a thickyer of dust. Mo Yi stood by the door and took in the whole room at a nce. He slowly narrowed his eyes. Now he finally knew where his feeling of unease originated from. This room, like the dining room, was too small. In the longest corridor where all the orphans rested were twelve rooms altogether, six on each side. And a room had six beds. By all ounts, the orphanage should be able to amodate 72 children, yet ¡­ whether it was the dining room or the ssroom, these public spaces which were responsible for housing all the people in the orphanage (including the caregivers and children) were built extremely small and could at most amodate half the number of people. Even if the orphanage was properly built andter didn¡¯t have sufficient room to take people in, these rooms should not have been nned to be built to be so narrow. It didn¡¯t make sense. Mo Yi took a deep breath and kept the question at the bottom of his heart. He turned his head to look at Song Qi who was next to him, about to tell him aboutst night¡¯s experience, only to see Song Qi taking the lead to speak first, ¡°Let¡¯s find clues separately, ba.¡± His voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet room, and several yers raised their heads and one after another nodded in response. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes darkened, and he swallowed the unspoken words back into his stomach. Why did he feel that ¡­ Song Qi was deliberately avoiding the topic he wanted to talk about? But yesterday night¡¯s affair, aside from himself, should not be known by anyone else. Could it be a misconception? Mo Yi nced at Song Qi deeply, then turned and walked inside, determined to explore the ce during the morning. He took the initiative to walk towards the library. Generally speaking, the ce with documentation was the most likely ce to obtain valuable information. The library was rtively narrowpared to the ssroom. With its unevenly raised floor and crooked walls, one almost couldn¡¯t help but fear that it was in danger of suddenly copsing. The whole room was rather dark, making it almost impossible to see anything. The walls and floors were bare, so much so that there weren¡¯t dirty wallpapers or worn carpet. Mo Yi could basically ascertain that this was the simplest room in the entire orphanage. Crookedly arranged in this small room were two low bookshelves on which some papers and books were piled haphazardly, exuding the smell of pages in old books. Mo Yi turned on the shlight and a little circr halo of light instantly illuminated the small area. He drew close, reached out his hand and picked up a pile of worn-out papers from the top, and gently shook them. Thick dust instantly rose up, messily dancing about in the air under the beam of the shlight. Mo Yi was stimted by the astonishing amount of dust and couldn¡¯t refrain from coughing a few times before gradually calming down. The dust covering the cover of the pages was swept away, revealing the blurred writing that was mottled and eroded by the passing of years underneath. A great majority were already damaged, unable to withstand being eaten away by insects, and the handwriting printed on top was extremely illegible due to not being properly preserved. Most of the papers and books herecked clues. Mo Yi was not discouraged, and instead grew even more focused. Generally speaking, these indistinct written materials were of little value, yet contrarily, it proved the value of the written materials that had not been damaged. Finally, he found something in one of the books. It was a thin piece of paper, randomly slipped into a book as a bookmark, and had turned yellow and brittle, bing almost transparent under the light from the shlight. Mo Yi held his breath, extended his hand, held the edge of the paper with long, slender, even somewhat thin fingers, and lifted it up.

On the piece of paper was a clumsily drawn figure of a little man hanging. And at the bottom of the note, written in colorful crayon, were several letters strewn about in random, causing one to feel puzzled. All of the handwriting on it was old, dirty, and smudged, and there were even a few small greasy handprints. It waspletely different from the note each of them had in their possession ¡ª All the crayon marks on those notes were brand new, as if they had just been written. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were overflowing with light and colour, and his slightly pale face was flushed with excitement. Now, this game had taken on an appearance he was familiar with. And all he needed to do was find the other note that corresponded to it, the slip of paper that had the gallows drawn on it. Mo Yi carefully put the paper back into the book, closed it, and then picked up the book and mped it under his armpit, and continued to flip through the dusty pile of old papers in search of more clues. He didn¡¯t find the corresponding slip of paper of the gallows; however, he discovered another interesting clue. It was an old newspaper, already worn-out and yellow, which had fallen between two dusty bookshelves. Perhaps by the hands of a mischievous child in the orphanage, it was folded into the shape of a thousand paper cranes, andy downcast on the cold, dirty ground. Mo Yi knelt down to pick it up, and then carefully opened it. However, no matter how cautious his actions were, this thousand paper crane made of newspaper would not be able to endure the passing of countless years and would inevitably break into pieces in the process of opening it. Mo Yi knit his brows, somewhat annoyed, and tried to follow the creases of the old newspaper to piece it back to its original shape. To be precise, this was not a newspaper in theplete sense, but rather a section cut from a newspaper. The edges weren¡¯t very neat, and some of the cut pictures and printed characters were not intact. On the mostplete section, there was a bolded and erged ck heading: ¡°The Dean of Iris Municipal Orphanage was Put to Death by Hanging.¡± Below was a picture the size of a block of tofu. In the blurry ck and white picture, a tall woman wearing a ck dress had her hands folded by the recently established orphanage. Several ck ink blots formed her blurred facial features, staring vacantly at the people staring at her beyond the newspaper. Mo Yi¡¯s back involuntarily broke out into a cold sweat. ¡ª Not knowing if it stemmed from fear or the excitement of gradually getting closer to the truth. His breathing became short, and he squinted his eyes, trying hard to identify the remaining characters ¡ª but it was to no avail possibly due to the moisture underground. The newspaper which had been kept here for an unknown number of years, aside from the header, was blurred by moisture. The printing ink were joined together, and the original shape of the characters couldn¡¯t be distinguished. Mo Yi was more or less at a loss. He thought about it, and nevertheless ced the tattered newspaper in the same book, and then put it in the outer-bag of the backpack. He stood up and looked around the entire room again, making sure that he had basically examined all the big and small, obvious and hidden corners, then turned and left the library. As soon as he walked out, Mo Yi had a face-to-face encounter with Song Qi. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze darted across the room: Presently, the other yers were mainly divided and scattered about, and no one was paying attention to what was going on here. It was a good opportunity to talk aboutst night¡¯s experience. Mo Yi¡¯s thoughts circled about like electricity. A secondter, he raised his eyes and gave Song Qi a polite smile ¡ª then he turned his body to the side, making way for the path towards the library. The two passed by one another, close enough for them to almost touch. Mo Yi turned his back to Song Qi, and the curved corners of his mouth gradually vanished. There were no emotions in his pair of pitch-ck eyes, unexpectedly appearing somewhat indifferent for a short while. He had always been stingy with his trust. And in this copy where danger lurked on every side, it was even more important to keep one¡¯s wits. Mo Yi kept his mind in check, lifted his eyes and surveyed the simple ssroom. The surface area wasrger than the library, and it wasn¡¯t as run-down. The same dark green wallpaper as in the corridor was pasted on the wall with careless abandon. The edges were tattered, and the colour was dark with dirt. Only a few hard to reach corners retained its original colour. The benches and long tables were roughly made and were arranged in an extremely messy way. Just then, Sun Xiaoyan, who was standing at the end of the room, suddenly said, ¡°I¡­I seem to have found something here.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s countenance slightly became serious, raising his legs to walk over. The other yers in the room also turned towards Sun Xiaoyan and gathered together, and not long after, they were all huddled around one of the long tables. Sun Xiaoyan stretched out her finger, pointed to the corner of the table, and said, ¡°You see here. Although these scratches are very old, they are still very clear.¡± Surprisingly, at the edge of the long table, there appeared to be a few lines of crooked writing carved with a knife: ¡°under your bones beneath your skin I¡¯m here with thee forever and ever¡± This short straightforward poem was obviously the work of a child, and it could be easily understood even by people with poor English. The clumsy writing and rough carving unexpectedly exuded a terrifying and eerie paranoia from between the words and lines, causing a chill to run down the backs of everyone present. Mo Yi¡¯s brows wrinkled, examining the few lines of small words, and was suddenly startled. If the morbid content of the poem was ignored ¡ª under¡­¡­ beneath¡­¡­ These poem verses were obviously a clue for them which pointed towards a location! Then what direction was it hinting at? The answer was on the verge ofing out into the open. Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped, throbbing, and blood almost instantly rushed to his face. He took an extremely shallow breath, and then his feet energetically sprang out. The people around him couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback by him, and then watched as he dashed towards the table with dumbfounded expressions. Mo Yi¡¯s body was low, practicallyying on the ground, fingers meticulously feeling about the rough surface of the back of the table. It wasn¡¯t enough to feel around the entire table. He even poked his hand underneath the bench searching intently for something. Then, his hand paused, and very carefully stopped moving, and then slowly and gently pried something off. Everyone held their breath and watched as Mo Yi used both hands to peel off a piece of yellow and brittle paper, and then slowly stand up. He put the note on the table. On the paper was a crude drawing of a gallows, and under the gallows was a string of varying spaced letters ced haphazardly. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze brightened. He reached down and opened his backpack, took out the book, and then carefully pulled out the nearly identical sized slip of paper that was wedged in the book, Immediately afterwards, hey the two slips of paper on top of one another. ¡°Kada.¡± The shlight was turned on, and the bright beam of light struck from the bottom up, illuminating the two equally thin, brittle papers. Mo Yi carefully moved the rtive positions of the two pieces of paper so that the gallows and the little man hanging slowly ovepped. The seemingly disordered English letters underneath the two pictures were superimposed andbined to form aplete sentence: ¡°Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch¡¯entrate.¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips and stared nkly at the two pieces of paper in a daze. His eyes were lowered, his thoughts unknown. All those standing by Mo Yi were shocked by his series of movements, natural and smooth like floating clouds and flowing water. Seeing him suddenly stop at this moment, they couldn¡¯t refrain from rushing to eagerly ask, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What did you find?¡± Mo Yi appeared to be rmed for a moment, lifted his somewhat bewildered eyes, and paused for a long time before retrieving his voice, ¡°The meaning of this phrase is, abandon all hope, all those who enter.¡± He paused, a myriad of colours shing in his pitch-ck eyes. ¡°From Dante Alighieri¡¯s, ¡°Divine Comedy¡± INFERNO II. It was what he saw written on the gates of hell before entering hell.¡± The entire library and ssroom were almost turned upside down by the yers. However, other than finding only a few eerie little lines of poetry, and a line of meaningless words, nothing else was found. The whole morning passed just like that, but at least there weren¡¯t any injuries or deaths. This proved that Mo Yi¡¯s deduction was correct. The total length of time in the copy was long, the number of people was small, and the difficulty itself was not great. The only difficulties were discovering the timetable and the rtionship between the timetable and the injuries and deaths. Therefore, on the whole, it could be said that the way to survive this copy had be especially simple ¡ª that was to act in ordance with the stipted rules and bear through the required time. After the fixed lunch break, it was time for free activities. Mo Yi walked out of the room on the dot on time, heading towards the corridor. He subconsciously nced at the rooms on both sides of the corridor: most people were still in the room and seemed to havepletely given up on exploring during the free period. That was understandable, after all ¡ª If someone could sit idle and enjoy the fruits of other¡¯s work, why bother to trouble themselves over it. What¡¯s more, wandering around in the copy was a very dangerous thing to do. Mo Yi withdrew his gaze and walked forward without any distractions. His destination was clear: the closed yroom. After passing through the empty circr hall and the long, dark, and deep corridor, Mo Yi stopped in front of the door. He searched through the set of keys, but there was none for the yroom, so he could only experiment now. Mo Yi lowered his eyes, his eyshes trembled imperceptibly, hiding his deep pool like ck eyes. He took a deep breath, ced his palm on the doorknob, and the hard ice-cold sensation passed through to his palm. Mo Yi applied a little force, and the door noiselessly opened, smoothly and silently opening inwards, as if inviting him inside ¡ª It was dark inside. Arge swatch of dense darkness spread, devouring and eroding the faint light in the corridor, serene and hidden in the shadows like an abyss, quietly waiting for the arrival of its next victim. Mo Yi¡¯splexion was heavy, and he turned on the shlight. Then walked inside. There was barely any light inside. It was so dark that one¡¯s hand couldn¡¯t be seen even if it was in front of them, and only the shlight in Mo Yi¡¯s hand could dispel some of the darkness. He turned around and aimlessly roamed the room with the shlight. It was a pity that the shlight¡¯s beam was too narrow and could only illuminate a small limited circr arc, barely dispelling the deep, solid, suffocating darkness in the room. Mo Yi took a deep breath and took a few steps inwards. From under the foot, something soft was stepped on. The bottom of his heart palpitated. He shone the shlight downwards and saw a dirty dusty rabbitying by the soles of his feet. It was damaged, its belly torn open, revealing its gray cotton stuffing. A pair of dusty ck eyes looked straight at him. Mo Yi¡¯s heart clenched inexplicably. He moved his foot away, but his other foot kicked something and there was a sharp tter in the darkness. The circr light was shone over. It was a few badly damaged toy building blocks arranged in a small pile, messily strewn across the uneven ground, looking somewhat pitiful. A deep uneasiness was brewing Mo Yi¡¯s heart. He walked around the rabbit and toy building blocks on the ground and continued to walk inwards.? In the end, the light from the shlight struck the wall, illuminating a corner of snow-white paper that was curled up. Mo Yi took a few steps closer, slightly confused. The light from the shlight seemed a little dim in the darkness, but it still managed to barely serve its role with some difficulty as a source of light. There was a picture on the wall. Red and ck crayon marks were carelessly intertwined on the surface of the paper. The lines were clumsy and simple. Upon a more careful look, there were several stickmen standing together. Among them was one who was near the door, while the rest were together. Mo Yi¡¯s mind was somewhat at a loss. The shlight illuminating the area to the side, once again showing another half corner of a piece of paper. He took a step to the side, and another picture was revealed. One stickman was hanging from the beam of the room.? Another stickman was standing on a crooked chair, reaching out his hand to encircle the hanging man¡¯s neck. It surprisingly slightly gave off the appearance of a strange embrace. Mo Yi was horrified from the bottom of his heart. He knew what these drawings were of. This was ¡­ what he had experience since the start of the copy. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was pounding, mouring with sounds of unease. His dry and rough Adam¡¯s apple moved as he continued to step to the side. The third painting showed a group of people sitting in a dining room eating. The fourth painting was of the second person who got hanged. The fifth painting showed a personying on a bed while a small child crouched next to him, holding his dangling hand. ¡ªThis was him fromst night. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers clutching the shlight tightened. His knuckles looked a little white from the amount of force he was subconsciously exerting. He calmed down and continued to move to the side. The sixth painting showed a person. He was seen standing staying by the wall of a small room, holding a shlight and carefully examining the six paintings taped to one side of the wall. And behind that person, stood a short and small child, staring at him in silence. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Shivers spread from the bottom of his heart, chilling from head to toe. A liter of blood became nearly ice-cold, and the terrifying silence was oppressive, causing one¡¯s heartbeat to be irregr. All that could be heard was a buzzing white noise in his ears. Mo Yi¡¯s hair stood up on end, adrenaline rapidly soaring, making his vision somewhat blurred. He blinked with difficulty. Little by little, he turned around. The white beam of the shlight flickered along the wall as it followed his movements, shining directly behind him ¡ª Under the wan light, an old teddy bear on the ground was visible,ying upright against the wall. Sparse brown hair, four worn-down limbs, and an oddly crooked head. It was sitting where the child was standing in the picture, and it was looking directly at Mo Yi with its only one remaining ck eye. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but hold his breath, his heart violently beating as if it was being tightly grasped by a pair of invisible hands. A tremendous pressure was constricting his nerves, and beads of sweat burst from his forehead. Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to think of something. His Adam¡¯s apple moved, his dry throat seeming to burn with a raging fire. He stepped towards the teddy bear. This time, it did not disappear. Instead, ity there quietly like a real inanimate object. Mo Yi stopped two steps away from the teddy bear, his stiff and cold fingers slowly reaching into his pocket. The ice-cold edges of a round thing pressed painfully against his fingertips. He took a deep breath and crouched down. His fingers trembled a little ¡ª Mo Yi had to clench his fingers hard to force himself to calm down. Then, he took the thing out of his pocket. Mo Yi stared at it. The ck smooth surface gleamed dimly under the light of the shlight. Then, he reached over and ced it in the teddy bear¡¯s empty eye socket. ¡ª A perfect fit. Mo Yi paused and let go, only to find that after his hand had left, the teddy bear¡¯s eye stayed securely in ce as if it had never fallen out. He took a deep breath. Only then did he realize that the fingers holding the shlight werepletely stiff, the ice-cold palm mmy with sweat, nearly impossible to move. The teddy bear calmly stared at Mo Yi with itspletely ck eyes.

At this moment, one of its worn-down arms seemed to be unable to bear the weight of gravity and fell down. Light yellow cotton stuffing pitifully spilled out. A piece of paper from within the body of the teddy bear was revealed. Mo Yi paused, stretched out his hand, and very carefully pulled out the piece of paper. Under the light of the shlight, Mo Yi gently and cautiously unfolded it. Bits and pieces of the fine cotton stuffing floated about in the wake of his movements, flying scatteredly as it fell little by little. On the yellowed paper, in childish strokes, was a misshapen drawing of a treasure map. The above route was somewhat familiar, and it seemed to ovep with the map of the entire orphanage. Mo Yi was taken aback, lips pursed, and subconsciously looked down at his feet. There was already nothing there. The teddy bear had once again disappeared. Mo Yi put the slip of paper in his pocket, waved the shlight around the entire room, and then turned around to walk out of the yroom. The presence of light, which had been absent for a long time, made Mo Yi rx a little. He took a long breath and discovered that the back of his shirt waspletely damp, the slight chill in the ice-cold corridor prating the material. Just then, a loud ¡°bang¡± came from behind. Mo Yi was startled and turned to look, only to see that the door to the yroom was tightly closed. He reached out and tried to twist the doorknob but found out that the door had been locked from the inside. A thread of frost grew in Mo Yi¡¯s heart. The hand holding the doorknob let go, and he sped up the pace as he walked towards the hall. Mo Yi had yet to recover from his frightened state. After aimlessly circling the hall a few times, he came back to his senses and discovered that he had already returned to his room. Mo Yi looked down at his watch. It was now exactly ten minutes past two o¡¯clock. It was too early for the next period on the timetable. Mo Yi stood at the door of his room with some hesitation. After thinking about it, he sat on the bed, and then reached out his hand and took out the note from his pants pocket. The note was no more than half the size of a palm, on which a few simple lines were messily scrawled. At the end of the lines, arge ¡°X¡± was drawn using a bright red crayon. Mo Yi turned the note over and saw a line of writing on it: ¡°COME AND GET ME¡± After mentallybining the map of the entire orphanage and the treasure map, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being stunned. The cement of the red ¡°X¡± ¡ª it happened to be the deepest part of the hallway where the Dean¡¯s room was situated. The unpleasant memories from the Dean¡¯s room came to mind again. Mo Yi subconsciously touched his neck. Even though it had been nearly a full day, the ghastly mark on his neck still had not disappeared much and had even be more red and swollen. The long purple strip of skin was apanied by a painful heat, aching dully. Even though it was covered by a shirt cor, it was still unable to fully conceal the mark. Mo Yi lowered his palm. ?The bottom of his pitch-ck eyes was serene and deep. And in the depths of those eyes was a small, bright, burning dot of light. . He carefully refolded the note, put it back in his pocket, then stood up and walked to the door. Mo Yi suddenly stopped in front of the door and frowned, somewhat tangled. What was troubling him at the moment wasn¡¯t whether or not he should find the truth ¡­ Rather, it was if he should go with Song Qi. It was reasonable to say that he was a senior that Jiang Yuanrou had found. He should be trustworthy. Moreover, teaming up with him could increase the rate of survival. Mo Yi pursed his lips and kneaded his slender and weak arm, feeling slightly dispirited for a while. However, there were too many doubts surrounding Song Qi. From the beginning, the partnership between the two had cast a shadow, and this shadow had be more and more difficult for him to ignore. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know whether to trust this person. Maybe¡­ he could try again? Mo Yi made up his mind and walked out, but in the next second, there was a sh of shock in his eyes. He didn¡¯t know which room was Song Qi¡¯s. Consequently, Mo Yi walked from the start of the corridor to the end, yet he was unable to find Song Qi¡¯s figure. Further searching may arouse the unnecessary attention of others. Therefore, Mo Yi had to give up the idea of continuing to search for Song Qi and walked alone, following the directions on the treasure map to the corridor where the Dean¡¯s room was located. The pitch-ck corridor was dimly lit. Finally, after checking the shlight¡¯s battery, Mo Yi took a deep breath, moved his legs, and walked into the depths of the corridor. From under the feet, the ¡°eeek¡± sounds from the wooden floorboards were particrly noticeable in the silent and dark corridor. The more one went in, the more remote and dark. The silence practically made one¡¯s heart palpitate. When passing by the Dean¡¯s room, Mo Yi¡¯s steps involuntarily stopped. He turned his head and looked at the thick dust covered doorte on the wooden door. What had happened beyond that door was still vivid in his mind. Mo Yi calmed his breathing, turned his head to look straight ahead whilst switching on the shlight, and continued to walk inward. His shadow was once again projected onto the dark green wallpaper by the dim wallmps installed on both side of the wall. The unsettling shadowy figure appeared rather monstrous for a short while. The uneven ceiling and crooked walls of the corridor formed a shape which made one feel ill at ease, stifling like a throat. Mo Yi noiselessly walked forward. Immediately, he was stunned, and his steps slowly came to a stop. The beaming from the shlight was cast on a wall ¡ª there was no path ahead. Mo Yi turned his head to look behind him in disbelief. The Dean¡¯s room he had just passed by was still standing there silently at a close distance. At the end of the corridor, the hall was shining with a faint flickering light. He swung his head. The light from the shlight lit up the solid wall, clearly illuminating the wrinkled surface of the dark green wallpaper. The water stains and dirt were unable to hide under the wan light. Mo Yi stepped forward, stretched out his hand to push at the wall, then curled his fingers and knocked. It was solid. Did that mean ¡­ In this corridor, there was only the Dean¡¯s room? Mo Yi brows knit closely together. This was extremely odd. It wasn¡¯t just the fact that one room upied an entire hallway. Rather ¡­ the orphanage was not intact. He was previously under the impression that the other rooms that haven¡¯t been discovered yet would be in this corridor. However, there was nothing here. It was incredibly strange. Where did the caregivers live? Where was the utility room? Mo Yi was not discouraged and walked around the open space, groping about the walls. There was nothing. He frowned and stood in ce, deeply pondering what had gone wrong. But the directions on the treasure map did indeed say that this was the ce. Mo Yi took a step forward and suddenly stopped: He seemed to have found something wrong. Starting from a short while ago, he had not heard the creaking sounds of the wooden floor from his footsteps. Mo Yi knelt down and gently touched the floor with his fingers. It was smooth and even without wooden splinters, and no gaps could be felt between the wood where only shadows were visible. Mo Yi¡¯s heart jumped. He touched the crack between the floor and wall, and a tiny hard thing pressed painfully against his fingertips. He gently stroked it, and little by little tore open a small gap. Then pulled hard! Dust flew upward as far as the eye could see. A carpet that had been fitted to the floor was lifted, revealing the appearance underneath it. A jet ck, solid iron trap doory on the ground. It was smooth as new, appearing as if it hadn¡¯t been abandoned for many years, quietly waiting for the next person to arrive. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Mo Yi sized up the ¡°carpet¡± that had previously covered the floor. The structure waspact and extremely solid when stepped on, so much so that it was impossible to differentiate it from the normal floor. The wooden texture on it was so remarkably true to life that in such a dimly lit environment, it was almost impossible to distinguish it from the aforementioned floor. Exquisite workmanship, Mo Yimented silently in his heart. It was not at all in the same league as this orphanage where even the walls were crooked. The haze of doubts and suspicion at the bottom of his heart were amassing, getting more and more deep. Mo Yi rolled up the carpet while turning to look at the iron trapdoor on the ground. The t iron trapdoor glinted with a slight chill under the dim light. There were no superfluous decorations on it and was smooth and t. Only on one side was there something simr to a handleying in the middle of a groove on the floor. The handle had a decades oldrge and heavy lock on it which appeared to have been forcefully damaged, already broken apart. Mo Yi tentatively stretched out his hand and exerted his strength, moving the moderately heavy lock, and then gripped the handle, lifting it up ¡ª The iron trapdoor opened silently. A damp, gloomy, and cold odour carrying the scent of dust and something rotten drifted out of the door. Mo Yi was caught off guard and coughed a few times. He stretched out the hand holding onto the turned-on shlight to illuminate the hidden passage. After the iron trapdoor covering it was lifted, the pitch-dark passage entrance was exposed. Layers uponyers of stairs extended its way inside to the bottom, leading into the the darkness of the unknown. The beam of light from the shlight couldn¡¯t prate the heavy darkness underground, only able to illuminate the firstyer of steps at most. There was a thick coating of dust around. It had obviously been quite a long time since anyone had set foot in there. Mo Yi rummaged through his backpack and wedged a small clip between the iron trapdoor to prevent it from suddenly falling down after he entered. Then, he crouched down and very carefully went down the stairs step by step. The turbid air that had been sealed underground for a long time filled his nasal passages. His footsteps brought up a cloud of dust, dispersing in the gloomy and cold air as it flew, dancing scatteredly in front the beam of the shlight. The flight of steps under his feet were narrow and endless, and the deeper one went, the darker it grew.

The light passing by overhead was getting thinner and weaker, hardly able to prate into the narrow basement, leaving only a vague outline when one¡¯s head was raised. Finally, Mo Yi¡¯s feet hit the ground. He left the stairs and tentatively walked a few steps forward, moving around the shlight in his hand and tried to clearly see where he was situated. The lighting from the shlight roamed around the underground space, sketching an indistinct and unclear outline. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. This ce was a lot bigger than he thought it would be. Just then, the shlight seemed to illuminate a long string dangling in a corner. Mo Yi walked over in the dark, stretched out his hand, and lightly pulled at it. The light came on, illuminating the entire basement. The ce was very vast with a structurally tight and airtight ceiling dome shielding the underground space. The walls were perfectly straight and sturdy, devoid of wallpaper, exposing hard rocks covered in dirt and water stains brought about by being in a cold and gloomy moist underground space. The ground was also rough with gravel. One could hear the minute sound of frictioning forth from beneath the soles of ones feet when stepping on it. The most ghastly and shocking sight were the densely packed small beds. They nearly filled the entire space. As if to save space, the small beds were ced extremely close together, leaving almost no space in-between, closely arranged one by one. And across from these small beds, directly opposite from this room, was a half-closed wooden door. Mo Yi gave a cursory sweep of the entire room and silently counted: This room alone had more than 150 small beds, enough to amodate the same number of children. He wedged his legs into the gap between the beds and walked forward cautiously. After reaching the end of the room, Mo Yi then slightly stretched out his legs and feet, and let out a long sigh of relief. He walked towards the door and pushed it open, finding the same string for the light dangling in a corner. After a slight pull, the overhead light hummed a few times, then flickered and lit up, illuminating the whole room. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but draw in a cold breath. This room, like the one in front of it, also had an astonishing number of small beds. However, the only difference was that the walls of this room were sprayed with an rming amount of brown bloodstains, having umted and ovepped until it had almost turned into a deep ck, congealing and drying into ghastly marks on the walls. There were traces of bullet holes on the wall. On each small bed were varying amounts of blood on the dirty mats, which looked extremely tragic. It was like ¡­ a massacre took ce here. A stale rotten stench permeated the room, causing one to feel nauseous. Mo Yi calmed down, only to realize that there were several small rooms in this tragic room. There were signs on all of them ¡ª ¡°Dean¡¯s Room¡±, ¡°Caregivers Room¡±, ¡°Utility Room¡±, and so on. Mo Yi suddenly came to a realization. He finally figured out why the types of rooms above ground were so few, and why the public area was built so carelessly. The orphanage above ground was merely the tip of the iceberg, or a cover, while its real body and internal organs were hidden underground. What was the purpose of the orphanage cover above ground? Mo Yi looked around at the astonishing number of small beds in the room, and a conjecture slowly surfaced from the bottom of his heart. His eyes grew heavy, his pitch-ck pupils momentarily frosting over. Mo Yi subconsciously held the shlight with his other hand, and then headed directly towards the underground Dean¡¯s Room. The Dean¡¯s Room was different from the one above ground. It was in aplete mess, like it had been flipped over and looted. The tables and chairs were all tipped over in disarray. Old, yellowed documents were scattered all over the room, and the whole space had umted a thickyer of dust. However, the very first thing Mo Yi noticed was a crooked photo on the wall. The photo had already turned yellow with tworge holes boring through it and was curled at the corners, but the person in the photo could still be clearly made out. It was a tall woman dressed in a formal ck dress, both hands sped, with a solemn and respectful appearance. There was a deep wrinkle in between her eyebrows, and she was staring right at the camera. Mo Yi was stunned, and the newspaper clip he found in the library shed through his mind ¡ª This seemed to be the woman was who executed by hanging. At this moment, he stood at the door, somewhat hesitant. In the Dean¡¯s Room above ground, he had almost died, which gave him no other option but to be cautious. After all, Mo Yi didn¡¯t know whether the rules above ground were applicable underground. In the case that it was applicable, there wasn¡¯t another Song Qi to save him this time. Mo Yi¡¯s brows wrinkled, and carefully recalled any details concerning the rules ¡ª None of them mentioned that there was an underground space and the prompt at the beginning of the game told them to act in ordance with the rules. So ¡­ was it possible to assume that in this basement, it was possible to take advantage of the loopholes within the rules? Mo Yi took a deep breath and decided to take a gamble. He stepped into the Dean¡¯s Room and then ced his foot firmly against the door to prevent it from suddenly closing. Then, Mo Yi lowered his head, watching the hands of his watch slowly circling around, his muscles stretched taught from head to toe, ready to rush out at any time if things were to go wrong. Last time, he was attacked within ten minutes of entering the door. Therefore, to be on the safe side, Mo Yi waited fifteen minutes this time. The hands of the watch turned evenly on the dial, making a soft ticking sound, quietly enveloping the whole room. Fifteen minutes passed by quickly, yet nothing happened. Mo Yi slowly breathed out and his tight muscles rxed a little: Great. It seemed that his conjecture was correct. He quickly walked into the room, crouched down, and began to rummage through the messily scattered documents. Many ces in the records were extremely unclear. At times, abbreviations were used, and now and then, only the dates were marked down as well as the amount of money flowing in and out. This was a ledger. Mo Yi frowned. On one of the pages, he recognized several familiar names, arranged in a systematic order: ¡°Daniel ¡­ Tommy ¡­ John ¡­¡± These were the names and surnames on the name tags hung on the front of the beds in the room he was in. The name and surname at the front seemed to be the from the orphan¡¯s original family. The brief introduction of the orphans family situation revealed nothing out of the ordinary. However, the names were followed by a few messily scrawled money symbols and numbers, as well as a few simplements: ¡°Leather factory,¡± ¡°private use¡±, ¡°private use.¡± Mo Yi was stunned, and clenched the yellowed and brittle piece of paper, his fingers leaving a faint hint of body heat on the rough surface of the paper. His conjecture just now was confirmed. This was a transfer station for the illegal trafficking of children. Orphans from all over were sent here and then ced in the crowded abyss of darkness underground, and then were sold off one by one. They either entered a toxic chemical factory, or were purchased anonymously by individuals for private use, or were also transported abroad. And the normal orphanage on the surface was merely a front to conceal the dirty business transactions underground. That was why it was built so carelessly and iplete. It was because they knew that none of the children who were sent here would stay long enough to be able to use the public space. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was slightly stagnant, and he subconsciously murmured,¡± Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch¡¯entrate.¡± [Abandon hope, all those who enter]. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

At this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s watch made a slight ¡°ticking¡± sound, pulling his train of thoughts back to reality. He blinked and looked down at the hands on the watch: It was ten minutes to five o¡¯clock. In order to prevent himself from letting time slip by, Mo Yi purposely set a reminder for ten minutes before the end of the free period. Although the rules above ground did not apply underground, if he didn¡¯t go back before dinner, it would inevitably arouse the suspicion of the other yers. Plus¡­ Mo Yi felt that he needed to meet with Song Qi. He lowered his eyes, piled up the documents he had already flipped through to the side and stood up, took onest heavy look inside the room, then turned around and walked out. Even though it wasn¡¯t the first time seeing it, the room covered in dried blood was still horrifying to see. Mo Yi averted his eyes and walked sideways between the narrow gap of the beds. Unexpectedly, his knee suddenly bumped into a hard, ice-cold metal edge. Mo Yi inhaled sharply in pain and lowered his head to look down. A small bed hadpletely been turned over onto the floor and the four metal legs were staring nkly at the sky ¡ª this was what had knocked against Mo Yi¡¯s knee. Mo Yi tightly knitted his brows. The tingling sensation on his knee had already gradually faded away, but there was a thread of ice in his heart. He remembered that when he came in, none of the beds were turned over. On the four-legged bed board which faced the sky was a very small bloody handprint, different from the other jet-ck and old bloodstains in the room. The handprint was a ring bright red, ced on the middle of the bed board, its outline distinct. It was like it had just now been printed there. A chill ran down Mo Yi¡¯s back, and he couldn¡¯t stop himself from looking down at his side. Immediately, from the corners of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a familiar outline ¡ª a brown, dusty teddy bear, sitting upright on the bed behind him, looking at him with its two intact ck eyes. Mo Yi once again became alert, and swiftly looked over in that direction. The little teddy bear had already disappeared. Only an indiscernible indentation was left behind on the dirty, blood-stained bed sheet. Mo Yi was stunned, his eyes little by little turning serious, and a deep thought shed through his pupils. Before, he was always under the impression that the teddy bear was the embodiment of the ghosts and monsters in the copy, a ¡°death omen.¡± After all, he saw the teddy bear appear prior to him encountering danger, and the same was true before the death of the second victim.

However, what happened in the yroom somewhat subverted his previous views. After looking back and connecting the things that had happened before, apletely different guess surfaced. Supposing that ¡­ this teddy bear was actually a prompt? Its appearance was to warn the yers of the existence of danger, and even pointed the yers towards the emergence of new clues. If this conjecture was true, then what was the reason for doing so? Mo Yi wrinkled his brows, somewhat confused as fragmented guesses broke down and swirled around in his mind. He looked down at his watch ¡ª there was still five minutes left before the bell rang. There was no time to double check. Mo Yi crossed over to where the teddy bear had appeared and wrote a mark on the bed, and then hurriedly walked out of the passage. He had just closed the iron trap door when the ear-piercing metal bell rang. Mo Yi dragged over the carpet that was rolled up horizontally on the side, hastily covered the iron trap door on the ground, stood up, and then swiftly walked to the dining room. The other ys had basically arrived one after another. Mo Yi quickly scanned the crowd but found that Song Qi was not among them. Suspicion filled his whole heart as he lined up and walked to a dining table. Today¡¯s dinner was exactly the same as yesterdays with its dry and rough ck bread and cloudy water. This time, the water was the same as usual; greasy and stale and appeared to be more difficult to swallow than before. Mo Yi noticed that this time, although most people were quite reluctant, they nevertheless poured some water to take away. He indifferently lowered his eyes, walked to the front of the table, and took the same amount of food and water as yesterday. Mo Yi turned around after and was stunned. Song Qi was standing not far away and appeared to be paler than before. Even his lips had lost its faint red flush. He had one hand in his pants pocket, his eyes were slightly narrowed, and was looking straight at Mo Yi. After they looked at each other for a few seconds, the two went to a table together and then sat down. They tacitly did not mention where the other party had gone during today¡¯s free period. Mo Yi chewed the somewhat tasteless dry ck bread. His lowered eyshes cast a shadow on his calm face, his expression unclear. He didn¡¯t trust Song Qi. There were too many doubts and suspicions surrounding this person. He couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious. However, Mo Yi had to admit that Song Qi hadn¡¯t done anything to harm him since entering the copy. He had quite steadily defended him in words and actions and had even saved his life. He subconsciously rotated his wrist and there seemed to be a lingering painful burning sensation carved into the skin and flesh, sharply throbbing. Song Qi¡¯s low and deep voice entered his ears, ¡°What? Does it still hurt?¡± Mo Yi raised his head when he heard the voice, only to see Song Qi¡¯s narrowed eyes, which were as light as mist, gazing at him. There was not much expression on his sharply contoured face, but a little bit of hidden concern spilled out from the depths of his eyes. Mo Yi smiled, lightly shook his head, lowered his head, and quickly ate the bread in his hands, patted the crumbs on his hands and then stood up. In a low voice, he whispered a short sentence in Song Qi¡¯s ear, ¡°Youe with me.¡± Mo Yi ced his hand on Song Qi¡¯s shoulder and lightly patted it, but unexpectedly felt that the muscles of the other¡¯s shoulder under his palm were suddenly stretched taught. The two left the dining room one after another. As soon as they walked out the door, the lights instantly dimmed, and the faint wallmp illuminated the dpidated and old corridor, making it even more gloomy and cold. Mo Yi didn¡¯t speak and walked straight towards the corridor where the Dean¡¯s Room was located. He was forced to participate in this strange escape game, and the only way to escape was to umte enough points, and if he wanted to get points, he had toplete the hidden tasks in the copy. Fortunately, the degree of difficulty in this copy was rtively low, and halfway through the game, he already had a clue to the hidden task. And from then up to now, what Mo Yi had been entangled with was whether to let Song Qi follow along to share the points? If he had no doubts at the beginning, Mo Yi would naturally not be stingy, but there wereyers uponyers of suspicious points surrounding Song Qi that he had no choice but to be somewhat hesitant. But now, Mo Yi had made up his mind. Mo Yi held out his hand and lightly touched his tightly wrapped wrist ¡ª regardless of how suspicious Song Qi was, he had saved his life, and this friendship had to be paid back. When he walked into the corridor, Mo Yi suddenly realized that Song Qi hadn¡¯t followed. He turned his head with some misgivings and saw Song Qi standing at the entrance of the corridor. Under the light, half of his face was shrouded in darkness, his long eyshes concealing his light-coloured eyes, and the expression on his face was difficult to make out. Could it be that he was worried about what had happenedst time? Mo Yi inconspicuously frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I was here during the free period just now. It¡¯s safe, so don¡¯t worry.¡± Song Qi raised his eyes and looked at him, the bottom of his pupils flickering with some unknown emotions and didn¡¯t speak. Suddenly the corners of his lips curled up, revealing a smile. ¡°Okay.¡± After speaking, he took a step forward and walked in. Mo Yi turned his head and breathed out a sigh of relief: For a split second, he thought for a moment that Song Qi would still make excuses to evade him like before. Under the faint light in the corridor, the two walked towards the deepest part of the corridor. Mo Yi knelt down and felt around on the ground. Song Qi stepped forward, knelt down beside him, and helped him lift the carpet. He leaned to one side and measured his face and said, ¡°Your hand is inured. I¡¯ll help you.¡± After lifting the carpet, Song Qi easily lifted the iron trap door on the ground, and the two walked down one after another. The thick foul air underground had already dissipated a little, but the dusty environment and moist scent of stale blood still made one feel ill. Mo Yi kneaded his nose, restraining his urge to sneeze, and directly inside towards the second room. He quickened his pace and walked over to the small bed where the teddy bear he¡¯d marked had appeared, and then lowered his body, carefully searching the entire bed. Mo Yi tore off the congealed, blood stained bed sheet and searched the mattress inch by inch, looking for any secrets hidden inside. He even lifted the bed board and meticulously examined it, but he still didn¡¯t find anything beyond what he expected. Mo Yi stopped, fixed his gaze at the messy, turned over bed in front of him, and frowned, deeply pondering what he had missed in the end. At this moment, a sentence abruptly shed through his mind. Mo Yi was startled and subconsciously murmured it out loud, ¡°¡­¡­under your bones, beneath your skin¡­¡­?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes brightened in an instant. He once again scanned the small bed in front of him, and then tentatively lifted a corner of the bed, holding it up with his arm, and then searched underneath the bedpost with his other hand ¡ª Sure enough, the metal bedpost was hollow inside. The rays of light in Mo Yi¡¯s eyes grew brighter. He fumbled about the four bedposts on the small bed one by one. Finally. a small balled up piece of paper was found in the gap of the bedpost at the head of the small bed. This piece of paper was even more worn-out and dirtypared to the other pieces of papers. Mo Yi unfolded the slip of paper only to see a crayon drawing of empty gallows, and underneath it were English letters written with various gaps between them. ¡ªThere was no little person on it. He pursed his lips and raised his head, his eyes wandering around the entire room. Finally, itnded on the small, overturned bed. The tiny bloody handprint was horrifying to see. Mo Yi¡¯s lips curled. He knew where to look. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Mo Yi stood up, somewhat stumbling as he quickly walked to the overturned bed. This time, instead of searching through the beds four bedposts which faced the ceiling, he pushed it hard toy on its side and felt around the front of the bedpost. Sure enough, he soon found a dusty paper ball. Mo Yi lightly shook off the dust on it and then gently and cautiously started to spread open the paper ball. The tan and slightly yellowed piece of wrinkled paper looked old and dirty. On the piece of paper, with childlike strokes, was a crayon drawing of a little person being hanged. Underneath the little person were a few scattered English letters. There was a faint expression between Mo Yi¡¯s brows. As expected, his guess was correct. Regardless of whether it was beneath or under, they were both rtive positions. The bed was turned over, so naturally, the clues could only be found in a backwards manner. He didn¡¯t hesitate too much, spreading open the two pieces of paper and ced them on top of one another. He then turned on the shlight, illuminating it from the bottom up. The wan beam of light passed through the dark yellowed paper, and the light seemed to be sullied by the dull dust. As Mo Yi gently moved his fingers, the gallows and the little person slowly ovepped in the same ce, and the handwriting on the paper was subsequently pieced together: ¡°Thanatos¡± Thanatos? Mo Yi¡¯s brows creased, a puzzled look shing through his eyes. In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the name of the God of Death who presided over death and destruction. Although Mo Yi was not very familiar with Greek mythology, he still knew a bit about Thanatos. However, he was unable to figure out what the appearance of Thanatos signified. Mo Yi subconsciously smoothed out the uneven edges of the pieces of papers, his gaze fixed on the two spread out papers, head bowed in contemtion. At this moment, he seemed to have thought of something and abruptly raised his head to look at the Dean¡¯s Room across the room.

Song Qi was standing by the door inside, rifling through the files on the ground. His head was lowered, and the expression on his face was barely visible across the semi dimly lit room. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up, voice raised as he spoke to Song Qi, ¡°Do you see the files of these orphans over there?¡± Song Qi slightly raised his head, paused, and then replied, ¡°Yes.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face looked a little pale under the light, but his eyes were astonishingly bright, like mes burning within an abyss. He took a deep breath and then said, ¡°Try to see if there were any poor orphans from aristocratic families, or at least if any orphans were from middle ss families with a long heritage.¡± If his previous guess about the teddy bear was correct ¡­ then every time it appeared, it brought him step by step closer to the truth. Whether it was the teddy bear or the brief handwriting on the notes, both had the distinct characteristics belonging to extremely wealthy children. However, every clue on the pieces of paper were extraordinarily unusual ¡ªbe it The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri or Thanatos, they all exceeded an ordinary child¡¯smon knowledge, not to mention that during this time period, illiteracy wasmonce. Thus, there was a great possibility that the child who was leaving behind clues everywhere came from a family with an excellent upbringing. In that way, they were exposed to a high-quality aristocratic education at a rather young age. There was a soft sound of paper being flipped through in the Dean¡¯s Room. A momentter, Song Qi¡¯s voice was heard, ¡°Found it.¡± But, before Mo Yi could breathe out a sigh of relief, he heard Song Qi add on, ¡°Quite a few.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows were tightly creased, and a deep mark was left between his brows. That meant that more clues were needed in order to narrow down the scope. He subconsciously tightened his fingers, and the old paper in his hand made a weak crinkling sound. Mo Yi was startled and subconsciously looked at the paper in his hand. ¡­ Thanatos? He was somewhat lost in thought, and then suddenly raised his voice and said, ¡°Then, among these people, are any of them brothers?¡± Song Qi answered quickly this time, ¡°Yes.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart which was lodged in his throat finally dropped back down. As the God of Death, Thanatos had never appeared alone in Greek mythology. He had a younger brother, the God of Sleep, Hypnos, and both of them were sons of the Goddess of Night. They always showed up together as a duo, ferrying the bodies of the deceased under the dim light of night. In addition, whether it was hide-and-seek or hangman, these two games needed there to be more than one person to y. Therefore, Mo Yi surmised that there was a pair of brothers. He breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up, using his palms to prop up his body. Because he had crouched for too long, his legs and feet were a little numb. Mo Yi stumbled and nearly fell. However, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t pay attention to the unresolved numbness below his knees. He quickened his pace, detoured around the numerous small beds in the room, and headed directly to the Dean¡¯s Room. Song Qi happened to be walking out of the room, and the two met face to face. Mo Yi suddenly realized that Song Qi¡¯splexion seemed to be getting worse. Slightly worried, he asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Hearing this, Song Qi looked at him deeply. His pair of light gray eyes seemed even lighter in colour and luster, and under the light, there was a glowing halo. He gazed at Mo Yi for a few seconds, then suddenly curled his lips and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Since he said so, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t keep asking, and could only let out a word of caution, ¡°If you don¡¯t feelfortable, don¡¯t try to force yourself.¡± Song Qi nodded, and then handed the document in his hand to Mo Yi. Mo Yi pursed his lips, reached out to take the document, and lowered his head to carefully read it. It was a pair of brothers. The older brother was called Albert while the younger brother was called Aaron. They were both verymon Hebrew names and it obviously had a lot to do with the family¡¯s religious beliefs. In addition, what attracted Mo Yi¡¯s eyes even more was their surname, ¡°Howard.¡± Although Mo Yi didn¡¯t know much about British surnames, he was aware that the Howard family was a rather prestigious aristocratic family in Ennd. Did that mean that ¡­ the two children were rted to this family? But if that was the case, how did they end up in this orphanage? Mo Yi continued to read, doubt rising from the bottom of his heart. Perhaps due to the orphanage¡¯s shady illegal activities, many of the records were extremely brief, and some were even intermixed with ng used by the lower sses of that era, making one feel even more at a loss. Mo Yi frowned, mulling over the meaning of the words while slowly turning to the second page. There were two newspaper clipping the size of a block of tofu pinned there. The pages were yellowed, but the handwriting could still be made out. Both were obituaries. The first one was about a man who unfortunately died on the battlefield, whereas the second one was about a down-and-out family of a nobleman who was set ame, and it was the mistress, who was suspected of being mentally insane, who set the fire. The whole tragic events were more or less slowly being outlined. A husband who was tragically killed on the battlefield in World War I, a wife who went insane because she couldn¡¯t bear the grief and thus set fire to the house, and a pair of brothers who lost their father at a young age and ended up in a public orphanage after being tossed from home to home. Mo Yi carefully looked at the date. As a result of it being World War I then, the number of orphans had increased sharply, and the government¡¯s primary energy was ced on battles overseas. This made it possible for darkness to flourish, allowing such illegal shadowy businesses to remain unchecked A steady stream of orphans were sent here through various secret channels, and were then quickly sold, staying here temporarily in the meantime for no more than half a month. ¡ª The record of this pair of brothers went on for a full year and a half. Looking at thest recorded date on the page, Mo Yi was taken aback, and a vague thought shed through his mind. He hurriedly rummaged around in his backpack, and then took out the book he found in the library. Mo Yi flipped through the pages of the book, dust swirling in the air, and found another yellowed newspaper clipping pinned there. The damp and illegible handwriting on the newspaper clipping showed a tall woman standing in front of the camera, her pale and blurred face staring straight at the camera lens, looking disinterested and stiff. Yet, what Mo Yi paid attention to were not the photos, but the dates marked on the newspaper clippings: March 17, 1919. Mo Yi turned his head to look at the orphan¡¯s record again. Thest date marked on it was: March 10, 1919. The brothers stayed in this orphanage until a week before the death by hanging was executed. For what reason did they stay here for so long? Was it because of their aristocratic status that the Dean did not dare to easily sell them off? Mo Yi frowned. There was always a vaguely unsettling feeling lingering in his mind, slightly making him inexplicably agitated. He tucked the newspaper clipping back into the book, stretched out his hand towards the bedpost beside him to prop himself up, and stood up. Looking up, Mo Yi¡¯s eyes suddenlynded on the portrait hanging on the wall. The wan light in the Dean¡¯s Room illuminated the narrow room,ing from overhead, looking ice-cold and gloomy. The stiff and solemn face of the tall woman was framed by a broken photo frame. In the yellowed and curled up photo, the woman was staring straight ahead with her vacant hollow eyes, standing with her hands folded, looking particrly unsettling in a solemn ck dress. Her posture and clothes on her body were exactly the same as in the newspaper clipping. The pit of Mo Yi¡¯s stomach tightened, and his body suddenly stretched taught as if electrocuted while chills ran down his back. ¡ª He knew here his sense of discordance came from. The judicial process for sentencing a person to the gallows in Ennd was extraordinarily long, and even sometimes took several months. Since the Dean was executed in March, that meant she was arrested and imprisoned at least as early as February. In that case, after the Dean was arrested and the orphanage was closed down ¡ª Who recorded these ounts? Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Mo Yi tilted his head in thought, then suddenly stepped forward and carefully looked the photo up and down. After looking at it for a while, his brows slowly furrowed. He stretched out his hand and gently touched the photo frame. The quality of the photo frame was quite poor. The rough edges pricked Mo Yi¡¯s fingertips, bringing about a dull pain. However, what Mo Yi noticed was that on the rough surface of the photo frame, there were small dot like protrusions. He applied a bit more force, and those small dot-like protrusions broke off into bits and pieces and fell onto the hollows of his palms. It was reddish brown in colour. Mo Yi raised his palm, leaned closer to smell it, and couldn¡¯t help being stunned. These ¡­ should be dried up congealed bloodstains. ording to the pattern of the congealed blood, it should have been sprayed from high pressured arteries. Mo Yi took a few steps back and carefully examined the wall on which the photo frame was hung. There were no wallpapers pasted on the walls. The bare walls were somewhat yellow, the corners blotched with dark water stains and filthy mold. The entire room didn¡¯t have the slightest trace of bloodstains and there no indication of it having been repainted. Mo Yi¡¯s train of thoughts stirred, and he dragged an overturned stool from the corner and raised his leg to step on it. He reached out and held both sides of the photo frame, and with slight effort, removed it from the wall. The instant he turned his head, Mo Yi was startled by Song Qi who had silently appeared behind him. Song Qi slightly raised his head and held out his hand to brace the back of the chair which was rickety because it was on the verge of falling apart. Then, he used one hand to help him hold up the bottom of the heavy photo frame, face leaned to the side, and turned his eyes to look at him. ¡°Your hand is still injured. I¡¯ll help you, ba?¡± Mo Yi nodded. ¡°Many thanks.¡± After speaking, he held Song Qi¡¯s outstretched hand for support, jumped off the chair, and walked straight out of the Dean¡¯s Room. Song Qi easily picked up the heavy photo frame with one hand, keeping pace with Mo Yi. The walls of the whole room outside the Dean¡¯s Room were covered inyers uponyers of dried bloodstains, either having been sprayed or sshed, so much so that the dirty dripping brown bloodstains on the walls were a ghastly sight, causing one to almost be unable to look directly at it. Starting from near the dean¡¯s room, Mo Yi walked slowly along the wall while carefully observing the direction of blood stains on the wall. Finally, he stopped in the middle of the room.

Mo Yi took a deep breath, a faint light flickering within his eyes, and turned his head to look at Song Qi who was following him. Before he could say anything, Song Qi had already tacitly understood and drew closer, stopping by his side, and carefully examined the seemingly normal wall. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was a little unsteady. and there was a vague stirring of emotions hidden within his clear bright eyes. He stood on his tiptoes, fingers pointing towards a direction on the wall above Song Qi, and hastily said, ¡°If you look closely there, there¡¯s less blood spatter above, but there¡¯s a whole trail of blood extending from here to there.¡± In order to point out the bloodstain, Mo Yi moved closer to Song Qi. Both of their cheeks were close to one another. Song Qi could almost feel Mo Yi¡¯s warm breath gently fanning the side of his face, making his whole body involuntarily tense up. Mo Yi didn¡¯t notice anything, still immersed in his own world. His pitch-ck eyes brightened, and the speed of his talking became faster and faster, ¡°Look, the trail of blood suddenly stopped abruptly above, and then resumed a short distance away.¡± ¡°There must have been something on the wall here.¡± Mo Yi concluded with certainty. He then reached out and held Song Qi¡¯s shoulder, turning to look at him. The distance between the two suddenly became extremely close, almost appearing as if Mo Yi was half embracing him. Mo Yi continued, unaware, ¡°Move the photo frame up here ¡­.¡± His words suddenly stopped, and he looked at Song Qi with a slightly odd look. ¡°What happened? Are you feeling ill? Why is your face so red?¡± After that, Mo Yi stretched out his hand, intending to touch Song Qi¡¯s forehead. The temperature of Song Qi¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but increase. He hurriedly intercepted Mo Yi¡¯s hand in mid-air, making an effort to appear calm and shook his head, replying, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Mo Yi only then noticed that the two were standing too close and hurried to increase the distance a bit. He smiled a little apologetically. ¡°Sorry. I was too excited just now and forgot my manners.¡± However, what Mo Yi didn¡¯t see was that after he moved a little further away, a shallow trace of loss momentarily shed within his eyes. The atmosphere in the air was suddenly a little awkward. Mo Yi paused, then stopped again, wanting to talk once more, but then hesitated. After ncing at Song Qi, he finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°That ¡­ how long are you going to hold my hand?¡± Song Qi pursed his lips, gently caressed the hollows of Mo Yi¡¯s palms with his thumb without him noticing, and then with a calm face, solemnly said, ¡°Sorry, forgot.¡± But the tips of his ears which were dripping red with blood exposed his not at all calm emotions. Mo Yi nced at him suspiciously, and then carried on with the topic from a moment ago, saying, ¡°Well, you stand on the bed with the photo frame and try to make it ovep with the nk space above.¡± Song Qi nodded, unperturbed, and stood up ording to Mo Yi¡¯s instructions and ced the photo frame on the wall. The corners of the photo frame and the edges of the bloodstains seamlessly ovepped. ¡ª Even the dusty, barely visible faint impressions on the wall perfectly matched. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was hurried and short. He asked Song Qi toe down from the small bed, and then stretched out his hand to encircle the photo frame. He nimbly felt about the back of the photo frame with his non injured hand, and then made a gentle deft move. He heard a soft ¡°kacha¡±, and the back panel of the photo frame was removed in its entirety by him. Dust swirled in the air, and the photo frame broke apart in an instant. Mo Yi quickly caught the free-falling photo, yet unexpectedly, from within the corner of the back panel of the photo frame, a torn sheet slid down. Mo Yi paused, ced the scattered parts of the photo frame in Song Qi¡¯s hand who was next to him, then knelt down and picked up the torn sheet. Naturally, it was a corner of a yellowed photo with obvious tear marks on the top. On the remaining half of the paper¡¯s corner, there appeared to be a row of several blurry shoes. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sank, head raised as he held up the torn sheet to show Song Qi and said, ¡°I suspect ¡­ that the Dean who was executed by hanging was framed.¡± Song Qi¡¯s eyelids slightly rose, face and voice remainingposed and asked, ¡°How so?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes slightly flickered, finger raised towards the bloodstains sprayed on the wall and reasoned, ¡°This photo frame should have originally hung here, which is likely why it was stained with blood. Moreover, the original photo within this photo frame was not of this woman, but was switched afterwards. Only, their movements were too rushed, and a corner of the original photo was torn off and left in the photo frame.¡± He paused, picked up the yellowed portrait of the woman, and continued, ¡°That¡¯s why she was hung in the most conspicuous ce in the Dean¡¯s Room. This way, she could be framed as being the orphanage¡¯s mastermind.¡± When Mo Yi analyzed and interpreted, in one¡¯s eyes, his entire face practically shone with liveliness. Those pairs of deep ck eyes were full of an intimate passion. That kind of almost effortless charm made it almost impossible for one to shift away their eyes. Song Qi attentively gazed at the smooth contours of the side of Mo Yi¡¯s face. His light-coloured eyes darkened a little. ¡°I now suspect that the real mastermind behind the scenes, after sending the scapegoat to be executed by hanging ¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows knitted and continued, forehead appearing to be shrouded by dark clouds, seeming to be a little deeply worried and sick at heart, ¡°In order to cover up the evidence of their crimes, I¡¯m afraid that they would be willing to perhaps do anything.¡± Mo Yi lifted his eyes and looked around at the bloodstains everywhere in the whole room. It was as if something was weighing heavily in his heart, making him somewhat unable to breathe. He subconsciously licked his lips and said in a low voice, ¡°And in the entire orphanage, the biggest proof of their crime ¡­ was that there were nearly three hundred children in this basement.¡± Every bloodstain, every life. ¡­ A one-sided massacre to cover up incriminating evidence. At this moment, a familiar mechanical female voice rang, speaking with a cold, detached, and straightforward voice, ¡°Dang dang dang dang! Congrattions to yer No. 08, Mo Yi, for unlocking the Escape Game¡¯s hidden plot! Side missions are now open. Completing side missions will reward rich points. yers, please continue to work hard!¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. A side mission was opened? Immediately, a lot ofplex feelings swelled in his heart, intermingled with all sorts of emotions, and he was unable to say what it felt like. He nced at Song Qi, then lowered his eyshes to cover the expression in his eyes. Just then, Mo Yi seemed to recall something. He lowered his head and nced at his watch: 8:30. The lights would be turned off soon. In addition, the degree of difficulty of this copy will increase soon, and it may be extremely dangerous to stay underground. Mo Yi turned his head and said to Song Qi, ¡°Let¡¯s go, ba. We should go upstairs.¡± One following after another, the two climbed up the stairs and covered the iron trap door of the underground entrance. They headed out along the dimly lit corridor, and when they reached the hall, they abruptly ran into unexpected guests. Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan. The two stood in the middle of the hall with gloomy faces, casting hostile looks at Mo Yi. Sun Xiaoyan took a step forward and aggressively looked at Mo Yi. ¡°Do you not have any idea of what you did?¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. Before he could say anything, he could only listen as Sun Xiaoyan continued to sharply say, ¡°You opened the hidden mission! The difficulty of the entire copy will increase. You¡¯re going to make us drop dead!¡± Mo Yi slowly lowered his head as if repenting, his facial features gradually disappearing in the darkness. It seemed that Zhao Yicheng raised a hand and pressed it on Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s shoulder, stopping her next words. Then, anxiously, he walked forwards and looked at Mo Yi with a face suffering from pent up frustrations, wanting to speak, only to stop and sigh, and once again opened his mouth and said, ¡°You ¡­ really caused a big problem this time.¡± However, unexpectedly, Mo Yi lowered his head and let out a short gentle chuckle. He took a step forward. Facial features exposed under the slightly dim light, ck, emotionless eyes stared straight at Zhao Yicheng as if they could see through people¡¯s hearts, making one feel cold and fearful. Mo Yi smiled and said, ¡°You finally couldn¡¯t hold back.¡± Trantor¡¯s Note: Last week, I posted on Discord that I would post a bonus chapter to make up for updatingte. I admittedly procrastinated. The bonus chapter will be posted noter than Sunday EST this week. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Bted bonus chapter Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan¡¯splexion immediately became a little bad, and they red at Mo Yi. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t directly answer the question. Instead, he took a step forward, perfectlyposed, remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos and looked at the two of them, and said, ¡°When the side mission is opened, only the person who opened the mission has the ability to see it. Am I right, ba?¡± Theplexion of the two people on the opposite side looked green and red, and they didn¡¯t reply for a while. ¡°So, who can tell me how you figured out that I opened the side mission, ne?¡± Complexion gloomy, Sun Xiaoyan replied, ¡°That ¡­ of course it was redeemed for in our in-game store. I was precisely afraid that you, this kind of pig teammate who isn¡¯t cautious, would not be careful and open a side mission, causing all of us to die ¡ª¡± ¡°Then, shouldn¡¯t you have redeemed something that prevented a mission from opening? Why did you want to redeem this sort of prop that looks like it gives advice after the event?¡± Mo Yi narrowed his eyes, his tone a little sharp. Sun Xiaoyan was stunned, immediately agape and tongue-tied, unable toe up with a response. Mo Yi continued to speak without regard for others, ¡°Is what you want to say that if we open a mission that we are unable toplete, you¡¯d conveniently take over and save all of us, ne?¡± Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s face turned a bluish white. She took a step forward impulsively and blurted out, ¡°You ¡­¡± However, she had only said one word when, from out of the corners of her eyes, she came into contact with Song Qi who had been silent since the beginning. An inexplicable fear surged within her heart, and the words that were on the verge of slipping out were blocked in her trembling throat. Song Qi indifferently withdrew his gaze, still not saying a word. Mo Yi stood beside him with a peaceful face, emotions unable to be made out. He smiled and said, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, that ¡°neer¡± before who was about to open the door was one of your people, ba.¡± Prior to entering the game, Jiang Yuanrou had once introduced to him the three types of senior yers in the game. One type waspletely ignorant of the hidden missions ¡ª or even if they did know, they were unwilling to take the risks. They were satisfied to just get through it, passing copy by copy. This kind of yer had a rtively high survival rate, so the proportionate amount was the highest inparison. The second type was small in numbers. They walked on the edge of danger and opened hidden missions in order to earn higher points. This type of yer generally had a very high casualty rate. Thus, the number was also smaller. And the other type were extremely vile people. They took advantage of the use of props to roam around in low-level copies. After the neers and highly experienced senior yers opened the side mission, by means of threats and promises, they forced the other party to include them in the side mission, exhausting all means to forcibly grab the chance to get points. At the very beginning, Mo Yi had some doubts about them. Zhao Yicheng¡¯s desire to take control was too strong. He took the initiative to establish an image of being a saviour, and then through words and actions, he subtly instilled the image of himself as the ruler and leader into the hearts of everyone.

He instructed everyone to look for clues yet didn¡¯t share the slightest amount or degree of information of his own. Blindly digging up roots and inquiring at the base, he and Sun Xiaoyan discreetly questioned the other yers for information, even unscrupulously using the manner of ying good cop bad cop to interrogate where the information originated from. And what made Mo Yi truly connect Zhao Yicheng and other people with the third sort of senior yers was during mealtime. He noticed that the ¡°neer¡± who opened the door and courted death, for two whole days including up to now, hadn¡¯t taken a piece of ck bread ¡ª then, where did the neer get her source of food? These little bits and pieces of doubt, simr to scattered beads, umted more and more in Mo Yi¡¯s mind. And the behaviour of Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan just now was like a long intact thread connecting all the beads, bringing things together. Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan had stiff expressions, faces ashen, looking at Mo Yi with anxiety and doubt. Zhao Yicheng coughed twice, mechanically tugging up the corners of his lips as a reluctant smile appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, seemingly still wanting to exin. Mo Yi immediately curbed the smile on his face. His expression was indifferent. His expressionless face held a deterrence force. ¡°Well, it¡¯s almost time to rest. After all, the difficulty of the copy is about to increase, so it¡¯s better to go back as soon as possible.¡± Zhao Yicheng was intimidated by the emotion showing from within Mo Yi¡¯s eyes, and ayer of cold sweat suddenly seeped from his back. After a few seconds, he realized that he was actually frightened by a young man during the first round of talks. Zhao Yicheng flushed, flying into a rage of humiliation, no longer assuming that kind of hypocritical smile. He red at Mo Yi with hatred, and finally said resentfully to Sun Xiaoyan in a low voice, ¡°Go.¡± Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s lips unwillingly curled, a bitter expression of resentment on her face. One in front, one in the back, the two walked to the resting area. Watching from behind as their figures were swallowed by the darkness deep in the corridor, Mo Yi lowered his head and looked at his watch: 8:45. There were still fifteen minutes until the lights turned off. Mo Yi appeared to have a lot pressing on his mind. He turned his head, somewhat absentminded, to look at Song Qi who was next to him. ¡°You be careful tonight. When all is said and done, no one knows what changes will ur to this copy.¡± He thought for a while, and continued to add, ¡°Also, you have to be careful of these two people. They are very unlikely to give up just like that.¡± After that, Mo Yi turned and walked into the corridor. He had just walked two steps when he felt that his arm was grasped. Mo Yi turned his head in surprise and looked at Song Qi. His face was still unruffled by the great waves, and his lips, already bloodless, were pressed tightly, as if carved out of marble. Hisplexion appeared to be even more pale, and his eyebrows were faintly twisted. Song Qi closed his mouth, took a deep breath, and hesitantly said, ¡°What they said just now, don¡¯t take it to heart.¡± Mo Yi stared nkly for a few seconds, and only reacted a momentter when he realized that Song Qi was referring to Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s remarks just then. He smiled, the general facial appearance indifferent. ¡°Every mechanism in this game is to force the yers topete. However, it doesn¡¯t disy its intentions by putting it on the table. Rather, it resembles a frog being slowly stewed in lukewarm water. It¡¯s simr to killing people with blunt knives, making yers either follow its intentions for freedom and life, or for the massive benefits of the points store.¡± And regardless of what the yer was struggling for, in the end, everyone was voluntarily or involuntarily thrown into the game. ¡ª After all, no one would want to be trapped for eternity in one never ending horrifying copy after another. Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked at Song Qi. The colour of his eyes was especially deep. Under the light, it was a heavy ck, like an approaching abyss. In this moment, he appeared to be calm, almost to the point of cruelty, ¡°And for those who don¡¯t ept the rules of the game, death is only a matter of time.¡± Song Qi let go of his grip of Mo Yi¡¯s arm. He watched Mo Yi¡¯s straight back as he strode into the dark corridor without hesitation and was swallowed by the deep darkness. Song Qi slowly curled the corners of his lips, his facial expression was soft, almost affectionate. In the next second, his entire figure was hidden in the darkness and thenpletely vanished. Mo Yi walked along the narrow and remote corridor alone, and the wooden floor creaked under his feet. He held his breath with rapt attention, carefully listening to any sounds of activity from behind him. Song Qi did not follow. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know whether to rx or let out a deep tense sigh. Under his long eyshes, his gaze was somewhatplicated. When he was underground, he noticed that in the end, when the side mission was opened, Song Qi¡¯s name was no longer listed. There was only one exnation for this situation. Song Qi was not a yer. In order to not beat the grass to startle the snake, Mo Yi covered up how guarded he was from the beginning, putting great effort into pretending that business was as usual on the surface. Yet, the bottom of his heart was like a tempestuous storm that was set off. The previous clues had almost beenpletely strung together. All the doubts surrounding this ¡°person¡±, Song Qi. as well as his unexpected attachment to himself. Perhaps, to add to that, during the end of thest copy, a sudden madness abruptly arose, making him drink the mist¡¯s blood. Therefore, Mo Yi had reason to suspect ¡ª this ¡°Song Qi¡± was the mist from thest copy when it was on the verge of closing. In this game, for the first time, he hesitated a little. It was simr to a coding error that exceeded his expectations, so stark and arupt, harshly running all the way through his ns, representing danger and uncertainty. The other party hadn¡¯t shown malicious intentions towards him before today, but how could he believe that the other party would never show ill will? This was the equivalent of putting one¡¯s trust and life in the hands of an unknown factor that was out of one¡¯s control. The most sensible thing to do was to stay as far away as possible or find a way to ¡°get rid¡± of it. It was like deleting that chaotic and messy line of error in the ranks of orderly and elegant code, returning the grace and smoothness back into the workings of the world. However, Mo Yi was slightly wavering now. Just now, before asking him the question, ¡°Song Qi¡± obviously wanted to tell him something, but the entire game seemed to prevent it ¡ª just as it prevented Jiang Yuanrou from revealing information about it to the outside world. In connection with ¡°Song Qi¡±¡®s gradually palingplexion, it seemed that it started after he saved himself. Mo Yi guessed that the entire game framework had restrictions on him. He was afraid that he, who existed outside of this copy, was not allowed to take part in the entire copy, and he was further not permitted to intervene as he wished in the way the yers operated. Mo Yi subconsciously rubbed the joints of his thumb, eyebrows closely knitted together, appearing deeply worried and sick at heart. What was more, Mo Yi still hadn¡¯t figured out why ¡°Song Qi¡± was so amiable towards him. After all, he was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t had any social interactions with simr ¡°creatures¡± in thest twenty years. The dim corridor was about toe to an end, and the door of his own room was in front of him. Mo Yi let out a sigh of relief, dispelling the chaotic thoughts within the bottom of his heart, and settled his thoughts. Then he reached out and held the door frame, turned around, and walked in. He stopped in ce. In this absolutely empty room was another person. A short little girl stood with her back to him, standing in front of the window sealed by wooden beams, gazing out the window, spellbound. Tiny, slender, thin hands rested on the window. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but hold his breath. Seemingly sensing Mo Yi¡¯s arrival, the little girl slowly turned her head. One side of her cheeks was badly mangled and caved in. One could practically see the shattered skull and streams of overflowing brain. The long blond hair was stained with blood. She swivelled a pair of damaged blue eyes and looked at Mo Yi. Using a soft, childlike voice, and asked, ¡°Have you seen my bunny?¡± ¡ª At this moment, the ear-piercing bell for lights off rang. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

The ear piercing and noisy ringing bell fell, and all the light instantly went out. Darkness descended. A suffocating silence enveloped the entire room. The deathly stillness was as dark and heavy as an entity, constricting people¡¯s tight nerves, and bit by bit wriggling its way along the spine. Human senses were infinitely magnified in the dark and be extremely sensitive. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing subconsciously lightened, as if afraid of rming something. Weak blue light passed through the hastily sealed window with wooden boards. A faint sheen reflected off the blond hair on the little girl¡¯s shoulder. At this moment, from outside the corridor came the sound of a shoe rubbing against the ground, and the wooden floors made a moaning sound, unable to bear the heavy load. The sound of the heavy and shuffling footsteps was particrly distinct in the darkness. Mo Yi¡¯s heart stuttered. Why would any yer dare to walk outside after the lights were out? He slightly turned his head and looked outside the half open door. A little yellowish dim light illuminated a corner of the corridor,ing closer and closer alongside the sound of the dragging footsteps. The colour of the wallpaper slowly became visible, and apanied with the dense dark night, the light melted it into an indistinguishable dark grey. ¡ª Not a yer! Mo Yi¡¯s heart rose fiercely, and immediately, a coldyer of sweat broke out on his back. He made a decisive decision, rushing to the side of a bed ording to his memory, and flung himself on it. The small bed squeaked loudly. The bone of Mo Yi¡¯s leg mmed against the hard metal headboard in the dark, sending out a teeth grinding crashing sound. The unspeakable numbness and pain spread, making him clench his teeth to force himself from making a sound. The sound of footsteps approached little by little, and a profound sense of uneasiness struck, ruthlessly constricting one¡¯s chest and throat, simr to drowning, making it difficult to breathe. Mo Yi tightly closed his eyes, his limbs curled up on the overly narrow bed in an extremely ufortable position. Hey down, stiff from head to toe, forcing himself to remain motionless on the bed. The sound of heavy footsteps stopped in front of his bed. A dim light shone on his eyelids. There was an uneasy silence. Mo Yi forced himself to slow down his breathing. It seemed as if there was a heavy stone pressing against his heart, dragging him straight down into an abyss. The sound of footsteps once again appeared, walking towards a distant ce, and the small bright light also slowly moved away. Mo Yi slowly breathed a long sigh of relief, cautiously and solemnly opened his eyes in the dark, and looked at the side of the window again. The bluish rays of light shone through the small gaps between the boards, illuminating a small area by the window.

There was not a soul in sight. The little girl had already vanished. In the darkness, Mo Yi once again closed his eyes, face solemn, and an indistinct premonition filled the bottom of his heart. It seemed that after the side mission was opened, the resentful spiritsying dormant in this orphanage had all taken on physical forms. Whether it was the orphans or that unknown thing that had patrolled the corridors and so forth ¡ª they were all roused from their eternal rest and roamed around once more. The whole night was extremely unsettling. The sound of the dragging footsteps seemed tireless, wandering everywhere once through over and over again, apanied by the creaking floors. It was like a nightmare where the soul of the deceased has not yet dispersed. Early morning next day, the ear-piercing bell rang at five o¡¯clock on the dot. Mo Yi got up from the bed with heavy dark circles under his eyes and walked out the door. Song Qi was standing at the door, face calm as he waited. Mo Yi greeted him as usual, and then the two walked to the hall together. At present, many people had already assembled in the hall. Everyone was standing in the hall, gazes shifting around numbly as if they were already ustomed to seeing death, unable to express any more sympathy towards new victims. ¡ª Unexpectedly, a corpse was hanging on the beam of the door. Mo Yi recognized that this was the woman who put on a y with Zhao Yicheng when she entered the copy. Her corpse¡¯s face had an expression of fear and was pale. Cloudy eyes looked up in the sky as if seeing something terrifying, facial features warped into an ugly fearful state. Uneasy whispers spread. They had lost their heads out of fear, discussing in a low voice about the strange sounds and anomalies they had heardst night, the weird sound of footsteps and silhouette of a child, and the fresh corpse that had shown up this early morning. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes deepened. ording to the difficulty of this copy, even if the side mission was opened, the original rules shouldn¡¯t have changed. In that case, what has this woman done that she shouldn¡¯t have done? Just then, from Mo Yi¡¯s peripheral, he caught a glimpse of Zhao Yicheng standing by the side. He was looking up with an inscrutable expression, attentively watching the corpse hanging from the beam in the middle of the room, and slowly, a secret smile emerged on his sorrowful face. Mo Yi¡¯s heart palpitated, an unknown premonition rising to the surface of his mind. In the next second, Zhao Yicheng turned around, his expressionless face from a moment ago was now filled with mourning. He raised his voice, half angry and half sad, and said to everyone, ¡°Originally ¡­ this copy was not difficult. As long as you follow the rules and spend these three days ording to the timetable, no one will die! But ¡­ someone deliberately opened the side mission and increased the difficulty of this copy, leading to the appearance of even more victims.¡± Everyone was in an uproar. Mo Yi stood at the edge of the crowd, face undisturbed, closely watching Zhao Yicheng who was standing in the middle of the crowd, and was not particrly surprised. ¡ª On the contrary, if Zhao Yicheng didn¡¯t try to provoke everyone¡¯s enmity towards him, he would be surprised. Zhao Yicheng said with a bitter face, ¡°If I hadn¡¯t inadvertently had a prop that could find out whether or not someone opened a side mission, I¡¯m afraid that I would have been keptpletely in the dark, hanging from the beam of the door in the room for no clear reason.¡± Sun Xiaoyan asked in shock, ¡°Who is it? Who is so vicious!¡± Zhao Yicheng sighed quite cooperatively, casting a specious look at Mo Yi, aplicated expression showing in his eyes. Then, he felt about his pocket for a little while, only to then hear a soft ¡°di¡± sound. Small, blood-red letters appeared in the window under the blue countdown: ¡°Side Mission: ??? Mission Completion Award: ???¡± After that, there were several faintly discernible tiny letters: ¡°Opener: yer 08, Mo Yi.¡± Everyone saw this and couldn¡¯t refrain from turning pale with fright, twisting their heads to look at Mo Yi with hostile eyes filled with fear and dread. The atmosphere in the crowd was simr to a thread that was abruptly stretched taught, fragile, as if it was about to break in the next second. The air was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder. Mo Yi stood expressionlessly to the side, inexplicably somewhat absent-minded: ¡­ It seemed that Zhao Yicheng wasn¡¯t that stupid. He said that he had unintentionally obtained the prop. Not only could this deceive the neers who didn¡¯t know anything at all, even more, it conveniently concealed the true purpose he had revealedst night. In addition, apart from them, there weren¡¯t any witnesses to what had taken cest night. Regardless of how he exined it, in the end, he would be ndered as harbouring unfathomable motives. It was not too much to say that it was a rather effective strategy. At this time, from within the crowd, a voice abruptly rang out, ¡°Then, can the timetable still be used?¡± Mo Yi was taken aback, and everyone turned their heads towards the ce where the sound was made. It was a tall and thin boy with a pair of ck-rimmed sses, appearing to be taciturn and ordinary. He once again asked, ¡°Does the timetable still work?¡± Zhao Yicheng reluctantly frowned, and then ambiguously replied, ¡°Under these circumstances, if nothing unexpected happens, it should still be okay for now.¡± The boy calmly nudged his sses, his manner of speaking was steady. ¡°In this case, if Mr. Mo hadn¡¯t found the timetable at all costs, wouldn¡¯t we have even more injuries and deaths?¡± Everyone who had been caught up in the instigation one by one regained a bit of their rationality. ¡ª Indeed. This timetable was practically the biggest pit within the entire copy. There waspletely no prompt about the existence of this and the map, yet it was definitely the rules the copy abided by to kill people. Without it, everyone would resemble a headless fly exploring around as they wished. In that case, the injuries and deaths would be enormous. Or everyone would have stayed in the same room in order to feel at ease, and the group would be exterminated on the first night. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that every death g was a clue that Mo Yi had sought, preventing people from prematurely ying GG. Mo Yi didn¡¯t expect that someone would actually stand up and speak up for him. He raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, no longer remained silent, and calmly admitted, ¡°That¡¯s right. I opened the side mission.¡± Following that, Mo Yi briefly exined the side missions in the game. Then, he narrowed his eyes, looking around at everyone, and added, ¡°Of course, there will be points rewards for providing assistance inpleting side missions. I am not asking you to believe me now. After all, everyone has their own ability to judge, and not just listen to the one: sided words of other people ¡ª.¡± Mo Yi swept a meaningful nce at Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s ashen faces, then smiled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, ba. ording to the timetable, it¡¯s finally breakfast time.¡± After speaking, he turned around and walked towards the dining room without hesitation. Everyone looked at the time in session: Indeed. If they didn¡¯t go in now, they were afraid that it would be toote. Owing to the tragic death of the yers who had not abided by the timetable still being vivid in their mind, everyone did not dare to hesitate anymore, and they all secretly elerated their pace and followed Mo Yi to the dining room. Although Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan were reluctant, they walked into the corridor behind everyone. After entering the dining room, everyone¡¯s eyes widened at the sight in front of them, ¡ª The dining room had changed beyond recognition. The low ceiling and walls were still crooked, however it had be much cleaner. The stains and grease had miraculously disappeared, and the drawing of the person hanging on the wall before was also gone. The chandelier overhead, which had been in tatters, had also be intact and bright, exuding warm rays of light. There was no trace of dust on the low long tables and benches, and they were neatly arranged in the room. The dining room was filled with the rich aroma of food. Everyone was impatient, paces quickening towards the food distribution area. On the brand-new food dining table, there were beautifully coloured cakes and puddings. Even the ck bread looked fluffy and delicious. The hot porridge emitted steaming heat. The brightly coloured fruit juice was served inrge ss bottles, making those who saw it twitch their forefingers. It was unknown how many more times better this meal waspared to before. Many people did not eat before because they disliked the water and ck bread. They were thirsty and hungry for nearly two days and had alreadypletely regretted it. Seeing these delicacies at this moment, their eyes couldn¡¯t help but shine. However, the sudden upgrade in treatment in this strange orphanage, one couldn¡¯t help but give birth to a restless feeling. So, although the yers were holding back their hunger, they still hesitated to step forward. Mo Yi frowned, took a few steps forward, and walked around the dining table a few times, convinced that there was indeed no other food here. It stood to reason that the time and ce for eating should be safe. But such a strange scene always made one worried from the bottom of their hearts. Mo Yi cautiously took only the same ck bread as the previous few days, and together with Song Qi, sat at a table. Sun Xiaoyan smiled contemptuously, and deliberately said loudly, ¡°The eating locations and the food are safe. This is one of the rules of the game. Is it necessary to have such small courage?¡± After that, she unceremoniously selected a lot of puddings and cake and ced them on her tray and poured arge ss of juice. Others secretly swallowed their saliva. After all, it was really hard to endure two days of having only food and water with little vour. Seeing someone get a head start, they trusted their luck and one by one stepped forward and began to choose their meals. On the contrary, Mo Yi didn¡¯t care. His food intake and water quantity these past few days have been nned in assurance, and it wouldn¡¯t be too painful if he didn¡¯t eat or drink water at this moment. At this moment, a dinner te fell directly opposite Mo Yi, with only ck bread and water in it. Mo Yi raised his head, somewhat surprised. He saw that it was the young man who had just spoken up for him who was sitting across from him. Mo Yi raised his eyebrows, calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, and looked at the other person, waiting for him to say something. The young man nervously nudged his sses, seeming to be slightly ufortable and uneasy. But under the lenses, the other person¡¯s eyes were rather serious, and he said, ¡°I believe you.¡± Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Mo Yi arched his eyebrows. His general facial features were clear and smooth, and his smile made people subconsciously feel closer. He seemed to be affected by his demeanor. The other person seemed to be less nervous, facial expression also rxing. Mo Yi¡¯s manner was soft, ¡°Your name is Wang Zezhi, right?¡± He remembered that during the team forming session on the first day of the game, the other person had briefly introduced himself. Wang Zezhi nodded, somewhat surprised, as if he didn¡¯t expect Mo Yi to actually remember his name. ¡°This isn¡¯t your first time in the game, right?¡± Mo Yi smiled and continued to ask. Wang Zezhi looked a little embarrassed, reached out his hand to nudge his sses, and replied, ¡°The third time.¡± He calmed down and continued, ¡°I made it through the first two times with enough time to spare, but during thest copy, I idently opened a side mission. Thanks to the help of a senior, I was able to narrowly escape alive with great difficulty. The points store also opened ¡­ I know a little bit about the mechanics of this game too.¡± Mo Yi raised his eyebrows with interest, waiting for him to continue. Wang Zezhi unconsciously broke apart the ck bread on the te with his fingers, raised his eyes to look at Mo Yi, lips pursed, and said, ¡°So, I can distinguish which people are really doing the actual work in the copy.¡± Suddenly, Mo Yi¡¯s shoulder sank. He looked to his side, a little surprised, only to see Song Qi pressing down on his shoulder with his palm, entire body drawing closer ¡ª through the thin clothing, Mo Yi could almost feel the ice-cold temperature of the hollow of his palm. Song Qi¡¯s voice was a bit heavier than usual, ¡°So you came here to ask to form a team?¡± Mo Yi wrinkled his brows imperceptibly. He didn¡¯t expect that ¡°Song Qi¡± would ask the question so pointedly, but also disy such obvious hostility. What was going on with him? Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but secretly get nervous: After all, the identity and objective of the other party were his greatest hidden dangers. If anything were to happen at this moment, the development of the matter would be beyond his scope of control. Wang Zezhi, on the contrary, didn¡¯t react much. He smiled and straightforwardly answered, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I help you in this copy as much as possible, assisting you inpleting the side mission. It can also be regarded as being mutually beneficial, ba.¡± After speaking, Wang Zezhi¡¯s gaze circled a little oddly over the pair. Then, lightly coughing, added, ¡°Also ¡­ of course, as a modern person, I¡¯m still very open minded.¡± Mo Yi turned his head with a confused look: ??? ¡ªWait, did you misunderstand something? Song Qi¡¯s facial expression wasn¡¯t as cold and solemn as it was a moment ago. He let go of the palm on top of Mo Yi¡¯s shoulder, and then bowed his head to fiddle with the bread on his te with a serious face. Mo Yi returned to his senses and smiled a little helplessly. ¡°You misunderstood, we are just friends.¡± Under Mo Yi¡¯s gaze, which was like a spring breeze, Wang Zezhi was forced to nod his head, admitting that he had made a mistake. Then, with his eyes and nose lowered, he concentrated on eating the bread, never looking at Song Qi who had once again regained a low pressure. A harmonious breakfast period always went by awfully quick. Mo Yi returned the te back to the serving table and turned around to leave.

The next second, his steps stopped in ce. Mo Yi¡¯s brows creased, quickly walking to the clock behind the serving table. Just like thest time seeing it, this clock was diligently working, moment by moment. The only difference was that this time ¡­ it was moving backwards. The second hand was little by little rotating backwards, appearing particrly magical. Mo Yi tightly knitted his brows, quickly calcting in his mind, and abruptly stared nkly. This clock should have started going backwards at the same time he opened the side mission ¡ª It was just like a countdown. In that case, what was going to happen at the end of the countdown? Wang Zezhi¡¯s voice came from behind, ¡°Are you ready? It¡¯s almost time for ss.¡± Mo Yi gave the clock onest puzzled nce before turning towards Song Qi and Wang Zezhi who were standing at the entrance of the dining room, replying as he walked, ¡°I¡¯ll be right there.¡± Behind Mo Yi, the worn-out, crooked old clock was silently hanging on the wall. The jet-ck metal case glowed with a cold light. The broken dial was still running, and the second hand was going counterclockwise bit by bit, appearing particrly strange. After reaching the library, everyone was once again taken aback. Just like the dining room, it had also changed beyond recognition. The benches and long tables were neat and tidily arranged without a trace of dust on them. Every seat had a book spread out in front of it, as if there were still people sitting in them, studying. Under the bright lights overhead, the bare floors and walls no longer looked unpleasant. Instead, it was somewhat warm. However, in this game¡¯s copy, such a change could only make everyone tremble with fear. But, at least from the lessons learned from the dining room, everyone actually adapted quite quickly this time. It didn¡¯t take a long time for the emotion of surprise to disappear from their faces, and they entered the room. Only, the difference was that this time, everyone was more cautious, no longer walking all over the ce. Instead, they found a small seat and sat, content with one¡¯s lot while inwardly praying that nothing strange would happen again, stiffly waiting for the time to end. Mo Yi looked around at the people who had survived the week and felt his mind clear up a little. There were four people on Zhao Yicheng¡¯s side. Two seniors and two neers. The neer who had abruptly questioned him violently before was among them. The people on both sides were as different as the waters of the Jinghe and the Weihe, sitting quite far away with a bench in between, seeming rather eye-catching. The neer who had once attacked Mo Yi seemed rather restless with anxiety. He was shaking his legs irritability. Although the temperature here was not high, his face was covered with fine beads of sweat. He reached out to touch his cheeks, subconsciously using his fingers to rub it. His skin was rubbed until there were light red marks. Several of the other people didn¡¯t look very good either. Everyone seemed to be scared by the strange atmosphere in the library. Each and every one¡¯s state of mind appeared to not be attentive. Zhao Yicheng and Sun Xiaoyan had lowered their heads to whisper something. The facial features of the two people were hidden in the darkness, and it was almost impossible to see. Mo Yi¡¯s line of sight lightly swept over them without pausing in the slightest. He turned to look at Wang Zezhi. ¡°Stroll around?¡± Wang Zezhi nodded and the three of them stood up one after another and began to look in the whole room for clues. Zhao Yicheng and the others were not to be outdone. Although theirplexions were still a little pale, they still followed after and stood up, resembling confused headless flies circling about the room, seemingly wanting to find clues that have still not been discovered. Mo Yi took the lead to walk to the table where the small poem was once written. The top of the wood grain table was clean and smooth, looking intact and brand new. The top didn¡¯t have the slightest trace of having been engraved with a knife. Mo Yi reached his hand under the table and searched. It was absolutely empty. Mo Yi straightened up, slowly wrinkling his brows. He quickly walked towards the inner library. Tidy looking books were arranged on bookshelves which were untainted by even a speck of dust, neatly lined up in perfect order ording to alphabetical order. Mo Yi took out a book to browse in passing, only to see that it was a book of enlightenment that was rather popr at that time period. The interior had traces of having been flipped through by a person, however it could be seen that it was quite well protected, totally not like thest visit where they appeared old and dirty. Suddenly, at this moment, there was cry of fear not far from behind him Mo Yi was taken aback, hastily ced the book horizontally on top of the other books, then quickly turned around and walked to the ce where the sound came from. A neer who was a young girl was standing by a table with a pale face and was pointing a slightly trembling finger at a book spread out on the table, and shakily said, ¡°I ¡­ I was trying to look for clues just now. The moment I turned my head, the pages of the book were being turned!¡± Seeing that everyone wasn¡¯t particrly convinced, an expression of wanting to cry appeared on her face. ¡°I swear! Really! Before I turned my head just now, it really wasn¡¯t on this page number!¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips, not very interested, and walked back inside the library. His action of reaching out for the book stopped. The book he had just recently taken out and thumbed through now happened to be properly inserted on the top of the bookshelf. Mo Yi withdrew his outstretched palm, lowered his eyes, countenance heavy, mood unable to be made out. An unknown foreboding lingered on his fingertips and heart like a dense mist after a rain that would not dissipate. He pursed his lips and said nothing. ¡ª A whole morning of searching and practically ended up empty handed. The whole room looked like it had beenpletely swept clean. All the clues, what had been there and what had not been discovered, seemed to have been entirely swept away, thoroughly disappearing. Even if everyone turned the whole room upside down, they still wouldn¡¯t find anything new. Sun Xiaoyan used a dust covered palm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, leaving behind a trace of dirt on her fair cheek. . She straightened her sore waist, turning her head, only to find that everyone was exhausted. Mo Yi was sitting upright on a bench, face calm, reading a book as if the matter did not concern him. He was seen twirling the pages of the book with his long and slender fingers, and then slowly flipped to the next page. It was like sitting quietly in the library for years instead of being inside a copy of an escape game where danger lurked on every side. A burst of unknown fire rose within Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s heart. Aze with anger, she walked to Mo Yi¡¯s side, and sarcastically said, ¡°You opened the side mission, but the result is that you sit there by yourself doing nothing and let other people help you look for clues?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face was heavy, as if he was still immersed in his own world. After a while, he looked up. His eyes were very dark in colour, and when he stared at people, for a moment, it was pitch-ck like being submerged in a dark abyss. Sun Xiaoyan couldn¡¯t help but be rmed. She listened as Mo Yi paused, face pensive, saying, ¡°My concern is not that there are clues or no clues, but that theck of clues is itself giving clues.¡± ¡­What, what, what, and what? Sun Xiaoyan was taken aback. At this moment, the dining bell rang. Not knowing whether or not it was an illusion, it seemed to sound more pleasant than before. Although everyone still hadn¡¯t given up, they all had no choice or option but to leave the library ording to the timetable and walk towards the dining room. The lunch was more plentiful this time. Butter and honey were drizzled on golden roasted thighs, exuding an enchanting aroma. Crepes were piledyer uponyer on snow white tes, garnished with a glossy rich strawberry jam. There was pudding and apple pie for dessert. Mo Yi and his party still sat to the side with ordinary ck bread. While everyone was eating, Mo Yi suddenly put down the small half of the ck bread in his hand, raised his head and said, ¡°Today¡¯s afternoon free period, we¡¯ll act separately.¡± Wang Zezhi was stunned. ¡°But¡­¡± Mo Yi smiled, allowing no doubt, and interrupted him, ¡°Only after I have shared the clues with you can you officially participate in the side mission. You know this, right ba?¡± Wang Zezhi was silent for a while and nodded. He understood what Mo Yi meant: He needed to prove his worth rather than sharing valuable information. ¡ªTalking to smart people was simple. A slight smiling expression spread from the corner of Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. At this moment, Song Qi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked, ¡°What are you going to do this afternoon?¡± Mo Yi raised his head, thought about it seriously, and then earnestly said, ¡°I¡¯m going to find a rabbit.¡± The author has something to say: Mo Yi: I think we are just friends. Song Qi: No, you don¡¯t want to be. (smile) Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Mo Yi turned on the shlight, tapping it against his palm. The beam of the shlight was perfectly straight, prating the darkness without hesitation, swaying on the opposite wall. It wasn¡¯t damaged. The battery was in good condition. Mo Yi somewhat absently turned off the shlight switch, held it in his palm, slowly took a deep breath, and then without the slightest hesitation, walked out. He felt that the appearance of the little girlst night must not have been a coincidence. ¡ª She was looking for a rabbit. After leaving the dangerous situation, Mo Yi instantly made a connection. Inside that yroom, he had idently stepped on a rabbit doll that was falling apart. Whether the two were rted or not, only by going over to see it would one be able to know. Mo Yi slightly narrowed his eyes, long eyshes concealing theplex emotions in his eyes. His steps slowly paused, stopping for a very long time in front of a familiar door. The door header of that door was much lower than the others. The poorly crafted door frame was crooked and rough. On the side of the door, crookedly written in crayon were several small letters, ¡°yroom.¡± However, unlike thest time, this time the door was densely packed with countless very small bloody handprints, one on top of the other, almostpletely covering half of the door. The wide, vast stretch of scarlet practically made one¡¯s eyeball sting in pain. It was a ghastly sight. Mo Yi took a deep breath, subconsciously gripping the shlight in his hand. The ice-cold metal case brought a slight chill to the center of his palms, prating to the bones, making him a little calmer. The previous time in the yroom was absolutely not a pleasant experience. Although it didn¡¯t do him any real harm, that feeling of oppression, which had almost solidified into a substance, was a feeling that could not be forgotten right away in a short time. Plus, now that the side mission was now open, the degree of difficulty had dramatically increased ¡ª no one could guarantee what would happen after entering. Mo Yi ced the palm of his hand on the doorknob, merely twisting it lightly. The door noiselessly and smoothly slipped into the darkness. Just likest time, noiselessly and silently inviting him to enter, waiting for the innocent to burst inside. Mo Yi felt that his throat was a bit dry and rough. He shallowly swallowed his saliva, throat sore with a painful heat. At this moment, there was a slight noise in the yroom. ¡°Click¡±. The light automatically turned on. A wan and dim light spilled over the room, revealing the full view of the room.

The yroom was not very big, so much so that it appeared rather ordinary whenpared with the other rooms. The low crooked walls were pasted with odd coloured wallpaper. The tattered edges of the wallpaper had peeled off, exposing walls of indistinguishable color. The room inside was absolutely empty and there was a filthy carpet spread out on the ground. Scattered toys and dolls were messily cluttered on the carpet. A small pile of building blocks was arranged into a crooked tiny house, clumsily painted by hand, looking quite funny. A few small dust covered dollsy beside it, and some were also piled in a small pile by the corner of the wall. The pit of Mo Yi¡¯s stomach slightly jumped. He remembered that when he came to the yroomst time, he seemed to have kicked the pile of blocks apart. Heposed himself and looked around the entire yroom, staying for a particrly long time on the wall ¡ª the six portraits he sawst time were already gone, leaving only a bare piece of wallpaper, looking empty. Moreover, more importantly, the rabbit had also disappeared. Mo Yi was slightly at ease. This at least proved that the rabbit the little girl was looking for really was the one he had guessed. He strode into the room and had just walked a few steps when he felt a cool breeze sweeping past from behind, and then there was a loud ¡°bang¡± ¡ª Mo Yi quickly turned around. The door behind him had already been mmed shut. His heart contracted. He quickly walked towards the door, hand reaching for the doorknob and gave it a violent shake. The door was like poured copper, simr to cast iron, not budging an inch as Mo Yipletely used up the strength in his body to pull it. It was as if it were tightly glued to the door frame. Mo Yi gasped lowly, slightly holding onto the door panel for support, but his lowered eyes caught a glimpse of a corner behind the door, and he couldn¡¯t help but stop. It was a gray rabbit. It was sitting upright against the wall behind the door, the tattered belly exposing the filthy cotton padding, tufts of it drooping to the ground. Its ck eyes, covered in dust, closely stared at Mo Yi. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, smoothed out his breathing, then crouched down, reached out and picked up the rabbit. The moment he straightened up to leave, he heard a familiar ¡°click¡± sound. The lights went out. The room was pitch-ck in an instant. There was a chill from behind Mo Yi, climbing along the tailbone, and the skin exposed to the ice-cold cold air immediately gave rise to ayer of goose bumps. The room was frighteningly quiet. Mo Yi could only hear his own unsteady breathing and rapidly contracting heartbeat. Through the cracks of the door, a subtle light filtered in from the corridor. Not knowing whether or not it was an illusion, Mo Yi used his hazy eyesight in the darkness and seemed to see ¡ª He was not the only one in this room. . Mo Yi held his breath, stiff fingertips faintly exerting force, and turned on the shlight. The cold bright beam of light prated the darkness, illuminating the opposite wall. The room waspletely empty, as if mocking Mo Yi¡¯s overly rich imagination. Yet, in the next second, the shlight in his hand suddenly began to flicker. The faint and uncertain light struggled to flicker indefinitely on the opposite wall. Every time it dimmed, there seemed to be another shadow on the wall. Finally, after two soft ¡°zizi¡± sounds, the shlight could not let out any light at all. The room was plunged into an extreme deathly silence and darkness. Mo Yi stood in the dark, stiff from head to toe, unsteady breathing exposing uneasy state of mind. At this moment, a very small weak force firmly grasped the rabbit in Mo Yi¡¯s hand and gently pulled it out. Mo Yi was taken aback and slightly loosened his stiff palm. The rabbit was pulled out of his hand, quietly slipping into the boundless darkness. ¡°Thank you.¡± A small child¡¯s voice sounded in the darkness, ¡°Thank you for helping me find my rabbit, Mister.¡± Mo Yi felt a little relieved, but before he could say anything, the child¡¯s voice rang again, ¡°But¡­ they want to y with you. I can¡¯t stop them.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s back was cold, and a sense of horror seized his mind in a sh. He asked using rough English, ¡°Who are they?¡± ¡°Mister, don¡¯t me them. They are just too lonely.¡± The delicate voice of the child did not answer, and instead continued to speak about its own matters, ¡°¡ª Really want someone to join them.¡± Mo Yi did not have a chance to do something before feeling that his pants legs were dragged by a heavy object. Then, more and more heavy objects were piled up, ruthlessly pulling him down. Mo Yi ran to the door with all his strength and shook the door, but to no avail. The door was still tightly welded to the door frame, not moving at all. The small girl¡¯s voice sounded again, ¡°If you can leave, I will be grateful towards you ¡ª If not, just keep ying with us, ba.¡± The soft giggling of a child echoed through the room, causing one¡¯s hair to stand on end. At the same time, the lights overhead began to flicker like crazy, the entire room dark for a short while and then illuminated for a short while. Mo Yi then caught sight of countlessrge and small broken dolls rushing forth from nowhere, drowning him like a surging wave, filling the entire room at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the next second, when the lights dimmed and then brightened, thoserge and small dolls became tiny pale bloody hands, elbowing one¡¯s way through and pushing other¡¯s aside, reaching out for him, firmly grabbing Mo Yi¡¯s hands and feet, dragging him downwards. As the lights brightened and dimmed, the things in the room transformed between dolls and hands, but they both equally increased more and more, practically drowning Mo Yi. Mo Yi struggled, breathing a little unsteady The door still had not moved an inch. A small deathly pale hand wrapped around his neck and stroked his cheek. The ice-cold touch made Mo Yi tremble and unexpectedly calm down. Think! Think! Mo Yi rapidly searched the entire room with his eyes ¡ª finally, his eyes lit up! A familiar brown teddy beary in the middle of the countless dolls, its two intact gray eyes quietly watching him. Mo Yi spared no effort, struggling to pounce on the bear. The light dimmed for an instant, then turned on again ¡ª The teddy bear turned into a small hand stained with blood. The bloodstain on that hand was particrly thick, almost dyeing it a pure blood red. Had no other choice but to fight! Mo Yi gritted his teeth, hand struggling to reach out, and tightly held it. A strong force came instantly, almost like an iron hoop, and pulled Mo Yi over. Mo Yi was faint with blurred vision for a while, following the whole force of the heavy smash, and returned to his senses only to find that he wasying down in the corridor. Under his body was an old, dirty, dusty carpet, and a rotten, dusty smell filled his nasal cavities. Mo Yi turned over in a daze. The dim wallmp added a gloomy and strange atmosphere to the long and narrow corridor and the ice-cold temperature prated the skin ¡ª Only then did Mo Yi discover that he was already wet with sweat all over. The mmy shirt was extremely ufortably stuck to his body. Mo Yi didn¡¯t care about it and insteady t on the ground and let out a long breath. He didn¡¯t feel it a moment ago. Now, he found that his whole body was seriously sore. Lifting the sleeves to take a look, he discovered that his forearm and wrist were densely packed with small purple handprints. His pale skin which hadn¡¯t seen daylight for a long time was swollen, standing out in relief, looking somewhat hair raising with its implication. Mo Yi pulled down his sleeves, and like a survivor of a disaster, let out a long sigh of relief, and then got up from the ground. He bowed his head and patted the dust on his body. Just then, Mo Yi saw that in the ce where he had just recentlyy down was a yellowed rolled up piece of paper. Mo Yi¡¯s heart palpitated and a trembling of excitement, like electricity, flowed throughout his body. He couldn¡¯t help but recall the girl¡¯s faint delicate voice in the dark yroom, ¡°If you can leave, I will be grateful towards you.¡± Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Mo Yi subconsciously turned his head and looked behind him. The dust covered wooden door was tightly closed and fit snugly together with the warped uneven door frame. Under the crooked letters, very tiny bloody handprints were piled up together,yer uponyer, leaving behind horrifying marks on the filthy indistinct door panels. Not knowing whether or not it was his illusion, Mo Yi always felt that these bloody handprints ¡­ seemed to have increased. He took a deep breath, forced himself to fling aside the vague emerging warning signs to the back of his mind, and then lowered his head, picking up the rolled-up paper and stood up. Under the fingertips came a rough and centuries old tactile sensation. To one¡¯s surprise, it was rather thick. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, hands stretched out to spread open the paper. In a sh, dust filled the air, dancing with quick light steps under the dim wallmp, obscuring his vision. Mo Yi choked, slightly coughing, hands vigorously shaking off the dust, and then intently looked at his hands. To his surprise, this was actually a photo. This was a group photo. Extremely wrinkled, covered in stains. The most distinct were the many small irregr brown spots on it, looking like it was sprayed upwards. Mo Yi was taken aback, and hurriedly looked at the lower left corner of the photo. There was exactly one corner missing. Mo Yi¡¯s heart beat wildly, causing him to subconsciously hold his breath. He knew which picture this was. It was precisely the photo that was in the photo frame hanging inside the dark room underground. After the massacre, it was hurriedly torn down and reced with the woman who was sent off to the gallows. Those tiny brown spots on it were the sprayed bloodstains of the orphans. Mo Yi rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the photo that had one corner torn off, took a deep breath, and then slowly moved it closer to the photo. Angle to angle, seam to seam. ¡ª It was a perfect fit. That photo waspletely mended.

In the background was the eerie and cold secluded orphanage under a dull gray sky. In front of the orphanage were the figures of short and small children standing in rows. Their facial features were blurred and stiff, their thin and small malnourished figures simr to a walking corpse. Soulless eyes, like two ck holes, stared straight at the camera lens. Beside the group of children stood a familiar figure: a tall, upright, and stern woman dressed in a in and simple ck dress as usual, appearing cold and unkind. Standing by her side were several women who also looked like nurses, all with apathetic and indifferent expressions. On the other side of the orphans, a figure standing out from the masses, caught Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. He was a man of medium build, neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, appearing mediocre with practically no distinguishing feature or characteristics. He stood in the corner of the crowd, showing a good natured, smiling expression at the camera. Mo Yi noticed that the man¡¯s hand was ced casually on the shoulder of an orphan beside him, and the orphan¡¯s limbs were obviously rigid, one shoulder distinctly raised high, one low, as if wanting to escape his touch. Through the blurry yellowed photo, the emotions written on the child¡¯s face was clearly visible ¡ª Fear. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was sluggish. Could this be the reason why the little girl made this her reward ¡­? Because the real manager of this orphanage was in this photo? Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating faster. He carefully looked at the man in the photo. However, the small half of the man¡¯s face was stained with tiny spots of brown blood, making one can¡¯t help but have some diaphragmatic response. He stretched out his hand and vigorously wiped the surface of the rough and uneven photo. The stagnant floating dust was roused by his movements, rising in the air. However, perhaps due to it being centuries old, the brown blood stain stayed firmly on the surface of the photo, showing no signs of loosening at all. Mo Yi didn¡¯t have much hope, so he stopped worrying about it. Instead, he carefully sized up the photo from top to bottom all over. After confirming that he hadn¡¯t dropped any leads, he re-rolled the photo, ced it inside the backpack, and then with raised legs walked out. Passing through the dark and long corridor, as he was about to reach the hall, Mo Yi heard a voice whispering from inside the hall. With a tight heart, his pace hurriedly quickened, walking towards the faint light at the end of the corridor. As soon as he arrived at the hall, Mo Yi became speechless because of astonishment. ¡ª Another victim. This time, it was the neer who decided to follow Zhao Yicheng and the others. Her face was looking upwards, having fallen on her back on the ground of the hall, limbs twisted under her own body like a broken doll. The gurgling blood slowly spread from under her body, as if flowers of death were blooming little by little. She had arge hole in her chest and cracked head. From the wounds, it was possible to see the white bones and internal organs as well as the red and white brain inside the shattered skull. She stared at the ceiling with a pair of broken, cloudy eyes which were unable to be closed in death. Large swaths of blood left dirty marks on the sides of her deathly white, distorted face. Not hanged. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were tinged with a heavy look: Unlike the several other deaths, this manner of killing ¡­ was almost like torture. At this moment, he was patted hard on the shoulder. Mo Yi turned his head, only to see Wang Zezhi standing behind him, panting. He cut an extremely sorry figure, clothes hanging wrinkled on his body, hair aplete mess, covered in dust from head to toe as if he had rolled around on the ground. He sped his lower back with his hands, back bowed, urgently gasping for air, unable to speak. Mo Yi stretched out his hand to help him up but was staggered by Wang Zezhi¡¯s weight. ¡°¡­¡­¡± He let go of his hand as if nothing had happened, changing directions to pat Wang Zezhi on the back to help smooth his breathing. At this moment, Mo Yi discovered that on Wang Zezhi¡¯s neck was a circr swollen and bruised strangtion mark that was still slowly bleeding, looking exceptionally striking on the pale skin. His gaze paused imperceptibly. Wang Zezhi took a few quick breaths, finally able to control the state of breathlessness. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and then still suffering from fright, said, ¡°Just now, I ¡­¡± As soon as the words came out, he and Mo Yi were startled at the same time. Wang Zezhi¡¯s originally warm voice had be very hoarse, simr to a broken gong, coarse like gravel, pressing painfully against the ears of the listener. Wang Zezhi coughed a few times and cleared his throat, voice returning to its previous tone. Although it was still hoarse, at least it didn¡¯t scare people. ¡°Just now ¡­ I went to the Dean¡¯s Room.¡± When Mo Yi heard the words, his eyes became serious. He straightened, stared at Wang Zezhi, and asked, ¡°What happened?¡± Heposed himself and slightly stammered, ¡°Now I know how difficult it was for you to get the timetablest time ¡­ I ¡­ I ran into a woman.¡± A trace of fear shed on top of Wang Zezhi¡¯s face. He took a deep breath, subconsciously stroking his throat. ¡°I ¡­ I almost nted there.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. ¡°Then, afterwards, you ¡­?¡± Wang Zezhi smiled bitterly, palm spread open. A very small, charred dolly in the palm of his hand. The whole doll¡¯s head was at a crooked angle, tilted downwards, and there were very visible strangtion marks on the neck. He said, ¡°It¡¯s also my greatest prop ¡­ if it wasn¡¯t for this item exchanged for in the in-game store to help me block it, I¡¯m afraid I would have been nted there.¡± After that, Wang Zezhi paused, and looked up at Mo Yi with some doubts. ¡°You didn¡¯t bring any other props in, right, ba ¡­? How did you end up getting out in one piece?¡± Mo Yi was taken aback when he heard the words, and subconsciously touched his tightly bandaged left hand. In fact, it didn¡¯t hurt so much now, so much so that it was possible to do some simple movements. There was no other option but to say that ¡°Song Qi¡¯s¡± bone setting technique was really good. Mo Yi¡¯s eyshes lowered, concealing theplex look at the bottom of his eyes. When he raised his eyes again, his face had regained its usual calmness and rationality. Mo Yi unobtrusively looked around the entire hall: Song Qi wasn¡¯t there. He wasn¡¯t very surprised. After all, at the beginning, he had such considerations when proposing to act separately. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, once more looking at Wang Zezhi, revealing a faint smile and vaguely said, ¡°Probably ¡­ good luck, ba.¡± Seeing his answer, Wang Zezhi couldn¡¯t keep asking. At this moment, Wang Zezhi seemed to think of something. His eyes instantly lit up and he looked at Mo Yi, mood somewhat stirred up. ¡°However, this encounter with danger wasn¡¯t without its rewards.¡± After that, he unzipped his backpack with hands that were shaking a little from excitement and took out a wrinkled document from the bag. Mo Yi¡¯s frowned, slightly confused. He clearly remembered that thest time he was in the Dean¡¯s Room, he had basically flipped over most of the documents. Then, these were new clues ¡­ Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to have thought of something. He looked at Wang Zezhi with burning eyes and asked in a somewhat urgent tone, ¡°When you entered the Dean¡¯s Room this time, what was it like inside?¡± Wang Zezhi was startled by Mo Yi¡¯s unprompted question, and answered, slightly unable to make sense of the matter, ¡°Well ¡­ it looked just like an ordinary office, ah. Nothing special. After I went in, this document happened to be arranged right on the middle of the table. The moment I took it ¡­ right away ¡­¡± ¡°Was attacked right away?¡± Mo Yi took over the conversation without warning. ¡°Um¡­ yes.¡± Wang Zezhi stroked the back of his head, puzzled, then nodded hesitantly. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes shed with deep contemtion. The time he entered the Dean¡¯s Room, he turned the whole office upside down. The tables and chairs were all knocked over. Even the bookshelf was pushed to the ground by him. And since Wang Zezhi said that what he saw was a normal office, it meant that after opening the side mission ¡ª the Dean¡¯s Room, like the other rooms in this orphanage, had undergone the same changes. There was no other option but to admit that Wang Zezhi risked his life getting this information. The lines of Mo Yi¡¯s face softened a bit, and he took the document from Wang Zezhi¡¯s hand, and when he opened it to read, his gaze identally flicked across his watch. 5:02 The rm clock he set didn¡¯t go off. ¡ª The orphanage¡¯s dining bell also didn¡¯t ring. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Mo Yi¡¯s fingers subconsciously tightened, thin creases appearing on the cover of the document, spreading like a spider web. The slender knuckles were pale from the exertion, looking shocking to the eye. His lips were pressed tightly into a straight line, the palour of the lips so light that it almost disappeared. What happened? Why did the ringing bell disappear? Could it be the countdown in the dining room ¡­? Mo Yi abruptly raised his head, rushing towards the dining room, ears filled with the sound of the wind from the fast pace, making him barely able to hear the sounds around him. He suddenly stopped at the entrance of the dining room, stopping his body from leading forward. Then, with sharp eyes and agile hands, grabbed the bewildered Wang Zezhi who was running after him. Wang Zezhi stumbled twice, supporting himself with the door frame of the dining room to stabilize his figure. He held up his crooked sses, deep doubt and uneasiness on his face. His mouth opened, asking in a hoarse voice, ¡°¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face was serious and turned his wrist, pointing his finger at the dial of his watch. Wang Zezhi was taken aback, following Mo Yi¡¯s fingers, leaning closer to look,plexion instantly turning ugly. The reason for the bell no longer ringing was temporarily unclear, but the cause of this was self evident ¡ª the former timetable couldn¡¯t be used anymore. Wang Zezhi took a step backwards, the expression in his eyes changing when he looked at the dining room. After all, he still remembered how miserably the yer who mistakenly entered the dining room died the first day because he didn¡¯t know the timetable. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, peeping at Mo Yi who was standing beside him. Mo Yi looked straight into the dining room, pair of extremely dark coloured eyes narrowed in thought. The bright lights in the dining room and the dim wallmps in the corridor carved up his facial features into light and dark, facial features appearing all the more clear and sharp. It seemed like the colour of his face would forever be unchanged even if Mount Tai were to copse in front of him. No matter what were to happen, this sort of calm and rational appearance caused one to feel at ease by simply watching him. There seemed to be a type of bizarre magic on this man, causing one to involuntarily regard him as the backbone and subconsciously want to believe in his judgement and decision making. Wang Zezhi took a deep breath and asked, ¡°What should we do now?¡± Mo Yi heard what was said, quickly sweeping a nce at him, sight stopping for a short moment on the wound on hs neck, and then replied, ¡°Let¡¯s get you patched up first. After that, I¡¯ll look for clues in the documents you found, then decide what to do next.¡± He rummaged through his backpack, taking out bandages and wound medicine, passing it to Wang Zezhi¡¯s hand, and then turned around to walk out of the corridor.

Wang Zezhi took the wound medicine, taking a few quick steps to catch up to him, and asked doubtfully while walking on the side, ¡°So, where are you going now?¡± ¡°The hall.¡± Mo Yi raised his hand without looking back, replying, ¡°On the timetable, the hall is basically a blind spot. On the whole, there¡¯s awfully few stiptions on whether or not the hall shouldn¡¯t be entered at certain time intervals.¡± Wang Zezhi thought: Yes. Currently, it was still unsure whether the existing timetable was truly invalid. The safest and most dependable method was to stay in the hall. . After figuring this put, his spirits rose, walking outside with Mo Yi. The hall was the same as before they had left, without any tendency of changing. This made Wang Zezhi¡¯s heart calm a bit. Reaching out, he unscrewed the wound medicine Mo Yi had just tossed to him and began to move awkwardly to apply it to himself. Meanwhile, Mo Yi stood to the side, borrowing the rtively bright lights in the hall to open the document that had been in his hand for a long time. The paper was quite new, smooth, and glossy as if brand new. This seemed to be an extremely simple and clear agreement. The specific contents of the business transaction were vaguely omitted, and only a veryrge number was written on the paper, which was all the more eye catching. Mo Yi read the whole text three times, still amidst the clouds and mists,pletely unaware of what the agreement was drawn up for when all was said and done. His brows knitted, doubts in his heart, and turned to the next page. The date of signing written in blue ink handwriting instantly came into view: March 11, 1919. Mo Yi was taken aback. He remembered that the file record on the two brothers in the basement was dated March 10, 1919. In that case, it indicated that this document was signed the day after the two brother¡¯s records came to an end. Moreover, on this date, the fake Dean who was set up and framed should have already been sent to prison. Therefore, the person who signed this document should have a high probability of being the one in charge of the orphanage behind the scenes. Mo Yi, as if absorbed in thought, stared at the string of flowery English letters signed at the end of the document, fingers subconsciously stroking it: The person who signed this document with this handwriting ought to have been a man ¡ª this made him instantly think of the ordinary man who was standing next to the orphan in the group photo. Mo Yi brows wrinkled indiscernably, deep eyes dark and bottomless. He withdrew his fingers on the paper, prepared to go back, but saw that there was a faint blue finger mark on the area he had stroked. He was momentarily rmed and looked at his finger. The fingertips were damp with ink, gradually following, smudged, along the lines of the fingers, leaving an indistinct half dried ink mark on the center of the fingertip. ¡ª Wait, the ink wasn¡¯t dried yet? Mo Yi twisted his fingertips, thoughtfully watching as the remaining ink on the fingertips started to crumble, spreading due to his body heat, turning into a light colour between the two fingers, like light blue mist adhered to the fingers. The countdown of the clock in the dining room. An orphanage that was bing more and more brand new. ¡ª As if time was going backwards. And March 11, 1919, was the end point of this regression. Such a terrible thought suddenly appeared in Mo Yi¡¯s heart ¡ª they may now have entered the timeline of the day, and what they are now deep in is the orphanage back then. His breathing hitched. A moment ago, at the entrance of the dining room, Mo Yi saw that the clock was still moving backwards, and there was no signs of it stopping ¡ª And at that time, the minute and hour hands of the clock happened to point at 5:40. Mo Yi looked down at his watch: It was now 5:20. In other words, after 10 minutes, the time on the clock that was running backwards ¡­ just happened to coincide with the time on his watch. It was as if ¡ª two timelines were equally ovepping. Just as Mo Yi was pondering, thoughts in turmoil, Wang Zezhi¡¯s voice unexpectedly rang out, rousing him from his train of thoughts, ¡°That ¡­ can you give me a hand, please?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes shed for a split second, dazed, as if he wasn¡¯t aware of the existence of another person in this room. He followed the sound and saw Wang Zezhi holding a handful of messy bandages with an awkward face, looking at him with some embarrassment. One end of the bandage was carelessly wrapped around his neck. The other end was wrapped around his hand and shoulders. It was still covered in some wound medicine and semi dried blood, cutting an endlessly sorry figure. Mo Yi understood: It really was not easy for a person to wrap a bandage around their injured neck. Just as well. Summoning up the courage to reflect on it would not produce any results, so it would be better to change the line of thinking. While thinking, Mo Yi stuffed the document into his backpack, stood up, walked to Wang Zezhi¡¯s side and took the bandage from his hand. Nimble, slender fingers properly and sincerely wrapped the long snow-white bandages around Wang Zezhi¡¯s neck, encircling it. The side of the neck was also tightly sealed with medical tape with dexterous technique. Mo Yi¡¯s fingertips unconsciously grazed Wang Zezhi¡¯s exposed skin. A sharp, ice-cold sensation roused Wang Zezhi, and he couldn¡¯t help but almost shiver. Goosebumps instantly rose on the warm, smooth skin. He subconsciously tilted his head, wanting to avoid it, but only felt Mo Yi¡¯s ice-cold hand leave in the next second. Wang Zezhi contracted his shoulders, reaching out to touch his neck, carefully not touching his wounds and used the warm temperature of his palms to press back the goosebumps that came out one after another. He couldn¡¯t refrain from having some misgivings in mind: Mo Yi¡¯s body was cold to the extent that it made his hands cold like ice. Mo Yi didn¡¯t notice the twist and turns in Wang Zezhi¡¯s heart. After he helped him finally seal the bandage in ce, he straightened to leave once more, indifferently looking around the entire room. At once, Mo Yi discovered that there was something wrong. They were the only two people left in the whole hall. Not knowing when, three people had disappeared. Mo Yi¡¯s heart beat fiercely. A sort of strange and unknown premonition, like a sponge brimming with water, filled with all of his sensory organs, the pressure making it almost difficult for him to breathe. He took a few steps in the direction of the corridor, holding his breath and bending an ear to listen closely. The dark depths of the corridor was submersed in deathly silence, light unable to prate the darkness, as if it had swallowed all sounds. The cold and deste silence was simr to a towel soaked in water, heavily pressing down on a person¡¯s mouth and nose. Mo Yi took another step closer. He looked down at his watch ¡ª 5:30 Just as the second hand streaked across the number ¡°12¡± on the watch face, the entire hall suddenly began to faintly shake, making Mo Yi stagger, caught off guard. Then, unsteadily holding onto the wall, he was barely able to stabilize his figure. When he once again raised his head, the whole hall had drastically changed. The clean and brand-new chandelier overhead emitted a bright light. The dark green wallpaper and dark brown carpet were distinctly patterned, and the receptionist desk at the door was untainted by even a speck of dust. It was apletely new building from the dusty orphanage before, making one hardly able to believe their eyes. Just as Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi looked at each other in dismay ¡ª Deep in the dark corridor, there suddenly came the sound of hurried and heavy footsteps! Closing in on them here with a speed that was difficult to react to! Almost before their eyes in the next second! Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The footsteps drew closer. Heart thumping in the chest cavity and boiling hot blood instantly rushed straight to the eardrums. The buzzing white noise made the surrounding sounds go away in a sh. Adrenaline spiked. Before Mo Yi¡¯s brain had time to react, his body acted before his mind did. Relying on the strength that burst forth at the crisis, he reached out and pulled Wang Zezhi with one hand, escaping to the side hall at the end of the hall. Rapid and heavy sounds of footsteps seemed to be approaching from behind! At the critical juncture, Mo Yi propped his palms on top of the low cab which already lookedpletely brand new, then leapt up, flipping over into the side hall. Wang Zezhi also reacted in an instant ¡ª he followed closely behind, also jumping into the side hall, and together with Mo Yi, lowered his body in the same ce. Then, shrank his body as much as possible, letting the low counter separating the side hall from the hall conceal the figure of the two men. ¡ª It all happened in a sh of lightning. The sound of footsteps entered the hall, pounding on the floor with a rushed, hollow reverberation, as if it were right next to one¡¯s ear. Uncontroble anxiety spread to their hearts. Did they move fast enough? Were they seen? Mo Yi¡¯s heart palpitated extremely fast, and the tense uncertainty caused fine sweat to seep from his forehead. He stretched out his hand to cover his nose and mouth, preventing the sounds of panting from revealing his position. ¡ª But the sounds of hurried breathing could still be heard in one¡¯s ears, as if it were a panic-stricken man¡¯s agitated asthma, making one¡¯s heart involuntarily raise as well. Mo Yi slightly tilted his head, turning his eyes to look at Wang Zezhi who was crouching beside him. But he met the same gaze looking at him. Wang Zezhi¡¯s hands were tightly covering his mouth and nose, his pale, sweaty face filled with an abnormal red flush after exercise, two brown eyes wide open behind the lenses, looking straight at Mo Yi. Mo Yi was taken aback: If it wasn¡¯t Wang Zezhi ¡­ then who could it be? The sounds of footsteps in the hall had already stopped. The only sound that echoed through the empty hall was the ragged panting apanied by a muffled, hoarse back of the throat, ¡°he he,¡± making one feel scared inside. Mo Yi carefully shifted his body, pressing his face into the gap between the counter and the wall, looking out through the gap. The field of view was thin and narrow, and it was almost impossible to turn about. Mo Yi struggled to find the angle ¡ª

He was stunned. A part of the hall¡¯s floor was red with blood, the bloodstains still spreading. Two slender legs wereying in the pool of blood, still twitching and moving. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze sank: This definitely couldn¡¯t be the neer who had sacrificed their life before because after the whole hall began to be brand new, that neer¡¯s corpse was already gone, along with the blood under her. Who could that be? The sounds of struggling and gasping became more and more intense and following in the wake were the sounds of ¡°he he¡±, simr to broken bellows, sounding especially horrifying. At this moment, the owner of those legs seemed to have found a chance to break free, suddenly bending without warning. With a violent tearing sound, the person seemed to stand up, leaving Mo Yi¡¯s limited line of sight. What followed was a series of chaotic footsteps and frightened gasps ¡ª Just then, only a loud ¡°bang¡± was heard. Gunshots. Deafening gunfire sounded in the enclosed room, practically jolting numb a person¡¯s ears. As the gunfire fell, the sounds of gasping fell silent. A person¡¯s body fell heavily to the floor, and the figure happened to be within Mo Yi¡¯s range of sight. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes widened imperceptibly. It was Sun Xiaoyan. Her face which was distorted by fear was covered in blood. The grey, lifeless face was turned towards the direction of the side hall, the protruding eyeballs filled with streaks of blood, coagted, as if the fear still had not dispersed. Her mouth was wide open. Saliva mixed with fragments of bloody flesh slid down along her chin. There was a neat incision on her fair and slender neck, avoiding the arteries and cutting the throat and vocal cords, exposing the blood red muscle membrane. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, aplex expression shing through his eyes. What he heard in the hall just now should be the footsteps of two people: One was the pursuer, and one was the victim. And the reason why Sun Xiaoyan, who had been chased since just now, was so quiet wasn¡¯t because she didn¡¯t want to scream ¡ª but couldn¡¯t. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes fell on the corpse again. The blood flowed out, gurgling, from the big hole in the corpse¡¯s chest, and gathered with the blood from her throat, forming a pool of blood. ¡ª It happened to be exactly the same size and location as therge hole in the chest of the neer who had died before. There seemed to be a chuckle in the air. Mo Yi was startled and attentively listened again ¡ª but could no longer hear theughter that dissipated in the air, as if it were merely an illusion of his. Just then, new footsteps rang in the quiet hall. Steady, unhurried steps, treaded on the pool of blood. There was the slight sound of sshing liquid. Then, once again, it knocked on the smooth floor, making a soft ¡°ke¡± sound, as if stepping on a person¡¯s heart. Every time, it stepped to the beating rhythm of one¡¯s heart. Mo Yi subconsciously released a soft breath and attentively watched the hall through the gap. A man¡¯s back appeared within his field of vision, standing between Mo Yi and Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s corpse. The clothes on his body were dishevelled and wrinkled, stained with dried and semi-dried blood. There was a newyer of bloodyered on top, and it was nearly impossible to make out its original appearance. Mo Yi was taken aback ¡ª There was something about the color and texture of this clothing that looked familiar to him. The man lowered his head and looked at Sun Xiaoyan, who was dead but had her eyes open, then bent down, reaching out to firmly grasp her two arms, and dragged her away in the direction of the corridor. The moment he turned sideways, Mo Yi saw his face clearly. This man was the neer who was once violently angry at him. However, right now there was not a single trace of expression on his face, or even a fluctuation of mood, only a pale and indifferent face. And on one of his cheeks ¡ªappearing to be scratched by one¡¯s fingernails were deep bloody scars. The half-scratched face had no intact skin and was shocking to see. Mo Yi held his breath. The man dragged Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s corpse out of Mo Yi¡¯s limited range of sight. The sounds of heavy footsteps got farther and farther, and then slowly faded away into the depths of the corridor. Wang Zezhi let out a sigh of relief, butt falling on the ground. He stretched out his legs which were stiff and numb from being curled up for too long. It was then that he discovered that in just ten minutes, his body had already beenpletely soaked with sweat. He turned his head to look at Mo Yi, about to say something, but was startled by his sudden action. Mo Yi stayed in ce for a short while, then suddenly reached out and pulled the backpack, unzipping it and rummaging for something ¡ª Rustling, in only a moment, Mo Yi took out a rolled-up paper from the bag, and then shook it off, opening it, revealing a group photo in front of the orphanage. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze focused on the man on the side of the crowd. He held his breath, once more extended his fingers, and stroked the clumped ¡°bloodstain¡± on his cheek in the photo: It was t and smooth, without the slightest bump and unevenness, and there was no irregr shape of sshed blood. . This was not dried blood. Rather, it existed in the photo itself ¡ª It was the man¡¯s birthmark. It was located exactly where the neer had been scratching at during this morning. Wang Zezhi went over, looked at the photo in Mo Yi¡¯s hand, somewhat confused, and hesitantly asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± His voice suddenly roused Mo Yi from his train of thoughts. Mo Yi rolled up the photo in his hand, carelessly stuffed it back into his backpack, then turned his head and looked at Wang Zezhi with a serious face. His face was pale, eyes appearing all the more pitch-ck. At this moment, when looking intently at someone, it always gave people the illusion of directly facing a de. Mo Yi¡¯s nearly colourless lips pursed and said, ¡°This orphanage is actually air to resell orphans. Taking advantage of the poption discement during wartime to make a profit. It was caught in the act, so the real Dean of the orphanage pushed a fake Dean out to take the me, resulting in her being sentenced to death by hanging, and the real Dean took advantage of the situation to deal with the evidence in the orphanage ¡ª which was to kill all the orphans in the basement to prevent them from divulging the secret.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s sudden exnation stunned Wang Zezhi, and he understood in the next second, abruptly bing serious ¡ª this was to help him open the side mission. Sure enough, as soon as Mo Yi¡¯s voice fell, all that could be heard was that familiar female voice: ¡°Dang dang dang. Congrattions to yer number 05, Wang Zezhi, for unlocking the hidden storyline of this escape game! Side missions are now open. Completing side missions will reward rich points. yers, please continue to work hard!¡± Wang Zezhi¡¯s expression rxed, raising his eyes to Mo Yi gratefully, but was surprised to find that his expression wasn¡¯t as rxed as his own. Instead, it was more solemn. After Mo Yi waited for the voice of the female topletely disappear, he raised his pitch-ck eyes to look at Wang Zezhi, took a deep breath, and continued, ¡°I suspect that after opening the side mission, the timeline of the entire orphanage is gradually ovepping with the past. And when the hall ispletely brand new, it means that the two timelinespletely ovep. That is to say ¡ª¡± ¡°There¡¯s going to be a repeat of the massacre?¡± Wang Zezhi slightly trembled with fear. Although he hadn¡¯t seen what happened just now, the blood and the traces of struggle on the ground told him almost everything. ¡°¡­ I¡¯m afraid it is.¡± Mo Yi was silent for a short period, and then said, ¡°And that neer should be the executioner.¡± A haze of doubts and suspicions gathered in his heart. There were still many doubtful points that haven¡¯t beenpletely resolved. Before Wang Zezhi could ask, right away, he saw Mo Yi stand up from the ground. He turned his head to look at the pitch-dark corridor, and said in a deep voice, ¡°I have an idea that needs to be confirmed.¡± He pensively looked at the ground, murmuring to himself, ¡°There should be some time before he tries to find us ¡­¡± Mo Yi was lost in thought, pondering over something, and turned, walking outside the side hall ¡ª his footsteps stopped in ce, gaze falling on the center of the pool of blood. In the ce where Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s corpse wasying just now, shockingly, was a snow-white slip of paper. Bloodstains slowly blotched the surface of the paper, dying severalrge letters blood red: ¡°FIND ME¡± Mo Yi suddenly raised his head. That familiar teddy bear was sitting in the corridor with its back facing the darkness and its cloudy eyes were staring straight at him. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The teddy bear sat quietly at the junction of the corridor and the hall, breaking up the darkness and light behind its body. Although the dark brown fur was a bit old, it was still clean and soft, it¡¯s four limbs intact ¡ª like the whole orphanage, the timeline on its body seemed to have returned to 1919. Mo Yi stared at it, still not havinge to. At this moment, Wang Zezhi¡¯s voice was by his ear, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± His voice slightly distracted Mo Yi. When he looked at the corridor again, that teddy bear that came and went like a shadow had disappeared likest time. The piece of paperying in the pool of blood seemed to have lost the magic power attached to it just now. It was soaked, eroded by the bright red blood. The handwriting on it was slowly swallowed by the blood. In a matter of seconds, it became an ordinary piece of paper that had fallen into the blood. Mo Yi¡¯s brows furrowed, eyes a bit heavy. Why was it ¡°Find Me¡± again? He followed the teddy bear¡¯s clues, finding the identities of the two brothers underground. Didn¡¯t that count as finding them? What did this repeated prompt mean? Wang Zezhi walked to his side at this moment and looked at him with some doubt, once again asking, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Why did you stop suddenly?¡± Mo Yi returned to his senses and took another profound look at the piece of paper that had been immersed in the pool of blood, and slowly shook his head, saying, ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± After speaking, he curbed his mind, lifting his eyes to look at the four corridors in front of him ¡ª A dragging trail of blood extended into one of the corridors and was gradually swallowed by the dense darkness. The executioner should have dragged the corpse in that direction. Mo Yi turned around and walked inside another corridor. He stepped into the deep corridor, the light dimming in an instant. The wallmps emitted weak rays of light, illuminating the decorative design on the dark green wallpaper, the colour restored to brand new, the wallpaper stuck high up to the ceiling. It gave a person an invisible feeling of oppressiveness. Worn down by years of not being repaired, the floorboards under their feet made a ¡°zhi zhi¡± sound. While walking, Mo Yi mentally sorted out the clues that had appeared. Presently, the timeline of the entire orphanage had rewinded to March 11, 1919. And on this day, more than 300 orphans in the orphanage were massacred ¡ª Now, if the massacre was to be repeated, then one party was the perpetrator and one party was the victim. However, the dead obviously couldn¡¯t once again be alive in the orphanage. In that case, someone must be found to reenact the roles of the perpetrator and the victim. The neer who had troubled him before was obviously selected by the orphanage as the perpetrator ¡ª That was why he had scratched his own face to have the same markings as the man in the photo. Then, they ¡ª As the default members of the orphanage, were naturally ced in the role of the victim. So ¡­ was this arrangement random or selective?

Mo Yi¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed, subconsciously cracking his knuckles lightly. The document that Wang Zezhi brought out had many names signed on it. Moreover, it was evidently signed on the same day ¡ª Then, the two meals that suddenly got better seemed to have a clear exnation. There was a high probability that it was exclusively for entertaining guests. The floor under their feet no longer made a distracting creaking sound and had instead be quiet and sturdy. Mo Yi¡¯s footsteps stopped. He then crouched down, taking advantage of the dim lights in the corridor to fumble about the ground. Atst, he touched the crack in the ground, then forcefully lifted it. The carpet was lifted up by him, revealing an iron door, suffused with cold light. Wang Zezhi somewhat hesitantly asked, ¡°Is this the entrance to the basement?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, and he nodded, eyes still on the iron door ¡ª The broken lock on the iron door that was there thest time he came was gone. Wang Zezhi squatted down and reached out to help lift up the iron door. Damp, cold, and gloomy air blew against their faces. The long, narrow staircase below was exposed as the iron door was lifted open. ¡ª At the end of the stairs was a glimmer of light passing through. Mo Yi walked down a few steps, then leaned out half of his body, pulling the carpet over, trying to find a good angle, and then carefully covered the iron door again. This way, they could pull the iron door at the top of the stairs underground, the carpet immediately concealing the iron door again. Afterpleting this task, Mo Yi took a deep breath, settling down his state of mind, and took the lead to walk down the stairs. Wang Zezhi followed closely behind. After going underground, what entered their eyes was really bright: The damp, exposed rock wall was sturdy and tall, supporting an entire expansive space. The small beds below were neatly and tidily set up. The bed sheets were yellowed, shabby and wrinkled, but unlikest timeing here, it wasn¡¯t as dusty and filthy. It had also gone back to the previous timeline here. Mo Yi waved at Wang Zezhi who was looking around with a surprised face, and then strode across the room, walking towards a wooden door. Pushing open the door, a clean wall came into view, and the tidy beds were densely packed, almost identical to the previous room. The horrible sight of the bloodstains left behind by the previous massacre had alreadypletely vanished, the whole room appearing undisturbed and tidy. Mo Yi turned his head, looking around the entire room, eyes stopping on one side of the room. As if to strengthen his resolve, he took a deep breath, then lifted his legs, walking towards that direction. Wang Zezhi looked in the direction Mo Yi was facing, only to see that there was a short and sturdy wooden door in that area which was marked in English ¡ª ¡°Nurse¡¯s Room.¡± He followed behind Mo Yi, very carefully passing through the densely packed small beds in the room, walking towards the front of the wooden door. Mo Yi¡¯s hand reached out, gripping the ice-cold doorknob. With a gentle twist, the door slowly opened. A soft ¡°eee¡± sound of rust rang out. The dark, gloomy, and cold odour inside the door permeated, spreading, almost cause one to feel a chill all over. Mo Yi¡¯s countenance sank, reaching out to turn on his shlight, and walked inside the door without hesitation. Inside this door was a deep corridor. There were two rooms on each side of the corridor, pitch-dark and wide open, appearing particrly sinister under the faint light of the shlight. Mo Yi used the shlight to wander about the room, illuminating the vague outlines of the objects in the room ¡ª One room had four single beds as well as some essential furniture. It was simple and crude butplete in every detail. This was probably where the nurses lived. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers holding onto the shlight slightly tightened, and he continued to walk onwards. At the end of the corridor, there was a room. The beam of light from the shlight swept across dirt covered door te, and on it were clearly engraved letters ¡ª ¡°Infirmary.¡± Mo Yi imperceptibly breathed out a sigh of relief. That was very good. He didn¡¯t find the wrong ce ¡ª There were so many people in this orphanage. Even though it didn¡¯t matter if the orphans lived or died, it was still important to take precautions against arge-scale breakout of an epidemic as well as to ensure the well being of the nursing staff. However, it was not found on the ground floor, and there was no sign of the infirmary in the basement before. In that case, it was very likely that it was hidden behind some unopened door. It now appeared that he was right. Wang Zezhi took a few steps forward. Using the shlight¡¯s bright light, he also recognized the words on the door sign as well. He asked, slightly unable to make sense of the matter, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is there anything you need in the infirmary?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s head turned to the side, and he replied in a thoughtful manner, ¡°¡­. To validate a theory of mine.¡± After that, he reached out and pushed open the door of the infirmary and took the lead to walk inside. The medical room was unexpectedly clean and tidy. The area where the shlight was illuminating was spotless, and everything was neatly set up. Bottles and jars were ced on the shelves in order of size, reflecting a cold light under the light of the shlight. Mo Yi walked around the back of a table, fished out the remaining dressing bandages he had given to Wang Zezhi a moment ago, and used it to wrap up his palm. Then, he began to cautiously flip over the things on the table. A photo that was turned over and pressed to the bottom caught his attention. Mo Yi turned it over. The man in the ck and white photo was clearly the man in the previous group photo. He looked much younger, embracing a petite woman in the crook of his arms who seemed to be his wife. There was a dark birthmark on half of his face and his smile was very kind. And in his arms, his wife¡¯s face and limbs were very stiff, fear written on the corners of her brows and eyes. Mo Yi took a closer look and suddenly found that the man was wearing summer attire, yet every inch of the woman¡¯s skin was closely wrapped up. Even her hands were covered with gloves as if concealing something. Wang Zezhi also leaned over. He looked at the photo in Mo Yi hand, somewhat surprised, and said, ¡°This, this is the man from the group photo? He was a doctor?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression was a little heavy and he nodded. ¡°When we were upstairs, we didn¡¯t hear Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s screams at all, indicating that her vocal cords were severed at the beginning. Such a neat and experienced action is impossible without professional skills.¡± ¡°So¡­ the sinister hand behind the scenes isn¡¯t him?¡± The corners of Mo Yi¡¯s lips were pursed, and he gave a soft ¡°um¡±. While putting the photo back in ce, he said, ¡°He should be a sadist. That¡¯s why the orphans and the woman in this photo were so terrified of him. That¡¯s why the mastermind behind the scenes sent him to kill so many orphans.¡± Moreover ¡­ they were tortured to death. Both of their expressions became a little heavy. Suddenly, within the silence, there was a soft metal sound in the distance, and then heavy footsteps came down the stairs, prating the quiet atmosphere, shaking their eardrums. Mo Yi was suddenly rmed ¡ª someone had returned. Within the shortest time, he tried to restore the things on the table to their original state as fast as possible, and then ran outside with Wang Zezhi. The door of the infirmary closed behind them. There was no fork in the road. Once they left, it was inevitable to meet head on. The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer. Each step seemed to be pressing on top of a person¡¯s heart. Mo Yi¡¯s mind was increasingly stretched taught. Suddenly, his mind stirred, and he reached out his hand to pull Wang Zezhi, turned around and rushed into one of the adjacent closed nurse¡¯s room. He then closed the door again. The two lowered their bodies, turned off their shlights, andy quietly in the dark. The footsteps got closer. A slight ¡°click¡± sound was heard, and the light outside came on, shining in through the gap between the door and the frame. With the faint light, Mo Yi saw that a spread-out piece of paper had been quietly ced in front of him. Ity in the dust, and on it, in colored, crooked crayons, was written: ¡°FIND US¡± The Author has Something to Say: Song Qi (Pulls out a 40-meter-long knife): Author, tell me why I haven¡¯t made an appearance yet. Mo Yi (Holding it): Take it easy. Butchering her with a 2-meter de is enough. Here you go. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Mo Yi¡¯s breathing slightly halted. His eyes were closely fixed on the opened piece of paper, and the faint light passing through the crack of the door and the frame printed a distinct trace of light on the slip of paper, illuminating the handwriting on it. From ¡°Find Me¡± to ¡°Find Us¡± ¡­? Mo Yi¡¯s thoughts were a little chaotic. Too many thoughts seemed to be tangled together in a tremendous muddle, unable to make sense of it. An unknown ¡°zhi zi¡± sound came from outside the door, seeming particrly clear inside the deathly silent enclosed space. It should be the other person involved who was opening the door. This sound instantly brought Mo Yi back to his senses. His heart began to violently beat, and he subconsciously letting out a soft breath. From the details observed in the infirmary just now, this doctor probably had mysophobia and obsessivepulsive disorder. Therefore, just now, Mo Yi was very cautious in the infirmary, trying not to touch and destroy the originalyout inside as much as possible. However, ¡­ he returned too suddenly. But ¡­ in such a hurried and tense situation, Mo Yi didn¡¯t know if he had made a mistake. It was extremely quiet outside the door. The sound of his own rapid heartbeat was in his ears, sharply contracting, beating rhythmically. The surging blood pounded against the walls of his blood vessels in rhythm with the beating of his heart, especially loud and clear within the deadly silent surroundings. A soft ¡°pop¡± sound cut through the silence, and the light passing through the door crack became brighter. ¡ª He had turned on the light in the infirmary. Mo Yi held his breath. Across the door, a gloomy and cold slimy voice rang out, hissing like a poisonous snake in the darkness, ¡°Someone has been here.¡± It was as if his heart had been brutally squeezed, and rm bells went off in his brain ¡ª From head to toe, his blood was instantly ice-cold. Oh no. If this continued, they would definitely be turtles caught in a jar ¡ª! Mo Yi¡¯s thoughts were like electricity, rapidly sweeping around the entire dim room, gaze freezing on a chair by the door, and instantly had a n in mind. A series of inferences took shape in his mind in a sh, with a difference of no more than milliseconds in between. Under overwhelming pressure, Mo Yi instead became unusually cool headed. He lowered his voice and quickly spat out a word in Wang Zezhi¡¯s ear who was crouching at the side, ¡°Run.¡±

After saying that, he abruptly stood up, pulling out the chair and ran out! Arriving at the door, Mo Yi, from the corner of his eyes, caught a glimpse of a sinister looking man whose face was half mutted, standing in the middle of the infirmary. The man obviously didn¡¯t expect them to just brazenly scurry out of the side room like that. A dazed look couldn¡¯t help but sh across the silent and stupefied eyes. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mo Yi took a sudden big step forward, pulling hard on the infirmary door without warning, and closed the door with a ¡°bang.¡± Then, smoothly wedged the back of the chair he was holding to the door handle. From inside the door came a twisting ¡°click¡± sound in afterthought. Wang Zezhi, who was following Mo Yi, was dumbfounded. ¡°¡­¡± Was there such an operation ??? A loud bang exploded in the corridor¡ªa gunshot. In the wake of the gunshot, sawdust sprayed. Instantly, a semirge debris sted hole appeared on the door. The metallic tter of bullets being reloaded rang out. Mo Yi¡¯s voice was like an rm bell, pulling Wang Zezhi back from his stupor, ¡°What are you doing in a daze? Run!¡± Wang Zezhi came back to his senses, turning around to keep pace with Mo Yi¡¯s figure up ahead from behind. The two ran out the door as quickly as possible. The close and numerous small beds were practically a hindrance to them, impervious to the wind, blocking them. The two stumbled across the room which was filled with beds with hardly any gaps between them. Even if the iron corners of the bed hit their knees, it could not slow them down. Behind them was anotherrge gunshot, and the sound of a door splintering. Mo Yi¡¯s chest was tight and he couldn¡¯t help but elerate his pace. The sound of rapid and heavy footsteps followed closely behind! The two had by now crossed to the far end of the room and were about to cross through the wooden door that separated the two rooms. Mo Yi slightly tilted his head, and from his peripherals, caught a glimpse of the figure behind him unexpectedly stopping ¡ª His heart suddenly trembled. Quickly turning around to pull Wang Zezhi inside, he mmed the door shut with the other hand. At almost the same moment, gunfire sounded. The shotgun bullet hit the not so sturdy wooden door, wooden chips exploding, among which several thin pieces cruelly plunged into Mo Yi¡¯s arm. Mo Yi gritted his teeth, bearing the pain. The palm of his hand, which had been injured before, was now shaking so much that he could hardly hold it steady. The pain was so intense that he stopped breathing for a split second. Fortunately, the distance was not as close as before, otherwise the wooden door would also be sted open. Mo Yi made a prompt decision, reaching over to pull the small bed aside. The iron legs of the bed made an ear-piercing sound on the ground. Wang Zezhi clearly saw the wound on his hand, and also hurriedly lent a hand. The two cooperated, blocking the wooden door with the bed, then ran to the staircase together. Gunshots came from behind again. Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi couldn¡¯t handle it anymore, and desperately climbed up the stairs. With a soft ¡°eek¡± sound, the iron door overhead was forcefully pushed open. A dim glimmer of light filtered in from the corridor. The bright light, simr to a dose of cardiac stimnt, instantly poured into the two men¡¯s hearts. Behind them came the sound of the door being blown open again and the ¡°eek¡± sound of the iron bed being pushed ¡ª heavy footsteps once again gave chase. Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi made a push for it, climbing up. The iron door fell with a ¡°bang¡±, causing the metal to reverberate, cutting off the sounds of pursuit underground. There was a vicious pounding sounding through the iron door, nging and banging. The iron door quivered alongside the pounding, stirring upyers andyers of umted dust. Together, the two of them pressed against the still shaking iron door, exerting the full weight of their bodies on it. Two minutester, it seemed that the person below realized that their efforts were useless and stopped shaking and attacking the iron door. Mo Yi let out a long breath and following his strength, sat down on the iron door. A feeling of soreness and pain instantly spread, engulfing his senses like a flood, practically making him uncontrobly shudder. ¡°Down there just now, thank you.¡± Wang Zezhi, half grateful and half worried, looked at him, somewhat guiltily asking, ¡°How is your injury?¡± Mo Yi shook his head with some difficulty, took a few deep breaths, and tried hard to calm himself down. Wang Zezhi looked at the ce where he was injured: The sleeves under Mo Yi¡¯s arms were quickly dyed all red with blood. His heart couldn¡¯t help but tighten, and the rising guilt was difficult to hide. Wang Zezhi rummaged through his backpack, found a bottle of painkillers, poured two in the palm of his hand, and handed it to Mo Yi. ¡°Eating it will make you feel better.¡± Mo Yi swallowed the pills. Although hisplexion was still deathly pale, he seemed to have rxed a bit. Wang Zezhi held up his wounded arm, took out his pocketknife, and cut his sleeves open, revealing the bruised and badly mangled arm. He wrinkled his brows and repeatedly warned, ¡°I¡¯ll help you pick out the wood chips and treat the wound, otherwise it¡¯d be difficult to moveter ¡­ Only, regr painkillers aren¡¯t strong enough to make a person¡¯s nerves ignore this type of pain. You can only try to bear it.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face was deadly pale and nodded. Ten minutester, Wang Zezhi wrapped the remaining bandages around his arm, finally ending the painful treatment. Mo Yi panted heavily, clothes already drenched with sweat, face deadly pale, eyes all the more ck and calm and lucid as always. Fortunately, his tolerance for pain was not low, and if an ordinary person was ced here, perhaps they would have fainted from the pain. Mo Yi tried to move his arm, turning his head towards Wang Zezhi and said, ¡°I¡¯m worried he¡¯lle out. You help drag something heavy to hold down the iron door. I¡¯ll sit here and hold it down first.¡± Wang Zezhi nodded, and warned, a bit uneasy, ¡°If anything¡¯s wrong, loudly shout right away.¡± Mo Yi smiled and nodded. Wang Zezhi¡¯s silhouette was gradually swallowed by the dim lights in the corridor. Mo Yi moved his shoulder. Due to the pain and sweat drenched clothes, the currently gloomy and cold corridor seemed chilling to the bone, causing him to involuntarily curl up, shivering. At this moment, the iron door under him shook again! Mo Yi quickly stabilized his figure, supported his own body with both hands, and used gravity to press down on the shaking iron door beneath him. However, the body weight wasn¡¯t enough. Mo Yi felt that he was being slowly lifted up while he was struggling ¡­ lifted up ¡­ Lifted up ¡­ Mo Yi, with an embarrassed face, loosened his throat and shouted, ¡°Wang Zezhi! Help!¡± ¡ªThis time, he not only wanted to exercise, but to also gain weight! Wang Zezhi sprinted over, helping him press down the iron door. Then, he raised something in his hand and shook it at him: It was a big lock. Shockingly, it was the same lock that should have been on the iron door when the timeline hadn¡¯t gone back in time. With sharp eyes and agile fingers, he pressed on the still shaking iron door, then fastened the lock, twisting the key, and locked the iron door. The metal lock fell heavily on the iron door with a heavy thud. The two released their hands, retreated back a few steps, watching as the iron door once again be quiet, and then let out a deep breath. Mo Yi withdrew back a step and detected that something under his foot felt wrong. He bowed his head and looked, only to see that his foot had stepped on a piece of paper. He bent down and picked up the note, only to see that it still read: ¡°FIND US¡± Mo Yi smoothly turned the note over. He couldn¡¯t help but tremble from head to toe. The note also had writing on the back, which read: ¡°HELP US¡± In a sh of lightning, Mo Yi¡¯s mind instantly shed with a thought ¡ª Just now, in the hall! The chuckle that came from the air when Sun Xiaoyan was tortured to death leapt into his mind again. Mo Yi abruptly raised his head, words extremely fast, and quickly said, ¡°The sinister hand behind the scenes decided to kill the children to cover up the evidence, right ba?¡± Wang Zezhi was a little dazed by his sudden question, thought about it, and nodded. Mo Yi continued to speak, ¡°In that case, wouldn¡¯t a simple execution be faster and simpler? Why take the orphans to a room in the basement to torture to death?¡± Wang Zezhi was stunned, eyes shing with a look of contemtion. Yes¡­ he hadn¡¯t thought of this problem before. ¡°Remember that document that was just signed today?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, bright eyes flickering under the dim lights, and continued, ¡°Perhaps, the real Dean wanted to make a final profit before disbanding, or to please some people who had given him protection ¡ª So he put on a performance for rich people who have a particr fetish.¡± A massacre performance. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

After Mo Yi finished speaking, he paced back and forth, somewhat agitated, brows tightly knit. Under the dim, gloomy, and cold corridor lights, his pale face due to blood loss appeared even more deathly pale at this moment, and there wasn¡¯t a trace of blood on the tightly pressed lips. Wang Zezhi gradually came to from Mo Yi¡¯s deduction just now, and a shiver instantly ran down his back. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked, ¡°That ¡­ Since we¡¯re acting as the victims and the neer is ying as the perpetrator, then ¡­ who¡¯s ying as the spectator?¡± Mo Yi shook his head, a little solemn, and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± His lips pursed and he said with some uncertainty, ¡°A moment ago, I think I heardughter when Sun Xiaoyan was tortured and killed.¡± Wang Zezhi couldn¡¯t help feeling cold all over hearing this, ayer of goosebumps rising in a sh. His shoulders shrank and he showed a forced smile, saying, ¡°You ¡­ you don¡¯t scare me, ah.¡± Mo Yi raised an eyebrow and didn¡¯t answer. He lowered his head and stroked the piece of paper in his hand. A rough tactile sensation came through from under his fingertips, and the flimsy and thin paper made a slight rustling sound. Mo Yi¡¯s sight stopped on the handwriting on the note, eyes dark and heavy. For a moment, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. There was a momentary silence in the air that was a little frightening. Wang Zezhi saw that he was looking at the note again and again over there and couldn¡¯t help slightly breaking the silence, asking a bit puzzled, ¡°Aren¡¯t there just a few words on that piece of paper? What are you looking at?¡± His words seemed to rouse Mo Yi. Mo Yi looked up from his train of thoughts, pitch-ck eyes gazing at Wang Zezhi. However, it wasn¡¯t focused on him, seeming to pass straight through him. He replied, off topic, ¡°I was thinking. Where did the corpses go?¡± Wang Zezhi was stunned: The corpses? Mo Yi said right after, ¡°The massacre was originally meant to cover up evidence. So, the dead bodies of over three hundred orphans could never be transported out in in sight. Then where could they possibly go?¡± Wang Zezhi¡¯s gaze was heavy. He stretched out his hand and pushed the sses on the bridge of his nose, carefully thought about it, and replied, ¡°Could it be that they were transported in batches for several nights?¡± Mo Yi nodded. ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± After saying that he raised the note in his hand, showing Wang Zezhi the handwriting on it, ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, why are they asking us to ¡°find them¡± again?¡± The answer was on the verge ofing out in the open ¡ª The orphan¡¯s corpses were likely to be stored inside the orphanage.

Wang Zezhi frowned, somewhat uneasy, ¡°But this orphanage is so big. Where would we try to find them? Moreover ¡­¡± He turned his head and looked at the iron door that had already been locked. It was glowing coldly in the dark,ying quietly at the end of the corridor. Moreover, there was quite arge possibility that those corpses ¡ª were downstairs. Mo Yi¡¯s brows wrinkled even more, tense. He raised his head and looked at the brightly lit hall on the other side of the corridor. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something. ¡°I might have a way.¡± Before he had finished speaking, Mo Yi had turned and walked out of the corridor. His back was thin and straight. Looking at under the light caused one to unexpectedly feel especially at ease. Wang Zezhi paused and closely followed, breaking into a run. Under the bright lights in the hall, the bloodstains on the floor, although semi dried, was still shocking to the eye. A long trail of blood extended into one of the corridors, leaving dark red marks on the smooth floor. Mo Yi said, ¡°Since we¡¯re ying the roles of the orphans in the orphanage, then ¡­ After Sun Xiaoyan was tortured and killed, her corpse must have been piled up together with the rest of the orphans.¡± Wang Zezhi understood when he saw the bloodstains on the floor. He went on to say, ¡°As long as we follow the bloodstains, we can find the skeletons of the dead.¡± Mo Yi smiled and nodded: Much smarter than Jiang Yuanbai in thest copy. The two followed the bloodstains and walked inside the corridor. This corridor was the corridor where many yers rested and was the longest of the four corridors. The end of the corridor, covered with a dim light, was swallowed by the darkness. On both sides of the corridor were twelve identical rooms standing side by side. The sinister bloodstains from underground stopped at the beginning of the corridor. The bloodstain trail turned into arge, vast pool of blood, mixed with internal organs and fragments of flesh and blood, looking as if ¡­ the corpse had been dismembered. Excessive sttering of blood practically covered the front half of the corridor, almost covering the rest of the trail. Mo Yi unnoticeably frowned. He turned his head to Wang Zezhi and said, ¡°It seems that we have to look separately.¡± Wang Zezhi nodded helplessly. Mo Yi was in charge of the six rooms on the left side of the corridor. Wang Zezhi was in charge of the six rooms on the right. Mo Yi turned and entered the first room on the left. It was obvious that the room had also been restored to its former appearance. The light overhead was also no longer dim, bright light spilling down, but it couldn¡¯t dispel the chill in a person¡¯s heart. The floor in the room was covered with irregr drops of blood. Mo Yi walked around the room, circling it, tapping everywhere, testing whether or not there were anypartments under the wall. Bending down and looking for gaps in the floor, he tried to find a secret room like before. ¡ª Unfortunately, they were all solid. His brows knit into a frown, and he turned around, walking into the second room. The second room was practically identical to the first room. There was the same numerous bloodstains and there were nopartments between the walls and secrets rooms on the floor. Mo Yi¡¯s brows tightly wrinkled even more. He turned around, walking out of the second room, and happened to run into Wang Zezhi who was alsoing out from the opposite side. Wang Zezhi wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead and asked, ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t speak, nkly staring at him. Wang Zezhi¡¯s heart was full of fear. He raised his palm and waved it in his eyes. ¡°Why ¡­¡± Before he finished his words, the remaining words got stuck in his trembling throat, and he couldn¡¯t squeeze a syble out ¡ª Wang Zezhi finally saw that his raised palm was covered with traces of blood. He raised his head and looked at Mo Yi with a bit of horror, but only saw Mo Yi standing in front of him, a pair of pitch-ck eyes staring at him, a hint of colour rising in his pale face. He muttered in a low voice: ¡°under your bones, beneath your skin I¡¯m here with thee forever and ever¡± Wang Zezhi was stunned: This was ¡­ The small poem engraved on the table?¡± Although the expression on Mo Yi¡¯s face did not change much, his eyes revealed his uneasy mood. His speaking couldn¡¯t help but quicken. ¡°I always thought that the subject of the poem was the writer, but I was wrong ¡ª The subject of this poem is actually the yer!¡± Wang Zezhi was shocked. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became a little hurried. He took a deep breath, continuing to say, ¡°Since entering this copy, all of us have been underneath the bones and flesh of the orphans!¡± Wang Zezhi understood,plexion instantly turning pale. ¡°So ¡­ the dead bodies have actually been above our heads the whole time?¡± Mo Yi nodded ¡ª He finally knew where, before the entire orphanage¡¯s timeline rewinded, the dark water stains on the ceiling that never went away came from and why the ceilings in this orphanage were always so low. The two quickly walked into the room behind them, raising their eyes to look around inside the room. Sure enough, in the gap between the ceiling and wall, there was an oozing, dark red semi dried bloodstain. Wang Zezhi stood on one of the very small iron beds, arms raised to try and touch the area of the ceiling where the blood was seeping. As expected, the ceiling gave way, and a hidden door was pushed open. A stench of blood blew assaulted his senses, choking Wang Zezhi who coughed again and again. He slightly stood on his tiptoes, turned on the shlight he was carrying and aimed it upwards, and was instantly frightened speechless at the appearance inside. In the dim, dust coveredpartment, there were numerous densely packed bones, appearing to be the leg bones of children, and at the ce closest to himy two cut-off legs attached with flesh and blood. Without having to think about it, this was part of Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s dismembered body. Wang Zezhi resisted the urge to vomit, jumped down, and urately recounted the scene he had just saw. Mo Yi nodded, face calm and collected, and said, ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, the top of the entire orphanage is covered with the dismembered human remains of the corpses of children.¡± Perhaps because he had already guessed it, Wang Zezhi wasn¡¯t very surprised, but the colour of his face was still poor. After all, no one could ept that they had been under more than three hundred human remains for nearly three days. Mo Yi turned around while saying, ¡°Go, ba. Let¡¯s open up the other ceilings as well.¡± Wang Zezhi nodded and closely followed him out. They passed through the corridor and were about to walk to another room, but halfway through, Wang Zezhi suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Just now above, I only saw Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s ¡­ part. Zhao Yicheng and Song Qi weren¡¯t there above. Do you think that they are¡­?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s steps slightly paused, and he said, ¡°Everyone will be assigned a role by the orphanage, and Zhao Yicheng should have been too.¡± Thinking of Song Qi, Mo Yi was slightly confused. He really didn¡¯t know how to exin this. ¡°Song Qi¡± was somewhat outside of the entire system and was also unlikely to have been assigned a role. But it was impossible for him to tell Wang Zezhi that this was the transformed form of the hauntingly lingering mist, right? Mo Yi frowned, thought about it seriously, and said, ¡°As for Song Qi, you just treat him as being dead.¡± Wang Zezhi, ¡°¡­¡± ??? At this moment, a deep and low voice suddenly came from behind, ¡°Why didn¡¯t I know I was dead?¡± The Author has Something to Say: Mo Yi: #Caught talking about someone behind their back. What to do. Waiting online. Urgent# Song Qi: #My sweetheart says I¡¯m dead while he¡¯s with another man. What to do. Waiting online. Urgent.# Wang Zezhi: ¡°¡­¡± Leaves. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Wang Zezhi, ¡°¡­¡± ¡ª Could speaking ill of others behind their backs be a secret summoning technique? Mo Yi paused, turned around, and said with a sincere face, ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re okay!¡± Wang Zezhi, ¡°¡­¡± Brother, your acting skills are a bit fake. Song Qi stood at the end of the corridor, his back to the light. The faint light of the hall behind him gilded the lines of the side of his face with a pale hazy glow. His figure was tall and slender, his back straight. Without saying a word, he walked up close and stood still in front of Mo Yi. Song Qi softlyughed, raised his hand, and grazed his fingertips across his face. The ice-cold touch promptly left. Mo Yi didn¡¯t react for a moment, eyes subconsciously blinking, looking at Song Qi in a slight daze. Under the light, Song Qi¡¯s expression was difficult to make out. A pair of light-coloured eyes intently gazed at him. His voice was normal as usual, ¡°There was blood.¡± Mo Yi came to at this moment and followed Song Qi¡¯s movements to look at his unfolded hands, only to see a little dark red speck on his fair and slender fingertips, appearing particrly eye-catching. Mo Yi suddenly understood, saying, ¡°Oh, thanks a lot.¡± After that, he raised his palm which was in good condition and vigorously wiped at the ce Song Qi had just touched just now. The pale skin was instantly stained with ayer of red by his somewhat rough movements. Mo Yi looked at Song Qi who was standing in front of him and asked, ¡°Anymore?¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Song Qi¡¯s voice was low. He stretched out his hand to cup Mo Yi¡¯s face, and gently wiped the remaining superficial red bloodstains with the thumb of his right hand, movements careful as if handling a treasure. Mo Yi was startled at his abrupt movements, nkly staring for a few seconds. He didn¡¯t have enough time to dodge and was caught. When he returned to his senses, he already felt his cheek sink into the other man¡¯s ice-cold palm, slender fingers gently holding his lower jaw, unable to break free. Song Qi¡¯s face also drew closer, his ice-cold breath softly brushing against Mo Yi¡¯s cheek. Their breaths intertwined. Mo Yi¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help bing hot. It was as if the other person¡¯s palm was also stained with the warmth of his own face, smoothly ironed to his skin, slightly scalding. He awkwardly coughed and turned his head, breaking free from Song Qi¡¯s palm and then discreetly took a step backwards. The distance between the two instantly increased.

Song Qi paused, and as if nothing had happened, put down the palm that hovered in the air, and said, ¡°It¡¯s gone now.¡± Wang Zezhi stood to the side with aplicated face, holding his arm, eyes meaningful, not uttering a single word. ¡°¡­¡± Why did he always have the illusion of being stuffed with dog food? At this moment, Mo Yi seemed to recall something. He turned his head to look at Wang Zezhi and said, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Your forehead ¡­¡± Only then did Wang Zezhi remember afterwards that there was still blood on his own forehead from the ceiling that had dripped down earlier. He smiled, waved his hands and shook his head while taking a step backwards. ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself. I have tissues.¡± Please don¡¯t let the person next to you emit low pressure ah! The expression in his eyes are terrifying! I don¡¯t want my face to be wiped at all, thank you! Wang Zezhi wanted to cry without tears. Mo Yi looked at him wanting to speak, but then swallowed the rest of the words into his stomach: Actually ¡­ he just wanted to remind Wang Zezhi that when he had bandaged him before, he had put all the paper towels here. Suddenly, Mo Yi felt that his left hand was lightly touched by an ice-cold thing. He was startled and looked at his side. He saw Song Qi, head bowed, gazing at his forearms with the sleeves cut off with aplicated face. It was wrapped in thick bandages, bound around his thin and weak arm in a thick circle, dark red bloodstains seeping out. The pale skin that wasn¡¯t wrapped in bandages was covered in bruises and dried bloody scabs caused by congestion. ¡°You¡¯re injured?¡± Mo Yi nodded, not very concerned, and replied, ¡°Fortunately, it doesn¡¯t hurt very much. It can still move about normally and it probably won¡¯t affect the following movements.¡± Song Qi lowered his eyes, moved his lips with some difficulty, and said in a hoarse voice, ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡± Even though he knew the other party was a dangerous person whose position was very unclear, seeing his somewhat fragile expression at this moment, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but feel softhearted. He stretched out his hand, a little hesitant, and rubbed the other person¡¯s head, voice unusually soft, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± After speaking, Mo Yi turned to look at Wang Zezhi who was standing on the side, his face returning to its usual calmness and rationality. ¡°All right. That¡¯s enough greetings. The top priority is to find the dead bodies of all the orphans. We don¡¯t have much time.¡± Behind Mo Yi, Wang Zezhi helplessly watched as Song Qi, who had a mysterious and domineering big shot face a moment ago, was now standing in the same ce with a stiff face. His face was bing red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the tips of his ears were also bright red, so much so that it made him wonder whether the other party was steaming. ¡ª He wasn¡¯t perhaps secretly reced with a fake, ba?! ¡ª Wang Zezhi kicked over the dog food delivered to him with a cold face. After Song Qi joined, the speed of the three people significantly increased. They were extremely efficient from one room to another, breaking open the ceiling overhead, letting the dead bodies above their heads once more see the light of day. Moreover, they quite quickly discovered that as long as the ceiling in the room was opened, it would slowly be old fashioned and damaged again. It was as if the spell imposed on the room was lifted, restoring it to its former timeline. Mo Yi stood in the empty library room and stopped his actions, wiping the thinyer of beaded sweat on his forehead with his non bloodstained wrist, and looked around at the walls which already begun to peel off for a long moment, and heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Now, except for the hall, are there still ces we haven¡¯t taken care of?¡± Wang Zezhi thought about it and shook his head. ¡°No, ba.¡± Mo Yi listened to Wang Zezhi words while mentally adding up the remains of the dead body parts found above each room, and then came to a conclusion: The bones above the hall should be the children¡¯s arms. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes slightly lowered, long and ck eyshes hiding theplicated expression in his eyes. He paused, then took over the conversation, ¡°Let¡¯s go, ba. Let¡¯s open the secret room in the hall.¡± After speaking, he turned and walked out. Wang Zezhi and Song Qi followed behind him and also walked towards the hall. After entering the hall, the three worked together to break open the ceiling above their heads. Dust filled the air, mixed with a fishy and rotten smell, instantly taking over everyone¡¯s senses. Even Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help frowning. He raised his head and looked at Wang Zezhi who was standing on the chair, half of his body stretched forward into the ceiling. He raised his voice and asked, ¡°Did you find it?¡± Wang Zezhi¡¯s muffled voice came through overhead, ¡°Yes. It¡¯s the children¡¯s arms ¡­ en, there¡¯s also Sun Xiaoyan¡¯s.¡± Mo Yi nodded his head and before he could say anything, he heard a ¡°ka cha¡± sound from the ceiling, causing a tooth aching sound to burst into the eardrums. A crack spread across the ceiling, spider-web like gaps cracking open at an extremely quick speed. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened. It was not good. The entire orphanage itself was crudely constructed without regard for quality, and after they opened the ceiling, it returned to its prior timeline, appearing neglected and in despair once more ¡ª Their actions very likely destroyed the ceiling¡¯s supporting structure. Sure enough, the entire ceiling violently shook for a little while, and then it entirely copsed. Mo Yi subconsciously raised his arm to protect his head, but was unexpectedly grabbed, and he was pulled aside. Half of his body instantly fell into an icy embrace. The smell of mist in a pine forest after the rain lingered on the end of his nose, proper and chilly. Mo Yi was taken aback, putting down the arms covering his face, and happened to see Song Qi withdraw and leave. He coughed, putting a good face on. ¡°The wound on your arm can¡¯t hold up being hit.¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips, thanked him, and looked back at the hall again. There was a mess on the floor of the hall, the ceiling partitions shattered into small pieces in a great mess on the floor. All that was left overhead was a ck unsteady base of support. The dust rustled down, bones and flesh mixed with dust fell on the floor ¡ª The smell of putrefaction grew stronger. Wang Zezhi who was standing on a chair seemed to be stunned and confused as well, but his upper body was already in the ceiling, so he was barely affected. He slowly raised his head to take a look, then looked down, and finally looked at Mo Yi stiffly, showing an awkward smile. ¡°¡­ Sorry?¡± Mo Yi shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Originally, this ceiling should have copsed.¡± Just as the words fell, the entire hall began to be old fashioned at a speed visible to the naked eye. The wall peeled off, the wallpaper wrinkling, and the foul smell almost turned into an entity. Mo Yi turned his head to look behind him, only to see that the corridor and the rooms deeper into the corridor seemed to have changed in the same way. It was different from the appearance of the room when they first entered the copy. At that time, although the entire house was old, every object was well preserved and undamaged ¡ª It didn¡¯t at all look like a house from centuries ago. And now ¡­ The whole building was rapidly falling into despair. As if ¡­ It was pulled back to the real timeline. Several ¡°ka¡± sounds and the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground sounded deep in the corridor ¡ª Presumably the ceilings in the other rooms also began to fall. The foul smell became stronger. Mo Yi took a few steps forward, examining the bones on the floor, and his gaze couldn¡¯t help but pause ¡ª Among the arm bones on the floor, a pair of arms was tightly hugging a dust covered rabbit doll. He was stunned, and once more stepped forward, searching among the bones on the ground: There was no teddy bear. Mo Yi¡¯s brows tightly knit, and there was no trace of blood on his pursed lips. He crouched down, not avoiding the dirt on the floor, and began to count each and every hand bone on the floor. After counting, Mo Yi was stunned for several seconds, then he turned and rushed into the other rooms, carefully counting the bones scattered on the floor. This room had skulls. It was difficult to make a mistake counting. After Mo Yi finished counting, he went around the room, his eyes a little nk. At this moment, a familiar mechanical female voice sounded in his ear, calling back Mo Yi¡¯s consciousness, ¡°Congrattions to yer Mo Yi. You havepleted the side mission: Liberate. The mission award has already been sent to your ount.? Please collect it at the end of the game.¡± Mo Yi abruptly raised his head, dark, heavy eyes staring out the window: There was 1 hour left until the end of the game. The side mission had beenpleted. His lips pursed. He turned and walked into the hall, silently saying in his mind: Among these bones, two corpses were missing. To be precise, it was the corpse of a pair of brothers. They owned a teddy bear. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Mo Yi walked out of the hall. The walls around them had be unbearably dirty, covered all over with dust and damp mold. Puffs of dust fell downwards, and the wallmps hung crookedly on the wall, wanting to fall but unable to, emitting light that became increasingly weak. Mo Yi turned on the shlight, and with the dreadfully pale beam of light, strode across the bones and rubble that were blocking the path with difficulty. Fortunately, the lights in the hall were still arduously shining, shining bright or dimly at times. Mo Yi¡¯s pace quickened. As if hearing the sound of his footsteps, Song Qi and Wang Zezhi turned their heads to look at him at the same time. The tips of Wang Zezhi¡¯s eyebrows and the corners of his eyes were raised with a bit of joy. He nudged his sses and said, slightly excited, ¡°The side mission isplete! Then as long as we wait until the time ends, we can go out.¡± Song Qi didn¡¯t say anything, and merely took a slight step forward. A pair of light-coloured eyes closely gazed at Mo Yi, the sharp facial lines were faintly soft. Mo Yi pursed his lips and said, ¡°Do you still remember what I told you? That teddy bear that kept giving us clues.¡± Wang Zezhi stared nkly, stumped for words for two seconds. Obviously, he didn¡¯t understand why Mo Yi would possibly raise this question at this crucial moment, but he still nodded. Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked at him deeply. ¡°The owner of that doll ¡­ was not among these corpses.¡± Wang Zezhi¡¯s brows knitted, and subconsciously nudged the sses on the bridge of his nose and replied, ¡°En ¡­ But the side mission ispleted, isn¡¯t it? Maybe by default it¡¯s enough for you to find most of the corpses? After all, this copy isn¡¯t very difficult.¡± What he said was reasonable. Mo Yi faintly nodded, shook his head again, and didn¡¯t respond. He stood in ce, eyebrows tightly locked, pitch-ck eyes extremely heavy in thought, slowly scanning the entire hall. His pale cheeks didn¡¯t have a trace of colour, simr to a ghost. Wang Zezhi was stunned, about to say something, only to see Song Qi turn his head and indifferently nce at him. Although the other party didn¡¯t speak, Wang Zezhi clearly saw a few words written in the other party¡¯s eyes: Don¡¯t disturb him. Wang Zezhi obediently closed his mouth, but still couldn¡¯t help but cast a nce at Mo Yi who was still standing in ce, traces of doubt deep within his eyes. ¡ª The countdown to this copy wasing to an end, and the side mission had also beenpleted. They uncovered the true appearance of this orphanage, and also found the corpses of the orphans ¡­ Could it be that it wasn¡¯t over yet? And Mo Yi was currently lost in thought. As he mentally consolidated all the clues and doubtful points in this copy he had obtained along the way, he divergently thought and pondered. What did he miss in the end? Too many mysteries have not been solved. Too many questions have not been answered.

Therefore, even though this copy¡¯s side mission was shown to have beenpleted, Mo Yi felt more and more deeply uneasy at the bottom of his heart. It was as if an abyss called uncertainty had opened its gigantic dark mouth before him, grinning coldly at him, waiting for the prey to walk right into its trap. Mo Yi subconsciously pursed the corners of his lips, and forced himself to focus on the most important issue at present. ¡ª Why weren¡¯t the bones of the brothers above the ceiling? Why did the side mission show aspleted when it was obvious that the corpses of the two weren¡¯t found? His intuition told him that this would be the breakthrough point for the whole problem. Mo Yi mentallybed through every clue the teddy bear had left for him, as well as all the information he had overturned pertaining to the two brothers: a small poem, a record, and several puzzles. Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to recall something. He was momentarily taken aback and raised his head. ¡­ Thanatos? Whether it was Greek mythology or Hebrew mythology, all mythologies had countless pairs of famous brothers. So why did the person who wrote the puzzles choose Thanatos and Hypnos, twin gods who were not particrly well known even in Greek mythology, to give him the hint? When he was underground before, he focused too much on the symbol behind Thanatos, instead of thinking about ¡ª why the other party chose Thanatos as a symbol. Thanatos was more well known as the God of Death. He and his brother Hypnos, the God of Sleep, were responsible for transporting the bodies of the dead when night fell. A tremor suddenly surged from the bottom of Mo Yi¡¯s heart. His mind slowly drew the outline of a bizarre but perfectly logical and reasonable exnation. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze was somewhatplicated. He walked a few steps into the hall, then stood in front of Wang Zezhi, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, moistening his dry throat, and said, ¡°Thepletion of the orphanages side mission was about finding the human remains of the rest of the victims, right?¡± Wang Zezhi failed to understand and nodded, and uncertainly replied, ¡°ording to the current situation, this should be right.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s voice dropped a few more notches. There was a slight resonance in the air in the empty hall. ¡°Supposing that the system judged that wepleted the side mission, it was really because ¡­ it judged that the two brothers were the perpetrators?¡± A cold sweat instantly broke out on Wang Zezhi¡¯s back. The more he thought about it, the greater the possibility of this inference: If the brothers really were judged to be the perpetrators, then what they found was precisely the dead bodies of all the victims, and the side mission would naturally be judged sessful. Just then, deep in the corridor, the sound of very steady and heavy footsteps rang out from afar, then drew closer. Slow apuse sounded, and a man¡¯s voice came from the darkness, ¡°Wonderful inference.¡± Everyone was startled and looked at the source of the sound one after another. A man unhurriedly walked out of the dpidated and warped corridor, facial features illuminated by the dimly flickering lights in the hall. Wang Zezhi involuntarily cried out, ¡°Zhao Yicheng?!¡± Mo Yi¡¯s two eyes narrowed, long eyshes concealing the gravity within his eyes ¡ª No, it was not Zhao Yicheng. Although the face and the clothing were the same, the expressions, movements, and even the temperament of the whole person had undergone tremendous changes. His face was an ashy grey, and his eyes had a lifeless look in them, looking just like the possessed neer. The other individual following behind him verified Mo Yi¡¯s suspicions. Clothes covered in semi dried bloodstains with bloody scabs on half of his face, a man, changed beyond recognition, was holding a jet-ck gun barrel in his hand, facial features apathetic and stiff. Shockingly, he was the ¡°doctor¡± who was shut underground by him and Wang Zezhi. The victims and the perpetrators finally officially met. As well as the sinister hand behind the scenes. Mo Yi grabbed Song Qi¡¯s palm that was hanging by his side and wrote a few words on the hollows of his palm. Then he casually let go of his hand and stared at ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± who was standing on the other side of the hall. The corners of ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± lips twitched, and he said with a smile, ¡°The group of little bugs who have been suppressing me, not letting me move, are finally ¡­ How do I say this? You¡¯ve ¡°liberated¡± me. I¡¯m finally able to move now. Thanks a lot for your help.¡± His voice was hoarse, as if scorched by mes, ¡°Now, you¡¯ll stay forever.¡± At this moment, Mo Yi suddenly raised his voice and asked, ¡°¡ª Where¡¯s Albert and Aaron?¡± ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± moved his stiff head. A pair of lusterless eyes looked at Mo Yi, and then little by little revealed a viper like smile, ¡°I couldn¡¯t move. Naturally, I had to find a cover to make youplete the mission. Aren¡¯t two helpless orphans the best bait?¡± Before the words were out of his mouth, thin figures of children appeared on both sides of the corridor. Their limbs and heads seemed to be dangling from a string, standing in the dark like puppets. Their appearance and figures were not clearly visible, yet it made the people watching them couldn¡¯t help but feel cold from head to toe. Wang Zezhi¡¯s mind was in aplete mess. It was as if the sky was falling down: The slips of paper and the teddy bear ¡­ were all traps? Were they all bait? They were designed by the ghosts in this orphanage from the beginning?! At this moment, from his side came the cold, sober, and calm voice of Mo Yi. Even at this time, his tone was still steady and cool-headed, as if nothing could disturb his state of mind, ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to clean up the mess after killing all of the orphans, ba? Even though you had an entire basement to carry out massacres and dismemberment, transporting so many dead bodies and hiding them in the ceiling was not a small project.¡± ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡¯s¡± smiling expression slightly vanished, eyeballs swivelling to stare at Mo Yi, and didn¡¯t answer. Mo Yi continued to speak to himself, ¡°In the files I flipped through, this pair of brothers have been here for the longest time and were also the oldest. Them helping with the dead bodies was the best option, right? What¡¯s more, let alone the transporting, it could be directly dealt with afterwards, and there was no need to worry about the secret leaking.¡± ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡¯s¡± facial features were dyed with anger. ¡°So what? They were my puppets when they were alive, and after death too.¡± Mo Yi smiled. ¡°If that was really the case, how could they secretly ask us for help?¡± The closer it was to the end of the time in the copy, the more frequent the slips of paper appeared. The person mentioned had also changed from ¡°me¡± to ¡°us¡±, and the same sentence appeared repeatedly with shorter intervals between one sheet of paper and the other sheet of paper ¡ª Until atst, on the back of the slip of paper, an explicit call for help appeared: ¡°help us.¡± Help us. ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡¯s¡± appearance became more and more sinister. He smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± Mo Yi interrupted his unfinished words and continued to speak in a cold, heavy tone, ¡°If that was really the case, how could they secretly give me a hint about where their bodies were hidden in the end?¡± As soon as his words fell, from behind came a clear and loud ¡°ka ta¡± sound! Song Qi had somehow managed to slowly move to the side of the door. He leaned down, and below the rooms beams where the dead bodies had been hung, dug his fingers into the already decaying floor, and suddenly lifted ¡ª Dust flew upwards, and two eerily white skeletons below the ground were exposed. ¡ª Until now, Mo Yi had been stalling for time! ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± turned pale with fright, and said to the person standing behind him, ¡°Kill them!¡± The person behind him lifted the jet-ck gun barrel with a numb expression. Just then, the strings controlling the souls of the two puppet like children seemed to have been severed. They stood up normally, and then suddenly pounced on the man holding the gun! There was a loud ¡°bang¡±, and the gunshot strayed from its original path. With a hissing howl,rge amounts of blood suddenly spread out from the doctor¡¯s body. The whole person seemed to have been dehydrated, like the dust that had umted on the floor. Unexpectedly, ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± had now calmed down. He tidied up his somewhat dishevelled cor, showing a calm and unruffled smile in the midst of chaos. ¡°You still haven¡¯t found the spectator yet, have you?¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± coldly stared at him, facial features seeming to be under control. ¡°The moment youpleted the side mission, you already were no longer able to escape.¡± Before his words fell, the walls of the entire orphanage unexpectedly began to twist! Pulsating like a living creature, a smiling face appeared on the wall. The softughter Mo Yi had heard before was amplified, eerily echoing in everyone¡¯s ears. ¡ª The orphanage itself was the spectator! Before Mo Yi could get over the shock, he heard Song Qi loudly shouting not far away, ¡°Open the door!¡± ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡± followed the sound and looked at the source, however the sinister smile on his face suddenly froze. He seemed to be seeing Song Qi for the first time in general, staring straight into Song Qi¡¯s light-coloured eyes in fear, and uncharacteristically turned pale with shock. ¡°¡­ You?¡± Song Qi showed him an arrogant, ice-cold smile. Mo Yi had slowly arrived and rushed to the door! ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡¯s¡± voice practically broke, ¡°Stop him ¡ª!¡± The wall split into innumerable tentacles, winding around Mo Yi! But it was already toote. The door suddenly opened wide, and a boundless mist, so thick that it was almost an entity, poured in. The moment before his vision was engulfed by the mist, Mo Yi heard a small child¡¯s voice in his ears: ¡°Thanks.¡± Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The boundless mist carried an ice-cold chill, rolling with speechless fear and horror, silently swallowing everything. There weren¡¯t any sounds at all. It was as if all the sounds were swallowed, leaving only a terrifying and deste deathly silence. However, the terrifying mist coiled around Mo Yi¡¯s sides and was rather docile, leaving a small nk space beside him, and wrapped itself tamely around his fingers as if it were ordinary mist. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was violently beating, and the sharp gasping for breath became almost the only sound in the entire space. He subconsciously pressed against his left chest. The life-and-death moment just now made his heart soar to the highest level. Even now, his eyes were still a little fuzzy and dizzy. It was pure white as far as the eye could see. ¡ª It was as if there were no other colours in this world. He had won this gamble. Mo Yi took a deep breath and eased the violently throbbing heartbeat. He had guessed it not long ago. Song Qi was the mist in thest copy. So, during the confrontation just now, he chose to write words on the hollows of Song Qi¡¯s palm, asking him to find the skeletons of the two brothers rather than seeking help from Wang Zezhi precisely due to this. ¡ª And from the look of ¡°Zhao Yicheng¡¯s¡± facial expression turning pale with fright, the boss, ¡°Song Qi¡±, was probably not low in level. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, and he suppressed the intense feeling of uneasiness rising from the bottom of his heart. Actually, what he did ¡ª includingter directly opening the door of the orphanage, was equivalent to him gambling away his life, not knowing if this extremely dangerous existence was happy or angry, and the ins and outs of the matter. This feeling of being out of control was really unpleasant. It was like walking high in the clouds, light as a feather. There was no real ce underfoot. Everything was brimming with danger and the unknown, surrounded by a sense of crisis and uncertainty. At this moment, the mist before his eyes slowly began to gather together, and like at the end of thest copy, the mist little by little condensed into a human form. Song Qi. His appearance was slightly different from that in the copy. The extremely aggressive facial features were sharp as a knife, cold and detached, and the colour of his eyes was even more pale, as if it were a flowing light grey. He stood not far away and said, ¡°You already figured it out a long time ago.¡± It was a derative sentence. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes faintly darkened, stretched taught from head to toe, and didn¡¯t respond.

¡°Song Qi¡± continued to speak, ¡°It was an oversight on my part. After all ¡­¡± He stopped talking halfway through and casually changed the subject, ¡°Wang Zezhi. I made him fall asleep. When the time for the copy is up, he¡¯ll naturally be sent to the real world.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart slightly rxed. He narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°At the beginning of the copy, that woman opened the door once. Did you sneak in at that time?¡± At that time, Mo Yi clearly remembered that the number of yers he was counted was nine, and after the woman opened the door, after counting again, it had be ten. At that time, he thought it was because the environment was too chaotic that the number was wrong ¡ª Now, it was very likely not that. ¡°Song Qi¡¯s¡± facial features didn¡¯t fluctuate. He answered, ¡°Inside the copy, I can¡¯t interfere with your game process. So, you must open the door, otherwise I would never be able toe in.¡± This sentence had a double meaning. Mo Yi slightly lowered his eyes, and the corners of his lips curled into a cold arc. No wonder why a moment ago, ¡°Song Qi¡± asked him to open the door instead of opening the door himself to let the mist pour in. ¡°Song Qi¡± slowly took a single step forward, dense mist curling around him. He gazed at Mo Yi with eyes of the same colour, and his manner of speaking suddenly became slow and deep, ¡°You seem to have a lot of questions.¡± Mo Yi looked at him without speaking. His deep and low voice rang out in the empty space, carrying a hint of bewitchment, ¡°A question can be reced with another question. How about that? However, ¡­ it¡¯s limited to only within this copy. After all ¡ª I can¡¯t tell you the other information even if I wanted to.¡± Mo Yi raised his eyes to look at the fluorescent blue countdown floating in the air: There were ten minutes left. This business transaction was quite profitable. He steadily looked at ¡°Song Qi¡±, nodded, and then asked, ¡°Why is the orphanage the spectator?¡± The question had been nagging at him since just now. The spectators who paid for it clearly had no other connection to the orphanage other than the day of the massacre. And yet, how could it be the orphanage itself? ¡°Song Qi¡± raised his eyebrows. ¡°After opening the side mission, the copy will increase in difficulty. In this copy, this meant that what happened on the day of the massacre will repeat. That¡¯s why it needed the characters that showed up on the day of the massacre to helpplete the reenactment.¡± He continued to take a step forward and said, ¡°The copy will assign the roles ording to its own criteria. The orphanage itself has witnessed everything that has taken ce. Because of this, the role of a spectator was chosen for it.¡± Mo Yi nodded thoughtfully and asked, ¡°What was the criteria for the distribution of the victim and perpetrator roles?¡± ¡°Song Qi¡± smiled. ¡°That¡¯s the second question.¡± Hearing this, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help his eyebrows from twisting, a little annoyed, and then lightly nodded, motioning for the other party to ask a question. ¡°Song Qi¡± asked, ¡°How did you know where the bones of those brothers were buried?¡± ¡°Firstly, the brothers were in charge of transporting the corpses. Secondly, the clue they used to give us a hint was the hangman game. Thirdly, every time a yer died in the orphanage, their corpse would show up hanging in that spot. Fourthly, the direction that the poem was pointing at.¡± After speaking, Mo Yi paused, and a trace of a smile suddenly appeared. ¡°Of course, I also inspected the floors and walls of all the other rooms. There weren¡¯t any secretpartments, and the doorway was the only area I hadn¡¯t examined. Of course, it had thergest possibility.¡± He tilted his head for a moment and continued to say, ¡°¡­Actually, thest point is the main reason.¡± ¡°Song Qi¡¯s¡± eyebrows unnoticeably jumped. ¡ª So why did you just say so many things? After receiving the answer, ¡°Song Qi¡± was also no longer vague. As a result, he replied to Mo Yi¡¯sst question, ¡°That day, your food suddenly got better. yers who chose to eat the orphan¡¯s food were selected as victims, and yers who chose to eat the expensive meals were chosen to be the perpetrators.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°But wasn¡¯t Sun Xiaoyan ¡­?¡± ¡°Song Qi¡± replied like moving clouds and flowing water, ¡°There only needs to be two perpetrator roles. And the other redundant characters will be recognized by the copy as orphans who have eaten the supervisor¡¯s food and are the first to be hunted down.¡± He finished speaking and took another step forward. Now, the distance between him and Mo Yi was no more than an arm¡¯s length away. ¡°Now, I¡¯m two questions short of you.¡± Mo Yi helplessly nodded, hugging his arms, and waited for the other person to ask questions. ¡°Where did you grow up?¡± This question caught Mo Yi off guard, causing him to freeze. He pursed his lips, and his eyes became gloomy in a split second, ¡°¡­ Ryder Orphanage.¡± ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°¡­ Twenty-six.¡± ¡°Song Qi¡± nodded and said, ¡°Well, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s facial features were somewhat pale at the moment. He lifted his pitch-ck eyes to look directly at ¡°Song Qi¡±, and asked, ¡°This copy originally wasn¡¯t supposed to be very difficult, but now it had almost be a deadly situation. Why?¡± ¡°Song Qi¡¯s¡± movements imperceptibly paused. He looked at Mo Yi with his light grey eyes and replied, ¡°¡­ Because I disturbed the progress of the game, the game increased the difficulty of the copy.¡± As expected. Therefore, from the beginning of the copy, under the seemingly ordinary surface, were hidden one deadly trap and nooses after another. In the end, it formed an almost absolute dead end ¡ª If they hadn¡¯t opened the door at thest moment, this copy would have certainly be their burial ce. Mo Yi looked at ¡°Song Qi¡±, heartstrings secretly stretched taught as if facing an enemy, waiting for his next question. However, he only heard ¡°Song Qi¡± ask, ¡°Do you like chocte or fruit candy?¡± ¡ª What? Mo Yi was dumbfounded, looking at Song Qi, confused and disoriented. What was this all about, ah? Unlike this strangely drawn question, ¡°Song Qi¡± looked rather serious at this moment. A pair of light-coloured eyes were earnestly gazing at Mo Yi, intently waiting for his answer. Mo Yi had no other choice but to force himself to reply, ¡°¡­ Fruit, fruit candy.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°¡­Because, because there are more vors?¡± ¡°Okay. I noted that down.¡± ¡°Song Qi¡± seriously nodded. Mo Yi: ¡°¡­¡± ?? What irrelevant information are you noting down, hey ah?! Mo Yi took the time to raise his head and looked at the fluorescent blue countdown floating midair: There was less than a minute left. His eyes were suddenly solemn. He sped up and asked thest question, ¡°Do you know me?¡± Song Qi smiled. ¡°I only answer questions concerning this copy.¡± Mo Yi changed his wording, ¡°Why did you save me?¡± ¡°Song Qi¡±, ¡°I only answer¡­¡± He hadn¡¯t said anything yet when Mo Yi interrupted him, the expression in his eyes were sharp like a de. ¡°Then, in this copy, why did you save me?¡± ¡°Song Qi¡± was taken aback, and his facial expression was a little helpless. He began to speak. Mo Yi heard familiar electronic music: ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape!¡± Damn. It was time! But ¡°Song Qi¡± still owed him a question! Mo Yi¡¯s eyes went ck, losing consciousness likest time. Prior to fainting, his fuzzy gaze swept across his wrist ¡ª Before hepletely lost consciousness, thest thought that streaked across Mo Yi¡¯s mind was .. ¡°So ¡­ that novice gift package was really a unique ornament of the day, ah.¡± The Author has Something to Say: Mo Yi: ¡°¡­ was pitted.¡± Trantor¡¯s Note: ?The orphanage arc hase to an end! I might be taking a break next week before starting the next arc, so there might be no chapter next week! Thanks for reading andmenting! Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Mo Yi abruptly sprang up from the bed, body drenched in cold sweat, heart jumping extremely fast. He shallowly gasped for breath, looking around at his surroundings in a slight daze, and it took a while for him to rx. He was back. Unlike thest time waking up to earth shattering pain, this time, he had obviously adapted a lot. There was darkness before his eyes, and it enveloped the whole room. The faint morning light from the night scenery came in from behind the opened curtains, hazily illuminating the outlines of the furniture in the room, seeming both familiar and unfamiliar. Mo Yi subconsciously turned his head to look at the electronic clock beside the bed. The blue glimmering time on it appeared exceptionally striking: 4: 20: 01 It was precisely the same moment he had entered the game. In addition, the line above showed today¡¯s date in small print: May 12th. 36 hours had passed since he had entered the game. Mo Yi let out a long breath ¡ª Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s theory was correct. The flow of time in the game and time in reality was two to one. He had spent three days in the game, which was equivalent to one day and a half passing in reality. Mo Yi slightly moved his stiff shoulders and neck. A sore, tingling sensation spread in an instant. He propped his arms on the sides of the bed and made himself sit up against the headboard. In the darkness, Mo Yi stretched out his hand and groped about the wall. Then, ¡°click¡±, the bedsidemp was turned on. A soft, pale yellow light came on, making the whole room brightly lit. Mo Yi looked at the familiarity of everything in front of him and couldn¡¯t help but feel a little dazed. He quickly came to and reached out to pick up the note that had appeared on his bedside table. The light from the beside table slightly dyed the delicate, spotlessly white note with a yellowish hue, and it was suffused with a light sheen. Written on it in subdued bolded words were: ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape. Thank you for your participation. Wish you a happy life.¡± Although it was not the first time seeing it, Mo Yi was still full ofints ¡ª One escape game after another. How could life be happy? He turned the note over, only to see a line of writing on it: ¡°The next game will start in ten days. yers, please be well prepared.¡± Below this row of words, written in small ck letters were: ¡°Congrattions finding the hidden branch plotline. Next time you enter the game, you can get the branch plotline task reward. I wish you a happy game.¡± Mo Yi slightly narrowed his eyes. The soft light caught the flushed skin on his pale face.

Ten days¡­ He seemed to think of something and reached for the cell phone he had casually ced on the bedside table. After unlocking and turning on the screen, a text message from Jiang Yuanrou automatically popped up. The time was two days ago: [When youe back, send me a message to say you are safe and sound. Muah] Mo Yi pursed his lips. Slender fingers nimbly jumped across the screen: [Safe and sound] The message was sent. However, it was only four o¡¯clock, and Jiang Yuanrou was probably not awake. It was estimated that it would be early tomorrow morning when she wakes. Mo Yi exited the text message interface, and the bright fluorescent blue screen was reflected in his pupils. His fingers paused in mid-air for a long time, and then he bought a ne ticket to City A on the Inte. ¡ª City A was the city where the school in the first copy was located. There was a slight vibration from the cell phone, indicating that the payment had been sessful. Mo Yi took a deep breath, as if some heavy burden had been unloaded. He straightened up and stretched his stiff body. The cold sweat on his back made his shirt sticky and it was adhered to his skin which felt extremely ufortable. Mo Yi ced both legs down from the bed, put on the slippers that were neatly ced on the floor, and was about to go to the bathroom to shower. At this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s actions came to a sudden stop. His eyes fell straight on the floor in front of his bedside table. That area was a blind spot, and he couldn¡¯t see it when he wasying on the bed. And when he sat up, that area unsurprisingly leapt into his sight. It was a brown teddy bear, leaning stilly against the bedside table. Although the fur on its body was a bit old, it was quite well maintained. Under the yellow light, it had a soft sheen, and its ck eyes were clean and clear, not at like its previous cloudy appearance. Around its neck was a thin white string with a folded-up strip of paper dangling from it. Mo Yi subconsciously held his breath, and intently stared at the teddy bear he knew extremely well, as if afraid of rming it. He slowly reached out with a somewhat stiff hand and picked up the teddy bear on the floor, then opened the note that was hanging around the bear¡¯s neck. It had the exact same texture and font as the previous note: ¡°Dear yer: This is a rare item given to you by an NPC at will in the game. Please use it with caution.¡± Given at will? Mo Yi froze, remembering the soft ¡°Thanks¡± that had dissipated in his ears while he was inside the copy. His heart suddenly softened. The fingertips that were sunk into the brown fur of the teddy bear were softly wrapped, carefully rubbing against the pads of his fingers, and was a little itchy. Suddenly, at this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s brows were tinged with a hint of solemnness. ¡ª This garbage game only told him that this was a rare item, but it didn¡¯t tell him how to use it at all ah! Wasn¡¯t this the same as his fraudulent novice gift package? Mo Yi took onest look at the ribbon that was still wrapped around his wrist, and the same bitter regret as Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s at that time shed across his eyes. It was very good looking ¡­ it was just useless ah! He had his eye on several propsst time, and was about to get his hands on them ¡ª The things in the store were refreshed randomly, and it was just a matter of looking at whether he could encounter these things again when he entered the store. Mo Yi took a deep breath, and strongly suppressed the fire at the bottom of his heart ¡ª A garbage game! Just then, he heard his cell phone vibrate twice on the bedside table, and then the screen lit up: A text message hade. Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows rose, not expecting Jiang Yuanrou to be up thiste. He reached for the cell phone, and the content of the new message was disyed on the screen: [It¡¯s great that you¡¯re okay! I was really worried about you these past two days, muah!] Mo Yi hesitated and replied: [Thank you] [¡­] Jiang Yuanrou returned a series of ellipsis in seconds. Immediately afterwards, as if to not give Mo Yi time to reply, the next new message popped up: [You¡¯re killing the conversation! Too cold! Heart broken! ¡¿ Next was a string of crying emojis. Mo Yi: ¡°¡­¡± Why was this person so energetic in the evening, ah? He was about to put the cell phone back on the bedside table, but he suddenly seemed to recall something ¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s fingertips lightly moved: [The senior who you said would join me in the game, how is he now?] The other side was silent for a long time. Mo Yi could only see that the bubble showing that she was typing kept shing. Soon after, a message came through. It was short, not matching up with the time spent typing: [???] Mo Yi pursed his lips and was about to type something in reply when another message came: [I sent you a text message before, ah. Song Qi was nted in hisst copy ¡­ so in this second copy you could only go by yourself. I apologized to you for a long time, and then you sent me a message saying that it was okay.] Immediately afterwards, a screenshot came. It was a message log. Under the long string of words sent by Jiang Yuanrou, Mo Yi, with astonishment, saw his own reply: [It¡¯s okay.] The rays of light from the deskp beside him was a bit harsh for a moment. Mo Yi tilted his head and squinted, avoiding the direct light, and subconsciously rubbed the t and smooth edges of the cell phone with his slender fingers. He reached out and clicked on his message log. Empty. Although he had thought of this possibility before, when the facts wereid out in front of him, it was still difficult for him to ept. The mist that was on the mirror all the time, and the asional glimpse of a silhouette all pointed to the same conclusion: ¡ªThe mist had followed him out of the game. Mo Yi sucked in a deep breath, feeling that this mind was in a state of confusion, and had turned into a pot of porridge, mixed with all sorts of things, practically giving him a headache. It was as if something invisible was forcefully clutching his throat, making it difficult for him to breathe. Thinking about it now, the greatest possibility of this happening was because in the first copy, the two had exchanged blood. The thick fishy taste of sucking blood before seemed to bubble up once more in his throat, and his whole mouth was filled with the taste of rust. The loss of control and madness that he painstakingly didn¡¯t think about also rose to the surface of his mind. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened unconsciously, and his thin, delicate knuckles were pale from the excessive force. The bright light from the cell phone screen was reflected on his face, illuminating his pale, expressionless face. The vibrating cell phone in his hand pulled him back to reality. Mo Yi lowered his head, only to see that in just that moment, Jiang Yuanrou had sent several messages, one more intense than the other: [What¡¯s wrong?] [What happened?] ¡­ [Why did you suddenly ask me this? Is something wrong?] [You¡¯re not answering. What happened?] Mo Yi pursed his lips and sent a message to her: [It¡¯s nothing ¡¿ After sending this, Mo Yi thought about it and sent another message: [It¡¯s toote now. Let¡¯s talk tomorrow.] The other side fell silent and no longer continued to bombard him with text messages. Mo Yi took a deep breath, turned the cell phone off and threw it on his bed, watching as the cell phone bounced on the soft mattress several times, and then was quietly hidden on the bed. Then, he turned and walked in the bathroom while closing the door behind him. He stretched out his hand and turned on the faucet for hot water. Steamy, dense heat was released along with the sound of flowing water. Mo Yi raised his head and looked at himself in the mirror. The brows and eyes on the pale face were pitch-ck and gloomy, and the outline of the contours of his face were slowly being swallowed by the mist on the mirror. Eventually, all he could see were his own blurred dark eyes. ¡ª ¡°I know you¡¯re there.¡± Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The water poured into the white porcin sink with a ssh, stirring up transparent droplets of rolling steam. The sound of water became all the more clear in the closed room. Mist filled the air. The entire bathroom was shrouded in an expanse of white mist and steaming heat. Mo Yi¡¯s pale face held a slight trace of redness from the steaming mist, but a pair of pitch-ck eyes was still looking straight at the mirror, coldly detached and rational, as if waiting for something. His thin shirt was damp from the hot and humid mist hanging in the air, closely clinging to his skin. Tiny droplets of water gathered on the exposed skin, and it unknown whether it was water vapour or light sweat. It was really ufortable. Mo Yi pursed his lips, somewhat irritated, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to pull at his cor, revealing a small portion of his chest and the contours of his vicle with this action. He was about to reach out to turn off the faucet, when on the mirror¡¯s surface, already hazy with mist, a handprint suddenly appeared. Mo Yi¡¯s heart palpitated, and he intently looked at the mirror. The handprint started sliding down the side of the mirror, wiping a small surface on the blurred mirror clear, framing Mo Yi¡¯s pitch-ck eyes in the mirror. Mo Yi took a deep breath, not knowing whether he was solemn or rxed at heart ¡ª Sure enough, the mist had followed him into the real world. He thought about it, walked out of the bathroom, picked up the cell phone from his bed, and then returned to the bathroom. Mo Yi closed the door behind him and waited for a while. After the mist that had dispersed a little just now once again filled the bathroom, he turned on the screen, called up the note pad, and then ced it on the dry sink table. He slightly narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°Can you type?¡± Although it was a question, it had a derative tone. The cell phone screen flickered, and the keyboard keys jumped up and down, as if someone really was typing. ¡°Can.¡± Mo Yi closed his eyes and couldn¡¯t endure it anymore, stretching out his cool fingers to press against his faintly throbbing forehead, and took a deep breath. What was this, ah? First, there was the emergence of this mysterious escape game where he was periodically dragged into for a fight of life or death, greatly challenging his materialist world view, and thenter in the game, a strange mist unexpectedly followed him ¡­ ¡ª Now, it was actually still following him in the real world! Even though Mo Yi was rather interested in the nature of this game, after so manyrge mountains came crashing down, he couldn¡¯t bear it ah! Mo Yi sensed that he was bing a little neurotic.

At this moment, as if noticing his long silence, words once more automatically appeared on the cell phone, ¡°In the first copy, you took away a part of me when you sucked my blood.¡± ¡ª It really was because of this. Mo Yi kneaded the bridge of his nose, his head slightly aching. At that time, he was practically in an out of control state,pletely unaware of what impulse drove him to do such a crazy thing. Now, it was time for retribution. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and was stiff from head to toe, his face ck. ¡°So ¡­ you¡¯ve always been following me? Including when I shower and bathe?¡± There was no response from the cell phone for a long time, and it took a while for it to continue typing, ¡°I¡¯m in a dormant state most of the time.¡± Mo Yi frowned. He didn¡¯t believe half a word the mist said, but there was not too much he could do now. Also, he hadn¡¯t found a good method to shove it back into the game, and was unable to find the key for the checks and bnces. This feeling of not being in control was extremely diforting. Mo Yi¡¯s brows and eyes sank, and his face showed a thread of coldness. He changed the topic, ¡°I know you deleted Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s message and even answered in my ce. I hope that this kind of situation never happens again.¡± The other party seemed to be waiting for him to say this. Before his words were out of his mouth, the cell phone was already busy typing out a word, ¡°Okay.¡± In the next second, another line of characters suddenly appeared on the screen, ¡°Sorry.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face slightly rxed. Next, the cell phone screen flickered a few times, and once again, the next lines of words were quickly typed out, ¡°I¡¯m going to enter a dormant state. See youter.¡± After that, the screen slowly went dark. The surface of the dark screen still had traces of wet mist, dissipating little by little ¡ª The dense, nearly suffocating mist in the bathroom seemed to have also dissipated a bit. Mo Yi¡¯s brows and eyes which had just eased a moment ago instantly ckened. It had escaped very quickly. Nothing useful had been found. Moreover, he hadn¡¯t forgotten that this mist still owed him an answer! Mo Yi gritted the back of his teeth and walked forward to turn off the faucet that was still dripping and gurgling with hot water. The sound of flowing water that constantly filled the ears disappeared in a sh, and it was momentarily a little quiet. Mo Yi¡¯s overly tense nerves finally rxed a bit. A wave of exhaustion instantly hit, gravity pulling at his heavy eyelids. He yawned, and physiological tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. For the past three days in the copy, the state of affairs was extremely nerve wracking, and the body had long since exceeded the load. Mo Yi resisted the sudden wave of exhaustion, rubbed his eyes, and stepped into the shower. Although he was still a bit uneasy from the bottom of his heart, it was too ufortable to not take a shower given the current situation. Mo Yi endured the strange feeling in his heart, showered in a hurry, put on his pyjamas, and walked out of the bathroom. He threw his sore body into the bed and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Mo Yi was awakened by the sunlight shining on his eyelids. He struggled, brows knitted, then slowly opened his eyes. The room was dyed a deep red by the sunlighting in nted from outside the window. The setting sun coated the entire room with ayer of brilliant gold, practically transforming this simple room into a magnificent hall. Mo Yi blinked, and it took a good while for him to recover from the confusion brought by deep sleep. He turned to look at the electronic clock on the bedside table: It was already past six in the afternoon. He had slept for no more than twelve hours. Mo Yi kneaded his sore forehead and felt that his whole body was in endless pain, as if it had been run over by a train and was falling apart, causing difort. He sat up with difficulty and painfully became aware of how pressing it was to have a strong physique. Mo Yi slowly leaned against the headboard and reached out to pick up the cell phone that had been randomly thrown aside. There were a few unread messages from Jiang Yuanbai on the screen. Mo Yi opened them one by one and found that the contents inside were: How are you doing ah? Are you safe now? Call him back soon after returning. He¡¯s worried to death, ah ah ah. Intermixed were countless exmation marks of unknown meaning and emojis. Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Merely looking at it made him feel that it was noisy. He turned off the interface and called Jiang Yuanrou. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s familiar voice came from the microphone, and her tone was filled with joy that couldn¡¯t be concealed, ¡°Wonderful. I knew you¡¯d be okay. Yuanbai and I had been extremely worried these past two days. Have you rested now?¡± Mo Yi let out an ¡°en¡± and was instantly startled by his voice which was hoarse as if rubbed by sandpaper. He cleared his throat and said again, ¡°Thank you for your concern. I¡¯m fine.¡± After a simple greeting, Mo Yi told Jiang Yuanrou of his decision to go to City A. Jiang Yuanrou was silent on the other side of the phone for a long time. Mo Yi patiently waited for her reply. After a long time, from the microphone came Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s soft sigh, and she said, ¡°You know about it after all, ah.¡± Yes, that was right. Jiang Yuanrou had never told him about the connection between the copies in the game and the real world. Mo Yi slightly focused his eyes, and his gaze fell on the corner of his quilt which was dark red from the setting sun. That scorching red was like thest glimpse of the sun before it fell with insanity and despair, struggling to catch thest sliver of light before it sunk. He let out a deep, ¡°en.¡± His face was still calm andposed, simr to a pond of serene water. Nothing was capable of disturbing him. ¡°This matter ¡­ I didn¡¯t want to tell you.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s voice was a little sluggish, but it soon returned to its usual tone, ¡°It seems that I have no choice now.¡± Mo Yi listened in silence. ¡°Actually, I discovered this not long ago. The game copies and the real world are connected. I had friends who wanted to explore the connections here, but ¡­ Each and every one who went to find the connection died in the next copy. There were no exceptions.¡± Jiang Yuanrou took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Including Song Qi.¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes. Long eyshes concealed theplex and deep thoughts within them. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s low voice came from the microphone, ¡°As a friend, I really don¡¯t want you to take risks with your life. Please give it some more thought, ba. Please ¡­¡± . Her voice was almost inaudible at the end. ¡ª Since participating in this game, she had already lost too many friends. Mo Yi¡¯s hands faintly tightened, and several creases spread in all directions on the quilt he was clenching. There was a rare note of apology in his voice, ¡°¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Judging from the nature of this game, the likelihood of there being danger was extremely high. However, it was impossible for him to just sit and wait for death like this, waiting for the other party to take the initiative and seize absolute control, struggling to survive within the rules set by the other party ¡ª He had always been a rule breaker. Jiang Yuanrou seemed to understand that he had made up his mind, so she took a long breath and said, ¡°Well, now that you¡¯ve decided, I will also fully support all of your decisions ¡­ Please,e back safely.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression softened a little, and suddenly, he seemed to think of something and said, ¡°By the way, there¡¯s a person named Wang Zezhi. If you¡¯re interested, you can contact him.¡± Jiang Yuanrou let out an ¡°en¡± on the other end of the phone and then asked, ¡°Does he have any distinctive characteristics?¡± Mo Yi briefly described the other party and Jiang Yuanrou readily responded. After all, she was the eldest youngdy of the Jiang family. Even though she had gradually transferred over her authority, she still has some resources. ¡ª In the words of Jiang Yuanrou, ¡°After all, they¡¯re not all as hard to find as you are.¡± There was a trace of pain in her voice. The props used to find people were precious and had cost her a lot of points. After a few more words with Jiang Yuanrou, Mo Yi hung up the phone, got up from the bed, and started to pack things. Early the next morning, he was going to step onto a ne to City A. ¡ª Ten days of free time were really precious, however it absolutely couldn¡¯t be wasted. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Mo Yi sat in the jolting car and closed his eyes to rest. The faint smell of leather permeated the enclosedpartment,ying somewhere between sharp and warm. It was not at all unpleasant. All that could be heard was the whistling wind hitting the windows and the low, muffled roar of the vehicle¡¯s smoothly running engine. As early as the end of the first copy, he had already roughly sorted out the material from the police and media statements on the case, apanied by some specious gossip and some private insider information. All of it had been dug up by him without exception. The trajectory of Zhao Qin¡¯s life also revealed a clear path. Whether it was her mother who killed her father in jealousy and madness and then afterwards tried to break into the school to kill Zhao Qin and thenmitted suicide, or the repeated bullying in theter stages as well as therge-scale construction of the school after her sudden disappearance. The rate of simrity with the first copy he went through was astonishing. It was impossible not to connect the two. And ording to the information he found, after Zhao Qin¡¯s death, a number of unforeseen ¡°idents¡± frequently arose in the old teaching building. There had also been talk going around about it being haunted. It had never been taken seriously until someone fell there and broke their neck. The building waspletely abandoned after the person died. It had then been used as a warehouse. As for the culprit who murdered Zhao Qin, he was still atrge and soon left City A. Twelve years after Zhao Qin¡¯s death, he died in a car ident. The reason why Zhao Qin¡¯s remains were discovered was because the school decided to renovate it once more, so the abandoned building was torn down. The construction team found a skeleton in the foundation of the building, and the identity of the skeleton was confirmed by DNA analysis. ¡ª It was Zhao Qin who had been missing for twenty-two years. The body of the vehicle suddenly jolted and then slowly came to a stop. Mo Yi¡¯s body leaned forward with inertia. The respectful tone of the driver in the front immediately rang out, ¡°Mr. Zhao, the school is here.¡± Mo Yi lightly sighed, eyes opening. He reached out and nudged the rimless sses pressed up against the bridge of his nose and showed a gentle impable smile. ¡°Thank you.¡± After that, Mo Yi straightened the tie around his neck, opened the door, and stepped down. The school¡¯s information system and the police¡¯s database were full of loopholes. For him, finding all the information on the case was as easy as snatching candy from a child. And those clich¨¦d, ¡°private insider secrets¡± were nothing but meaningless iterations. ¡ª He needed something more concrete. Only, it was a pity. Maybe it was because this case was connected to the previous school administration and had also implicated the upper echelons of City A, this matter had basically be an ¡°unspeakable¡± case.

And the belongings in the former teaching building were also deeply locked up. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lowered. A faint trace of an arrogant smile shed across the corner of his lips. Therefore, as early as the end of thest copy, after Mo Yi had discovered the connection between the game and reality, he had begun to prepare for today¡¯s meeting with a calm expression, including creating a fake identity for himself and spreading some ¡°rumours.¡± Seeing the car door opening, several people approached and instantly greeted him. It was lead by a bald middle-aged man who hurriedly stepped forward, hand extended. ¡°Hello Mr. Zhao. Wee, wee. Excuse me, may I ask what I can do to help you?¡± He had heard the distinguished name of this Mr. Zhao before. He had recently been in the limelight in City A, having a vision for charity, and had donated a lot of financial resources to many schools. He was a hard toe by gold master. Thinking of this, the smile on the principle¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but brighten again. Mo Yi nudged the sses on the bridge of his nose, a routine smile on his face, and stretched out his arm and gave him a gentle handshake. ¡°To tell you the truth, Zhao Qin, who was found here some time ago, was my cousin. I came here this time to pay tribute.¡± The smile on the principle¡¯s face froze. Excavating the remains from campus caused a huge loss in reputation for the school, and the rumours were too strong to be continuously suppressed. And Zhao Qin was from the same family as this gold master ¡­ that was even worse. Although the cause of death had not yet been announced, there were a lot of rumours circting the city, possibly true and possibly false. Moreover, regardless of what version it was, it had an indelible damage to the reputation of the school. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes narrowed, taking measure of the principle¡¯s reaction through the sses on the bridge of his nose. There were no ripples in that calm dark gaze. He paused meaningfully and continued, ¡°Of course, the case itself will be handled by the police. As a rtive, I¡¯m very relieved to see that the injustice has been cleared up. This time, I mainly came to collect her belongings to givefort to the elders in the family. And naturally, while we¡¯re at it, there can be a chat with the school about making a contribution to the education of the next generation.¡± The principle¡¯s face, which had just copsed, suddenly became excited again, but it copsed again the next second. Mo Yi looked at his rapidly changing facial expression with interest, and suddenly felt as if his fingers were being softly tickled. Heposed his brows and eyes, facial expression instantly fading, eyes imperceptibly hanging low. His line of sight drifted downwards. The well-tailored cuffs of a high-end suit revealed slender wrist bones that hung quietly to the side. The five fingers were unmoving and naturally tucked in, appearing not in the least bit peculiar. In the next second, Mo Yi felt his palm being slightly scratched. Mo Yi¡¯s heart jumped, lips pursing, and without batting an eyelid, quietly folded his fingertips. He had a general idea about whose ghost was messing with him at this time. At this moment, the principle¡¯s voice sounded again. He appeared somewhat embarrassed, as if holding back from saying something. ¡°That ¡­ I¡¯m very sorry. There is nothing left of Zhao Qin¡¯s belongings.¡± In the next second, as if afraid that Mo Yi would turn around and leave, the speed of his talking elerated a bit, ¡°However, we still have the property of the previous building. That, otherwise, you ¡­? The principle¡¯s words were slightly softened due to uncertainty, so much so that he even had a guilty conscious in the end. Mo Yi slightly smiled from the bottom of his heart. If he had directly asked to see the property of the teaching building, the principle would definitely think that he had some scheme, thus many misgivings woulde to mind. Yet, when he believed that he was the one who proposed the idea, he would be unguarded. Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds, and eventually agreed with some reluctance. Afterwards, they were greeted with joy by the principle who weed them into the campus. After the principal turned his back, he let out a long breath and carefully wiped off the sweat from his forehead. Obviously, the other party was only a young man, but for some reason, under the gaze of those dark eyes, it constantly gave him the feeling that he had nowhere to hide. It was currently the time to attend ss. Everyone passed through the deserted corridor. The sounds of lectures came from the ssrooms beside the corridor, echoes arising from their steps on the floor. Gazing at this strange and familiar corridor, Mo Yi¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t help but tremble, instantly producing a strange illusion where magic intertwined with reality. Through the clear and clean windows, an open space not far from the campus that was under construction could be seen. The half-excavated foundation was exposed. It was obvious that construction had already been suspended. This was why the school had been so short of money recently which was why he was so eager to grab the olive branch he extended. Mo Yi withdrew his gaze and followed the person in front of him, passing through the two connected corridors, and finally arrived at a locked warehouse behind the teaching building. The principle took out a key. The sound of the cold key colliding with the lock sounded rather hollow. With a harsh ¡°ng,¡± the iron gate opened wide. It was pitch-ck. Mo Yi nodded politely at the principle and said, ¡°For cooperation, you can talk to my assistant first. I want to go in and have a look by myself and fondly recall memories of the deceased.¡± The principle expressed his understanding. Mo Yi finally smiled at him, turned around, and stepped into the warehouse. Therge warehouse was cold, gloomy, and humid, saturating the air with a strong scent of dust, boring oddly into one¡¯s nasal cavity, causing Mo Yi to involuntarily cough a few times. Taking advantage of the not so bright light and scant sunshine prating through the gray windows on top, Mo Yi stopped in the middle of the warehouse and looked around the whole warehouse. The warehouse¡¯s ceiling was very high. The space inside was abnormally wide, and it was piled up with an umtion of dusty old chairs, tables, and junk. The chairs with missing arms and legs had fallen to the ground in despair, piled up in a small mountain with the others. There were many yellowed books buried in the dust, the writing on it blurred. The whole warehouse was extremely quiet. Only the sound of a few early summer cicadas could be heard outside the open door of the warehouse. Mo Yi took a deep breath and walked around the warehouse. At this moment, he felt the corners of his clothes slightly lower. Maybe it was hooked on something. Mo Yi ignored it, and instead bent down and brushed the dust off a table, eyes narrowed to carefully examine it. In the next second, the corners of his clothes were once again tugged. Mo Yi was taken aback, looking along the side of his body, and happened to catch a glimpse of a thin line of mist that had not yet dissipated at the corner of his clothes. Mo Yi took out his cell phone, turned on the screen and ced it on the desk, asking in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± The keyboard on the cell phone screen began to automatically input characters: ¡°Follow me.¡± Immediately afterwards, a small gentle force wrapped around Mo Yi¡¯s little finger, leading him to a certain direction. Mo Yi¡¯s countenance grew solemn, and he reached out to pick up the cell phone that was ced on the side of the table, and followed the force that pulled him toward the depths of the warehouse. After passing by several broken ckboards andrge piles of shabby discarded tables and chairs, the force that had been entwining his fingers disappeared. New characters appeared on the cell phone screen: ¡°Below.¡± Mo Yi patted the dust on his clothes, followed the directions, and looked under the iplete wooden chair in front him ¡ª His bright eyes were slightly stunned. A scorched and warped photo framey in the dust, as if it had been burned by a fire. Only from a few corners could the original traces of the silvery white colour be made out. It was missing a corner. ¡ª As if to remind him that what had happened in the copy had actually happened. Trantor¡¯s Note: Hi everyone. Sorry I disappeared and stopped updating for months with no notice. Life, work, and honestly just being burnt out tranting got to me. Regr weekly uploads are back on schedule! Chapter 50

Chapter 50

It was as if something invisible had tightened around his heart, blood surging into his heart, and the gradual rush of his heartbeat pounded against his eardrums. Mo Yi slowly bent down, hand stretched out, and picked up the scorched and warped photo frame from the dust. An ice-cold and rough sensation pressed painfully against his fingertips, into the nerve endings and into the bottom of his heart, evoking ayer of chilliness. The photo frame was ck as if it was corroded. Fine ck powder fell away with Mo Yi¡¯s action, blending in with the dust on the ground, the fine pieces stinging one¡¯s eyes upon contact. He stuck his finger in the crack at the edge of the photo frame, brushing away the fine ck powder and dust on it, exposing the shallow silver fracture beneath it. Once again, the scene when entering the copy for the first time jumped vividly before his eyes. The memories came tumbling back sharply. The dark, secluded, and gloomy stairwell seemed never-ending. Blurry, eerie photos slowly revealed malicious smiles. The corridor, distorting and warped after the ear-piercing ringing of the bell, and pale handsing out of the photos. And thick mist that surged up violently like a nightmare. Mo Yi took a deep breath, and the heavy depression climbing up from the bottom of his heart made it almost difficult for him to breathe. He subconsciously looked at the cell phone he had put aside. The cell phone screen was still lit up, and a faintyer of mist enveloped the screen. Upon closer inspection, a familiar interface was disyed on the lit screen. ying Snakes. Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± That stifling and cold feeling instantly vanished like smoke in the air. He resisted the urge to hold his forehead and turned around to continue to examine the photo frame in his hands. As he was standing up, a piece of paper slid off the back of the scorched photo frame and slowly fell to the ground. Mo Yi paused, bent down, and picked up the yellowed note from the ground. This was the same crumpled paper he had found in the copy, with an illegible brushwork drawing of a footless bird, and a written method to imprison the soul. The blurred handwriting on it caused one to inexplicably feel ufortable. When Mo Yi was about to put it down, he felt that the paper felt ¡­. slightly off. He subconsciously twisted the crumpled note in his hand, resulting in a clear sound of friction. The sensation under his fingertips told him ¡ª that there was a second page. Mo Yi¡¯s brows wrinkled, countenance heavy. He was certain that inside the copy, this note definitely only had one page. Turning that page over, a second sheet of paper was revealed. Though still crumpled, the handwriting on it was much clearer than it was on the previous page. The ck ink marks appeared to be tinged with a slight redness, looking particrly eye-catching on the yellowed paper. It was an extremely brief letter. The letter was evidently addressed to the former principle. It clearly stated the length, width, and texture of the silver photo frame, even to the nearest millimeter, and it was followed by a description of the main ritual ceremony.

ording to the key words in the letter, the main purpose of the silver photo frame was to ward off evil spirits and to act as a protection for the person whose photo was ced inside it. The hair and nails of the person being protected were hidden inside the photo frame: In short, it was a stand in. On the one hand, the victim¡¯s soul was imprisoned inside the building. On the other hand, a stand-in protected by evil spirits was ced in the building to attract hatred, making it so that she had no time to take care of the righteous master who had already escaped away to far ces. This strategy was both thorough and cruel. Mo Yi now finally understood why the armsing out of those photos were so scared of the photo frame. Just then, there was a slight ringing from the cell phone ced at his side. Mo Yi followed the sound, only to see the memo interface reappear on the cell phone screen, the keyboard jumped about, and rows of words appeared on the screen. ¡°After the car ident, the murderer¡¯s soul was tangled with resentment and was unable to depart from the world. He was also protected by the photo frame, and the resentful soul could not harm him.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed. After thest copy, some unresolved issues and bugs were finally patched. Suddenly, without warning, a familiar electronic female voice rang in Mo Yi¡¯s ear, ¡°Ding Dong! Congrattions to yer Mo Yi! You have discovered important props in real life,pleting the copy¡¯s plot!¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. This was the first time he heard the game prompt in real life. The electronic female voice continued, ¡°Due to your outstanding performance, you are now invited to join the Advanced yers Club. From now on, you have be a candidate member of the club No. 0589! ¡° Advanced yers Club ¡­ Candidate member ¡­? Mo Yi was a bit confused. Before Mo Yi could react, the female voice continued to say without pause, ¡°Is the membership initiation test going to be opened in the next copy?¡± This time, the game seemed to have be particrly human, and even began to thoughtfully exin the initiation test for Mo Yi, ¡°The difficulty of the member initiation test copy has increased, and the points earned will be doubled. Once sessfullypleted, you will be eligible to join the Advanced yers Club and enjoy a luxurious gaming experience! And win the final prize! This level can be opened by the yer at any time. If you choose to open it immediately, you will be rewarded with extra points after the copy is cleared!¡± Immediately afterwards, as if giving Mo Yi time to think, the female voice thoughtfully paused and continued, ¡°Will the membership test be opened in the next copy?¡± The difficulty had increased significantly ¡­ Was this the reason why those who wanted to explore the connection between reality and the game, without exception, died in the next copy? Due to the discovery of important props in reality thatpleted the plot in the copy, the membership test was opened. And then, get killed by a copy that suddenly increased in difficulty? It didn¡¯t sound profitable. Moreover, the level could be actively opened by the yer at any time, so even if it was not opened in the next copy, apart from not being able to obtain extra rewards, there would be no major losses ¡­ Mo Yi opened his mouth, about to refuse. But in the next moment, a staggering thought suddenly streaked across his mind, and he couldn¡¯t help but pause. Wrong. The real Song Qi was also a friend of Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s. Before going, it was impossible not to have known about the hidden dangers here ¡ª After all, Mo Yi himself had learned about it from her mouth But, nevertheless, he still died. It was important to know that the reward for immediately opening the membership test copy wasn¡¯t so rich that everyone would be willing to go. Although seeking wealth and honour came with risks, it was important to keep one¡¯s life safe. What was more, this membership test copy could be manually opened at any time, and there was no rush. Most people¡¯s way of thinking was certainly ¡ª To save up enough props to challenge it. Therefore, the number of people who declined to immediately open it were in no way low. Yet, without exception, they all died. Died in the next copy. Mo Yi¡¯s back couldn¡¯t help but give birth to a slight chill, spreading along his spine to his neck, bringing about a smallyer of goosebumps on the exposed skin. Coupled with the game¡¯s various malicious and deceptive mechanisms ¡­ It was so sweet now. There was definitely something fishy going on. The words that were on the verge of being blurted out turned around in his mouth and were finally squeezed out from between Mo Yi¡¯s lips and teeth, ¡°Open.¡± As soon as his voice fell, the female voice rang out without pause, ¡°The membership initiation test has been sessfully opened and will be activated at the start of the next copy. Wish you a happy game.¡± Immediately afterwards, just like how she came, the female voice disappeared without warning. Silence had once again returned to the cold and gloomy warehouse. Only the indistinct, low chatter at the door of the warehouse and the mouring of studentsing through the walls could be heard. Mo Yi took a deep breath and turned his gaze to look at his cell phone on the table. The cell phone¡¯s screen was already dark. The faint mist that had enshrouded the front of the cell phone screen before had disappeared. ¡ª Probably dormant again. While thinking, Mo Yi reached out and picked his cell phone up off the table and tucked it back into his pocket before lifting his feet and walking out the door. The purpose of hising today had been basically achieved, and it was time to leave. The sun hung high overhead, suspended in the luminous cloudless sky, appearing especially dazzling. Although it was still early summer, the sun had long since revealed itstent strength, scorching people¡¯s skin with its hot temperature. Mo Yi was walking out of the airport. He had long since changed out of the good looking but really restrictive suit and put back on the shirt he usually wore, the cuffs habitually rolled up to reveal his small, slender arms. The rimless sses on his face had also been taken off, and he looked as young as a youthful and inexperienced college student. Just then, his phone rang. Mo Yi paused, took out his cell phone from his pocket, and pressed the answer button. ¡°How was it. Did the trip to A City go well?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s words of concern came from the receiver. Mo Yi smiled, about to say something. Before he could open his mouth, his gaze slightly sank. He couldn¡¯t divulge anything about the Advanced yers Club to Jiang Yuanrou. To be precise, it was the game that prohibited it. Mo Yi paused, dodged the topic, and replied somewhat vaguely, ¡°Thank you for your concern. I¡¯m fine.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was an intelligent person, so when she heard him say that, she no longer looked into the matter, simply smiled and replied, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Suddenly, Mo Yi seemed to remember something, and asked, ¡°Jiang Yuanbai ¡­ how is he?¡± Hearing Mo Yi¡¯s question, the opposite side of the receiver was also silent, and in the backdrop here with the sparse sounds of people, he could only faintly hear the shallow breathing from the opposite side of the receiver. After a while, Jiang Yuanrou replied, ¡°His third copy will be opened the day after tomorrow. Although he appears very rxed, I ¡­ am not very relieved.¡± Mo Yi listened patiently. Jiang Yuanrou paused, and like she had made up her mind, continued, ¡°I¡¯m going to apany him in the next copy.¡± Mo Yi was not at all surprised. After a t, ¡°en¡±, he replied, ¡°Pay attention to your safety.¡± Jiang Yuanrou smiled softly. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Life is the most important. The side plot is just a plus!¡± Before she could finish speaking, she heard Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s boisterous voiceing from behind, ¡°Brother Mo, you¡¯re back? You haven¡¯t even returned my messages!¡± Jiang Yuanrou smiled, pushed her foolish younger brother¡¯s head away, and continued over the phone, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I¡¯ll have someone take you to the viter. I have a little surprise for you.¡± After speaking, she ended the call. Mo Yi squeezed his cell phone, its screen ck, his heart a little weak: Why did he have an unsettling premonition? He walked out of the airport and happened to see a car slowly approaching, the ck roof reflecting the dazzlingly, brilliant rays of light of the midday sun. The car then came to a stop in front of him. The car window slowly rolled down, revealing a familiar face. The man looked at him with scorching eyes, left hand raised to mp the cigarette dangling from his lips with his fingertips. The smoke that was slowly being exhaled blurred the contours of his face, but Mo Yi could still make out therge smile on his face. ¡°Long time no see.¡± Shen Lei ?? Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Mo Yi was taken aback. Only then did he remember that after thest copy, when Jiang Yuanrou hade to him, she had mentioned that the reason she knew that Shen Lei hade out safely from within the copy was because ¡ª Shen Lei had been brought into the business by her. It was not surprising that the two had a personal rtionship. But in a few seconds, his train of thought had already circled about in his mind. Mo Yi swiftly curbed the nk look on his face, and nodded at Shen Lei, expression indifferent, showing a restrained and polite smile. ¡°Yes. Long time no see.¡± After speaking, he pulled open the car door behind him and got in. The car door at his side closed with a shallow, muffled thud, instantly blocking out the noise and voices outside the window. The heat that had been rising suddenly disappeared, leaving only the coolness of the air conditioning inside the car. There was a strong scent of tobo in the car. Mo Yi was caught off guard and choked, coughing several times. While starting the car, Shen Lei looked at him through the rearview mirror, put out the cigarette butt, and smiled. ¡°Can¡¯t stand the smell of smoke? Then I¡¯ll pinch it.¡± Mo Yi suppressed the sounds of coughing, voice somewhat hoarse. ¡°¡­ Thanks.¡± The window was slightly rolled down a crack by Shen Lei, the clean and fresh air outside the car rushed in with the even speed of the car, dispelling the slightly muddy grass scent inside the car. For the rest of the journey, the two didn¡¯t talk. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t figure out what Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s purpose was in having Shen Lei pick him up. And Shen Lei seemed to havee to simply be a chauffeur, earnestly driving the car the whole way, not saying much. Silence enveloped the car, and all Mo Yi could hear was the steady rumble of the car driving across the road, coupled with the hustle and bustle of vehicles within the city walls, seeming particrly fuzzy due to the window separating them. It was at this point that a familiar strange movement gently prodded his fingers. His palm, which was ced on his knee, was faintly touched, simr to a very light wisp of wind, restless and itchy against the hollows of his palm. Mo Yi¡¯s palm subconsciously closed, eyebrows slightly furrowed. He raised his eyes and looked at Shen Lei who was driving, only to see that he was still focused on the conditions of the road, not at all noticing the strange movements behind him. Mo Yi gritted his teeth. He had to suspect that the mist was being deliberate ¡ª Either it showed up when it was inconvenient for him to talk, or after it showed up, it would quickly be dormant. It was too cunning, ba! That familiar touch came from his hand again. ¡ª It seemed more courageous than before. It no longer just curled around his fingers, but moved up a little bit, softly encircling the prominent contours of the bones of Mo Yi¡¯s wrist, affixed to the smooth lines of the back of his hand. A few wisps of mist traced the indentations on the back of his hand and into the gaps between his fingers, rubbing against his palm. Mo Yi¡¯s expression was a bit subtle. Not knowing whether it was an illusion of his or not, but he always felt as if ¡­ his fingers were intertwined with someones.

He freed his fingers and felt the air, hands not at all sluggish. There was no sensation of being bound. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, tossing the strange feeling in his heart to the back of his mind, and reached out his hand, taking out the cell phone from his pants pocket. ¡ª Turned on Snake. Then, the cell phone was ced in the driver¡¯s blind spot. For a rare moment, the thin, hazyyer of mist froze. Mo Yi raised his eyebrows, somewhat puzzled: ¡°Huh? Did he understand it wrong? Didn¡¯t it want to y games? At this moment, the car slowly jolted, then came to a stop. Shen Lei turned to look at Mo Yi, smiled, and said, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived.¡± Mo Yi, without batting an eyelid, turned off the cell phone screen, and then ced it back into his pocket and looked out the car window, only to see an exquisite little vi which exuded an inviting feeling. It stood tall and upright amongst theyers of greenery, appearing especially beautiful under the dazzling midday sun. Shen Lei¡¯s voice came again, ¡°You go in first, ba. I¡¯ll drive the car into the garage.¡± Mo Yi nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± He opened the car door and stepped down, heading into the vi. As soon as he entered the door, Mo Yi was taken aback. The entire structure of the vi inside seemed to have changed. It waspletely different from thest time he was here. The originally delicate and elegant interior seemed to have been torn down, reced by a minimalistic ck and white style. There was a sign at the door, and on it was a sketch of something. Before Mo Yi could walk over and clearly see what was written on it, he at once heard a familiar voicee from his side, ¡°Brother Mo?¡± Mo Yi was startled and followed the voice, only to see a figure appearing at the entrance of the corridor next to him. The man reached out his hand and nudged his sses and showed a cautious smile at Mo Yi. Wang Zezhi. Mo Yi wasn¡¯t very surprised. His eyes merely curved a bit as he smiled at him. ¡°Just call me by name. Brother Mo is too unfamiliar.¡± Wang Zezhi shook his head repeatedly and said, ¡°No, no. Brother Mo, you¡¯re really amazing. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would never be able to return from that copy!¡± He suddenly seemed to recall something, teeth somewhat gritted, fuming with rage, and said, ¡°This copy definitely can¡¯t be an ordinary low difficulty copy! There was fewer people and more time, but the difficulty was not low at all! What a garbage game!¡± Mo Yi: ¡­ Actually, this time, the pot really wasn¡¯t the games. At this moment, Mo Yi seemed to have noticed Wang Zezhi¡¯s odd attire ¡ª He was wearing a close-fitting white vest and sports shorts, revealing pale limbs that hadn¡¯t seen the sun for a long time. A white towel was draped over his shoulders and on his forehead were beads of sweat. It looked like he had just finished exercising. Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds, then somewhat hesitantly asked, ¡°Um¡­ Are you just getting back from your run?¡± Hearing Mo Yi¡¯s words, Wang Zezhi¡¯s expression instantly copsed. His eyes behind the lenses glistened with tears. He looked at Mo Yi pitifully and slightly stuttering, said, ¡°He ¡­ he said that my body was too weak ¡­¡± A bad feeling instantly rushed into Mo Yi¡¯s heart. In the next second, his unknown premonition came true. He heard Shen Lei¡¯s clear and vigorous voice from behind, ¡°Since everyone has met, I will reintroduce myself. I am the fitness coach that Jiang Yuanrou has invited to help with your special training and also a part time nutritionist. After all, proper exercise is the only way to increase the rate of survival in the copy!¡± Mo Yi¡¯s body froze. He recalled the evaluation Shen Lei had given him in the first copy, ¡°Young man, your body is too weak. Even if you are in the office, you can¡¯tck exercise. It¡¯s easy to die in the game.¡± Turned out ¡­ it was unexpectedly ¡­ professional habit¡­ Shen Lei walked forward as if oblivious, passing between Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi and walked in front of the two, hands stretched out and pushed open the door that Wang Zezhi had juste out of. The minimalistic, metal-decorated room was filled with high-end exercise equipment in a wide range of styles, a dazzling array of beautiful things. It was like stepping into a high-end, top-of-the-line gym. ¡ª The rich and imposing Jiang Yuanrou had actually turned the entire vi into a private gym. Under the despairing gazes of Mo Yi and Wang Zezhi, Shen Lei gave them a good natured smile, white teeth gleaming in his opened mouth. ¡°Let¡¯s start, ba.¡± In the following week, Jiang Yuanrou and Jiang Yuanbai still hadn¡¯t returned. People who died in the game, without exception, would be a missing person in reality ¡ª It was like they had vanished from the face of the world, disappearing without a trace on earth. The whole world seemed to have forgotten them. Jiang Yuanrou had said that once yers died in the game, they would slowly be forgotten by the real world, as if these people had been erased from the world. Their friends and rtives would only have a vague impression of them, so much so that it would be quite difficult for them to actively remember their existence. Up until Mo Yi was about to enter the game, Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanrou still had not returned to reality. Mo Yi had already packed everything important he needed in his backpack very early on. He stood in the middle of his room and looked around the familiar room, his eyes finally settling on the clock hanging on the wall: There was still five minutes. He very much hoped that Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanrou were not dead. After all, ording to Jiang Yuanrou, this game also had copies that were up to ten and a half days long. Although the probability of them encountering this was quite slim, it was not impossible. Mo Yi lowered his eyes and stared at the backpack ced at his feet. The dark creases on the backpack looked like deep scars under the light, carved onto the nylon fabric. One couldn¡¯t help but feel a burst of oppression from the bottom of their heart. Moreover, in the past few days, the mist had never reappeared. It was like it had sunk into a deep sleep. There was no sign of it even when he softly called out. Mo Yi looked up again at the clock on the wall: There were three minutes left. He gripped the strap of the backpack with his fingers, pulled, and finally carried it on his back, and breathed out a long sigh of relief, taking great effort to rx himself. This time the copy was the ¡°Membership Initiation Test.¡± It was as if a dense misty between him and the road ahead, making it impossible for him to glimpse the fate ahead. A strong uneasiness bubbled forth from the bottom of his heart, weighing heavily on his heart, casting his heart down towards a bottomless abyss. Mo Yi took onest look at the watch on his wrist ¡ª Time was up. In the next second, it went dark before his eyes. The surrounding scene abruptly changed, and he stepped into empty darkness once again. The mechanical female voice came again ¡ª ¡°Wee back to the game candidate member Mo Yi. Points are being settled ¡­¡± Mo Yi took note of the change of his title in the game system and couldn¡¯t help his eyes from narrowing. ¡°Sessful settlement! Congrattions to candidate member Mo Yi for perfectlypleting the b (a+) level hidden mission, ¡°Freedom¡±. Rewarding 4000 (7000) points. The game store is opening.¡± This time, while the female voice was speaking, fluorescent blue writing simultaneously appeared in the dark void. It was followed by red writing in parenthesis, burning and stinging Mo Yi¡¯s eyes He breathed a small sigh of relief. After the difficulty was increased, the points were settled ording to the increased difficulty. Otherwise, it would be a big loss. In the next second, the scene in front of Mo Yi changed again. He was transported from a pitch-ck nothingness to an azure technological space. Countless icons floated before his eyes. This time, it could clearly be seen that there were twice as many visible rows asst time, however the other rows were still invisible and greyish white. Mo Yi gave a quick cursory sweep of the avable goods for purchase and found that basically none of the goods he sawst time had appeared. The goods in front of him were apletely new batch. This time he was very cautious, confirming again and again that there were no props that would use up the number of his purchases, picking and selecting props that altogether were worth more than 1000 points. The moment the payment key was pressed, the female voice came once again, ¡°The props were purchased sessfully! They have been sessfully sent to the yer¡¯s backpack. Wish you a happy game!¡± The azure colour was once again swallowed by a dark nothingness, and the female voice seemed? boundless, ¡°Game transmission in progress ¡­¡­¡± The Author has Something to Say: Mo Yi: Here¡¯s the cell phone. Go y Snakes and don¡¯t bother me. Good boy. The Mist, ¡°¡­¡± Are you coaxing a child! Copses! Chapter 52

Chapter 52

The world turned upside down before his eyes. It was as ifrge swatches of colour were shattering into pieces and blending once more, upying one¡¯s entire sight, entering along the nerves and piercing the brain. His eardrums were filled with a chaotic white noise. Mo Yi felt dizzy as his feet made contact with the actual ce, only realizing afterwards that ¡ª This time, he had been sent to the instance while standing. But it was toote. Nerves, which didn¡¯t have time to react, couldn¡¯t support the sudden gravity. Gravity pulled Mo Yi to the ground. Mo Yi, somewhat panicked, extended his hands in the air, eyes subconsciously closed, waiting for the oing pain. A hand like an iron-band reached out from the side, held his arm, and with strong force, pulled him up. Although Mo Yi was helped to stand, his brain was still in chaos. He turned his head, somewhat dazed, to look at the person holding him and subconsciously said, ¡°Thanks ¡­.¡± In the next second, Mo Yi¡¯s voice was stuck in his throat, voice unable to send anything out. At the same time, a man was looking at him, his well-defined lips pursed in a sharp curve. A pair of eyes, light as mist, were attentively watching him, simr to a dark gray ocean. He let out a lowugh, ¡°Be careful.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes widened uncontrobly, and he lowered his voice, ¡°You¡ª¡± Suddenly, at this moment, he remembered ¡­ In fact, he currently didn¡¯t know the Mist¡¯s name. ¡°Unnamed Mist¡± was a game prompt in the first instance, and ¡°Song Qi¡± was someone else¡¯s name that he had borrowed. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know what to call him for a while and couldn¡¯t help but freeze in ce. At this time, an unfamiliar male voice came from beside him, ¡°Neer?¡± Mo Yi turned his head, following the voice, only to see a tall man approaching, looking around with some misgivings, and then asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He then discovered that the man¡¯s gaze directly passed through the Mist¡¯s body, as if he didn¡¯t see another person there, sweeping by without wavering. Mo Yi was taken aback, head turning to look at the Mist standing beside him. A trace of a smile was on his cold countenance, finger raised and pressed against his pale lips, making a gesture, ¡°Shhh.¡± Mo Yi came to, turning his head to look at the man and showed a natural smile, ¡°Not a Neer.¡± He frowned and lifted his chin in gesture, ¡°It¡¯s just that this is my first timeing across an instance like this and was just rmed. Thank you for your concern.¡±

The man epted this statement, nodded, a trace of worry appearing between his eyebrows. He said in a low voice, ¡°This is also the first time I¡¯ve encountered this situation. This ¡­ is very strange.¡± Yes. The instance this time was indeed extremely strange. It was important to keep in mind that originally, the instances were essentially situated indoors, the windows and doors tightly locked shut, and there was no way to escape. Yet this time¡­ Mo Yi slowly looked around the entire space. Dark nothingness filled as far as the eye could reach. The boundless darkness twisted, squirming with malice and danger, surrounding the tform they were on. This time, the instance unexpectedly was in a semi-open space. The ground under their feet was soft with loess, and the entire tform seemed to be floating in boundless darkness, as if submerged in a pitch-dark sea without light, so dense that it was almost substantial, and the pressure made one almost suffocate. And in the middle of the tform stood a tall, crooked building. It appeared to be very old. The crooked and strange architectural style seemed to make one feel ufortable. There was even a dent on the old and dust covered roof on which dust fell. The whole building looked odd in every way and was almost entirely out of line with normal house structures, practically making one amazed at how it hadn¡¯t copsed yet. It also made it impossible for the people standing in front of the house to fully view the house. Gray ss covered the windows. They appeared to be filled with malice as they spied on the outside of the house. The porch door was half open, the interior pitch-ck, as if quietly whispering something, waiting for prey to arrive. ¡ª And Mo Yi and the others were standing in the open space in front of the house¡¯s porch. There were still yers being sent into the instance one after another. Their figures, almost as if out of thin air, appeared in the darkness. Aside from the few quick eyed ones who stood, each and every one, like Mo Yi, were caught off guard and fell. Mo Yi watched motionlessly on the surface, silently counting in his mind. Although he knew that each yer was teleported into the instance at a different time, this was the first time he saw other yers being teleported into the instance. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes subtly narrowed, pitch-ck eyes gloomy. Before long, the teleportation of yers ended. Looking at the various bewildered or frightened facial expressions of the yers, Mo Yi, finding joy in the sorrows, thought: This open spaced instance had an upside ¡ª It was unlikely for there to be noisy Neers again. After all, this room and strange house that was floating in the darkness truly went beyondmon sense. Nobody could brainlessly regard this game as a prank. This time, since everyone was sent to the same ce, there was no need to gather again. Thus, the ethereal voice of the game soon sounded, ¡°Hello. Wee everyone to therge-scale live escape game: STAY ALIVE.¡± The female voice encircled the entire pitch-ck, ice-cold space, sounding extraordinarily strange and frightening, ¡°Your only task is to survive for 7 hours in the old house. The following are clues for you: Born on a Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Grew worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday. That was the end of Solomon Grundy. Wish you a happy game.¡± The t, straightforward, and unfeeling mechanical voice slowly recited the sentences with a rhythmic feel, and in such an environment, it couldn¡¯t help but make people shudder with fear. Mo Yi was taken aback. This clue ¡­ he had heard it in passing. It was a 19th Century English nursery rhyme and it had been widely circted. Mo Yi¡¯s brows furrowed, head raised to look up at the patch of emptiness that wrapped around the tform, only to see that after the female voice fell, from the pitch-ck sky that was devoid of light, a familiar fluorescent blue countdown emerged: 6: 59: 56 Solomon Grundy¡¯s life was only seven days long. And this time, their time for survival happened to be seven hours ¡­ ¡ª Could there be any intrinsic connections here? He took a deep breath, suppressing the countless questions that arose in his mind. Then, he raised his eyes and looked at the yer¡¯s varying facial expressions. There were 17 yers in total this time. The proportion of Seniors was not low. There were at least ten people. Mo Yi¡¯s lips pursed, brows somewhat furrowed in doubt. Although there were a lot of Senior¡¯s this time ¡­ There were still Neers mixed in. Before entering the game, Mo Yi had two guesses about this instance. One was that the entire instance was the Membership Test instance, and the participants were all candidates for membership in the Advanced yers Club. The second was that this was a very difficult instance. Unlucky Neers and Seniors were sent in. Candidates whopleted the instance became Senior members of the club while the other yers who were not candidates for membership still had their ounts settled with a reward for having passed a high difficulty instance. ¡ª Since there were Neers in this instance, the first guess was obviously overturned. So¡­ was it the second? Mo Yi¡¯s heart was a little inexplicably uneasy. The few Neers who were sent in were all dumbfounded, staring at the bizarre space that exceededmon sense, their wide-opened eyes filled with the fear of the unknown. Panic was spreading and taking root in the crowd, expanding, and upying every gap, squeezing every breathable wisp of air. At this moment, a Senior woman stepped forward and broke the stagnant atmosphere. She was tall and slender, faint impatience between her delicate and pretty eyebrows, mouth opened to speak to the group of trembling Neers, ¡°Firstly, this game is real. Dying in the game is the same as dying in reality. Secondly, I suggest you pay attention to the clues given by the game. It can save your life.¡± She paused, her sharp eyes looked around the quiet tform, and continued, ¡°The other thing is, it¡¯s better not to act alone.¡± Her voice fell. As if a switch had been turned on, a low sob rang out from the crowd. The Senior frowned, a bit annoyed, not saying anything more, and turned to look up and down at the crooked house in the middle of the tform. The other Seniors also separated one after another and searched for clues on the narrow tform. Mo Yi also followed after everyone, slowly walking around the house. Only, it was just an overgrown and barrennd on which several withered trees with crooked necks were nted, short and yellowed, its thin bony branches flushed with a dead ash grey, stabbing up into the sky. There was a crooked path on the bleak and deste soft loess ground, extending from the edge of the entire tform and emerging abruptly from the darkness, and then curving to join the house¡¯s crooked porch. The whole surface area of the tform was not veryrge. It didn¡¯t take long for everyone to have walked everywhere. Aside from a clearer understanding of the outside of the crooked and shapeless house, nothing else was gained. One after another, everyone couldn¡¯t help but cast their sight to the house that stood in the middle of the entire tform. It stood there quietly. On the oddly shaped porch, the shabby door was half opened, revealing a dark corner. It was as if it was waiting for something. The Senior man who had spoken to Mo Yi a moment ago said, ¡°¡­ Now, there¡¯s no other choice but to go inside.¡± A panicked, and stifling ambience filled the air within the crowd. Some people nearly had a nervous breakdown from the eerie and horrific pressure. A female Neer shouted, somewhat hysterical, ¡°No! No way! I¡¯m definitely not going in there!¡± The low sounds of weeping from earlier resumed and several Neers subconsciously drew close, nodding one after another. One of the bolder looking Neers asked a little timidly, ¡°Anyway ¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s enough to live for seven hours in this game. So, wouldn¡¯t it be okay if we stayed outside for seven hours?¡± The tall Senior woman sneered. ¡°Whatever you want.¡± After that, she turned around and walked towards the house¡¯s porch. Other Seniors and some Neers also followed her into the house. Three Neers hesitated, but nevertheless chose to stay outside. While walking, Mo Yi¡¯s eyes searched aimlessly around the house. Suddenly, from out of the corners of his eyes ¡ª A blurry, distorted face was tightly pressed against the ss in the second-floor window, quietly looking at the crowd downstairs. A chill ran down Mo Yi¡¯s back, and the hairs on his body instantly stood up. He hurriedly returned his eyes to the window. There wasn¡¯t anything by the gray window. An intact handprint on the ss was slowly fading away. Trantor¡¯s Note: Hi everyone! I¡¯ve decided to change the term for the game ¡°copy¡± to ¡°instance.¡± I thought that might make more sense than copy. I haven¡¯t made the changes to the past chapters. This will be done at ater time. I¡¯ll change it back if a lot of people prefer ¡°copy¡± over ¡°instance.¡± Thank you for all for reading and for thements! Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Apanied by a harsh ¡°squeak¡±, the dpidated and twisted door of the house opened inward, and icy air came slowly from the dark door, mixing the smell of dust and rotting wood. And¡­a faint, barely catchable smell of blood. The few people walking in front paused, turned on the shlights they carried, and then walked into the house. The cold white beam of light could hardly prate the darkness of the room. The light circles swayed throughout the room, trembling with the shaking of a person¡¯s wrist, from one corner of the room to another, but it was still impossible to get a full view. Suddenly, at this moment, the whole room suddenly lit up! Everyone was stunned. In the four corners of the room were old, worn-out candlesticks with faint lights swaying and shaking slightly, illuminating the whole room. . Such a weird phenomenon made everyone feel a little bereft. A senior walking ahead swallowed his saliva, moistened his sore throat, and said hoarsely, ¡°Go, go.¡± The group of people carefully and slowly walked onto the porch, and then entered, one by one, into the room. Mo Yi was behind the crowd and walked inside with everyone. Before entering the house, he subconsciously turned his head and looked behind him. The three neers who chose not toe in were near each other, as if they were close enough to give the other strength, standing on the barren ground, behind them the boundless darkness, faintly squirming. The countdown in the sky with luminous, blue shining in the sky seemed particrly ominous. The Mist followed behind him, and a pair of light gray eyes looked at him unpredictably, the pale lips formed a slight arc, waiting quietly. In thest instance, he needed a yer to open the door toe inside. This time, perhaps in light of such an open tform, he could directly enter the instance. Mo Yi frowned slightly, the expression in his dark eyes was a littleplicated. He didn¡¯t know if this was a good or a bad thing. Although the Mist hadn¡¯t shown any negative tendencies concerning him for the time being, and even helped a lot, he can¡¯t help but admit that such a spirit always following his side was still intimidating. What¡¯s more, his addition means more variables, and may even continue to increase the difficulty. At this moment, a yer walking beside him approached and followed Mo Yi¡¯s gaze somewhat dubiously, but only saw a void, he couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you find anything?¡± Mo Yi shook his head, his eyes calm: ¡°Nothing, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡ªThe mystery in the Mist is as dangerous and uncertain as his body. For example: Why does he follow him?

¡ªHe will even follow him into the real world. Why does he help him so often? What is his identity, and what is the reason for being so attached to himself? His instincts told him: all these issues were extremely critical. Mo Yi pursed his lips, turned and walked into the room, holding the half-open door with his hand, and deliberately staying for more than ten seconds, ncing at the Mist. The cold and sharp facial lines of the Mist softened a bit, his light gray eyes like the light fog in the morning. His lips formed a slight, restrained smile and stepped forward, walking through the gap opened by Mo Yi. As he passed by with a cold breath, he voiced lowly, ¡°Thank you.¡± The expression on Mo Yi¡¯s face remained unchanged, but his eyebrows wrinkled unseen, as he followed in behind him. The oddly shaped, dpidated door mmed shut behind him, stirring up a cloud of dust that fluttered down in the dim light. The space in the room was muchrger than what it looked from the outside. And what¡¯s even weirder was that¡­not only the outside, but the inside of the room was also distorted. The uneven floor was connected to the crooked walls. Above was the crooked ceiling, covered with moss and dust. All the furniture inside was crooked, and there was hardly any straight line inside the whole house. Everything seemed to be abination of distorted and weird. Everyone looked at the room in silence, not hearing a sound. The scene in front of him was like walking into a distorted dream, or falling into another strange world, almost making people doubt their eyes. While Mo Yi¡¯s expression was still light, his eyes narrowed slowly, and he subconsciously took a step forward. Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation from under his feet, which waspletely different from the texture of the wooden floor, as if something was protruding out, hardly touching the soles of his feet. Mo Yi was taken aback, and moved his right foot away. He saw a glittering thing stuck in the crack of the floor under his feet, shing a faint silver shine under the dim light of the candlestick. He squatted down, reaching out for the shiny object stuck in the crack of the twisted floor. With a clever move, the originally stuck thing was forcefully buckled out by Mo Yi. He ced it on the palm of his hand and straightened up. Several yers who saw him stand up also gathered around to look into his palms curiously. Mo Yi wiped off the dust on its surface with his fingertips, and after looking at the shining object carefully for a while, he slowly frowned, his eyes flickered, seeming a little worried. The veteran who had been chatting with him before couldn¡¯t help asking curiously, ¡°What is this?¡± The others did the same. Looking left and right, they couldn¡¯t make out what it was. They looked at Mo Yi in confusion, waiting for him to exin. Mo Yi was startled, hesitantly lowering his voice, he said uncertainty: ¡°It seems¡­ to be a sixpence coin.¡± However, unlike a normal sixpence, this coin was also twisted like the house. The irregr circr arc was surrounded by crooked English letters and numbers. The gully was filled with dust umted over the ages, extremely difficult to identify. Mo Yi raised his head and nced unintentionally over the first floor windows. Through the blurry ss, one can see the slowly passing countdown in the deep darkness, and the figures of three neers standing not far away. At this moment, Mo Yi saw that something seemed to be surging in the foggy darkness. Something bleak and gray-white appeared in the darkness that swallowed all the light, and then slowly stretched into the tform. It was a pale arm. Someone also saw the situation outside the house. A tall yer hurried to the door, trying to open it to let the neers in, but the old wooden door that was crooked and could not fit the door framepletely, was tightly shut at the moment. It was cast iron and he couldn¡¯t shake it at all. Seeing that the door could not be opened, Mo Yi strode to the window and mmed on it to warn them: ¡°Run!¡± The neers outside the house saw themotion inside, but could only hear some vague sounds from within. One of the timid yers asked shyly: ¡°Did something happen inside?¡± The other person beside him tried to appear calm, but his voice changed a little under the influence of fear: ¡°Just¡­ I know that there is nothing good going into the house will do, they don¡¯t listen¡­¡± Before he could finish his words, a harsh ¡°creaking¡± sound was heard behind him, like the sound of a cracked wooden branch or the sound of crushing bones. The three looked back at the same time. They saw a tall ¡°man¡± emerge from the darkness outside the tform, first with slender pale arms, thennky legs. His whole body seemed to be drawn with crooked lines. An unbnced body was revealed. He was wearing a crooked tuxedo and a worn top hat, his long and twisted face was fuzzy and pale, they could not see its facial features, only a cracked mouth was humming something in a low, terrifying voice. The three screamed in horror and turned to run. The twisted man stretched out his distorted arm like a branch, and with a wave of his pale and deformed palm, he pulled back a person who hadn¡¯t run too far, and tore at them hard¨C The scorching blood sttered, and their head was ripped off! He dropped the horrified, dead body in his hands, and took just a step forward, but his long and thin legs had already brought him far away, the ¡±man¡± with the top hat approached the next victim, his pale face showing a strange smile. The humming had gotten louder. He stretched out his palm, just like a toy, and caught the second person, despite their struggle and screaming, he pulled hard¡ª The second head was torn off, and one could see white bones through the bloody fracture. Dazzling blood spurted out of their throat and sshed onto the ¡°man¡¯s¡± narrow and ill-fitting tuxedo. The third person finally ran to the door of the house, desperately and helplessly shaking the doorknob. Sweat and tears spread across her face twisted by fear. She screamed in horror: ¡°Help! Help!!!¡± The hoarse voice was like weeping blood, and the trembling was like withering leaves in the wind. The door did not move. The ¡°man¡± took a big step forward again, the twisted palm struck, pulling the woman¡¯s hair, then just a light movement of the fingers and her neck bone cracked, her body softly hanging down. The outside was quiet for a moment. Then the humming from the man became particrly clear in this strange silence: ¡°¡­Heboughtacrockedcat¡­ whichcaughtacrockedmouse¡­¡± He pulled the yer¡¯s fallen corpse, slender legs and twisted steps, collected all the body fragments and heads, hugged them in his slender and pale arms, and walked into the darkness again. There was a dead silence in the room, with only soft, muffled breathing. Fear seemed to be pervasive, digging into everyone¡¯s heart and along every pore. Mo Yi looked pale, holding onto the sixpence coin subconsciously, even his knuckles turned white with force¨C He whispered: ¡°There was a crooked man And he walked a crooked mile He found crooked sixpence And a crooked stile He bought a crooked cat Which caught a crooked mouse And they all lived together In a crooked little house¡± TN: Hi! I¡¯m silverblue, the new trantor. I¡¯m tranting through MTL, so my trantion will not be the most urate, but I do try my best. I hope you have fun reading nheless. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

There was dead silence in the room. On the blurry ss, framed by a twisted window frame, were still handprints left from being mmed. It looked like the marks left by a struggle, engraved on the eyes of a man in despair. Through the window, one could see that the open space outside had returned to barrenness and silence, the dead branches stretching out into the sky, like the five fingers of a hand. If it weren¡¯t for therge bloodstains that were wetting the ground, it would almost make one think that everything was just an illusion. Mo Yi gazed at the bright bloodstains on the ground for a few seconds, then averted his eyes and turned around. Mo Yi was startled as soon as he turned just halfway. The yers throughout the room were staring at him. The female yer who had spoken just now hesitated, then stepped forward, and asked, ¡°What¡­ did you say just now? What crooked man? Do you know anything?¡± As thest sentence was voiced, her eyes became extremely sharp, staring at Mo Yi intensely, as if trying to see through him. Mo Yi pursed his lips and said, ¡°This is a nursery rhyme. Its name is crooked-man.¡± He paused, lowered his eyes slightly, then continued: ¡°The so-called ¡®life of Solomon Grundy¡¯ mentioned in the clues, like this crooked-man,es from a collection of British nursery rhymes ¡­ ¡®Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes¡¯.¡± Several yers had apparently heard the name of the nursery rhymes, and were shocked when they were told of it. Whispers sounded in the crowd, and people who didn¡¯t understand murmured in confusion and asked each other in low voices. Mo Yi stood patiently and watched the insiders of the yers exin it for others. What exactly are ¡±Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes¡±? Although the name of this collection of nursery rhymes sounded kind and childlike, they were terrifying because of its dark background, and its contents were much ¡°richer¡± than the version seen by the public today. Because of the bloody and cruel sentences in some of the old nursery rhymes, many people even called them ¡°horror nursery rhymes¡±. However, since the original version of ¡°Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes¡± has been mostly cut and modified to the editions published today, it is still difficult for most people to see theplete version. The female veteran who just spoke frowned deeply, and asked slowly as she pondered: ¡°So ¡­ Do you suspect that this instance is rted to this nursery rhyme?¡± Mo Yi nodded. People couldn¡¯t help but feel creeped out and the atmosphere became more depressing. Less than an hour after the beginning of the instance, three yers have been killed, and the fact that this is rted to the ck nursery rhyme made this instance even more strange and heavy. The female veteran broke the silence first and took the lead in extending her right hand to Mo Yi: ¡°My name is Yu Ran.¡± Mo Yi raised his eyebrows, and held the woman¡¯s white and slender palm, introducing himself: ¡°Mo Yi.¡± Yu Ran turned her head and said to the other yers, ¡°Everyone can say their name, so we know what to call each other.¡± When the yers heard that, they also reported their names one by one. The original tension in the air rxed a lot, and everyone was no longer as afraid and tense as before. Mo Yi nced at Yu Ran, and stretched his eyebrows again. This time, the instance didn¡¯tst long, and there were a lot of people, so the difficulty was quite hard. In this kind of difficulty, everything was very dangerous, and the death interval of the yers would be extremely short. In the next second someone is likely to die, and self-introduction will not improve the chance of survival. However, the atmosphere that was just tense and choking, was eased by the suggestion alone. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages. At this moment, Mo Yi felt a slight touch on his palm. He froze and looked at the person standing next to him. He saw a tall man with a sharp face and a pair of misty light gray eyes staring at him. He said, ¡°Do you like her?¡± Mo Yi was startled and looked subconsciously at the other yers beside him, only to find that they didn¡¯t notice, and then he remembered ¡­ the sound of the Mist seemed to be heard only by him. He was slightly relieved. He wrote and drew with his fingers on the hand of the other person¡¯s palm: [l wouldn¡¯t know, but she is very careful in her thinking] Just after writing the first few words, Mo Yi suddenly realized that something was wrong. He raised his eyebrows high, looked at the Mist suspiciously, and his actions changed: [What do you ask this for?] The other side looked serious, but answered casually: ¡°Nothing, just asking.¡± Mo Yi frowned at him suspiciously, without asking more. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, and once again wrote and drew in the palm of the Mists hand: [By the way, what¡¯s your name?] The Mist seemed to be stunned, as if he didn¡¯t expect Mo Yi to ask this question. He frowned, thought for a moment, and then answered: ¡°I don¡¯t have a name.¡± Suddenly, just at this moment, a soft ¡°creak¡± came from the door. Mo Yi was startled, stopped the movement of his hand, raised his eyes and looked at the source of the sound. The door that wouldn¡¯t move before, opened slowly on its own. After halfway, it stopped as a matter of course, and through the half opened door gap, one could see the rich darkness and barrennd outside. Everyone was silent, standing rigidly in ce. Nothing happened. Mo Yi tilted sideways a little, adjusted his angle, and raised his eyes to look out of the door. ¨CThere was nothing on the dry and soft ground. The blood-stained ground was now clean and dry, and there was no trace of blood, as if the ground had sucked it all up. Mo Yi looked out the window. The other bloodstains were gone. The ground was scarily clean. A hoarse, metallic sound was heard. Intermittent, as if a jammed radio, a broken record or a broken music box. A vague children¡¯s voice hummed. But the content of the humming was masked by the noisy sound, making it impossible to recognize every word. In the gloomy and silent room, the strange and untuned notes echoed, which could arouse the most primitive fear in everyone¡¯s heart. From the depths of the shapeless corridor came the sound of tiny footsteps. Not like a human¡¯s. The dense crackling sound hit the wooden ground, making one feel numb and wanting to flee. However, the door was still equally dangerous, and he wondered if the crooked-man would jump out again in the next second. This is a dilemma. One side is an abyss and the other a fire pit. There is almost no way out, so everyone couldn¡¯t help but look desperate. The scratching sounds deeper in the corridors were getting closer. Everyone moved to the door involuntarily, away from the source of the sound. The candlelight in the room grew dimmer, casting a swaying shadow on the distorted walls. The shaking light seemed to pinch the heart, and choke one¡¯s throat. A monstrous figure slowly appeared in the entrance of the hallway, with its arched back, it had half the height of a human, appearing between darkness and chaos. The scalp scratching sound was clear as if it were in one¡¯s ear. That kind of slowly approaching fear can drive almost any normal person into madness! Some people finally couldn¡¯t stand it. Their bodies shaking with fear as they ran towards the door in a lifeless way. There was only one thought in their heart: Stay away from it! Further away! Four or five people swarmed out of the door, almost getting stuck in the already narrow door frame. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was also beating in his throat. At this moment, he felt the Mist next to him stretch out his hand and hold his wrist, a cold feeling came from the skin where he touched, it gave him inexplicably a sense of peace. Mo Yi froze, and turned his head to look at him. He saw him looking into the depths of the corridor, his jaw tightening, and shaking his head slightly. ¨CDon¡¯t move. The next second, the weird figure in the deep corridor sprang out instantly! Directly towards the door! Then everyone saw it clearly:it was a giant weird mouse! It is about half a person tall and has no fur on its body. Instead, it looked like inverted skin, which was irregrly covered with wrinkled ck sutures, seeming to be stitched together crookedly by needle and thread. It was horrifyingly covered in red blood. The rotten meat dripped along in its movement, and the thick bloody smell was almost disgusting. It ignored the other yers standing in the middle of the room, and rushed directly to the door. A yer crowding at the door subconsciously turned back and saw such a terrible scene, at once he could not help but scream. The mouse opened its crooked mouth, exposing sharp teeth, and biting the thigh of the screaming man severely, then pulling at it hard. It instantly dragged the man to the ground like a broken doll. As the others crowding in the doorway decided on what to do, the pressure that held them in standstill eased, and they ran out in fear. After a time, out of the shadow of the corridor, two more huge mice came out! There was more than one of these terrible creatures! They rushed straight out the door, chasing the yers who were fleeing. The child hummed with a broken voice, louder and louder, singing the same tune again and again. The first mouse held down the struggling, screaming man, its sharp ws sinking into the man¡¯s head like chopped tofu. The poor man twitched, and the screaming stopped abruptly. It pulled out its ws. From Mo Yi¡¯s perspective, he could see that there were two eyeballs full of blood and brain matter in its sharp and bloody ws. Eyeballs? A thought hit Mo Yi instantly. He looked at the face of the mouse, and saw that its pointed face was ugly and distorted by needle stitching. There were no eyes in its eye sockets, only a terribly big mouth, which was still dripping blood. Mo Yi turned his eyes to look at the other yers who were standing stiffly in the room. His ck eyes locked firmly at their pale faces, which were deformed by fear. He shook his head gently, making a gesture for silence near his lips. ¨CThey can¡¯t see anything. The direction of its prey can only be discerned by hearing. Without speaking, it is possible to live. The intermittent chorus of the nursery rhyme became louder and clearer, and Mo Yi could discern some of the words. He can evenplete the lyrics in his heart¨C ¡±Three blind mice! See how they run! They all ran after the farmer¡¯s wife. She cut off their tails with a carving knife Did you ever see such a sight in your life as three blind mice?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill as he listened to the jammed and broken child¡¯s voice. ¨CAnother song. TN: Hello readers. After taking a peak at the next chapters, I decided to change how I trante a few things: Everything the yers read or hear from this instance (songs, nursery rhymes, etc.) was originally written in Englisch. After the english version, was a tranted chinese version. For this instance I will leave the original english version, and remove the tranted chinese version, to avoid hindering the reading flow by repeating a section. I will do this to the end of the instance, unless I make a note of it otherwise. I will also edit thest chapter ordingly. Thanks for reading Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Chapter 55 The intermittent nursery rhyme grew louder and louder, the creepy and hoarse tune echoing through the house, eerily. Mo Yi held his breath, his heartbeat seemed to slow down, beating in his eardrums. The giant mouse lifted its ugly, scarred, pointed face, twitched its wet nose, and sniffed like a human everywhere. Mo Yi nced out of the corner of his eye. The other yers in the room didn¡¯t dare to make a sound. Some even raised their hands to cover their mouths and noses, for fear that they would identally leak sobs or gasps and expose their position. There was a strong bloody smell in the air, mixed with the dusty smell of the house, it made one feel the aciding up from one¡¯s stomach. He saw it opening the mouth on its face, the sharp white teeth exposed in its pointed mouth, the tips of the teeth still dripping with blood and minced meat. It looked particrly terrifying. ¨Cthen it made a harsh sound. It was like crying, or screaming, like the harsh sound of nails scraping on ss, with prating sharpness. The sound of scratching ws came from outside the open house, and within a minute, the other two mice seemed to hear the call of theirpanion and ran back inside at a very fast speed. Their appearance was equally terrifying. The bright red flesh that was turned out, marked by crooked needle and thread, the ugly and twisted pointed faces with no eyes, onlyrge mouths dripping with blood. Mo Yi¡¯s sharp eyes found that in each of their front paws was a pair of eyeballs that were still connected to the optic nerve. It was mixed with red and white juices, as if it had been dug out directly from the human brain. Mo Yi felt his stomach churning a bit. Even after going through two instances, and having a little resistance to this brutal and disgusting picture, the shock of facing this scene was still very big:especially considering that the eyes were still located in people¡¯s eye sockets a few minutes ago. Of the three mice, the one that came out first was thergest, and it seemed that it was also the leader that gave orders. It opened its mouth and made a few sharp and short calls, then ran out through the door with the corpse in its mouth. The other two mice followed in its footsteps. The three huge and strange bodies quickly disappeared outside the door, and the scratching of their ws gradually faded away. The vague and intermittent nursery rhyme also seemed to be stuck. The sound became smaller and smaller, more and more distorted. Then eventually it turned into a hoarse sound, like the stutter between gears, before finally stoppingpletely. There was no more sound in the room, it was quiet and scary. The remaining yers still stood stiffly in ce, not daring to act rashly, until they were sure that the nightmarish ws and shrill screams werepletely gone, only then they rxed. A yer leaned against the wall and slid to the ground softly. His weak legs could hardly support his heavy body and his fearful and pale face was already filled with tears for some time. He was sobbing uncontrobly. The other yers were no better off. They couldn¡¯t see much happiness on each other¡¯s faces after the crisis, instead they felt more of the surging fear and powerlessness. Just one and a half hours into the game, at least six yers have already died. He knew there were only seventeen yers in this instance. Mo Yi let out a slow breath, and his tense shoulders and neck finally rxed. The exhaustion and soreness that he had not noticed before swept in like a tide, engulfing his limbs and gnawing at his nerves. He moved his stiff legs and leaned his back against the crooked wall involuntarily. The cold and hard touch was transmitted to his mind through his sweat-soaked shirt, causing him to tremble all over, being shaken by the icy feeling. Mo Yi raised his head subconsciously and looked through the blurry window. He saw that in the thick darkness, he could see the bright blue countdown shining in the air silently. ¡ªFive and a half hours to go. No one knew what would happen next. The suppressed fear of the unknown made almost everyone look desperate. At this moment, there was the sound of sluggish footsteps outside the door, as if a person with crooked feet was walking with difficulty. The nerves of everyone were tense again in an instant, holding their breaths, widening their eyes, and looking out of the half-closed wooden door. Just listening to the ¡°pop¡± sound of a blood-stained hand mming on the wooden door loudly, made all the yers on the other side of the door jump. Just as everyone¡¯s heart was beating loudly, a bloody figure appeared outside the door. The man staggered and fell into a pool of blood on the ground. Someone finally reacted and took a few steps forward to support the man covered in blood. The man finally took a breath, raised his bloody face, and said sporadically: ¡°The others¡­everyone else is dead¡­their eyes are gone¡­¡± Only then did everyone see that the man¡¯s leg was bloody, the huge bite marks ripped through the fabric, and one could even see the bones. The man breathed a sigh of relief and continued: ¡°One¡­ wanted to kill me, but when it heard the scream, it ran away, leaving me alive.¡± Everyone was silent. Secretly everyone knew that because of the yer¡¯s current injury, no matter how good the doctor and the conditions were, it couldn¡¯t get him to move again. In such a dangerous instance, losing the ability to move was basically the same as being sentenced to death. This fate¡­ There was basically no difference between staying and not staying alive. Everyone settled the survivor on a chair that looked stable. The atmosphere in the air became especially solemn for a while, and the mood of everyone became even more depressing. Standing to the side, Yu Ran said, ¡°Now is not the time to give up. Everyone, continue to look for clues, maybe you can find a way to crack it.¡± Most of the yers who have survived had experience in the game, and they quickly adjusted their temporarily depressed mentality, forcibly cheered up again, and began to explore everywhere in the room. Although theyout and appearance of the house were strange, it was not small. Therge hall was connected with three rooms and a gloomy and dark corridor, as well as a crooked staircase that stretched from the first floor to the second floor. The yers spread out in pairs and walked towards the surrounding rooms. No one wanted to take a step closer to the dark and gloomy corridor:after all, those mice came out from there, who knew if there would be any terrifying creatures hidden in the darkness waiting for an opportunity. Mo Yi stood there thinking for a few seconds, and walked towards the corridor without changing his expression. ¡°¡­Mo Yi.¡± Just as he was about to walk in, a female voice stopped him from behind. Mo Yi was stunned and turned his head. Hw saw Yu Ran standing not far away, frowning and looking at him: ¡°You want to¡­ go in?¡± She raised her chin towards the ominous corridor, her slender and beautiful brows furrowed even tighter: ¡°Alone?¡± Mo Yi subconsciously nced at the Mist beside him, then he realized in hindsight that no one else could see him except himself. He couldn¡¯t help frowning in annoyance. It seemed a bit too conspicuous to act alone. But it had alreadye to this point, and he was riding a tiger. Mo Yi shrugged, and a helpless expression appeared on his face naturally: ¡°Because no one wants to go in except me. After all, I can¡¯t force others to apany me in danger.¡± Yu Ran pursed her lips and seemed to ept his exnation, but said to him a little solemnly: ¡°Then be careful.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows eased slightly, he nodded at Yu Ran, turned and walked into the corridor. The corridor was extremely gloomy, and darkness enveloped every corner inside, making it look like an abyss. The uneven wooden floor beneath his feet made an unpleasant creaking sound, the smell of blood in the air became stronger and stronger, and the turbid air made one almost suffocate. Mo Yi turned on the shlight and walked in slowly. Under the pale beam of the shlight, the floor could be seen covered in bloody scratches and paw prints, as well as dripping blood. The entire corridor was very narrow, like a curved pipe, and the gap between the walls gave the illusion of suffocation. There was no room in the entire space, and only a faint light at the end of the corridor. The paw prints under his feet extended into the room at the end. The three mice apparently sprang from there. Mo Yi took a deep breath, tightened his hand on the shlight, and walked towards the end of the corridor. After walking into it, he couldn¡¯t help being taken aback by the spaciousness of the room. Under the extremely high ceiling, dim kerosenemps were burning, and the tall tables and counters were muchrger than normal, barely standing in ce crookedly. Mo Yi took a few steps in and looked at the room carefully. This should be a kitchen. There were ck iron pots and kitchen utensils on the tall stove, as well as dirty cutlery and dishes piled on the table indiscriminately. On the end of the table, there was a dirty, blood-stained cutting board. A huge rusty kitchen knife was deeply embedded in it. Where the kitchen knife and the cutting board were connected, blood was slowly sliding down the board, leaving a dark, dark red trace. As Mo Yi stepped forward he saw a bright red tail on the cutting board. The kitchen knife was embedded where the tail was cut. The strange tune of the nursery rhyme seemed to be still in his ears: [They all ran after the farmer¡¯s wife. She cut off their tails with a carving knife.] Mo Yi pursed his lips, but out of the corner of his eyes he caught a glimpse of something that seemed to be nailed to the wall opposite the cutting board. He pulled over the low stool beside him, stood on it, and leaned out half of his body to look at it. It was a dirty, yellowed note. It seemed to be a recipe that was nailed into the wall in front of the cutting board. It was covered with oil stains and a few dried bloody handprints. With a few lines it was written crookedly: ¡°What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs¡¯ tails. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all that¡¯s nice.¡± Mo Yi frowned slowly, and his already pale face became more and more bloodless. He stood silently for a few seconds, his dark eyes shing thoughtfully, then he jumped out of the unsteady chair. The Mist stood by his side, reaching out to help him a little. Mo Yi gave him an absent-minded smile and said in a low voice, ¡°Thank you.¡± Before he could say anything else, Mo Yi suddenly realized that the bright red paw prints and scratches on the ground hadpletely disappeared. He was stunned for a moment, then walked to the entrance of the corridor, turned on the shlight and looked in. Clean on uneven ground. Mo Yi¡¯s pace quickened. He walked quickly across the corridor and into the hall, his eyes fixed on the door. The ground where a massacre took ce had no trace of blood at this moment. Like the earth outside the door, the traces of murder have beenpletely wiped out. As if it was thirsty in this twisted room. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Mo Yi took a few steps forward and stared at the half-closed door with a heavy gaze. The faint light from the shabby candlestick couldn¡¯t dispel the darkness in the room. Swaying shadows were casting strange silhouettes with the twisted tables and chairs on the room¡¯s uneven walls, like living ghosts, alternately transforming all kinds of strange shapes. The strong smell of blood in the house had almost disappeared. The rotten and dark smell of dust re-upied people¡¯s senses. It mixed with the faint smell of blood that lingered, which was almost imperceptible, and pressed heavily on people¡¯s hearts like stones. But on the uneven ground at the entrance, there was no trace of blood left. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes turned to the injured yer who was ced on the chair before. That man was dead. The cheeks that were still plump before were ttened, the lips widened in despair, revealing the dehydrated mouth and tongue. The eyeballs were protruding, staring nkly at the ceiling, as if he didn¡¯t understand what happened before he died. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze slowly moved down andnded on his injured leg. Between the broken cloth, the wound was white, the bones sticking out, which looked particrly shocking. Even more strangely, there was no trace of blood on the wound. The floor under the chair was also too clean. In some instances, depending on the specific situation, the corpse may disappear automatically¡­ However, the bloodstains in each instance were like a mark or a sign, and it would be fixed in ce where it was left, even if the corpse was collected by the system. If you die, blood will be left behind. But this time, the body was still there, and all the blood was gone. Even the bloody handprint left on the wooden door when the previous yer came in was gone. The blood disappearing outside the house could still be exined by being absorbed into the ground or by the dead trees, but the disappearance from the wooden floor inside the house was extremely strange. Under the dim light, Mo Yi¡¯s face became paler and paler, his thin lips pursed tightly, almost bloodless. ¨CIt was like the whole room sucked the blood out. Just then, the Mist suddenly took a step forward and approached without warning. The distance between the two instantly shortened, and the clear and cold breath enveloped Mo Yi at once, like a pine forest in the mist after the rain. His voice was deep and low, and seemed close to his ear: ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about this instance.¡± As if he didn¡¯t understand the hidden meaning in his words, Mo Yi was stunned and turned his head to look at the Mist. ¡­¡­no need to worry? What did he mean? He saw the Mist narrowing his light gray eyes slightly, the neat profile of his face looked a little cold under the light, and his thin lips pursed into a shallow arc: ¡°In thest instance I entered as a yer, which affected the progress of the game, which therefore led to a significant increase in difficulty.¡± The Mist stared at him with a pair of prating light-colored eyes, and let out a slight smile: ¡°This time, I didn¡¯t enter the instance in any capacity, and¡­ if you hadn¡¯t sucked my blood, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to see me.¡± Mo Yi frowned lightly. This time it was a semi-open instance, which didn¡¯t require the yer to manually open the door of the instance building and let the Mist in. It meant that the Mist had exploited a loophole in the game system, so the difficulty of the game would not increase with his participation. Mo Yi pursed his lips and frowned with a shallow line between his eyebrows. He looked around the whole room inconspicuously, and when he saw that no one was paying attention to them, lowered his voice and asked: ¡°So, the reason you don¡¯t want me to worry too much is¡­ the difficulty of the game won¡¯t increase because of you?¡± Unexpectedly, the Mist shook his head. His eyes softened a little, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly: ¡°The membership test instance is for all yers who have discovered the connection between reality and the game, and found props toplete the plot of the instance.¡± Mo Yi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, and subconsciously rubbed his knuckles with his fingers. The hard bones were covered with thin skin, which was pale and had not seen the sun for a long time, so it turned a light red with the action. The Mist¡¯s gaze lingered on his hand for a moment, then swayed away unnoticed, and he continued: ¡±The difficulty of the instances you have experienced since entering the game were not low. It can even be said¡­ they were very high, and the other yers¡­ Although they have experienced a lot of instances, most of them came from c-level or b-level instances.¡± So¡­ what he meant¡­ This may be an insurmountable instance for those yers, but it was actually not as terrible as imagined? ¨CThen why did he only now remember to say this? Mo Yi was slightly stunned. In the next second, he seemed to understand something. Perhaps due to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s extremely nervous attitude, Mo Yi was overly wary of the difficulty of this membership instance, so since he entered the instance, his nerves have been extremely tense. And this kind of tension with a non-positive state of mind almost affected his judgment and reasoning ability, making him look forward and backward and worry about gains and losses. He thought his nervousness was well hidden, and didn¡¯t expect it to be discovered. Mo Yi¡¯s lips formed a faint smile, his dark eyes showed a little real warmth, and the outline of his face softened a bit. He said sincerely: ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¨CAfter all, it is rare tofort people in such a roundabout way. Seeing this, the Mist froze for a moment, his eyes flickered, and he suddenly turned his head to the side, and coughed ufortably: ¡°¡®Cough¡¯¡­ no thanks needed.¡± At this moment, Yu Ran came out of the room next to him, and when she looked up, she happened to see Mo Yi standing at the entrance of the corridor. ¡°¡­Mo Yi?¡± She raised her eyebrows in surprise and stopped him: ¡°You are out?¡± Mo Yi was stunned, and followed her voice to look at Yu Ran. Only to hear her ask with some concern: ¡°You didn¡¯t encounter any danger inside, did you?¡± Mo Yi smiled politely and nodded with restraint at her: ¡°Thank you for your concern, I¡¯m fine.¡± Yu Ran took a few steps closer, but before she got to Mo Yi¡¯s side, she felt a bit of an inexplicable chill on her body. Although she didn¡¯t know where this strange feeling came from, she subconsciously felt that it was dangerous. Although she didn¡¯t delve into it, Yu Ran unknowingly stopped. Her eyes followed the direction Mo Yi had just looked at, and she also saw the dead body of the injured yer. Yu Ran was startled, she couldn¡¯t help but take a sharp breath, unable to control her volume. She stumbled and asked: ¡±He- he¡¯s dead? How could it be? I didn¡¯t hear anything at all!¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sank, he nodded slowly, found his words and said: ¡°Yes, and he should have died of blood loss.¡± Yu Ran recovered from the shock and stared at the man¡¯s corpse. She also noticed the different appearance of the wound on the corpse. She frowned and asked, ¡°The blood?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s gone.¡± Mo Yi nodded, his expression a little heavy: ¡°It seems like we must be careful not to get hurt in the future.¡± Yu Ran understood what he meant: Once injured, they are likely to end up with the same fate as that yer: being sucked out of blood by this instance and dying. She took a deep breath and forced herself to look away from the corpse. She quickly calmed down, and asked: ¡°By the way, did you find any clues in the corridor?¡± Mo Yi briefly described the kitchen at the end of the corridor, and then gave Yu Ran aplete retelling of the third nursery rhyme he found in the there. Yu Ran¡¯s brows slowly wrinkled along with his narration, and she murmured, ¡°There is a third nursery rhyme¡­?¡± This nursery rhyme didn¡¯t sound as straightforward as the other two, but for some reason, there was a vague sense of unease in her heart. ¡­ It would be better to say that in such an environment, the appearance of this kind of childlike nursery rhyme seemed even more bizarre. Mo Yi¡¯s face was a little solemn: ¡±Moreover, I think¡­ this may not be thest one.¡± Unlike the two instances he had experienced before, this instance seemed to be based on nursery rhymes, rather than any buildings that existed in reality. Such a fictional space made finding side quests even harder. It also made the entire instance extremely unpredictable. And since it was based on nursery rhymes, it must not beposed of only these few rhymes. So what role did the nursery rhyme ¡°The Life of Solomon Grundy¡± y in this instance? These mysteries came one after another, shrouding Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightly, and his forehead seemed to be covered with a shadow. Suddenly, Yu Ran seemed to remember something, and looked up at Mo Yi: ¡°By the way, I found this in the next room.¡± As she spoke, she handed Mo Yi a piece of paper. It was a crumpled, yellowed sheet of paper, with uneven tearing marks on the side edges, as if it had been torn from a book at random, covered with dust and oil, and brown handprints like dried blood. Mo Yi was startled and reached out to take the paper. His fingers subconsciously slid across the rough and uneven edges of its sides, the feeling under his fingertips felt particrly distinct, almost painful. It was strikingly simr to the piece of paper nailed to the wall in the kitchen, no matter its quality, size, or the marks on it. Mo Yi lowered his eyes, pressed his doubts to the bottom of his heart, and began to try to identify the crooked handwriting on the paper. The handwriting was more vague and uglier than the one in the kitchen, as if it had been written by a drunken and delirious person, crooked and incoherent. Mo Yi frowned, read the words on the paper with some difficulty, meditating silently about them: ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ cry, my little one?¡± Next is arge stain, blurring all the handwriting on it, and it waspletely unclear. At the bottom of the paper was a line of handwriting that looked clearer: ¡±nothing can harm you.¡± Recognizing these two sentences was the limit, the others werepletely covered by dust, which made it impossible to read at all. And these few words that could be distinguished had no beginning or end, which was confusing. Mo Yi handed the note back to Yu Ran and asked: ¡°Where did you find it?¡± Yu Ran replied: ¡°As soon as I entered the room, it wasying in a ball under the bed.¡± While thinking about it, Mo Yi walked towards the room in the direction pointed out by Yu Ran. As soon as he entered the door, a cold and depraved smell rushed over his face, as if something that had been left for a long time had be moldy. Mo Yi¡¯s attention was instantly attracted to the head of the bed. On top of the headboard was a dark mask. The curved nose stretched out like a bird¡¯s beak, the eyes made of gray ss, staring at the door like a human, looking extremely ominous. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Mo Yi was startled and subconsciously took a few steps forward. The maskid quietly on the headboard of the bed, with a thickyer of dust on it. The dark ss eyes were also stained with dust and of a misty color. The silver-white beak was bent and stretched, hanging from the edge of the headboard. Seeing that the look in his eyes was wrong, Yu Ran followed his line of sight, and her expression couldn¡¯t help but be serious: ¡°What? Is there any problem with this mask?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s gaze remained tightly locked on the mask, he pursed his lips and replied: ¡°In the Middle Ages, when the ck Death spread, doctors of that era would wear strictly ck linen robes and masks like this in order to prevent infection.¡± ¨CThe ck Death, the gue, the ghost that once hovered over the European continent, took away nearly one-third of the poption of the European continent with death and terror. Mo Yi lowered his eyes slightly, his long eyshes covering the look in his eyes, leaving a deep shadow on his pale cheeks. He paused, then continued: ¡°I¡¯m wondering¡­whether the previous mice have anything to do with this.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s face also became serious, and a pair of beautiful eyes looked at the mask deeply. Mo Yi didn¡¯t say anything anymore, just took a few steps forward. He was about to get a closer look¨C A low humming came from outside the door. The past intermittent humming of nursery rhymes, which sounded like they came from a music box, were different to this voice. It was soft now, as if it was sung by a real child. The immature child¡¯s voice was humming an unknown tune in a low voice, which seemed extraordinarily bizarre in the room. But for some reason, this voice sounded¡­ muffled, and it was extremely difficult to recognize the lyrics of the song. All the yers involuntarily stopped what they were doing. They looked at each other, both seeing the same horror and panic on each other¡¯s faces. The cold air in the house prated through the texture of their clothing along with the child¡¯s low humming. It climbed up along the bones and skin, arousing a deep sense of coldness and fear. Mo Yi¡¯splexion became paler and paler, and his dark eyes turned extremely bright, as if they were shaded with apelling look. Ignoring Yu Ran¡¯s small voice behind him, he turned around and walked slowly, step by step, towards the ce where the sound originated. The closer to the source of the sound, the clearer the humming. Mo Yi walked out of the room and entered the hall. The sound of the nursery rhyme surrounded the room, and the twisted and uneven building structure seemed to him even more strange. He noticed that in addition to himself, many other yers were also in the lobby. Mo Yi held his breath and continued to walk a few steps forward. He caught the humming of the words¨C ¡°¡­rosies¡­pocket full of¡­ashes¡± Mo Yi was stunned for a moment, a thought shed through his mind very quickly, he took a few steps forward again in a hurry, and looked around the hall. ¨CThis time, he found the source of the sound. Second floor. Mo Yi raised his head and looked at the crooked and narrow stairs, only to see the oddly shaped uneven steps extending step by step into the darkness of the second floor, without a trace of light. The darkness above the stairs condensed like a solid entity, surging with an ominous and dangerous aura. A chill rushed into Mo Yi¡¯s heart, and the scene he had just seen outside the room reappeared uncontrobly in front of him. The pale, blurry face seemed to be waiting in the darkness at the end of the stairs, watching him silently. The voice from the nursery rhyme was heard more clearly: ¡°¡­ashes, ashes, we all fall down¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became rapid, the sound of blood rushing in his ears seemed to ring loudly, and his mind buzzed. Mo Yi turned on his shlight and shone towards the thick, inevitable darkness at the end of the stairs. On the stairs, a figure stood quietly in the darkness, a straight cloak wrapped tightly around its body, making it impossible to see the whole figure. It stopped humming. The painful silence instantly enveloped the entire room, and it seemed that everyone could hear their own violent heartbeats. Its head suddenly rolled down without warning! As the head fell, the cloak on the body seemed to have lost its support, and fell to the ground. ¨CIt was empty inside. The head tumbled down the steps of the stairs, expanding with a metallic ng on the hard ground. Mo Yi quickly ducked away. He recognized that it was not a head that rolled down. ¡­but the same thing from that room, the beak mask. . The silver-white bird¡¯s beak was curved and slender, and there was nothing in the misty ck eye sockets, which looked strange and terrifying. The mask rolled down the floor to the center of the hall, then stopped slowly. It was toote for a warning, because the moment it stopped, arge number of mice suddenly poured out of the mask! A swarm of mice fled to all parts of the room. The rm bell in Mo Yi¡¯s heart rang loudly, and he shouted, ¡°Be careful!¡± But it was toote. Two yers couldn¡¯t dodge in time, and the rapidly spreading mice crawled onto them, taking a bite from their shoulder. They screamed in pain, and before they had time to pull the mice away from themselves, the mice turned into dust and dissipated. The rest of the mice hid in the dark corners of the house one after another, and disappeared within seconds. Silence returned to the house. A few yers wanted to go check on the situation of the two people, but Mo Yi shouted sharply: ¡°Don¡¯t go there!¡± They were terrified and stopped. The two bitten yers had unpleasant expressions on their faces. They were preparing to argue with Mo Yi. The next second, theirplexions turned pale, and their faces were stained with a low-grade flush, as they stumbled a few times in a trance. Immediately afterwards, they screamed in pain: ¡°Ahhh what¡¯s going on! It hurts! It¡¯s hot!¡± The two of them twitched and rolled on the ground, as if this was the only way to relieve the pain. Everyone watched helplessly as red circles spread on their faces, hands, and the rest of their exposed skin at a speed visible to the naked eye. The rash and reddening of the skin quickly condensed into a dark red crust that looked startling on the pale skin. Their vomit was all over their bodies, and the foul smell spread. They gasped hard, wheezing like howls of suffocation¨C then twitched twice and stopped moving. The gue came so fiercely that in less than three minutes, infected people experienced all the symptoms of the ck Death, which would normally ur within five days after infection¨C then it ruthlessly put them to death. A suffocating silence spread through the crowd. Everyone stared at the two unrecognizable corpses on the ground in shock, their throats seemed to be stuffed with cotton wool, and no sound woulde out. Mo Yi pursed his lips tightly, his fingers slowly tightened, and his knuckles turned white due to the force. ¡±The full text of the nursery rhyme that was sung just now is: Ring-a-ring-a-rosies A pocket full of posies Ashes, ashes We all fall down¡± Mo Yi took a deep breath and continued: ¡°This nursery rhyme is said to have originated from the Great gue of London. The rosies refer to the early symptoms of the ck Death, namely the rash and red spots, and the ashes refer to the ashes of the burned corpse.¡± When everyone heard the words, their faces were pale, and some people even closed their eyes subconsciously, unable to bear to look closely. The atmosphere in the air was so heavy that it was almost suffocating. One of the yers jumped out, his sweat-soaked face was pale and twisted, and his bloodshot eyes shed with a frantic look. He pointed at Mo Yi with trembling fingers, with spit flying from his mouth: ¡°It¡¯s all you! It¡¯s all your fault! If you hadn¡¯t turned on the shlight! Those two would never have died!¡± He giggled nervously: ¡°And how do you know this so well! It must be a conspiracy!¡± Mo Yi frowned nkly, toozy to refute. The Mist, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke: ¡°There is also a downside to showing up in this state, there is no way to deal with this kind of person.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback, and recalled a simr situation from thest instance. The difference was thatst time, the man beside him dislocated the opponent¡¯s arm. This time¡­ He suddenly wanted tough a little. But since the situation in front of him was really not suitable forughing, Mo Yi had to purse his lips, suppress the smile that appeared in his eyes, and try to maintain his expressionless and cold look. He opened his mouth and was about to say something. But the next second Mo Yi suddenly remembered that only he could see the other party. He couldn¡¯t help but subconsciously and abruptly swallow the words back. Since he couldn¡¯t speak, Mo Yi had to covertly stretch out his hand and squeeze the other¡¯s cold fingers hanging on his side. The message was conveyed with gentle force- it¡¯s okay, he didn¡¯t care. The Mist¡¯s whole body froze. At this moment, Mo Yi was about to withdraw his hand. After the Mist noticed it, he quickly stretched out his hand and sped Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightly¨C Mo Yi was stunned for a moment, feeling it was somewhat inexplicable. ¡­¡­what? What was this for? Did he not convey his meaning clearly enough? However, breaking free at this time was too much effort, and others couldn¡¯t see it¡­ just hold it if you want. Anyway, it would be no loss for him. Mo Yi rxed the muscles of his hand and let the Mist sp his fingers. The yer spat and talked for a long time. When he looked up, he found that Mo Yi¡¯s mind was still wandering in the sky. He didn¡¯t seem to care about him at all. He rushed forward, fingers clenched into fists, ready to swing. ¨CSuddenly, an extremely cold feeling struck him without warning, upying all his senses, as if standing naked in ice and snow, or sinking deeply to the bottom of the ocean, suffocating and terrifying. Like being stared at by some giant beast. A cold and deep sense of danger enveloped him, making his hair stand on end. His teeth started chattering, and his raised fists could not help but stop mid-air, unable to move. The others around him didn¡¯t notice it. Seeing that his movements were getting more and more outrageous, Yu Ran frowned subtly, stepped forward, and stood between Mo Yi and the yer. She opened her mouth and said: ¡°ording to the nature of the instance, even without Mo Yi, the mask would roll off. If you want to live longer, you have to learn to be less jealous of the virtuous.¡± That cold and dangerous feeling came and went quickly, and after Yu Ran finished speaking, it disappeared without a trace. The yer¡¯s clothes were almost soaked in cold sweat, and his sanity that had been eroded by anger returned slowly to him. Even if Yu Ran ridiculed him with sarcasm, he didn¡¯t dare to refute, he just retracted his hands sullenly, and then muttered a few curses before returning to his previous position. The Mist stared at him coldly, his dark gray eyes glowed with inorganic color, and the grim lines of his face were tight. He retracted his gaze and lowered his icy eyes. Immediately afterwards, he carefully adjusted the movement of his fingers, as Mo Yi was not paying attention, and positioned his fingers to interlock. The Mist stole a nce at Mo Yi, saw that he didn¡¯t respond, then quickly turned his eyes away and looked straight ahead with an even face. Thin lips were restrained in a slight arc. TN: Ah¡­ our Mist is so sweet Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Mo Yi stood still, staring at the corpses of the two yers on the floor with aplicated gaze. Their bodies twisted strangely, curling up on the floor as if they were suffering from great pain. Blood flowed down the seven orifices. The ckened faces of the corpses were slowly shrinking, but at a speed visible to the naked eye. The blood flowing from lips, eyes and nose dripped onto the dirty wooden floor along the curve of the face, trickling into the cracks on the floor, and then sucked clean, drop by drop. Mo Yi subconsciously pressed his lips together. They hadn¡¯t much color left, but became even paler at that moment, even turning thin and white due to the force. He took onest deep look at the corpse on the ground, then turned and walked to the window. Outside the window, in the dark sky, cold and emotionless fluorescent blue numbers flickered, changing thest number as if undisturbed by any external factors. 4:47:08 Mo Yi stared at the sky. The small blue numbers seemed to be reflected in his dark pupils. One could see the deep emotions inside. It had been more than two hours since entering the instance. During this period, a total of five nursery rhymes appeared- and among these five nursery rhymes, three were sung directly to them in this instance. The crooked man outside the house hummed ¡°crooked-man¡±, the ¡°three-blind-mice¡± yed like a broken music box, and the ¡°Ring-a-ring-a-rosies¡± that had just been sung over and over in a childlike voice at thending of the stairs. Every time a nursery rhyme was yed, it would take several lives. The nursery rhyme was ying exactly once an hour. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sank slightly. If one remembers the ¡°seven days¡± from the game prompt, and the rtionship between it and the duration of the game, so was the connection self-evident. One nursery rhyme an hour, one killing an hour. If his guess was correct, then there shouldn¡¯t be any danger for the rest of the hour. Mo Yi took a deep breath and turned to look behind him. The gloomy staircase leading directly to the second floor stood crookedly in the center of the hall, extending upwards into the darkness. His eyes shed with a hint of determination, as he slowly walked towards the stairs. Suddenly, Mo Yi felt that his cuff was pulled by a gentle force. He was surprised for a bit, then turned to look at the source of the force. He saw Yu Ran standing beside him like she didn¡¯t know how to speak, but could only look at him silently. Mo Yi¡¯s expression remained unchanged: ¡°You should also have figured out the rtionship between the nursery rhymes and the time.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes were a littleplicated, and she made a low ¡°um¡±. Mo Yi smiled: ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Yu Ran nced at him. Before speaking, she sighed deeply, and finally rxing a little, said: ¡°Then¡­ then be careful.¡± Mo Yi showed a shallow smile, and after a brief thank you, turned around and walked up the stairs without hesitation. His straight and thin back was slowly swallowed by the darkness, blocking the unintelligible sight projected from behind. The uneven wooden stairs under his feet creaked with his steps, which seemed dull and harsh in the cold and dark stairwell. In front of and around him was a dense, almost solid darkness. Both the road in front of him and the handrails around him were shrouded, revealing vague and ugly outlines under the light of the shlight. The cold breath of the house prated his thin shirt without hindrance, invaded the texture, stimting the sensitive peripheral nerves, and making the skin behind Mo Yi¡¯s neck involuntarily form ayer of goosebumps. Suddenly, the low voice of the Mist came from the side, and the cold and deep tone almost caused a faint vibration in the air: ¡°She seems to care about you.¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t expect that he would suddenly speak, and couldn¡¯t help but freeze slightly. He turned his head to look at the profile of his face, that was blurred by the foggy darkness, thinking that no one else could hear their conversation at this moment, so he said directly: . ¡°She¡­?¡± Mo Yi paused thoughtfully, then continued tly: ¡°It can only be said that there is a little more kindness from her than from others.¡± He narrowed his eyes, watching the shlight casting a distorted halo on the stairs in front of him. Reflected in his dark pupils, a light shed in the darkness. He smiled gently, and said casually, with a cold indifference that he didn¡¯t noticed himself: ¡°Most of the remaining people are senior yers, who can¡¯t not see the obvious connection between time and nursery rhymes: they just don¡¯t have the guts toe up.¡± Even if he thought with his toes, he knew that the darkness above the stairs must be full of danger. If one was not careful, there could be even death. Plus, the nursery rhyme sounding at the entrance of the stairs just now, the instinctual fear of danger and the unknown darkness made them not dare to act more. After all¡­ the connection there was just a guess. No matter how reasonable it was, it was a conjecture. ¨CNo one was crazy enough to gamble with their own lives on whether this conjecture was correct. The longer the yers lived, the more they cherished their lives. So, they were waiting for a volunteer victim. Mo Yi¡¯s actions were what they were happy to see. Whether he would be dead or alive, it was helpful to them, and a profitable business with no harm. And Yu Ran¡­ she was not that hard-hearted, so she came forward and wanted to stop his near-death behavior. Mo Yi¡¯s expression was light as he continued to walk up the stairs, with an almost inhuman indifference and rationality in his dark eyes. The Mist turned his head slightly, and stared at Mo Yi¡¯s profile, his light gray pupils filled with unknown emotions. He gave a low chuckle and stopped talking. After walking for a while, Mo Yi finally stepped on thest step. The dust from the soles of his shoes was visible under the light of the shlight, slowly rising and falling. The rest of the ce was shrouded in thick darkness. Everything seemed to be swallowed into the abyss, even the light of the shlight couldn¡¯t prate far. The musty smell of the old wooden structure, mixed with the smell of dust and the faint smell of blood, was particrly irritating. Mo Yi resisted the urge to rub his nose, raised his shlight to illuminate the road ahead, and was about to walk forward when his steps abruptly stopped. Suddenly, on that cold face, which was almost devoid of emotions, a conflicting feeling shed. ¡°That¡­¡± Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds then said hesitantly: ¡°Can you let go of my hand now?¡± The face of the Mist was still serious: ¡°¡­I¡¯m worried that you will be afraid.¡± Mo Yi: ¡°¡­¡± ? ? ? Seeing that he could not stop it, there was a trace of obvious pity on the Mists face, so he had to slowly release the fingers that were stained with the other¡¯s body temperature. The movements were deliberately drawn-out and hesitant, as the intertwined fingers separated into two hands. Finally, after he inconspicuously wrapped Mo Yi¡¯s slender and well-proportioned knuckles, the Mist released his hand with a righteous face. Mo Yi was a little confused: He didn¡¯t know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that the other party¡­ seemed to enjoy physical contact with him? He nced to his side subconsciously, and his eyes slid across the Mist¡¯s side profile without any emotional fluctuations, like a feather that left with a touch. ¨CProbably an illusion. Mo Yi thought a little indifferently. But¡­he wouldn¡¯t exclude it either. He stepped forward, but there was a different feeling under his feet from that of the stairs. The ground seemed to be covered with a soft carpet, absorbing all their footsteps. He could only hear the muffled soundsing from downstairs. Mo Yi cautiously slowed down and walked forward slowly. At this moment, he suddenly hit something hard under his feet, and a harsh metallic sound echoed. It was extraordinarily loud in the narrow and long dark space, almost making one¡¯s heart tense. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but startle. He took a sharp step back, moved his wrists down, and shone the light of the shlight down on his feet. He saw a music box securely ced on the only way he could pass. The mottled and peeling metal shell glowed a faint cold light under the light. It seemed to be old. As a result of being kicked he fell to the ground, and the box opened halfway with a narrow gap. Mo Yi paused, bent down, and carefully picked up the music box. It was heavy and pressed into his palm, the icy touch transmitting along the metal shell, giving one a strange, ufortable feeling. This was probably the music box that yed the nursery rhyme an hour ago. The sharp faces of the three ugly mice with their hideous, needle and thread stitched, inverted fur, were imprinted in his retinas very vividly again. The strong stench of blood, together with their piercing screams, emerged in his memory once again. Mo Yi pursed his lips, ignoring the difort in his heart, and reached out to open its lid. To his surprise, the inside of this music box was different from its exterior. Faded velvet cushions surrounded two little figures, a little girl in a long skirt and a little boy in shorts, two little people who seemed to be made of ceramic holding hands, their faces worn away by time. A smile remains. Although the remaining golden paint on the little girl¡¯s head still shimmered gently, her hands and arms were basically broken, and she was struggling to stand on the velvet cushion. The little boy also had varying degrees of wear and tear. Mo Yi turned the box to the side, grazed the cold metal surface of the music box with his fingers, and touched a protruding handle. ¨CIts mainspring seemed to have loosened, and it should not be able to make a sound for a while. He breathed inconspicuously a sigh of relief, then turned the box back to the front and looked at it again. He saw a small broken mirror iid on the inside of the lid of the music box. Cobweb-like lines spread all over the dust-stained mirror surface, making it look particrly miserable and pitiful. Under the mirror, there seemed to be a line of cursive characters written in bronze handwriting. Due to its age, it has be blurred, and it was almost impossible to see what was written on it. Mo Yi frowned, squinted his eyes and leaned forward, carefully identifying the contents on it. The broken mirror in front of him reflected his close face. At this moment, Mo Yi nced to the side of his reflection¡­ Not far behind him, stood a vague figure. TN: Sadly I found my trantions on some other sites. That is why they are now password protected. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Mo Yi¡¯s scalp seemed to explode, a coldness spread from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his hair stood on end. His fingers trembled, the heavy music box slipped from his unsteady hand and fell straight to the ground. It was cushioned by the carpet, then rolled into the darkness, making a metal ng sound as it hit the wall. It was so loud in the silence that one could almost feel the tremors in the air. He turned his head sharply and looked straight behind him. ¨CIt was empty. The white light of the shlight pierced through the rich darkness behind him, shining directly on the uneven, dirty carpet, leaving a swaying halo on it. The carpet was covered with a thinyer of dust. There were a pair of light footprints on it. As if¡­ there was someone standing there just now, quietly observing him. Mo Yi¡¯s throat was a little dry, he moved his Adam¡¯s apple and forcibly suppressed the chill in his heart. There was a cold touch on his wrist. Mo Yi looked up. He saw the Mist standing in the darkness, almost blending with the background color¨C as if he was born and grew up there, which was inconceivable. He looked at him quietly with a pair of light-colored gray eyes. They seemed to condense with deep and shallow mist. Pale, knuckled fingers rested softly on his protruding wrist bones. A faint coldness came from the ce where they were in contact with each other¡¯s skin, and it seemed to cause him an inexplicable sense of security. For a while, it soothed Mo Yi¡¯s anxiety and restlessness, and the negative emotions settled down. Mo Yi smiled, his dark eyes were cool andposed, as if there were only two emotions left, calm and rational. The Mist¡¯s face had faintly soft lines, as his fingers, which were attached to Mo Yi¡¯s wrist, were removed. There were no words between the two, but they naturally seemed to understand each other. Mo Yi calmed down and turned around. Moving the shlight in his hand, he looked for the music box that just fell. Soon, the mottled metal box reappeared in his field of vision. It wasying turned over and sadly on the ground. Its body was separated by the fall. The faded velvet cushion and the ceramic figures on it were partly thrown out. Even so, the small ceramic hands of the two children were still tightly sped, as if they were not affected by any external force. Mo Yi paused, reached out and picked up the music box that had been broken in half. Just as the music box was lifted off the ground, a yellowed piece of paper, which was folded in half, fell out of it. Itnded silently on the dusty ground. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but freeze for a moment, he turned his wrist, and carefully observed the metal box in his hand. It turned out that under the velvet lining, there was a hiddenpartment, which happened to be hidden under the two ceramic dolls and above the metal parts in the music box. It was very cleverly hidden, and if it hadn¡¯t been dropped like this, it would be difficult to find. At the bottom of the cassette, there was also a silver ne, which has turned ck due to long-term storage. The corner of the ne was randomly tangled with the metal spring at the bottom of the box. It was partly thrown out during the fall. A small oval locket was hanging from the bottom of the silver chain, gleaming in the light of the shlight. Mo Yi pursed his lips, reached out and opened the silver cover on the locket, revealing the portraits hidden in it. The yellowed ck-and-white photos were blurred, but the outlines of the faces in the portraits were visible¨C two photos that happened to be hidden on each side on the inside of the locket. It was a little boy and a little girl. The unclear facial lines melted into the ck and white background, and only the two of them could be seen smiling shyly at the camera. The nursery rhyme he found in the kitchen shed across his mind. Mo Yi frowned slowly. They were both about little boys and girls¡­ was there any deeper connection between them? He blinked in confusion, and put the ne in his hand back into the darkpartment of the music box. The silver locket collided with the metal bottom of the box, and made a crisp ¡°dang bang¡± sound. Mo Yi ced the box on the carpet, then reached out to pick up the folded note. The yellowed paper was wrinkled, as if it had been once soaked in water, the handwriting on it was blurred, the edges of the dark ink smeared, and it had a cold cyan color, but the content on it was still clearly visible. This was a piece of letter paper, but there was no signature on it, no date, only one sentence without beginning or end: ¡°it can never happen, I won¡¯t allow it¡± At the bottom of the entire letter, a line of small words was written crookedly, as if it had been written by someone delirious. It was extremelyborious to read. Mo Yi carefully examined it for a while before realizing that it read: ¡±god please help me¡± There was a chill on his back, and Mo Yi shrugged his shoulders subconsciously, then folded the letter again and stuffed it back into the darkpartment of the music box. He re-installed the ceramic figures on the music box. The color and shape of the inner lining matched the surroundings, and there was no sign of it being broken. The broken mirror mounted on the lid shone brightly. Mo Yi deliberately didn¡¯t look into the mirror to prevent himself from recalling the unpleasant experience from before. This time, he could clearly see the small words written in bronze letters under the mirror: ¡°my love¡± My love. Mo Yi¡¯s brows furrowed tighter, as if the cloud of suspicion that gathered became deeper and deeper, umting in front of his eyes, making him unable to see the true appearance of this instance. He took a deep breath, closed the lid of the music box, and put it in his backpack. Mo Yi stood up from the ground. But because he had squatted down for too long, when he suddenly stood up at this moment, his vision couldn¡¯t help but turn ck. His numb legs couldn¡¯t support his crumbling body. He lost his bnce and fell to the side. The Mist, who had been quietly watching his every move, stretched out his arm quickly, and with just a little effort, he helped the falling Mo Yi. Mo Yi was dizzy and took a few seconds to recover. He blinked and realized that he was very close to the other party. The petrichor scent, the refreshing breath, like a pine forest, lingered in his nose, and the cold and hard-lined profile was close to his eyes. In the darkness, two men of the same height were leaning against each other. The still bright shlight fell to the ground, projecting the silhouettes of the two onto a wall. It looked extraordinarily intimate. Mo Yi coughed a little awkwardly, then stood up straight and said embarrassed: ¡°Sorry.¡± Seeing that the distance between the two has been widened, the Mist lowered his eyshes lightly. Without any emotional fluctuations he acknowledged ¡°um¡±. Then he said, ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Although the Mist¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, for some reason, Mo Yi felt the depressed mood all around him. He hesitated for a few seconds, then stretched out his palm and touched the top of the other person¡¯s head in an unfamiliar manner. The Mist suddenly raised his eyes, and a pair of light-colored eyes suddenly lit up like fog, focusing tightly on Mo Yi¡¯s face. ¨CUnfortunately, the blush spreading behind his ears damaged his aura. Unlike the habitual smile that usually rests on the surface of Mo Yi¡¯s face, there was no expression at the moment, although there was a rare touch of real softness in his eyes. It looked¡­extraordinarily vivid. Seeing the Mist staring at him for a moment, Mo Yi, who thought it was nothing, couldn¡¯t help but feel a little unusual. He turned his head to the side, bent down and picked up the shlight that had been left out on the ground for a long time, then changed the subject a little embarrassedly: ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re running out of time, and we haven¡¯t started exploring upstairs yet.¡± There was a faint smile on the Mist¡¯s face, as he responded in a low voice, then followed up with Mo Yi in front of him, so he could walk side by side with him. As Mo Yi walked forward slowly, he moved the shlight to illuminate the road ahead. Minding the light beam, he slowly illuminated the outline of the space in front of him. Beyond the stairs was a narrow hallway, with crooked walls framing the curved floor, and three rooms jutting out on either side of the hallway, both uneven and asymmetrical. The structure was very strange. The dirty carpet under their feet absorbed the sound of their footsteps, making them sound muffled. When one stepped on it, one could hear the squeak of the wooden boards that were obviously blurred by dust. It looked quite terrifying in the dark and cold corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s steps suddenly stopped. He turned to look at one of the rooms beside him. Through the dark space, he could see the window on the other side of the room. The dirty ss on the window was like a blurry curtain, and the blue numbers were slowly counting down outside the window. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sank. From this perspective¡­ This should be the one, the man¡¯s window he saw downstairs. Mo Yi clenched the shlight in his hand and felt that its metal shell was stained with a touch of warmth from his own body temperature. He took a deep breath, the icy air teared through his chest along his respiratory tract, and the dryness tugged at his throat, making him even more emotional. Mo Yi turned and walked in. The room wasrge and messy, under the lights it appeared even messier, as if a gray shadow lurked in the darkness. He went straight to the window and looked down through the ss. It just so happened that one could see the twisted porch whening in. Mo Yi pursed his lips. ¡­¡­really. He leaned forward and carefully observed the traces on the ss¨C there was a shallow handprint that had almost dissipated. Mo Yi took a step back, swept the room roughly with the shlight, and paused his wrist slightly, when he saw a few crooked words written on the uneven wall opposite the window. ¡±god please help me¡± Compared to the writing on the letter, the wall was more chaotic and frantic, the dark liquid flowed down and then dried up on the rough wall, leaving crooked lines and a dull brown color in the light. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t be more familiar with this color. ¨CBloodstains. Therge English letters were written in blood on the dirty walls, scribbled and messy, just like a person¡¯s crazy mental state, shocking and horrifying. Mo Yi subconsciously touched the backpack he was carrying. Through the nylon fabric, the metal music box was clutched in his palm. Mo Yi was suddenly stunned, and a coldness rose from behind him. It suddenly urred to him¡­ that ck and white photographs were an invention of the 19th century. And if ording to their previous guesses, this instance should be rted to the ck Death. But thest time the ck Death ravaged Europe on arge scale¡­ It was the 17th century. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Mo Yi put the shlight in his hand on the windowsill. His fingers trembled slightly, as he quickly unzipped his backpack, and took out the metal music box. He lifted the lid of the music box and slid his fingers smoothly around the velvet cushion. The only thing he heard was a soft click, as he opened the cassette. The locket was lying quietly in a dark velvet box, the mottled silver chain and pendant that had not yet ckened shimmered in the light of the shlight. Mo Yi picked the chain out of the box with his fingers. The rusted locket hinge opened automatically with his movements, revealing the blurry ck-and-white smiling faces of the two children inside. He leaned in to observe and was sure¨C it was indeed a ck-and-white photograph. So¡­ the hidden plot in this instance, happened at least after the beginning of the 19th century. Mo Yi frowned slowly, his dark eyes shing with a thoughtful look. Thest major outbreak of the gue in Europe was the ¡®Great gue of London¡¯ in 1665, during which London¡¯s poption was reduced by almost one-fifth. After the 17th century, the ck Death basically disappeared in Europe. Except for small-scale cases of gue deaths in a few ces, not many outbreaks spread to other countries and regions. But¡­whether it¡¯s the giant mice, the beak mask, or the nursery rhyme just now, all of them point to the terrifying existence that once plundered one-third of Europe¡¯s poption¨C the ck Death. Mo Yi stared at the silver locket hanging in his palm, his lips tightly pursed. His mind was like a bunch of tangled threads, he couldn¡¯t sort out the clues, and he couldn¡¯t find the key thread. He took a deep breath, closed the lid of the music box, and put it back in his backpack, but kept the pendant in his palm. For some reason, Mo Yi felt that he should use itter. But¡­ it didn¡¯t seem like it would be very appropriate to hang it around his neck. Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds, then rolled up his sleeve, ready to wrap it around his wrist. But as soon as he lifted his sleeve up, he was stunned. He saw that a silver ribbon had been wrapped around his wrist. It was tightly attached to his pale skin that had not seen the sun for a long time, and was glowing with a faint brilliance like flowing water. However, Mo Yi clearly remembered that after the end of thest instance, he left this pitiful novice gift bag at home, and did not prepare to bring it into the next instance. ¨Cbut it followed suit. Mo Yi stretched out his finger and touched the ribbon, there was a faint warmth like that of body temperature on it, and it had no weight or thickness at all. He tried to move his wrist again, but there was no sensation of its body at all, as if there was no such band wrapped around his wrist. He didn¡¯t understand. He never noticed the ribbon on his wrist, which shouldn¡¯t have followed. . Although he knew not what this novice gift bag was and what it was useful for, since it didn¡¯t hinder his actions, it was not his priority for the time being. Mo Yi pursed his lips, put down his sleeve, and then changed his hand to wrap the pendant around his other wrist. He dropped his hands and picked up the shlight that had been set aside. His eyes circled the bloody walls for a few seconds, then took a deep look at it, as if to engrave the contents into his mind. He took a deep breath, turned his eyes away, walked around the room, and looked at it carefully. The interior of the room was piled with lots of debris, and thick dust umted on it, making it look extremely dirty and decadent. Mo Yi stepped closer to identify the debris carefully, and found a pile of wooden and iron pieces, piled up on the ground indiscriminately. They seemed to be fragments of chairs or beds, scattered on the ground. Everything was half-covered with arge gray sheet, the thick dust umted on the sheet, making the past color hard to discern. Mo Yi paused, stretched out his hand and lifted the sheet. The dust was everywhere in the air instantly, and he coughed again and again. It took a while for the dust to settle. Mo Yi covered his mouth and nose with the back of his hand, frowned, and stared at the ce previously covered by the sheet. He saw that the middle of the mound of wood and iron fragments was actually hollow¨C since it was just covered with a sheet, he couldn¡¯t see the situation below previously. Mo Yi took a closer look and couldn¡¯t help being taken aback. Under the swaying light of the shlight, in the middle of the open space, were countless bones. The light glowed on them with white coldness. A rotten scent mixing with the smell of dust rushed to his face instantly, the indescribable stench almost caused him to hold his breath. Mo Yi endured the nausea that came from the bottom of his heart, and leaned forward again, his dark eyes staring at the very strange looking pile of bones. He picked up a slender wooden stick next to him, and gently fiddled with the bones on the ground. Those bones were very small and didn¡¯t belong to humans. Thanks to the well-preserved bones, and due to the anatomy introductory book he flipped through when he was bored, Mo Yi vaguely recognized the bones of cats, birds and frogs. Why were these here¡­? And why were there so many? Mo Yi frowned tightly, and a vague idea crossed his mind, but it was fleeting, and when he tried to recall it, it had already disappeared, and was difficult to capture. The stick made a soft sound in the dark as he put where he found it. With his movements, the shlight in his hand moved up inadvertently, and happened to freeze on the ceiling. Mo Yi raised his head subconsciously, his eyes fell on the ce illuminated by the shlight beam, and he couldn¡¯t help but be slightly startled. He turned his wrist to fix the slightly offset beam on a point on the ceiling. It was an iron ring, which was firmly embedded in the uneven ceiling. On a closer look, the ceiling was so dirty that the color of the surface could not be distinguished. One could see four thin dark gaps on the surface, tightly blocked by dust. In fact, one couldn¡¯t tell the difference if one didn¡¯t look closely. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up¨C a secret door. He leaned closer to the wall as he walked around the room at a quicker pace, eagerly searching for something on the surrounding walls. Finally, in the deep shadow cast by the crooked window frame, Mo Yi found what he was looking for. It was a long iron hook. The curved handle was more than one meter long, and at the top was a small iron hook. Hanging on an iron nail on the wall beside the window frame, hidden deep in the darkness, it happened to ovep the edge of a shadow. ¨CIf one didn¡¯t look for it deliberately, one would never find its existence. Mo Yi took the iron hook off the wall and lifted it above his head. The tip of the iron hook just caught in the raised iron ring on the ceiling. He pulled down hard. With the sound of creaking wood and rusting metal, part of the ceiling which was framed by the four gaps loosened, and dust fell down as it was suddenly pulled down. The woodendder that was supposed to go down slowly with the opening of the secret door, maybe because of the long time and the loose supports that could no longer bear its weight, suddenly fell down under the force of gravity, almost falling on Mo Yi¡¯s head. If it weren¡¯t for his quick reaction, he was afraid to be already smashed and bloodied. Looking at the heavy woodendder, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but breathe a little faster. He had the feeling to have escaped from death. The Mist standing not far behind him slowly retracted the legs that had already stepped out and the hands that had been stretched out halfway. He breathed a sigh of relief, and the lines of his jaw, which had been tight with tension, also rxed. He retreated back into the darkness, as if it belonged to him. A pair of light gray eyes stared earnestly and attentively at the tall and straight figure not far away, as if seeing the only light source in the darkness, with heart-pounding paranoia. Mo Yi turned his back to the Mist, ignorant about the sight behind him. He just looked up at the secret door on the ceiling seriously. The dark on the other side of the secret door waspletely pitch-ck, and the scene inside could not at all be seen from the ground, only the cold and gloomy wind that was vaguely felt from the secret door was echoing hollowly in his ears. This kind of secret door was actually found in many houses abroad, usually leading to the attic that is responsible for storing the sundries. ¨CAnd in this instance¡­ it would definitely not be as simple as just packing up the sundries. Mo Yi sighed secretly, then stretched out his hand to support the wooden stairs, and slowly climbed up with a bowed waist. The cold airflow brushed over the top of his head, bringing the smell of rotten wood, mixed with the shallow smell of blood. The woodendder under his feet groaned harshly, overwhelmed by age and disrepair. It trembled as dust fell down. The further up he climbed, the darker it got. Only half of Mo Yi¡¯s body was fully stretched out, and everything in front of him seemed to be frozen in darkness. Even if he looked at it with a shlight, he could only see the blurred outlines in the undting darkness. There was dead silence in his ears. He supported the woodendder beside him with his palm, as he continued to climb up, his whole person entered the attic. The moment his feetnded on the ground of the attic, a few small lights suddenly lit up without warning, which startled Mo Yi. Candles firmly fixed in several corners of the attic, lit up, and the dim candlelight illuminated the entire attic. The attic was not big, and the oddly-shaped narrow roof squeezed inwards, which would not only make people unable to stand upright, but would also greatly restrict people¡¯s sight, making it impossible for Mo Yi to see the whole attic at all. The sense of oppression in the enclosed space was getting stronger and stronger. After Mo Yi bent down and took a few steps forward, the space above his head suddenly became wider. He straightened his aching waist, but his head mmed into something hard. Mo Yi was caught off guard, groaned in pain, took a few steps back, and took a closer look¨C He saw a huge goat skull hanging on the wall, with its dark eyes looking down at him coldly. Next to the skull were dozens ofplete skeletons of small animals hanging with thin thread. The white bones reflected the slightly crackling fire from the candles. The windows of the attic were wide open, and from this angle one could see the endless darkness outside. Like a tomb. With the weak candlelight, Mo Yi saw several sheets of yellowish paper covered with dust scattered on the ground. With densely written handwriting it seemed extremely blurred under the candlelight. Mo Yi held his breath and bent down to pick up the paper. When he was about to read it carefully, he caught a glimpse of the countdown outside the window. ¨CThree minutes to the end of the hour. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tensed, his breathing stagnated slightly. He quickly picked up arge stack of papers from the ground without looking closely, and hurriedly stuffed them all into his bag. He quickened his pace and walked towards the woodendder. If his guess was correct¡­ The nursery rhyme was about to start again. TN: Hello dear readers, I want to thank all your lovely people reading andmenting my TL. Giving out virtual cookies foreveryone ? ?(¡ä ?£à?) Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Mo Yi quickened his pace and stepped to the secret door, climbing down the woodendder that had not been put away. As soon as hended, he saw the Mist standing at the window quietly watching him. The halo of the light blue countdown timer outside the window shone in and lightly lined his side profile. Even in his light gray pupils, a little blue light was reflected. He raised a well-joined finger and pressed it lightly to his lips: Shh. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes narrowed, he stopped the movement in his hands, and listened intently. He only heard a slow dragging sound from outside the door, as if something was crawling against the ground. The carpeted wooden floor made a muffled creaking sound, which seemed particrly eerie in the dark silence. There was a faint humming in the distance, but it was very unclear through the not so thin wall and door. The gentle male voice was getting closer and closer, the indistinct repeated humming transmitted to the eardrums through the boundless darkness, faintly affecting the human heart and nerves. ¨CIt was toote to leave the second floor. Mo Yi stared closely at the dark door and held his breath subconsciously. The darkness and silence made his senses more keen, even the slightest sound could enter his head, as if everything around him was magnified. The beating of his heart was like a drum, it was contracting and beating loudly, hitting his ears faster and faster, mixing with the sound of his deliberately lowered breathing, shaking every nerve in him. The dragging was getting closer and closer, the sound of ¡°chacha¡± appeared regr and monotonous, and the friction sound seemed to be mixed with the sound of rolling and scratching. The soft male voice sang a vague nursery rhyme in a low voice, making people feel terrified. A pale hand grabbed the door frame, and the ck and turbid blood slowly flowed down the twisted door frame. Then, the hand fell down sharply and advanced a lot through the door. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing couldn¡¯t help but stagnate, his eyes seemed to be drawn, and stayed firmly on that hand. The entire arm was exposed¨C including a clean, t cut at the back of the arm. This turned out to be a broken arm that could move on its own! Pale fingers sped the cracks in the floor and pulled itself forward, leaving a thick tar-colored blood stain underneath. A grunt sounded. A head rolled to the door, a pale face was pressed against the floor, as it looked at Mo Yi who was standing in the room expressionlessly. The pair of dark, emotionless, cloudy eyes seemed to be out of focus, which made people feel cold all over. He wriggled his pale lips and hummed softly: ¡°¡­He had left legs and arms lying all over the room¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s breathing quickened. His hand pressing on the wooden stairs clenched slowly, and the muscles in his arms secretly exerted strength. His eyes fixed on the terrifying scene in front of him, his face solemn and tense. He was waiting. The other torn body parts wriggled to follow, and the neatly fractured legs and feet also entered Mo Yi¡¯s field of vision. The limbs that were climbing in the direction of the stairway changed direction and moved closer to Mo Yi. The pale head also rolled inward. The humming grew louder and clearer: ¡±¨Cthere was a man, a very untidy man.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s thoughts shed like lightning in his head, and he instantly found the corresponding content in his mind. He didn¡¯t stay for another second, climbing up the woodendder at his fastest speed. His heart was beating desperately in his chest, almost reaching his throat. From the corner of Mo Yi¡¯s eye, he saw the pale hand that was attacking him, also elerating and charging straight at him. It was only a few centimeters away from grabbing the corner of his clothes! At this moment, the Mist who was standing in the darkness moved, and took a step forward. With his movement, endless gray mist suddenly spread behind him, squeezing every trace of air, surging forward clearly, exuding endless aura of coercion and terror, and attacking the severed hand directly! The pale severed hand froze instantly. The head also changed its nk expression. The pale face was upied by resentment and fear, therefore looking even more bizarre than before. A pair of turbid eyes stared at the spreading mist, leaving no trace of light in them. The pupils¡­ were full of fear. Taking advantage of his chance, Mo Yi sped up, rushed to the attic with onest stride, reaching out and grabbing the handle of the secret door. The wooden staircase folded with his actions, following the secret door as it was pulled into the attic. The secret door was finally closed tightly, blocking the treacherous sight from the pale head. The dust was slowly stirring around him, and the smell of blood became even more pungent. Mo Yi gasped for breath, his eyes drooping down, covering the lingering look in the center of his constricted pupils. He pressed on the still shaking attic floor with his slightly trembling palms. His rapid heartbeat and sharp gasping sounded in his ears, upying almost all his thoughts. Mo Yi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. It was too dangerous just now. ording to his experience of the previous critical moments, if one was not close enough, one would not be able to hear the specific content sung in the nursery rhyme. This could be one of the more difficult rules of the instance, in case they found the clues too easily. So just now, he had no choice but to take risks. In his previous several experiences, there were other people present besides him. The targets of those monsters were scattered, and because he was very concerned about this kind of thing, it was easier to get clues. And this time, he was the monster¡¯s only target. Mo Yi sat on the ground with his legs bent, slowly calming his breathing while sorting out his thoughts. This nursery rhyme was still one of the mother goose nursery rhymes. The full text was: ¡±There was a man, a very untidy man, Whose fingers could nowhere be found, to put in his tomb. He had rolled his head far underneath the bed. He had left legs and arms lying all over the room.¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes, and they fell on the dusty wooden floor gaps of the attic, as if he wanted to prate thisyer of weak wooden nks and look beneath them. He took a breath and listened to the dragging on the ground downstairs, the rolling of the head, and the muffled chanting as it slowly left. The sound became smaller and smaller, and then gradually went away. Mo Yi took a long breath, and his highly tense nerves finally rxed. At this time, the air in front of him suddenly fluctuated. Mo Yi was stunned, staring at it. He saw the light gray mist slowly gather, and then a familiar figure appeared in the open space of the attic. He looked the same as usual, but his face was obviously much paler, and his light gray eyes became deeper and deeper, looking attentive and palpable when he stared at people. Mo Yi was taken aback, remembering the scene he had caught out of the corner of the eye just before the secret door was closed. ¨CThe tall man stood in the thick gray mist, the outline of his face blurred, his cold eyes extremely imposing, with a suffocating feeling and a sense of horror. It almost reminded Mo Yi of the wordless horror he felt when he first saw the slowly spreading fog in the corridor of the first instance. He supported himself on the wall beside him with his palm and stood up, took a few steps in the direction of the Mist, and asked hesitantly: ¡°¡­¡­Are you ok?¡± The Mist¡¯s face was calm and soft, and the momentum from before seemed to have beenpletely restrained. He appeared to be just an ordinary person with handsome features, as he gave a low ¡°um¡±. Mo Yi frowned. He didn¡¯t know if he was imagining it, but the shape of the Mist¡­ It seemed a bit transparentpared to before? The Mist looked at him intently and said, ¡°The rule of the game is that I can¡¯t get involved in any situation of the instance.¡± He paused, thought about it with his eyes closed, and added: ¡°Except for the rule of the instance to include me in it.¡± Mo Yi thought of the deadly fog that spread after the end of the ss bell in his first instance, he nodded, indicating that he understood it. The Mist looked at him deeply and continued: ¡°Now that I have disturbed some of the rules of the game, it has begun to repel me outwards. If I stay in this instance in this state, the difficulty of the game will inevitably increase greatly.¡± At this moment, Mo Yi suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°When thest instance was about to end, you disappeared for a long time. Is that why?¡± The Mist¡¯s lips were tight, as he nodded slowly. ¡°Next, I will probably follow you in the real world in an invisible state. After all, in the instance now, my power is still much stronger than in reality, so my sleep time will be shorter.¡± . Mo Yi frowned tightly, and a pair of very dark eyes stared at him: ¡°Why?¡± The Mist froze for a moment. He listened and slowly continued to ask: ¡°Why do you keep following me?¡± Mo Yi took a step forward and approached him, revealing his pale face, his dark eyes looking at him, he continued: ¡°Whether in the instance or in the real world, even if you are now excluded by the rules of the game, you have to follow me in an invisible form. Why?¡± He paused and added: ¡°You owed me a question during thest instance, remember?¡± The Mist¡¯s face was still calm, but for some reason the light-colored eyes held a strange sadness. Mo Yi looked again, and the other regained his calm and indifferent demeanor: ¡°I can¡¯t tell.¡± Mo Yi was not very surprised by this answer. He knew that in this game pit, the information management between yers and yers, and yers and non-yers was extremely strict. It seemed that it was not iprehensible to his own NPC. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a little discouraged¡­ Only to hear the Mist continue in a low voice: ¡°But you have to know that I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± Mo Yi was stunned for a moment. He looked up at him, but saw that his figure was slowly disappearing, his light gray eyes like mist also slowly dispersed into the air, as a few wisps of mist spread towards him. Next, he felt his little finger being tickled lightly. Mo Yi sighed helplessly. ¡­¡­Fine. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Mo Yi reached out into his nylon backpack, under his palm was the rustling sound of paper. He raised his eyes and looked out of the window. In the dark sky, the countdown timer emitting blue light was slowly changing thest digit, methodically counting the psed time second by second. A new hour began. ording to the speed of the monsters crawling below, they may have reached the downstairs by now. Mo Yi unconsciously endured his sweaty fingers, the cold and wet feeling seemed to remain in the palm of his hand, as if the thrilling scene just now had not ended. He took a deep breath, stepped toward the window, and ced the turned on shlight on the dusty windowsill. Under the icy light of the shlight, the tiny bones hanging in the air shone with a cold halo, and the goat skull hanging on the wall stared at him with empty dark eyes, looking extraordinarily strange. Mo Yi took another deep breath, narrowed his eyes, and stretched out a hand into his backpack. Now that the dangerous period had passed, the attic could be said to be rtively safe. In such a difficult instance, this kind of opportunity was rare, but it must be grasped well. He took out the stack of papers hurriedly stuffed into the backpack before. The yellowed paper was wrinkled and crumpled because of Mo Yi¡¯s previous rough handling. The edges were also rolled up, looking a little pitiful. Mo Yi carefully smoothed the creases on the papers and looked at them by the light of the shlight. It was a stack of letter paper. One corner of each letter was simply fixed together so that it didn¡¯t fall apart. ¨CIt seemed to have the same texture as the folded letter hidden in the music box. However, it was different from the crooked, slightly crazy handwriting on that piece of paper. This rough and yellowed paper was quite clean, and except for the dust, there were no other stains on it. It had beautiful English written on it. The feminine ink handwriting was rational and delicate. It could be seen from the words and sentences that this person had a very good education. Each letter was addressed to a man named ¡°Esther¡±, but never seemed to be sent, nor signed or dated. Mo Yi read the above text: ¡°Erica has a fever today and seems to have caught a cold. Other than that, we are all fine.¡± He opened the next one, and the brittle paper made a soft rustle under his fingers: ¡°It¡¯s still raining today. It¡¯s been seven days. The clothes never seem to dry. John fell down with a fever today. God bless.¡± This piece of paper seemed to have been soaked in water, and the writing on it was a little blurry. Mo Yi had some vague guesses in his heart. He pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, then flipped over to the next one. The handwriting on this piece was scribbled and flustered, with a lot of smudges on the rolled edge, and more traces of scribbling: ¡°The doctor came today, and he said Erica and John had typhoid fever. God, they¡¯re not yet eight years old, please help them.¡± The rest of the paper seemed to be soaked with tears, and the crumpled letter paper was a little brittle, like a wrinkled dead leaf. The next one was even more scribbled: ¡°It¡¯s still raining today. Erica and John are burning red, I stayed by their side and couldn¡¯t sleep all night, their shallow breathing could almost tear my heart apart. I prayed to God in the dark: let me take their ce, just for a moment, take my life, let my children live¡­¡± Acute typhoid fever was an equally vicious disease, with a high mortality rate in those days, especially in children. So what did this had to do with the gue, which had disappeared for nearly a hundred years by then? Mo Yi took a deep breath, frowned and opened the next one. The next one was even more frantic and scribbled: ¡°The doctor said he couldn¡¯t do anything. How could it be! Trash! Trash! Impossible, my Erica and John, they¡¯ll live forever, and if everyone is damned, then I¡¯m too!¡± The rest of the letter was filled with ¡°godpleasehelpme¡±, messily upying all the free space. A desperate and crazy mother seemed to be in front of him, making it hard to read. Unexpectedly, the next letter was almost empty and more cleanpared to the one before, with only one line of small words on it: ¡°God doesn¡¯t exist.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart was a little heavy, and his palm subconsciously stroked the silver ne wrapped around his wrist. The heavy pendant on it was cold against his skin and fell heavily. If nothing else, the two pictures there were of these two children, who died of acute typhoid fever. He ran his fingers slowly across the rough edge under the letter andpared it with the previous one. ¨CThis letter was a little shorter than the previous one, and it seemed that a part of it had been torn away. Perhaps this was the key to the instance. Mo Yi ttened out these pieces of letter paper, and then carefully stuffed them back into his backpack. He looked up at the skeletons hanging in the attic. His dark eyes narrowed slightly, and his pale face became more and more bloodless. He hoped his conjecture was wrong. Mo Yi picked up the shlight on the windowsill and swept the whole attic roughly, just as he was about to continue looking for clues that he missed before¨C A familiar sound came from outside the window. ¡°Crack¡± dragging, rolling, and soft, vague humming. Mo Yi was stunned, he walked back to the half-open window, stuck his head out and looked down. He saw on the barren and otherwise deserted ground, the fragmented man who had chased him just now was squirming along the crooked path. The skeletal dead tree next to him pointed to the dark sky, looking strange and bizarre. Next to the man¡¯s body, were several bloody amputated limbs. As they crawled forward beside him, they left deep and shallow bloodstains behind. The man slowly climbed over the edge of the suspended tform, and disappeared into the darkness with his rolling head and wriggling body. However, beyond Mo Yi¡¯s expectations, those following the man, which should be freshly severed limbs that once belonged to the yers, changed their direction, squirming and struggling to move there. Mo Yi was stunned, and leaned out to look. The severed limbs slowly crawled to the back of the house and disappeared from his sight. Only a long trail of blood remained behind, which looked particrly dazzling on the barrennd. ording to previous experience, these bloodstains will disappear without a trace within ten minutes. Mo Yi turned around abruptly, lifted the secret door on the attic floor, then quickly climbed down the woodendder and ran out as fast as he could. The wooden floor, covered with dirty carpets, creaked violently under his feet, and the thick dust carried up and lifted into the air with his movements. The cold and humid air pressed against his cheeks, prating his thin clothes, as the whistling draft sounded, and filled his ears. Mo Yi ran across the corridor and came to the narrow and twisted staircase. He held the handle of the stairs with his palm, the shlight in his hand swayed violently with his movements, and the light beam shook erratically on the crooked stairs, which made one almost dizzy. The sounds of his breathing and heart beating mixed into a noisy tone, hitting his eardrums. Mo Yi¡¯s lips were pressed against each other, his sharp lip line tight, and his pair of very dark eyes made one¡¯s heart palpitate. He ran down the stairs. The other yers, who were still alive, saw him and couldn¡¯t help but be startled¨C when the torn man came down the stairs, none of them thought that Mo Yi had the possibility to survive. But he was still alive?! Incredible! Mo Yi ignored the different faces of everyone, and elerated his pace, pushed open the wooden door that had not been closed and rushed out. Only the dumbfounded yers looked at each other. Mo Yi ran off the porch and couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief¨C great, the bloodstain hadn¡¯t disappeared. He still didn¡¯t dare to ck off, maintaining his speed, walking forward quickly along the intermittent bright bloodstains on the ground, and stepping to the side, around the distorted house. On the way, Mo Yi saw several corpses that had also been drained of blood. Their eyeballs had disappeared. It should be the yers who were killed by the deformed mice after running out. However, unexpectedly, the hands of these corpses were also missing, and there was not a trace of blood on the pale fractures. He frowned and continued to follow the blood that spread on the ground. Mo Yi walked suddenly to a ce he hadn¡¯t seen before. Because the shape of the house was so strange, the walls and the twisted and protruding rooms blocked one¡¯s sight. If someone didn¡¯t walk around the house, it was almost impossible to find the strangend beyond the ovepping walls. The smell of blood was getting stronger. Mo Yi took a few steps forward, until the soil under his feet felt moist. Different from the barren yellow earth outside, the ground here was a strange dark red. Mo Yi squatted down, picked up some dirt with his hand, twisted his fingers lightly, and a moist bright red instantly appeared on his white fingertips. Blood. The entirend here was actually dyed with blood. Mo Yi stood up and looked around thend, barely recognizing that the window on the half-corner protruding beside him was the kitchen on the first floor. He frowned. ording to the rough map in his mind, this piece ofnd¨C he was afraid it was in the center of the whole house. The blood on the ground slowly seeped into the moist and soft soil, and the clearly visible traces slowly disappeared. Mo Yi took a few steps forward, and the shape of thend was more clearly revealed in front of his eyes. He saw two small raised mounds in the center of this piece ofnd. The color of the soil above was the most bright red and eye-catching, as if it had just been watered with blood. In front of the mound stood two humble tombstones with two familiar names written on them: ¡°Erica¡±. ¡°John¡±. In front of the tombstones was a half torn piece of letter paper. Mo Yi stepped forward and picked it up¨C it was the other part of thest piece of letter paper. It was almost soaked with blood, and only some vague handwriting could be discerned: ¡°Dear Esther, God has taken you away from me, and I will never allow him to take our children again.¡± ¡°¡ªI will do whatever it takes.¡± Chapter 63

Chapter 63

The rough and yellowed letter paper was wet with fresh bright blood. Ovepping with the dark red blood that had dried up, it was harsh on the eyes. The ink handwriting was blurred by the bloodstains, looking rational and calm, but there seemed to be a ruthless ferocity between the lines¨C the calm after the extreme sadness, and the madness after the extreme calm. Mo Yi stared at the note in front of him and was speechless for a moment. He pursed his lips, moistened his dry throat, and put the note away. Mo Yi looked up and continued to observe the graves in front of him. The two small mounds happened to be located in the center of the whole open space. The strong smell of rust mixed with the moist smell of soil spread inside his nostrils, almost forcing him to hold his breath. Mo Yi frowned slightly, walked slowly around the raised mounds, and carefully looked at the scene in front of him. When he walked to the side of the mounds, he couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback. The moist soil of the mounds was soft and new, it looked as if it had just been turned up from below. The viscous blood dripped down the topyer of the soil and silently seeped into the ground below. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were heavy, as he continued to walk behind them. The sight that was blocked by the grave mounds became clearer. There was arge hole in the ground, revealing an open grave with a deep and ck hole. The smell of blood was getting stronger and stronger, and the blood in the air could almost condense into substance. The sharp stingpelled people¡¯s senses, and deeply engraved traces that were hard to ignore. Mo Yi held his breath a little, took a few steps towards the open grave, leaned forward slightly, and looked into the dark and deep grave¨C His gaze met a pair of staring eyes! Mo Yi was startled and subconsciously took a few steps back. The intense pulse of blood and the beating of his heart sounded in his eardrums, Mo Yi felt that his heart could almost jump out of his throat, and even his rapid breathing could be heard clearly. He settled his mind. Calming down and thinking about it, those eyes were cloudy and lifeless, and there should be a high probability that he was not alive. Mo Yi took a deep breath, walked forward slowly, and turned on the shlight to shine into the grave. The shlight¡¯s light paused on the dark red ground at the edge of the grave, then moved slowly inwards, and finally stopped on a pale face covered with mud. His face was distorted with fear. The dirt and blood stained his pale skin, and his turbid eyes stared at the void. There was no luster in his nk pupils, and he stared straight at the edge of the grave. It was aplete head. Under the head, there was a broken neck, arge piece of skin, veins, and not a drop of blood oozing from the pale fracture. The bright red muscles and white bones were visible under the light of the shlight, as if someone forcibly tore off the head from the neck. Mo Yi was stunned for a moment, turned the shlight, and pointed it at the twisted and dirty face again. After careful identification, he recognized the face hidden under the mud and blood this time. ¨CThis was one of the yers. Mo Yi still remembered that the twisted man stepped in from the darkness step by step, the frantic screaming and struggling of the yer before his death, as well as the endless blood and dazzling bright red. Mo Yi pursed his lips, and there was an ominous premonition in his heart. He moved his wrist, and the shlight moved down with its movement, revealing the whole picture of the grave. On the short and narrow tombstones by the head of each grave, several huge marks were deeply engraved, almost covering the entirety of the tombstones. The strange and twisted lines criss-crossed, and dark red blood gathered in the depressions of the lines. Although Mo Yi could not recognize the meaning represented by those symbols, judging from the deformed inverted pentagram and the simple horns in the symbols, it was an indisputable fact that it was rted to Western demonology and mysticism. Now, the tiny animal bones in the attic and the giant goat skull had an exnation. Mo Yi subconsciously tightened his fingers. When he was in the attic before, he already had a vague guess. After all¡­ when a person believes that God does not exist, what is she going to believe? ¨Cthe devil. A desperate mother who lost her children chooses to sacrifice to the devil to resurrect them. ¡®What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs¡¯ tails. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all that¡¯s nice.¡¯ It is sung in the nursery rhyme. In reality, someone really wanted to recreate a little boy and girl. She just didn¡¯t use harmless frogs and snails, sugar and spice¨C but real human flesh and blood. Above the dark brown ground, some of the missing bodies of the yers were all neatly arranged on the moist soil of the graveyard ording to the human body structure. From the corpses the heads, hands, elbows, and other parts were missing. But¡­ even though four killings had been carried out, why were there only three body¡¯s here? Mo Yi lowered his eyes and pondered, as he continued to approach the middle of the graveyard. His dark eyes became more and more focused, carefully searching for any clues that he might have missed. The shlight¡¯s beam paused on a head for a short while, illuminating a bloody mass of flesh half-buried in the wet dirt, nestled exactly where the shoulder was supposed to be. ¨CThere was no problem with the number now. In the first nursery rhyme, the head was ripped off by the twisted man. In the second nursery rhyme, the yer was killed by the blind rat and lost his hands afterwards. In the third nursery rhyme, the flesh from the shoulder of the yer was bitten off by the rat in the beak mask. And in the fourth nursery rhyme, the elbows were following the torn man. Each nursery rhyme corresponded to a body. Mo Yi stood up, stamped his stiff and numb feet, raised his eyes, and nced at another grave. With the dim light of the shlight, he could almost see the same pattern in that grave. Mo Yi frowned slowly, his slender fingers subconsciously rubbed the slightly rough surface of the icy shlight in his palm. His heart became more and more clouded, as if there was a thinyer of mist lingering in front of him, blocking his eyes, and interfering with his vision. At this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a pale corner exposed in the soil, which didn¡¯t match the surrounding color. Mo Yi was slightly startled and took a few steps in that direction. Under the light of the shlight, he could now clearly see what was hidden in the soil¨C it was a yellowed corner of a paper, half buried in the soil, it seemed to be densely covered in handwriting. He took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, then leaned down and squatted on the ground, reaching into the grave. The blood-soaked soil made a wet and sticky sound under the soles of his feet. Mo Yi stretched out his arms, and the upper half of his body slowly sunk into the half-human-height grave. Shadows and darkness enveloped his eyes, and the huge smell of blood and the rotten and moist soil rushed towards his face instantly. A sense of coldness surrounded his body, and the extreme sensory stimtion enveloped him, almost forcing him to stop breathing. The pale and mutted corpse was in sight. Mo Yi forced himself to focus his eyes and on the piece of paper that was hidden in the soil. His body bent lower. The tips of his fingers touched the rough surface of the paper, scratching with them sharply. Mo Yi moved his fingers with difficulty, grabbed the corner of the paper with his index and middle finger, and then pulled it out of the soil with force. In the corner of his eye, he seemed to see the pale head beside him, his eyes slowly moved a notch, and the out-of-focus and turbid pupils slowly looked at him. Mo Yi was startled, unknown strength burst out of him from out of nowhere. He used his other hand to support himself on the ground, and suddenly pulled his upper body up! He staggered back a few steps, hot sweat dripping down his cold temples, his palms trembling involuntarily from the excessive force. The soreness and numbness of his muscles had just been transferred to the mind by his dull nerves, which felt very painful. Mo Yi panted as he looked into the grave under the light of the shlight. The head, covered with mud and blood,y quietly at the bottom of the grave, staring at the sky with turbid eyes, as if the scene he saw had just been an illusion. Mo Yi¡¯s chest was still heaving rapidly, and the strange and cold air was like a hand tightly holding his heart, then slowly tightening, bringing about a feeling of almost powerless suffocation. He closed his eyes, forced himself to calm down, and opened the blood and mud stained paper with his fingers that were still trembling slightly. Although the paper was a little wrinkled, the handwriting was particrly clear. The neat ink handwriting looked calm and rational, although the Latin and English were mixed, which made it particrly difficult to understand. Several strange andplicated symbols were drawn on the paper, which were almost identical to the patterns on the tombstones. Mo Yi frowned and recognized a few simple Latin characters. ¡®Lunae¡¯ meant Monday, followed by the word¨C ¡®caput¡¯. Skull. Mo Yi raised his head, his eyes subconsciously swept across the dark sky, only to see the familiar fluorescent blue countdown shing icy light in the deep and dense darkness. Time¡­¡­ ¨Ctime! Mo Yi was stunned for a second, looked at the paper in his hand again, and suddenly realized. A pair of extremely dark eyes shed apelling light, focused and bright, like two icy cold stars on a pale face. In this instance, time was the biggest clue. Not long ago, he had made an assumption based on his previous experience, and the reminder at the beginning of the game: Solomon Grundy¡¯s life had a total of seven days, and the time of this instance was exactly seven hours, so the sung Nursery rhymes of each hour correspond to every day in Solomon Grundy¡¯s life. And now he saw in the graves here, some of the body parts that the monsters took away from the people they killed. So¡­ they killed ording to the time, and they brought the body parts corresponding to the time here. ¨Ctoplete the sacrifice. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Mo Yi stared at the grave in front of him, his dark eyes deeply hidden under his eyshes, and his thin lips tightly pressed into a pale arc. The expression on his face was so faint that it was almost impossible to guess what he was thinking. Under the dark and gloomy sky, twisted walls tightly surrounded the narrow graveyard. The soft and moist soil looked strangely dark red under the light blue light overhead, as if there was blood flowing. Mo Yi looked down at the paper in his hand. On a corner of the manuscript, in clean ink, a Latin word was written in small script: vic. Although he didn¡¯t know much about this ancientnguage, he could still guess what it was referring to based on the clues that the instance had given so far. vic salomonis. The Key of Solomon. In Jewish legends, King Solomon obtained the ability to summon demons, and wrote the spells and rituals for summoning them in this book. It was said that ording to the records of this book, he could summon real demons. It was a well-known ck magic book in the ult. However, the existing ¡®Key of Solomon¡¯, ording to subsequent research, should have been written in the name of King Solomon, by medieval demonologists and warlocks, rather than King Solomon himself. In addition, its earliest manuscript appeared in the 14th century. After that, due to errors in transcription and trantion, the true original was no longer avable, so it was difficult to really talk about its practicability. Mo Yi lowered his eyes, his lips were tight, and his fingers subconsciously rubbed the thin piece of paper in his hand. Under his fingertips, the rough and brittle paper surface was dyed with a touch of body temperature, reflecting a shallow light under the illumination of the shlight. ¨Cand this small part of the transcript that appeared in this instance¡­ ording to the possible follow-up development in the hidden plot of this instance, something extraordinary may have really been summoned. Then it must not have been a poor transcription circting on the market at that time. Mo Yi took a deep breath, and suddenly felt that the thin piece of paper in his hand was a little heavy, and even the shallow body temperature on it seemed a little hot. He stuffed the manuscript, which was almost impossible to decipher, into his backpack, then walked a few steps around the open grave, and cast his eyes again into the dark hole. The pale head was stained with blood, half of its face was buried in the soil at the bottom of the grave, and half of the face was facing the outside. The pair of half-open and turbid eyes seemed to be covered with ayer of white haze, casting an empty look at Mo Yi. Even with mental preparation, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but shrink. ¨CThe head was clearly facing the other direction before. And in the few minutes he didn¡¯t pay attention, the mutted and unfeeling corpse moved by itself, turning its face to him again. An inexplicable chill rose instantly from the soles of his feet, climbing along the meridians to his back like a gangrene attached to the bones, ending at the back of his neck. Mo Yi took a deep breath and turned his eyes. Since entering the game, it could be said that the weird things he encountered were endless. Even if he was fully prepared psychologically, his body would still give the most primitive and real reactions uncontrobly. After all, it was still hard to get used to the feeling that your materialist worldview has been subverted after more than 20 years. He looked deeply at the whole open space for a long time, as if he wanted to engrave all the scenes here in his mind, then turned and walked out. The outside of the house was more elusive and the variables were greater. The longer he stood outside, the less safe it was. Mo Yi nced at the light blue countdown hanging above his head, pursed his lips, and walked inside. Suddenly his foot bumped into something hard. It was especially strange in the soft and moist soil, and it was very obvious when he stepped on it. He was stunned, and lowered his head to look at his feet. In the dark red soil he saw a lot of pale bones buried shallowly. The thinyer of soil above was kicked away just now, revealing the tiny white bones underneath. Mo Yi raised his head thoughtfully and nced at the open space surrounded by narrow and twisted walls. It was only then that he discovered some clues¡­ It seemed that in every corner of this yard small and inconspicuous bags were buried, exactly five in total. This piece ofnd¡­seemed to have the shape of an obscure pentagon. Mo Yi¡¯s brows furrowed tightly. He raised his head and quickly looked around the walls surrounding the whole yard, sketching the internal shape of the whole house in his heart. The next second, he was stunned and couldn¡¯t help but look around again at the twisted and narrow walls, then at the odd-shaped room in front of him, to make sure that he was not wrong. This house had two rooms on the first floor and three rooms on the second floor. If one looked at the general shape and direction of their extension, and this pentagon shaped piece ofnd, it could just form aplete reverse pentagram. And these two graves were right in the middle of this pentagram. The only variable was the kitchen. It was not included in the system of the pentagram, but stuck out indirectly, while the road to enter this yard was blocked tightly, and was extremely difficult to find. Mo Yi¡¯s brows and eyes sank slightly¨C it seemed that he had to search the kitchen again. But before that, he still had some unresolved clues at hand. Mo Yi looked down at the bones in the soil beside his feet, then squatted down, carefully brushing away the soil that was slowly seeping blood on the bones, revealing the full picture of the bones underneath. The skeletons of several small animals were exposed, the small skulls and theplete slender tailbones were half buried in the soil, and there were severalplete small skeletons under them, which looked surprisingly familiar. Mo Yi didn¡¯t even need to distinguish carefully to know what species they came from¨C cats and frogs. The tiny animal bones shone eerily in the dark red soil, and the sharp color contrast deeply stung people¡¯s eyeballs. At this moment, Mo Yi felt that his little finger was gently hooked. The familiar soft touch wrapped around his fingertip, sessfully pulling him out of his thoughts. Mo Yi pursed his lips, and looked up at the sky. The thick unchangeable darkness seemed to flow faintly, absorbing all the light, leaving only a ck hole-like void, making the shining countdown in the air look even more dazzling. He had been out for nearly half an hour. The palm of his hand was hooked softly again, and the cool touch slid along the arc of Mo Yi¡¯s wrist bone, as if reminding him of something. Mo Yi didn¡¯t dy any longer, and quickly ran along the path in front of the house. He didn¡¯t dare to stop for a moment, and gradually increased his speed. He quickly crossed the barrennd, following the long narrow path onto the porch. Out of the corner of his eye, the darkness behind him seemed to move slightly. Mo Yi felt a sudden shock, stretched out his hand and pushed open the oddly shaped door, raising his leg to step into the house. The wooden door was closed behind him, and the candlelight in the dim room illuminated his eyes faintly. The familiar smell of rotting wood and dust spread to his nose. Mo Yi, who was almost incapacitated by the strong smell of blood just now, couldn¡¯t help but take a breath and rx the tense muscles in his body. A peace of mind after returning to the enclosed space enveloped him. Mo Yi blinked, and after readjusting to the light in the house, he couldn¡¯t help being taken aback. All the surviving people looked at him in shock, staring at him closely, half in disbelief, as if they had seen some rare animal. The gaze of the crowd was a thorn in Mo Yi¡¯s back. He moved his footsteps, but found that everyone¡¯s eyes followed him. Mo Yi thought for a while, raised a hand awkwardly, and said stiffly: ¡°¡­¡­Hi?¡± Everyone: ¡°¡­¡± At this moment, Yu Ran walked up from the back of the crowd. After seeing Mo Yi, her eyes widened involuntarily. She took a few steps forward and said hesitantly: ¡°What¡¯s on your body?¡± Mo Yi was stunned when he heard the words, and looked down at himself following Yu Ran¡¯s eyes. As he was searching for clues on thend, the blood oozing from the soil stained his clothes, the light-colored shirt was covered with fresh bloodstains, the scarlet color looked shocking, and the soles of his shoes were sttered with blood and mud, even his fingers were stained red with blood. His whole person looked like he got through a massacre. In other words¨C like a freaky murderer who just finished his deed. Mo Yi was a little helpless. He looked up at Yu Ran and asked, ¡°Are there any tissues?¡± Yu Ran was stunned, nodded, took out a few wet tissues from her backpack and handed them to Mo Yi. Mo Yi took the tissues and wiped his fingers quickly and easily. The tissues were quickly dyed with arge amount of light red, which looked shocking. He didn¡¯t care about his shirt and trousers. After all, they were soaked with blood, and he probably couldn¡¯t save them if he wiped them. Yu Ran, standing to the side, took a few steps closer, and said half in amazement and half in doubt: ¡°You actually survived. I just saw the man with scattered limbs climbing down the stairs. I thought¡­¡± Mo Yi raised his eyes and nced at her with a smile: ¡°Thought that I died?¡± There was no special meaning in his eyes, but Yu Ran¡¯s cheeks were hot when she looked at him, and she didn¡¯t know what to say. Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked at the circle of people, seeing that they all avoided his gaze a little ufortably, he continued to say: ¡°The upstairs is not as unsafe as imagined. Just avoid it when the time changes every hour, and don¡¯t try to ovee the monsters head-on.¡± Mo Yi stuffed the tissues he wiped his hands with in the side pocket of his backpack, ignoring everyone¡¯s colorful expressions, and walking towards the dark corridor beside the stairs. Yu Ran¡¯s heart suddenly burst, and she opened her mouth to stop him: ¡°Where are you going now?¡± Mo Yi took a step, turning his face slightly, he revealed a small half of his pale face with smooth lines, his cool voice slightly low: ¡°Kitchen.¡± Yu Ran took a deep breath and seemed to have made up her mind. Following her inner intuition, she elerated a few steps, following the straight back of the man in front, and then said: ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Mo Yi didn¡¯t expect that Yu Ran would ask to go with him, so he couldn¡¯t help but be stunned for a moment. He turned to the side and looked at the woman behind him. His pair of extremely deep eyes seemed to have a shallow coolness. When he was watching intently, there would always be the illusion that one couldn¡¯t hide anything. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help feeling agitated, and her back straightened immediately. Mo Yi looked at her and seemed to be thinking about something, then smiled nomittally: ¡°Ok.¡± After speaking, he turned on his shlight and continued to walk into the corridor. Seeing the straight and thin back of the man in front of her, Yu Ran let out a slight sigh of relief and rxed her tense shoulders. She didn¡¯t know why, in front of this man, she always got nervous subconsciously. She was the older one. but¡­¡­ Yu Ran¡¯s mind shed to the other¡¯s face. The gentle appearance concealed calmness and alienation. The dark eyes were always rational and indifferent. Although he was silent most of the time, once he opened his mouth, he hit the nail on the head. Cautious and bold, it seemed that every step was well thought out, but he always made unexpected decisions. Straight and focused like an arrow, he seemed to always know the next step. But his too young face made it impossible to misunderstand his age. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t see through him, and realized that he was not simple. Her eyes were slightly lowered, as she emptied theplicated thoughts from her mind, then quickened her pace, catching up with the back that had almost melted into the darkness in front of her. The air in the corridor became more and more turbid, and the smell of blood seemed to get stronger. It mixed with the smell of decaying wood and fermented to form aplex smell, like living beings, haunting people¡¯s nostrils. The twisted and uneven corridor floor formed a weird angle with the walls, almost giving people the illusion of walking in a space-time corridor in a science fiction novel. The two walked down the corridor one after the other, the shlight¡¯s slightly cold pale white light illuminating the path in front of them. The wooden floor creaked harshly underfoot, which sounded extraordinarily monotonous in the silent and cramped corridor. At the end of the hallway was the kitchen. Mo Yi stood at the door, paused, looked around the familiaryout of the kitchen, then took another step and walked in. Yu Ran followed closely behind him and walked in as well. She pursed her lips tightly and looked carefully around the kitchen. After Mo Yi went to the second floor, she came here to look for clues, but it was too messy. There were a lot of scattered clues, but there was no context connecting them, so she also had no choice but to leave. Yu Ran raised her eyes and looked at Mo Yi¡¯s straight back, a look of contemtion shed across her delicate phoenix eyes. Will this time¡­ be any different? Mo Yi walked to the tall stove in the kitchen and looked at the familiar objects on the table. Large and small ck iron pots and kitchen utensils were stacked in a disorderly manner, a kitchen knife was deeply embedded on the thick and heavy chopping board, and a mouse¡¯s tail was curled up on it. But different fromst time, the blood along the connection between the kitchen knife and the chopping board had disappeared like other bloodstains without a trace, and the long tail had also be dry due to the loss of blood, showing a wrinkled dark red. When Mo Yi camest time, his attention was almostpletely on the nursery rhyme nailed to the wall, so he hardly paid attention to other utensils on the table. This time he shifted his focus, scrutinizing every detail on the table. At this moment, an iron pot ced crookedly next to the chopping board attracted Mo Yi¡¯s attention. It was not big, and looked as dark and unremarkable as the other kitchen utensils, rather casual, lying on the edge of the table. But¡­ under the illumination of the light, the edge of the pot showed a strange bright color, like water stains. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sank, and he stretched out his finger to lightly brush the edge of the iron pot. There was a cold and sticky feeling under his fingertip. He turned his palm and saw that his fingertip was stained with bright blood. The white finger pulp and the extremely bright blood stain on it made a sharp color contrast, almost hurting his eyes. Mo Yi slowly narrowed his eyes. In this instance, the blood of all the dead people was basically absorbed, and ording to what he saw outside, the blood should have been introduced into thend, drunk by the soil, and watered the two graves. Not even the bloody handprints on the wooden door or the blood of the monstrous mouse¡¯s chopped tail were exceptions. So why was there blood here? Mo Yi stretched out a hand and lifted the lid of the pot. A strong bloody smell rushed to his face instantly, and the bright and rich rusty smell was full of a rotten aura, making people almost suffocate. Fortunately, Mo Yi was forced to get used to the smell when he was outside the house, but he frowned slightly nheless as he lowered his eyes to look inside the pot. Inside the pitch-ck iron pot was arge amount of blood, the dark red color seemed to be wet, sticky and strange. Mo Yi gently shook the edge of the iron pot with one hand, and the blood inside instantly made waves with the movement, imprinting faint red marks on the dark pot wall, revealing the white bones deposited in the pot. The tiny bones were full of coldness, and were stacked eitherpletely or scattered on the bottom of the pot. With Mo Yi¡¯s movements, the blood slipped off, and exposed theirplete appearance. Again¡­the bones of cats and frogs. Mo Yi was stunned, and his eyes slowly became solemn. It was no coincidence that this clue appeared again and again. Just as he was contemting, Yu Ran walked over from the side and looked into the iron pot in front of him. After seeing the contents clearly, she slowly frowned: ¡°Bones?¡± Mo Yi nodded and replied, ¡°Yes, cats and frogs.¡± Yu Ran was stunned for a moment, then turned her head subconsciously to look at Mo Yi¡¯s drooping profile, her sharp eyes widened involuntarily: ¡°Cats and frogs?¡± Hearing that her tone was a little subtle, Mo Yi retracted his gaze on the iron pot and stared at Yu Ran: ¡°What? Do you know something?¡± Yu Ran was a little ufortable looking at his focused eyes, so she couldn¡¯t help but stagger her eyes slightly and replied: ¡°In the other room, that is, the room beside the mask-room, there are three jars. The jars are filled with some wet soil or something, and the patterns engraved on the jars are people¡¯s heads, cats, and frogs.¡± ¡­people¡¯s heads, cats and frogs¡­? Mo Yi was slightly stunned, his eyes suddenly lit up like two cold stars, and the focused and bright light in his eyes could almost pierce the heart of a person. He looked at the iron pot again, and his pale face was rarely stained with a trace of blood. He knew to which demon the former mistress of the house had sacrificed. Baal. The great demon, the head of Solomon¡¯s seventy-two demon gods, was said to have three heads, namely a man, a frog, and a cat. His worship could even be traced back to more than a thousand years BC. It was the god baal-zebub worshiped by the Semitic people. The sacrifices to him were extravagant, and the sacrifice rituals often sacrificed children and living people. It was said that this was also the reason why he became a fallen god. Before his fall, he was in charge of the sun and agriculture¨C the soil in the jars and the soil in the backyard were exined. One theory was that in the Old Testament he appeared as Baal, but in the New Testament his name became¨C Beelzebub. Beelzebub, on the other hand, was the demon in charge of the gue. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became slightly rapid, and he looked down at the slightly undting blood in the iron pot on the wooden table, as the strong and pungent rusty smell entered his nose. From the moment they entered the room, this kind of strong or weak bloody smell followed them like a shadow, and it never dissipated at any time. Demon Baal also had a very famous feature. Bloodthirsty. Yu Ran stood aside, watching the change in Mo Yi¡¯splexion, she pursed her lips, stretched out her hand to hold his arm, and after seeing him look over, she smiled slightly, and said bluntly: ¡°Are you going to open a hidden branch quest?¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t expect her question to be so direct, and couldn¡¯t help but be stunned slightly. Yu Ran seemed to already have an answer in her heart, and she didn¡¯t care whether he answered or not, but just said to herself: ¡°I know that you essentially have the basic context now, you just need some key clues to connect the whole story, so¡­ I hope to team up with you.¡± Yu Ran took a deep breath and seemed to be afraid that she would be mistaken by Mo Yi as a yer scoring points, and hurriedly added: ¡°The clues I collected before can also be shared with you, and I can also help, it¡¯s not¡­ it¡¯s not¡­¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t wait for her to finish, he chuckled and nodded. He actually didn¡¯t care if anyone came to get some points. This may be the only conscience of this game. One more person will not divide the points he should have gotten, but will recalcte the other party¡¯s contribution. So, as long as the other party was helpful to him, he didn¡¯t mind teaming up. In addition, Yu Ran made such a direct request to form a team, it was very likely that she had some bargaining chips in her hand, and it was very unwise to refuse. Seeing that Mo Yi nodded without hesitation, Yu Ran let out a long sigh of relief and slightly rxed her tense shoulders and neck. She reached out, pulled open her backpack, and took out a small box from the side of the bag. The surface of the square box was glowing with a ck luster, and the delicate surface was crookedly engraved with three simple symbols, which Mo Yi recognized at a nce. Three simple heads were drawn on it: a man, a cat, and a frog. In the middle of the box was a shallow dent, which looked like a crooked circle. It gave Mo Yi a strange sense of familiarity. The next second, he seemed to remember something. He reached out and touched his trouser pocket. In the depths of the pocket, a hard and cold coin slid over his fingertips. The cold touch climbed up his peripheral nerves, causing his fingers to shake slightly. Mo Yi took a deep breath and took out the twisted coin from his pocket. Its denomination: sixpence was written on the white metal surface. He put the twisted sixpence into the groove on the box¨C it fit perfectly. The next second, a faint metallic snap sounded. The box was open. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

The lid of the box bounced with the slight sound, opening a thin gap, reflecting a faint dim light on the pure ck surface of the box, and coating the simple lines engraved on it with a strange brilliance. Mo Yi held his breath unconsciously, stretched out his fingers, slowly sped the edge of the lid, and exerted a little force. With a dry ¡°squeak¡± sound, the box slowly opened. The inside of the box was alsopletely covered with ckcquer, which was deep and even, and had not faded in the slightest after hundreds of years. There were some messy small objects stacked at the bottom of the box. Tucked on top were several pieces of letter paper with a familiar style, which attracted Mo Yi¡¯s attention. The yellowed papers were folded into several folds and randomly covered the top of the debris in the box. Faint dust coated them, shrouding the papers like a shadow. Mo Yi picked up the folded letters from the box, and opened them cautiously and gently with his slender fingertips. Yu Ran, who was standing on the side, turned on the shlight with a wink and helped Mo Yi to illuminate the papers. Mo Yi raised his eyes and nced at her while being busy. He gave her a hurried smile, then continued to lower his head and carefully observe the papers in his hand. The first letter was written in familiar handwriting. It looked rational and in. Every character was written in a certified and neat manner. It was almost impossible to tell that it was someone who had experienced grief, but still seemed to give off an inexplicable shocked feeling. Mo Yi lowered his eyelids and read the contents carefully. ¡°Dear Esther, You know, my grandmother and I were never very close, and I had an inexplicable fear of her when she was alive. Maybe because I was too young, I always felt that there was something about her at that time, that was kind of weird. Her whole breath smelt like clothes that haven¡¯t been dried for three months. Her eyes always made me panic. Dark ones, that were like two bottomless pits. I have always been afraid of her. Whether it was her rotten breath or her cold fingers, that were as thin and pale as a dead person. I subconsciously didn¡¯t dare to approach. I never told you that in the year she died, she left me a ck box engraved with many strange patterns as a relic. As much as I hate to admit it, this may be the only hope for saving our children.¡± This letter ended here. Mo Yi turned to the next page. The handwriting on it looked a little chaotic, and there were a few lines of text that were messy and illogical. ¡°Dear Esther: I started sleepwalking and hearing auditory hallucinations again. I always hear someone talking in my ear. The voice is hoarse and scary, and it seems to want me to do something. I can¡¯t hear or remember what it said. I just feel as if I am standing on a cliff, whether it is advancing or retreating, it is an abyss. I miss you so much, it would be nice if you were here. (this line was crossed out) I woke upst night to find myself standing beside Erica and John¡¯s little bed with their little cold clothes in my hands, full of my tears. By the way, my grandmother¡¯s grandmother was burned to death, did you know?¡± Mo Yi narrowed his eyebrows slowly, and the deep ck eyes under the long eyshes shed thoughtfully. He knew, in those days, witches were found to be burned at the stake by the Inquisition. In this way, the protagonist¡¯s family who wrote this letter had deep roots in demonology, which also confirms the origin and authenticity of the special ¡®Key of Solomon¡¯. He subconsciously rubbed the rough edge of the letter with the tip of his finger, and then lifted it to reveal the third page. This time, the words were still very brief, but the handwriting on it was trembling and helpless. Several simple words were misspelled, and they were scribbled out and rewritten several times: ¡°God oh god oh god!!! I can¡¯t do this, I can¡¯t do this!¡± The three ¡°gods¡± were scratched out so violently that the letter paper was cut through rough cracks. The words written in lighter ink appeared under the crossed-out words: ¡°False God¡±. Cold as stone. At the end of the page were dotted marks of dark brown, that appeared to be dried blood. Mo Yi pursed his lips and looked a little heavy for a while¨C the organs that needed to be sacrificed muste from living people, and ording to the known parts, it was impossible for only one victim to satisfy the demand. He stroked the words ¡°False God¡± with his fingertips. The paper under them was rough and cold, the word ridges sunken, which made one¡¯s heart tremble inexplicably. ¨CIt seemed¡­she did it in the end. Mo Yi took a deep breath and tried to get rid of the lingering emotions in his heart, then stretched out his hand to turn to the next page, there was only one sentence on it, shaky and unbelievable handwriting was written crookedly on the paper: ¡°It works.¡± Yu Ran on the side frowned suspiciously. She raised her eyes and opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask something, but the next second she saw Mo Yi¡¯s increasingly gloomy face, and couldn¡¯t help but swallow the unspoken words down. When he came back to his senses again, Mo Yi had already turned to the next page, while Yu Ran settled down and looked at the paper in his hand: ¡°Dear Esther: I just don¡¯t know how to express my ecstasy. I really seeded. I brought my children back to the world, and now I have no regrets even if I die. But they¡¯re in a weird state. They seem to be silent, and I don¡¯t know how to cheer them up¡­¡± Yu Ran had an inexplicable premonition, as if she was blindfolded and ced in front of the abyss, and the next step was a terrifying fall. She took a deep breath and continued to read. The letter paper had been turned to the next page. Yu Ran took a closer look, and couldn¡¯t help but be startled by what she saw on it. She saw the rough and yellowed letter full of frantic handwriting, while the excessive force almost cut through the paper. The despair and madness that were between the lines almost prated the paper and pierced people¡¯s eyeballs straight: ¡°NONONONONONONONO¡± A whole page full of giant ¡°no¡¯s¡±. But if one looked closely, one could see a different kind of calm handwriting under the cover of the crazy handwriting. It seemed that after writing the first text, reason was eroded by despair, and under the irresistible crazy impulse, the whole paper was upied with the frantic ¡°no¡¯s¡±, and the previous handwriting was covered. Mo Yi got closer, and carefully identified the lines of words written on the scratched paper: ¡°They¡¯ve got rashes all over their bodies, they¡¯ve had a low-grade fever all night long, and I¡¯m afraid to call a doctor. They already know that my children are dead. Is this God¡¯s punishment for me? I can¡¯t ept it, I can¡¯t believe¨C¡± The handwriting was so fierce that thest stroke was drawn down long, breaking at the edge of the entire sheet of paper. Mo Yi pursed his lips, and his face looked pale under the light of the shlight. He reached out and turned to the next page. ¡°There are demons living in my children¡¯s body¡¯s.¡± After nervously scribbling and drawing, she continued to write in clear handwriting: ¡°They want to go out.¡± Immediately after, there wererge nks. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers turned to the next page steadily. The handwriting became more and more scribbled and flustered, and there were more traces of corrections: ¡°Now, I know what it is. It¡¯s been gone for more than two hundred years¡­how could it be¡­it¡¯s getting scarier and deadlier. I can¡¯t imagine if¡­ Oh god what have i done? What mistake have I made?¡± The extreme pain came out between the lines, shing like a sharp knife, as if gurgling blood was flowing continuously from the rotting wound. Below was a line of extremely familiar text: ¡°It can never happen, I won¡¯t allow it.¡± At the bottom of the paper, the ink of the sentence was smeared, but Mo Yi slowly murmured the sentence that should have been written in his heart: ¡°God please help me¡±. The stack of stationery ended here. Mo Yi took a deep breath and put down the stack of extremely light and heavy papers. Now, the context of the incident became clear. Thest piece of the puzzle had been put together, and theplete truth had finally been revealed. Yu Ran, who was on the side, saw that he put down his hand and folded the papers along creases again, then lowered her hand holding the shlight. She stared at Mo Yi. His face was a little blurry in the gloom, the lines of his profile shrouded in dim light, and the expression on his face couldn¡¯t be seen at this moment. Yu Ran felt a little apprehensive. She organized the words in her mind, and then asked carefully, ¡°¡­how is it?¡± The remaining half of her words was hidden in an unfinished breath¨C was this clue worth it? Mo Yi seemed to awaken from his meditation by her voice this time. A pair of extremely deep and dark eyes lifted up for a moment, they instantly prated the hazy light, as sharp and eye-catching as a de. The next second, he lowered his eyes again, his long eyshes covering the light in them. He smiled: ¡°Thank you.¡± After speaking, Mo Yi sandwiched the thin sheets of paper between his slender fingers and handed them to Yu Ran. Yu Ran took it subconsciously, then opened it and looked at it. Just as she lowered her head, she heard Mo Yi¡¯s voice: ¡°Is it alright to open the branch quest now?¡± Her eyes narrowed, she thought about it carefully, and then nodded slightly. Seeing that she was ready, Mo Yi summed up all the clues he had collected in his heart, and then said it sinctly. When his voice fell, the familiar mechanical female voice appeared again: ¡°Dangdangdang! Congrattions to yer No. 05, Mo Yi, and yer No. 09, Yu Ran, for unlocking the hidden plot of this escape game! The side quests are now open, and thepletion of the side quests will reward you with rich points. Please keep working hard! ¡± Just as the voice fell, Mo Yi felt his left hand being clenched heavily. ¨CThe Mist? The familiar cold touch on his hand pierced his heart with a slight pain, a sharp rm sounded in his head, and an ominous premonition was deeply embedded in his mind like a hard wooden wedge. A strong sense of danger struck instantly. It climbed up his spine, cold and sticky, almost making his hair stand on end. Mo Yi suddenly raised his eyes, ¡­and the blood in his body instantly froze. Yu Ran looked at him unconsciously, with a little doubt in her eyes, as if she didn¡¯t understand why Mo Yi¡¯s face was suddenly pale as paper while he was staring straight beyond her. He saw behind her a familiar shadow standing in the dark. With a pale and blurry face he could not see his facial features clearly, only a pair of ck hole-like eyes stared at him like a ghost. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Like being immersed in ice water from head to toe, chills of extreme cold rose from his bones, evaporating along every pore, and climbing up his back. Fear gripped his throat like a cold iron hand, squeezing out every trace of air in his lungs. Almost subconsciously, Mo Yi stretched out his hand to grab Yu Ran and push her to the side! The two stumbled to one side with the force, and they almost fell to the ground by surprise. Before Yu Ran became aware of it, she felt a gust of icy air passing by the edge of her cheek, rubbing against its side, and causing sharp pain. Yu Ran¡¯s ability to react in the instance made her respond instantly. She took advantage of the situation to grab Mo Yi¡¯s arm. She hugged him before the twonded in confusion, rolling and ducking to the side. After a moment of dizziness, the two of them had left the ce where they had just stood, but were lying on the ground in dismay. Mo Yi raised his head and looked at the door of the kitchen. The shadow, from which it was unknown if it could still be called human, stood quietly in the darkness. Half of the figure was hidden in the dim corridor, and the outline could hardly be seen. The only thing one could see clearly was its face. The pale and blurry face looked distorted and strange, as a pair of dark eyes turned slowly, one by one, to look at them. Mo Yi¡¯s scalp was a little numb, and the almost inhuman gaze felt like a thorn on his back, a physiological tremor flooded his heart, and adrenaline surged. His eyes were swift, as he turned his head to look behind him. It was a tall stove, full ofyers of iron pots and kitchen utensils. The only half-open pot was filled with a strong smell of blood behind the stove. The window frame had beenpletely twisted, narrow andpact, sealed with a few simple wooden nks. It was difficult for even a very small child to get through. Not to mention two normal-sized adults. Mo Yi swallowed slowly and turned back. The only way through the kitchen was the door leading to the corridor, which meant that their escape route was blocked. There was nowhere to run. At this moment the shadow hadpletely turned its whole face around. The pale and strange face looked like wax oil that had melted and resolidified, and the ck hole-like eyes stared straight at the two of them. It took a slow step forward, walked out of the shadows in the hallway, and entered the kitchen half way, illuminated by the dim light in the room. Yu Ran¡¯s low breathing sounded in his ears. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was also slightly stagnant, urging and forcing himself to think of some solution. The shadow took another step forward, revealing its charcoal twisted limbs and body. Only its face was an extremely eerie white, and the sharp color contrast was very ufortable. It looked extremely uncoordinated, and walked crookedly, slowly but firmly towards the two of them. The distorted face got closer and closer, the pair of ghostly eyes burning with malice. Then Yu Ran¡¯s tensed body suddenly stretched. The strength exercised through multiple instances made her feel like a drawn bow, and her slender body burst out with great force. She rushed to the stove behind her at a very fast speed, pulling out the huge kitchen knife that was deeply embedded in the chopping board. A pair of sharp phoenix eyes stared closely at the approaching figure, then raised the de and swung it downward! She wanted to fight back! The next second, the de passed through its body without any sense of resistance. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help being stunned. She looked at her hands and saw that the de cut through the figure, as if it had cut through air. After the de had passed, the figure began to gather slowly again, and then finally condensed into its original human form. It looked at Yu Ran with that emotionless, blurry face, its ck hole-like eyes looking ghostly. Before Yu Ran could step back, the figure grabbed her neck. Its five charcoal-like fingers tightly sped the woman¡¯s slender throat, the frightening face slowly approached, and the twisted wax-like facial features nearing. Seeing that Yu Ran was about to encounter an unexpected incident, Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating like a drum, and his face was as white as paper. He forced himself to calm down and think about how to break the near-dead situation in front of him. His eyes were fixed on the charcoal-like palms on Yu Ran¡¯s neck and the ck handprints on herplexion, and a guess suddenly shed in his heart, illuminating his mind like lightning. Mo Yi tightened his fingers. The silver chain that fell heavily around his wrist was like a noose around it. It was pressing down heavily with its weight, stained with a little body temperature, as if the upper end was tied to a human heart. Blood rushed through his ears, and his heartbeat was unbelievably rapid. Mo Yi stepped forward and tore off the silver chain wrapped around his wrist. The round pendant under the mottled chain shed faintly in the dim light. He moved the silver chain very quickly and hung it around Yu Ran¡¯s neck, whose eyes were a little ck. Through the rusty hinge the frame of the pendant opened between his fingers with the sudden pull of gravity, revealing two small pocket photos inside, just right in front of the pale, twisted and terrifying face. In the yellowed ck-and-white photo, the boy and the girl were smiling brightly at the outside. Though the blurred faces one couldn¡¯t see their facial features clearly, only two pairs of bright ck eyes were staring at everyone innocently. As if struck by lightning, the distorted and blurry figure trembled violently, then released Yu Ran¡¯s neck and staggered back a few steps. A hoarse, high-pitched, inhuman cry erupted from its body, as if suffering from unbearable pain. Even its figure was slightly distorted, as if the fog had been blown away, so the outline of its body was fluctuating. Yu Ran lost the strength to support her body and fell to the ground suddenly. Her dted pupils slowly focused, then coughing violently and fiercely as if tearing her body apart. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes stared right at the figure, his bloodless lips pressed into a tight straight line. The shadow seemed to have recovered from the pain that had suddenly struck, and the outline of the figure reconvened. It twisted its face so that it suddenly turned to the side, slowly crouched down beside Yu Ran, stretching out its charcoal-like hand, and tremblingly holding the silver pendant that fell in front of her. The frame opened in its pitch-ck palm. The pale face seemed to solidify a little, and the facial features slowly gathered on the blurred face like melted wax oil. It was a woman¡¯s face, with deep facial features, a typical Anglo-Saxon appearance, with an elegant and sad face. Her face was deeply marked by pain, trembling charcoal-like fingers slowly stroked the two blurred photos, as if she could directly touch the fresh and soft faces of the children through the cold photo frame. Affectionate and desperate. Seeing that the other party seemed to be sane enough tomunicate, Mo Yi calmed down, but seemed to be afraid of irritating the other party. He cautiously spoke in English: ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m sorry¨C¡± The other party raised her head. Although her face was still clear, her eyes returned to a ck hole-like ghost, and all the human emotions on her face disappearedpletely, staring at Mo Yi closely. The hoarse voice sounded as if it had been scorched by fire: ¡°You must die.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart suddenly burst, but his emotions were not at all obvious on his face. It seemed that he was not the one who was threatened with death. His eyes were fixed on the woman¡¯s pale face, and he said quietly: ¡°Can you tell us why?¡± Her face became pale and distorted again, and the originally clear facial features became much more blurred. She stared at Mo Yi, her ghostly eyes as cold as iron: ¡°You must die.¡± Mo Yi looked at her intently: ¡°The temptation of the devil is always wrapped in honey, isn¡¯t it?¡± The ghost looked at him, her eyes gloomy and cold. Mo Yi took a step forward, his voice became gentle and soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something, but the content of his words was as direct as a merciless sword: ¡°Although Erica and John are back, they have something more deadly in them. The gue that once took countless european lives followed them back from hell, right?¡± After hearing those two names, the ghostly shadow¡¯s figure trembled violently, and her pale and blurry face became firmer again. Mo Yi¡¯s tone slowed down, as if his voice was wrapped in satin, as warm as velvet: ¡°But, as far as I know, the ck Death hasn¡¯t erupted since the 17th century, let alone its more vicious and deadly variants, so¡­ you stopped it, right?¡± Her face was pale and cold, and she looked out of ce on her charred body. Mo Yi held his breath: ¡°that¡¯s why you became like this, right?¡± A wave of emotion finally shed across her face, and her eyes became sad¨C this time, she finally spoke, her hoarse voice harsh and terrifying, like the sound of fingernails scraping through ss: ¡°¡­it can never happen.¡± This sentence appeared once on the letter paper on the second floor, and appeared again on the letter paper hidden in the box. Now, it had been said by her again. Speaking firmly, sadly, and desperately, like a sharp de piercing deep into the wound. The knife saw blood and brought out the foul-smelling rot from the wound. The face of the other party was more condensed at the moment, and her eyes be rational: ¡°I killed my children.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. Although he had already guessed the development of the incident, he still felt indescribably shocked when he heard it with his own ears. ¡°I held their bodies and set the house on fire.¡± She lowered her head, and her charred fingers gently stroked the faces of the two children on the ne: ¡±The devil doesn¡¯t want to see me disturb his n. In order to punish and retaliate against me, he made it so that when my body smelled of burnt stench, my head was not licked by the fire, and I could only watch my precious children¡¯s corpses burn in the mes, as my body turned to coke.¡± Mo Yi couldn¡¯t see her face clearly, and could only hear her voice made hoarse by the fire: ¡°But what does it matter? There¡¯s nothing more painful than watching my children die again¡­ I deserve it.¡± She slowly took off the ne from Yu Ran¡¯s neck, carefully held it in her stiff and charred palms, then stood up and looked at Mo Yi with dark eyes emotionlessly: ¡°So, you must die.¡± ¡±If you don¡¯t die at my hands¨C be killed and sacrificed by this house, then¡­ it wille back again.¡± The ghost¡¯s face became pale and distorted again, it slowly took a step forward, and its hoarse voice was like a demon crawling out of hell: ¡°I won¡¯t allow it.¡± ¡±I paid for everything I stopped and I will not allow you to let it out again.¡± Its face was terrifying and distorted, its words were vague and cold, and it murmured over and over again: ¡°¨Cyou must die.¡± TL: So sorry for missing yesterday¡¯s scheduled chapter Chapter 68

Chapter 68

The ghost¡¯s charred and twisted body almost merged with the darkness behind it. The pale face was distorted and blurred again. The clear facial features from before disappeared, leaving only a pair of ghostly fires. Its inhuman eyes stared at Mo Yi intensely. The look of sadness and softness had disappeared, reced by a sinister killing intent. Under the gaze of those dark eyes, an icy sense of oppression followed, bringing physiological fear and horror. Mo Yi¡¯s back was sweating, even though his whole body was as cold as if he was immersed in snow water. An uncontroble tremor climbed along his spine. The heavy atmosphere almost solidified, and the air with the shallow bloody smell waspressed so hard that it was almost impossible to breathe. He took a deep breath, his face still maintaining basicposure, considering his words, he said: ¡°Although I understand your concerns, there is another way, isn¡¯t it? After all, as long as we leave safely, the sacrifice cannot bepleted, right?¡± After a suffocating silence, a hoarse voice sounded: ¡°¨CWhy should I take the risk?¡± The ghost took a step forward slowly, and a hoarse and weird gurgling sound came out of its throat: ¡°I sacrificed everything, including my love, my life, my soul¨C why should I risk ruining everything for you?¡± It giggled, a horrible, monotonousugh that sounded like a cry: ¡°I can kill my children with my own hands, what¡¯s the point of leaving more of you?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression remained the same¨C after all, he was not prepared to impress the other party with such clumsy rhetoric. In the next second, he raised his eyes, they stared at each other, and he suddenly said without warning: ¡°Then what if¡­ from now on, no one will be sacrificed?¡± The ghost¡¯s hoarseughter suddenly stopped, and its pale and cold face stared at Mo Yi, as if it was assessing something. It said grimly: ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re too arrogant or too stupid to even think about fighting the devil on your own.¡± A distorted smile appeared on the pale and blurred face: ¡°And¡­that¡¯s the question¨C why should I take the risk?¡± Under the tense and suffocating silence, Mo Yi suddenlyughed softly: ¡°Well, you should have done it a long time ago, didn¡¯t you? Instead of giving us the chance to dy it for so long.¡± There was silence. Mo Yi¡¯s face was pale, and the arches of his lips slightly tense, slightly evoking a restrained feeling, his dark eyes as bright as stars in winter: ¡°We have to die, but you have been with us for so long, why?¡± The pale ghost withdrew all expression and stared at him coldly. Mo Yi was taken aback. Since the ghost figure appeared, it had been attacking Yu Ran, ruthlessly and unfeeling, trying to kill her every step of the way. But not only did it not take any shots at him, but was willing to be patient and deal with him in time. Of course, that ne did bring back some of its sanity, but it was by no means enough to stop a pained evil spirit who had lost everything. The torture of time and the cruel experiences distorted its mind and soul, and ¡°stop the devil¡± became its only reason for obsession and wandering. In the face of such a paranoid, extreme evil spirit, who would do whatever it took to achieve its goal, Mo Yi had not been self-serving enough yet, thinking that a few words of softness can relieve the other party¡¯s heart. Unless¡­¡­ Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows narrowed slightly, and a thoughtful look shed in his eyes. When he raised his gaze again, the expression in his eyes returned to calmness and rity. He didn¡¯t point out his guess, but just said: ¡°Since you don¡¯t seem ready to kill us for the time being, why don¡¯t you try our method?¡± The other party was silent, and a pair of dark eyes stared straight at Mo Yi, as if evaluating something. After a while, it let out a hoarse and weird lowugh: ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Immediately afterwards, the hoarse voice sounded again: ¡°But, next time I appear, I won¡¯t be so merciful.¡± As its voice fell, the scorched ck figure that was half hidden in the darkness rippled, and then dissipated into thin air. The terrifying pale face, like melted wax, slowly followed. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was moved, and he suddenly stopped her: ¡°Excuse me, can you tell me your name?¡± All the paper evidence he collected were letters written by her, and each of them was not signed, so he still didn¡¯t know the name of this woman who had experienced suffering. The figure of the other party was already blurry. When Mo Yi almost gave up hope, she threw a few hoarse and faint sybles: ¡°¡­Ivy.¡± Her voice was still hoarse and unpleasant, like the cawing of a crow, but there was an inexplicable sadness in her in tone. Only the two of them were left in the kitchen. Mo Yi let out a long sigh, his tense and stiff shoulders suddenly rxed, his nerves that had been highly tense slowly eased, and a familiar soreness rushed up like a tide. He took a few steps back and reached out to hold himself up on the stove behind him, supporting his body aching from excessive stiffness. The palms of his hands were already wet with sweat, his cold shirt tightly stuck to his back. The cold feeling was slowly transmitted to the nerve center along the peripheral nerves under his skin, causing a shudder. Cold fingers wrapped around his wrist, the cool and delicate finger pads gently rubbed his protruding wrist bone. This familiar way offorting, although clumsy, made Mo Yi¡¯s frown inexplicably loosen slightly, and the beating of his heart slowed down a lot. He faintly raised the corners of his lips, and was about to say that it was okay, but in the next second he realized that there was still Yu Ran beside him, and swallowed the unspoken words. At this moment, Yu Ran also recovered from the sudden situation. She stood up against the wall beside her, still looking at the darkness of the door in the kitchen with lingering fear, as if she was still worried that the terrifying shadow shape would appear again. She tentatively reached out and touched her neck, there were still ck as charcoal handprints left, which looked extremely shocking on her white skin. Mo Yi noticed the movement beside him and turned to look at her. Yu Ran looked terrible now. Her clothes were wrinkled all over her body, and her face was very embarrassed. There was a shallow cut on her dusty cheek, and bright red blood was slowly flowing down. It seemed to be the wound left by the ghost when it first appeared before them. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was a bit tight, as he rummaged in his backpack for a while. He took out medicine to stop the bleeding and a band-aid, before handing it to Yu Ran: ¡°Your face, you¡¯d better deal with it quickly. Being injured in this instance is no joke.¡± Yu Ran was stunned. She reached out to touch her cheek, and only then did she realize the slight tingling pain. Her eyes narrowed, and her facial expression suddenly became serious. She reached out to take the medicine in Mo Yi¡¯s hand, and then carefully treated the seemingly harmless wound on her face in front of the small mirror she carried with her. After making sure that the hemostatic tape was stuck and no new blood leaked out from the edge, Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief, put away the small mirror, and turned to look at Mo Yi. Her gaze was half surprised and half suspicious, while her eyes were fixed on Mo Yi¡¯s face, as if she wanted to see something from it. Mo Yi felt ufortable when she looked at him, and asked: ¡°¡­¡­What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes lit up, she considered it for a while, and then asked: ¡°I just think it¡¯s a little weird. How did you know the ghost¡­ Ivy wasn¡¯t going to kill us?¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips and lowered his eyes slightly, covering theplex look in his eyes. It is undeniable that the Mist had never appeared and therefore had nothing to do with this. Mo Yi still remembered the incident on the second floor, the Mist frightened the monsters rushing towards him with just his momentum. It could be seen that his strength was not ordinary, even dreaded by the monsters in the instance. However, the Mist didn¡¯t show up just now, and Ivy was not the kind of mindless monster who was easily threatened. So¡­ he felt that there should be other reasons here. But no matter what the reasons were, he couldn¡¯t tell them to Yu Ran. Mo Yi¡¯s heart turned back and forth, but his face was still as usual. He raised his head, showing a t smile, and answered lightly: ¡°¡­just luck.¡± Yu Ran frowned, obviously she didn¡¯t believe his words very much, but since Mo Yi didn¡¯t really want to answer, she wouldn¡¯t continue to ask so blindly. She changed the topic and continued to ask: ¡°By the way, you just said that you don¡¯t want to¡­ let anyone be sacrificed, is that true?¡± Hearing this, Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows couldn¡¯t help being stained with a bit of solemnity: ¡°In this situation, I can only say this to stabilize the situation, but now we may have to do this.¡± Yu Ran pursed her lips and stared at him, only to hear him continue: ¡°Now we only have two choices: One is to face themon pursuit of two enemies at the same time, the paranoid powerful evil spirit and the house that is trying to sacrifice us. The other is to ensure that the yers who are still alive continue to live, and then focus on dealing with the enemies.¡± Mo Yi showed a wry smile: ¡°¡­Two thorny roads, I can only choose the less thorny one.¡± Yu Ran¡¯splexion also became heavy. ¨CThe difficulty of this instance was really unusual. At this moment, through the vague darkness, a slight metallic constricting sound seemed to be heard in the hall not far away. The familiar intermittent music seemed extraordinarily eerie and terrifying in the silence. Mo Yi was stunned for a moment and looked down at his wrist. The jumping numbers on the jet-ck watch indicated¡ª A new hour began. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Mo Yi and Yu Ran looked at each other, turned and ran into the corridor. The whistling wind poured into their ears with the fast pace, and the dim and twisted walls blurred into a phantom in the peripheral light. As Mo Yi ran, he counted the number of remaining yers in his heart. The more he thought about it, the heavier he felt, as if a massive lead weight fell on his heart and slowly sank in it. A total of seventeen people entered the instance, and up to now, including him and Yu Ran, six people had survived. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was mixed¨C although the number of people meant a decrease in effective strength, he had to admit that it was easier to manage when the number of people was small, especially in the current situation. Before they could continue to think about it, the two had already returned to the hall. Mo Yi stopped his steps on the uneven ground and looked around the whole room. In the silent room, the harsh and monotonous nursery rhyme became louder and louder, repeating the same melody over and over again. The children¡¯s voice with its changing tone sounded strange, terrifying and creepy. The whole room was empty, without the slightest poption, as if¡­ the other yers had disappeared into thin air. At first, the two thought that the other yers would be hiding because they were afraid, but they soon found out that something was wrong. Yu Ran walked out of the room beside him and shook her head at Mo Yi helplessly. It seemed there were only two of them left in the whole house. Only the weird nursery rhyme still kept for a moment, lingering in the shadows, the vague lyrics intermittent, but still singing persistently. Yu Ran¡¯s face was pale, and a look of uneasiness shed in her calm eyes. She swallowed a mouthful of saliva with some difficulty, and then said, ¡°You said¡­ shouldn¡¯t they¡­?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression was not very good. He closed his eyes and thought about it carefully, then answered tly: ¡°impossible.¡± He raised his eyes and searched the whole room carefully, with a faint coldness in his pupils: ¡°Every step must be followed strictly toplete the sacrifice, and killing everyone now is digging one¡¯s own grave.¡± Mo Yi paused, narrowed his eyes slightly, and continued: ¡°As for Ivy¡­even for her it is very difficult to kill everyone in such a short period of time without leaving any bloodstained corpses and traces of struggle. Besides, she has no need to lie to us. She didn¡¯t attack us when she had the absolute advantage just now, even less now.¡± His voice was cold, the pace of his speech was neither hasty nor slow, and he analyzed one by one rationally and calmly. Yu Ran stared into Mo Yi¡¯s calm eyes. He was indifferent but deep like the sea with a cold heaviness, which convinced people. It inexplicably calmed her nervous nerves¨C even her irritable and frightened mood became calm. Mo Yi frowned and turned his eyes to look at Yu Ran, his paleplexion was stained with a little worry: ¡°For the current situation, I only have some unformed guesses in my heart¡­¡± Yu Ran interrupted him a little anxiously: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Don¡¯t worry about guessing or not. Whether there is evidence or not, you can say it first and I will listen.¡± Mo Yi took a deep look at her and said: ¡°After the start of the side quest, the difficulty of the entire instance will be greatly increased. For Ivy, she regained her extreme and paranoid rational thinking, so she decided to kill all yers once and for all. Since this is the case, will the house be prepared to follow the same path?¡± Yu Ran was stunned: ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°¡­¡­Yes.¡± Mo Yi nced at her, nodded slightly, and then said: ¡°My guess is that this house also wants to be done once and for all. Ivy¡¯s method is to cut the grass and remove the roots, then the house¡¯s method should be to raise its sacrifices, and then kill a few every hour, which is the safest, isn¡¯t it?¡± He gave a low smile: ¡°If it were me, I would do the same.¡± Yu Ran looked at Mo Yi¡¯s indifferent profile, and couldn¡¯t help shivering, a coldness spreading up her back: Please don¡¯t make dangerous speeches in this atmosphere! Very scary! But¡­ she had to say that Mo Yi¡¯s guess was very logical and reasonable, and the more she thought about it, the more likely it was. Suddenly a bell rang in Yu Ran, and her face became ugly: ¡°Wait, but this hour¡¯s nursery rhyme has already sounded¡­ If this room has sessfully raised other yers, doesn¡¯t it mean that someone is likely to have died here?¡± Mo Yi raised his eyebrows and said unsurprisingly, ¡°It¡¯s true that the nursery rhyme started, but it hasn¡¯t stopped, hasn¡¯t it?¡± Yu Ran was stunned. He didn¡¯t care about Yu Ran¡¯s changing expression, and just continued: ¡°The nursery rhyme will stop only after sessfully killing people, and now the nursery rhyme is still ying. Ivy has not jumped out to kill us, which means that the sacrifice at this hour has not been yetpleted. That is to say, there have been no new deaths.¡± Yu Ran frowned and asked inexplicably, ¡°Then why did it drag on for so long, without starting?¡± The nursery rhyme in the background sounded terrifying and eerie, and the vague and distorted children¡¯s voice sang the same melody over and over, reying monotonously and harshly in the quiet and empty room. Mo Yi listened attentively, and was a little distracted for a while. He turned to look at Yu Ran and said: ¡°I think it may be a constraint on them in the instance, just like Ivy¡¯s locket, it can prevent such monsters from directly abusing yers in the instance after the difficulty increases. After all, this game will never put yers into such a deadly instance.¡± ¡­it just killed you in the long term. Mo Yi took a deep breath and suppressed the deep resentment for this game in his heart. Yu Ran also thought of this, sighed wearily, and then continued to ask, ¡°What shall we do next?¡± Mo Yi was still a little distracted. He was recalled to reality by Yu Ran¡¯s words, but his mind still seemed to wander. He didn¡¯t answer Yu Ran¡¯s question, but hesitated for a moment, frowned and changed the subject: ¡°Do you remember how these nursery rhymes¡­ usually appear?¡± Yu Ran didn¡¯t expect him to ask this question, and couldn¡¯t help but be stunned: ¡°What do you mean?¡± Mo Yi nced at her quickly, and his speed of speech also elerated: ¡°The first nursery rhyme was ¡®crooked man¡¯, which was sung by the crooked man himself. The second nursery rhyme and the third nursery rhyme were both yed upstairs, and those monsters also climbed down from upstairs. The fourth nursery rhyme, ¡®a very untidy man¡¯, was sung by the man who was torn apart.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s eyes lit up: ¡°So, the source of this nursery rhyme should be the monster¡¯s location!¡± Mo Yi nodded and added with a smile: ¡°The worst is also the source of the monsters. In short, it is a starting point.¡± He raised his head, listened carefully to the indistinct voice of the nursery rhyme, and then took a few steps towards the source of the voice. In front of the twisted and narrow stairs, Mo Yi¡¯s steps stopped. He narrowed his eyes and looked straight into the deep darkness above the stairs. The hoarse and monotonous tune of the nursery rhyme came from upstairs. Mo Yi tightened his fingers slightly, his cool fingertips curled up in the palm of his hand, and a cold dull pain came from his peripheral nerves. The terrifying scene upstairs was still vivid in his mind. Should he go upstairs where the nursery rhyme sounded at this time, then he was afraid that it would be even more dangerous. Yu Ran also walked to his side, raised her head and looked at the stairs in aplicated way, as if she wanted to break the heavy atmosphere in front of her. She joked a little stiffly: ¡°Thank you for your experience of going downstairs alive, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t dare to go up.¡± Mo Yi shook his head heavily and replied, ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about.¡± He paused, didn¡¯t look at Yu Ran¡¯s surprised eyes, and continued: ¡°When I came back from outside the house, I didn¡¯t have time to stress the danger above, so I went straight to the kitchen. The other yers have basically searched the first floor, and the area upstairs will naturally be the ce they want to explore next. ¡± When they were in the kitchen just now, they ran out as soon as they heard the nursery rhyme, and it took no more than a minute before and after. In such a short time, the monster could nevere down from upstairs and take everyone away. The only exnation was¡­ the yers were not downstairs, but upstairs. And wrongly underestimated the danger there. Mo Yi turned to look at Yu Ran, his eyebrows were dyed with rare seriousness and caution: ¡°I was almost killed upstairs, don¡¯t take it lightly.¡± At this moment, he suddenly remembered something, and said to Ran very quickly: ¡°Do you remember that kitchen knife you got in the kitchen? It¡¯s better to bring it with you.¡± That kitchen knife once cut off the blind mouse¡¯s tail, proving that it can hurt the monsters in this instance, and it was beneficial to bring it with them. Yu Ran didn¡¯t ask him why, just nodded hastily, turned and ran back to the kitchen. When she appeared again, there was already a rusty de in her palm. Although it may not be usable, the weapon was at least reassuring in her hand. Mo Yi nced subtly at the kitchen knife that looked extremely heavy in her hand. Yu Ran¡¯s face did not change her color and looked rxed. Then he secretly pinched his thin arm that could touch the bone. Fitness will pay off one day. The two no longer dyed, and walked up the stairs one after the other. The beam of the shlight swayed in the cramped and narrow stairwell, and the monotonous nursery rhyme became clearer and louder. The crooked stairs and the deep darkness in front of them were almost unnerving, and the wooden stairs underfoot made slight creaking sounds. They stepped on the second floor, and the smell of rotting wood and dust wafted toward them. Besides that¡­ there seemed to be a subtle, strange smell of dampness. The sound of the nursery rhyme grew louder. The two walked forward cautiously, subconsciously holding their breaths, and the deliberately light steps were almost silent under the cover of the dirty carpet. At this moment, there was a strange striking sound in their ears, which seemed toe from the darkness at the end of the corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened, he pulled Yu Ran, and dodged into the nearest room beside him. The striking sound of ¡®da da¡¯ and the sound of the nursery rhyme got closer and closer, Mo Yi turned off the shlight, held his breath, and let himself hide in the dark motionlessly. The heavy and dense striking apanied the sweet song of the little girl, getting closer and closer to their ears. ¨Cand finally stopped at the door where they were hiding. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

The dead air was like a stagnant fluid, silently clogging every gap, as if holding it can squeeze out the viscous liquid of fear, and the deadly pressure on people¡¯s hearts. Mo Yi held his breath quietly, his eyelids trembled slightly in the dark. Everything in front of him was blocked by the soundless darkness, and his eyes could not catch a trace of light. It made him almost have the illusion of drowning. His back was tightly attached to the uneven, twisted wall. A cold feeling came from his sweat-soaked thin shirt. It climbed all the way along the spine to the top of his head, like ice water, sobering. There was still no movement outside the door. The heavy striking sound stopped in their ears, the vague nursery rhyme still floating in the air. In the boundless darkness, it made people almost think they were auditory hallucinations. Yu Ran¡¯s slender and hot hand gripped Mo Yi¡¯s arm tightly, raising a dull pain and a burning sensation. Mo Yi could almost feel her tension and fear through the strength under her palm. The sound of his own deliberately lowered breathing and rapid heartbeat were mixed with Yu Ran¡¯s very close breathing, and it was almost impossible to tell which sound belonged to who. Mo Yi lowered his eyes, pursed his lips tightly, and alternately tightened then loosened his fingers holding the shlight. After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind. Mo Yi raised his hand and threw the shlight in his hand with lightning speed! And flipped the switch on the shlight a second before letting go. Only to hear the sound of ¡°dang ng¡± metal crashing, abruptly breaking the dead silence in the air, the shlight rolling towards the far side of the corridor. The light illuminated the corridor. Mo Yi turned his head slightly and saw the lit shlight rolling along the edge of the wall. The heavy striking sounded again, and Mo Yi didn¡¯t have time to look back when he saw a huge ck figure chasing quickly after the bright light source. With the white light of the shlight, Mo Yi glimpsed the appearance of the terrifying figure. His breathing was disturbed for a moment, and he subconsciously sped his fingers to prevent himself from identally eximing. Under the light of the shlight, Mo Yi saw the whole picture of its figure. It was a huge and ugly spider. The ck-brown body was disgusting and terrifying. The six long legs were covered with hair. Because of itsrge size, it struck the floor heavily. And on its narrow head, which was not in proportion with its huge body, there was a little girl¡¯s face. The pale and stiff face had no expression, and it did not look unusually strange. The lips on its face had no blood at all. Even when the spider quickly chased the light source, it still mechanically opened and closed its mouth. ¨CThat nursery rhyme seemed to be sung from here. The moment Mo Yi saw the monster¡¯s figure clearly, every syble of the nursery rhyme no longer seemed to be blurred and unrecognizable, but was transmitted to his ear drum extremely clearly: ¡±Little miss Muffet She sat on her tuffet Eating her curds eating and whey Along came a spider who sat down beside her And frightened miss Muffet away¡± Before Mo Yi could think about the meaning of the lyrics in the nursery rhyme, he heard a deliberately lowered voice from outside the door. It asked tremblingly: ¡°¡­Is anyone there?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows froze, and half of his body leaned out the door. Using the light at the end of the corridor, he saw a figure in the darkness in the opposite room. The opposite side also seemed to see him, stunned for a second, and then seemed to have made up his mind and ran towards them quickly. Mo Yi was startled, and quickly stretched out his hand to support him, as he rushed towards him with a somewhat unstoppable pace. The other party¡¯s extremely unstable and rapid breathing sounded in his ears. His palms were tightly holding his arms while also trembling slightly, indicating what kind of psychological torment the owner of these hands was going through. Mo Yi recognized him as one of the senior yers. He still remembered that this person introduced himself at the beginning of the instance as Zhou Yunchen. Zhou Yunchen leaned against the wall for a while, then stuck his head out to observe quickly for a few seconds. After confirming that the huge spider did note back, he rxed a little, then turned his head and said to Mo Yi: ¡°The others¡­ everyone else was caught by the spider. It appeared too secretly, and the others were attacked almost without any preparation. Only because I was far away from where it appeared did I have a chance to hide.¡± He shuddered and exhaled, and the fingers holding Mo Yi¡¯s arm tightened a bit. After his breathing slowed down, he continued to speak very quickly: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you found a ce to hide when you were upstairs? Where? There are still more than two hours left, as long as we survive it, we will seed. I don¡¯t have any extravagant hopes for this hidden mission, and I will be satisfied if I can survive.¡± Mo Yi was silent for a few seconds then brutally broke his fantasy: ¡°There are only three rooms on the second floor. Since the room we are staying in now and the room you ran out of are safe, it means that the other room is the spider¡¯sir.¡± Zhou Yunchen was stunned for a moment and seemed to realize something. Mo Yi continued: ¡°The ce I hid is in that room.¡± Zhou Yunchen¡¯s hand was stiff while holding on to Mo Yi. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t bear it, but continued to add ruthlessly: ¡°And¡­ we have already opened a hidden mission. Now the current situation is, if any of our remaining yers die, there will be a boss who wille to our door, and everyone else will not survive.¡± Zhou Yunchen stood petrified in ce. He could hardly believe his ears, turning his head in confusion, and looking at Mo Yi¡¯s blurred face in the dark. His brain seemed to be frozen, and he was unable to turn around for a long time. Yu Ran stretched out her hand with some sympathy, groping in the dark and patted his shoulder tofort him. She turned her attention back to Mo Yi, then lowered her voice and asked, ¡°What shall we do next?¡± Mo Yi pondered for a while, then suddenly turned to look at Zhou Yunchen and asked: ¡°Is there any spider silk in the hallway?¡± Zhou Yunchen was stunned for a few seconds, finallying back to his senses, he still said in a somewhat dull tone: ¡°No¡­ only that room is full of spider silk, not in the corridor, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have dared to go through the corridor to look for you.¡± Mo Yi nodded thoughtfully. He turned his head and listened for a moment to movement in the corridor. The thumping sound of the spider¡¯s ck-haired feet on the rotten wooden floor seemed to be far away, and even the low, vague singing seemed quite distant in the darkness. He could only hear some vague, broken tunes floating in. It appeared to have gone downstairs, presumably in search of other slippery fish. Mo Yi held his breath and listened carefully for a while. After confirming that it would note back for the time being, he turned around and said to the other two: ¡°I have a n, but I won¡¯t know if it will work until I get to that room.¡± Yu Ran nodded, and onlyter realized that the other party couldn¡¯t see her movements in the dark, and quickly gave a low ¡°um¡±. Zhou Yunchen, who was beside him, seemed to have finally restarted his brain sessfully, and he also agreed in a dejected manner. Mo Yi took out a spare shlight from his backpack, turned it on to the dimmest light, and walked out the door lightly. The air in the cramped and narrow corridor was stale and unpleasant. The familiar smell of rotten wood and dust mixed with an unknown and strange smell, forming an indescribable smell that was almost disgusting. . The filthy carpet beneath their feet absorbed most of their footsteps, but the flimsy wooden floor still creaked uncontrobly. Mo Yi swayed the shlight against the wall, and the weak light reflected a faint halo there. He saw that the hard and twisted wall was covered with a shallowyer of white mucus. Looking closer, he saw that it was actually a web of fine spider silk. He raised his shlight, and the dim light shed across the ceiling. The breathing of the other two couldn¡¯t help but stagnate¨C they sawyers of spider silk hanging from the ceiling, which looked like a white curtain, covering the entire ceiling. Mo Yi squinted his eyes calmly, and then continued to walk forward. When he reached the door of the room, Mo Yi stopped, and the beam of the shlight shone into the room, illuminating the entire room vaguely. The room seemed to have be a spider¡¯sir, filled with mucus-covered spider silks, wrapping up everything in the room inyers, as pale as a shroud, oppressive and making one breathless. On the edge of the window hung three solid human figures wrapped in cobwebs, hanging motionless in heavy spider silks, looking like they were dead. In the middle of the room, the attic was still open like when Mo Yi left, and the stairs fell down the open secret door, which was also wrapped with cobwebs. The indescribable smell became stronger and stronger, mixing with the damp and cold air on the second floor, making it almost unbearable to breathe. Mo Yi turned his head to look at Yu Ran who was standing behind him and asked: ¡°Is your kitchen knife still handy?¡± Yu Ran nodded, raised her hand, and the heavy de shed a shallow metal arc under the weak light of the shlight. Her slender fingers held the wooden handle, looking quite handy. Mo Yi smiled, the light reflected from the shlight shed in his dark pupils, and his lowered voice carried a shallow breath: ¡°Great, you can use it next.¡± Yu Ran understood: ¡°You mean¡­?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s lips curled into a shallow arc: ¡°Yes.¡± Let¡¯s set up a game. TN: It¡¯s technically still Sunday where I live, so this chapter is notte Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Zhou Yunchen, didn¡¯t react for a while, he was stunned for a few seconds, then asked in a low voice: ¡°Wait, what are you talking about?¡± Mo Yi turned around and nced at him hurriedly. He smiled softly, then lowered his head and whispered a few words in his ear. Zhou Yunchen¡¯splexion worsened with the naked eye, his eyes a little nk, staring at Mo Yi in a daze. Mo Yi left Zhou Yunchen¡¯s ear, his face calm and peaceful as usual. He hooked the corner of his lips: ¡°How is it?¡± Zhou Yunchen thought for a while, swallowed the ¡°are you crazy¡± stuck in his throat, and changed to a rtively calm expression: ¡°¡­Are you serious?¡± Mo Yi nodded, the expression on his face didn¡¯t seem to be fake. There were two small halos shing in the depths of his dark pupils, seeminglying from the reflection of the shlight¡¯s beam. It appeared as if it was the hidden light in the depths of his eyes. Zhou Yunchen was silent for a while, then continued to ask, ¡°Are you sure you will seed?¡± Mo Yi thought about it carefully, then shook his head seriously: ¡°No.¡± There was a faint smile on his lips: ¡±If one can''t bear to give up the child, one can''t catch the wolf.¡± Zhou Yunchen only felt that a suffocating breath was umting in his chest, and he couldn¡¯t spit it out or swallow it. He endured and endured, and finally he couldn¡¯t hold back anymore. He asked the question he had been waiting for, for a long time: ¡°Are you crazy?¡± As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a heavy blow to his abdomen, and he instantly arched like a shrimp. The precise force made him feel pain and nausea, but it didn¡¯t really damage his body. ¡°Watch what you say.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s deliberately lowered voice sounded in his ears: ¡°If you have any other way, just say it, or is it possible for us to just sit and wait?¡± Zhou Yunchen clutched his still aching belly, his facial features shrunken together due to the pain, but his mind was still extraordinarily clear. After some thought, he had to admit it was hard¡­ In this situation, Mo Yi¡¯s proposal may really be the best way. However¡­ such a risky method, probably only a lunatic could really do it. For some reason, a few images appeared just now in Zhou Yunchen¡¯s mind. After the end of the third nursery rhyme, experienced yers basically guessed more or less that the seven hours in this instance were rted to the seven days in the reminder nursery rhyme, but no one had the means or the courage to go and prove the idea, let alone explore the second floor where the monsters came from. But Mo Yi walked up without hesitation, his straight and thin back slowly being swept away by the darkness. He thought that this person¡¯s actions were either too stupid to know fear, or too arrogant to see the risks involved. There was no other exnation. Almost no one thought that he would be able toe back alive. Zhou Yunchen thought so too. But he was wrong. Mo Yi not only came back alive, but even found enough evidence to open a hidden branch quest. Zhou Yunchen straightened up and carefully looked at Mo Yi¡¯s blurred facial contours hidden in the darkness¨C he was staring at him, as if waiting for his reply. Under the gaze of those eyes, there seemed to be an inexplicable urge to believe in the owner of these eyes. Zhou Yunchen let out a long sigh of relief, as he made his mind, and then nodded slowly. Maybe because he had been with a lunatic for such a long time, he had also be a lunatic, and now he¡­ actually thought that the possibility of this n seeding was greater than he imagined. After a few minutes. Mo Yi stood at the end of the corridor, quietly letting his figure blend into the darkness. Back straight, careful not to touch the thick, sticky webs on the wall behind him. He held the metal music box tightly in his hand, the hard and cold edges and corners imprinting into his palm. There was a faint pain, which made his nerves extraordinarily clear and vignt. This music box was notpletely broken, and it could be used normally after a simple repair. Mo Yi tightly sped the upper spring with his slender fingers, his breathing deliberately suppressed, while he stood quietly in the darkness, making people almost unaware of his existence. Zhou Yunchen walked out of the room beside him, and finally checked the things they had arranged in the corridor. After confirming that everything was safe, he let out a long sigh of relief. He took a deep look at Mo Yi in the dark, then walked through the crowded corridor to the stairs. The dark stairway had been covered with countless sticky cobwebs, and it looked so depressing that it was almost impossible to breathe. Zhou Yunchen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his mouth and shouted loudly: ¡°I¡¯m here!!! Come and catch me!!!¡± He raised his hand while shouting, and used the dirty cloth found in the room next to him to vigorously swiped away at the cobwebs wrapped around the corridor wall and the stairs. The tremors of the spider web were transmitted wave after wave¨C The hurried footsteps chaotically knocked on the rotten wooden floor, making a hurried sound like a reminder, and rushing straight towards Zhou Yunchen! At the same time, the strange and soft girl hummed: ¡°¡­little miss muffet sat on a tuffet¡­¡± The pale and stiff face appeared at the end of the corridor, and then the ugly bloated spider body and long hairy legs rushed towards Zhou Yunchen at an extremely fast speed! Zhou Yunchen¡¯s heart trembled; he turned his head and ran away without dy! The entire corridor was already filled with the sundries and utensils found in the other two rooms by the three of them, and Zhou Yunchen¡¯s slender figure flexibly moved through the gaps. The bloated body of the spider was in a very crowded narrow corridor. A few long feet curled up and walked on the spider silk on the wall. The countless implements in the corridor blocked its chasing pace and obviously slowed it down by a lot. Watching Zhou Yunchen run inward like a loach, the pale face on the spider¡¯s head became distorted and terrifying. The nursery rhyme in its mouth became high-pitched and fast, which seemed to be full of anger. The spider mmed into the stacks of objects in the corridor, mming the stacked chairs and wooden nks down on its body, causing a flurry of dust and arousing the ferocity in its bodypletely. It stood up. There was a sharp scream from its mouth, and then it tore open a path with all its strength, and rushed towards Zhou Yunchen! Zhou Yunchen dodged and disappeared into the room on the side of the corridor. The spider rushed away from the debris piled up in the corridor, and its long steps struck the hurried drum beats on the twisted walls and decaying wooden floors. The dense friction sounded like it was clutching their hearts tightly, squeezing out every trace of breathable air. Zhou Yunchen rushed to thedder that was stretched out above the secret door in the attic. The sticky cobwebs were already pulling at his movements. He stretched out his hand to grab thedder with all his strength, and then climbed up at the fastest speed in his life, pulling into the dark with all his strength. He took the handle on the door, then scooped up the entiredder. Listening to the sound of ¡°ng¡±, the pale and twisted face of the spider was just blocked by the pulled up secret door, isted from below. The spider rushed in front of the secret door with its bloated and fat body and shockingly long feet, while sharply singing a tune-shifting song. The spider banged on the rotten wooden floor of the attic, shaking up waves of dust. Zhou Yunchen gritted his teeth against the trembling secret door, as the hoarse song with an unpleasant tone came up along the floor gap, prating into his eardrums uncontrobly. Zhou Yunchen was clenching his teeth tightly, and he could almost taste the faint smell of rust between his lips and teeth. The long sharp ends of its feet ¡°K¡± prated the fragile floor with a sound, and through the slender and twisted gap, one could see the crazy and cold ck eyes on the face of the spider humanoid, shining with greed and vicious light. It smashed even more frantically againsts the trapdoor, the sawdust flying up, the rancid smell and dampness seeming to be close. Zhou Yunchen¡¯s throat tightened, he swallowed dryly, and counted down the time in his heart¨C ¡°¡­¡­three, two¡± ¡°one¡± It¡¯s now! Mo Yi stood quietly in the dark, counting down at the same time in his heart. At the moment when the countdown ended, he released his fingers that were holding the main spring of the metal music box tightly, and then threw the music box in the spider web behind him. The weird hoarse metal sound rang out intermittently, and the indistinct lyrics rang out: ¡°three blind mice, see how they run¡­¡± The trembling frequency of the sound was transmitted along the spider web to every corner covered with spider silk, including the giant spider¡¯s ugly hairy feet. ¡°¡­who cut off their tails with a carving knife¡­¡± Its movements clearly stopped, the chant in its mouth became sharp and harsh, and the stiff and pale face was twisted, looking like it was provoked. It didn¡¯t even pay attention to the attic floor that had been basically torn apart. After a shrill cry, it rushed out of the house. When Mo Yi heard the movement in the room, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that he would not be able to attract the attention of the already provoked monster by making a noise here, so he took a risk and yed another nursery rhyme with the music box that made the soundst time to try to divert the other party¡¯s attack target. Sure enough, it worked. Mo Yi stared at the ugly spider crawling out of the room, and then waving its terrifying w-like feet at him, the distorted narrow face hung on the disproportionately huge body, and the transparent saliva ran down the open mouth. Flowing down, it looked extremely terrifying. His expression remained unchanged, and on his pale face, the pair of dark eyes were calm and deep. Mo Yi stared at it, although it was still fast, the pace was obviously slowed down. He revealed a secret smile in the dark. When the spider was moving, its blood pressure in its front body was very high, andpared with the fourteen passages connecting the ducts in other insects, the spider had only three up and down the body, so the gas exchange in its body was very slow, and long-term exercise would lead tock of oxygen. It wasn¡¯t delivered to the limbs, causing it to enter a state of severe weakness under a powerful sprint. Slower action, less vignce, less sensitivity¨C The smelly breath of the spider was close in Mo Yi¡¯s eyes, including its dirty brown long hair and ck furry abdomen. Mo Yi stared at it calmly, and nced at the half-open door behind the spider. Yu Ran clenched the handle of the knife tightly and jumped out sharply and vigorously. Mo Yi raised his lips quietly, hidden under the surface of calm and rationality, there was a dangerous undercurrent, and the dark pupil showed a light that was almost excited. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

A filthy yellow-white liquid spewed out of the spider¡¯s bloated belly, and a strong stench was blowing over. The spider¡¯s small face, which didn¡¯t match the huge body, was distorted. The pair of pitch-ck malevolent pupils with no whites shrunk in disbelief and anger, looking ugly and terrifying. It struggled desperately with its long legs, knocking on the surrounding walls, making messy thumping sounds, twisting its body and trying to bite the ant that dared to hurt it with its poisonous teeth. Its turbid saliva ran along Its ugly face and dripped down onto the dirty carpet. The spider¡¯s body was toorge, and it was almost impossible to stretch out in this narrow corridor. The obstacles that the three people deliberately arranged in the corridor made this action even more difficult. Yu Ran gritted her teeth, her slender fingers gripped the handle of the knife tightly, her fingers turned white due to the force, and her face and body were inevitably stained with the internal organs and liquid that flowed out of the spider¡¯s belly, which smelled foul. She almost suffocated with the smell. Regardless of the pain in her hand, she continued to exert a downward pressure. The sharp de went deeper with her movement, as if opening a bulging pustule, and more fluid flowed along the opened wound. The spider screamed in pain over her head, and struggled on its side with its long legs, shaking its bloated belly, as if trying to avoid Yu Ran¡¯s de and waiting for an opportunity to attack her. Her hard teeth cut through her mouth. Yu Ran tasted the strong bloody smell in her mouth, but continued to press down fiercely. The turbid liquid and internal organs flowed all over the ce. At this moment, the spider recovered from the shock and anger of the sneak attack. It moved its vicious and cunning eyes, and seemed to realize that it was impossible to fight back in this narrow corridor. It stepped back very quickly. It wanted to retreat to a roomier ce more suitable for its movements. Yu Ran was caught off guard by a stagger, and the handle of the knife almost dropped from her hand. The spider had already retreated to the half-open door, and found some room to turn around. It showed its fierceness, turned around, and stretched out its sharp poisonous ws, ready to stab at Yu Ran¡¯s abdomen! The de in Yu Ran¡¯s hand was still deeply embedded in its soft abdomen, and it was inevitable for a while. At this critical moment, only a loud ¡°bang¡± was heard, and the spider¡¯s head was twisted to one side by a strong blow¨C Yu Ran seized this opportunity to forcefully pull out the de that was deeply embedded in the spider¡¯s belly, and then used the extra space provided by the open door to the side to use her slender and flexible figure to go around the spider. She jumped up, and the sharp de shed at the spider! The next second, there was only a sour sound, and the head of the girl who did not match the bloated body was chopped off, then rolled to the ground, finally hitting the twisted wall of the corridor, and then slowly stopping, revealing a horribly twisted pale face. The huge remnant body didn¡¯t seem to have reacted yet, and the long legs still struggled and kicked a few times in the narrow corridor, before finally copsing. The spider¡¯s heavy and swollen body mmed to the floor heavily, throwing up arge amount of dust, and even the entire second floor seemed to shake. Yu Ran gasped, her whole body soaked with sweat. As if she was pulled out of the water, she stretched out her hand and wiped her face. The palm of her hand was wet and sticky and covered in yellow and white disgusting mucus. There was an expression of disgust on her face, but she didn¡¯t have the urge to gag before¨C perhaps because she stayed in this stench for a long time, her sense of smell was paralyzed, and she was insensitive to smell. Only hearing a crisp sound of ¡°dang bang¡±, a wooden stick with a broken edge fell in front of her eyes, and then rolled down to her feet. The front end was still stained with a viscous liquid of the same color as the ground. At the end of the stick were some bloodstains. Yu Ran was stunned and raised her head. She saw Mo Yi standing in front of her, holding the spare shlight in his hand, illuminating the ugly corpse of the spider in front of him. His chest heaved irregrly, and he looked down at the spider¡¯s still twitching body. ¨CIt was he who gave the spider an unexpected blow just now, which made Yu Ran sessfully fight back. The side of Mo Yi¡¯s face was stained with some liquid sshed from the spider¡¯s body. He quietly reached out his hand and slowly wiped off the stains on his face. Long eyshes hung down on his icy pale face, covering his quiet dark eyes. The fingers pierced by the wood thorns were still bleeding, and while brushing his face, they also left a little blood on the pale skin. Under the dim light of the shlight, the extremely bright color contrast looked cruelly beautiful, as if it could take one¡¯s breath away just by looking at it. And then¨C that smear of blood, starting from the end, was slowly erased out of thin air. As if someone cherished and carefully wiped it away, like touching a precious and fragile porcin, not allowing it to be contaminated by any dust. Yu Ran was stunned for a moment, such a strange situation made her back feel cold, and her hair stood on end. When she looked at him again, Mo Yi¡¯s pale face was as clean as ever. He still looked calm and indifferent, and didn¡¯t even move his eyes. It seemed that what happened just now was just Yu Ran¡¯s imagination. Yu Ran blinked, feeling a little dazed and uncertain for a while. Did what she saw just now really happen? Maybe¡­ it was really just an illusion caused by her nervousness? At this moment, there was the creaking sound of the secret door being opened from the room on the side, and then the sound of thedder being lowered. Following the sound of footsteps, Zhou Yunchen appeared at the door to the room. His steps stopped at the door, and Zhou Yunchen¡¯s unbelievable voice sounded, as if he was afraid of disturbing something, but also as if he was worried about waking him up from his dream: ¡°We really seeded¡­?¡± Mo Yi smiled and took over the conversation naturally: ¡°You can¡¯t believe it?¡± In fact, ordinary spiders enter the burnout period after sprinting for at most ten seconds, but in this instance, Mo Yi did not dare to take risks, so he increased the time to two minutes and 30 seconds, and used all means to provoke it as much as possible. Even so, the spider still had a certain amount of power after being attacked, which was an eye-opener for him. Thank goodness for nothing. Zhou Yunchen took a few steps forward in amazement, then stretched out one foot and kicked the ugly spider¡¯s corpse. Its long legs twitched. He was so frightened that he jumped all the way back. Zhou Yunchen showed an embarrassed smile, touched the back of his head, and exined: ¡°It¡¯s my first time fighting back against the boss in the instance. I really can¡¯t react to it¡­¡± Yu Ran, who was beside him, nodded in agreement, then stretched out her hand to support herself on the crooked wall and stood up. Her body was still sore from overexertion. She pulled something for a bit during the movement, which made her hiss involuntarily. She pulled the corners of her lips reluctantly and said, ¡°To tell you the truth, it actually feels a little unreal.¡± The mechanism design of this escape game called ¡°STAY ALIVE¡± was so that yers didn¡¯t have any possibility of counterattack. All yers couldn¡¯t bring any weapons into the instance. There were not only no weapon exchange options in the game exchange store, but also no Items to improve physical fitness. This game seemed to be about fighting for survival in extreme danger, not killing monsters and fighting back. Just like the rules of the game said at the beginning: their only task was to survive. Mo Yi pursed his lips and changed the subject without a trace: ¡°Let¡¯s go, don¡¯t think about it, the yers inside are still hanging.¡± After he finished speaking, he turned and walked into the room. Yu Ran also calmed down, and walked in behind him. Zhou Yunchen hesitated for a while, but followed the pace of the two. The room was still full of cobwebs as pale as a shroud, and the three hung yers were wrapped like silkworm chrysalis and hung upside down from the window. Yu Ran took a step forward and used the kitchen knife to cut off the spider silk which made the yers hang, and then wiped the de on the spider web wrapped around a yer, which was still stained with yellow and green liquid. She divided the cocoons into two parts and ripped apart the cobwebs that wrapped them. Mo Yi put the shlight in his hand on the windowsill and bent down to help. Zhou Yunchen was silent for a while, then turned to look at Mo Yi. From this angle, he could only see half of Mo Yi¡¯s blurred face hidden in the darkness. But for some reason, Zhou Yunchen was able to draw the outline of the other party in his mind¨C His face was always pale and emotionless, his calm and dark eyes always seemed to be contemting something, and his light-colored lips were habitually pursed into tight lines. Restrained, cold, rational. It seemed that the word ¡®madness¡¯ had nothing to do with it. But Zhou Yunchen couldn¡¯t help shivering. Although the n was sessful, he still insisted on his own opinion¨C This guy was a total lunatic. Although he was very logical, rational and cautious, he was definitely not normal. Since entering the instance, every choice of Mo Yi was like dancing on the tip of a knife, and every step was like stepping on the edge of a cliff. There always seemed to be a terrible, deep and ruthless force behind him, which drove his every act. Zhou Yunchen originally thought he was just being extraordinarily bold, but now he understood. It was not boldness, but indifference. An indifference to all life, even his own. Fear was an instinct that existed along with the desire to survive. It was with fear that human beings would subconsciously avoid all dangerous things, the tip of a knife, beasts, and the unknown itself¡­ Then, if a person wasn¡¯t afraid¡­ Didn¡¯t he care about his own life? If a person didn¡¯t even care about his own life, what did he care about? Just when Zhou Yunchen was staring at Mo Yi¡¯s side profile, Mo Yi seemed to be aware of his sight, and turned his head to look over. As soon as their eyes met, Zhou Yunchen couldn¡¯t help but tense up and subconsciously looked away. Mo Yi smiled, his eyes magnanimous: ¡°Why are you stunned? Come and help.¡± Zhou Yunchen quickly discarded the messy thoughts in his mind, and bent down to help free the three yers from the spider web. Mo Yi retracted his gaze and was about to continue his movements when he felt that his wrist seemed to be gently rubbed by the soft airflow. He was stunned and stopped what he was doing. The next second, Mo Yi heard a strange sound that seemed toe from the corridor. It seemed particrly loud in the silence. It was the sound of continuous friction, strange like something dragging. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

At this time, the other two also heard the strange noiseing from the corridor, and their movements froze involuntarily. Their nerves that had just rxed suddenly tightened, as if any tiny movement of their own would trigger a series of chain reactions. Breathing subconsciously softening, they focused all their attention on the door. In the oppressive silence, the rustling sound was scalp-numbing. Mo Yi frowned slowly in the darkness. This voice¡­why did it seem to be going away? He narrowed his eyes, and then began to walk slowly and cautiously towards the door. In the dim light of the shlight, Yu Ran saw his bold move, her breathing became disordered, and she raised her arm, as if wanting to stop him. Mo Yi paused, raised his finger to press to his lips, and then slowly shook his head. Seeing that she couldn¡¯t change his decision, Yu Ran had no choice but to lower her arm and watch him slowly walk towards the door. The rotten wooden floor creaked slightly under his feet, which was exceptionally clear in the silent darkness, like a thin silk thread, slowly tightening around the listener¡¯s head. Mo Yi slowed down his breathing rate, held the door frame with his hand in the darkness, then turned sideways and looked out the door. The shlight he threw out of the corridor beforey in the dust and cobwebs at the end of the corridor, still stubbornly emitting a faint light. Under the dim light, ck shadows were printed on the walls of the corridor, which pulsated with the sound of the friction. Mo Yi continued to take a step forward without changing his expression. The situation in the corridor finallypletely appeared in his field of vision. The yellow-green viscous liquid that sshed on the ground, was stretched long, leaving muddy drag marks on the dirty carpet. The spider¡¯s bloated, headless corpse stood up unsteadily, dragging its ripped belly, and slowly walked in the narrow and cramped corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became chaotic, and a cold feeling rose up his back¨C it wasn¡¯t dead? Wrong. Mo Yi frowned, and took another step forward, carefully looking at the broken body of the spider in front of him. Its long steps looked stiff and uncoordinated. Even though Mo Yi¡¯s actions made a lot of noise just now, it still didn¡¯t stop, but walked slowly and persistently towards the stairwell. Mo Yi felt something touch his calf. He looked down, and happened to meet the eyes of the spider¡¯s severed head. The head that looked like a girl¡¯s face was pale and stiff, with distorted facial features, the pair of vicious ck eyes were dimmed, and the muscles on the face were unresponsive, as if made of y, lifeless. After it bumped into Mo Yi¡¯s calf, it continued to follow the stiff and huge spider body in front of it, rolling out of the corridor. Mo Yi felt his blood run cold all over his body, and his palms were also icy cold. He turned his head and strode back into the room, picked up the shlight on the ground and shone it on Yu Ran. In the fight just now, Yu Ran was more or less stained with a lot of body fluids from the spider¡¯s body, especially her upper body and hands. It was almost as if she had washed a spider¡¯s internal organs. It was the same as taking a nauseating bath. And in the tense situation just now, she hadn¡¯t had time to clean up the mucus on her body. However¡­ in the cold white halo of the shlight, Mo Yi could see that the viscous yellow-green liquid sticking to her body flowed downward as if alive, gathered at the folds of her clothes, and then dripped down. Then it slithered up the dusty surface like a snake, dripping down the gap between the wooden boards. Yu Ran was also taken aback by the scene in front of her, her long and narrow phoenix eyes widened, and she didn¡¯t recover for a long time. She stretched out her hand with some hesitation, the paleness of her palm had returned, and then she touched her top in disbelief. The soft fabric was almost the same as usual except for a little dampness. Really¡­ gone. Yu Ran was stunned, and looked at the ground. The wooden floor was clean and there was no trace of dampness. If it wasn¡¯t for the water traces left on the dusty surface, she would have thought that what just happened was just an illusion. Zhou Yunchen, who was standing aside, was also dumbfounded. He subconsciously looked at Mo Yi, but was taken aback by his expression. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were dark, his brows were tightly furrowed, his pale face looked solemn and dignified, as if heavy clouds were pressing heavily on his forehead. Zhou Yunchen¡¯s heart trembled. For some reason he was a little afraid, so in the end he didn¡¯t ask about the doubts in his heart. Just when he was hesitating, Mo Yi suddenly opened his mouth and shouted loudly into the empty room: ¡°Ivy!¡± Both Zhou Yunchen and Yu Ran trembled and looked at Mo Yi who was standing in the middle of the room in panic¨C Zhou Yunchen was startled by his suddenly amplified voice, while Yu Ran¡¯s reaction was because she knew who Mo Yi was calling. Before the two coulde over, Mo Yi raised his voice and shouted again: ¡°Ivy!!¡± This time his voice was even louder, and it even echoed in the empty room, making the two of them feel their scalps go numb. Yu Ran numbly clutched her heart, deeply feeling that if she stayed with Mo Yi for a little longer, she would have a heart attack sooner orter. In the darkness where the weak light of the shlight could not reach, a pale and fuzzy face slowly emerged, like wax oil that had melted and condensed again, looking terrifying and weird. Zhou Yunchen felt as if he had been struck by lightning, he was speechless, his whole face was stiff with fright, and the muscles on his face were twitching involuntarily. Yu Ran nced at him from the corner of her eye, and unexpectedly calmed down. Just a little gloating. There was a faint smile on the corner of her mouth, as she turned her head to look at the person and ghost confronting each other in the middle of the room. There was a sense of calmness in her heart¨C after all, Mo Yi was here, what could happen? Standing in front of Ivy, Mo Yi was not so carefree. He stared at Ivy closely with sullen brows, his thin lips were stretched into a straight line, and the blood there almost lost its color due to the force. His extremely dark eyes were like churning dark clouds and waves, suppressing extremelyplex emotions and brewing faint anger. A familiar soft touch wrapped around his wrist. It slid slowly along his naturally parted fingers, then across his cold palm, caressing quietly, with a faint sense offort. Mo Yi didn¡¯t expect the Mist toe out at this time, he was stunned for a moment, while his frowning brows couldn¡¯t help but rx. He took a deep breath, calmed down, and said: ¡°Did you know?¡± Mo Yi asked the question without beginning or end, Yu Ran and Zhou Yunchen were also in a cloud of confusion, and couldn¡¯t figure it out. That pale and vague face emerged quietly from the darkness, and after a while, there seemed to be a shallow wave of water on it, revealing a woman¡¯s face as cold as a stone sculpture. Ivy didn¡¯t answer, the pair of dark piercing eyes looked back at him, looking strange and inexplicable. Mo Yi¡¯splexion remained unchanged, he looked back without backing down, then slowly took a step forward, a faint smile appearing on the corner of his lips. He said: ¡°The spider¡¯s body just left by itself.¡± Yu Ran was startled, and couldn¡¯t help interjecting: ¡°Wait, it¡¯s alive? Why¨C¡± Mo Yi nced at her. Under his indifferent gaze, Yu Ran involuntarily stopped speaking, and swallowed the second half of the sentence back down her throat. He withdrew his gaze and said, ¡°No, it diedpletely. Its limbs were all stiff, and the head and its body left together¨C including all the body fluids it shed. They also seeped into the floor and disappeared.¡± Mo Yi looked directly at Ivy, and slowly said thest sentence, enunciating clearly and slowly. Ivy¡¯s cold and dark eyes moved suddenly. The incident happened so suddenly just now, Yu Ran was dazed by one sudden incident after another, and she hadn¡¯t had a chance to think deeply about what happened before. When Mo Yi pointed it out, she couldn¡¯t help being taken aback, her brows and eyes were also stained with a trace of solemnity. Mo Yi looked at Ivy coldly, and continued: ¡°All the blood of the yer is automatically collected to nourish the bloodthirsty demons, and various organs are needed toplete the sacrifice, right?¡± It was obviously a question pattern, but Mo Yi said it in a derative tone, as if he didn¡¯t need the other party¡¯s answer. The fluctuations on Ivy¡¯s cold and stiff face became more and more obvious. Mo Yi slowly pulled up the corners of his lips, showing a warm smile: ¡°The blood of monsters will be absorbed, does that mean their organs can be sacrificed instead of humans?¡± He added: ¡°Also, I don¡¯t know if you have noticed that even the most inhuman creatures have at least one organ resembling a human, with the only exception being the three blind mice.¡± Ivy stepped forward slowly from the darkness, and half of her distorted charred figure was revealed under the light. Mo Yi was not frightened by her actions, but continued calmly: ¡°The yers killed by the three blind mice lost their hands, but when they attacked other yers, they took out their eyes.¡± Yu Ran was stunned for a while, and seemed to understand. All the monsters that appeared had a part of the image of a human being. Only the blind mice had nothing to do with the human form. They originally only needed to get the body parts corresponding to the time¨C the hands, which were enough, but they still dug out the eyes that were not needed for the sacrifice. And very specifically, each mouse got a pair of eyes. In this way, they also had a part of the human image. Yu Ran suddenly felt a cold chill, lingering ominously in her heart, which could not go away for a long time. ¨CIf the monsters couldplete the sacrifice instead of the yers, then even if none of the yers died next, the sacrifice would still be sessful. The ck Death would still be unleashed again. It was a dead end. The feeling of despair overflowed from the bottom of Yu Ran¡¯s heart in an instant, like a raging tide, it would submerge her heart. At this moment, Yu Ran heard a weak groan by her feet. ¨CThe yers who were stunned by spider venom woke up. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

That tiny groan seemed to wake everyone up. Standing in the center of the room, Ivy¡¯s eyes moved slightly, her face pale and colorless, quietly suspended in the darkness. The pair of dark pupils showed strange colors under the weak light of the shlight. Yu Ran¡¯s heart skipped a beat, her slender fingers tightened instantly, and four crescent-shaped finger marks were imprinted on her cold, sweaty palm. The slight tingling pain pulled on her nerves, and a feeling of weightlessness like falling spread instantly. At this moment, a louder sound came from beside Yu Ran¡¯s feet again. Those yers who had fainted because of the spider finally woke up btedly, struggling to sit up, and making quite loud noises, which attracted everyone¡¯s eyes. Looking at Ivy¡¯s dark and menacing eyes, Yu Ran panicked, stepped forward, and gave each of the three yers a hit behind their necks. They passed out again, and fell down in the dust with a plop. Yu Ran pulled up the corners of her lips stiffly, showing an awkward yet polite smile. Ivy moved her eyes back, and stared at Mo Yi lifelessly again. This time, she finally said, ¡°Yes.¡± The hoarse and rough sound sounded as if it had been scorched by a raging fire, like fingernails scratching ss. It was particrly ear-piercing in the silence. Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help being taken aback by her answer, and then reacted btedly: It turned out that Ivy was answering the question Mo Yi asked her just now¨C ¡°Did you know?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face was neither happy nor angry, but his dark eyes seemed to be a little darker as he stared at Ivy in front of him closely, his light-colored lips were pursed into a straight line. He said, ¡°What are those monsters?¡± Ivy¡¯s pale face blurred for a moment, her thin lips twisted into an arc simr to a smile, and said: ¡°You have already guessed it, so why are you asking me?¡± Mo Yi raised his eyelids, his dark pupils were like arrows, tightly locked on Ivy¡¯s face in the darkness. Ivy didn¡¯t seem to be surprised by his reaction, she looked away, smiled dryly, and said: ¡°¡­they are all people I killed.¡± There was no change on Mo Yi¡¯s face, but Yu Ran¡¯s breathing was obviously messed up. Regardless of her instinctive fear of Ivy, she asked: ¡°Since they have been sacrificed once, why can they be sacrificed again?¡± Ivy moved her cold and dark eyes, and said coldly and sarcastically: ¡°Each day¡¯s sacrifice requires only one organ, but there is not only one organ in a person.¡± Yu Ran frowned, subconsciously took a step forward, and continued to ask: ¡°Since only one organ is needed, why did you¡­¡± kill so many people? Yu Ran swallowed the remaining half of the sentence under Ivy¡¯s sneering gaze¨C now she remembered that every sacrifice needs fresh organs, and most of them are fatal parts. Once lost, they die. How could they wait for the next day? Her face couldn¡¯t help but be stained with a tinge of embarrassed thin red. Ivy turned her eyes and looked at Mo Yi, who was still gloomy, and said in a hoarse voice: ¡°This is a deformed hunting ground. Every dead sacrifice wille back to life. If they don¡¯t plunder new sacrifices to rece their organs, then their own organs will be sacrificed.¡± Her terrifying and piercing voice was eerie in the empty, dark room. Mo Yi pursed his lips and asked, ¡°Is there any difference in the results of the sacrifices?¡± Ivyughed hoarsely: ¡°Of course it¡¯s different. The gue you get from sacrificing the old sacrifices belongs to the old era, and the gue you get from sacrificing the new sacrifices¡­is your new era.¡± When she said thest sentence, Ivy spoke very slowly. The horrible and unpleasant voice seemed to be elongated and amplified, and the infinite deep meaning contained in it shocked Mo Yi¡¯s heart. He didn¡¯t show it on his face, but he was not at peace in his heart. The implication in her words was chilling. He knew before that the plot in the instance was connected with reality, but now Ivy meant that if all the yers be sacrifices andplete the sacrifice, the real world will also be affected by the instance, and a new gue would break out? Mo Yi¡¯s fingers subconsciously tightened a little bit, cold fingertips touching his palm. The thin needle-like pain was transmitted to the brain along the peripheral nerves, making him tremble at the bottom of his heart. Ivy let out a horribleugh, but there was no smile in her dark and cold eyes. She repeated the fateful words: ¡°That¡¯s why I said, you must die.¡± Yu Ran, who knew the inside story, and Zhou Yunchen, who was still confused, felt the same chill for a moment, as if they were being targeted by a predator. Primitive fear and tremor arose in their hearts. Yu Ran felt as if she was soaked in ice water, without any warmth from head to toe. If Ivy didn¡¯t deceive them, the sacrifice would bepleted no matter whether they died or not, and the only difference was what kind of gue they would release. Instead of dying at the hands of the instance, it would be better to be killed by Ivy. Yu Ran was a little desperate. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Mo Yi, who was standing directly opposite Ivy, showed a faint smile. He shook his head slowly, with the same firm tone: ¡°No, we must not.¡± Ivy constricted her pale cheeks that were twisted by her smile, and stared right at Mo Yi. Mo Yi smiled, the expression on his face looked rxed and at ease: ¡°When we were in the kitchen just now, the pendant hurt your feelings the most. It was definitely not enough to stop you from attacking us, but you still let us go.¡± He lowered his eyes, staring at his pale fingers that had lost their color, and continued: ¡°If it is really impossible to win as you said, and this instance is just a dead end, then why did you hesitate just now?¡± If Mo Yi didn¡¯t know that the sacrifice would bepleted even if the yers didn¡¯t die, then he might think that Ivy let them go because she was willing to give them a chance to fight against this evil ritual. But the current situation was that if a yer didn¡¯t die at a certain time, then the old sacrifice would take his ce and be the new sacrifice, so no matter how they struggled, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Since Ivy knew from the beginning, why did she choose to let them go? Mo Yi raised his pair of bright eyes, looked straight at Ivy, and continued: ¡°You know there¡¯s another option.¡± A way to break the game. Ivy looked at him coldly, nomittal. Mo Yi smiled and changed the subject: ¡°Each instance can be challenged more than once by different yers, so I think you have seen more than one wave of yers, right?¡± As he spoke, he looked at Ivy¡¯s face carefully, as if he wanted to see something from that stiff and pale face. After hearing what Mo Yi said, Ivy narrowed her eyes slightly, but did not answer. Seeing her expression, Mo Yi knew that he was probably right. He actually didn¡¯t know whether the instance could be challenged repeatedly by different yers. After all, each instance was extremely closely connected with reality, and the possibility of it being reset is too small¨C especially when Mo Yi witnessed the first one with his own eyes. A remnant of the instance in the real world: the charred frame. So¡­ what happened to those instances that were not sessfully cleared by the yers? This question had been lingering in Mo Yi¡¯s mind without an answer. After all, no matter whether the side mission was enabled or not, no yer had ever entered the same instance twice. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being startled by Ivy¡¯s familiarity with their era just now. This side confirmed Mo Yi¡¯s conjecture¨C an unfinished instance would be reset and wait for the next batch of yers, and what was being reset was likely to be only the progress of the dungeon, not the NPC memory. ording to the nature of this game, Ivy would not tell them this matter so easily. Her silence at the moment was a reassurance. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, and continued: ¡°If the ck Death, which has disappeared for nearly a thousand years, really appeared in the real world, it would definitely cause an uproar. It is impossible for me not to know, and there is no such thing now, which means that neither the old nor the new sacrifices have been trulypleted. ¡± He paused, raised his eyes and stared closely at Ivy in the darkness: ¡°It is easy to understand that the new ck Death doesn¡¯t appear, as long as you kill all the yers before the time ends, and the old ones have not appeared. That means that even if you used monster sacrifices, you have never seeded, so you must have a way to stop the sacrifices.¡± Yu Ran¡¯s heart was pounding, and she couldn¡¯t help but tense when she heard Mo Yi¡¯s gradually elerating speech. She just kept listening to Mo Yi continue to say: ¡°If we diverge our thinking and make some bold guesses¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes slowly fixed on Ivy¡¯s scorched, limping legs, and said pointedly: ¡°What if you were actually one of the seven sacrificed people?¡± Yu Ran was so startled by his conclusion that she almost cried out, and stood there dumbfounded, looking a little silly. Mo Yi continued to say as if no one was there: ¡°You didn¡¯t have a helper, it was already extremely difficult to kill so many people. In addition, the entire city was under martialw. You were eager to use a part of your body toplete the final sacrifice in order to resurrect your children, but perhaps it was because you are the leader of the entire sacrifice, perhaps because your physical body was notpletely destroyed when you died, so you were not controlled by the house, but retained your own consciousness and had great freedom.¡± Ivy stared at him with a flicker in her eyes, and her facial expression seemed a little dazed. Mo Yi took a step forward with no expression on his face, and said: ¡°This house can¡¯t control you, so naturally it can¡¯t force you to donate your organs toplete the final sacrifice. You canplete your mission as long as you ensure that the house doesn¡¯t get enough new yers. And, if I recall correctly, on the note I found, thest body part to be sacrificed was the kneecap.¡± Ivy met Mo Yi¡¯s open eyes and stared fixedly for a long time, then she suddenlyughed: ¡°I underestimated you.¡± Yu Ran was still immersed in the shock of Ivy being one of the seven sacrifices. At this moment, her feet were wrapped in spider silk, and the three yers who had been knocked out finally moved and struggled to sit up again. Ivy seemed startled by the sound, her pale face slowly dissipating into the darkness. Mo Yi was taken aback, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to stop her, but the palm he raised froze in the air the next second. A familiar mechanical female voice came to his ears, the voice was not loud, but the content was deafening: ¡°Dear candidate member Mo Yi, congrattions on taking another step towards bing a member of the senior club, please continue to work hard.¡± Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Hearing this familiar female voice, Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but freeze, and his breathing stopped for a few seconds. He quickly regained hisposure, and put down the arm he subconsciously raised as if nothing had happened. His face was as calm as usual, and no one around him noticed his unusual behavior. In Mo Yi¡¯s heart a stormy sea set off. He slowly tightened his fingers, his palms wet with sweat, and his fingertips as cold as stone, but the blood in his heart was hot and rushing against his pulse, screaming with pain¨C excitement. The excitement of being one step closer to the truth. But¡­ why did the game send him this prompt at this time? Mo Yi slightly lowered his eyes, thought for a while in his heart, and came up with a vague idea. After he figured out that the game world was connected with the real world and found the relevant evidence, he opened the membership test. Now he found that every instance that was not sessfully cleared would be opened repeatedly. After receiving the disguised recognition of the game NPC, he got a system prompt¨C ¡°Congrattions, you have taken another step towards bing a member of the senior club.¡± Could it be that¡­ the difference between senior members and ordinary yers was the degree of mastery of the game rules? But now there was no more evidence to prove his guess. Mo Yi no longer lingered on it, but raised his eyes, walked around the semi-dark room inconspicuously, and after making sure that no one noticed his abnormal behavior, walked to the In front of those yers who were trying to break free from the spider silk on their bodies. The few yers, who hadn¡¯t fully recovered from the paralyzing poison of the spider, had been again attacked by Yu Ran. They knew almost nothing about what happened just now, and only had some vague impressions. While struggling to pull off the sticky white spider webs, they hissed andined in low voices that the back of their necks hurt so badly for some reason. Seeing their distressed appearance, Yu Ran couldn¡¯t help feeling a little guilty in her heart. She squatted down, and Zhou Yunchen helped to tear off the spider threads wrapped around the other three yers, avoiding to meet the eyes of those embarrassed people. Just when the spider webs were almost torn apart, Yu Ran caught a glimpse of a pair of familiar shoes in front of her eyes. Yu Ran raised her head subconsciously, meeting Mo Yi¡¯s gaze. He lowered his eyelids slightly, with a pair of terrifying dark eyes half hidden under his slender eyshes, looking down at them quietly. There was no emotion on Mo Yi¡¯s face, it could even be called mild, but Yu Ran just seemed to be overwhelmed. She collected herself and was about to say something when Mo Yi interrupted her: ¡°Let me help.¡± As he said that, he also squatted down, and while stretching out his hand to untie the sticky spider silk, he added calmly: ¡°Yu Ran, go and tell Zhou Yunchen what he needs to know. I¡¯ll do it here.¡± Yu Ran was stunned for a few seconds, then waved to Zhou Yunchen knowingly, the two stood up and walked to the side one after the other, whispering in the dark. The three yers who had just woken up seemed a little confused about the situation in front of them. They looked at Mo Yi who was squatting down in a daze, and didn¡¯t know how to speak for a while. There was an embarrassing silence in the air, only the murmur of a low voice not far away could be heard. Mo Yi lowered his head with a calm face, and the movement of his hands were unhurried, neat and meticulous. An older yer hesitated for a moment, then asked, ¡°Where did the spider that attacked us just now go?¡± Hearing this, Mo Yi nced at him, and said tly, ¡°It¡¯s dead.¡± Dead?! The three yers were all shocked. They saw with their own eyes how terrifying the giant spider¡¯s figure was, its swift and fierce movements, and its long poisonous legs. How could it so easily die? The colors on their faces changed a few times, as they looked at Mo Yi with strange eyes. How could this be possible?! Now the only survivors were senior yers. They had experienced at least three or four instances, and they had some understanding of the game¡¯s mechanics. They also knew that this game hardly gave yers a chance to fight back. Now just with these three people¡­ they actually killed that terrifying spider? This was too incredible! . If they had heard someone say that before, they would have thought that person was either a liar or a delirious lunatic, but seeing Mo Yi¡¯s calm lookbined with the chaos in the room before them, they felt Inclined to¨C what he said might be true. Mo Yi¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He didn¡¯t pay attention to those people with different faces, but quickly removed thest remaining cobwebs on their bodies. He stood up, looked down at the three of them, and said with a gentle and calm expression: ¡°ording to the mechanism of this instance that I understand now, all the remaining people are grasshoppers on the same rope, and none of us can die.¡± The faces of the three of them also slowly sank. They were all yers who could judge the situation. They all heard the seriousness and earnestness in Mo Yi¡¯s words, and clearly realized that he was not joking. A yer patted the remaining scraps of cobwebs on his body, then struggled to stand up and looked at Mo Yi. He smiled and said with a good attitude: ¡°Although I thank you for saving us, it is unrealistic for us to ept your statement without any doubt. Do you have more evidence to support it?¡± Hearing the yer¡¯s probing tone, Mo Yi smiled lightly, but the smile didn¡¯t show in his eyes. He was toozy to fight with them and spy on each other, so he simply spread his words and said: ¡°Now that the side quest has been opened, this instance will be even more dangerous in theing time. I won¡¯t stop you from looking for clues to the side quest, but I won¡¯t just offer our results with both hands. I must also remind you, before you are attacked, another monster that does not belong to this room could kill you in advance. Please think twice about it.¡± The yer who stood up turned blue and then pale, and was speechless for a while. He did have other intentions to probe secretly just now, hoping that Mo Yi could directly share the information he got, but he didn¡¯t expect that the other party not only saw through his intention in an instant, but even said it mercilessly, It made him unable to step down for a while. He was a little annoyed, and was about to say something to ridicule the other party¡¯s overfilling brain, but just as his eyes met Mo Yi¡¯s slightly cold ck eyes, an illusion of being seen through instantly hit his heart, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty. Hos organized words got stuck in his throat, he opened his mouth in awkwardly, and finally admitted his dumb fault aggrieved. At this time, a familiar mechanical female voice came from Mo Yi¡¯s ear: ¡°Dangdangdangdang, congrattions to yer number 13 Zhou Yunchen, who unlocked the hidden plot of this escape game! The side missions are open,pleting the side missions will reward rich points, yers please keep working hard!¡± Hearing the sound, Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Yunchen and Yu Ran who were walking from the darkness, with a slight smile on his face. In the process of killing the spider just now, Zhou Yunchen didn¡¯t have to y a role with himself and Yu Ran. But without him, the whole n would have been difficult to seed. He had never been stingy about sharing side quests with those who really contribute. Yu Ran, who was walking in front, looked calm, while Zhou Yunchen, who was walking behind, seemed a little dazed, as if he hadn¡¯t recovered from the excessive amount of information. Mo Yi stepped forward and was about to say something, but saw a pale face slowly emerge from the darkness beside him. Yu Ran and Zhou Yunchen, who had met Ivy, were quite calm about her appearance, while the reactions of the other three yers who had seen her from outside were much more exaggerated. Their faces paled suddenly, and a high-pitched scream broke out from their throats. Mo Yi was taken aback by their sudden cry, and looked at the three trembling people who turned around and wanted to run away with some displeasure. The three of them finally discovered Mo Yi¡¯s calm attitude towards this strange face. Although they were still afraid, they tremblingly stopped their feet that were about to run wildly, and stood stiffly in ce, hoping to put their own sense of presence to a minimum. Ivy didn¡¯t even look at them, she just stared at Mo Yi closely, her pair of pitch-ck eyes looked gloomy, which made people feel apprehensive. Her cold and hoarse voice sounded in the cold air: ¡°You want to know why I let you go, don¡¯t you?¡± Mo Yi stared at her calmly, quietly waiting for her to continue. ¡°¡­Because I¡¯m so stupid.¡± A trace of human sadness shed across the stiff and pale face suspended in the air, but in the next second it was blocked by a cold and sharp wall again: ¡°Stupid enough to still have hope.¡± The dark room was silent, and the air seemed to stagnate into a solid body, like a real quagmire, dragging everyone¡¯s heart to the bottom of the valley, slowly pouring into nose and mouth, causing a long feeling of suffocation. Ivy broke out into an uglyugh: ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to break the game? I¡¯ll tell you how to break the game.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes became brighter, and he stared straight at Ivy. Ivy took a few steps back, her pale face was almost swallowed by darkness again, she said coldly: ¡°In the attic, under the sheep¡¯s head, there is what you want.¡± Her face was blurry in the chaotic darkness: ¡°You¡¯re the farthest I¡¯ve ever seen anyone walk, maybe I can¡­¡± A series of weird and vicious giggles came from her mouth: ¡°However, if you also fail, I don¡¯t mind helping you so that your death will not be so painful and hopeless.¡± Ivy¡¯s piercing and sharpughter was like thousands of awls and poisonous needles passing through the wall, her hoarse voice contained malice and the coldness of death, as her well-defined features melted into a blur of wax oil. Then, everyone watched the terrifying face slowly disappearing into the darkness. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Mo Yi¡¯s face was still calm and indifferent, without any emotional fluctuations, the dark eyes on his pale face bing brighter and more menacing. After staring at the darkness where Ivy disappeared for a few seconds, he turned and walked to the middle of the room. The ceiling above his head was pierced with several irregr cracks by the spider¡¯s hard ws, like ugly scars carved on the fragile crooked wooden ceiling, dark without a trace of light. Dust fell down from the cracks, some fell on the ovepping white spider webs in mid-air, and some fell along the gaps between the spider webs, flying under the light of the shlight. The secret door was open, and the woodendder entwined withyers of cobwebs was lowered down from the secret door, forming a fragile angle with the ground. Mo Yi raised his head to look at the hidden door, his dark eyes narrowed faintly. He stretched out his hand to support himself on the precarious lookingdder, then slightly arched his thin back, and walked up. The woodendder under his palms was rough with sharp wooden splitters, which brought a slight tingling sensation. The cobwebs wrapped around it had not beenpletely cleaned and hung in the middle of thedder, sticky and cold, giving an indescribable sense of difort. He walked halfway, then seemed to think of something, and turned his head to say to everyone: ¡°If you want toe up, it¡¯s best to leave two people on the ground to prevent any idents. The floor in the attic is too fragile. I¡¯m afraid it can¡¯t bear the weight of everyone.¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t give everyone a chance to answer, and said in a calm and t tone: ¡°Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu stay here, and if you find anything unusual, call out.¡± His voice was not loud, and his artiction was clear and soothing, but there was a sense that it should not be refused. One could not help but have a desire to obey. After finishing speaking, Mo Yi turned his head and continued to climb up. The unsteady woodendder creaked harshly under his feet, and his thin back quickly disappeared into the darkness. The people downstairs looked at each other in dismay, and then subconsciously followed Mo Yi¡¯s arrangement. After leaving two people behind, the rest followed Mo Yi and climbed up one after another. Mo Yi stood in the middle of a small intact floor in the attic, holding a shlight in his hand, and illuminating the secret door. He watched the yers climb up one by one ording to his arrangement, and couldn¡¯t help but curl his lips slightly in satisfaction. His previous work caused him to have extremely severe persecution paranoia and an extreme paranoid desire for control for a long period of time. If he hadn¡¯t quit the jobter, Mo Yi even felt that he might acquire an antisocial personality. Although he had be much more gentle and peaceful during his ten years of disappearance, he still had great wariness and vignce towards others. If everyone followed up, if something unexpected happened, it would inevitably cause the situation to go out of control. Yu Ran and Zhou Yunchen had already opened the branch line, which was consistent with his goal, so they could be trusted for the time being, but the other three yers may not be necessarily trustworthy. Divide and conquer was the best way. And¡­ besides that, Mo Yi had other considerations. Seeing that everyone had alreadye up, he turned around and walked towards the window of the attic with ease, carefully avoiding the holes on the ground pierced by the spider¡¯s hard ws while walking. In the darkness, Mo Yi¡¯s face was calm. He was used to walking alone. In the previous instance, there were only one or two teammates at most. However, due to objective reasons, the current instance forced the six of them to form a temporary team. Therefore, he must start from subtle points, and carefully engrave his authority in the subconscious of these people. A team with its own ghosts was far weaker than a team of absolute obedience. Mo Yi walked through the open space with countless familiar small white bones hanging down, and stood at the window of the attic. He looked at the jagged goat skull hanging by the window. The huge skeletal structure was half hidden in the darkness, seeming terrifying under the pale light of the shlight. The ck holes in the eye sockets stared at everyone, looking like some creature that escaped death, strange and inexplicable. There was a faint swallowing sound from behind him. Mo Yi ignored it, just supported the sides of the skull with both hands, and then lifted it vigorously, trying to take it off the wall. The goat¡¯s skull was unexpectedly heavy, pressing on Mo Yi¡¯s arm and falling heavily, almost causing him to stagger and fall. Yu Ran strode forward, stretched out her hands to support him firmly, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡± After finishing speaking, she let go of the palm that was holding Mo Yi, and then stretched out her hand to support the goat¡¯s cold skull, putting it firmly on the ground with her strength. Mo Yi took a deep breath: ¡°¡­¡± Okay. He shook his head slightly, clearing out the irrelevant mixed emotions in his mind, and then turned his head to look at the wall with the skull hanging on it. Like the other walls in this room, this gray wall was crooked, not parallel to the ground and windows, and twisted at an odd angle. The huge goat¡¯s skull left a sharp outline of dust on the wall, and the spaces on either side of the wall were of a distinctly different color. The most eye-catching thing was that in the middle of the skull outline, there was an inverted pentagram drawn in blood, surrounded by several other strange symbols. Judging from the dust traces left by the goat¡¯s head on the wall, this symbol was definitely very old, but the color of the blood stains was so bright that it could almost sting people¡¯s eyes. There was also a faint red light glowing faintly. It looked eerie and weird. The faint smell of blood mixed with the smell of dust and sawdust in the attic, making one feel a little ustrophobic in the enclosed space. Mo Yi moved closer, squinted his eyes, and carefully looked at the inverted five-pointed star drawn in blood. Through the dust, one could faintly see that behind the inverted pentagram was a loose wall, while dust fell down along it. Mo Yi stretched out his fingers, caressed a small piece of raised wall, and pressed his fingertips lightly on it. The faint give under his fingertips proved his guess, but when he tried to insert his fingertips into the loose wall crack, he felt a sense of powerlessness that was difficult to describe. He turned to look at Yu Ran: ¡°Did you bring your knife?¡± Yu Ran nodded, opened her backpack, took out the kitchen knife that was wrapped in a piece of dirty cloth, and walked forward. Mo Yi took a few steps back to give her some space. She used her slender fingers to pinch the brick that had been broken in half, powdery dust trickling down from her fingertips. She carefully exerted force, and the brick was pulled along with her movements. It came out, while broken small stones fell down, knocking hollow sounds on the floor. It was only then that everyone discovered that under the cover of dust and broken wall surface, these bricks werepletely arranged ording to the direction and shape of the inverted pentagram. The brick that was pried off by Yu Ran happened to be in the middle of the pentagram. Mo Yi raised his wrist and shone the shlight in his hand into the hollow where the bricks were pried from. Amidst the pervasive dust andplex brick and wooden support structures, a dark ck thing looked particrly eye-catching. Mo Yi held his breath, and the most likely guess emerged in his mind. He slowly reached in, his slender fingers groping through the dust and broken bricks, and then pinched a foreign object hidden inside. Mo Yi took a deep breath, and then withdrew his hand. It was a thin, small book. There were no marks on the dark leather cover, nor was it stained with any dust. It shone with a strange dim glow under the light of the shlight. He turned the first page, only to see a line of Latin written in crooked small letters at the bottom of the page: vic Salomonis Key of Solomon. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became slightly unsteady, his eyes astonishingly bright, as he was staring closely at the unattractive little notebook in his hand. This was the beginning and origin of everything. He gently rubbed the pages of the book with his fingertips. The dry paper under his fingers had an unusual texture, as tough as leather, and feeling extremely strange to the touch. Mo Yi shone the shlight on the book, and looked closely at it. There were skin-like lines and wrinkles on the paper, and even fine pores could be seen on it. A chill rose on his back. ¨CThis turned out to be a genuine human skin book. Mo Yi took a deep breath, and was about to continue browsing, but suddenly heard the hysterical shouts of Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu from downstairs. Everyone was startled. Mo Yi closed the pages of the book, hurriedly stuffed it into his bag, and hurried towards the opened secret door together with the others, then looked down. The faces of Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu appeared under the secret door. They approached the unsafe woodendder, then raised their heads to look at the people in the attic. They looked calm and rational, as if the shout just now was not from them at all. Zhou Yunchen even showed a faint smile at Mo Yi: ¡°It¡¯s okay, it was a misunderstanding just now, we were too nervous to control the volume, sorry sorry.¡± Seeing that it was a false rm, everyone couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. They looked down at the two of them from upstairs with someints: ¡°You are too timid. You be scared by this, so we be nervous.¡± Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu smiled awkwardly, repeatedly apologizing. Mo Yi frowned slowly, and suddenly said with a cold voice, ¡°Quiet.¡± As if there was some kind of spell in his words, everyone¡¯s hearts tightened, and they subconsciously closed their mouths. There was an eerie silence in the air. Zhou Yunchen raised his head, fixed his dark eyes on Mo Yi, and said with a smile, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mo Yi frowned tightly, did not answer, but listened intently to the sound in the air. A faint singing sound floated from a distance. Unexpectedly, although the volume of the singing sound was very low this time, the lyrics were very clear. It sang the same sentence over and over again: ¡±My love, oh,e to my arms¨C¡± Mo Yi¡¯s scalp exploded, and he broke out in a cold sweat. ording to the setting of this instance¡­ Only when one was close to the monsters could one hear what they were singing. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Mo Yi¡¯s heart beat violently, and a sense of horror climbed up along his bones and meridians. The horrific coldness pierced into his flesh like a sharp de, cutting open the flesh and dripping blood. He straightened up suddenly. The hard soles of his shoes rubbed against the ground, and a few pieces of wood chips flew down with his movements. Then a creepy scene appeared. He saw those pieces of wood passing straight through Zhou Yunchen¡¯s upturned face, as if passing through air or water, and making sounds on the ground. Everyone was silent for a while. Zhou Yunchen¡¯s face was still as calm as before, with a slight smile, he looked up at Mo Yi, and asked the same sentence in the same tone: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s the matter?¡± Wang Zhu, who was standing beside him, also raised his head, with a smile that was almost carved out of the same mold as Zhou Yunchen¡¯s, making everyone who watched them shudder. Mo Yi¡¯splexion turned pale, and the chanting sound in his ears seemed to be clearer, singing over and over again: ¡±My love, oh,e to me¨C¡± The voice was slow and soothing, as if carrying a breathtaking magic. In the silence around him, the singing was as thin as a gossamer, a trace of noise entering the eardrum from not far away. He heard the rubbing sound of footsteps on the ground, as if someone was walking out slowly. In the shuffling and rubbing, Mo Yi¡¯s ears caught a trace of a familiar sound. A muttering as if in a dream: ¡°¡­Menglin.¡± This was¡­ Zhou Yunchen¡¯s voice? Mo Yi was startled, and an almost absurd conjecture shed through his mind like lightning, illuminating his eyes brightly. His breathing stagnated slightly, but during the few breaths he was in a daze, the sound of the footsteps rubbing against each other became more and more distant, and the soft murmur caught in his ears just now no longer appeared. It seemed that only the singing that was like a magic spell remained in the silence. Mo Yi gritted his teeth and started to move. He stepped on the crookeddder and climbed down with his hands, then took the few strides left without hesitation, by going down with one jump, while clenching his teeth. Following his movements, the figures of Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu swayed. Like a stone thrown into a calmke, the scenery reflected on it would shatter and shake, slowly turning into a cloud of smoke. They dissipated like a phantom. A tingling and trembling pain came from under the soles of his feet, almost spreading to the bones of his calf. Mo Yi staggered for several steps before barely standing still. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief because of the disappearance of these two phantoms, Mo Yi raised his head and saw a piece of familiar clothing around the corner of the room. The sound of slow footsteps seemed toe from the carpet in the corridor, the harshness of it bing dull. Mo Yi¡¯s heart thumped, ignoring the faint pain in his calf, he straightened up, and rushed out with a stride. Sure enough, Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu were standing in the corridor, shuffling, and walking out slowly. Their movements were stiff, and they looked like puppets on strings, being pulled forward by an invisible force. In the dark corridor, the figures of the two were projected onto the twisted and uneven wall by the light of the shlight, and the ck shadows looked quite hideous and terrifying. The singing voice seemed to grow louder, soft and clear as if whispering in Mo Yi¡¯s ear: ¡°¡­my love, oh,e to me¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes were in a trance for a while, as if some gloom covered his vision, making his pace stop involuntarily. A familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ear: ¡°¨Cleave¡± Mo Yi¡¯s whole body suddenly became cold, and a fine-grained chill appeared in his heart, like thousands of ice needles piercing his brain, which made him wake up instantly. He supported himself on the wall beside him. The rough wall surface was cold and hard, which awakened his mind somewhat¨C Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help thinking of the strange dream he had been having. There was a voice telling him to stay, like a dark quagmire that was hard to break free from, but the whisper just now¡­ was telling him to leave. Who the hell was talking? What did the words mean? Where was he going to leave? Where did he stay? Mo Yi was in a state of confusion. He shook his head, the vision in front of him being a bit clearer, and his mind not as heavy as before. He raised his eyes and looked forward, Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu were slowly pushing away the debris piled up in the corridor. Squeezing through them, they continued to move forward without dy, as if nothing could stop them. Thanks to the traces of the fight with the spider from before, the entire corridor was filled with broken debris, and the path left deliberately before was also destroyed, blocking the way for the two to go out. Otherwise, they would have left when Mo Yi was confused. Mo Yi took a deep breath and cleared his mind. Now was not the time to think about these things. Once these two yers die, all his previous efforts would be wasted. Mo Yi strode forward, stretched out his hand to grab Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu by the cors, and pulled them back forcefully. The two people who looked like walking corpses were dragged and staggered back. They turned their heads slowly to look at Mo Yi, but there seemed to be nothing in their empty pupils. Zhou Yunchen lifted up the broken chair on the ground stiffly, and muttered in a low voice: ¡°Menglin.¡± There was a sweet smile on his lips, but his eyes were frozen and unfocused. The singing in his ear was slow and sad, piercing the eardrum as if it could prate the wall, and dance on the human heart. But this time Mo Yi didn¡¯t hear any auditory hallucinations again. He looked down at his two pale, bony and thin arms, and rationally judged the current situation. He was afraid that he would not be able to control these two normal-sized adults by himself. They didn¡¯t seem to have much intelligence left, so they wouldn¡¯t resist. Mo Yi kicked the things removed by those two people back to the original ce, then looked at the hill of sundries. He made sure that they would not be able to clear a path for a while, then turned around and walked quickly into the room again. But as soon as he entered, he discovered that something was wrong. The few yers who were still in the attic had already climbed down one by one at this moment. Their movements were stiff and their eyes were nk, as if they were listening to something ecstatically. Then, they moved. With a sweet smile on their lips, their stiff limbs led them and they slowly moved towards the door. Their unfocused eyes stared at the door, as if they were looking at someone through the air. The singing in his ear had ups and downs, singing elegantly and lyrically: ¡±My love, oh,e to me!¡± Seeing those yers walking towards him, Mo Yi quickly closed the door with a ¡°snap¡±. The movement was so big that it almost knocked the dust off the door. There was a slow and continuous knocking sound, hammering persistently at the broken door. Mo Yi tugged on the door desperately. There was a ¡®bang bang¡¯ sound from the door panel, which made his hands ache from the shock. He sneakily turned his head to look at Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu on the other side of the corridor. They were still picking up the debris piled up in the corridor stiffly. Although the speed was not fast, they were steady and persistent. Mo Yi was anxious. If they continued like this, sooner orter, these two people would be able to clear a path and follow the voice that tempted them to go downstairs. But ording to the current situation, once he lets go, the people behind the door will definitely rush out. At that time, it would be one-on-five. Although the confused yers were not aggressive, it may be difficult to stop them with his strength. Mo Yi¡¯s brows were tightly wrinkled, his thin lips tightly pursed, and his pair of dark eyes shone withplicated light on his pale face. At this moment, Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu suddenly stopped, and then they both fell to the ground at the same time, making two heavy, muffled sounds on the carpet-covered wooden floor. Mo Yi was taken aback for a moment, and looked at the scene in front of him in astonishment. A pale face slowly emerged from the shadows in the corridor. Ivy. Her hoarse voice sounded in the corridor: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re not dead.¡± Mo Yi breathed a sigh of relief, and gave her a faint smile: ¡°Thank you.¡± Ivy¡¯s facial expression was stiff and cold, her pair of dark eyes stared at Mo Yi, while she said abruptly: ¡°You are not affected.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback: ¡°What?¡± The singing voice in his ear still sang the same sentence over and over again, which sounded monotonous and weird. In the singing, Ivy slowly twisted her lips, showing an ugly smile: ¡°It allows people to see the most important people in their hearts, lovers, family members, and friends, and then magnify your feelings for these people dozens or even hundreds of times.¡± Mesmerize the yer¡¯s eyes and mind, leaving them in a state of love¨C a happy death. Mo Yi lowered his eyes slightly. Although he had roughly guessed this possibility, his heart still sank when he heard Ivy say it with his own ears. Ivyughed hoarsely and harshly: ¡°You¡¯re the first person I¡¯ve ever met who wasn¡¯t affected.¡± The distorted smile on her face had disappeared, and the pair of dark eyes stared at Mo Yi: ¡°I¡¯ve never met a person who was so cold-blooded that he didn¡¯t feel affection for anyone.¡± A nomittal smile appeared on Mo Yi¡¯s lips. Instead of answering Ivy¡¯s sharp words, he changed the subject and asked: ¡°Since it allows people to see the most important person in their hearts, will it be useful to you?¡± In other words, can you see your lover and children? Ivy¡¯s originally clear facial features became blurred and terrifying, and sheughed hoarsely: ¡°What do you think?¡± After finishing speaking, she seemed to no longer want to say a word to Mo Yid, but slowly disappeared into the darkness¨C just like when she came. Mo Yi let out a long breath, and then sat down leaning against the door. There was a continuous and stiff knock on the door behind him, shaking his back rhythmically, but it was firmly blocked and could not be opened. Now that Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu had been brought down by Ivy, he had no worries at the moment, he just needed to block the people behind him. Mo Yi took a deep look at the darkness where Ivy disappeared. His dark eyes sank slightly. Now, her facial features were bing more and more clear. Her face seldom turned into the state of melting wax oil from the beginning. She spoke more and more, her logic became clearer, and her emotional changes were more and more obvious¨C Her heart was getting softer. It seemed that she was slowly changing into her appearance while alive. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Mo Yi was leaning back against the old twisted door. He felt its frosty coldness through his thin clothes. Rhythmic knocks on the other side of the door travelled along the door frame, making him feel as though all his five internal organs were trembling along with the resulting vibrations. The singing voice came persistently from downstairs, seemingly prating through the thin walls, as it continued humming the repetitive rhyme softly. It was a normal nursery rhyme, but whenbined with the monotonous knockinging from behind him, it became especially eerie and creepy. Mo Yi pushed back with all his might, pressing the ill-fitted door harder into its frame. Fortunately, the hallucinating yers were as passive as puppets and their movements were small, controlled, and stiff. Otherwise, he really couldn¡¯t guarantee that he could deter these three adult yers behind the door. Mo Yi nced towards one end of the hallway where the unconscious bodies of Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu were limp on the ground. Under the shade of the looming pile of debris, they simply looked like two fuzzy and undting shadows. Mo Yi trusted Ivy¡¯s skill¡ªthey probably wouldn¡¯t wake up anytime soon. He lowered his gaze, tugging over and unzipping his backpack. With the shlight in one hand, he reached into the bag with the other¡ª ¡ªand pulled out the human skin book he had previously hastily stuffed into it. He could feel the soft sticity of the skin cover under his fingertips, see its dry skin texture clearly under the dim halo of white light, and sense the hair-raising malevolent aura emanating from it. Mo Yi took a deep breath. He ignored the persistent singing in his ears and the continuous pounding against the door, and flipped the book open. ording to the letter from the small box, this book should have been handed down by Ivy¡¯s grandmother. Her grandmother was burned to death as a witch, but this book was still passed down in her family, and ended up in Ivy¡¯s hands. Furthermore, the sacrificial ceremony Ivy used to resurrect her child was also from this book. Mo Yi leafed through the pages. The rustle of paper was distinct in the narrow and dark hallway. Unlike the letters he had found in the cemetery earlier, which were in a mix of Latin and English, this book was written entirely in Latin only, without any English, and was even mixed with a lot of weird symbols. Inferring from the shapes of these symbols, this could have been a branch of the ancient Semitguage. Mo Yi frowned in annoyance. Irritation welled up within his heart. The ancientnguage he knew was limited to the few guidebooks he had briefly browsed through previously, and it was almost impossible for him to urately trante all the information about the ultic practices written in this book. It was akin to sitting on a gold mine without the proper mining tools. Mo Yi pursed his lips in displeasure. Under the dim light of the hallway, this rare trace of emotion on his pale face made him resemble a petnt child. He discreetly decided: after getting out of this instance, he must definitely put some effort into learning those ancientnguages. Then, while contemting how to go about doing this, Mo Yi continued flipping through the book disinterestedly. Until a yellowed paper hanging half-out of the human skin book caught his eye. Surprised, Mo Yi quickly flipped to it, only to find a handwritten letter sandwiched between the pages. Half of it had been torn off, and familiar traces of uneven tear marks lined the bottom of the letter. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up instantly. He hurriedly opened the side pocket of his backpack and took out the paper he¡¯d found in the tomb. The elegant and smooth penmanship on that soiled paper spotted with blood matched up exactly with the letter hidden in the human skin book. Mo Yi held the two sheets up, and perfectly aligned their crooked tear marks. He pursed his dry lips in excitement. His breathing sped up. There was more English written on the half found in the tomb. Although there were still quite a number of Latin words mixed in, but with Mo Yi¡¯s basic foundation in thenguage, he could still more or less grasp the general meaning. Heid the two halves t on the ground. Holding the shlight in one hand and the open human skin book in the other, he flickered his gaze between the two, mentally substituting in variousbinations of words in an attempt to decipher the content of the torn letter. And during this, the preupied man failed to promptly notice that the singing had suddenly stopped. A strange and thick silence enveloped the hallway, spreading out and rising up like a tide, clogging every open pore on his body. Mo Yi finally snapped out of his thoughts. He was stunned by the silence for a good few seconds before he nced at the watch on his wrist: there was still around 20 minutes left in this hour. Yet the singing stopped all of a sudden¡­ Something was horribly wrong. Mo Yi raised his guard immediately and surveyed his surroundings warily¡ª There was only darkness before his eyes. There was no hallway, no house, no singing, and no shaking door panel behind his back. There was nothing at all. Nothing in this thick and insoluble darkness, which felt suffocatingly condensed within this borderless space. The omnipresent darkness created a space that was so quiet, it seemed timeless. An uneasy chill slid up his calf, twining around his limb like the cold, sticky, slimy body of a snake. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing stuttered. Confusion and bewilderment clouded his eyes. He couldn¡¯t tell where he was. Was he still in the instance, or was he now in his nightmares? It felt as though there was a soft marsh under his feet, using nature¡¯s gravity to draw him down into itself, while the dense darkness overhead weighted down on his chest instead, causing every cell in him to wither from suffocation. It felt as though he was slowly sinking into a deep, deep dream he could never wake up from. A dream that was serene. A dream that was calm. This strange feeling prated his mind, its promise of peace tempting like honey, as it attempted to pull him under. Mo Yi¡¯s pupils grew unfocused. His eyelids fluttered, his long upper eyshes slowly inching closer and closer towards his lowershes. Until he bit fiercely down on the tip of his tongue. The strong taste of blood saturated his mouth. The waves of sharp pain and cloying scent of rust spreading between his lips and tongue instantly sharpened his drifting mind. The hazy and muffled voice in his ear gradually increased in volume, bing clearer, as if there was someone speaking beside him. Mo Yi raised his head in a daze, searching for the source of the voice with a blurry gaze. ¡°¡ªare you okay?¡± The familiar low-pitched male voice was pleasantly maic, its timbre coolly vibrating through the air, yet there seemed to be some deep and turbulent emotions hidden in the coldness of its tone. Mo Yi blinked. He btedly realised he was still sitting in the corridor, with the only difference being that his legs were bent as though he was just about to stand up, and his momentarypse has resulted in the door behind him to be pushed ajar. The knocks grew louder, their intensity nearly making Mo Yi fall over. He hurriedly pushed back with all his might. His palms were firmly pressed to the ground, the dirty and rough carpet chafing painfully against his skin, and managed to shut the door again with a burst of great strength. Mo Yi inhaled sharply. A denseyer of cold sweat broke out on his back, and a sense of horror washed over him, making his whole body icy cold. The dark corridor, the shaking door, and the faint singing in his ears have all finally returned. He had carelessly let his guard down just now, and was nearly controlled by the singing voice. ¡­you really couldn¡¯t rx even for a moment in this instance. Mo Yi pressed the sharp and painful tip of his tongue against his pte. There was still a strong scent of rust in his mouth, permeating his oesophagus and nasal cavity. It, along with the waves of pain, made him feel more awake. The male voice whispered in his ear again, ¡°¡ªare you okay?¡± It was the voice of the Mist. Mo Yi blinked, then replied after a slight pause, ¡°¡­I¡¯m okay.¡± Only after speaking, did Mo Yi realise how hoarse his voice was, and the sudden burning pain materialising in his throat shocked even him as well. Mo Yi hesitated for a short moment. ¡°You can speak again?¡± The other party chuckled. ¡°Only after the rules of this instance no longer reject my existence.¡± ¡°So it isn¡¯t rejecting you now?¡± Mo Yi cleared his throat, trying to regte his voice. ¡°¡­It still is, so what I can tell you right now is very limited.¡± The Mist¡¯s voice was deep. Mo Yi pursed his lips. He wasn¡¯t too surprised. This game was like a control freak anyway. If they ever broke through the restrictions in the instances so easily, Mo Yi would suspect it was a trap instead. The Mist spoke again, his tone bing more urgent. ¡°This hour is about to end. The monster was unable to get a sacrifice because of you, and was gearing up to make a final desperate attempt. I was worried you would be affected, so I spoke up.¡± There was a soft smile in the voice. ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect you to not require my help at all.¡± Mo Yi frowned, yet before he could say anything, the Mist continued, ¡°The strength of the monster of this hour is already waning and will no longer pose a threat. The one you need to be wary of, is the next one.¡± There was a trace of solemnity in his cold voice. ¡°Buried in the ground on Sunday, Solomon¡¯sst day.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows twitched, and he dropped his gaze to his wristwatch. There were only five minutes left in this hour. The singing voice in the background had begun to weaken and be breathy. It was no longer possible to make out the previously crystal-clear lyrics. And as the second and minute hands of the watch moved forward tick by tick, the sound gradually became softer and softer, weaker and weaker. Then, finally, thest bar of the sad tune slowly dissipated in the air. ¡°My love, oh,e to me¡­¡­¡± The surroundings became silent again. There was no longer a repetitive and monotonous knocking on the door behind him. The yers seemed to have returned to their senses the very moment the singing voice disappeared. Low groans and muffled conversations came from the other side of the door instead. Mo Yi¡¯s stiff and cold fingers trembled. He reached down to retrieve the torn letter and book, and stuffed them back into his bag. In his dark eyes obscured under longshes, all hints of rxation were washed away by a deep solemnity. There was only onest hour left¡­ ¡¾Buried on Sunday. This is the end¡¿ Buried on Sunday. This is the end of Solomon Grandy¡¯s life. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Mo Yi stood up, his palms still pressed against the door. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he looked through the gap between the twisted door and frame. There was a faint light through the crack of the door and it shifted as if there was someone walking around in the room. A shadow approached, followed by a light knock. Yu Ran¡¯s half-hesitating, half-cautious voice sounded muffled through the door. ¡°¡­ Mo Yi?¡± Mo Yi pushed the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth, feeling the familiar tingling pain spreading with that motion. The faint scent of blood permeated his mouth again, and his heart calmed slightly. Even though some time had passed since he was nearly tricked by the voice earlier, he found himself bing much more cautious instead. Mo Yi responded with a low hum and withdrew his hands from the door. The ill-fitted wooden door slowly swung open, revealing Yu Ran and the other two yers behind her. They were looking at each other withplicated yet bewildered expressions. Yu Ran supported herself with one hand on the door frame. She pressed her other hand against her forehead and stared at Mo Yi in a daze. She blinked, taking some time to organise her thoughts. ¡°¡­What happened just now?¡± The two yers behind her also appeared a little overwhelmed. One of them interjected, ¡°I remember¡­ We were in the attic. After you jumped down¡­ I heard a familiar voice, then I lost consciousness.¡± Yu Ran and the other yer exchanged a nce, then nodded hesitantly in agreement. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly the same as what I remember too.¡± Mo Yi tapped on the dial of his wristwatch with his fingers, his neatly manicured nails making a light, crisp sound: ¡°Take a look at the time.¡± The three of them nced at their watches at the same time, and let out a loud, surprised gasp. ¡°¡ªThere¡¯s only an hour left?!¡± Mo Yi nodded and briefly concluded, ¡°The monster in the past hour should have a restriction on its movements. It tempted the yers with illusions, making them walk over by themselves. You were all hallucinating just now, so I locked you three in this room for an hour. Naturally, after the singing stopped, the hallucinations ceased as well.¡± Frowning, one of the yers scrutinised Mo Yi doubtfully. ¡°Then why weren¡¯t you affected?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression remained unchanged. ¡°Probably because I have an iron will.¡± The man was choked for a moment. He pulled his brows into an angry scowl and was about tosh back, only to be interrupted by a panicked Yu Ran jumping to her feet. ¡°Wait! The three of us were locked here by you and didn¡¯t follow the voice! But what about Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu?¡± Yu Ran nched. There was a rare look of helplessness on her face. In this instance, all of their lives were linked, and if someone died, it might bring about irreparable consequences to the rest. Mo Yi took a step backwards, making room for them as he gestured towards one end of the hallway. Yu Ran took a step forward, her eyes following the direction of Mo Yi¡¯s finger, and saw two figures lying in the shadow of a pile of debris. Their blurred outlines were veiled by therge shadow, and it was hard to make out the two figures unless one looked carefully. Yu Ran let out a long sigh of relief, then stepped forward determinedly. The shlight in her hand swayed along with her steps, and the halo of light quickly illuminated the two limp bodies on the ground. Mo Yi and the other two yers followed behind her, and Mo Yi added, ¡°There is less than an hour left before the end of this instance, and it will only be more dangerous from here on, so we must be even more careful.¡± Yu Ran lowered herself into a squatting position. She ced the shlight in her hand on the ground and patted the unconscious Zhou Yunchen lightly. ¡°Hey, wake up.¡± Zhou Yunchen still had his eyes tightly closed, his pale face showing no signs of waking up. Both Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu were covered in dust and looked extremely pitiful. The yer, who¡¯d asked the question just now, frowned. He opened his mouth and was about to interject. However, the words froze in his throat and only a few stuttered monosybles escaped. Before them, Yu Ran had grabbed onto Zhou Yunchen¡¯s cor. She swung her arm back boldly, then vigorously pped him several times across his face in session. The brutal sounds echoed through the hallway, yet her voice was still soft and gentle when she spoke. ¡°Hey, wake up.¡± The two yers stared at the scene with wide eyes, taking in the sight of her violent aggression, all while subconsciously touching the back of their necks. ¡ªsomehow, it felt as though the back of their necks were hurting again. Zhou Yunchen opened his eyes in bewilderment. He parted his lips to say something, but the motion tugged on his aching cheek, sobering him up as he hissed in pain. He straightened his body on the floor, nced around in a daze, and finally settled his gaze on Yu Ran who was the nearest to him. ¡°¡­Why did you hit me?¡± Yu Ran rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. She didn¡¯t answer, but instead, simply stepped over him to give the unconscious Wang Zhu several equally violent ps until he woke up. Then, after both men regained consciousness, Yu Ran rose to her feet and patted the dust off her body. She briefly repeated Mo Yi¡¯s earlier exnation, and finally concluded, ¡°There is less than an hour left now, and it is very likely that it will be more dangerous from here on. I suggest you two get up quickly and stop wasting time.¡± Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu cupped their aching cheeks, looking as though they were still out of it as they slowly digested the slew of information Yu Ran had just thrown at them. Mo Yi, who was standing by the side, turned to them with lowered eyes, and said lightly, ¡°Get a grip on yourselves. Thest nursery rhyme wille at any time.¡± His voice was monotonous, his tone mild, and didn¡¯t seem to hold any degree of intimidation. Yet it was inexplicably daunting, perhaps evenpelling. Zhou Yunchen and Wang Zhu shuddered. They swiftly got to their feet, not even caring about the dust on their bodies. They staggered twice, then immediately straightened up. Mo Yi lifted the corners of his lips slightly. He casted a nce over at hispanions, then said, ¡°When everyone was hallucinating just now, I read the human skin book from the attic and found some clues.¡± The yer who had asked Mo Yi for clues earlier, arched his brows high, and retorted in an odd tone, ¡°Do you expect us to just take your word for it? If it¡¯s true, then there is no reason not to show us the book, right?¡± Mo Yi pulled the book from his backpack with a calm expression, and casually tossed it over to the yer. ¡°Do as you please.¡± The other party grabbed the book in a hurry. Restrained joy flitted across his face, but his expression instantly froze upon opening the book. The two people beside him leaned over curiously too, and they all gaped at the handwriting with the same expression of bewilderment. ¡­they, they can¡¯t read this¡­ Mo Yi raked his gaze over them. He didn¡¯t tease them for it, but coolly changed the subject. ¡°In thest six hours, we were always passively waiting for the nursery rhymes. Now, I have some new ideas. Maybe¡­ we ought to be more proactive next.¡± Seeing that Mo Yi didn¡¯t directly poke at their sore spot, that yer coughed twice to hide his embarrassment and handed the human skin book back to Mo Yi, murmuring weakly, ¡°¡­Then what do you suggest we do next?¡± Mo Yi peered at his wristwatch. There were 53 minutes left in this instance, but they had yet to hear thest nursery rhyme. He stretched his hand to ept the human skin book, patting the dust off it and cing it back into his bag. Then, he turned his dark eyes back to the other party, who subconsciously averted his gaze. Mo Yi pursed his lips and turned away too. With the suspicions in his heart gradually taking shape, he spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs first.¡± Everyone exchanged a look. Before the spider appeared, they had almost searched the entirety of the second floor. Even if they stayed up here longer, they would probably not discover anything new, so they nodded in agreement with his suggestion. Several people strode towards the debris piled up in the hallway, working together to move the broken boards and furniture, and cleared a path leading downstairs. Holding a shlight in his hand, Mo Yi illuminated the dark path ahead. He carefully avoided the small debris left on the ground, and quickly made his way forward cautiously. There were still some white spider webs blocking the stairs, hanging down in the air like a curtain. Dust clung to the webs, and the coagted mass emitted an odd stench. Mo Yi brushed the cobwebs in front of him aside, carefully navigating his way onto the narrow and uneven stairs in the dark, and treaded down with everyone. Under the halo of white light, Mo Yi could see Zhou Yunchen¡¯s hair and broad shoulders in front of him. Mo Yi hesitated for a moment, then reached out to brush the man¡¯s shoulders lightly. A cloud of dust flew up, the particles reflecting the light as they danced freely through the air. Zhou Yunchen craned his neck around, andmented evenly, ¡°The dust probably got on me when I was moving things just now.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s brows pulled into a furrow. The pair of deep dark eyes on his pale face gleamed with heavy contemtion. During the span of their short conversation, everyone had returned to the hall on the first floor. Everything here had remained unchanged. The twisted door was open, framing the gloomy darkness outside and the flickering fluorescent blue countdown timer which was still steadily ticking. 00:50:05 There was arge pool of bright red blood in the centre of the hall. Long drag marks extended from it, trailing across the floor out to the other side of the open door, as though it had been swallowed by the thick darkness. This should be from the monster that appeared in the sixth hour. The bloodstains on the floor were slowly seeping into the ground, as if it was being greedily sucked up by a sponge, and it didn¡¯t take long before the ringly huge bloodstain disappearedpletely. Although it wasn¡¯t the first time the yers had seen such a disturbing sight, a numbing sensation still tingled across their scalps all the same. Yet unlike everyone else, Mo Yi¡¯s attention was not attracted to the strange disappearing blood. Instead, he casted a contemtive nce around the whole room, and his gaze finally came to a halt when itnded upon his sleeve. The folds of the clothes were covered in a thinyer of dust. His shoulders, however, were covered with a thickyer of dust. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze flickered. He swiftly took a step forward, strode to the wall and swiped at it vigorously with his palm. Arge cloud of dust instantly fell off of the seemingly normal wall. The solid and smooth surface was dented in an instant, as if a chunk had been forcibly dug out and scattered onto the ground. Mo Yi felt a cold chill creep up his body. ¡ªThis house was rapidly crumbling into sand. Reina: Dust and sand are used rather interchangeably in this chapter as Mo Yi thought of it as just dust previously, then realised that the ¡®dust¡¯ was actually sand. Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Traces of blood retracted from Mo Yi¡¯s face, leaving only a pair of dark gleaming eyes, akin to two cold stars in a nketed sky of heavy snow. Furrowing his brows, Mo Yi turned to look around the whole room, his gaze sliding past the group of stunned people behind him, and subconsciously murmured. ¡°This is¡­ thest day of Solomon Grundy.¡± The group let out an involuntary shudder at the reminder of the hint provided to them at the beginning of this instance. As though it were overwhelmed too, several deep cracks appeared on the twisted and uneven ceiling. Grey particles rustled down along the walls and fell around the yers. Then, just like the chain effect from knocking over a single domino piece, the crumbling corner began setting off a vicious cycle of copse. The deterioration spread rapidly across the whole house, dragging it irrevocably towards an abyss of destruction. Even more sand particles scattered on the yers, piling up thickly on their bodies and around their feet. The air seemed to be saturated with countless particles and each breath they drew felt suffocating. rmed, the yers subconsciously turned towards the only person in the team who they felt knew clearly what to do¡ªjust like how a drowning person would desperately search for driftwood, these nervous and panicking people inadvertently looked to the calmest person as a lifeline. They turned to Mo Yi at the same time, asking loudly and urgently, ¡°What should we do next?¡± Mo Yi raised his eyes, casting a quick nce around the whole room, and mentally estimated the rate of copse before decisively answering. ¡°We should leave.¡± The state of this distorted house now was akin to a sandcastle which had been gently pushed by a child¡¯s palm, and was inevitably copsing in on itself. The ceiling was hanging precariously in mid-air, the walls were sloughing off like soil softened by water, and even the floor was changing into a sand-like texture, impeding everyone¡¯s movements while they slowly sunk into it as if it were quicksand. Mo Yi raised his arms to cover his head, preventing the loose sand trickling from the ceiling from obstructing his sight, then tried his best to break free from the quagmire under his feet before sprinting towards the open door. But just when everyone was about to reach it, the door mmed shut in their faces with a bang! Yu Ran took a big step forward and grabbed the doorknob. She shook it vigorously, yet the steadily copsing door and its frame seemed to have been welded together into an indestructible wall and refused to budge at all. Gritting her teeth, she took a few steps back and ran towards the door, trying to smash it open with the momentum of her body, but it had no visible results other than covering her in sand. Looking at that imprable door, everyone¡¯s hearts sank slowly to the bottom of the valley, enveloped by a momentary despair. This house intended to bury them alive! Burying them in the ground forever, just like that Solomon Grundy! Mo Yi furrowed his brows, trying to keep his mind clear at this critical point of life and death. He surveyed the walls of the house, trying to find a breakthrough. And at this very moment, his eyes lit up. The whole house was turning into sand. This one wall was certainly no exception too¡ªnearly half of the window frame on the inner side had already been turned into sand. Several shards of dirty ss had fallen out too, and the resulting gaps between them revealed a faint and eerie red light on the dry and barrennd outside. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing stuttered, and he found his body acting before his brain could process the sight. He quickly stepped in front of the window, striking and shaking the half-copsed window frame, trying to find weak spots in the wall which he could exploit. Seeing Mo Yi¡¯s movements, several others also came forward to help, desperately hitting the seemingly vulnerable wall with the weight and momentum of their bodies. Dense sand fell copiously with each collision, sprinkling all over their heads and faces, and choking them into breathless wheezing coughs. The sundries and wooden shelves overhead dropped onto the shoulders and backs of the unsuspecting yers, causing unbearable pain on impact before they crumbled into sand. The sand then trickled down along the bodies to the ground and umted around their feet. Before they knew it, the height of the piling sand had risen from their ankles to their knees. To move, they would now have to exert an insurmountable amount of effort to first lift their legs out from the sand, only to then nt them back in again. Still, the yers continued their relentless attack on the wall despite the difficulty to manoeuvre their bodies within the sand. However, their n did note to fruition. No matter how hard they tried, the crumbling wall still stood strong, as though there was some malevolent force preventing them from breaking it down. ¡ªit was as though the scenario within the first nursery rhyme was being reproduced. The only difference being that previously, it was the yers outside who wanted toe in. But now, it was the yers inside who wanted to leave. Despair crept onto everyone¡¯s faces. Their bodies and arms were already trembling from overexertion, yet just like an ant trying in vain to shake arge tree, they found themselves helpless in the face of this indomitable hurdle too. Mo Yi pursed his lips and mmed his clenched fist against the broken window with all his strength. Piercing pain shot down the palm of his hand, but it did nothing to dispel the restlessness in his heart. The sand had risen to thigh-level. At this moment, a rhythmic tick-tock cut through the noise of falling sand, and a surprised Mo Yi stared down at his palm. The hideous wound inflicted by the broken ss was stretching from the back of his hand all the way to his pale palm. Large rivulets of blood were gushing out from the wound, sliding down his thin wrist and sshing onto the slowly crumbling wall. And as soon as the bright blood came into contact with the sand, the particles seemed toe alive, eagerly sucking the drop of blood into itself. The rounded bloodstains shrunk at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving a small void in the wall in its wake. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up with a gleam. He raised his head to look at Yu Ran, and shouted loudly: ¡°Give me the knife!¡± Yu Ran was startled by his words, but she still reached over to her backpack to retrieve the heavy kitchen knife, and handed the cold de to Mo Yi. Mo Yi took the handle of the knife and weighed it in his hand, before gritting his teeth and slicing across the centre of his palm. The hideous wound widened in an instant. Even more fresh blood gushed out along the wound. A strong odour of rust pervaded the air immediately. The bright blood contrasted sharply against his fair skin, and the strong visual impact made the onlookers avert their gazes involuntarily. Mo Yi pressed his injured palm harshly against the crumbling wall, and the blood-thirsty sand instantly rushed towards his palm, leaving a huge conspicuous void behind. By now, the sand in the room had reached the height of their waist, and it was still steadily rising. Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up instantly, just like a cornered person who suddenly saw a rope stretching down in front of them. They grabbed the kitchen knife in Mo Yi¡¯s hand and shed at their own palms too, hastily pressing their injured hands to the two sides of the wall. More and more sand was lured away by the scent of blood, creating arge hole in the wall at once. In the face of renewed hope, everyone¡¯s gloomy eyes finally brightened up. They didn¡¯t dare to dawdle, and crawled through the big hole in the wall one by one with the fastest speed they could muster. Mo Yi withdrew his palm which had been pressing against the wall. His pale face had be nearly transparent from blood loss. Pressing his lips together into a thin line, he then followed suit and pushed his thin body through the hole without exerting too much effort. And the very moment he left, the house behind him crumbled all at once and copsed with a bang. A cloud of sand particles rose up into the air. All that was left behind was dark red barren soil. Even the crumbling porch had copsed along with the house. Everything was turned into grey sand, which settled into a mix with the dark red soil. Everyone stood panting in the open space in front of the house, their bodies covered in sand and specks of blood, looking every bit as battered and exhausted as they felt. Mo Yi grabbed a roll of bandages from his backpack and wrapped it sloppily around the wound on his palm. Excessive blood loss had caused his lips to lose their colour. On his almost transparent face, his eyes now seemed even deeper and darker, and the frightening light in them was too intimidating. Mo Yi frowned at the scattered sand. There were several walls which have yet to crumble. They remained standing firmly in the centre of this area, seemingly scattered and irregr, but there had to be a pattern to it. Mo Yi moved his feet and tried to examine the structures from a different angle. Then, he inevitably froze up for a split second. Among the dark red soil, there was a piece ofnd which was particrly eye-catching. The soil atop it was a pure bright red, as though it were soaked in fresh blood, and in the middle of that piece of blood-coloured soil were two small, simple stone monuments. Mo Yi was shocked¡ªthose must be Erica and John¡¯s tombstones. He took two steps back involuntarily, his breath hitching. He stared at the wall before him which had yet to copse, then whirled his head around to look behind as well. A vague suspicion formed in his heart. Those withered trees, that crooked path, the twisted and uneven walls, all of those now slowly aligned into aplete image in his mind. It was all essentially a replica of what he had seen inside the tomb, that deformed inverted pentagram and the goat skull¡ªit was an erged replica which had been replicated onto this entire piece ofnd! And that blood-red soil was the centre of this whole pattern! Right at this moment, a soft and fuzzy nursery rhyme filtered through the air. The innocent and melodic child¡¯s voice was beautiful and euphonious, as if it was singing the sweetest tune in the world. Yet now, that same voice could only cause shuddering fear in the deepest recesses of the listeners¡¯ hearts. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Thick, viscous darkness shrouded the barren ground. The broken walls and ruins could no longer hold back the umted sand and it slowly ebbed outwards, glowing with a faint dark red, as it creeped across the ground as though it was alive. Jagged branches of the withered trees were like thin ashen limbs stretching desperately towards the dark sky. The same red sand flowed under the dead branches, slowly piling up into small sand dunes. The soft, euphonious singing voices of children floated in the air, their nursery rhymes prating eardrums and snaking into the seven orifices and four limbs of all listeners, leaving behind an ufortable chill in their wake. Mo Yi held his breath. His pale blood-stained fingers were stiff and cold. He fixed his pair of deep ck eyes in the direction of the singing. Solid walls stood high in the flowing dark red quicksand, enveloping the centre of the room. In the middle of that plot of blood-rednd, behind the two ck tombs, the soft soil seemingly moved twice then slowly began arching upwards. Everyone stared at thatnd, their expressions tinged with horror. However, as though they were possessed by something, they stood rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch while their eyes remained glued to the terrifying scene. The protruding arch of the blood-red soil grew higher, just as if there was something struggling to crawl out from below. Meanwhile the singing voice grew clearer. The soft murmur of the children¡¯s voices seemed to be right next to their ears, still humming those unknown tunes. Each melody was akin to an ashen hand, strangling their throats and tightening around their hearts, making them feel like they were suffocated and drowning in a sea of fear. Only a slight rustle was heard before the bright red soil surged up like a wave, emanating a strong scent of rust as it overflowed outwards into the surrounding sandy soil. It formed thest part of the array pattern on thend. The meandering dark red sand contrasted with the bright red soil, the tall walls dividing the whole pattern with lines, forming a distorted andplex image which connected with all the trees and trails on the whole piece ofnd to create a weird pattern. The pattern which appeared in that empty tomb, and on the page tucked into the human skin book. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing sped up. His lips, pale from blood loss, were pressed into a tense line, and his dark eyes shone with a strange light. Thend behind the two tombstones had sunk deeply due to the surging soil, leaving only a thinyer of soil covering its surface. Just then, two pairs of small ashen hands protruded out from the grave at the same time. The singing became clearer, louder, mixing with youthful cheerfulughter. Two small figures rose from behind the tombstone. Their movements were as rigid as that of puppets, stiff joints digging into the ground beside the tomb as they twisted their limbs and snapped up into an upright position. This scene etched itself into the yer¡¯s eyes, its resolution as clear as that of a high-end horror movie. The figures turned their heads slowly and peered straight at the yers standing there. There was no expression on their pale faces. Their lips, dyed in such a bright blood-red that it looked as if the colour was painted on, parted to sing a new rhyme. ¡°What are little boys made of Frogs and snails And puppy-dogs¡¯ tails, What are little girls made of Sugar and spice And all that¡¯s nice.¡± That nursery rhyme was the one on the oil-stained paper with bloody handprints, which they¡¯d found nailed to the kitchen counter. And now, that same tune sounded even more weird and distorted as in the voices of these two children who had been pieced together from countless corpses. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes and surveyed them cautiously. They looked exactly like the two children in the ck-and-white photo in the pendant. The originally t and blurred facial features had suddenly be three-dimensional and vivid. Their youthful faces were devoid of any colour and their navy eyes staring straight at them were emotionless. Only their small red mouths were moving, opening and closing as they repeated the short nursery rhyme. And the most eye-catching part of their appearance were the two gaping blood-soaked holes on their slender legs, right where their knees were. The gurgling blood oozed from the bloody hole and slowly trickled down the fair skin, soaking into their snow-white stockings and little ck shoes before finally dripping onto the bright red ground under their feet. That was thest human body part still missing from the seven sacrifices. Terrified, everyone started slowly backing away, hoping to get as far away as possible from the two creepy children. However, the twisted house had already copsed, leaving them with no shelter to hide in. As one of the few people who knew the details of the sacrificial ritual, Yu Ran¡¯s breathing was slightly disordered and her beautiful face was bloodless. Forcing herself to calm down, she leaned over to Mo Yi¡¯s ear, lowered her voice, and asked tremblingly: ¡°This¡­ Are they Erica and John?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes darkened. He nodded, then shook his head. ¡°Yes, and no.¡± Rather than saying that they are Erica and John, it might be more urate to say that they are monsters summoned by the sacrificial ritual, thebination of dismembered human body parts, or the failed product of the dreams and hopes of their rtives. He had observed the tomb at close quarters and discerned that it was probably the ce where the entire sacrifice ritual had started and ended. These two children were no longer Erica and John, but just a monster created from mutted body parts which happened to have the same appearance as them. Ivy was a pawn used by the devil. She desperately wanted to resurrect her child, but instead summoned an empty shell carrying a deadly disease into this world. . Yu Ran¡¯s fingers twitched, and her nervousness visibly spread from her face to her tense body. ¡°So¡­ the two of them are the monsters of this hour?¡± While asking, she started analysing and contemting the situation before them¡ªsince the sacrifice had not beenpleted yet, these two children had not gotten their kneecaps. So even if there were no shelters they could hide in, as long as these two do not resort to psychological tricks like the monster of the previous hour, it should be possible for these few healthy adult yers to not get caught. A faint trace of gloom shed across Mo Yi¡¯s countenance. He shook his head. ¡°It would be better if they were.¡± Beside him, Yu Ran was taken aback for a moment. She had obviously not expected Mo Yi to answer like this and couldn¡¯t find an appropriate response in reply. At this moment, a small glob of darkness slowly condensed in front of the two doll-like children. And from it, a familiar figure emerged. The limbs were distorted and deformed, scorched into a pitch ck as if they had been once swallowed by a raging fire. Above the burnt body was a pale and beautiful face, with a pair of dark eyes staring fixedly at the youthful faces of the two children. The gaze held deep emotion, silent despair, and bottomless love. Yu Ran was stunned, and she suddenly recalled what Mo Yi had said on the second floor. ¡¾What if you were one of the seven sacrificed people? ¡¿ So, in this hour, the one they had to face was¡ªIvy. Yu Ran snapped her head around, staring unblinkingly at Mo Yi¡¯s profile, and asked unsteadily: ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that Ivy kept her will? So she shouldn¡¯t be affected by the sacrificial ritual, right?¡± Her voice grew more and more urgent, morphing her statement into a question by the end. Mo Yi turned, taking a long look at her, and replied, ¡°I¡¯d thought so too.¡± Yu Ran clenched her hands. Her gaze remained fixed on Mo Yi, as if she was afraid of missing any word he said. ¡°¡­Then what about now?¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes, his longshes casting deep shadows on his pale face. He did not answer Yu Ran¡¯s question directly, but instead, spoke in a calm voice. ¡°As time went by, Ivy slowly lost her previous image of a ruthless ghost who burnt to death with her children in her arms. She became able to retain her human shape for longer and longer periods of time¡ª and also became more and more soft-hearted.¡± Yu Ran was more surprised the more she heard. She turned to look at the blood-rednd and saw that the moment the two children saw Ivy, their ashen and stiff little faces burst into arge smile. It was as if they had suddenly changed from lifeless puppets to two real children attached to their mothers. They stopped singing, their bright red lips were curved into a smile, and their two pairs of big blue eyes were full of innocence. A soft child¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°Mom.¡± Ivy¡¯s face seemed to be torn by some extreme emotion. Half of it appeared to be full of desire to hold her own flesh and blood in her arms, while the other was rationally admonishing herself to be sober. These were not her children. ¡®Erica¡¯ ??and ¡®John¡¯ took two steps towards Ivy. More blood flowed from their hollow knees, almost dyeing their little white socks into a pure blood red. They wobbled, almost falling over. Maternal instinct triumphed over reason. Ivy rushed up to them, her scorched arms trembling as she pulled them into her arms. Her face was lowered, and her expression could not be clearly seen from Yu Ran¡¯s angle. The little girl¡¯s muffled voice sounded from her embrace. The tone was one of innocence, carrying with it a hint of grievance, but it sounded like a devil¡¯s whisper to the yers. ¡°Mom, we miss you so much.¡± Ivy¡¯s scorched body trembled, as if she was fighting against her own reason. The little boy spoke immediately after, his tone spoiled. ¡°Mom, we want to be with you forever.¡± The scorched ck parts on Ivy¡¯s body peel off, falling onto the dark red soil and revealing her original clothes and skin colour underneath. She was wearing a faded grey long dress with specks of brown blood. The bright red and dark brown spots wereyered, looking particrly startling. She straightened up stiffly and turned around slowly, staring at everyone with a pair of dark and cold eyes. She was no longer the great mother who sacrificed herself to prevent the spread of the gue. ¡ªshe¡¯d returned to the murderer who did not hesitate to kill and dismember six people in order to resurrect her two children. Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Mo Yi¡¯s breathing hastened. Hot blood pumped from his heart out to his limbs, carrying with it a faint burning heat under his icy skin. He moved his fingers. A numbing pain came from his wound and a dizzy spell overwhelmed him. He lowered his head, gaze sweeping over his palm. The snow-white bandages he¡¯d sloppily tied earlier had beenpletely soaked red. The overflowing blood trickled from his fingertips, dripping onto the dark red soil which greedily absorbed each offering, and in turn, deepened its shade. The wound showed no signs of closing up at all. He casted a quick nce at several other yers. The blood on their wounded arms were also flowing freely, as if they were fresh cuts. Mo Yi¡¯s heart sank. He raised his eyes to look at Ivy who was standing in the centre of the plot of soil. Her face was deathly pale, and her pair of ck eyes looked even more menacing as a result. At some point, she had even found a huge and heavy kitchen knife which she grasped firmly in her hand. That knife was the exact same one Yu Ran found in the kitchen, yet it seemed sharper and more deadly, as if one would be cut just by looking at it. The tip of the de was coated with sticky dark red blood, suffusing a dense menacing vileness. It was probably the murder weapon Ivy used to kill and dismember the body. Ivy stood upright on the blood-soaked soil, staring at the crowd with her terrifying eyes. None of the yers dared to make the first move, for fear that it would shock her into action. After all, this area is not that big. In addition, there was nothing they could use to deflect her attacks, so even if they wished to escape, there was nowhere safe to run to. Everyone secretlymented in their hearts, feeling the premonition of imminent disaster. Both parties remained at a stalemate. Yet the tense atmosphere seemed to be filled with flying sparks, as though the slightest movement could destroy this fragile equilibrium. Ivy continued to stand there motionlessly, her slender ashen fingers tightly clutching the handle of the knife to the point that her knuckles turned a little blue. A silent struggle shed across her expressionless face. She seemed to be fighting by two strong and extreme impulses, andplex expressions flickered in her pitch-ck eyes. Sensing Ivy¡¯s wavering emotions, Yu Ran quickly nced at the yers and the barrennd before gritting her teeth and yelling desperately. ¡°Ivy! Those two behind you are not your children! They are just two empty shells used to tempt and manipte you!¡± The struggle on Ivy¡¯s face became more and more apparent. The fingers clutching the handle loosened and tightened then loosened again. Yu Ran was keenly aware of the change in her attitude. Her eyes lit up, and she raised her voice and continued shouting. ¡°You have been tortured for hundreds of years just to prevent the spread of the disease. If you were to be bewitched by the devil now, everything would have been in vain!¡± The shaken expression on Ivy¡¯s face grew even more obvious. A thinyer of scorched ck shell slowly resettled on her body, gradually spreading up to cover her from the bottom of her feet, and she seemed to be returning to her sympathetic human side. But right at this moment, a soft child¡¯s voice sounded from behind her. ¡°Mom.¡± Ivy was startled and she turned to the two children behind her, only to see that they were looking at her with big dark blue eyes and a pure smile on their lips. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be with us forever?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you love us?¡± The expression on Ivy¡¯s pale face slowly hardens, as though she¡¯d just put on ayer of armour. A smile spread on her face, her dark eyes are affectionate yet dull. ¡°Of course I love you, we must stay together forever.¡± Everyone¡¯s nerves were tense to the point of snapping.Mo Yi suddenly reached out and grabbed Yu Ran who was still about to interject again, and his palm stained with half-dried blood, left a dark crimson spot on her light-coloured sleeve. Yu Ran turned to look directly into Mo Yi¡¯s deep eyes, and she paused. Before she could respond, Mo Yi leaned into her ear and whispered a few words. Stunned, Yu Ran¡¯s eyes filled with surprise, but before she could voice her doubts, she heard the children not far away speak to Ivy with a smile in their voices. ¡°Mom, could you sing us a song just like you do every night?¡± Thest traces of struggle on Ivy¡¯s face vanished, and her pale face returned to its emotionless state, her expression stiff and numb. She turned to the crowd again, the cruel killing intent in her dull eyes ring up unconcealed. She gripped the handle of the knife tightly with bluish-white fingers. Red blood cascaded down the de, and the scorched ck shell on her body peeled off again, falling to the ground. She stepped towards the crowd, humming a nursery rhyme softly. ¡°¡­What are little boys made of ? Frogs and snails¡­¡± Cold chills ran through the crowd. They dispersed, turning around and sprinting off despite there being nowhere to hide. All they could do was pray that they wouldn¡¯t be the first one to be found. After all, with so many people, there would definitely be a higher chance of survival if they spread out. But this tiny glimpse of hope in their hearts was quickly snuffed out. Ivy¡¯s figure twisted then slowly dissipated in mid-air. She reappeared beside a yer a few secondster. She raised her stiff arm. The gleaming de in her hand shed. A shrill scream followed, and the captured yer¡¯s wrist and ankle were cruelly severed. Huge streams of blood gushed out from the wounds. White bones protruded from the flesh. The heart-wrenching wailing stung everyone¡¯s eardrums, causing the listeners to tremble involuntarily. Bright, fresh blood stained Ivy¡¯s pale cheeks. Her eyeballs moved stiffly. She lowered her arm, and the blood flowed down along the de, dripping onto the sandy ground which drank it up greedily. Surprisingly, she didn¡¯t continue to kill the wailing yer, didn¡¯t saw through his throat or dig out his knees, but instead, let him roll around in his own blood, as if she had nned to just render him immobile and use him as a vessel for bloodletting. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze lingered on the patch of soil which had absorbed the blood. Ivy slowly dissipated again. Everyone¡¯s hearts were tense, their scalps numb. They ran desperately in the opposite direction, as if that could help them escape Ivy¡¯s sight. Contrary to them, Mo Yi started sprinting towards the blood-rednd in the centre. He tore off the bandage secured around his palm. Clenching his teeth, he shoved his fingers deep into the bloody wound then gave it a sharp yank, mercilessly tearing off arge chunk of flesh. Warm blood burst forth, gushing freely from the open wound, leaving an almost scorching temperature against his icy skin. The agonising pain was so severe that it made Mo Yi¡¯s eyes go dark. The sharp pain stimted his peripheral nerves, tugging at his brain fiercely. The excessive blood loss dulled his thinking. ording to the human skin book, an extremelyrge amount of blood was required for thest stage of the sacrifice. To escape from the copsing sand house earlier, one must release a lot of blood, so the first person Ivy targeted was the yer with the deepest wound and bled the most. But now, that target has changed to him. Mo Yi clenched his teeth. The faint taste of rust permeated his mouth. and his mouth seemed to be filled with a faint smell of rust. As if he could not feel the pain, he pressed his fingertips hard into his wound, and he had already touched the wound under the thin skin. Mori white bones. More blood trickled down his fingers. Sharpening his will, he focused his attention on the only contrasting colour within the wide expanse of blood-red soil in his vision. The tombstone. He had to get as close to it as possible. The air in front of him gradually began distorting, and Ivy¡¯s figure slowly condensed before him. Mo Yi¡¯s shortness of breath was like a raging fire smothering his throat, and his chaotic heartbeat thundered in his ears. The de soared high in mid-air, its cold glint shing in the corner of his eye! Perhaps it was because he had been on guard this whole time, Mo Yi¡¯s reaction was quick. He stopped abruptly, taking arge step back swiftly and dodged that fatal attack! Ivy turned stiffly, her stiff limbs moving clumsily as she prepared to attack him again. Seizing this slight stall in time, Mo Yi met Ivy¡¯s dull expressionless eyes. ¡°I know you are in there!¡± Ivy¡¯s movements halted imperceptibly, and Mo Yi keenly took the chance to open his mouth and hastily spoke. ¡°If you had no self-awareness, you would have cut the yer¡¯s throat open with a single action and let the blood gush out from his arteries. That way, you would have gotten more blood. But you chose to cut his wrist and ankles instead. That can only mean there¡¯s still some conscious part that is resisting!¡± Ivy¡¯s features twitched. Her hands holding the handle of the knife grinded to a stop mid-air. Mo Yi stared closely at her, anxiousness stirring in his heart. He didn¡¯t think his words would be of any use to this soul who was already so deeply influenced. After all, his goal was not to shake her will¡ª Taking advantage of the moment when Ivy was distracted, he yelled. ¡°Now!¡± Right at that moment, a figure shot out like an arrow from the shadows at the corner of the wall! Yu Ran¡¯s eyes brightened. She was holding a kitchen knife which looked exactly like the one in Ivy¡¯s hand, and she rushed towards the two children standing on the blood-red ground with the vigour of someone on theirst breath! After Mo Yi¡¯s whispered instructions earlier, Yu Ran had binded her wrist tightly with the remaining portion of her bandages to limit her rate of blood loss. Then, under the frantic chaos of the escaping yers, she made her way towards the centre of the plot. And the reason why her ns went so smoothly was because Mo Yi had acted as a bait to draw Ivy¡¯s attention with blood. When Ivy noticed the changes in the next moment, her ashen face twisted instantly and her pitch-ck eyes which were shaken by Mo Yi¡¯s words earlier instantly ignited with roaring mes of anger. Her twisted and vicious expression looked terrifyingly weird, and the fierceness rolling in the depths of her eyes instilled an inexplicable fear in everyone. A hoarse roar came from her throat, so raw and guttural that it seemed almost otherworldly. Then, with the ferocity of an angered lioness who had lost her cub, she abandoned Mo Yi who was standing beside her, and set her sights on Yu Ran, rushing straight towards her! Mo Yi drew in a deep breath. He rushed to the open and empty tomb with wide strides¡ª And leapt right into it. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The pungent smell of rust mixed with earth suffused every inhale Mo Yi takes, making it suffocatingly difficult for him to breathe. Every surface was covered in the colour of blood and the rich scent had seemingly coagted and condensed into a solid form. Layers uponyers of vermillion soil formed the inner wall of the tomb. Thick globules of dark red oozed out from within, only to be quickly absorbed by the soil below. Huge scratches with differing thicknesses span the scarlet walls of the dark tomb, crisscrossing with each other to formplicated and strange patterns. Blood gathered in the depressions, forming odd pools with disparate hues. Mo Yi raised his eyes and quickly scanned every inch of the tomb, not missing any details. The pattern before him ovepped with the pattern in the human skin book, and every corner of the pattern gradually became more and more familiar. ¡ªIvy had long known that both her hatred and persistence would gradually be eroded and softened with time, and she would eventually be no different from the other mindless hourly monsters. This sacrifice was like a huge and precise instrument. Once it started running, it was extremely difficult to stop it. So Ivy had never allowed things to go beyond her control. So Ivy had been killing all the yers off before she lost all shreds of her self-awareness, before the situation reached the point of no return. However, just this time, she decided to let them go¡ª Which meant that she left the yers with the right to choose. Ivy¡¯s hoarse, scalding voice seemed to ring by his ears again. ¡°¡­Because I was foolish, so foolish that I still continued harbouring hope.¡± She chose to hold hope in her heart, chose to trust that yers can stop her from losing her mind and bottom line, chose to believe that they could really break this vicious cycle of death, and that was why she told Mo Yi the location of that human skin book. Because that book was the source of everything. And it would be the end of everything too. Even from inside the deep tomb, Mo Yi could hear the sharp ng of metal from the two colliding knives, Ivy¡¯s frenzied roar, and Yu Ran¡¯s pained groans. The dizziness from excessive blood loss surged. Mo Yi gritted his teeth, and did his best to focus on the pattern in front of him instead of the wailing outside. He had already engraved the contents of the page tucked into the human skin book deeply into his mind, from every word to every sentence, to every single picture on it. His gaze fell on a corner of the tomb, and his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡ªRight here. He pressed his injured hand to the soft and wet soil in the tomb and reached his other hand out to the middle of the pattern. It happened to be between the deformed goat skull and the inverted pentagram. The colour of the soil there was such a deep dark scarlet that it had morphed into a rich ck, and was easily missable if one did not look carefully. Mo Yi forcefully reached forward, pushing his palm against the wall. The damp soil was akin to a swamp, bubbling with a thick viscous dark red fluid as it greedilytched onto his arm, and more than half of his arm swiftly sunk into the wall. His bloody palm sank deeper and deeper in, and the soil sucked the blood out from his open wound.. His temperature plummeted with each drop of warm blood lost, his body turning ice-cold. Mo Yi lifted his increasingly heavy eyelids, tightly pursing his paper-white lips as he focused his blurry sight fiercely at a singr point in the tomb. Streaks of red soil stained his pale face, making him look unbearably pitiful at this moment. Darkness encroached the corners of his vision, bringing with it a wave of drowsy dizziness. Mo Yi shook his head from side to side. He sunk his teeth harshly into his lips, trying to use pain to keep thatst bit of his consciousness as he groped around in the moist and soft area of soil. Cold, heavy, dizzy. The sluggishness from excessive blood loss dragged his remaining consciousness into the abyss. It felt like falling into a deep icy river, a cier, where the coldness numbed all of his senses and left him with only mechanical movements. And at this moment, his stiff fingertips struck something hard in the soil. A spark of hope lighted up Mo Yi¡¯s heavy-lidded eyes. With all the strength he could muster, he curled his frozen and numb fingers around the object buried in the soil and yanked it out! A small book sprung up from under the blood-covered soil. As if to make up for his hazy vision, Mo Yi forced his eyes open as wide as he could and tried to identify the cover of the book in his hand¡ªit was an old tattered collection of nursery rhymes. When he had been analysing the human skin book earlier, he triedbining the Latin text on the book and the messy English footnotes on the paper in an attempt to piece together critical details. The sacrificial ritual required a medium, and that object must be the one which formed the deepest bond between Erica, John and Ivy. ording to what the two children said to Ivy just now, she would sing nursery rhymes to them every night before bed¡ªand that was why Ivy chose it as the medium. Mo Yi took a deep breath, trying his best to stay conscious, and reached into his trouser pocket. Numb fingers that had almost lost their sense of touch fumbled with difficulty, and pulled out the lighter that he had kept with him since the first instance. The whistling wind, screaming, and ethereal singing all seemingly merged into one singr sound, that whenbined with his pained panting and chaotic heartbeat, melted into white noise which sounded as if it came from a great distance away. Mo Yi¡¯s fingertips trembled. A dry ¡®crack¡¯ sparked in the constricted space, and he finally ignited the fire after several attempts. A tiny orange-red me danced in his palm, but it was far too small to bring him any warmth. The tongue of fire licked the edge of the yellowed and damp pages of the book, slowly snaking its way upwards. Then, at a certain point, bright mes sprang up all of a sudden and fiercely began devouring the entire book. Mo Yi feebly loosened his grip. The burning book fell from his hand onto the bright red soil, and the smell of burning paper twined with the scent of blood. A familiar robotic voice sounded next to his ears. ¡°Congrattions yer Mo Yi, you havepleted the side mission¡ª¡± The remaining robotic voice slowly faded away together along with the terrifying screams outside. Themotion could no longer rouse Mo Yi from his state of cold and dark semi-consciousness. He tried struggling a few times, but he couldn¡¯t resist the intense weight that dragged him right down into the icy sea. The soil around him began squirming violently. Arge amount of viscous, freezing cold blood poured out from the depths, colliding into Mo Yi¡¯s side like a wave and slowly started to fill the entire tomb. Mo Yi no longer had the strength to struggle. His blood loss had stolen away everyst trace of warmth and vitality in his body. The promise of eternal rest and cold death came hand in hand, slowly upying his body. Arge amount of blood pooled around him, submerging Mo Yi¡¯s body and limbs, and slowly covered his mouth and nose. Perhaps due to the onset of hypothermia, even the cold blood felt a little warm. The sense of suffocation washed over him, flooding him with a wave offort. Just at this moment, a warm and dry hand gently lifted his neck, bringing his mouth and nose up and away from the rising pool of blood in the tomb. Mo Yi parted his lips in a daze. He struggled to open his eyes too, but failed. Something warm and tender pressed against his cold pale lips. An equally warm liquid slid into his mouth and down his throat. The familiar taste of blood permeated his mouth, leaving a trail of scalding heat so blisteringly hot that it almost made him shiver. Mo Yi choked on the hot blood that kept pouring into his mouth, and coughed violently. The palms patted his thin back lightly several times to soothe him. That weird blood slid down Mo Yi¡¯s oesophagus, and the warmth and vitality it brought along quickly flowed out to his extremities and deep into his bones, instantly warming his cold palms. Strength returned to Mo Yi¡¯s limbs. He moved his eyelids, then opened his eyes¡ªhe was sitting in the tomb with his back leaning against the wall. The tomb was already filled with flowing dark red blood, and ripples formed on its surface with his movements. Zhou Yunchen and several other panting yers rushed towards him, clumsily pulling him out of the blood pool. Their faces were filled with joy and relief. Zhou Yunchen stammered between gasps of breath, but Mo Yi, whose mind was still a little fuzzy, took a long time to react. Mo Yi pushed away the hands supporting him. He parted his lips to speak, but an uncontroble itch from his throat made him break into a violent coughing fit. His thin body arched from the coughs, and his bloodless pallor stained with a sickly shade of red. A trace of bright blood spilled from his lips. Zhou Yunchen, who was standing beside him, was taken aback. He quickly stepped forward to support him, and asked, ¡°¡­Are you okay?¡± Mo Yi blinked, his dark eyes regaining their usual calmness. Without changing his expression, he shook his head and wiped off the blood on his lips. . ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± This blood wasn¡¯t not his. A familiar handsome face surfaced in his mind. The cold and sharp angles of the face were full of aggression, and the light-coloured irises were shrouded in the colour of a thick mist. Mo Yi lowered his eyes slightly. He pursed his pale and bleeding lips, before swallowing the remaining bloody smell into his throat. ¡°Where¡¯s Yu Ran?¡± He couldn¡¯t have carried out his earlier n without Yu Ran. The danger she faced was also thergest of them all¡ªthose two children were Ivy¡¯s greatest weakness but they were also Ivy¡¯s reverse scale. Trying to harming them was akin tomitting suicide. Zhou Yunchen turned his body sideways and allowed Mo Yi to look behind him. Not far away, Yu Ran was half lying on the ground, her face paper-white. Half of her arm was missing, and her lower body was utterly drenched in blood. Zhou Yunchen added, ¡°Her arms and lower body were seriously injured. However, as long as she survives, the wounds she received in the instance will not be brought to the real world, so she only needs to survive for a few more minutes until she leaves the instance.¡± Mo Yi was relieved upon hearing that Yu Ran¡¯s life was not in imminent danger. He couldn¡¯t muster any extra strength to answer Zhou Yunchen, so he just replied with a slight nod. Immediately afterwards, he paused, his attention shifting to something not far away. Ivy, covered in blood, slumped to the ground in a pile. Blood-soaked dismembered body parts fell onto the ground beside her. The head and arms of yers, the stomach of the spider, and the paws of the cat¡­ The sacrifices disappeared, and the once youthful-looking limbs on the children were now reverted to their previous fragmented appearance. They could no longer maintain the image of those two innocent children. Ivy kept her head lowered and her expression was hidden. All they could see was her gently patting the fragmented corpses in her arms with her blood-stained palms. She sang softly. Onest, final nursery rhyme for her children. Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Mo Yi raised his head and nced at the sky. A bright blue countdown timer was hanging in the pitch-ck darkness, its numbers slowly sliding towards the finish line, counting the passage of time in an orderly manner: 00:03 : 21 This instance was finallying to an end. Mo Yi let out a long breath. His cold limbs were sore and limp, and the sheer clothing damp with drying blood was ufortably crusted to his body like a second skin. He shifted his fingers, feeling as though he¡¯d recovered a little. At least there was some heat in his palm, and it was not as cold and numb as before. Furthermore, there was still that warm, salty, and rusty taste lingering in the mouth. Mo Yi lowered his gaze with mixed feelings in his heart. Taking in a deep breath, he climbed to his feet, staggering and wobbling. Mo Yi shook his head, declining Zhou Yunchen¡¯s outstretched hand. He walked up to Yu Ran who was half lying on the ground and asked in a hoarse voice, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Yu Ran nced up with a weak smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I won¡¯t be dying yet.¡± Mo Yi raked his gaze down to the wound on her body, and he roughly understood what happened. Although Yu Ran¡¯s injuries were serious, she probably used some small props she¡¯d exchanged with points. In addition, thisnd no longer actively sucked human blood, so Yu Ran¡¯s wounds were not bleeding much anymore. And perhaps it was because of the difference in their physical conditions, Yu Ran who¡¯d lost nearly half of her body, still looked to be in a better shape than Mo Yi. Mo Yi¡¯s expressionless face softened slightly, and he lowered his voice to Yu Ran. ¡°Thank you.¡± It wasn¡¯t easy for Yu Ran to cast aside all her doubts in such a dangerous situation earlier and choose to blindly follow his suggestions. Mo Yi knew better than anyone else how much courage and trust one had to muster up just for it. Yu Ran smiled, staring up at him closely with her dark brown eyes and a serious expression on her pale face. ¡°We should be the ones thanking you.¡± Her eyes were as bright as a mirror. ¡°Without you, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to find any clues in this instance, let alone having so many yers survive until the end.¡± The yer who was supporting Yu Ran to her feet subconsciously trembled at the memory, fear clouding his eyes. The degree of danger in this instance was far beyond the imagination of many yers. Yet somehow, despite the insurmountable difficulty, other than the one yer who had his limbs chopped off by Ivy and his blood sucked dry by the soil, all the other yers were actually still alive. And the reason for this was Mo Yi. Aplicated expression flitted over the eyes of that yer supporting Yu Ran. His throat bobbed, not knowing what to say. Mo Yi did not notice there were suchplicated thoughts running through the other yers¡¯ minds. Instead, he merely shrugged his shoulders nomittally and brushed the gratitude off before turning away. He hesitated for several seconds, before stalking off in Ivy¡¯s direction. Ivy, who was seated limply on the ground like a broken stone sculpture, seemed to have sensed Mo Yi approaching. Her body twitched, slowly tightening her arms around the pile of dismembered body parts, then raised her head. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know what to say to her, so he merely stared into her pitch-ck eyes in silence. A smile appeared on Ivy¡¯s lifeless and ashen face. ¡°¡­It seems I¡¯m not as foolish as I thought I was.¡± Mo Yi froze. He lowered his eyes, long eyshes fanning over his dark eyes, and answered her with a seemingly unrted titude. ¡°Those who believe in hope will never be foolish.¡± The scorched shell slowly patched itself back onto Ivy¡¯s body, and an unpleasant smell of burnt flesh began emanating from her. This time, the burnt marks slowly snaked up onto her features too, carving deep marks into her cheeks as they spread across the rest of her body. Yet her expression remained calm, maybe even a little relieved. ¡°I am a product of this sacrificial ceremony. If this ritual disappears, I will disappear too.¡± ¡ªThis result was not surprising to Mo Yi. He subconsciously pursed his lips and stayed silent. Ivy lowered her face. She gathered the dismembered body parts into her arms with her scorched and twisted palms, as if she was tucking them in. Her voice was hoarse and harsh, like fingernails scraping across ss, but the underlying emotion was clear in every single syble. ¡°I¡¯m a murderer. I will be going to hell, but these children should stay with God.¡± ¡­we will never meet again in life or in death. There were no more traces of unblemished skin left on Ivy¡¯s face. She now resembled a twisted, burnt corpse. Just when she finished speaking, the scorched tar covering her skin cracked, splitting apart with severalrge gaps. Then, with a soft rustle, her carbonised body dissolved, crumbling into a pile of dark residue onto the scarlet soil. Mo Yi took in the sight of the ck and rednd. Then he exhaled a long breath of foul air and turned his gaze back up to the glowing blue countdown suspended overhead. 3 2 1 Right when thest digit of the countdown changed into 0, Mo Yi¡¯s vision went dark, and his limbs promptly lost strength. All the sounds around him disappeared, leaving only the familiar robotic music chimed in the ears. ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape!¡± After a long unknown period which could have been a mere second or a long century, Mo Yi slowly opened his eyes. Unlike the previous two instances where he was back in reality upon opening his eyes, this time Mo Yi found himself still enveloped in darkness. He blinked his eyes in a daze. However no matter whether he kept his eyes open or closed, there was still no light in his retinas and he did not know where he was or what time it was. It even took Mo Yi a long time to realise that he had regained his consciousness. He tried to move his arms. There was still sensation in his limbs, but his body seemed to be surrounded by some sort of warm liquid, suspending him in mid-air. Just when Mo Yi was taking stock of his situation, a female voice suddenly sounded in the empty darkness. It was different from the robotic female voice which always appeared in the instance. Although this voice was still calm and indifferent, it sounded like that of a real human. ¡°Congrattions to yer Mo Yi for passing the membership test dungeon. You have now sessfully joined the Senior Member Club.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s breathing stagnated. A thousand of bizarre conjectures about the Senior Member Club emerged in his mind. The voice continued. ¡°The results of the instance are being calcted¡­¡± Fluorescent blue spots which were extraordinarily clear in the thick and endless darkness appeared before his eyes, gathering to form characters. [Difficulty of this dungeon is A+] [Comprehensive evaluation of yer ability: S-] The voice rang again. ¡°ording to theprehensive evaluation of the three dungeons you have experienced, your exceptional skills have advanced you into a B-level senior. Please continue working hard.¡± Mo Yi, who was floating in the darkness, stretched his limbs into afortable position, and asked, ¡°How many levels are there in the Senior Member Club?¡± The voice replied without hesitation, ¡°S, A, B, C, and D. There are five levels, and the new members of the club are all at D-level.¡± Mo Yi nodded thoughtfully: it seems that he became a B-level as soon as he came in. This was indeed arge advancement. He continued to ask, ¡°How many people are there in the Senior Member Club?¡± The voice replied without hesitation, ¡°Insufficient permission.¡± Mo Yi did not trust the honesty of the system anyway, so he quickly changed the subject, and continued asking, ¡°What permissions do B-level members currently possess?¡± The darkness before him was instantly lighted up by fluorescent blue. The dots of light converged, forming a magnificent scene, and the intensity of the light caused tears to well up in the eyes of Mo Yi, who had yet to adjust to the brightness. The voice sounded again. ¡°The main privileges of B-level members of the Senior Member Club are: The B-level member store is officially open for you, and you can choose to visit it before entering the instance. After the instance begins, you will get one chance to use the store. Purchased items will be delivered to you immediately without any dys. And there are more benefits waiting for you to discover!¡± Along with this robotic female voice, the fluorescent blue spots in the sky change rapidly, forming different illustrations one after another. Theyout felt just like a ridiculous promotional brochure. Mo Yi paused, and finally voiced the question which had troubled him for a long time. ¡°Before the membership test copy was opened, there was a mention of a final prize. What¡¯s the final prize?¡± The voice replied without hesitation, ¡°Insufficient permission ¡± Mo Yi furrowed his brows¡ªthis game is really too stingy. The information is so closely guarded, and even the rewards and privileges after bing a B-level member still had their own set of restrictions and further conditions. Without waiting for Mo Yi¡¯s response, the voice continued speaking into his ear. It vibrated into his eardrums and the mass of coloured spots before his eyes parted. All other lights and shadows, sounds and colours in this space felt as though they dimmed and muffled, as though they were suddenly plunged into the deep and cold ocean, and separated from his consciousness by a membrane. Only the amplified voice was still crystal clear. ¡°The three questions limit for new members of the Senior Member Club have been exhausted, and the yer will now be transmitted back to reality¡­¡± There was a limit of only three questions?! And even the two with ¡®insufficient permission¡¯ were counted too?! What sort of shitty game is this?! Mo Yi¡¯s vision went dark, as if his thoughts were suddenly yanked out of his mind and tossed into the spinning drum of a washing machine. He couldn¡¯t see anything, couldn¡¯t touch or feel anything. After an unknown period of time, Mo Yi woke up from the dense darkness. The scorching sun shining through the half-covered curtains fell upon his eyelids, prating into his retina with a dazzling crimson that made him squint involuntarily. He could smell the familiar scent of his room, and feel the soft bed under his body¡ª This bed was like a respawn point in an online game. No matter where he was teleported from, he would always wake up here. Mo Yi blinked his eyes wearily. He felt a familiar cold and sticky feeling from his body. It was the ufortable sensation of having his sweaty shirt sticking to his body. Frowning, he sat up from the bed. Following almost immediately was an unexpected voice in his ear, sting his thoughts into a muddy mess. ¡°You are awake?¡± Mo Yi turned his neck stiffly, looking towards the direction of the voice¡ª And his gaze collided into a pair of familiar light grey eyes, so deep, condensed, and frigid, akin to a ravine shrouded in ayer of clouds. T/N: Bonus chapter for this week because it¡¯s thest chapter of this arc and I didn¡¯t want to leave it on a cliffhanger. Enjoy! (The next chapter will be Mo Yi¡¯s third return to reality, and the next instance arc will be starting around chapter 91) Chapter 85

Chapter 85

The tall man was standing at the foot of the bed. Sunlight streaming into the room from the window coated his extremely handsome features with ayer of brilliant gold, and his pair of light grey eyes took on the shade of pale molten amber. He nced down at Mo Yi with his half-lidded eyes. His light-coloured eyshes seemed to be covered with a sprinkle of gold powder. The usual calm and restrainedposure of Mo Yi, who was sitting on the bed, seemed to have cracked a little. He stared dumbfounded at the man who shouldn¡¯t have been able to materialise out in reality, and his words faltered. ¡°You, you¡­¡± The Mist¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He took a few steps closer, knees almost touching the shallow folds of the soft fabric sheets on the bed. He said without missing a beat, ¡°Are you going to take a bath?¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡­¡± ??? Although he would take a shower every time he came out of an instance, but being asked straight to the face like this¡­ made the sentence sound so wrong! Mo Yi took a deep breath topose himself, and then said, ¡°You¡­why are you¡­¡± To think that someone as astute as him would have the day when he was tongue-tied and unable to find the right words to express his current emotions and situation. The corners of the Mist¡¯s eyes lift and his stern facial features softened slightly. He replied, ¡°Do you still remember what happened when the first instance ended?¡± Some broken and scattered images shed across Mo Yi¡¯s mind instantly. He recalled being enveloped by ayer mist, recalled seeing the man¡¯s tall figure through the darkness, recalled the sensation of his cold neck and the thick smell of blood overflowing between his lips and teeth. He had an urge to facepalm¡ªso it was because of this. Mo Yi¡¯s long-standing conjecture was finally verified, but he couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be happy. Before the end of the first instance, he ingested the blood of the Mist, and as a result the Mist was able to materialise in the real world and deleted the message Jiang Yuanrou sent to him. And in the instance that just ended, he was force-fed blood just before he went into a hypovolemic shock, and now the Mist could turn into his human form and appear in front of his bed. Seeing that Mo Yi had understood even the unspoken portion of his exnation, the Mist could not help but raise the corners of his lips. ¡°Now my strength in the real world is still very weak. I can only maintain my current form for a few hours a day before falling into a deep sleep.¡± Mo Yi took arge breath, feeling that his already aching head was starting to ache even more. He raised his eyes and nced at the Mist who was standing at the head of his bed. Mo Yi rubbed his neck which was sore from being raised for too long, then shifted further into the bed and motioned for the Mist who had been standing all the time, to sit down. He asked hesitantly next. ¡°Does this mean¡­you are bound to me now?¡± The Mist lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. The soft mattress sank with his movements, and the wrinkles on the sheets spread. He nodded. Mo Yi instinctively raised his hand to rub his swollen temples, then continued to ask. ¡°Was the binding by default?¡± The Mist looked at him with light-grey eyes half-hidden by the sunlight-sprinkled golden eyshes. Although there was no expression on his face, the answer was very crisp. ¡°Yes.¡± He paused, then continued, ¡°From the moment you tasted my blood, a part of myself was naturally bound to you.¡± What happened in the first instance surfaced in his mind vividly again. At that time, there were serious injuries on his calf and several other locations on his body. If it were not for his high pain tolerance, he might have already passed out by then. Since that school was not a real building like the other two instances but the materialisation of Zhao Qin¡¯s resentment, the building fell apart after he¡¯dpleted the side mission. The mist that surged around him thereafter didn¡¯t kill him, but instead. gave Mo Yi his blood. Mo Yi recalled that vague memory of his almost abnormally manic state at that time, and slowly frowned¡ª But was that to help him or to trap him? A chill flooded the space between his brows. Mo Yi was stunned by the sudden coldness and lifted his gaze. The Mist calmly drew his finger back from Mo Yi¡¯s forehead, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t frown.¡± Mo Yi curbed the faint look of astonishment on his face, and forced the doubts in his heart back down into the bottom of his heart. Some questions, even if he were to ask them now, cannot be answered. Moreover, judging from the current situation, he¡¯d probably have to stay with this non-human being for quite some time, so it wouldn¡¯t be wise to be so confrontational now and sour their rtionship. ¡ªBesides, the Mist has yet to do him any harm, and can even be said to have saved him many times. Although it was still impossible to tell whether the other party is a friend or foe for now, he was not ungrateful enough to forget that the other party had saved his life many times. Mo Yi sighed inwardly, then rolled over and got out of bed. He casually took his mobile phone and unlocked it. But except for the information sent by Shen Lei and Wang Zezhi asking him to report his safety when he came back, there were no other notifications or news. There was still no news from Jiang Yuanrou and Jiang Yuanbai. Mo Yi held the phone tightly with his fingers. Although there was no visible emotional change on his pale, bloodless face, his eyes had gotten so dark that they couldn¡¯t be illuminated or warmed by the morning sun. He put the phone back down, and picked up the snow-white paper that was left after every instance. On the white and delicate paper, there were several lines in ck text: ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape. Thank you for your participation. We wish you a happy life.¡± Mo Yi flipped to the back and read. ¡°The next game will begin in 15 days. yers, please use the time to get ready.¡± At the bottom of, there was another line of small words: ¡°Congrattions forpleting the side mission. You can receive side mission rewards when you enter the game next time. I wish you a happy game.¡± Other than the longer rest period this time, nothing else has changed. Mo Yi put the piece of paper back down. His eyes fell on the ground and he couldn¡¯t stifle his surprise. Beside where he¡¯d found the teddy bear previously, there was now a small dusty box. There were no patterns on the box, making it look seemingly inconspicuous. Mo Yi had seen this kind of box before¡ªit was from the novice gift pack in his backpack. He bent to pick up the box, and his slender fingertips deftly opened the packaging, revealing the contents inside. A small card fell out of the lid. Mo Yi picked up the card and read the words on it carefully. ¡°Dear senior member club members: In this box are your store purchases before thest instance. Please check the contents carefully. We hope you had a joyful time shopping.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up, his pale cheeks flushing with a hint of colour. He quickly scanned the list from top to bottom¡ªthese were indeed props he bought before the start of thest instance. He put the list aside and looked at the bottom of the box, where he found several smaller packages and a tiny ss ball. Mo Yi pulled out the ss ball, gently rubbing its smooth and cold surface with his fingertips, and lifted it to take a closer look. The transparent ss bead seemed to be filled with ever-changing light spots, which flowed slowly in the sphere along with the movement of his fingertips, looking ethereal under the light. Almost instantly afterwards, the small ss ball softened between his fingertips, as though its surface had been melted by his body temperature. It seeped into his skin, disappearing without a trace, and shocked Mo Yi. He subconsciously rubbed his empty fingertips together. Before he coulde to terms with what just? happened, a short message suddenly appeared in his mind. ¡ªIt was a short message, its contents simr to the manuals that came with the props in the other smaller boxes. These props can be crushed when needed. Although there is no limit to their number of uses, the cooldown was terribly long, and you couldn¡¯t use another prop within the next 24 hours. Furthermore, it will put the yer in a debuff state which cannot be overwritten, and the type of debuff as well as duration of debuff were random. Mo Yi lowered his fingers, which had turned somewhat cool, and his heart felt a little heavy momentarily. He knew that it wasn¡¯t possible for this game to give yers any advantages. Even this manual that came with this ss bead was one of the privileges of B-level members, and wouldn¡¯t be given to non-members even if they were to exchange for the prop with points. Without these fundamental details of the prop¡ªjust the side effects alone may be enough to kill the yer in an instance. Infuriated, Mo Yi stuffed the list of props back into the box and tossed it onto his bedside table. He straightened up, rolling his shoulders. A familiar soreness and exhaustion hit him, and the half-dry cold shirt stuck ufortably against his skin. Mo Yi pulled several changes of clothes from his closet, and was about to enter the bathroom when he suddenly halted and turned to nce at the bed. The Mist was seated there, with the morning sun streaming in from the window behind him. His quiet face and straight back were blurred in the bright golden light, and he remained staring straight at Mo Yi with his light grey eyes. It seemed¡­a little cute? A trace of guilt twinged Mo Yi¡¯s heart. He felt like a bad host who treated his guests poorly. Mo Yi gave him a small smile. ¡°I¡¯ll take a shower first. You can just do whatever you want, in the refrigerator there¡¯s¡ª¡± Mo Yi trailed off. He remembered that there was nothing in his refrigerator. And the Mist was obviously not a human. Who knew what it used as sustenance? Mo Yi hesitated for a few seconds. However, the desire to take a bath surpassed everything else, so he took his mobile phone and unlocked it, and handed it to the other party. ¡°Why don¡¯t you y Snakes for a while?¡± The Mist, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Mo Yi turned on the faucet. The cold water sshed continuously into the smooth porcin white sink, the crystal clear water droplets reflecting the lights above his head. He slid his palm into the column of water and the cold water trickled between his fingers and along his knuckles, the impact against his skin bringing slight twinges of pain. The water slowly became warm, then hot. Snow-white water vapour rose slowly from the water collecting in the basin. The back of his pale hands and fingertips were slightly reddened by the temperature. Mo Yi scooped the water to wash his face. The moderately hot water awakened every inch of skin on his face, the heat slowly diffusing deep into the flesh along the ces of contact between his fingertips and face. Even after leaving the instance, the bone-deep chill resulting from extreme blood loss still had yet to disappear. The cold felt as if it came from within him, as if the insides of his body were still exposed to a bout of whistling cold wind, as if his soul was still being eroded by exhaustion and pain. This was the result of a near-death experience. His endurance was strong enough to make him appear unaffected before others, even if his cold fingertips were trembling. Mo Yi took the towel hanging next to the sink and wiped his face hastily. Feeling his nerves being warmed up by the hot water, he exhaled deeply then took off his clothes. The warm water vapour condensed on his skin, forming tiny glistening water droplets. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes froze. His gazended on a specific location in the mirror¡ªthe ribbon that was a gift package for beginners was still wrapped around his wrist. Lowering his head, he untied the ribbon. The texture of the cloth was as smooth as flowing water, and with it being warmed from his body temperature, it was increasingly easy to untie. Mo Yi paused when he was just about to put it on the washstand beside him. The silver-white cloth rippled with his movement, revealing a bloodstain. It resembled a sudden hint of crimson seeping into gentle white snow, or the vermillion tail of a red fish tumbling in the snow-white waves. He was taken aback: rationally speaking, blood from injuries sustained in the instance would not be left on the yer¡¯s clothes when they returned to the real world. Mo Yi unfolded the long ribbon. There were several bright red threads running through the shiny silver-white surface, from one end all the way to the other, which looked extraordinarily beautiful. He counted, there were three red threads in total. ¡ªAnd he happened to have entered three instances. Mo Yi pursed his pale lips. The steam had imbued his bloodless face with a sickly flush, and his deep ck eyes with a film of moisture. Interesting. He hooked the corners of his lips up. cing the ribbon on the washstand, he stepped in and turned on the shower. The rushing current of water fell on the top of his head, warming his body up as it dispelled the sticky feeling of sweat on his body. Mo Yi opened the door, dripping water from the strands of wet ck hair clinging to his cheeks. The warm water vapour and the faint scent of shampoo escaped through the gap. He looked to his bedside. The Mist was still sitting there. His aggressive facial features were expressionless, his eyelids drooping slightly, and his pale slender fingers were sliding across the lit screen. Sound effects from Snakes red loudly through the empty room. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He honestly didn¡¯t expect that the other party would really obediently y Snakes while waiting for him to finish taking a bath. Having noticed the door opening, the Mist nced over. His fingers halted and the sound of a snake biting its tail followed¡ªGAME OVER. Mo Yi felt his interest piqued. He tossed the towel on his head, casually wiping his dripping hair as he walked over to the Mist and pulled his mobile phone out from the opponent¡¯s hand. He gestured with his chin. ¡°Shift a little over.¡± Stunned, the Mist numbly moved. Mo Yi sat down next to him. Holding the cold metal case of the phone with fingers warmed by the water vapour, he tapped the screen with his slender fingers and restarted Snakes. The moist fingertips were a light shade of pink from the shower. They danced flexibly on the screen of the phone, their reaction speed surprisingly quick. The Mist¡¯s light grey eyes darkened, staring at him intently. Mo Yi had his head lowered, his damp ck hair sticking to his fair profile, his lips pursed into a tight line. Light and shadow shed across his dark eyes along with the movements on the small screen in his hand. The clean scent from his body mixed with the light fragrance of his shampoo, resembled the calming smell of grass in the forest after a bout of rain, warm and intoxicating. There was a flicker in the depths of the Mist¡¯s eyes, and he imperceptibly drew a little closer. A brief heat came from the point of contact between their limbs. He could hear Mo Yi¡¯s shallow and regr breathing, see the fine hairs on the man¡¯s profile, dyed golden in the morning light. A small smile flitted across the Mist¡¯s eyes. He lowered his head to focus on the flickering screen in Mo Yi¡¯s hand. It seemed ratherical. The monotonous sound effects of the game filled the silent room. Two normal-sized adults were squeezed together on the same bed, both staring intently at the monochromatic Snake interface on the screen, one ying and the other watching. Mo Yi¡¯s finger flicked across the screen a few times. The long monochromatic body of the greedy snake finally filled the entire screen, and a cheerful jingle leapt out as the game interface flickered. YOU WIN! Mo Yi raised the corners of his lips, showing a smile, and raised his hand to show the Mist the screen in his hand. His dark eyes were lit up with a simple child-like happiness. He tossed his heated phone back to the Mist, then stood up and? rolled his somewhat stiff shoulders. ¡°This kind of graphics game is morefortable to y on the old-fashioned flip phone. It¡¯s a pity that flip phones and this game are gone now.¡± Mo Yi paused, and then continued to exin. ¡°The Snake in my phone was programmed and imported by myself. Though it might be quite difficult to y it on the touch screen interface, it¡¯s still pretty doable after getting used to it.¡± Mo Yi bent at the waist, picking up the wet towel that he had tossed on the bed earlier, and frowned at the resulting wet patch left on the wrinkled and soft bed. He seemed to think of something, and looked at the Mist. ¡°Do you want it? A mobile phone?¡± Mo Yi paused, then added, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about money.¡± As an ex-top hacker in the world, money was just a bunch of meaningless numbers in his bank ount. He didn¡¯t even need to do anything more, the money he¡¯d earned before his retirement was enough for him to squander for several lifetimes. It was just that he didn¡¯t have much material desire so he hadn¡¯t used much in the past few years. Yet before the Mist could answer, Mo Yi had already shaken his head. ¡°The ones sold on the market are too restrictive and unsafe. I¡¯d better go and customise one for you.¡± There was a hint of a suppressed smile in the depths of the Mist¡¯s eyes. He stood up, taking the wet towel from Mo Yi. With a slight movement from his slender fingers, the dampness evaporated instantly, leaving the surface of the towel dry and soft again. He ced the dry towel back on Mo Yi¡¯s head and wiped his damp hair. ¡°Can it be the same as yours?¡± Mo Yi was stunned by the towel suddenlynding on his head and subconsciously leaned away, avoiding the hands reaching out to him. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s fine.¡± The Mist¡¯s stern facial features softened, his light grey eyes narrowing in satisfaction. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Mo Yi subconsciously wiped at his half-dry hair with the towel on his head, then pulled the dried towel away and held it up between his fingers curiously. ¡°You dried this?¡± The Mist nodded. A hint of interest shed across Mo Yi¡¯s face. He looked up at the Mist and continued asking curiously, ¡°Apart from this, what else can you do in the real world?¡± The other party shook his head and replied calmly, ¡°Nothing else. In the real world, my strength is insufficient. Maintaining this appearance is already a challenge.¡± Mo Yi regretfully touched the half-dry towel in his hand. He did not continue to pursue this topic but just casually slung the towel over his shoulder, and asked as he walked away, ¡°Do you need to eat anything in this state?¡± A maic voice that seemed to have a metallic texture came from behind him. ¡°No need.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s footsteps halted. As though he had just recalled something, he turned back to the Mist who was still standing by the bed, perplexed. ¡°Since we will be bound together for a long time, how should I address you in the future?¡± He still remembered that at the beginning of thest dungeon, he asked Misty¡¯s name, and his answer at that time was: ¡¾I don¡¯t have a name. ¡¿ The Mist had his back to the window. The sunlight streaming in blurred the outline of his slender and straight figure. Chuckling, he replied. ¡°Anything you want.¡± Mo Yi furrowed his brows, pretending to be guileless as he pressed on. ¡°I remember that in the first instance, the hint about you in the game was that you were the nameless fog, but¡­you aren¡¯t the outer god in the Cthulhu mythology, right?¡± The Mist nodded. Mo Yi breathed a sigh of relief and he lowered the guard he had raised since the first instance¡ªording to his understanding of the various aspects of the Cthulhu mythology, if the other party was really the nameless fog in it, then what he should be worried about would be the fate of the entire human race. He had originally intended to continue inquiring further on this topic, but after he opened his mouth, he realised that he couldn¡¯t continue to speak. ¡ªThis game was prohibiting him from delving deeper. Mo Yi¡¯s expression darkened. However, he had just answered a nagging question which had gued him for a long time, so he was in a good mood. He quickly adjusted his mentality and changed the subject. ¡°Then¡­ perhaps you can think of a name yourself?¡± The Mist still had a calm and indifferent expression, but the pair of light grey eyes focusing solely on Mo Yi were nowced with the hint of a slight smile. ¡°Or, you could give me one.¡± The author has something to say: Greedy Snake: You two childish brats. Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Mo Yi was taken aback. This suggestion left him momentarily stumped. ¡ªIn many cultures, names signified ties and were endowed with special meanings. This was especially so in ultism, where real names had power and magic, and exposing one¡¯s real name was equivalent to exposing one¡¯s weakness. And naming something¡­was like binding the two with an invisible bond and responsibility. Mo Yi raised his gaze, carefully scrutinising the Mist, as if wanted to see through all the subtle expressions on his face. The Mist stared back calmly. His light-coloured grey eyes gleamed with a metallic texture in the sun, the expression on his face was sincere, as if what he just said was just an ordinary everyday question like ¡®Where are we going to eat tonight?¡¯ Mo Yi frowned, tightening the corners of his lips. He felt that he was being absurd. Could it be that¡­ he was just thinking too much? Mo Yi took a deep look at the Mist, ruminating, then asked hesitantly. ¡°Are you sure¡­ you want me to name you?¡± The Mist nodded, his light-coloured eyes staring intently at Mo Yi. ¡°Why not?¡± Without waiting for Mo Yi to say something, the Mist continued speaking. ¡°It¡¯s just a title after all, isn¡¯t it? Indeed, in a way, it was so. Mo Yi took a deep breath to clear out all the lingering thoughts in his mind, then nodded resignedly. ¡°Sure, but you can¡¯t nitpick.¡± The Mist took a step closer. He stood at the doorway and smiled at Mo Yi. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Mo Yi pulled his brows together in thought. His gaze lingered on the rays of morning light streaming into the room behind the Mist, and after a long moment, he raised his head. ¡°A single word ¡®Chen¡¯. Is that fine with you?¡± Its intonation was the same as ¡®morning¡¯, and its original meaning was ¡®Pris¡¯. ¡°It sounds good.¡± The Mist¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. The contours of his sharp profile were softened by the soft morning light. He continued, ¡°What about the surname?¡± Mo Yi was troubled. A surname was a meaningful cultural symbol, and giving one randomly seemed inappropriate¡­ He looked up at the Mist, then asked after giving it some thought. ¡°What do you want as your surname?¡± The Mist replied without any hesitation. ¡°Anything¡¯s fine.¡± ¡ªJust as expected. But before Mo Yi could smile wryly and continue pondering, the Mist interrupted. ¡°Are there any characters which left an impression on you?¡± Mo Yi froze in surprise, arching a brow. ¡°What?¡± The Mist borated patiently, ¡°If you really can¡¯t decide, you could just use a character that you have a deep impression of as my surname.¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips. A gloomy look shed across his pale face, and he blinked, expertly hiding his emotions and schooling his expression back into one of peace and tranquillity. ¡°Smell¡­¡± The Mist took a step forward. A smile appeared on his aggressive and handsome face. His eyshes were covered by the morning light, resembling ayer of gold sprinkled upon his cold and hard grey eyes. ¡°Okay, from now on I will be called ¡®Wen Chen¡¯.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart rate sped up. He calmly took a step back, pulling open the distance between them. He smiled, crinkling the corners of his dark eyes, then stretched his arm out, ¡°Hello, this is the first time we are meeting like this. You can call me Mo Yi.¡± His outstretched arm stayed in mid-air, slender and pale, thin and good-looking. The Mist stared at Mo Yi. H¡¯s breathing stagnated. The colour of his light grey pupils deepened slightly. He pursed his lips, then solemnly held Mo Yi¡¯s palm. Their fingertips and the heel of their palms slowly ovepped, the points of contact warming up slightly. ¡°Wen Chen¡­¡± His voice was slightly hoarse. His light-coloured eyes were bright and focused. The tips of his pale ears were stained with a bright blush. In the next few days which followed, Mo Yi lived ording to a schedule. Every day, he went to the fitness vi specially arranged by Jiang Yuanrou for two or three hours, epting the torture of Shen Lei¡¯s friendship, then spent the remainder of his day holed up in the library. More specifically, Mo Yi spent a lot of his time in front of the wooden desk in the city library. He flipped through books in the knowledge fields which might be rted to the game, especially those rted to ult, religion and legends. Regardless of poprity or authenticity, he pulled every single one of these out from the dusty corners of the library. The lights overhead were bright and cold, fully illuminating the entire reading room. Mo Yi sat at a corner of the table. Several huge and heavy tomes scattered on the rest of the table, along with several unopened books stacked together. He looked down at the book in his hand. Thin and pale fingers were holding the yellowed corner of the page. His slender neck was bent, his quiet profile shrouded in half-shadows, his dark eyes focused on the books on the table as his eyes darted quickly through every line on the page. He focused nearly all of his attention on the book before him. The man was enveloped in an unapproachable air. Mo Yi turned to the next page. The slight rustling sound of the pages was quite obvious in the quiet library. Nevertheless, he raised his head slightly, then read down from the top of the page again. Suddenly, Mo Yi¡¯s rapidly scanning eyes paused. He felt something gently scratching the back of his hand. It was soft, like a feather. Mo Yi was taken aback for a moment, but before he could react, he saw the screen of the mobile phone beside him light up by itself, and the keyboard on the screen was automatically typing. [Are you hungry?] Mo Yi nced at the dial on his wrist and btedly realised: it was 7:30 in the evening. Today he arrived at the library at one in the afternoon, and before he noticed it, more than six hours had passed. Only then did Mo Yi feel his empty stomach throbbing slightly, apanied by the dizziness of low blood pressure. But it was still within a tolerable range¡­ After all, it was not umon for him to stay up for several days without rest when writing programmes, so he could easily ignore this level of difort. He nced at the open book in his hand with some struggle in his eyes, before his slender white fingers moved quickly on the screen. [It¡¯s still okay.] [Will leave after reading this chapter.] The other party did not reply. The screen dimmed from inactivity, then wentpletely ck. Just when Mo Yi was about to continue devoting himself to the book again, suddenly, something hard was stuffed into the palm of his hand. The subtle sound of stic was quite distinct in the quiet library. Mo Yi was stunned. He opened his palm, only to see a piece of fruit candy lying in his palm. The brightly coloured and beautiful candy wrapper shone with a faint ss halo under the bright lights of the library. Fruit candy. He recalled the odd question and answer session between the two after the second instance, and couldn¡¯t help but smile. Nimble fingers peeled off the candy wrapper. After a short crinkling of stic, the round candy within was revealed. It was a crystal clear pink under the light and a light fruit aroma emanated. Mo Yi stuffed the candy into his mouth. His cheeks swelled into a round shape, and there was a touch of approachability surfacing on his indifferent and pale face. A sweet taste instantly spread from the tip of his tongue, causing him to subconsciously squint his eyes, with a slight smile on his face. ¡ªStrawberry voured. Another half an hour passed. Mo Yi closed the book with some reluctance. He returned the books he had finished back onto the shelves and stacked the few he was nning to borrow under his arms, and strode towards the door of the library. Under the young librarian¡¯s excited gaze which was full of admiration, Mo Yi deftly ced the books into his backpack, then promptly shot the librarian a courteous smile before leaving. Mo Yi subconsciously nced at his watch and resigned expression flitted across his face. He never thought that he would one day be able to achieve the achievement of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, let alone eating three meals a day regrly and even exercising every day. In addition to the supervision of Shen Lei and Wang Zezhi, the Mist¡ªnow called Wen Chen¡ªhad also made an indelible contribution. So, could he now be considered bound to an old nagging grandma? Mo Yi¡¯s expression was a little pinched. However, fortunately, this old grandma was much easier to fool than Shen Lei and Wang Zezhi, otherwise it would be too ufortable to be surrounded by such a housekeeper who he could never easily be rid of. Just thinking of the ¡®fitness meal¡¯ that Shen Lei forced him to eat, as well as his rigorous fitness n, was enough to make Mo Yi¡¯s muscles and joints start dully aching again. He sighed, then walked towards his apartment. The light in the corridor of the apartment was dim. Mo Yi lowered his head to find his key. The clinking sound of the metal sounded in the quiet corridor, followed by the opening of the door. Mo Yi changed his shoes at the entrance and walked in. . The main lights instantly illuminated the tidy and lifeless room when Mo Yi flicked it on. Mo Yi slid the key into the drawer at the doorway before entering the bathroom to wash his hands. The light streaming into the bathroom was promptly blocked by a tall figure. Mo Yi raised his head, only to see Wen Chen standing at the door. With the backlight, his deep contours of his face appeared blurred, and even his low and metallic voice sounded surprisingly soft. ¡°What do you want to eat?¡± Mo Yi turned off the faucet and casually wiped his palms on a snow-white towel from the rack. He furrowed his brows and pondered for a while, then hesitantly answered: ¡°Porridge¡­?¡± Wen Chen smiled. ¡°Okay.¡± After speaking, he turned and left. The sound of his footsteps was reced by the tinkling of cooking utensils in the kitchen, adding a homely touch of life to the empty and cold room. Mo Yi left the bathroom, casually casting a nce towards the lit kitchen. Wen Chen¡¯s tall figure shuffled under the light. Mo Yi¡¯s expression was a littleplicated¡ªcould this be what it meant to have a caretaker? At this moment, the mobile phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated twice. Surprised, Mo Yi pulled it out and peered at the lit screen. It was a message from Jiang Yuanrou. [Do you have time?] Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Mo Yi stared at the message disyed on the screen, momentarily dazed. Jiang Yuanrou returned from the instance? His dark eyes brightened a little, and his heart moved slightly. If Jiang Yuanrou and Jiang Yuanbai were in the game for this whole period, then the instance they experienced would havested for at least half a month¡ªthis would be very valuable information. He tapped at the screen, replying with a [yeah.] Then, after a short period of deliberation, Mo Yi sent another message. [Are you two okay?] Jiang Yuanrou replied quickly, and her message was very brief, only two words. [Still alive.] ¡ªBut this was not a direct answer to his question. Mo Yi frowned, yet before he could respond again, Jiang Yuanrou sent another message. [We need to meet.] Mo Yi¡¯s fingers resting on the screen paused. They moved away, sliding off to the frame of the device. Wen Chen looked over as if he sensed something. Seeing Mo Yi¡¯s preupied look, he strode over and asked with his light grey eyes narrowed, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Frowning, Mo Yi raised the screen to Wen Chen, and then said in a low voice, ¡°Jiang Yuanrou asked me to see her.¡± Wen Chen nced at the screen, his indifferent eyes flicking across it. Then he fixed on Mo Yi¡¯s pensive expression again, his gaze deepening. ¡°You don¡¯t want to go?¡± Mo Yi shook his head, his light lips pursed into a straight line. ¡°I just feel a little uneasy, after all¡­ As you know, my identity is a bit inconvenient.¡± Wen Chen nodded. He untied the apron he was wearing and put it on the back of the chair beside him. He rolled his broad and slender shoulders slightly, and with no expression on his aggressive face, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Mo Yi nced at him thoughtfully¡ªalthough the Mist seemed unable to fully exert its abilities in the real world, but ording to his usefulness in the second instance, it would indeed be much more reassuring to bring him along. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the apron hanging on the back of the chair¡ªits cotton and linen texture was dyed in contrasting colours, and there were even a few lively cartoon charactersughing on it. Super ugly¡­ Mo Yi¡¯s eyes stayed on it for a moment, and his expression was unreadable. ¡°Did you buy this?¡± After all, he knew what items he had in his apartment¡­ And this was definitely not one of them. Wen Chen, ¡°¡­¡± It was actually a gift from the supermarket downstairs. Before he could open his mouth to exin, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s text message arrived again. [Meet at the fitness vi, ok?] Mo Yi lowered his dark eyes to the phone screen, then sent a word [OK]. He nced at Wen Chen. With his facial expression schooled back to his usual indifferent gentleness, Mo Yi turned his head and smiled at Wen Chen. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± When he reached the foyer of the fitness vi, Jiang Yuanrou was actually standing there, waiting for Mo Yi. Mo Yi felt relieved. The night was dense and cold. Under the cold white light of the streetmps, her slender and thin figure appeared stretched, making it seem as though she had lost a lot of weight. Therge windbreaker on her body made her look small. Mo Yi approached and found that Jiang Yuanrou¡¯splexion was very bad. Herplexion was so pale that it almost appeared bloodless. Her chin seemed a little sharper, in turn, making her light brown eyes look bigger and brighter inparison. Dark shadows lined her under-eyes and she looked as if she hadn¡¯t had a good rest for several days. Seeing Mo Yi approaching, Jiang Yuanrou couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for calling you here in such a hurry¡­ Actually, I was already prepared for you not toe.¡± ¡ªAfter all, their period of partnership was not long, and they both knew that they were still far from being able to trust each other. Mo Yi shook his head, showing a distant smile. ¡°Don¡¯t pay it any mind.¡± Jiang Yuanrou seemed distracted. She inhaled deeply, opened the door to the vi, then turned her head and spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s talk in the room.¡± She entered the vi first. The lights inside were brightly lit, making her back look even more petite and thin against the background. At this moment, ayer of soft mist wrapped around Mo Yi¡¯s palm, rubbing his fingertips lightly, halfforting and half intimately. Mo Yi¡¯s expression remained unchanged. He followed Jiang Yuanrou into the house, then closed the door behind him. Jiang Yuanrou went straight to the couch, and sank half of her body into it. There was a deep trace of tiredness which couldn¡¯t be concealed on her pale face. She took out a pack of cigarettes, twisted one out with her long and thin fingers and held it between her fingertips. Suddenly, she paused, as if she had realised Mo Yi¡¯s existence, so she raised her head and looked at him. ¡°Do you mind¡­?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s gaze paused at the thick blue-ck shadows under Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyes, then shook his head quietly. After getting an affirmative answer, Jiang Yuanrou lowered her head halfway, her long chestnut hair gently drooping down her fair neck. There was the soft metallic click of a lighter, and a bright me flickered at her fingertips. The scent of tobo permeated the air. A coil of smoke rose slowly, blurring her facial features and eyebrows. Mo Yi waited patiently. Jiang Yuanrou seemed to have rxed a lot. She raised the hand that was not holding the cigarette and rubbed her temple, then finally spoke. ¡°Yuanbai and I survived for fourteen days in thest instance.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression remained unchanged, but he did a rough calction in his heart¡ªthe timepse in reality and in the game was one to two, so this meant that they returned to the real world one day after him. He still appeared calm, patiently waiting for Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s next words. Her fingertips trembled twice before she brought the cigarette back for another swig. The reddish fire at the end grew in intensity, followed shortly after by a coil of smoke puffed out between her pale lips. Her expression was still downcast. A forced smile appeared on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s face. ¡°Do you still remember our conversation after yourst instance ended?¡± Mo Yi nodded. Jiang Yuanrou shook the ashes off, and continued, ¡°At that time, I told you that the game instance and parts of reality were interlinked, but all those who search for the connection died in their next instance so I suggested that you better not take the risk to do so.¡± She paused, raising her eyes to look at Mo Yi. The expression on her face dimmed and her pair of light brown eyes looked deep and serious. ¡°Yet you still went. After you got off the ne I did not ask you about the relevant information because firstly, this game will definitely not allow its yers to leak such crucial information, and secondly¡­ What I was more worried about is, if we knew about the connection, then we might have to bear the risk in our next instance too.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s lips twisted into a self-deprecating smile. ¡°Although I have been in this game for so long, I am still a coward deep down.¡± Mo Yi took a slow step forward. The hands by his side twitched as he tried to find a way to offer some words offort. As though to suppress her turbulent emotions, Jiang Yuanrou took another quick puff of the cigarette. She choked on the strong and spicy taste, and began to cough violently. Mo Yi filled a cup from the automatic water dispenser beside him, and slid the warm water in front of Jiang Yuanrou. She stopped coughing. There was a sickly flush on her pale face and tears at the corners of her reddened eyes. She thanked him hoarsely, then put out the cigarette on the ashtray on the table. ¡°¡­I¡¯m actually not very used to the smell of cigarettes. The number I¡¯ve smoked in the past few days after I came back is several times more than what I have smoked in the past decade.¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips. He keenly noticed that from just now, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s sentences all used ¡®I¡¯ instead of ¡®we¡¯. What about Jiang Yuanbai? He kept his doubts in his heart, and remained calm, watching Jiang Yuanrou quietly, waiting for her next words. Jiang Yuanrou continued. ¡°Yuan Bai was very close to me when we were young but we gradually became estranged when we grew up. I wanted to learn how to manage apany, and he also had his own dreams. Furthermore, after I was dragged into this game, I intentionally alienated Yuan Bai even more¡­I am really a very terrible sister.¡± She lowered her eyes and stared at the stter of lights reflected on the surface of the water in the cup. Then, she took a deep breath, and continued. ¡°After his first instance was over, he actually used his own connections to unravel the rtionship between the game and reality¡ªhe had indeed be full-fledged in the past few years, and actually kept mepletely in the dark.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback, and his expression instantly became serious. After he found out the connection between the real world and the game, he chose to start the membership test immediately, so¡­ what about Jiang Yuanbai? Since Jiang Yuanbai did everything without consulting Jiang Yuanrou at that time, he probably didn¡¯t know the hidden dangers involved. Then¡­ the choices he made were likely influenced, and perhaps even misguided and manipted by the biasednguage used by the game. After all, if Mo Yi didn¡¯t know that all of Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s rted friends had disappeared after searching for the truth, he might also have chosen not to start the membership test for the time being, and wait until he gained more props and experience. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s fingertips trembled slightly, causing shallow ripples through the surface of the cooled water in the cup. She narrowed her eyes and continued calmly. ¡°In thest instance, although we made it to the end, Yuanbai did notplete the membership challenge.¡± Mo Yi was stunned. This matter about the membership¡­ the game did not allow yers to divulge any information about it, yet now Jiang Yuanrou was able to talk about it without any hindrance, which meant¡ª Jiang Yuanrou raised her eyes, showing him a pale smile. ¡°Yes, I am now a candidate for the Senior Member Club.¡± Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Next, Jiang Yuanrou told Mo Yi what happened. In thest instance she and Jiang Yuanbai experienced, although they didn¡¯t open the side quest line, they still managed to survive until the end of the countdown. However, when the instance was about to end, Jiang Yuanbai suddenly turned pale and murmured He said to himself: ¡°What¡­ I haven¡¯t finished¡ª!¡± Before he finished speaking, and before Jiang Yuanrou had any time to react, the countdown of that instance reached zero, and when she opened her eyes again, she had already returned to the real world¡ª But Jiang Yuanbai did not. So, Jiang Yuanrou began to search. Although she has been gradually transferring her authority over the past few years, she still had a lot of resources and manpower that can be mobilised. It was only for a brief moment that Jiang Yuanbai was able to keep Jiang Yuanrou in the dark. Under her relentless all-out search, she quickly found out his past whereabouts. ¡ªShortly after Mo Yi left City A, he had also booked a ne ticket to City A. Everything became clear. Her previous concerns could no longer stop her. Jiang Yuanrou searched for the actual location corresponding to the instance she had personally experienced back then, desperately and without hesitation. And so, she also became a candidate for the Senior Member Club. After listening to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s narration, Mo Yi suddenly thought of something. He frowned. ¡°So¡­ which option did you choose for the membership test? Did you start it immediately or chose to enter itter?¡± Jiang Yuanrou showed a wry smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t choose.¡± Mo Yi was stunned. ¡°Didn¡¯t choose?¡± Jiang Yuanrou nodded. She lowered her head to take a sip of cooled water, her face several degrees paler than the white cup in her hands. ¡°Yes, I figured that there might be a trap in this question, so I didn¡¯t make a choice. As a result, it kept repeating the same question in my mind over and over again without stopping¡ªwhether I would like to open the membership test in my next instance. It¡¯s so noisy that I couldn¡¯t sleep for the past two days.¡± Looking at her tired face and the dark eye circles, Mo Yi sighed and refilled her half-empty cup. Jiang Yuanrou ced the cup in her hand on the table. It made a crisp sound. She raised her eyes and looked at Mo Yi solemnly. Her light brown eyes seemed to be half hoping and half worried. She took a deep breath, and then hesitantly spoke. ¡°Would you join me in the next instance¡­ to help me and also save Yuanbai?¡± Mo Yi furrowed his brows, puzzled. ¡°Wait, save him? How do you know that Jiang Yuanbai is still alive?¡± Jiang Yuanrou readily took out a small dusty box from her pocket, and opened the lid, revealing a ss bead which looked exactly the same as the one Mo Yi had received before¡ªexcept that this one appeared a little cloudy, as if covered by dust, and there was a faint red light inside it. She exined, ¡°This is an in-game prop. Yuanbai and I each have one. If it is ck, it means that the other party is dead, and the colour red means that the other party is in a dangerous state.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gaze as she looked at the ss bead was a littleplicated. ¡°It has been like this since I returned to the real world¡­¡± She closed the box in her hand, and rubbed it twice with her white and slender fingers, half nostalgic and half reluctant, then put it back into her pocket. Jiang Yuanrou showed a twistedly calm expression which only she could pull off, and continued speaking in a distracted tone. ¡°Besides, I have done more in these past few days since my return than what I had just mentioned,¡± Mo Yi became interested, gently arching his brows. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°Do you remember what I said before, about having friends who disappeared after investigating the truth? I sent someone to investigate them and found a lot of interesting things¡ª Most of them died in the game, just like any other average yer, and the memory of the people around them were gradually blurred, to the point where they don¡¯t even remember that these people ever existed. However¡­ There were still a few people whose rtives and friends still remember them, and were even searching for them with missing people posters.¡± Jiang Yuanrou leaned forward, staring at Mo Yi with burning eyes, her breathing rapid. ¡°Yuanbai belongs to this second type. Other than us yers, the other ordinary people still remember him.¡± Mo Yi frowned nomittally. A pair of dark eyes narrowed thoughtfully on his pale face. ¡°But how can you be sure Jiang Yuanbai will also be in your next instance?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s shoulders slumped. She closed her eyes tiredly, her petite body sinking further into the dark sofa, making her look thinner and more fragile. Even her voice grew a little erratic. ¡°¡­I¡¯m not sure.¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips, knowing that she must have more to say. After all, for Jiang Yuanrou, a person with such status and ability, to take a gamble toe see him in such a state of vulnerability to ask him to enter the next instance with her, she probably had something up her sleeve. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyshes trembled. She opened and closed her bloodless lips a few times, inhaled deeply, then said in a low voice. ¡°Do you remember the prop I mentioned before? The one where you can use to enter instances with other yers. The one I used this time with Yuanbai was supposed to be thest one in my stock, but I happened to see two more when I refreshed the store before myst instance.¡± She bit her lip, staining it with a hint of red. Her voice was a little hoarse. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯m not sure if it will be of use in our current situation.¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes¡ªhe understood what Jiang Yuanrou meant. The life and death of Jiang Yuanbai who was idle in the instance remained unknown. Moreover, whether this item would take effect was also still unknown. What¡¯s more¡­ In order to know why Jiang Yuanbai didn¡¯t leave the instance, Jiang Yuanrou chose to be a candidate member of the senior member club. Although she has yet to choose when to undertake the exam, she would have to make a choice sooner orter under such high-intensity harassment. And ording to Mo Yi¡¯s past experiences in the instances, no matter which choice Jiang Yuanrou ended up making, her next instance would definitely not be an easy one. Jiang Yuanrou must also understand this point. Her petite figure was bent down, her tired and pale face buried in her cold hands, her entire figure seeming sad and depressed. But when she lifted her face again, she seemed to have stepped back into the persona of the eldest sister of the Jiang family who had grown the entire Jiang family enterprise at a young age, decisive and confident. Jiang Yuanrou took a deep breath, her big light brown eyes regaining a glimmer of strength and resolve. She looked at Mo Yi, her voice soft yet firm. ¡°I only have this one younger brother. I owe him a lot since we were children. No matter how little hope there is, I still can¡¯t choose to give up.¡± Mo Yi squinted his eyes and looked at Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s resolved expression, and admiration flitted across his eyes. Jiang Yuanrou straightened her posture. Her straight back was like a javelin, without any hints of her previous depressed slump. Now, she leaned forward, her dark brown hair slid down her slender neck like waves. Her eyes were full of sincerity. ¡°You are the first yer I have ever seen who¡¯s still alive after bing a candidate member. This is why I came to you this time. I am asking for your help in my own name, in the name of Jiang Yuanrou.¡± Jiang Yuanrou paused, then continued, ¡°Props purchased in the game cannot be exchanged between yers. However, points can be transferred to other yers.¡± Although Mo Yi¡¯s expression remained calm, he was undeniably shocked in his heart. Jiang Yuanrou slightly lowered her eyes, her calm face showing the reason and prudence unique to a businessman. ¡°Of course, the permission to transfer points is also something that has to be exchanged¡ªI am willing to give you seventy percent of all my points if you apany me into the next instance. Furthermore. if I am able to rescue Yuanbai, I will give you fifty percent of the points I get from all my future instances.¡± This condition was not unfavourable¡ªin fact, it could even be regarded as a massive loss for her. After finishing speaking, Jiang Yuanrou took out another small dusty box from her pocket. She opened it, revealing a small ss ball with a radiant glow. She nced up at Mo Yi. ¡°This is an item exchanged in the game. It is a contract. It can guarantee the fulfilment of my promise in the future, and guarantee that I will not do anything that hinders the contract¡ªsuch as harming you.¡± Mo Yi lowered his gaze. He traced his finger along the warm and delicate rim of the cup, then replied abruptly. ¡°Keep your existing points.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was initially startled. She didn¡¯t expect that there would be people who¡¯d bargain down their own benefits. Soon after, she seemed to have finally realised what the other person meant, and a trace of emotion appeared on her face. ¡°¡­does this mean that you agree?¡± Mo Yi nodded. He raised his eyes to look at Jiang Yuanrou. There was a slight smile in his eyes. ¡°No matter how you look at it, Jiang Yuanbai can be regarded as my friend.¡± After the negotiation ended, Jiang Yuanrou drove Mo Yi back to his apartment and drove off after the lights in his room were turned on. Mo Yi removed his thin windbreaker, hung it on a hanger, then with an indifferent expression, he parted the curtain a fraction with his fingertips, and watched Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s car lights moving further away. A familiar deep voice came from behind him. ¡°Your decision was very interesting.¡± Mo Yi turned his head when he heard the voice, only to see Wen Chen standing at the doorway of the room, staring deeply at him with those light grey eyes. With his tall and slender physique and the bright lights pouring down from the top of his head entuating the deep contours of his handsome and ssical facial features, he resembled a stone sculpture with apelling mix of evil and aggression. Mo Yi smiled slightly in response, but didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he simply withdrew from the curtains and sat down on the couch. Wen Chen strode over and sat beside him, looking at him intently with light-coloured eyes. Mo Yi stared at his pale fingertips and replied casually, ¡°The existence of Jiang Yuanrou is a representation of resources, whether it is in reality or in the game. Just by epting the share of her future points is equivalent to binding her to my side, and she would even owe me a favour. Why would I refuse her?¡± His tone was calm and rational, and even held a little flippant fickleness. Wen Chen suddenly leaned forward. His handsome face drew closer, those light-coloured eyes with metallic lustre staring right into Mo Yi¡¯s eyes, as if trying to prate his soul. His voice was like a de, cutting through all the superficial illusions. ¡°¡ªyou don¡¯t care about those points.¡± The smile on Mo Yi¡¯s face subsided a little. He looked back, with an unreadable expression on his handsome face. Wen Chen¡¯s deep voice rippled in the air, its ending as blurred as the night. ¡°You don¡¯t care about life and death. The only reason you want to leave the game is because you don¡¯t want to be controlled, not because of the fear of death.¡± His volume was low, as though he was talking to himself, yet the meaning behind his words appeared to be vast yet vague. Wen Chen stretched out his palm. He gingerly touched Mo Yi¡¯s face with his cold fingertips, as if he was touching some delicate and fragile ss product. ¡°You like danger, that¡¯s why you would ept the binding between us without any reservations.¡± The fingertips withdrew as soon as they made contact. However, the cold feeling still lingered on Mo Yi¡¯s cheeks, slowly seeping into the skin and flesh, spreading down into the bones. ¡°It¡¯s really¡­¡± The rest of his sentence was suddenly blurred. The following words could not be heard clearly, as if they had been cut off, leaving behind only a lingering sound. Wen Chen straightened up suddenly and backed away a little, pulling away from Mo Yi just like the fog blown away from the pine forest after rain. Under the bright light, his light-coloured eyes glowed with a lustre and his well-defined lips formed a graceful arc. He said calmly and monotonously. ¡°¡ªThe porridge is ready. Let¡¯s have dinner.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression, which had always been indifferent and distant, was one of surprise. It was only then that he noticed the thick and sweet aroma of rice radiating from the kitchen, along with the sound of the porridge gurgling in the background of the silent room. It sounded homely, warm. Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Mo Yi stretched out his palm and pulled the towel beside him. His stiff fingers trembled unconsciously, and they sank deeply into the snow-white fluff on the surface of the towel as he mechanically wiped his cold, sweaty forehead. He was panting, his pale face smeared with abnormal flush. Even the corners of his eyes were reddened, making his eyes look as dark and cold as deep, still water. His damp jet-ck fringe was stered on his cheeks. Mo Yi¡¯s whole body appeared to have just been pulled out of water, looking in all ways, like a fish both out of strength and out of water. Someone held out a bottle of water to him from the side. Mo Yi nced at it, said his thanks hoarsely, then epted the drink. Shen Lei stared at Mo Yi solemnly. With his fingers on the equipment at the side, his expression was a bit gloomy. As the fitness coach and nutritionist of these two people, he never gave them exercises which would overly exceeds the limit of their body. This is especially so for Mo Yi, who he focuses mainly on conditioning, then supplemented by training, and did his best to keep the intensity of fitness to a minimum, with the main aim set on enhancing physical fitness. But it was not working. He was not like Wang Zezhi, who constantly came up with new ways to bezy and slip away. Mo Yi had always been very cooperative. He seldomined about how hard and tiring the training was, and would strictly follow the recipes and schedules Shen Lei customised for him. He was the most cooperative student Shen Lei ever had, but there was just¡­ no results. Mo Yi¡¯s weak physical physique seemed to be innate. Shen Lei frowned. He stepped several steps forward and stretched out a hand to support Mo Yi who was shaking a little The arm under his palm was practically skin and bones, and the skin was so cold that he was shocked. There was absolutely no heat on it even after the exercises, but instead, felt as though it was an ice cubeing out of an ice cer. Shen Lei¡¯s fingertips trembled. He still remembered Mo Yi¡¯s answer when he asked about this. Mo Yi had just smiled slightly, and replied casually, ¡°It¡¯s just a congenital deficiency.¡± At that time, Shen Lei was still worried, so he dragged Mo Yi to the hospital for a full body checkup¡ªthe results were that although it was not healthy, there were no serious problems. He was not much different from a frail modern person. But¡­ Why would his customised n for Mo Yi be this useless? Shen Lei couldn¡¯t help but fall into deep doubts about the proficiency level of his skills. Mo Yi had already regained his strength by then. He pulled his arm out of Shen Lei¡¯s grip and smiled, but his face was still as pale as paper. ¡°I¡¯m much better.¡± Shen Lei withdrew his palm. With a face still full of worry, he stood beside Mo Yi with folded arms. ¡°Tomorrow, we will go to a Chinese physician, maybe he can help you treat your constitution.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s whole body froze. His usual demeanour vanishedpletely. There was a forced smile on his face, and his voice was soft. ¡°¡­Brother Shen, can we not go?¡± Shen Lei shook his head coldly. ¡°No. Unless you want to remain physically weak for the rest of your life?¡± Mo Yi has already regained his demeanour. He restrained the emotions which he unwittingly released earlier. His face regained its previous calm and he nodded resignedly. ¡°¡­Okay then.¡± And so, this matter was decided just like that. Mo Yi went to the bathroom for a quick shower. He wiped his body and changed his clothes, then when he came out, he happened to see a familiar car parked outside the vi. His movements stalled with surprise. Next, he quickly packed up, said goodbye to Shen Lei, and left the room with dampness still clinging to him. The early summer sun was scorching hot, hanging in the sky dazzlingly and brilliantly, and quickly evaporated the lingering moisture on Mo Yi¡¯s body. He opened the door, stretched his long legs, and slid into the car as usual. There was a faint smell of tobo in the car. The windows were wide open, the warm wind bringing in with it the clean scent of sunlight and green grass, mixing the threeponents into aplex but not entirely unpleasant smell. Jiang Yuanrou tucked her wavy hair behind her ears. She looked at Mo Yi with a pair of light brown eyes, and smiled slightly. ¡°I heard from Shen Lei that you were done. It was on the way, so I decided to give you a lift.¡± Mo Yi nodded. His tone was gentle and concerned. ¡°How did you restst night? Would driving be too tiring?¡± Jiang Yuanrou paused slightly when starting the car. Her drooping eyshes trembled momentarily, before she raised his eyes as usual and looked at Mo Yi with a smile. ¡°It has gotten much better after that voice disappeared. It was the deepest sleep I¡¯ve slept in these two days.¡± Mo Yi turned to scrutinise Jiang Yuanrou. She was indeed more energetic and her dark eye circles have considerably lightened. The car started slowly and the eleration was smooth. Along with the early summer breeze and of the warm sun on his paleplexion, Mo Yi appeared to have a rare trace of lifeliness on his profile. Jiang Yuanrou casted a sidence at Mo Yi¡¯s still-damp hair, and thoughtfully helped him roll up the car window halfway. Mo Yi, whose eyelids were half closed, noticed Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s movements, and opened his eyes to look over at Jiang Yuanrou. Only to see that she was staring intently at the road ahead, her slender hands firmly holding the steering wheel. Jiang Yuanrou seemed to have noticed Mo Yi¡¯s gaze. She returned it with a quick nce, then suddenly asked,? ¡°Last night¡­why didn¡¯t you let me open the copy of the membership test right away?¡± After Mo Yi returned homest night, he promptly sent a message to Jiang Yuanrou, asking her to choose ¡®do not open for now¡¯. And just after she said her choice, the voice that had been tirelessly harassing her for several days disappeared immediately and finally gave her peace. Mo Yi lowered his eyes again, focusing his attention on the sunny orange re on his knees. His face was calm and unreadable as he exined. ¡°Yuanbai didn¡¯t ask for your opinion back then, so it was very likely that he fell victim to the System¡¯s confusing phrasing and decided not to open the test immediately¡­Since our intention here is to find him, the chances of meeting him will be higher if we made the same choice as he did.¡± Jiang Yuanrou also thought of this. After all, she knew her brother very well and could guess the choice he made back then. But¡­ Their hope of finding Jiang Yuanbai was mainly pinned on the props exchanged from the store and not on the choice of opening the membership test copy. And more importantly,st night, Mo Yi said that he had chosen to start the test immediately. So it must be safer to make the same choice as Mo Yi had. After all¡ªhe survived thest instance. And the reason why Jiang Yuanrou was willing to pay such a high price to ask Mo Yi for help was because he was the only person she knew who survived the membership test instance. Jiang Yuanrou turned the question round and round in his heart, but decided to swallow it back down into her stomach instead of voicing it out. ¡ªSince she made a choice to work with him, she should naturally trust the other party¡¯s judgement. Furthermore¡­ Jiang Yuanrou subconsciously nced at Mo Yi who was taking a nap on the passenger seat with his eyes closed. The golden sunlight streaming in through the car window leaves a stter of golden spots on his fair side face, which moved rapidly backwards along with the speed of the car, akin to a peaceful and harmonious stream of water. Jiang Yuanrou withdrew her gaze and took a deep inhale. With the keen sense she has developed over the years in business as well as a woman¡¯s sixth sense, she can clearly feel it¡ªthat Mo Yi bes a little more different each time he finishes an instance. It was like looking directly at a cold de being slowly pulled out from of its simple and ordinary scabbard. The sharp cold light left stinging marks on her retina, bringing physiological pain and stimtion to the nerves. She felt that even Mo Yi himself was probably not aware of these changes. She was a person who was very good at judging the situation, so she went with the flow and handed over the authority in her hands. But only she herself knows how unfathomable and oppressive the current Mo Yi feels to her. The vehicle gradually slowed down near the lobby of Mo Yi¡¯s apartment, and Mo Yi opened his eyes almost at the same moment the vehicle came to aplete stop. ¡°We have arrived?¡± Jiang Yuanrou nodded. Mo Yi opened the door and got out of the car. The sun was still shining brilliantly, forcing him to squint his eyes. The rays turned his ck hair into a shade of light golden brown and casted a shine to his fair face. Mo Yi smiled at Jiang Yuanrou. He waved his hand. ¡°Thank you, be careful on the road.¡± He watched Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s car slowly drive away before turning and walking into the building. Mo Yi took out his key and unlocked the door, changing into slippers at the entranceway before walking further into the house. He spotted Wen Chen sitting on the sofa, concentrating on the tablet in his hand¡ªit was given to him by Mo Yi a few days ago because Mo Yi was worried that he would be bored. Wen Chen had a strong learning ability and quickly understood how to use it. Curious, he walked over and sat nest to Wen Chen. He peered at the screen. A drama series was being yed on the tablet. The heroine was standing in the rain, crying as prettily as pear blossoms in the rain. The camera cut to the male protagonist who had a simr devastated expression on. He stared at the photo of the heroine on the lit phone screen while weeping silently. A mncholic background music started ying too. This was truly a show that tugged at the heartstrings. Mo Yi nced at Wen Chen with a strange expression, and noticed that thetter¡¯s face was calm and serious, as if he was studying some academic topic seriously. So¡­ he was using the few hours he could materialise daily to chase Korean dramas? At this moment, he received an iing email and the notification popped up out on the tablet¡ªit was a reminder from Shen Lei about tomorrow¡¯s schedule: Visiting a Chinese medicine physician. Mo Yi¡¯s expression twisted instantly. Wen Chen nced over, raised his brows slightly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± There were several degrees of pain and despair on Mo Yi¡¯s face, and he spat out a few weak sybles one by one from between his teeth. ¡°¡ªI hate traditional Chinese medicine.¡± T/N: Buckle up! We¡¯ll be entering another instance in the next chapter! Chapter 91

Chapter 91

In the real world, time passed by like flowing water and more than a dozen days were gone in the blink of an eye¡ªespecially with a packed schedule everyday. Since Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s next instance was supposed to start two days earlier than Mo Yi¡¯s, they nned to enter ording to her schedule this time¡ªmaking it equivalent to moving the date of Mo Yi¡¯s next instance forward. Mo Yi ced all his items into his backpack neatly and looked down at his watch. Five minutes left. He hesitated for a moment, then took out a small box from the drawer of his bedside table. There was a silver-white silk ribbon with the texture of water at the bottom of the box. On its faintly shiny surface were three blood-red thin lines, running smoothly from the top of the ribbon to the bottom, dazzling like bloodstains. This novice gift pack was not an ordinary inventory item. It functioned the same way as a bound prop. Even if the yer chose not to bring it along into the instance, it would still be usable within that instance. Furthermore, props purchased before the start of an instance would only be delivered to the yer after the end of that instance¡ªbut this item was delivered immediately after its purchase. Not to mention that there were still the red marks which seemed to increase alongside the number of instances he entered¡­ Mo Yi lowered his eyes. He pondered for several seconds before resignedly wrapping the ribbon around his wrist. It rested snugly against Mo Yi¡¯s skin and his thin wrist bone, the cold material quickly soaking up his body temperature. He tried to move his wrist¡ªthe ribbon was as thin as a secondyer of skin, not impeding his movement in the slightest, and he wouldn¡¯t notice its existence if he didn¡¯t pay attention to it. Mo Yi took a deep breath, pulled down his sleeve then subconsciously nced at his watch. Two minutes left. ¡ªSince the holder of the team item was Jiang Yuanrou, the time he would enter the instance was based on her. She would have to use the prop after entering her instance, and Mo Yi had to ept the invitation in the real world. A cool breeze whistled in from the gap in the window, lifting the half-closed curtains and causing the fabric to p like a bird fluttering its wings. Mo Yi stared at the moving curtain then nced at the wristwatch again. The second hand circled the dial tirelessly. The ticking sounds were extraordinarily clear in the silent room¡ªthe time hade. A familiar robotic voice sounded in his ears. ¡°yer Jiang Yuanrou invites you to enter the instance, do you agree?¡± Mo Yi picked up the backpack at his feet. His eyes narrowed as he replied calmly. ¡°I agree.¡± As soon as he finished speaking, a bout of dizziness overwhelmed him, turning his vision dark. When he opened his eyes again, the scene around him had changed from his own room to a boundless darkness. A robotic female voice sounded: ¡°Wee Mo Yi, a B-level member of the Senior Member Club, for your return to the game. Your points are being calcted¡­¡± Mo Yi was already familiar with the process and simply stood there without changing his expression. The calction this time took longer than before. Mo Yi seized the precious additional minutes and seconds, staring intently at the dense darkness which had almost condensed into a solid body before him. There was no hint of light around it. The gloomy darkness was like the bottom of a ck river oozing slowly, ominously, and dangerously, akin to a condensed flow of data. It wasrgely iprehensible, but Mo Yi felt as though¡­ that flow brought with it an indescribable sense of familiarity. Yet before he could contemte further, the familiar robotic female voice rang again in the darkness around him, breaking the silence. ¡°The calction ispleted! Congrattions to B-level member Mo Yi for perfectlypleting the A+ level hidden mission ¡®Moving on¡¯, 8,000 reward points. Since the yer chose to open the membership test immediately, there is an additional reward of 2,000 points. The game store will now be open.¡± The moment the sound disappeared, the darkness and emptiness around him dissipated instantly and was reced by a rather modern azure blue space. There were more icons in the store thanst time. The greyed out spaces which previously upied most of the store grids, could now only be seen after turning the page. Furthermore, there was now another tab at the side of the store: Member¡¯s store. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up, and he opened it¡ª The blue window in front of him morphed instantly, the colour of the entire transparent screen deepening into the shade of the navy sky at dawn, and a brand-new store interface unfolded. The top of the screen indicates the level of the member store: B level. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes flickered across the variety of goods within, and he couldn¡¯t help being slightly taken aback. As a matter of fact, although there are many kinds of goods in the game store, they could be generally divided into three categories: the first category, physical objects which could be used in reality. If you wanted, you could even exchange points for arge amount of cash. The second category would be props for use in the instance, and this was what Mo Yi mainly boughtst time. Thest category would be special-purpose props, such as Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s prop for entering a designated instance, as well as the prop she used to locate him in the real world. That was why Jiang Yuanrou said back then¡ª¡¯You can get almost anything with points.¡¯ Of course, the usefulness of the items you exchanged for was another matter. The products in the member store are mainly concentrated on the second category, and unlike the items in the ordinary store, those in the member store came with a promotional slogan and some brief introduction, making them seemingly more refined and useful than the ambiguous unnamed products in the ordinary store. Mo Yi¡¯s eyesnded on a product at the bottom of the page. The image was that of a backpack and the price marked under it was astonishingly high, requiring 10,000 points. It was almost half of Mo Yi¡¯s current points. The introduction below the icon was: smart backpack, it will automatically store props of use in the instance, the backpack can be used at any time (including the uing instance). Mo Yi¡¯s gaze lingered on it for a few seconds before he added it to his shopping cart without further hesitation. He bought a lot of props to use in the previous instance, but their ss bead-like shapes and their inconvenient method of use brought him a lot of trouble. After all, it was too time-consuming to locate the ss bead with a corresponding effect from one¡¯s pocket in a critical moment of life and death, and this backpack would solve this problem. Although it was expensive, it was exceedingly practical. Mo Yi finally picked out props costing a total of 13,000 points and ced them into the shopping cart, before pressing the button for payment. ¡°The items were sessfully purchased! They have been sent to the yer¡¯s backpack. I wish you a happy game!¡± The robotic female voice sounded in the blue space, and a tide of darkness instantly followed, quickly swallowing all the light and images in front of him. Large chunks of patterns swirled, shattering and rearranging into odd fragments which then disappeared into the all-epassing deep, cold darkness. ¡°The game is being transmitted¡­¡± A sudden dizziness swept through his whole body, as if his entire person was stuffed into the spinning drum of a washing machine. Next, after an imperceptible duration of time, the white noise buzzing in his ears suddenly fell silent and his five senses slowly returned. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sprung open. There was a thinyer of sweat oozing from his forehead. His heart was beating violently in his chest, and he could hear his own breathless pants, which sounded particrly loud in the silence. Even though he had experienced this more than once, he still couldn¡¯t get used to this feeling where it seemed as if his soul had been stripped from his body. There was a deep and dense darkness before him. This darkness enveloped him, as if it was a sponge which was absorbing all light and sound, pressing down on him oppressively with the pressure of the deep sea. Mo Yi btedly came to the realisation that he was lying down. Under his body was cold and hard leather, and the hard and harsh texture prated through his thin clothes into his bones. On the other hand, the steel under the arm was as cold as ice, and the point of contact with his skin stung like needle pricks, causing Mo Yi to shiver hard. Mo Yi tried to move, but found that his limbs were all fixed onto the small bed below him. His wrists and ankles seemed to be bound by something hard and rough. Every motion of his chafed against it, causing a mix of itchiness and pain. It waspletely dark and silent around him, and a sense of uneasiness permeated the air, making him feel suffocated. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing hitched. He raised his left hand and tugged harshly¡ª The object fixing his wrist down did not seem to be very strong. A soft tearing sound was heard and he easily pulled his left wrist free. Ignoring the burning pain from his wrist, he pushed himself up halfway and blindly groped in the dark with his left hand, until he found and vigorously yanked on the object on his right wrist. The tearing sound appeared again. Mo Yi rotated both his wrists, and fully sat up this time. In the dark, he touched a familiar nylon fabric¡ªhis backpack. Mo Yi felt relieved, and fumbled to open his backpack, retrieving a shlight from the side pocket. He flipped it on with a light ¡®click¡¯, and the resulting light dispelled the darkness before his eyes. Mo Yi moved the shlight and scanned the area. This was an extremely narrow and cramped room. There were no windows, only a door that was ajar. The corridor outside held a deeper darkness, exuding a vague and ominous atmosphere. The dirty walls on all four sides of the room were covered in a slew of messy and crazy graffiti, resembling teeth and ws under the light of the shlight, looking as if they would protrude from the walls in the next second. And Mo Yi was on a narrow bed in the centre of the room. Iron rails nked the dirty and hard bed he was on, and binding belts with iron rings extended from all four corners. Holding the shlight with one hand, Mo Yi struggled to unravel the straps binding his feet¡ªall limbs were finally free. He moved his stiff and cold wrists and ankles, then got off the bed and stood on the ground. The shlight illuminated the dirty and iplete sign at the foot of the bed, revealing several blurred words on it: ¡°¡ö¡ö¡ö Mental Asylum.¡± Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Dirty walls framed a tiny, ustrophobic space which made it difficult for those inside to breathe. A deep and thick undercurrent of darkness surged in the room. There was the scent of rot permeating the cool dampness of the room, mixing in with the thick smell of rust, making everything seem ominous. The gloomy bone-chilling coldness of this ce seemingly seeped into him, burrowing down through his respiratory tract and into the lungs, settling into the five internal organs and even the cracks in the bones. Mo Yi shrank his shoulders subconsciously, feeling goosebumps rising on his back. At this moment, he seemed to recall something. He lowered his head and opened the backpack he brought from the real world¡ªthe props he bought before the start of thest instance had disappeared, and that entire section of his bag waspletely empty. Mo Yi picked up the shlight and hurriedly screened the whole room. After confirming that there was no second backpack in the room, he let out a long breath. Thank God. The product information of this game would not lie, but it would deliberately conceal some key information to mislead yers, thus he had already prepared for the worst when he purchased this backpack, that is, for the game to give him a physical backpack for props¡ªif so, then the 10,000 points spent were in vain. After all, he bought the smart backpack so he could use items at any time in the instance. If the smart backpack was also a physical one, then it would have no difference from one he could simply bring from the real world. Since there was no additional physical backpack next to him, it meant that¡­ Mo Yi controlled his faint excitement, and said silently in his heart: backpack. Immediately afterwards, a row of grids appeared in his mind. Those bright and transparent ss beads were ced in the grids, along with their names and descriptions. A thinyer of sweat covered the palm of his hand with the shlight. The surging heat in his heart dispelled the coldness around him. His eyes were astonishingly bright, and the corners of his lips were tightly pursed, revealing the rolling emotions in his heart. Mo Yi tried to read the name of one of the props in his mind. A small hard and cold bead materialised on his empty palm, clinging to it as if announcing its presence. He tried to restrain his smile. While subconsciously rubbing his fingers over the smooth surface of the ss bead, Mo Yi tried saying severalmonmands in his mind. Finally, when he said ¡®storage¡¯, the ss bead in his hand vanished in the same way it¡¯d materialised, then re-appeared in the grid in his mind. Mo Yi felt a surge of enthusiasm and could hardly hide the joy in his heart. Even after he took a deep breath to force himself to calm down, the curvature of his lips still couldn¡¯t be suppressed. The 10,000 points spent were really worth it. Given the nature of this game, finding a genuinely useful prop in that messy store was as difficult as finding gold in sand, especially for something which had this much value¡ªit was like winning the lottery! Or should he say¡­ as expected of a product in the member store! Mo Yi finally realised the extent of benefits given to senior members, and deeply felt that his original decision was not wrong. He suppressed the excitement in his heart, then re-examined the smart backpack with the eyes of rational evaluation. ¡ªAs a matter of fact, the space it had was not veryrge. There were only two pages, each with five grids, making up a total of ten grids. Although it was a little regrettable, this was not considered a low-blow in this game. Alternatively put, if the item did note with any shorings, it would rouse Mo Yi¡¯s suspicion instead, and he would be worried about what hidden pits the prop may have waiting for him. Therefore, overall, this was Mo Yi¡¯s most satisfying purchase item. He casually flipped the backpack to the second page, and was surprised when he saw what was on the first grid on the second page. There was a familiar prop in that grid. It was a brown teddy bear. The old soft down was a little tattered, however there was no dust in its pair of dark and clear eyes, and the toy seemed to be well cared for. Mo Yi was stunned for a good while before he remembered the description of the smart backpack in the store¡ª¡¯it will automatically store props of use in the instance¡¯. In this case, then¡­ was this teddy bear also a prop which could be used in the instance? Was that why it was automatically stored in the backpack? He nced at the name and description under the grid containing the teddy bear, and was a little disappointed to see that while it said ¡®Teddy Bear¡¯ underneath, the brief introduction was three grey question marks, with no indication of what the prop could be used for. Mo Yi pursed his lips and closed the smart backpack. After all, this mystery couldn¡¯t be solved anytime soon, so there was no point for him to waste more time and energy on this for now. He slung the physical backpack onto his shoulders. Squinting his eyes, he slowly moved the shlight again and carefully observed the entirety of the room. The whole room looked messy and filthy. In the narrow space, there was only the institutional bed where Mo Yi woke up. The floor, walls, and even the ceiling, were covered with weird and crazy graffiti, resembling a sinister face in the dark. Crusty brown blood stains covered the room, appearing in a shade of odd dark red under the light. There were several bloody handprints vividly pressed between the graffiti on the wall, the sight of which made people feel chills all over. Mo Yi went around to the back of the institutional bed. Lifting up the sign hanging there, he illuminated it with a shlight and tried hard to identify the words on it. The edges of the sign were yellowed and wrinkled. It was also covered with graffiti too, blurring most of the handwriting and the only words which could be recognised were: ¡°¡ö¡ö¡ö Mental Asylum.¡± There was not much useful information. Mo Yi frowned, putting down the sign again. It fell along with gravity, hitting the head of the bed and ttered against the metal. The slight collision sounded in the dead darkness, stirring up an ominous echo. He strode away from the bed and towards the wall. Slowly, he moved his wrist, illuminating the pattern on the wall with the shlight clenched in his hand. After getting closer, Mo Yi discovered that the graffiti on the wall was not drawn by crayons or other materials, but was dug out deeply with fingernails. Under the cold white light, these marks dug deep into the wall left a shallow shadow. Residues of flesh, blood, and the fragments of nails were embedded in the wall. The traces of blood flowed down the deep dents, solidifying into cold trails along the wall. Everything in this room was ominously chilling. The whole room seemed to be the embodiment of madness and despair, revealing a tragic but crazy smile in the dark, coldly precipitating a terrifying posture. Mo Yi furrowed his brows, a ravine of contemtion surfacing in his mind, and a pair of dark eyes shone brightly on his pale face. He seemed to have realised something. He stepped back slowly and thoughtfully, then raised the shlight to illuminate the entire wall. In the dim halo, the messy and unstructured lines on the wall seemed to slowlye together to form aplete image¡ª ¡ªa huge butterfly. Mo Yi gasped, a chill suddenly rising from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Its huge and distorted body covered most of the room, and the huge patterns on its wings resembled lifeless eyes which were staring at Mo Yi, who was standing in the centre of the room, while its long and curved antennas were like tentacles stretching towards the ceiling. This was deeply carved into the wall by nails and flesh, twisted and ugly. A few crooked words were written in blood in the corner of the wall: ¡°STOP¡± There was blood along the depression of the letters, as though there had been a wound made by a sharp knife and blood had gushed out of the wall. Mo Yi¡¯s hand with the shlight tightened slightly. He took a deep breath, and after making sure there was nothing else worthy of his attention here, he turned and walked out the door. He didn¡¯t know why¡­ but the instance felt a lot more quiet this time. There were no sounds of yers chatting, or any other noises. Although he knew that the instance would only be opened after all the yers had arrived, Mo Yi still felt a sense of uneasiness which was hard to dispel. It was like beingpletely isted. The silence and darkness around him gave Mo Yi the illusion of being on a deserted ind. There was no life, no sound, just the huge ugly insect on the wall of the room behind him, gazing at him with lifeless eyes in the darkness. This instance made him feel¡­very ufortable. Mo Yi pursed his lips. He pushed open the half-closed door and walked out¡ªout into a corridor, where both sides were dark and bottomless, just like a huge gaping mouth quietly dormant, waiting for the sacrifice of the next victim. Under the faint light of the shlight, the messy appearance of the entire corridor was revealed. Tables and chairs were overturned in the corridor, and countless dirty documents and papers were scattered on the ground. There was a wheelchair with bindings left lying on its side, and the torn beltsy miserably on the ground. Bloodstains covered the ground and walls. There were even dried bloody footprints on the ground, trailing towards the dark end of the corridor. Mo Yi took a step to follow it and identally bumped into the fallen wheelchair. The hollow and piercing metallic sound resounded in the corridor, which was very distinct in the silence. Suddenly, without any prior warning, the robotic female voice rang out. ¡°Hello, everyone, wee to therge-scale real-life escape game¡ªSTAY ALIVE.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s train of thoughts was interrupted by the announcement, messing up his thinking processes. The uneasiness which he had been suppressing and ignoring just now surged up like mud from the bottom of the river, upying his mind. This time¡­ Before all the yers were present¡ª The instance started. The author has something to say: Congrattions to yer Mo Yi for winning the title¡ª¡± Rebutted by a g Within Seconds¡° Chapter 93

Chapter 93

The mechanical female voice echoed in the empty and dark corridor, as if seeping out from the walls in all directions. ¡°Your only task is to survive in this mental asylum for six hours¡­¡± Mo Yi took a deep breath. He suppressed his chaotic thoughts and listened attentively to what the female voice said next. The robotic voice continued monotonously. ¡°The following is a hint for the yers: Up is down, to leave is to stay, to live is to die, you are me. I wish you a happy game.¡± The female voice faded, and the entire corridor returned to its original darkness and silence. After thest lingering echoes of the voice dissipated into the air, the overhead lights suddenly came on without warning. The cold and palemps sizzled on the dirty ceiling, illuminating the small section of the corridor in front of him. The dark brown blood stains and handprints stered all over the wall appeared even more distinct under the light. Yet the corridor further away still remained shrouded in darkness. The shadows of the tables, chairs and documents scattered across the ground undted and blurred into the darkness, looking like a crowd of creatures who were silently sleeping. Frowning, Mo Yi tightened his cold fingers. The metal edges of the shlight under his palm pressed sharply against his skin, causing a slight dull pain to radiate down his arm. The instance would only begin after all the yers had gathered previously, but this time, the System had announced the start of the game without Mo Yi meeting a single yer yet. This was a huge change in the rules of the game, and having such an unexpected change essentially made the game full of uncertainty. He silently recited the excerpt from the System in his heart, ruminating over each word separately, but still came up empty. Mo Yi stood still on the spot and surveyed the illuminated corridor he was in. There was a solid brick wall which appeared imprable, covered with dirty stains and dried blood. The pale beam of the shlight shone where the dim light overhead couldn¡¯t illuminate¡ªthe whole wall didn¡¯t have a single window. This corridor waspletely enclosed. Without a window, it meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see the countdown, and also meant that Wen Chen would not be able to enter this instance. He wasn¡¯t able to take the initiative to enter the instance, unless a yer in the instance lets him in. The previous instance he experienced happened to be in a semi-closed state, with half of it in an open area, so Wen Chen was able to follow him into the house. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help feeling that it was a waste. Although he didn¡¯t think Wen Chen could be of much help in the stage, having an NPC who was willing to save him was akin to a guarantee to keep him alive. . Those light grey eyes subconsciously surfaced in front of his mind, and Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but be a little distracted. He didn¡¯t know if it was just his misconception, but he always felt that the gaze of Wen Chen on him¡­was always too focused and intense, as if¡­it was not the first time they had met. Mo Yi frowned, forcibly dispelling the inexplicable thoughts in his heart. The light overhead flickered noisily, struggling to diffuse the faint light. It felt as though there was something lurking in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity to move. Mo Yi paused, then chose to move in a random direction. His shlight appeared extremely small and weak in the dense darkness, and could only illuminate a small portion of the path ahead. He walked around the dusty tables and chairs piled on the ground in front of him, being careful not to touch any objects. After all, this corridor was way too quiet now and it would be bad if the noise unknowingly disturbed anything in the dark. Mo Yi stepped forward slowly. The dim flickering lights behind him elongated his shadow, blurring the front of it with the gloomy darkness while the shlight in his hand swayed as he walked. The salty smell of blood and rust became thicker in the air, its concentration gradually increasing with each step Mo Yi took, nearly condensing into an ominous blood mist which shrouded the dark corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s foot slipped. His heart shuddered, and he hurriedly braced himself against the wall. The light of the shlight swayed, shifting downwards, and illuminated his feet. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened. His soles were tainted with a ring bright red. Blood covered the entire ground like a deepke and Mo Yi could almost see the reflection of his shlight in it. This was different from the dried dark brown blood stains he¡¯d seen earlier in the corridor. This pool of blood was fresh, exuding the breath of death, imprinting the dazzling colour of scarlet deeply into people¡¯s retinas. Mo Yi¡¯s heart sank. He lifted his wrist up a little, and saw that the furniture nearby were all covered with spots of blood, sorge that it made people feel chills. There were even blood trails on the ground, extending into the dense darkness into the distance. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing grew shallow. He moved forward slowly. The room beside him was simr to the one he woke in. Presumably, they were all wards of this asylum. Some of these had their doors securely locked, and it was only through the piece of grey ss above that he could get a glimpse of the interior. Some wards had their doors open. Mo Yi swept through them with his shlight, scanning the dark corners. Unfortunately, none of the wards had windows. However, there was still a cold breeze infiltrating them, chipping away at Mo Yi¡¯s remaining body temperature and making his skin crawl. Every ward was in aplete mess. The beds, tables, and chairs were all broken and lying amidst the dust, stained by spots of solidified dried blood. Mo Yi cautiously followed the trail of blood forward, stepping around the obstacles one after another. After walking for about another ten metres, he finally reached the end of the corridor. There was a mottled iron railing, and the steel pirs on it were arranged into diamond shapes. Mo Yi tried to tug at it but found that it only rattled but didn¡¯t move at all. Rust and dust rustled down along with his movements, fluttering through the air lit by the halo of light. Mo Yi moved closer and found a steel door panel under the railing. Seems¡­ like an elevator? Mo Yi training his shlight onto the wall beside him¡ª Sure enough, there was an elevator panel on the wall, but there was only one button. Moreover, the symbol on it was too blurry to make out its original appearance. Mo Yi pressed the button, but there was no movement from the elevator in front of him. Looking closer, he noticed a narrow card slot above the button. ¡ªIt seemed that the elevator could only be activated with an employee card. As expected, none of the instances would allow yers to pass so easily. Mo Yi sighed. He didn¡¯t feel too much regret. Next, he prepared to turn his head to screen the entire corridor and carefully search for the card. Yet, just when he was about to turn around¡­he caught the sound of heavy, dragging footsteps from the other end of the dark corridor. Dangerous. An acute sense of uneasiness filled Mo Yi. Mo Yi¡¯s scalp tingled. A chill surged from the bottom of his heart, making his hands and feet cold while ayer of hot sweat broke out on his forehead. He instinctively switched his shlight off and slipped into a half-open ward to hide. His back was snugly pressed against the cold and damp wall, and the chill seeped through his skin and prated deep into his bone marrow. Mo Yi pped a hand over his nose and mouth to prevent his rapid breathing from betraying his position. The heavy footsteps were getting closer and closer. Step by step, as if stepping on his heart. Mo Yi¡¯s eyshes trembled slightly. His gaze slowly adapted to the heavy darkness in front of him. ¡ªThe putrid scent of blood intensified. Mo Yi felt a chill on the back of his neck. A shuddering sense of danger enveloped him, making him turn his head stiffly. In his blurred and narrow vision, his gaze met a pair of blood-red eyeballs in the darkness beside him¡ª! And in the dead silence, the heavy footsteps were still approaching. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

The sudden onught of terror gripped Mo Yi¡¯s heart viciously. All of his blood seemed to have frozen instantly, making his body stiff as if he had fallen into an abyss. His cold fingers subconsciously exerted more force, fiercely gripping his lower jaw to suppress his exmation into a low and indistinct gasp. The footsteps on the other side of the thin wall stopped suddenly. A suffocating silence filled the air. Mo Yi suppressed the frequency of his breathing. There was only the rumbling sound of blood and the rapid beating of his heart thundering in his eardrums. One, two, three, each thump was rapid and clear, throbbing in the chest cavity. He squeezed his eyes shut in the dark, long and straight eyshes trembling slightly like thest flutters of the wings of a dying butterfly. He could still vividly recall the pair of blood-red irises he¡¯d seen, looking terribly ferocious and terrifying in the dark. Mo Yi gripped the shlight with his arm hanging by his side. The fingers of his other hand wrapped around the ss bead he¡¯d retrieved from his smart backpack reflexively earlier. The pale fingertips exerted a slight force, as if restraining their desire to press down on it. This prop could freeze a monster within three metres for five seconds. Although it couldn¡¯t allow him to escape scot-free from the beast, it could still y a critical role in a dangerous situation. The footsteps behind him sounded again. It was closer this time. ¡ªThere was only a wall between them.. He could almost distinguish the sounds from each other. There was that of soles dragging across the rough floor, the dull sound of heavy heels hitting the ground, and also a sharp, piercing sound¡ªa metallic sound. The fabric on his back was almost drenchedpletely in cold sweat. The thinyer of cloth was squeezed between his back and the wall, allowing the cold and chilly touch to prate through the skin and slowly spread into the gaps of his spinal column. Mo Yi¡¯s muscles stiffened, tensing up. The chill spread from his back down to his limbs, and only the round ss ball between his fingers still had some warmth. The footsteps came to a short standstill, then they slowly, heavily, moved away. The sound of the soles dragging against the ground and the piercing metallic sound slowly faded away into the distance, gradually bing smaller and weaker in Mo Yi¡¯s ears until it could no longer be heard. Only then did Mo Yi loosen his fingers which were snugly pped over the lower half of his face. His palms were cold and slick with sweat. The dull ache caused by stiff muscles washed over his body, making his fingertips twitch slightly. With an unchanging expression, he just exhaled deeply, then slowly opened his eyes. ¡ªThose blood-red eyes were still staring at him in the darkness, ferocious and terrifying. Even though he was already mentally prepared, Mo Yi¡¯s heart still leapt violently when he witnessed this sight again. He forced himself to calm down at once. His brain spun, analysing the situation like a sophisticated machine, and he quickly came up with the most probable hypothesis¡ª It likely was not a threat to him. Mo Yi had utmost confidence in his abilities, so he slowly rxed all his muscles and transferred the ss bead he was clutching to his other free hand, then shifted a few steps in the opposite direction while still shrouded within the darkness. He moved his fingers a little, and switched the shlight on, on its lowest setting. The light revealed a bloody corpse. His arms were hung up high, his palms pinned to the wall with thick nails. On the corpse¡¯s twisted and ashen face were a pair of widened blood-red eyes which were bulging like two lifeless dusty ss beads, yet they remained ring ferociously at the direction of the door, the gaze telling of the fear and despair that person must have felt. Moreover, the most frightening thing was that the only intact thing left was its skeleton. The viscera in the belly had long since flowed down along with gravity, forming a greasy pool at the feet of the corpse. The crimson-red skin and muscle tissue seemed to have been precisely peeled off, before the body was nailed into the wall, forming a preserved picture of a patterned wings of a butterfly. Mo Yi subconsciously thought of the huge and ugly butterfly that was etched out with fingernails in the ward where he woke up. ¡ªSure enough, it was from a corpse. He sucked in a deep breath before returning the ss bead in his hand into his smart backpack. When he was in the dark earlier, he recalled the astonishinglyrge pool of blood and the ring drag marks on the ground. Next when he hid in this ward, the light from his shlight before it was turned off illuminated the area¡ª Showing that the trail of bloodstains were leading into this ward. Therefore, the ¡®things¡¯ in this ward¡­ were very likely alreadypletely dead, and so, would not be a threat to him. Mo Yi nced at the horrific corpse in front of him with an unreadable expression. Although he had verified his conjecture, he was still greatly affected when he came face to face with such a gnarled corpse that died in this miserable manner. Yet perhaps it was due to his experience in the previous three instances, Mo Yi barely felt any nauseousness at this moment. Instead, he merely frowned and took several steps back. The thick smell of congealing blood violently assaulted his senses and nerves, almost causing his sense of smell to go numb. While recoiling instinctively, Mo Yi seemed to have thought of something. He lowered the shlight, training the light at the foot of the bloody corpse. Next to the mound of greasy internal organs, there was a small pile of fabric. It was stained with blood and streaked with dust but its logo was still clearly visible¡ªit was a famous sports brand. Mo Yi frowned. He walked closer, picked up the ball of fabric, and shook the tangled pile apart vigorously. A strong stench of blood washed over his face, apanied by a cloud of dust rising up, as the crumpled cloth unfolded. Indeed, it was a modern jersey. The expression in Mo Yi¡¯s eyes clouded over, shing with contemtion. He shifted the beam of light onto the corpse. The corpse was wearing a set of pants which matched the sweatshirt he was holding, and simrly, the pants was also stained with so much blood that it was impossible to make out its original appearance anymore. Furthermore, there was also a tattered backpack in the corner of the ward. The lustre of the nylon fabric reflected about 80% of the light. There was a huge hole on it, as if it had been torn apart by some sharp weapon. The items in the backpack were strewn all over the ground and there was even a shlight that had rolled some distance away. A terrible conjecture surfaced in his heart, making Mo Yi shudder. The blood sttered in the ward where he woke up and in the corridor outside were all old and brown, but the blood near the elevator and the trail leading into this ward were a bright red. The modern clothes, the familiar objects in the backpack¡ª This dead person was likely also a yer just like him. A chill crawled up Mo Yi¡¯s back. The instance he¡¯d entered this time was probably not a brand new one, but was more like a semi-finished game that had not been cleared. Previously, the instance would only start after all the yers have assembled,, but this time the announcement happened when he was alone¡ª Perhaps this was because the previous wave of yers had already assembled earlier, and they likely¡­ have been met with misfortune. A more serious problem surfaced. What about Jiang Yuanrou? They were definitely in the same instance. The game wouldn¡¯t put them on this aspect. However, the two of them should have been ced into two different starting points in this ce, and were likely not on the same floor either. Mo Yi tightened his fingers on the shlight and subconsciously looked at the dense darkness outside the door of the ward. It seemed that he needed to find the key card to start the elevator as soon as possible. He turned his gaze on the corpse nailed to the wall¡ªit was good to have yers who have already explored the area, after all, it saved him a lot of trouble searching for clues. Mo Yi thought to himself mirthlessly as he rummaged through the pockets of the jersey in his hand, but there was nothing useful except for some odd trinkets. He tossed the sportswear back onto the ground and made his way towards the yer¡¯s torn backpack. Inside were some familiar props almost every yer with some experience would bring into an instance. Mo Yi had brought enough for his own usage, so there was no need to increase his load at this point. Flipping through the items, a new pack of mints rolled out of the backpack, staining itself with the dust and blood on the ground. Mo Yi stared at it for a moment. He subconsciously thought of the Mist who was obsessed with feeding him candies, and frowned. Pursing his lips, he averted his eyes away from the candy, then stood up from the ground and patted the dust off his body. There was almost nothing valuable in this yer¡¯s backpack. Or perhaps to prevent yers from killing each other, after a yer¡¯s death, their items would be automatically recycled by the game and couldn¡¯t be retrieved by yers in the same instance. In other words, Mo Yi found nothing of use. Then, as though he came to an epiphany, he casted his gaze on the miserable corpse. He hesitated for a moment before taking a few steps forward¡ªthe wet ground under his feet felt sticky to the touch. The thick stench of blood assaulted his nostrils while the exposed bones and internal organs of the corpse etched themselves into his eyes. Holding his breath, Mo Yi fumbled around in the pocket of the corpse¡¯s trousers. Through the thin cloth, he could feel the cold, stiff, lifeless skin of the corpse. He heard a soft rustle. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up and he pulled the item out swiftly, illuminating it with his shlight. It was an old and yellowed paper, folded into a quarter. There were splotches of dark brown bloodstains and fingerprints on it, and perhaps because it had been in the pocket for a long time, it appeared slightly shrunken. Mo Yi unfolded it carefully, cautious to reduce the rustling of paper as much as possible in this silent darkness. Under the light, he could make out all the details on the paper¡ªthis was the map of this floor. Mo Yi¡¯s heart rxed slightly. His gaze lingered on one end of the map for a moment: There was an elevator marked there, and the ward next to the elevator was where he was now. Immediately afterwards, another marker on the map attracted Mo Yi¡¯s full attention. There was another room on the other end of the corridor, which wasbelled as the staff office, and the room opposite of the staff office was painted ck. The dark colourpletely covered all details of the room, making it impossible to decipher thebels and annotations. Mo Yi ran his finger over the spot¡ªthere was a sticky feeling on his fingertip, and the shlight illuminated the ckened ce. It was blood. Someone painted it ck with blood. Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Mo Yi roughly scanned the entire map. There was no special annotations on it and it only consisted of this one floor. So¡­ it remained unknown where the elevator would lead to and how many floors there were in this asylum. He stared at the darkness in front of him, exhaled deeply, and allowed his mind to slowly settle into a clear and peaceful state. Now he could only take one step at a time. Mo Yi slid the folded into his pocket, and surveyed all the details of this ward with his shlight. The moving beam of light passed over the mutted corpse nailed to the wall and his widened blood red eyes, the damaged backpack, as well as the wheelchair and bandages lying messily on the ground. The thick stench of blood filled the entire ward. Dust covered every inch of the objects in this darkness, leaving only vague undting outlines. After making sure that he didn¡¯t miss any other clues, Mo Yi moved towards the exit. The door of the ward was half open, revealing the dark corridor outside. The semi-coagted blood on the ground was sticky and slippery. One could not help but feel disgusted when stepping into the puddle. The salty tang of rust in the air fermented into a disturbing cloying smell of fear. Mo Yi pressed his weight against the door frame with a palm, then cautiously leaned forward, peeking into the corridor. The faint light of the dark corridor flickered, illuminating a small section while simultaneously drawing attention to the depths where the light couldn¡¯t reach. It seemed as if there were shadows moving around, as if there were waves of uneasiness emanating through the air. These half-bright lights plunged the lengthy corridor into a sea of horror. Mo Yi could hear the buzzing of the fluorescent tubes, which sounded like a dying moan resounding in this dead silence. ¡ªBut other than that, there was no movement. There was no longer the heavy and dragging footsteps nor the harsh and sharp metallic sound, and all there was left was only a dead silence like a graveyard. Mo Yi let out a long exhale. He didn¡¯t know what he felt was nervousness or disappointment, but he withdrew the palm holding the door frame, then walked out of the room cautiously. With tensed muscles, he subconsciously rxed his breathing and kept his movements as light as a cat with its back arched. Circling around the fallen tables and chairs and the rusty wheelchair on the ground, Mo Yi slowly crept towards the other end of the corridor¡ªwhere the staff room on the map was located. There was a high chance that the card needed to unlock the elevator was there. Although Mo Yi was quite interested in the area cked out with blood on the map, he had to secure an escape route before he could allow himself to take the risk. After all, he was not the only one on this level. So Mo Yi secretly made up his mind not to act rashly until he found the card. He supported the half-overturned table with his palms, turned his body sideways and deftly slid through the gap without making the slightest sound. Every time before he passed by in front of an open ward, Mo Yi would stop and wait for a moment, carefully listening and peeking into the ward, making sure it was empty before making his way forward. A short distance of tens of metres felt agonisingly slow. Mo Yi finally reached the door of the ward where he woke up in. The flickering light above his head was projected down directly here, illuminating the corridor in this section. Mo Yi¡¯s tall and slender shadow undted. He couldn¡¯t help feeling uneasy, and subconsciously quickened his pace, wanting to move away from the only area illuminated by light as quickly as possible. Just as he was about to pass by the ward beside him, Mo Yi subconsciously turned his head to peek inside¡ª The light from his shlight illuminated the deep scratches on the wall. The ugly butterfly on the wall has its twisted wings spread open, the huge spots on it shing in a cold color under the pale light, and with the blood flowing down it slowly, it appeared as though they were real eyes, staring directly at Mo Yi. Empty, listless, decayed, reeking of death. Yet the darkness in the ces where the light couldn¡¯t reach seemed like a deep and rich ink smudge, spreading out in the ward. Mo Yi furrowed his brows¡ªwhen he left just now, the bloodstains on the wall were all dried and solidified, so how did fresh bloodstains appear now? Did it have anything to do with the footsteps just now? His heart was full of chaos, full of clue fragments which he could not connect at this moment. They were like scattered beads, waiting for a string which could thread them together. Mo Yi suppressed the uneasiness deep in heart and continued to make his way forward. At this point, he had already left the dim lighting behind, and was stepping into the darkness before him that he had yet to enter yet. Mo Yi proceeded even more cautiously. He made his breathing even more shallow. The sound of his heart beating violently in his chest was amplified into a loud rumbling in his ears and he could almost hear the twitching of his own nerves too. The footsteps he¡¯d heard earlier was headed in this direction¡ªthis meant that the further he went this way, the higher the chance that he would hit it head-on. Mo Yi summoned the prop again, curling his stiff fingers around it while tensing his muscles up, to prevent being caught defenseless. He flicked off his shlight. Its light would be too conspicuous in such a dark environment and Mo Yi couldn¡¯t take that risk. His eyes had already adapted to the dense darkness in front of him. Although he still couldn¡¯t see the scene in front of him clearly, he could make out the faint outlines. While Mo Yi visualised the path he should take using the memory of the map in his mind, he groped his way forward slowly and carefully. There weren¡¯t too many obstacles. The cold mottled walls ahead framed an empty corridor. There were no sundries on the ground, making it an unexpectedly smooth journey. However, the stench of blood in the air became stronger again, with the cloying scent of rust slowly wrapping and tightening aroud Mo Yi¡¯s senses like the cold and lithe body of a snake, suffocating him. Mo Yi pressed a sweaty palm against the cold wall beside him, supporting himself, and the chill prickled his skin like needles. Just a little more forward was the ce ckened out with blood¡ªand a little further forward from that was the staff room. Mo Yi¡¯s heart thundered like a drum. He calmly took a deep breath and nced at the room¡ªthe door was ajar, revealing a narrow gap. There was an even deeper darkness through the gap, making itpletely impossible to see what was inside. Mo Yi arched his body, tensing his back into a flexible arc. He was ready to cross the room in one go and rush straight into the staff office. But at this moment¡ªhe heard the heavy dragging footstepsing from the darkness ahead. Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He subconsciously pushed open the door beside him, ducked in and closed the half-closed door again. Afterpleting this series of actions, he froze btedly¡ª This ce he was currently in¡­ Was the ominous room that was ckened out on the map. Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Mo Yi¡¯s fingers were pressed against the cool door. His hands were stiff and curled up due to the force, his whitened knuckles seemingly casting a faint shine in the dark. His breathing was extremely light, as if he¡¯d pressed all the potential sounds which he could produce deep into the bottom of a vastke, and encased all his turbulent movements within a thickyer of ice. A faint light came through the gap of the ajar door. Muffled footsteps came from outside, thudding against his eardrums. The shrill, slightly metallic sound was even more pronounced. It seemed to be from a sharp edge dragging on the ground. The thing which put Mo Yi the most on edge now did note from outside the door. ¡ªbut from behind him. The whole room seemed to be permeated with an unusually low temperature. The gloomy and damp air pierced his skin like a cold de, and the sharp pain spread from the periphery all the way to the top of his head, causing goosebumps to rise on his exposed skin. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but recall the state of the map. The lingering sight of that bloodstain which was like an ominous ink blot, painted thick and dark over the room. The unknown darkness behind him felt like a thorn stuck into his back. All the muscles in his body tensed up. Right at this moment, a section of the corridor lit up without warning¡ªan electric buzzing came from above, and the resulting dim and weak light illuminated half of the corridor. The light flickered violently, then the corridor plunged back to darkness. Mo Yi¡¯s palm on the half-closed door stiffened instinctively. His pupils constricted, and his breathing became slightly unsteady. During that brief second when the light came on earlier, he saw a figure in the corridor¡ª It was a tall and blurry figure within Mo Yi¡¯s narrow and limited field of vision under the light. It was moving slowly, dragging a huge long knife behind him which was scraping the ground with a sharp and piercing metal sound. The sound of the soles rubbing against the ground was synchronised with his movements, and the resulting rustling echoed down the silent corridor, making one¡¯s scalp tingle. After that¡ªthe lights went out. The footsteps in the corridor stopped immediately when the light vanished. ¡ªNot moving away at the same slow pace, but disappearing entirely. A dense swamp-like darkness and dead silence enveloped Mo Yi. A chill so thick and dense that it seemed solid, approached him, slowly climbing up Mo Yi¡¯s back. He held his breath and listened closely¡ªthere was no sound. It was as if the world around him no longer existed, and such a deep silence made Mo Yi tremble involuntarily. Right on cue, a violent sense of uneasiness surged in his heart. It was as if every cell inside of him was mouring, screaming that there was danger! Yelling over and over in his mind¡ªrun! Mo Yi¡¯s whole body trembled. However, before he could react, he felt the door under his palm move by itself all of a sudden. Bang! It was deafening in the silent darkness¡ª The door mmed shut violently. Mo Yi¡¯s throat tightened. In this second bout of silence, he could only hear his rapid breathing and the thudding of his heartbeat. A ridiculous yet somehow reasonable guess suddenly surfaced in his heart, which made him feel cold¡­ Everything which had happened earlier, seemed to be to manipte the course of actions he would take. Its purpose was¡­ to lure him into this room on his own initiative. The sharp increase of adrenaline made Mo Yi¡¯s forehead break out in fine cold sweat. His palms were icy cold and the heart in his chest was beating as if it was about to jump out of his throat, but his mind was surprisingly calm. It was as if his soul had been separated from the body and was now watching everything indifferently and calmly. He closed his eyes fiercely, took a deep breath, suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, and turned around. The depths of Mo Yi¡¯s dark eyes were like liquid mercury. They were hidden under his long and straight eyshes, as they stared at the bottomless darkness in front of him. With a brief movement of his fingertips, he turned on the shlight in his palm. There was a soft ¡®click¡¯ and the cold and pale light immediately illuminated the room. The circr beam was obstructed by the object before it, twisting into an irregr shape. And that object was a cold iron bed which reflected the light from the shlight. Numerous restrictive belts were wrapped on it from top to bottom. Their edges were rough, faded, and fraying, showing signs of wear and tear. Mo Yi held his breath. He moved the shlight in his hand, moving the light to the old equipment beside the iron bed¡ª There were countless wires densely hanging down from it towards the ground. The ends of the wires were connected to electrodes which were unmarked by any colours. An unbearable stench exuded in the darkness. It was like the smell of salty, rusty blood was mixed with that of rotting corpses fermented by dust and bacteria. Mo Yi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed¡ª This was the electric chair which was used to treat mentally ill patients with electroshock therapy. He took several steps closer and found that the thin leather belts covering the iron bed were full of painful scratches and tears, scattered dark brown spots, and broken nail fragments. What an rming sight. Mo Yi raised his wrist and the beam of light illuminated the distant scenery with his movement¡ª He realised that this room was muchrger than he imagined, covering an area almost equal to five or six wards. There were many tattered curtains separating each area, making it impossible for him to get a full view of the whole room at a nce. Each curtain was spotted with dark and light brown stains, along with countlessplete and half-handprints on the material, and it was impossible to discern if they were dirt or dried blood. And among these, there was a single curtain near Mo Yi which had blood slowly and steadily flowing out from under it, spreading out across the ground. The thick pool of oozing blood was a dirty dark red under the light, moving like it was a living thing. The whole room was still, as if it was cut off from the whole world, and only the silence of death remained. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened around the shlight. The edges, corners, and shape of the metal dug into his cold and sweaty palm. He took a step forward, stretching out his free hand to grab the curtain, then pulled it open with a flourish. The ear-piercing sound of rusty metal sliding and the rustling of fabrics sounded, and it revealed the sight previously hidden behind it¡ª Even though Mo Yi was mentally prepared, he still couldn¡¯t help the sudden clenching of his heart, before he grimaced. There was another iron bed in front of him. However, unlike the empty electric shock bed just now, this bed¡­was upied by someone. A man was firmly tied on the mottled and rusted iron bed with a belt. His limbs were tightly restrained. His head and face were covered with blood, and his head was firmly fixed on the iron bed by an iron hoop, while a long ice pick pierced straight into the skull from his eye socket. The edge of the iron bed was covered with semi-coagted blood and the pool of blood on the ground was mottled, making one¡¯s heart chill. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze fell on the table next to the iron bed. There were iron tools such as awls and hammers scattered on it, and it was impossible to tell if the dark brown traces on them were rust or old blood. He pursed his lips. His eyes darkened slightly. ¡ªLobotomy. In the 1940s and 1950s, there was a very popr treatment method for mental illness which supposedly achieved the purpose of ¡®cure¡¯. The procedure involved inserting an awl simr to an ice pick into the patient¡¯s eye socket, and severing a part of the nerve fibres of the front lobe of the brain. This man was utterly dead¡ªthe ice pick had gouged out his eyeball and pierced straight into the very centre of his brain. Mo Yi turned his body sideways and opened the other curtain beside him. Behind it was also an iron bed with a bloody man lying on it. His belly was cut wide open, his bloody organs exposed to the cold air. A big hole was drilled into his head too, exposing a mass of red parts and white brain matter. The man¡¯s face was horrific and distorted. Even the belts restraining his wrists were so tightly buckled into his flesh that they were dripping blood. After seeing the medical instruments by these two iron beds just now, Mo Yi quickly thought of the treatments involved: Craniotomy and Surgery. This method of treating mental illness was achieved by exposing the patient¡¯s brain and cutting out the ¡®ill¡¯ parts. Furthermore, Mo Yi noticed that although the clothes on the two men were muddied with blood, he could still discern them as modern clothes¡ªin other words, they should also be the yers who died in this instance. The rancid stench of blood in the air became more and more intense. Mo Yi coughed twice in a low voice, and he took two steps back while facing slight difficulty in breathing. However, as if right on cue, a slight metallic sound sounded without warning in the gloomy and dark silence¡ª ¡®Click¡¯. The sound was especially piercing and clear in the dead silence, and it nearly made Mo Yi¡¯s heart stop. His breathing stagnated and he turned in the direction of the sound. Under the cold and pale beam of the shlight, the metal buckles of the restraint belts tightly fastened on the two beds were automatically loosening, making a series of ¡®click¡¯ sounds. The man on the bed in front of him turned his head slowly. The long ice pick in his damaged eyeball swayed, and the man stared at him nkly and absently with his other blood-drenched grey-white eye. ¡ª¡¯Click¡¯. On the other man¡¯s distorted and twisted features, the bloodshot eyes turned one by one, slowly shifting towards Mo Yi, and the bones of his cervical vertebra rubbed against each other and creaked. ¡®Click¡¯. Mo Yi took a step backwards subconsciously, then turned around and ran towards the door. He sped the handle of the door tightly with his sweaty palm, and shook it vigorously. However the door remained motionless as if welded to the door frame with copper and iron, seeminglypletely unaffected by his struggles. Mo Yi could hear his own hot and rapid breathing and the sound of blood rushing through his body. All other sounds seemed to have vanished from his mind, and only the metallic sounds remained loud and clear¡ª ¡®Click.¡¯ T/N: We just can¡¯t have an asylum arc in any UF novel without mentions of lobotomy haha Everytime I read/describe the process¡­ *shudders* Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Mo Yi shook the motionless door panel with his cold hands. With his movement, a tearing pain came from his hu kou acupoint, which zingly invaded his chest, yet it still couldn¡¯t drive away the chill in the marrow of his bones. It was as if he had fallen into a rushing cier in the twelfth lunar month of winter, and the cold, numb, and the heavy ice water froze his limbs and dragged him into this cold and dark abyss. ¡ª¡¯click¡¯. The sound of another belt buckle being undone came clearly from behind him, the sound piercing straight into his brain through his eardrum like an awl. The icy cold air smelled sticky, bloody and rotten. With Mo Yi¡¯s rapid breathing, it slipped into his airway, piercing his chest like thousands of tiny ice needles, causing his brain to clear up. Mo Yi realised that the door in front of him could not be opened, so he resolutely gave up on trying again and turned around abruptly. His shlight swayed with his movements, casting a dim light into the darkness and illuminating a scene that looked like a nightmare¡ª Several straps on the two beds were still not loosened yet, and the two bloody corpses were waiting quietly. Still, a gigantic smile, stiff and distorted, slowly stretched across the two symmetrical faces. Their ashen and deformed lips were pulled up to their ears while their cloudy eyes were fixed on Mo Yi¡¯s figure, exuding an astonishing amount of malice. The dark and rich blood mixed with the internal organs slid down the cold bedposts of the iron bed, and the stench of blood grew stronger and stronger, making one feel unbearably nauseated. Mo Yi clenched his teeth. The rosy colour of blood on his face receded as he fixed his dark eyes on the front. Then, he started running in the opposite direction, away from the door. Just as he leapt across the pool of blood on the ground, he heard an increasingly clear ¡®click¡¯ from behind him¡ª It was followed by the sound of the belt snapping in the darkness, apanied by the sharp and piercing ¡®squeak¡¯ of the iron bed on the ground. These sounds, all of them indicated that¡­ The restraints have all been untied. Mo Yi¡¯s breath becameboured. He sprinted in the opposite direction with all his strength, but the green and dirty curtains hanging before him were like ovepping barriers blocking his sight and actions. He pulled the curtain before him open while rushing forward. The iron hook above the curtain let out a sound that seemed like a dying shriek, that apanied by the whistling wind, pierced into his ears, and tightly twisted around Mo Yi¡¯s throat like a silk thread. Behind him was the sound of footsteps, clear and heavy, with every step hitting heavily into his heart, and causing his heart to tremble. The rancid stench of blood became stronger. Mo Yi lifted his gaze while running. His eyes swept across the wall beside him and his heart stuttered¡ª Dark red blood began to ooze from the ceiling, slowly sliding down, leaving snake-like traces along the wall. Blood was oozing out from all over the room, and the wriggling malice was spreading and climbing along the crimson trail, seeping into every single pore. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing was unsteady, but his pair of dark eyes were surprisingly bright, sharply and closely focusing on a point in front of him. As he ran, he tore the curtains open one after another. The blood stains on them became deeper and dirtier, enveloping him like an endless quagmire, as if it was a never-ending swamp he could never walk out of. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became more and more rapid. His body was sore from excessive exertion. His vision blurred with shes of dizzy white spots due tock of oxygen. Cold sweat beaded on on his forehead, slid down his tight eyebrows, then dripped into his cor¡ª The footsteps behind were getting closer while the distance between them was shortening inch by inch. Mo Yi clearly realised that the situation was very bad. At this moment, when his arms stiffened by excessive force opened another stained curtain, his eyes suddenly lit up! There was a door there! There was a light from the other side of the ajar door, though faint yet vivid, as if hope was waving at him! Suddenly, a strong sense of anxiety mped down on Mo Yi¡¯s heart, as if a bolt of lightning had pierced into his skull and highlighted the suspicions in his brain¡ª From earlier, all of his actions seemed to be under the control of this room. Step by step, inch by inch, luring him towards this established destiny. And just akin to a marite, he was unable to control his actions, and was pulled by the strings as he slowly slid towards the dark bottomless abyss¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s entire body was cold, as though he had fallen into an ice cave. His muscles were stiff. The white light before him which had symbolised hope earlier was now like a sweet whisper of death, tightly clutching his heart. Suddenly, the hint from earlier surfaced from the depths of his chaotic thoughts, echoing in the depths of his mind like a bell, whirling dizzily in his mind: ¡ª¡±To leave is to stay,? to live is to die.¡± Mo Yi exhaled deeply and came to an abrupt stop, standing still on the spot. The heavy footsteps behind him approached slowly, rubbing against the ground with a heavy dragging sound that prated his eardrums. His heart was beating uncontrobly. Hot sweat slid down icy cheeks, leaving a burning sensation on his skin. An uneasy premonition clenched Mo Yi¡¯s internal organs, as if molten iron had condensed and cooled in his stomach before plunging heavily. The inherent sense of crisis stimted his nerve endings like needles, forcibly urging him¡ª Run! Run! Mo Yi gritted his teeth. He closed his eyes fiercely and tried his best to resist the desire to run into the light not far away. He summoned a prop and held the cold and smooth ss bead in the palm of his hand, just in case he needed it. The sound of his beating heart and his hot and rapid breathing mixed into a chaotic sound that upied all of his thoughts. The footsteps behind him were approaching. The heavy and dragging sounds echoed in the empty room, with a strong smell of blood. The salty and rusty tang emanated slowly through the mouth and merged with the scent of blood in his nasal cavity, making it almost difficult for Mo Yi to tell whether he had tasted the taste of blood on his tongue. The footsteps drew even closer. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened subconsciously. His neatly trimmed nails were deeply embedded in his sweaty palm, and the cold ss bead dug into his palm. The sharp pain hit him like a tsunami, tearing into his already tense nerves¡ª Then, at this very moment, the footsteps stopped. The entire room was filled with a vast empty silence. It felt as if there was an invisible wind whirling and the silence was so cold that it made people feel uneasy. Mo Yi slowly opened his eyes. There was a cold light flickering in front of his eyes, which almost made him turn his face away subconsciously. He paused. His violent heartbeat finally calmed down, and he turned to take another look¡ª There was no door, no road, and no light. His shlight illuminated the scene before him. There was nothing there. All there was was a wall, and a familiar iron bed several steps away. The mottled and rusted steel bedpost reflected the cold light, and the shocking sight of those scratches and dark blood stains all over it was enough to make one¡¯s heart skip a beat. There were belts and wires scattered above the bed, all of which were wide open as if waiting for something. The iron bed was so close to Mo Yi. If he took a few more steps forward, he would have fallen down on the electric shock bed. Ayer of cold sweat broke out on Mo Yi¡¯s back, and the pinched wound on the palm of his hand was burning hot. ¡ªThis is the exact same iron bed he saw when he first entered the door. Now, he finally seemed to understand how the two dead yers were bound to the bed. Mo Yi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed. A chill came over him, and he slowly looked behind him. A horrific picture suddenly leapt into his line of sight¡ªthe wall was covered with dark red blood, dyeing the dirty and discoloured wall into a strange picture. It was a huge butterfly. Its huge and distorted body was drawn with coagted blood, and the huge patterns on its deformed wings resembled lifeless eyes, staring down at Mo Yi who was in the centre of the room. Mo Yi took a deep breath. He suppressed the extremely ufortable feeling in his heart and looked away. He flicked the shlight in his hand and shined it on the rest of the room. The room was far smaller than what he had seen just now. There were several iron frames hanging with dirty dark green curtains fallen over on the ground. The stained curtains were pitifully strewn out across the ground, so stained with semi-coagted blood that it was no longer possible to make out their original appearance. The two iron beds on which the corpses were lying were still ced at the ce he saw earlier. Their dead grey eyes were staring up at the ceiling nkly while turbid and dark blood flowed down. The sight exuded an uneasy air. However, the binding straps were tightly bound without any signs of loosening. From Mo Yi¡¯s point of view, the iron bed on which the two corpses were on was located in front of the wings of the huge butterfly that covered the entire room, directly on the patterns on the wings which resembled eyes. This superimposed image was unsettling. Mo Yi spat out a foul breath. He wiped the sweat off his cheek with the wrist holding the shlight, then walked towards the door. He circled carefully across the messy ground and around the two iron beds on which the corpses were lying, and reached for the doorknob. ¡ªStill unable to open it. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being taken aback. How was this possible? Before he could calm down and think further, he felt a strong forceing from his side, shoving him to the side! After a bout of dizziness, he felt something cold and hard under his body, followed by a bone-piercing pain which spread all the way down the nerves, making Mo Yi groan involuntarily. But he actually didn¡¯t fall onto the ground. Instead, he¡¯d fallen onto the familiar iron bed that reeked of blood and fear¡ª The sizzle of the electric current rang in his ears. Sparks shot up in the darkness, hitting Mo Yi¡¯s retina, leaving a sharp sting. Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Buzzing electric sparks lit up, carrying cold malice and a scorching restlessness, while the taste of danger stirred and ignited the thick and viscous darkness. Mo Yi¡¯s mind whirled as a loud rm red in his head. The scorching blood in his veins surged through his veins, rushing to his cheeks. There was a familiar cold touch against his wrist, and the leather restraint wrapped tightly around his left hand. Next, the same metallic sound came from his right side too¡ª A sensation simr to a stab from an ice needle pierced into his mind instantly! Mo Yi¡¯s thoughts quickly cleared, and he abruptly rolled to his side¡ª Most of his body fell off the iron bed with his movements, leaving only his bound left hand still secured to the end of the iron bed. Severe pain shot through him from the moment his body came into contact with the ground. It felt as though all the bones in his body fell apart when his thin bones hit the ground hard, forcing out a low muffled gasp from Mo Yi¡¯s throat. His forehead mmed into the cold and wet floor too, and a sharp stabbing pain came from his temple. His vision turned ck, apanied with buzzing white noises ringing in his ears¡ª Mo Yi struggled to raise his head. Warm viscous blood slid down his forehead, clinging to his eyelids andshes. The falling shlight ttered against the ground, the motion resulting in its beam of light frantically bouncing throughout the room. While looking through his blood-red field of vision, Mo Yi noticed that several of the restraint belts on the iron bed were closing automatically, each buckle making a creepy metallic click on the iron bed. Mo Yi gasped in shock. Hot pain from the friction against leather shot from his ankle which was hung in mid-air. Fortunately he had reacted in time earlier, otherwise it would not only be just one wrist that was tied but all four limbs¡ª And that would mean he¡¯d be dead. He gasped for breath in the darkness. The shlight that fell on the ground finally stopped rolling, and the halo of light stilled too, lighting up a void. Mo Yi nced at the head of the iron bed from the corner of his eye. In that blurred darkness, there was a buzzing electric sound, followed by the humming of the machine, which gradually became stronger in the darkness. At first Mo Yi thought the sound was from the tinnitus caused by bumping his head, but he finally came to a horrifying realisation when he saw electric sparks light up in the darkness beside the bed¡ªit wasn¡¯t over yet. The bed board was made of iron. The electric current flowing along the iron bed could still kill him. Mo Yi¡¯s expression suddenly became solemn. His pale face was flushed abnormally. He gritted his teeth, straightened up suddenly, and stretched over to untie the belt around his left wrist. The metal buckle on the belt was akin to an unrelenting python¡¯s bite, and it couldn¡¯t be pulled apart no matter how hard he tried. The sound of the electric current in his ears and the buzzing of the machine started bing more and more intense¡ª Beads of sweat formed on Mo Yi¡¯s forehead. He gave up undoing the tightly fastened metal buckle and turned his efforts to ripping off the belt which was strapped to the cold iron bed. The rough action caused the edges of the belt to pinch deeply into the pale skin on his thin wrist, leaving a series of bright red marks and drops of blood. The strong smell of iron permeated the air. In his ear was the roar of the machine in its initiation phase. The entire iron bed began to vibrate violently, and the flickering electric sparks in the air seemed to have increased with a vigour which seemed as if they were about to erupt in the very next second! Mo Yi¡¯s heart slumped. He clenched his teeth tightly, then grabbed his left thumb with his other hand, and twisted it desperately¡ª . A loud ¡®crack¡¯ of bone snapping rang out distinctly in the darkness, making anyone who heard it feel as though the roots of their teeth were sour. His thumb was twisted and broken in a weird shape, and it hung down limply. Using this to his advantage, Mo Yi grabbed the belt around his wrist and tugged at it hard! His left hand slipped free from the strap. A huge roar sounded in his ears. Mo Yi¡¯s heart clenched, and he rolled across the ground while cradling his left hand that had just been freed. A nearly blinding electric light erupted in the darkness behind him. The hiss of crackling electric current sounded, the whole iron bed rattled and shook along, mixing into one deafening groan in the darkness. Mo Yiy exhausted on the dirty floor. His whole body was drenched in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of an icy river, and was even shaking uncontrobly due to the severe pain. His damp ck hair was stered awkwardly against the pale face, hisplexion so pallid that it resembled gold paper, and the only colour on the face was the bright blood oozing from the wound on his lower lip which he had bitten through with his teeth earlier. He was panting breathlessly. The electric current behind him was still buzzing, and its crackling arcs illuminated the entire room. In Mo Yi¡¯s field of vision which was ckened by pain, he vaguely saw a shadowy ck figure standing in the dark corner of the wall¡ª He froze momentarily, then forced his blood-covered eyelids open wider, and nced at that same corner again. There was no one there. The zapping electric current sounds from the machine behind him gradually stopped, but the phantom-like buzzing still remained in Mo Yi¡¯s ears, making him dizzy from the shock. Mo Yi¡¯s heart felt suffocated and stuffy, and his darkening vision swam. He couldn¡¯t help but take a few deep breaths, forcing himself to rx. He moved to the side with some difficulty. The fingers of his uninjured right hand fumbled on the ground until he found and picked up the shlight lying beside him. With slightly trembling fingers, he pointed the shlight at the dark corner of the door¡ª The thick and gloomy darkness was dispelled by the light. There was absolutely nothing in that corner, as if the shadow he saw just now was simply an illusion. Mo Yi let out a long breath. His head was still dizzy, and he still had double images in his vision. It should be the aftereffects of bumping his head just now. ¡ªDid he really make a mistake earlier? At this moment, there was a slight ¡®click¡¯ from the door, which startled Mo Yi. He turned the shlight in his hand in the direction of the sound, only to see the tightly closed door slowly opening. The dim lighting from the corridor poured in through the open crack, silently and slowly sliding into the darkness. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but feel tranced, as though he was a world away. Still, he forced himself to his feet. The pain from all over his body hit him like a tide. His stiff joints let out a piercing wail, and the almost suffocating pain ruthlessly tugged on Mo Yi¡¯s nerves. Even though his tolerance for pain was strong, he still couldn¡¯t help but let out a low gasp. Mo Yi limped several steps towards the door, then subconsciously turned his head and nced behind him. In the thick darkness, the mottled iron bed seemed to still be flickering with electric sparks, exuding a strong burnt smell which almost covered the smell of blood. There seemed to be a reflection of something at the head of the bed. Mo Yi frowned, and shone his light over. There was a thin card inserted into the old, dusty machine beside the bed, and it reflected the light with a metallic lustre. Mo Yi was surprised. He was certain there was no such card inserted into the machine when he just entered the door. After a short few seconds of hesitation, he retraced his steps, cautiously using his clothes to pad his fingers and slowly exerted force on a corner of the card. Through the thin fabric, Mo Yi could feel the heating through into his fingertips, and he withdrew his grip almost instantly. Next, Mo Yi gathered himself together again, increasing the strength in his hand and yanked out the maic card in the machinepletely¡ª The maic card seemed to be a bit old, the pattern on it was mottled and blurred, and it still felt a little bit hot to the touch. Mo Yi spent some time analysing it under the dim light: This should be the employee card. Then it should also be able to open the elevator at the end of the corridor too¡­? Mo Yi¡¯s heart was tinged with heat, and he tightly grasped the maic card in his cold palm. The heat from the card warmed his palm, dyeing his cold skin with some colour. He surveyed the room behind him for thest time, then turned and walked out. Fiery pain burst forth from the dislocated juncture on his hand. The pain was so long and intense that it became numb instead, making the pain of other wounds on Mo Yi¡¯s body insignificant, as if all the pain-sensing nerves in his body were now solely concentrated on his hand. The corridor was still pitch ck. There was only one faint light on the entire corridor and it was flickering on and off. After Mo Yi exited the room, he hesitated for a moment, then turned and strode to the next room marked as ¡®staff office¡¯ on the map. He pushed on the door. The door under his palm was smooth, cold, hard as iron, and it was almost impossible to make it budge even an inch. It seems that he was temporarily unable to enter. Sighing, Mo Yi lowered his eyelids slightly. His long eyshes concealed theplicated expression in his dark ck eyes. Then, he turned and walked back towards the other end of the corridor. The road back was still bumpy, with broken tables and chairs and scattered papers in front of Mo Yi, but fortunately he had manoeuvred through it before, so he circled around the obstacles with ease, his movements flexible, light, and as quiet as a cat walking in the dark. And along the way, that figure never appeared again. Mo Yi stood still before the tightly closed elevator door. With the maic card in the palm which was currently supporting his deformed left hand, he subconsciously licked his dry lips. A tingling pain came from his lips, along with the familiar taste of rust on the tip of his tongue, and this was when he finally realised that he had bitten through the skin earlier. Mo Yi let out a suppressed click of his tongue. He carefully let go of his injured palm and swiped the maic card in the slot on the wall, only to hear a soft ¡®beep¡¯ in the darkness. The hum of machinery came from the elevator shaft in front of him, which was extremely distinct in the silent corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat and he reflexively turned his head to look behind him, as if he was worried that the elusive footsteps would sound again without warning. However, the corridor behind was stark empty. There was only a singlemp flickering dimly, yet the oppressive and suffocating atmosphere weighed heavily on Mo Yi. Then at this moment, the diamond-shaped metal iron door behind Mo Yi slowly slid open, making the sound of creaking and rusty metal groaning¡ª A crisp sound came from the mottled metal door. ¡®Ding¡¯. Chapter 99

Chapter 99

The elevator door opened slowly. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating ufortably in his chest. He instinctively stretched his muscles, and waited quietly¡ª The yellowish dim light shone through the slowly widening gap, making the mottled dark spots on the iron gate gradually be clearer. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes, which have be ustomed to the dark, were stung by the sudden light, and he inevitably narrowed his eyes slightly. Through the half-dried blood smearing his eyshes, his dark vision was mixed with red which made it seem like a distorted abstract painting formed from the dizziness caused by the sudden appearance of lights. It felt as though this sight was not rooted in reality. Mo Yi blinked and looked into the elevator intently. The elevator was empty. There was nothing there. There were no vivid or coagted bloodstains, no hideous and twisted corpses, no disgusting creatures which rush out the moment the elevator opens¡ª This was just a narrow, ordinary elevator. Despite this, he didn¡¯t dare to rx. He took a step forward cautiously and stood by the elevator, and then leaned over to look at the ceiling¡ª The metal top looked a bit old, with spots of rust around the lit lights. Everything was so normal that he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Mo Yi let out a long breath slowly. His thoughts were a littleplicated, and he didn¡¯t know whether he felt fortunate or disappointed. He stuffed the maic card back into his pocket, then stepped into the elevator. Although the corridor was icy cold, the temperature in the elevator was much more normal, which almost made Mo Yi¡¯s skin, which had been sweaty due to pain, feel a little warm. The moment he stepped into the elevator, the metal door made a hoarse and rough sound and closed behind him, immediately turning the space into an enclosed metal box. Mo Yi turned around to look at the inner doors and froze in ce. There was nothing at the spot where the buttons should usually be. All that was there was just an empty metal te, shimmering in the yellowish dim light. Moreover, the number disyed on the screen above was: -3 Mo Yi¡¯s eyes fell on the vivid number, and frowned¡ªso, he should be on the third floor of the basement now. No wonder there were no windows throughout that whole corridor. Just when he was in a daze, he saw a small upward arrow appearing next to the number -3. The whole elevator shook suddenly, followed closely by the sound of the machine starting. The groans from the friction of the sliding rails echoed in the narrow enclosed space. The elevator moved. The sudden sense of weightlessness overwhelming Mo Yi caused him to sway involuntarily. He subconsciously stretched a hand out to support the wall of the elevator, but he didn¡¯t expect to press his injury against the foreign surface, which made him gasp in pain. The pain that he had deliberately forgotten just now was like a dog skin ster that cannot be shaken off. The ache clung to his limb like the cold and slimy body of a snake tightly coiling around his nerves before tightening its body mercilessly, causing the pain to burrow into his bone marrow. Mo Yi broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. He gritted his teeth, lifted his eyelids in the midst of his dripping sweat, and nced at the ck and white screen next to the elevator door. The disy still showed -3, but the small upward-pointing triangle next to it was shing at a constant speed. The slight vibration of the elevator and the sound of the machinery in his ears reminded him that the elevator was going up. Mo Yi was stunned. He suddenly recalled the prompt at the beginning of the game: ¡°Up is down¡±. Many questions popped out of his mind instantly, filling his thoughts. Would that have something to do with the direction of the elevator? If it did¡­ Does this mean that he is not going up now, but instead, going deep into the mental asylum? Mo Yi stared at the small upward triangle shing on the screen, his eyebrows furrowed tightly. ¡ªIt was a pity that there were still too few clues avable for him toe to a conclusion. He took a deep breath and suppressed the doubts in his heart, then struggled to unzip his backpack with his intact hand¡ª Cold fingers covered with dried blood groped around in the backpack until he found what he needed. He casted a nce up at the digits on the screen again. The big -3 remained unchanged, with only the small triangle still moving¡ªit seemed it would take a while to reach another floor. Mo Yi inhaled deeply. He lowered himself onto the floor with bent legs then arranged the items in his backpack out on the floor one by one. The situation will only turn more dangerous after reaching the -2F. With the current state of his injured fingers, it might be difficult to deal with the impending difficulty. Therefore, it would be far easier for him to treat his injury in the elevator right now, so his injury would be less of a liability after he got out. Mo Yi raised his injured left hand, and carefully studied his palm in the dim yellow elevator light. The thumb was hanging down limply in a distorted posture. There was only a thinyer of flesh between the joints, and the thin bones were stiffly pushing up against the soft skin at an angle, as if they would poke through in the very next second. He originally had a fairplexion which was prone to bruises. Now, there was a deep purplish red-ck bruise spanning from the knuckle of his thumb to the back of his hand, which looked particrly shocking on his skin which was so pale that it looked almost transparent. Mo Yi¡¯s eyelids drooped slightly. The clear irises under his long eyshes reflected the scene in front of him. ¡ªWhen he was in that room just now, his actions were deliberate. Dislocating one¡¯s thumb was not the only option, but it was by far the safest. He had props in his backpack which could cope with the situation then, but he was unwilling to use them. After all, the cooldown time of the props that can be used in the instance was too long, and this instance had just begun. If he carelessly used a prop now, he would be left with no other options if he ran into a more dangerous situationter. Besides¡­ Mo Yi was a little worried about the random debuffs. He once discussed this drawback with Jiang Yuanrou. Jiang Yuanrou had previously used a prop once back when she was unaware there would be side effects when using props. She was lucky then and the side effect she¡¯d gotten was merely ¡®pollen allergy¡¯. The other yer in the same instance who used a prop too drew the random debuff of ¡®blindness¡¯. ¡ªIn an instance where danger was lurking in every single corner, blindness was almost equivalent to a death sentence. Therefore, Mo Yi was unwilling to use props until the critical moment when he had no other choice but to use them. In addition¡­ In the second instance, Wen Chen had once set Mo Yi¡¯s bones for him, so after the second instance ended, thetter specifically went to search up information and learn how to do the same. Although he¡¯d obviously not gotten much practice, at least he was not going into thispletely blind. He was able to keep injuries to a minimum when dislocating his thumb, and had a high probability to sessfully set it back in ce. Compared to gambling his life on the side effects of the props, this was definitely a much safer option. Mo Yi took a deep breath, then slowly gripped the uneven bones under the thin skin with his other hand. A bout of severe pain followed, but his face merely paled a little, with no fluctuations in his expression. Lifting his head up to the lights overhead, he gritted his teeth as he concentrated on the dark yellow light¡ª Then snapped the bone back into ce with a sharp yank! A crisp ¡®crack¡¯ sounded in the enclosed elevator. The staggered joints were pushed back into ce in an instant, and the distinct groaning of bone rubbing against bone made the root of his teeth sour. Mo Yi¡¯s whole body was trembling involuntarily. He was panting silently and violently, like a dehydrated fish that was dying. He forced himself to deeply inhale gulps of the cold and dry air, as if this would relieve some of the pain. Finally, he calmed down sufficiently and looked down at his palm again. The deformed bones on the hand have returned to normal. However, the shocking bruise on the back of the hand was getting darker, with a thinyer of red now on it. Mo Yi tried to move his fingers. A piercing pain washed over him, but it was alright, at least he could move. He tremblingly sucked in another breath, and picked up the item he¡¯did out t on the ground earlier and skillfully treated his injury. He decided against using anything as a splint to fix his dislocated knuckle. After all, it hadn¡¯t been too long since this instance started. If his left hand was rendered immobile now, it would most certainly have a great impact on his future actions. Mo Yi dexterously wrapped the bandage around his palm with the fingers of his right hand and tightly knotted the bandage at the back of his hand. After sessfully bandaging himself, he wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, only to feel an unexpected burning sting. It was only then that Mo Yi remembered that he was also injured on his forehead. He sterilised the wound on his forehead with some remaining gauze dipped in alcohol, then wiped the blood that covered his eyes casually. After making sure his vision would not be impeded, he picked up the scattered things on the ground one by one and stuffed them back into a backpack. With everything he¡¯d wanted to take care of mostly finished, Mo Yi raised his eyes and nced at the screen next to the elevator door. The number above was still at -3 and the small upward icon was still shing evenly. After a few minutes, the number above suddenly changed. -2 Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. A feeling he couldn¡¯t put his finger on suddenly surged in his heart, but before he could react, he felt the elevator under him tremble! He subconsciously supported himself against the cold wall of the elevator. The sound of the rails suddenly became sharp and harsh! There was a huge roar from the machinery, and the entire elevator plunged down again! Ayer of cold sweat broke out on Mo Yi¡¯s back. The overhead light suddenly dimmed, and a yellowish light flickered in the elevator. The elevator stopped moving and seemed to have stopped in mid-air. The inside of the closed elevator was dimmed. Mo Yi raised his head and stared at the screen. However, neither the numbers nor the triangle were flickering anymore, as if they were frozen. He could only hear his own slightly rapid breathing and the intermittent piercing groans of the sliding rails resounding in his ears. In this very second, the lights in the elevator flickered again and then went out abruptly¡ª Everything was plunged into darkness. Chapter 100

Chapter 100

TW: Mentions of ustrophobia It was dark inside the narrow and closed elevator. The dull air in this cramped space was oppressive, pressing down on him in all directions. Mo Yi could almost hear the resonance between his own thundering heartbeat and groaning around him. The darkness was pressing down all around his body, making it difficult for him to breathe. The elevator plummeted again! It made a hoarse and violent roar, and a groaning vibration sounded in the narrow space, as the strained metal was about to break in the next second. Mo Yi was already standing in a corner at this moment, his sweat-drenched back tightly pressed against the corner of the cold wall. His palms were resting on the metal walls and his knuckles were slightly white from the amount of force he was applying. The elevator stopped again. Mo Yi took several deep breaths. He moved carefully, walking along the edge of the elevator to the door. He put his eyes to the gap in the elevator door, and peered out through the narrow gap¡ª A thin line of iron ck stretched across his narrow and limited field of vision. Mo Yi blinked several times and btedly realised that it was the ground of the -2F. The light here was much more abundant than that on the -3F, and the pale light was reflected into a thin line on the ground, which was painfully dazzling. Mo Yi could infer the current location of the elevator. It should be between the -2F and the next floor. The ground of -2F was about the midpoint of the stuck elevator and that was why he happened to be able to see the lower portion of the -3F from his perspective. Here, there was also a long corridor. The cold light struck the empty ground. Unlike the chaos he¡¯d seen on the previous floor, the corridor here was empty and tidy, stretching on into a branching point in the blurry distance. ¡ªThis floor was likely muchrger than the previous floor. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, and a look of contemtion shed in his eyes. The elevator started to shake violently again, and the horizontal line of the ground in his sight shifted higher. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing hitched. He pushed against the elevator door harder with his palms. The icy metal door clipped his injured finger with a biting chill, entangling with the waves of pain into like a matching pair of twins as they surged up his nerves. The all-epassing darkness seemed even more oppressive in this cramped elevator right now. The four walls seemed to be approaching him, closing in on him, slowly squeezing out thest few traces of air inside this enclosed space. Then, as if on cue, a thin scratching sound came from the darkness behind him. Mo Yi¡¯s whole body was shaken. A stuttering chill slowly crawled up his spine. The closed space amplified the scratching throughout the entire elevator. He could feel a faint vibration under his palms, which made his scalp tingle. It¡¯s like¡­something was trying to pierce through the thin metal walls of the elevator and crawl straight in. Mo Yi frowned tightly. ¡ªHe couldn¡¯t wait any longer, the walls of this elevator probably wouldn¡¯tst long. The scratching sound in the darkness became louder, each harsh and sharp sound against the metal elevator wall making one¡¯s back numb. He made a decisive decision then, stuffing his fingertips into the narrow gap of the doors, and then pulled on them forcefully. The unpleasant sound of mechanical friction rang out, the high-pitched sound piercing into his eardrums sharply, giving Mo Yi a slight headache. His breathing grew slightly rapid, and he increased the strength in his arms¡ª Soon enough, the metal doors parted with a gaprge enough for one person to pass through. The cold and dim light in the corridor shone in through the narrow gap, dispelling a little of the darkness in the elevator. Mo Yi warily nced behind him, only to see a blurry outline of a shadow protruding from the hard metal wall of the elevator, as if there was something moving in the dark¡­ That scratching sound which made people feel numb and uneasy steadily became clearer, as if it wasing from all directions all at once, both from afar and right by his ear, which made him feel physically ufortable. Mo Yi¡¯s heart stuttered, his breathing rate elerated, and the hot blood surging through his blood vessels, thundering in his eardrums¡ª Time is running out. He turned his head hastily and threw the backpack he was carrying through the gap into the corridor. The bulging backpack made a clear sound on the ground, its thud echoing in the silent and empty corridor. Mo Yi didn¡¯t have time to think about anything else. He ced his palms on the ground which was now at chest-level, and leapt up towards it. A distinct ¡®crack¡¯ came from the elevator wall behind him, as if it was broken, and the sound resounded like thunder in Mo Yi¡¯s ears. The scratching sound spread in the darkness of the elevator, containing within it a deep and dense ominousness. His breathing was a little unsteady. The sense of warning in his heart exploded all at once. Without any further hesitation, he pressed his arms down hard, pushed his legs up against the wall, and climbed up quickly. Mo Yi¡¯s ears were filled with the roar of his own heartbeat. Amidst the buzzing white noise, the huge sound behind him became distant and hazy, but the natural sensitivity of human beings to danger was keen in his mind, knocking into his psyche with loud ringing rm bells. He gritted his teeth and rolled across the ground. Mo Yi identally pressed the wound on his hand under his body, causing him to involuntarily let out a low groan from his throat. The severe pain cleared his brain and he swung his head back to look at the elevator he had just climbed out of. The two metal doors which had been forcibly opened have now started closing slowly once again, snugly shutting in the darkness and blurred shadows in the enclosed space. The roar of machinery and the sound of the sliding rails sounded again, followed by the return of silence after a while. Mo Yi pushed himself halfway up on the ground, panting for breath. His body, which had heated up from exercise, quickly cooled down, and whenbined with the sweat-drenched clothes sticking tightly to his skin and the icy cold wind in the corridor, caused a fineyer of goosebumps to rise. The empty corridor was dead silent, just like a breeze-less valley filled with a lifeless coldness. Mo Yi blinked. Salty sweat slid down the arch of his eyebrows, from the unscarred wound on his forehead to his eyes, prickling at the sensitive cornea with a burning pain. He wiped the sweat off his face with one hand, then reached out to support himself on the wall as he stood up slowly from the ground. His bones seemingly rattled against each other during the motion. Even his muscles felt stiff and sore. Mo Yi moved the joints of his shoulders and neck, followed by that of his left hand. There was an inexplicable soreness which rose from every bone in his body that slowly spread to the depths of his brain. He let out a long exhale. Fortunately, this level of pain was still temporarily within his eptable range. Mo Yi bent down to pick up his backpack, slung it over his back, then raised his head. When he was in the elevator, he didn¡¯t have time to observe this floor carefully. In addition, his vision was narrow and limited at that time and he couldn¡¯t see the whole corridor. Now, Mo Yi squinted his eyes and carefully checked every detail of the strange space in front of him. There was a pale and dim light above his head, which was illuminating the cold and silent corridor in front of him. The dirty walls were covered with dust, and the mottled and peeling walls showed the years it had experienced. There were neatly arranged rooms on both sides of the corridor. The dpidated doors were tightly closed and their ward numbers were clearly visible under the light. Mo Yi strode to the ward next to him and tentatively stretched out his hand to push it. It didn¡¯t budge. Above the door was a small window separated by an iron railing. Mo Yi moved closer and peered in through the window. There was no one in the room. All there was inside was a narrow space. The mottled walls were hidden in the shadows under the dim light, while a narrow bed was tightly attached to the wall. On the bed were worn and whitish leather restraints, as well as a set of sheets in the same colour as the room. Although the sheets looked old and dirty, there were no wrinkles on them, as if no one had lived in this room prior. Mo Yi furrowed his brows in suspicion, then backed away from the door. Using light steps, he moved forward carefully, peering into each room he passed by. Every room was empty and the doors could not be opened. Mo Yi came to an abrupt stop. At this juncture, he came to the first corner. One corridor branched out from here, leading to an area without lights. Mo Yi stood rooted at the same spot. He leaned forward slightly to nce over and was stunned when his gaze fell on the wall on one side of the diagonally branching corridor. There were two words written there in bright blood red: Area B. The sharp colour contrast pierced his vision. These blood red words on the wet and pale wall appeared to be bleeding wounds from a deep injury, and the half-coagted blood oozing down the wall made the shape of those two characters even more distorted and ugly. It was normal to have divisions of areas in mental hospitals. They would usually divide different types of patients into different divisions to facilitate management and treatment. And so it begets the question¡­ where are the other divisions? Mo Yi took a deep look at the darkness at the end of the corridor. He paused for a while, then slowly moved away. He frowned, not knowing why there was always a sense of uneasiness at the pit of his heart. At this moment, his ears seemed to have captured a certain sound¡ª Mo Yi tensed up instinctively. His gaze turned solemn. Holding his breath, he cautiously surveyed the environment around him. His tense nerves sensitively captured every sound in the corridor, and all the sounds in the ears seem to be infinitely amplified right now¡ª It seemed to be the sound of water droplets. Drip, drip. It dripped evenly and rhythmically onto a hard surface, tapping out a shallow vibration which echoed through the silent corridor and into his eardrums. Drip, drip. T/N: Thank you to maryana for the ko-fi! Also, why does everything seem 30x scarier without the ML around Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Drip, drip. The soft sound of water echoed in the oppressive silence. The end of the corridor was blurred in the deep darkness, pressing down on him with a silent pressure. Mo Yi hesitated for several seconds, then walked towards the depths of the corridor following the sound of water. The long corridor was dark and quiet. The overhead light made a faint hissing sound and the cold white light hit the floor, reflecting a faint light. The depth of the corridor was like a dark hole, with its mouth wide open, and the sound of water dripping can be faintly heard from the darkness within. Drip, drip. Mo Yi deliberately slowed down his pace and headed towards the direction of the sound. There was a dead silence in the long corridor, with only the sound of his own breathing and the monotonous dripping. The sound became clearer and clearer as Mo Yi approached it, yet the low echo through the narrow corridor made it difficult to discern the origin. The further he went, the dimmer the lights became. The air was filled with the familiar smell of blood. Mo Yi took a deep breath. The cold and dry air slid down his respiratory tract into his chest, and his mind cleared up a little again. He pulled out his shlight from the side pocket of his backpack and pressed the switch with a ¡®click¡¯. The beam of light from the shlight instantly illuminated the scene in front of him. There were little drops of blood on the ground, trailing from the area under his feet into the darkness deep in the corridor, which had a strange hue under the flickering lights. Mo Yi crouched down and stretched out his finger to one of the drops of blood. It was wet, cold, and sticky, but it had yet to coagte. He raised his finger and scrutinised his stained fingertip under the light of the shlight. On the pale tip was a dazzling crimson¡ªit was still fresh. Mo Yi stood up, lowered his wrist, and the light of the shlight firmly followed the trail of blood on the ground, stretching out into the corridor. The smell of blood lingering at the end of the nose became even stronger. The shape of the blood traces had also changed from round spots torge expanses of blood which were scattered messily on the ground, and the countless footprints from it painted a shocking sight. The dripping sound grew louder and louder, as if emanating from the surrounding walls and lingering about his eardrums like a curse. Mo Yi pursed his lips. He stood still before the mess. The blood here was a bit older. Most of it had dried up and the resulting marks were imprinted on the ground and the walls around him to varying degrees. The door of the ward closest to the bloodstain was open. Dried blood was sttered on the ajar door, leaving dark red ring marks. There was a deep unfathomable darkness inside, and only the blood overflowing under the door was visible. Mo Yi turned his body sideways and shone the light into the ajar door. Even though he was mentally prepared, he still couldn¡¯t help being surprised. The ward was empty. There was only a half-overturned bed and the ground was in a state of mess, as if arge battle urred inside. And the most eye-catching thing is the deep pattern on the wall, drawn with blood¡ª It was a huge butterfly. The half-coagted dark red blood on the wall had lines twisted both vertically and horizontally, which inteced to form a strange picture. Its body was bloated and ugly, and the huge patterns on its wings resembled lifeless eyes, which made chills run down people¡¯s backs when they looked at it. Mo Yi subconsciously took a few steps into the ward. The sticky blood on the ground made a wet squelch under his feet, and that soft sound under his soles was extraordinarily distinct in this silence. At this moment, he stepped on something hard. Mo Yi froze and shone a light on his feet with a shlight¡ªhe spotted a metal key in the pool of blood, which had an old design, and was gleaming under the light of the shlight. He bent down and retrieved the key from the pool of blood. His fingers and palm were inevitably stained with blood, and the spotted crimson dyed onto his pale skin made it look rather scary. The key was made of brass, with one side dyed a deep dark red due to it being soaked in blood, while the other side was the original colour, still shining yellow under the light. Mo Yi flipped it over and over in his hand, but he found nothing special nor any reliable clues which could reveal the purpose of this key. Still, it looked like a rather important item. But ording to what he understood of the twisted habits of this game, how could it be possible for such an important item to be ced in such a conspicuous ce? Unless¡­ Mo Yi lowered his eyshes. The longshes casted a deep shadow onto his pale face,pletely covering up the thoughtfulness in his eyes. He had some guesses in his mind. Subconsciously, his fingers rubbed the smooth surface of the key twice before he moved his fingertips slightly and stuffed it into his pocket. Using a shlight, Mo Yi surveyed the entire room, and after confirming that he hadn¡¯t missed any other clues, he turned and left the room, continuing to walk in the direction where the sound of water came from. The sound of dripping water rang persistently in the empty corridor, as if it was a cold whisper, one drip after another, forming an endless rhythmic tapping, which made people feel a little frazzled. Mo Yi¡¯s palm holding the shlight tightened slightly. His cold fingertips touched his palm, his neatly trimmed nails sunk into the flesh, causing slight pain. His breathing was paced, his steps were cautious and soundless, and he strode forward under the guidance of the shlight. The dripping of water droplets gradually became louder. Mo Yi came to the second fork in this corridor. There were two roads ahead. The bloodstains which getting thicker and thicker further down the corridor led into the corridor on the right, leaving uneven trails along with several iplete bloodied footprints, which looked rather dazzling under the dim light of the shlight. On the other hand, the corridor on the left only had a dead darkness and a suffocating silence with no light and sound. Mo Yi frowned. He stood at the fork and pondered for a while. Then, holding his breath, he listened to the movements in the darkness¡ªthe constant dripping wasing from the corridor on the right. He walked in the direction where the sound came from and focused the shlight into the darkness, dispelling some of the deep and thick shadows inside, and also illuminating one of the blurred outlines in the distance¡ª Startled, Mo Yi subconsciously tightened his body. The vague shadow moved in the darkness, revealing a familiar outline under the light. Mo Yi¡¯s pupils constricted slightly, and his breathing hitched. ¡ªJiang Yuanrou?! Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Mo Yi¡¯s breath was muffled. He took a reflexive step forward. The light of the shlight in his hand swayed slightly with his movements, illuminating the outline of the blurred figure in front of him more. Jiang Yuanrou seemed to be aware of the approaching light, and her figure moved slightly, turning her face towards Mo Yi. Under the unsteady light, her face appeared as pale as paper. There was a trail of drying around her bloodless lips, and her curly long light brown hair hung down messily with clotted blood staining the strands. She looked very distressed, but at least she was alive. Jiang Yuanrou stared at Mo Yi nkly. She narrowed her out-of-focus eyes sightly under the light, as if she had yet to recover her spiritpletely. Her eyes fell on Mo Yi who was standing at the other end of the corridor for a long moment before her light brown pupils slowly focused. Then, her expression twisted into one of surprise and she whispered in disbelief, ¡°¡­Mo Yi?¡± Her voice was terribly hoarse. It sounded as if it had been scorched by fire, or as if it was the screeching of fingernails on ss. Then, right after Jiang Yuanrou uttered these two words, a heart-piercing cough ripped out of her throat. A trace of bright blood overflowed from her lips, forming a bright contrast against her pallidplexion. Mo Yi took a few steps forward. He stuffed the shlight in his hand into the side pocket of his backpack, then used his free hand to support Jiang Yuanrou who was doubled over. His hand came into contact with a cold and sticky palm. Mo Yi nced briefly at it, and noticed that his palm was covered with ayer of blood which resembled ck tar adhering to his skin in this the dim light. His heart clenched. He spoke in a low voice. ¡°Are you okay¡­?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s petite body felt cold to the touch, and she replied hoarsely, ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­¡± She seemed to have thought of it something and abruptly struggled to stretch her hand out to Mo Yi. She held onto his arm forcefully, her slender fingers sinking deeply into Mo Yi¡¯s skin, bringing a bout of burning pain. Jiang Yuanrou raised her head, a mixture of panic and nervousness visible in her light brown eyes, as she gasped a breathy voice, ¡°The key!¡± Mo Yi stilled. He remembered that old brass key that he had just picked up. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s pale face was stained with an abnormal blush. Her panicked light brown eyes stared at Mo Yi. The strength in her hand increased slightly as she continued speaking with some difficulty, ¡°There was a key on this floor, I identally lost it in the chaos earlier. That was the important item for this floor!¡± Her breathing became rapid and unsteady. She released Mo Yi¡¯s aching arm and pressed her slender palm against the mottled cold wall while she struggled to stand up firmly on her own. ¡°I¡­ I have to go back and find it¡­¡± The strong scent of blood filled Mo Yi¡¯s nose. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s slender palm left a dazzling bloody handprint on the wall and the fresh blood slowly slid down from the spot where she touched it. Her steps were heavy, as if she was staggering forward solely with sheer will. Mo Yi squinted his eyes. He slowly retracted his hands which he was subconsciously reaching out to support her. Instead, he took a step back, immersing half of his body into the shadows of the corner of the corridor. There was no expression on his pale face, and his deep ck eyes were cold and quiet. Jiang Yuanrou seemed to realise that something was wrong. She turned her head to look at him, and asked doubtfully, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Before Mo Yi could answer, he heard a familiar voiceing from behind him. ¡°Get out of the way!¡± ¡ªThis voice was? Mo Yi¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He turned his body reflexively, abiding themand, only to see a chair charge past him with great momentum, and mmed fiercely into Jiang Yuanrou¡ªbefore passing through her. With a loud ¡®bang¡¯, the chair mmed fiercely against the wall and ricocheted off. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s pale face slowly revealed a malicious smile before she slowly dissolved into dark red blood, sliding down the wall like melted ice and snow, and pooled across the ground. The lights in the corridor were dim and gloomy, pouring down on him oppressively. The shlight in Mo Yi¡¯s hand shot out a beam of light, reflecting a small spot on the pool of blood. His attention eyes lingered there for a while, then turned to look behind him. He saw Jiang Yuanrou standing on the other end of the corridor. The darkness casted a vague shadow across her features. She was panting slightly, supporting herself with a palm on the wall, as if the action just now had exhausted all her strength. Seeing Mo Yi looking over, Jiang Yuanrou took a step forward. Her pale face was exposed to the dim light in the corridor. Her messy hair and the blood slowly seeping out from her abdomen were almost the same as the ¡®Jiang Yuanrou¡¯ he¡¯d seen just now . Although she seemed to be barely keeping herself together, her eyes were still sharp and vignt. Jiang Yuanrou clutched her bleeding abdomen. She hobbled several steps forward and cautiously came to a stop a little distance away from Mo Yi. She nced at the dirty pool of blood with some trepidation, then took a deep breath, and spoke hoarsely to Mo Yi. ¡°I need to know if you are real or fake.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes met hers. He scrutinised her for a moment, and asked: ¡°How can I prove it¡­?¡± Jiang Yuanrou stared intently at Mo Yi, then slowly bent down. She cing a sharp piece of wood on the ground and slid it over to him. ¡°¡ªwound.¡± Mo Yi took a deep look at her before bending to pick up the wood chip on the ground, and shed it across his palm. Bright drops of blood beaded up from the ce where the wood sliced him and flowed into the cuff along his pale and thin wrist. The odd hint in Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyes mellowed. She drew in a low breath, then took out another piece of wood and shed her wrist. Blood gushed out from her wound. Jiang Yuanrou leaned most of her body against the wall. Her face was pale due to excessive blood loss. She pulled out half a roll of gauze from her pocket, and neatly bandaged her wound. When she raised her head again, she looked much calmer, and offered an exnation weakly. ¡°It can transform into anyone on this floor. However, the transformed figure is simply a projection so it cannot be hurt.¡± Mo Yi nodded. He seemed to have noticed something, and continued questioning, ¡°The key you were talking about just now¡­¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s expression was a little gloomy. She pushed herself into an upright position and borated as she walked. ¡°That key is the crucial item needed to leave this building. You must have picked it up somewhere or she wouldn¡¯t have gone to such lengths to attempt to cheat it from you like this.¡± Her eyes fell on Mo Yi. ¡°You don¡¯t need to give it to me now. It¡¯s the same regardless of who holds on to it.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯splexion became even paler, and she said to Mo Yi, ¡°Come with me.¡± After she finished speaking, she continued walking towards the ce where the light was on in the corridor. At the end of that corridor was the elevator which Mo Yi came out of earlier. Mo Yi followed her pace. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s expression was heavy, and she continued speaking as she walked, ¡°It isn¡¯t as if I was idling around after having survived on this floor for so long. I have found enough clues to determine the way to leave this building¡­¡± She suddenly stopped speaking. The footsteps behind her halted at some point¡ª Jiang Yuanrou turned her head and saw Mo Yi standing at the door where he¡¯d picked up the key just now. He was staring thoughtfully into the dark ward. Seemingly having noticed Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyes, Mo Yi turned to look at her. ¡°Do you know how I knew she wasn¡¯t Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s just now?¡± Jiang Yuanrou was momentarily surprised for a moment. She had obviously not expected that Mo Yi would bring up this insignificant topic at this juncture. ¡°Because it was too clumsy.¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyelids, his eyes darkened. ¡°Not only did she not raise any doubts about whether I was really her teammate, but also revealed her intentions as soon as we met. This level of skill is really substandard.¡± He raised his gaze. The depths of his bottomless eyes were like the calm surface of a pitch-ckke, quietly trained on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s pale face. ¡°Comparatively speaking, you are much more sincere.¡± Chapter 103

Chapter 103

There was a dead silence in the deep and narrow corridor. There was not a single window all throughout the old and stained walls of the corridor from the beginning to end. There was only a heavy oppression emanated through the thick darkness, which made it suffocating. The lights overhead gave off a faint light, but they were insufficient to dispel the darkness in the corridor. Thick shadows loomed between the corners of the walls, as if something dangerous was secretly surging in the depths. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s face was pale. A pair of light brown eyes stared at Mo Yi in the darkness. ¡°What are you talking about? I don¡¯t understand.¡± Mo Yi was standing a few steps away. His silhouette was shrouded by darkness, and there was a blurry and dark bloodstain under his feet, extending into the room. His cold voice sounded distant, but the tone was steady without any ups and downs. ¡°By calling out that clumsy phantom, you would gain the yer¡¯s trust. Next, you would then verify the authenticity of the yer through the wound, and in turn, also prove your authenticity. Moreover, even if you knew the key is in my hand, you didn¡¯t ask me for it¡­¡± Mo Yi paused. When he spoke again, there was a hint of admiration in his voice. ¡°It¡¯s really a superb technique.¡± Jiang Yuanrou frowned at Mo Yi. After hesitating for several seconds, she slowly took a step forward. ¡°Wait¡­ Do you think I am also a fake?¡± She paled, and said with some frustration, ¡°What else do you want me to do to prove my identity? sh another wound?¡± After speaking, Jiang Yuanrou pulled out the sharp piece of wood from her pocket again and held it out in Mo Yi¡¯s direction. ¡°Or do you want to sh it in person?¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t step forward to take it. Instead, he simply stood in his original spot and continued in a low voice. ¡°Did you know, all the clues that led to my suspicion were supplied by yourself since earlier, including the method of identification between the real and fake.¡± The expression on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s face slowly dissipated, just like how theyers of ripples on theke slowly settled. She stood quietly in ce, her light brown eyes trained on Mo Yi, as if her gaze would be able to solidify into a sharp weapon which could prate his flesh and bones. Mo Yi turned his head. His gazended in the room next to him. In the darkness, he could see the outline of blood which was extending into the deeper shadows like a living thing. Even without a shlight, he could still picture that ugly and bloated butterfly on the wall in his mind. He looked away as soon as his gazended on the general area, then turned back to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing not far away. ¡°You said you know the way to leave this building¡­¡± Mo Yi stroked his wounded wrist lightly with his fingers. With his eyes slightly lowered, he continued speaking slowly. ¡°But from the very beginning, the yer¡¯s task is to survive and not to leave the building.¡± However the atmosphere in this level was really too scary and there was no way anyone would want to remain here for even a moment longer¡ªif one was a yer with low vignce, they might be confused by the ingenuity in the foe¡¯s words, and unknowingly assume that the right path to take was to ¡®leave the building¡¯. Furthermore, ¡®to leave is to stay¡¯.. If he really followed Jiang Yuanrou to ¡®leave¡¯ the building, he might stay here forever instead. Mo Yi raised his eyes, staring at the ¡°Jiang Yuanrou¡± standing not far away from him, and said slowly. ¡°Besides, I haven¡¯t heard the sound of water dripping since just now.¡± The background sounds here were extremely quiet, so quiet that it almost made people think that they had arrived in another world. And this corridor was dead silent. There were no dripping sounds. To be more precise, ever since the first fake Jiang Yuanrou, the sound of water droplets in the corridor had disappeared without a trace, as if there had never been any dripping sounds, bing as silent as a grave. As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yuanrou, who was standing before him, slowly showed a strange smile on her pale face. Her bloodless and deformed lips were pulled from ear to ear, looking weird and creepy. Her face melted into dirty blood, and her body too, slowly dissolved into a pool of dark red blood. Then with a dull ¡®thud¡¯, the sharp piece of wood also fell into the pool of blood, and some of the sticky blood was sshed onto the grey wall beside it, staining it. Mo Yi closed his eyes. Yet, when he opened them again, the scene in front of him waspletely different. He was now standing at the fork in the road where he had seen Jiang Yuanrou for the first time, and not at the door of the room where he followed the second Jiang Yuanrou to. There was a dark and bleak corridor in front of him. Only the shlight in his hand was still on, leaving a slightly trembling halo of light on the wall in front of him. Dripping sounds persevered in the background. Mo Yi breathed a long sigh of relief. A tingling sensation slowly rose from his back, as if it was an ache from the overexertion of his muscles, and it caused a faint ache to climb up along his nerves. Sure enough, he entered the illusion when he rounded the corner. These two Jiang Yuanrou did not actually exist. There were still traces of dried blood, drag marks, and footprints on the ground, but there were no broken chairs or dark and sticky pools of blood. ¡ªSo he had never actually took a step forward from this ce all along. Mo Yi moved his stiff wrist slightly. The beam of the light swayed with his movements, illuminating the opposite wall in front of him. His eyes narrowed slightly. His movements widened, slowly moving the beam of the shlight across the wall in front of him. The dark mottled wall opposite was covered with dark red blood, forming a weird and strange imagery on the pale wall illuminated by the light¡ªan ugly and huge butterfly on the wall, with deformed eyes on its wings. Those distorted eyes stared nkly at him as dark red viscous blood slowly oozed down the wall. ¡ªExactly the same as the room on the -3F. Mo Yi squinted his eyes, carefully studying the pattern in front of him and subconsciously fiddled with the shlight in his palm with his fingers. He could see the pattern now. Each of the illusions he¡¯d seen in this instance so far had the purpose of leading him somewhere¡­ and when he deciphered them, a simr butterfly would appear in front of him. Apart from¡­¡­. The butterfly in the room where he woke up, which was etched out with fingernails, and the butterfly in the room where he found the brass key earlier. Furthermore, after the illusion was broken on the -3F, he was shoved onto the bed¡ªthat was real and not simply an illusion. Mo Yi let out a long breath slowly. He knew that the clues he had thus far were too few. Compared with his previous instances, the number of clues he had found in this instance up until this point can be said to be almost scarce, and the fewer clues he had, the more dangerous the instance would be. Besides¡­ there were too many variables in this instance. Not only was there a group of dead yers who hadn¡¯t cleared the level, but also¡­ so far, he still hadn¡¯t met any other yers. Being able to locate Jiang Yuanrou under this circumstances was arduously difficult, let alone Jiang Yuanbai. Mo Yi took onest deep look at the butterfly painted with blood on the wall. The glimmer of the shlight reflected in his dark eyes, akin to two spots of bright lights in the darkness. The sound of dripping water passed through the pitch-ck space, into his ears. Drop by drop, there was a subtle echo all around the narrow space, matching the rhythm of Mo Yi¡¯s heartbeat. Mo Yi took a deep inhale. He tightened his fingers around the shlight and slowly proceeded into the depths of the corridor. The lights gradually became dimmer and dimmer, until there was finally no more light left at all, and all he could rely on to illuminate the path ahead of him was solely the shlight in his hand. The corridor was as cold as an ice cer, and the gloomy air-conditioning prated into his flesh, causing Mo Yi¡¯s exposed skin to quickly lose all traces of warmth. Still, he continued to walk deeper into the corridor without any change to his usual expression. His steps were cautious and light, without making the slightest sound. The walls on both sides of this corridor were peeling off slightly, revealing the darker brick walls below. Unlike the corridor just now, not only were there not any windows here but also no wards. There were only two tall walls nking him, like a tunnel leading into the bottomless darkness. The light tube overhead was no longer on, and an unknown darkness stretched on before him. More and more bloodstains covered the ground. Messy criss-crossing bloodied footprints led out from a puddle of dried blood in the middle of the dirty floor, apanied by marks of dragging handprints along the peeling walls, as if there had been someone who was supporting themselves as they stumbled despairingly along this corridor. Mo Yi tentatively reached out his hand and touched it¡ªthat same stickiness was simr to touching the slimy skin of a cold-blooded animal, causing an acute sense of difort to surge out from his pores. Although the blood had dried up a bit, judging by the colour, it should still be rather fresh. The air was filled with the familiar smell of rust. This cold bloody smell lingered at the tip of his nose while the sound of dripping droplets rang loudly in his ears¡ª Drip, drip. The light in his hand caused the shadows of the corridor ahead to appear deeply sunken, their colour so dark that it looked nearly imprable. Mo Yi took a few more steps forward before he could finally see it clearly¡ªit was a room. And¡­ quite possibly the only room in this entire corridor. . Mo Yi¡¯s expression shifted slightly. He walked over quickly, turning his head to hear better. The continuous dripping sound seemed to being from this room, passing through the door and into Mo Yi¡¯s ears. Next, he put his face close to the small window framed by the iron bars on the door and squinted to look inside. It was pitch ck in the room. A thick and deep darkness enveloped the whole area, making it impossible to peek inside at all. He tried to push on the door¡ªit seemed to be stuck. Mo Yi didn¡¯t dare to act rashly, so he suppressed the sound of his breathing and gently turned the shlight in his hand off. Everything around him fell into darkness again. And this darkness sharpened his five senses¡ª He heard¡­ Besides the sound of dripping water, there was another sound inside. Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Drip, drip. The dripping sound passed through the thin door panel, echoed in the darkness, and travelled unhurriedly into his ears. Drip, drip. Mo Yi seemed to hear something mixed in with the distinct dripping sound¡­ That thin, soft, rhythmic dripping sound. Mo Yi held his breath and moved closer, pressing his ear against the cold and hard door panel. A stinging cold seeped into his skin, bringing along with it a slight tremor from the point of contact. And as he moved, the voice grew much clearer. It sounded like¡­ Crying. The faint sobbing sounded in the dense darkness which was so dense that it almost seemed solid, echoing in the air like a slender vibrating thread of silk which slowly prated into his ears and climbed up along his spine. An icy chill rose in Mo Yi¡¯s heart. Goosebumps instantly formed on his exposed skin. His back was soaked in cold sweat. Drip, drip. The strange and soft crying sound was mixed with the dripping sound, echoing like an eerie whisper all along the dark and narrow corridor. Mo Yi didn¡¯t know if this was merely an illusion¡­ but he felt as though the sobbing was slowly moving closer to him. Then¡ªsuddenly, it became crystal clear. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being startled by the thoughts in his mind and reflexively backed several steps away from the tightly closed door. He stood rooted in the dark, desperately suppressing the panting in his throat. Theyer of cold sweat on his back glued his thin clothes to his body like a second skin. The ever-present chill in this gloomy corridor grew even colder. Mo Yi fixed his eyes on the door. The faint crying sound prated through the door panel and the wall, piercing into his eardrum like a thin needle making itpletely impossible to ignore the sobs. Mo Yi¡¯s scalp exploded in a bout of tingles. ¡ªIt wasn¡¯t his illusion! The crying sound that he had to get so close to even hear earlier has grown so clear now. Even though he¡¯d backed away, he could still hear it loud and clear¡­ He nced up at the corridor in front of him, the gears in his brain spinning rapidly. He was too far away from the only room where he could hide in. The path ahead was too dark too. If he switched on his shlight, he would be exposing his location, which was no different from suicide. It was too difficult to proceed or retreat. He could only gamble. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing grew rapid. He tightened his stiff fingers and subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva, yet the burning pain in his dry throat instantly felt like swallowing a de. Then, with his waist bent, he quickly and quietly stalked towards the depths of the corridor. Mo Yi supported himself against the wall, and groped his way forward in the darkness cautiously. He tried the ground with his feet several times before he dared to take a step forward, for fear of stepping on something and making a sound which would expose him. Fortunately, the corridor on the -2F was not full of debris like the one on the -3F, but was so clean that it was almost empty. Mo Yi didn¡¯t encounter any obstacles along the way, and he walked smoothly. The weeping behind him became clearer. The thin chokes prated his ears, covering the dripping sounds and leaving only the cries echoing in the dark and empty corridor. At this moment, Mo Yi heard the metallic sound of the rusty doorknob being twisted behind him. It was followed by a creak, which was very distinct in the oppressive and dark silence. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing became chaotic. His heart nearly leapt up to his throat. There was a sudden lightheadedness which overwhelmed him, as if he was walking on the edge of a cliff, and the thin air of the high altitude nearly suffocated him. Suddenly, the area before his palm was a void. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up. A bright light ignited in his dark pupils¡ªhow fortunate! As he¡¯d expected, it was impossible that there would be only one room in this whole corridor! In the dark, he gripped the hard and cold corner of the wall with his fingers and rounded the corner at a faster speed. Immediately afterwards, the sound of the doorknob being turned open came from behind him, followed by the groan of the opening door as it scraped along the ground. ¡­The door was pushed open. Mo Yi dodged to the side and hid behind the side wall. The thin weeping sound slowly moved through the air like a snake. Each sound was clearly transmitted into Mo Yi¡¯s ears, prated into every single pore like a stream of flowing slime. Goosebumps rose on his back. Footsteps sounded along with the weeping, progressing down the corridor step by step, each soundnding right on Mo Yi¡¯s heart. At the same time, there seemed to be a slight rustling, as if there was fabric being dragged on the ground too. Mo Yi¡¯s back was pressed snugly against the cold wall behind him. He furrowed his brows, staring at a corner in the darkness while deep in contemtion, his eyes slightly out of focus. ¡ªWhen he was on the previous -3F, he¡¯d also heard footsteps and that metallic sound. Was there any connection between these? The sobbing sound approached. It was so close that it seemed to be right by his ear. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but stop his wild thoughts. He tensed all the muscles in his body and even subconsciously held his breath. Drip, drip. The origin of the dripping sounds was unfathomable. However the weeping and footsteps were drawing closer and closer, echoing softly in the silent corridor, echoing right by his ears. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened unconsciously. A cold and numb pain came from his previously injured thumb which shot all the way up the nerve and twisted in his throat. The pain sharpened his senses. So did the darkness. The sound of crying and footsteps passed by the room where he was hiding in without pausing and continued down towards the depths of the corridor. It seemed to turn a corner. The sound gradually became smaller, then gradually went away. The crying sound became as soft and indistinct as before when it slowly pulled away into the distance¡ª Now, the dripping sound was the main noise again, rhythmically and relentlessly sounding in the darkness, slowly falling drop by drop, seeming nearly calming in Mo Yi¡¯s ears. He slowly let out the long breath he was holding. The suppressed feeling of suffocation lifted off him, as if the boulder pressing on his chest was suddenly removed. But Mo Yi didn¡¯t dare to take it lightly. If the footsteps on this floor were simr to those on the previous floor, it would head back in this direction sooner orter. Time was very tight now, and he could not afford to waste a single minute or second. He listened intently in the dark for a while, and after making sure that the sound was far away, he groped out in the dark. Mo Yi raised his head. The light at the other end of the corridor was flickering weakly. Although it couldn¡¯t illuminate the road in front of him, it was still a psychologicalfort. He tiptoed back to the door he hadn¡¯t opened just now. The door had already been opened at this moment, revealing a narrow gap in the darkness. That rhythmic dripping sound came from the gap, clearly resounding in the darkness. Using his fingers, Mo Yi carefully pushed the door wider until there was a gaprge enough for one person to pass through. The rusty sound ¡®creak¡¯ of the door resounded in the silence, and it was particrly loud in Mo Yi¡¯s ears. His breathing stagnated, his movements stilled, and his nerves were tensed to the extreme¡ª Mo Yi listened silently in the dark without moving for a moment, and only after making sure that the sound he¡¯d made didn¡¯t startle anything, did he turn sideways and slip in through the gap. Once inside, he noticed that the smell of blood was more intense. This sweet scent of rust slid down his nasal cavity into his lungs, apanied by a slight pain caused by the coldness of the air. This room was veryrge. There was a smallmp at the far end of the room, which cast a faint light that was barely of any use. Mo Yi squinted his eyes. His vision had already adapted to the darkness so he could distinguish the blurred outlines of the things in the room. This room was likely the bathing area for the mentally ill patients. The whole space was lined with two rows of dirty and old bathtubs, extending one after another from one end of the room to the other. Drip, drip. The dripping sounds echoed in the darkness. Mo Yi tentatively took a step forward. However, his movements jerked to a standstill as his eyes slowly fell on a bathtub at the other end of the room. In this deep and dense darkness, there was a vague undting shadow. Mo Yi¡¯s heart thundered. ¡ªThat bathtub¡­ did not seem to be empty. T/N: WHO? WHO IS IT??? Chapter 105

Chapter 105

The light at the other side of the room flickered on and off, and the encroaching darkness surrounding it slowly eroded inward. Drip, drip. The sound reflected off the wall and echoed throughout the empty and cold room, seeming as if it wasing from all sides. The rows of bathtubs in the room were vague and ovepping outlines in the dark. They were deeply hidden in the shadows and only their dim edges could be seen, gleaming faintly under the light. The rhythmic dripping sound resounded in the room, seeming almost mncholic. Mo Yi stood at the doorway. His tall and thin figure blended into the dark room. His gaze was fixed at the far end of the room. There was an undting shadow in that bathtub, which appeared rather¡­ humanoid. The corridor was deathly silent. There were no footsteps, no crying, no rustling. After listening intently for a while, Mo Yi took a step forward and moved further into the room. He walked on the cold and wet ground. The dripping sound filled the silence. The gloomy air was held a strong smell of blood which became thicker and thicker as he approached, which made him feel uneasy. The blurry shape in the bathtub also gradually became more vivid. Mo Yi took a deep breath to calm his heartbeat, and moved closer. The light was flickered, illuminating the edge of the bathtub in the darkness¡ªMo Yi could see the dark brown stains under the king sides of the bathtub, those deep patches seeming like scars. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze moved upwards. He saw the half-dried blood on the pale surface of the bathtub, along with smears of bloody fingerprints messily imprinted on the protruding edges, the stark contrast in colour so vivid that it seemed horrifying. Next, he noticed, at the side which was nearly fully encloaked in shadows, there was a pale hand resting on the edge of the bathtub. The fingers were hanging down feebly on the porcin surface, looking like dying butterflies. Dark red blood left vivid trails on the skin, winding down the drooping fingers and forming beading globules on the fingertips, looking as though there would drip onto the ground anytime, but have not fallen yet. Drip, drip. A pool of dark red blood had already formed on the ground. However, the new droplets were still hanging precariously to the fingertips, yet to drip down. The sound he¡¯d heard was noting from here. A deep furrow slowly formed between Mo Yi¡¯s brows, and he looked away from the pool of blood on the ground. The dripping sound was loud and clear in the dark, echoing in the empty room. Every sound was like a rhythmic knocking thundering against the human heart. That hand was hanging quietly. A web of dark blue veins stretched out under the blood-covered pale skin, and thebination appeared in a shade of light grey under the light. There was a familiar watch loosely secured on the slender wrist with well-defined bones. Mo Yi frowned. He took a few steps forward slowly, narrowed his eyes slightly, and squinted at the watch¡ª His expression froze. This watch¡­ He recognised it. Mo Yi pulled out the shlight. He sped his stiff fingers on the protruding switch and exerted a slight downward force to switch it on. The faint light shot out in the darkness, dispelling some of the shadows in front of him. Mo Yi lifted his wrist and directed the shlight in his hand into the bathtub. A pale beam of light illuminated the undting silhouette in the stained bathtub, illuminating a figure lying in it. Jiang Yuanrou. She was lying in the bathtub in an awkward position. Her unsupported head was leaning softly against the edge of the bathtub, her curly long hair which covered her face was in a mess, with clumps were congealed by blood. The bathtub was filled with half a tank of light red water. Through the water, he could see Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s clothes slowly floating in the blood-stained water. Her petite body was half submerged in the water, and blood was steadily leaking from her abdomen. There was a rusty faucet protruding from the wall by her neck and it was slowly dripping water into the bathtub. Drip, drip. The round and full water droplets fall rhythmically into the half-full bathtub, and the resulting shallow ripples slowly spread along the surface. One of her hands was hanging onto the side of the bathtub, while the other was awkwardly bound by a restraint belt, and her body curled up in a twisted posture. Her dark brows and eyes were closed and unmoving, looking lifeless. Mo Yi frowned. He took a few steps forward and pressed his fingers to the side of her neck. Her skin was cold and damp with sweat, without any of the warmth associated with a living person. Yet he could still feel a slight pulse moving up and down. She was still alive. Mo Yi withdrew his arm. He stared at Jiang Yuanrou who was lifelessly lying in the bathtub with an unreadable expression, then subconsciously began stroking his own cold palm with his fingers. The instance this time was really¡­ very scary. It continuously came up with illusions to confuse the yers. Although he has yet to fall for any of them so far, it has to be said¡­ It made him paranoid. He now had doubts about everyone and everything he finds around him. It even made him doubt where he currently was. Did he really manage to break the illusion from earlier, or did he simply fall into another deeper and more realistic illusion? A chill slowly rose from Mo Yi¡¯s back. The dangerous and horrific thought he had forcibly suppressed earlier emerged again, climbing up his spine. This instance was gradually wearing away his sense of reality. Mo Yi even felt¡­ That this mental asylum was slowly turning him into a lunatic. Losing the sense of reality, not knowing whether one was in an illusion or in reality¡ªthat was the hallmark of a mentally unstable patient after all. This instance did not rely on any external monsters or even chase battles to aplish its purpose. To be precise, this instance itself was the weapon. Mo Yi¡¯s back was icy cold. The fingertips he¡¯d used to touch Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s cold neck just now felt an unbearable chill and it was slowly spreading upwards along his fingers, which made him feel ufortably. There was an invisible psychological pressure in this dark and empty room with the endless rhythmic sound of dripping water. Mo Yi forced his eyes close and cleared his chaotic mind. Then, he raised his eyes again, looking intently at Jiang Yuanrou who was breathing weakly in the bathtub. The expression on his pale face was one of calm, and his eyes were dark and deep. Under his long and drooping eyshes, small spots of light were reflected on his ck irises. Instead of allowing his thoughts to run wild now, it is wiser to counter the iing soldiers with arms and blockade the oing flood with earth. Besides¡­ he didn¡¯t have the luxury of time now, not when he didn¡¯t know when that crying voice mighte back. Mo Yi stepped closer and patted Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s cheek with more force. The skin under his palm was cold and stiff. If it wasn¡¯t for her weak breathing, Mo Yi would almost have thought she was a corpse. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyshes fluttered a little. Mo Yi bent down and pried at the belt which was binding Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s wrist. Although the iron buckle on it was tightly welded closed due to rust, the binding was not as indestructible as the restraint belts on the -3F. After he diligently tugged at it for several minutes, a soft ¡®nk¡¯ came from the belt buckle and Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s wrist was released. Her arm slumped down limply and the hard bone of her elbow mmed into the edge of the bathtub while the upper half of her arm slipped into the water of the bathtub, making a distinct ssh in the silence. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t dodge in time and was sshed with the blood-tinged ice-cold water droplets. His heart tightened¡ªthe sound just now was really loud, especially in such a quiet room, even the smallest sound would be amplified to the extreme. This made Mo Yi uneasy. While he was distracted, he only heard a slight groaning from the bathtub, apanied by the sound of water. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being surprised and nced down at Jiang Yuanrou in the bathtub. Her brows were pulled into a tight furrow. Her trembling eyshes moved slightly and slowly opened her eyes. Under the pale eyelids were a pair of out-of-focus light brown eyes. They silently stared at a point in the darkness, and it took them a long time to focus. Jiang Yuanrou blinked. Then as if she realising her situation, the muscles all over her body tensed instantly, and her light brown eyes became sharp and vignt¡ª Soon after, her expression twisted, as though her movements had touched the wound on her abdomen. Large beads of sweat slid down her temples, her lips pressed into a tight line as she swallowed down the low gasp in her throat. The sound of rippling water in the bathtub and dripping water rang in the darkness and echoed through the empty room. Mo Yi hurriedly stretched his hand out to hold Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s arm resting on the edge of the bathtub. When he felt her muscles momentary tense, he increased the pressure he was applying, then leaned closer to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s ear and whispered to her in a breathy voice. ¡°Don¡¯t move, it¡¯s me.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s movements stiffened and she didn¡¯t move anymore. The sound of water rippling in the bathtub disappeared slowly, leaving only the sound of dripping water¡ª Jiang Yuanrou sat quietly in the darkness. She lowered her voice and asked tentatively, ¡°¡­Mo Yi?¡± Her familiar voice, those simr words, the exact same tone as before, all of these made Mo Yi recall the bad memories just now. His heart skipped a beat, and the hand gripping Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s arm subconsciously tightened. The slender arm in his hand was as cold as a corpse, and the sticky dampness of her skin was transmitted from their point of contact. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s low gasp sounded within the darkness. This snapped the distracted Mo Yi back to attention and he rxed his grip. Sucking in a deep breath, he replied with a low ¡°hmm¡± to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s earlier question. But before he could do anything else, he caught a low whimpering from the dark corridor in the distance¡ªslowly, from a point neither near nor far, he heard the weeping. The ominous sound of footsteps and rustling fabric resounded in the distance again, akin to a nightmare surfacing in the middle of the night and lingering in his mind. It passed through the silent and empty corridor, and it was transmitted clearly into Mo Yi¡¯s ears. Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Mo Yi¡¯s breathing stagnated. His heart missed a beat. The sound of footsteps resounding in the dark corridor seemed blurry and distant, but the whimpers were gently entering and caressing the listener¡¯s eardrums, making one¡¯s hair stand on end. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s ice cold skin was stiffening tensely under Mo Yi¡¯s palm and the sound of her breathing changed. Mo Yi didn¡¯t have time to think further. He slipped his shlight back into his pocket to free up a hand. He then gripped Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s shoulders and forcefully pulled her up from the cold bathtub. A painful gasp escaped from Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s throat. Mo Yi asked in a low voice, ¡°Can you still walk?¡± The rippling sound of water echoed in the dark room. The sound of dripping water continued to ring in the room while the footsteps in the corridor outside the door were getting louder. Jiang Yuanrou nodded hastily. She reached out to grab Mo Yi¡¯s arm, using it as leverage to straighten her posture and then stepped out from the bathtub. As she had been soaked in the cold water for too long, her whole body was cold and wet, causing her to tremble unconsciously. Mo Yi could even hear the ttering of Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s teeth colliding against each other. Her legs and feet were stiff and numb due to the blockage of the blood cirction. The moment she stepped out of the bathtub, her knees buckled and she nearly fell over. Mo Yi quickly reached out to support Jiang Yuanrou by the elbow and her weight pressed down on his injury. Mo Yi gasped, the expression on his face twisting in the darkness¡ªmost of his arm was numb under Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s weight, but the pain radiating from his thumb joint was actually getting lighter. This was not the first time he suffered because of his low physical fitness. Mo Yi resisted the pain in his arm and helped Jiang Yuanrou up, then asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you certain you can walk?¡± In the darkness, he felt Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s long hair pressed against his shoulders and neck moving slightly, as if she was nodding. The strong smell of blood was permeating the air around his body. For a moment, Mo Yi even had the illusion that he could hear blood gushing out of her wound. Holding each other, they stumbled forward. The light behind them was dim and weak, barely able to reflect against the edges of the bathtubs lined up in front of them. Mo Yi didn¡¯t dare to switch on his shlight with the footsteps and whimpering still echoing through the corridor outside. Using the shlight now was equivalent to revealing their position, so the two of them had no other option but to grope their way forward in the dark. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s breathing was trembling and rapid, and she exined in a low voice. ¡°This wound is only a side effect. It will disappear in about 20 minutes.¡± Mo Yi understood instantly. This exined why the two yers on the -3F who were bound to the equipment of the mental asylum were dead, but Jiang Yuanrou was still able to wake up. He breathed a sigh of relief¡ªfortunately, he didn¡¯t use those useless in-game props before, otherwise if he happened to be inflicted with such a serious injury, he couldn¡¯t be sure if he would be able to survive the remainder of this instance. Jiang Yuanrou obviously had better physical fitness. After she got out of the cold bathtub, her body was quickly able to regain its vitality. Although she was still somewhat unsteady on her legs and feet, it was no longer necessary for her to put her whole body weight on Mo Yi. The two soon walked all the way to the door of this room. They stopped at the same time, leaned their bodies against the wall by the doorframe, and listened intently to the movement in the corridor. Mo Yi suppressed his breathing to the point that it was almost hard to hear him. The gears in his head spun, visualising the map of this floor. When he hid in the room next door just now, the cries and footsteps wereing towards the darkness on the right, but now, judging from the sound, this ¡®monster¡¯ should being from the left. Furthermore, this was the first time he had heard it in a while. ording to the shape of the corridor he passed through earlier, it could be assumed that the corridor on this floor should be circr. Also, the difference between the -3F and -2F¡­ was that this -2F wasrger than what he¡¯d expected. Footsteps sounded from the distance in an unhurried pace. The resulting vibrations passed through the deep and dark corridor into their eardrums, and that sound along with the faint whimper, were slowly approaching in Mo Yi¡¯s direction. Mo Yi held his breath and concentrated, mentally estimating the distance between them. The other party should currently be in the corridor where he got off the elevator just now. If they walked towards their left now, there was a high chance of encountering it head-on, so walking to the right would be their only choice. But what Mo Yi was undecided now was, should he hide again in same room? He craned his head around and stared at Jiang Yuanrou. Her petite body was tightly pressed against the wall behind her. He could feel the slight trembling of her body through her arm¡ª Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s current condition is not optimal. Mo Yi was not certain if her body couldst such a potentially long walk. After all, he has yet to explore the corridor on the right and he doesn¡¯t know what is hidden there. But¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s brows were furrowed. His pale lips were pursed into a tight straight line, and his dark eyes were full of unsaid thoughts. But¡­ the room next to this was far too close. This gave him a very bad feeling. As the footsteps in the background gradually became louder, the apanying whimpers also echoed in the empty corridor, which made people feel uneasy. Mo Yi¡¯s brows twitched¡ªnow was not the time to be indecisive, he had to make a decision immediately. He nudged Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s arm lightly, exerted a little force with his fingers before quickly withdrawing and making a gesture under the dim light, signalling for? her to follow him and walk to the right. Without dy, both of them crept out from the door one after another. The atmosphere in the corridor was gloomy and tense, and a heavy and oppressive atmosphere enveloped the two of them. They were careful not to make any sound, and crept forward in the vague darkness. Mo Yi reflexively casted a nce over his shoulder. There was a faint light at the fork of the corridor a short distance away, which illuminated a narrow area. A blurred shadow was at the edge of the light there while they were standing among the deeper shadows on this side. There was a shadow was on the ground under the faint flickering light¡ª It seemed to be a head with long hair, which was moving forward with each sound of the footsteps, slowly approaching them. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened. His steps subconsciously quickened. He withdrew his gaze, only to freeze for a moment at the side of the dark corridor. Over there? the room where he had hidden himself just now. Mo Yi took a deep breath. He gritted his teeth, averted his gaze, then reached out to support Jiang Yuanrou, who was several steps behind him, and the two walked towards the dark depths of the corridor together. The space ahead waspletely dark, as if there was something unknown just quietly waiting for someone to step forward¡ªthe unknown was the most frightening thing, and the untravelled territory ahead seemed to be shrouded in countless uncertain variables, which made Mo Yi fraught. The distinct sound of footsteps and whimpers came from behind him, apanied by the soft rustle of cloth dragging across the ground. Even though Mo Yi¡¯s eyes had long been used to the darkness, the corridor without the slightest light in front of him was still imprable to his eyesight. Everything was only a blur, which gave Mo Yi the illusion that his eyes were still closed. Even so, he still focused his vision at the front. While supporting Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s cold and trembling body due to blood loss with one hand, he pressed his other hand against the wall, and cautiously strode deeper in. After a short period of walking, Mo Yi¡¯s palm, which had been tightly pressed against the wall, touched an edge. His eyes lit up¡ªa corner. Mo Yi gripped Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s palm slightly tighter, and the two of them tacitly increased their pace and rounded the corner. Their vision instantly cleared up. There was a faint light at the end of this corridor. Broken light tubes still connected to the ceiling with tangled wires were hanging in mid-air, dangling freely down into the corridor, and the casted dim light was swaying along. However, the pale light was unable to dispel the heavy darkness in the corridor. It could only leave shaking shadows on the walls which brought a sense of difort to them both. There were two rooms along this corridor, their doors closed. Mo Yi pushed on them as he passed by¡ªthe two doors were locked tightly and could not be pushed open. The sound of footsteps behind them seemed not to have mostly faded away after they turned the corner, which made Mo Yi feel slightly rxed. Both of them made their way towards the end of this corridor and soon found themselves under the brokenmp tube. The light tube hanging in mid-air made a slight ¡®buzz¡¯. The dangling wires were hanging tightly without any ck, as if they would suddenly snap and fall without any warning. After turning a corner, what appeared in front of them was a deeper and quieter corridor. The walls on either side here were nking a cramped and narrow space, which made people feel suffocated. Mo Yi lowered his eyes and pondered¡ª If they were able to turn one more corner at the end of this corridor, then he should be able to walk back to the ce that had ¡®Area B¡¯ written in blood. It seems that his hypothesis was right, the corridor on this floor was indeed circr. At this moment, a sharp scream suddenly unfurled from behind! The almost inhuman sharpness almost pierced their eardrums, akin to thousands of steel needles piercing through the dead air in the corridor and ruthlessly prating deep into people¡¯s minds, and Mo Yi¡¯s body immediately went stiff in reflex. He reflexively turned to Jiang Yuanrou, and realised that she was looking over too. They exchanged a tacit look. ¡ªThe creature after them probably realised that their prey went missing. Both the footsteps and whimpering got louder and faster, cutting through the silent darkness. Mo Yi¡¯s heart leapt, as if it was currently being held tightly in a huge palm which was squeezing all the blood inside out. The two yers quickened their pace! It was at this time that they noticed a ward appearing on the side of the corridor in front of them. Mo Yi subconsciously stretched out his hand and pushed it¡ªto his surprise, the door easily opened, the panel sliding into the darkness. The door of this ward was ajar! They exchanged a brief nce before walking in with each other¡¯s support. The door closed silently behind their backs. It was pitch ck. The room was filled with a strong smell of blood and filthy rot, making the people in it feel suffocated and sick. There was a disturbing and strange atmosphere in this room. Mo Yi tilted his head and listened carefully to the movement outside the door for a while, before pulling out his shlight. He ran his fingers down the cold metal tube, then carefully switched it on at the lowest brightness. With a slight ¡®crackle¡¯, the light illuminated the scene in front of him in this closed and oppressive room¡ª Jiang Yuanrou took a small breath of cool air, while Mo Yi deepened his frown. There was a corpse nailed to the wall, staring closely at the door with bloodshot grey eyes, its mutted face distorted into a strange shape by terror and pain. There was a pool of dried blood under its feet, covering almost the entire room. White skeleton was exposed on the upper body, with the flesh and blood fragments cut by a knife nailed to the wall behind, forming a pair of huge butterflies wings. This body was in exactly the same state as the one he¡¯d found on the -3F. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes fell on the remaining modern attire on the corpse. His eyes lingered on it for a moment and? his brows furrowed even tighter. ¡ªThis was also another yer. At this moment, he seemed to think of something. He turned his head to look at Jiang Yuanrou, and asked, ¡°This instance¡­¡± Jiang Yuanrou seemed to understand what he was going to ask so she shook his head with a sullen expression on her face as a bitter smile slowly formed on her lips. ¡°I know what you want to ask and¡­ that¡¯s not it.¡± Her slightly astringent voice sounded in the dead silent room. ¡°¡ªThis was not the instance I experienced with Yuanbaist time.¡± Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Mo Yi froze. He stared intently at Jiang Yuanrou with a pair of dark eyes, his paleplexion looking more and more bloodless under the weak light of the shlight. His dark pupils, which were focused on Jiang Yuanrou, seemed to hold the desire to see through her to the truth. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s pale, bloodless face was overcast, her lips were tightly pressed into a tight line, her overall appearance seeming very solemn. The strong smell of blood and rancidity permeated the cramped room, fermenting into an unsettling smell in the vague darkness. Back in the real world, Jiang Yuanrou didn¡¯t actually give Mo Yi the details about what happened to her in thest instance. Firstly, there was no precedent for the same person to enter the same instance twice, and secondly, yers had limited freedom when it came to discussion about the instance in real life¡ªthough you could talk to other yers who entered the instance with you, but if your intention was to divulge details of the instance to other yers, the game would either forcibly stop them or punish them. Mo Yi spected that it was probably because the game wished to continue using the instances which have yet to be cleared. In order to prevent the exchange of clues, the game exercised very strict control over the cirction of information about each instance. This was also why he didn¡¯t ask Jiang Yuanrou about the details of herst instance. Mo Yi frowned tightly, and a deep line was carved between his brows. He turned his head to look at the corpse nailed to the wall, carefully observing its bloody and miserable appearance, then asked suspiciously, ¡°Then why would there be corpses of other yers here?¡± He originally thought that what he had entered was the instance Jiang Yuanrou and Jiang Yuanbai had experiencedst time, and this would exin all the abnormal phenomena he had encountered thus far. After all, ording to what Jiang Yuanrou said, Jiang Yuanbai was trapped in an instance, and she had props which could teleport the two parties into the same space¡ªalthough whether it worked was another matter. But now she had personally denied this possibility! Mo Yi tightly furrowed his brows. A trace of solemnity appeared on his face. Jiang Yuanrou shook her head slowly. She followed the beam of light from Mo Yi¡¯s shlight to look at the corpse, her light brown eyes also full of doubts. She replied in a slightly low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know either¡­¡± The atmosphere between the two sank in an instant. The thick and bloody darkness surrounded them, quietly gathering as though it was solid, tugging their hearts into a bottomless abyss . Jiang Yuanrou covered her abdomen which was still oozing blood and slowly moved several steps towards the wall. She leaned more than half of her body weight against the wall behind her, and exhaled slightly. She withdrew her gaze from the miserable corpse, averted her gaze and peered at Mo Yi. ¡°When I first came in, I thought it was a brand new and normal instance.¡± Jiang Yuanrou put emphasis on the word ¡®normal¡¯. ¡°However the longer I stayed in this instance, the more I realised something was amiss¡­¡± Her eyshes drooped, her slender fingers slowly tightened, and her knuckles turned slightly white due to the force. ¡°There were more and more things which indicated that this instance was unusual¡­ I, too, want to believe that the reason why we were set to an unfinished instance was due to the effect of the props, but¡­¡± Jiang Yuanrou took a deep breath. Her breathing was a little unsteady. Still, she calmed down her mind, and continued. ¡°But, even if I lie to myself, it¡¯s useless, because myst instance was certainly not a mental asylum.¡± Mo Yi was currently studying the corpse in front of him. After hearing Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s words, he turned his head and looked at her. ¡°Then what was yourst instance about?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gaze fell. She tried to summarise her previous experience without including too many details. Mo Yi listened silently.The shlight in his hand flickered in the dark, sweeping by the exposed internal organs of the corpse nailed to the wall, which had a greasy and odd texture. The instance that Jiang Yuanrou and Jiang Yuanbai experiencedst time was a half-open old mansion. Since they have yet to clear the side missions of that instance, they did not have a deep understanding of its hidden plot so she could not share much useful information. Mo Yi lowered his eyes. There was still a deep furrow between his brows¡ª ording to the clues thus far, their current instance seemed to bepletely unrted to the Jiang siblings¡¯ previous instance. He subconsciously fiddled with the cold and hard edges of the metal shlight while deep in thought. In this narrow room, only their suppressed breathing could be heard, which resounded one after another. The smell of blood has permeated the entirety of this semi-enclosed space, pressing down on their hearts like a huge stone. At this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s breathing halted. He heard the looming footsteps and cryinging from outside the door¡ªit seemed to be walking in their direction! Mo Yi nced at Jiang Yuanrou, and their eyes met in the blink of an eye as they quickly exchanged a look. His fingertips sank slightly. His movement was followed by a soft ¡®click¡¯, and the beam of light from the shlight disappeared instantly. The whole room quickly plunged back into darkness. The darkness sharpened their other senses. All of Mo Yi¡¯s mind was drawn by the faint sobs and footsteps in the corridor separated from them by a thin door. He held his breath in the darkness, subconsciously clenching his slender cold fingers into fists. The voice echoing in the empty and narrow corridor, approached bit by bit. The whimpers seemed to be amplified countless times in their ears, apanied by the rapid heartbeat in their chests, reverberating hollowly¡ª Fortunately it was not the first time Mo Yi had experienced this in this instance, so he quickly found his bearings and stood quietly in the dark, waiting silently. The footsteps were especially clear in the dark, apanied by the subtle rustling of cloth against the ground. They approached slowly,ing closer, and closer, and then came to the door of the room they were in¡ª Ayer of cold sweat broke out on Mo Yi¡¯s palm. His bright eyes were glued to the door panel in the darkness. At this moment, he heard a slight creak from the door panel¡­ It was akin to the sound made by long fingernails scraping against the door¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s heart leapt to his throat instantly. He wanted to do something, but he was too far away from the door and there was no chance for him to act! Jiang Yuanrou who was standing near the door reacted instantly. Her body which was leaning against the wall slid sideways, and she lowered her body at the same time too so her figure was just hidden from the iron railing on the door. Mo Yi didn¡¯t have time to react properly, but his body subconsciously moved to the corner away from the door, and his whole body instantly melded into the dark shadows in the room. The scratching sound of fingernails against the door sent tingles down one¡¯s scalp. The tiny sobbing sounded like they were being amplified infinitely, passing through the iron railing on the door into Mo Yi¡¯s eardrums directly, as if they were ringing right next to his ears. Goosebumps rose all over Mo Yi¡¯s body. He covered his nose and mouth with his cold and stiff palms to prevent the sound of his breathing from revealing his position. The sound of footsteps stopped outside the door. The scraping sound of nails also vanished, as if waiting for something. Mo Yi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed. There was a burning pain from the dryness andck of water in his throat, as if there was a fire extending from his stomach to his oesophagus. The sound of footsteps outside the door sounded again, apanied by low whimpers and thin rubbing sounds on the ground, as they drew away slowly into the distance. Mo Yi¡¯s tense heartstrings rxed slightly. He let out a long breath, but his stiff body was still unmoving, pressed against the cold wall behind him as he listened quietly in the dark¡­ The footsteps seemed to turn around a corner, and the sound instantly became quieter. Soon after, only a few faint echoes could be heard. The muscles on Mo Yi¡¯s body rxed slightly, and his five senses that had almost disappeared slowly returned. Only then did he realise that the corpse nailed to the wall happened to be right beside him, and his palm was pressing into its mangled flesh. The cold and sticky touch slowly climbed up along the point of contact. The pungent odour of blood lingered in his nose, making Mo Yi¡¯s stomach churn involuntarily. He inadvertently took a step to the side, putting some distance between them, and it stepped on something soft. Mo Yi raised his eyes and nced at Jiang Yuanrou, and saw that she was still squatting at the door in the same posture as before, with her back pressed against the door panel tightly. Since the noises in the background had faded away, it was likely that there wouldn¡¯t be any pressing threats for the time being. He took out his shlight, put it on the dimmest setting, and then shone at his feet. It was a backpack. It was smeared with the blood and mud on the ground, looking so dirty and worn that it was hardly possible to discern its original colour. Mo Yi crouched down and put the shlight aside. He grabbed one side of the backpack with one hand and with the other, and slowly pulled it open. The contents of the backpack were revealed before his eyes. Mo Yi reached out and searched through the backpack, careful to not make any unnecessary noise when leafing through the contents. Simr to before, there were not many useful items. Everything it contained were general items which were a necessity to be brought into any instance, and Mo Yi was not running low on them at the moment. He rummaged through the things inside, then opened the outer side pocket. To Mo Yi¡¯s surprise, he found a small wallet in the outer pocket. Surprised, he reflexively opened the small wallet. Under the shlight, Mo Yi saw half a corner of the ID card stuffed in the wallet. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pulled out the ID card, only to see a photo of a girl with short hair printed on it, smiling slightly at the camera. Mo Yi was startled. He picked up the shlight that was tossed aside and shone it on the corpse nailed to the wall. Its upper body was no longer covered by muscles and skin, only its internal organs were exposed, and its lower body was also in neutral sweatpants. The distorted and mutted face could hardly distinguish the facial features, but the hairstyle could still be matched. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze sank, and his fingers tightened while holding the ID card. He suddenly found a clue that he hadn¡¯t noticed before. On the negative third floor, all the corpses of dead yers were male, and the ghostly figure dragging a long knife should also be male based on his hasty nce. This floor¡­ He was sure that the shadow of the ghost in the corridor earlier¡ªshe had long hair. And Jiang Yuanruan, who was stuffed by the game into this floor, as well as dead yer, both happened to be women. Chapter 108

Chapter 108

TW: Gore Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened slowly, his fingertips turning white due to the force. The smooth surface of the ID card was reflecting the faint light of the shlight, and it felt as though it was still carrying a hint of the warm temperature of the human body. His brows pull together, dark eyes focusing on the photo of the ID card while deep in thought. As if on cue, a faint groan came from somewhere in the darkness, loud and clear within the closed room, and sounding like it was from the shadows next to the door. The sound startled Mo Yi from his thoughts. He raised his head and peered in the direction from where the voice came from. A shadow was trembling in the shade of the closed door, its outline undting in the darkness like a dry leaf. Mo Yi was rmed but he quickly recalled that Jiang Yuanrou had thrown her entire body before the door earlier to block it. At that time, the situation was urgent and she probably didn¡¯t control her strength well. And her abdomen was still injured¡­ Mo Yi¡¯s brows twitched as the imagery of how the dark blood stains slowly seeped into the clothes on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s abdomen surfaced in his mind. He reached down to pick up the shlight on the ground. Stuffing the ID card and wallet back into the backpack, he then stood up and walked quickly to the door of the room. As the shlight slowly approached Jiang Yuanrou, the outline of her figure curled up in the shadows gradually got clearer. Under the light, her pale bloodless face was revealed. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her eyes closed tightly, and bright red blood was slowly oozing from her broken lips, making her look like aplete mess. Mo Yi knelt down beside her with a sympathetic expression. Stretching out a hand, he carefully tilted Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s body so she was not pressing on her own wound. Next, he calmly said, ¡°Now I need to see your wound.¡± Jiang Yuanrou lifted her eyelids with some difficulty, and it took a while for her dizzy pupils to focus. After she gave a low ¡°mn¡±, she no longer made any other sounds in order to focus on curbing her pained pants. Seeing that she had braced herself, Mo Yi returned his attention to her bleeding abdomen. The fabric was already wet with blood and was adhered to her wound. There wereyers of oozing and solidifying blood, forming a shade of deep dark red under the light. The smell of blood in the air intensified. It stands to reason that in the current situation, it was probably best to cut away or slice open the clothes to prevent it from agitating the wound¡­ But the game did not allow yers to bring any weapons into the instance. And with Mo Yi¡¯s hand strength now¡­ tearing apart aplete piece of clothing would pose some difficulties. If he tried nevertheless, it was more probable that he would end up aggravating Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s instead. Pursing his lips, Mo Yi took his backpack off his shoulder and took two painkillers out. He pried open Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s clenched teeth with his fingers and stuffed the painkiller into her mouth before speaking in a low voice. ¡°Bear with it.¡± After he finished speaking, Mo Yi gently grabbed Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s clothes with his fingers and carefully lifted the hem of her clothes. The indistinct sound of flesh tearing echoed in the darkness, followed by a deepening scent of blood. The wound on her stomach was exposed. Under the weak light, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s white abdomen was covered in several bloody cuts. The edges of the wound were clear and smooth. Bright red muscle tissue could be seen through the torn skin and fresh blood was gushing out along the wound, trickling from her waist to the ground. Mo Yi moved a little closer and was immediately taken aback¡ª The deep wounds on her trembling skin looked like¡­ resembled a simple butterfly. At this moment, Jiang Yuanrou grasped Mo Yi¡¯s wrist with all her strength, her neatly manicured nails sunk deeply into his arm¡ª Her lips moved a few times, voicing several blurred and muffled words. ¡°In¡­ In¡­ side¡­¡± Mo Yi was stunned. However, in a sh, a guess quickly surfaced in his mind¡ª He nced down at the wound on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s abdomen again, and noticed that there seemed to be something reflective stuck in the wound in the bloody muscle tissue. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing caught. He quickly took out a small roll of bandages from his backpack, and stuffed it between Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s teeth to prevent her from biting her own tongue, then whispered, ¡°I¡¯m starting.¡± Jiang Yuanrou squeezed her eyes shut. Mo Yi pressed Jiang Yuanrou in ce with one hand and inserted the fingers of his other hand into the open wound on her abdomen. The warm and sticky liquid coated his fingers as the lithe body under his palm shook. Pained sobs came from Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gagged mouth. Gritting his teeth, Mo Yi continued reaching deeper into the wound¡ªuntil his fingertips struck something solid. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up and he pinched the foreign object between his fingers before withdrawing them. Mo Yi tightly held the item soaked in blood and human warmth. There was ayer of hot sweat on his back. Panted slightly, he turned to look at Jiang Yuanrou¡ªher face was pale, her hair was matted with sweat, her eyes tightly closed, looking every bit as though she had passed out, yet her body was still trembling intermittently. Mo Yi¡¯s heart eased and he turned back to look at the wound on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s abdomen¡ª To his surprise, those deep wounds on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s stomach began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye! The gaping wounds were slowly closed up, and the separated flesh and skin were slowly moved back towards each other as if they were alive, looking in every part like a disy of magic. And in less than half a minute, the wound on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s stomach hadpletely disappeared, leaving only thick blood stains covering her now wless uninjured skin. Mo Yi raised his eyebrows in surprise and subconsciously touched Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s stomach. The skin under his palm was warm and moisturised, with a slight tremble, indicating life and vitality. This was when he recalled that Jiang Yuanrou had told him earlier the wound on her abdomen was the side effect of using props in the instance, and the effect would disappear after an hour¡ªwhat he witnessed just now should be the whole process of the disappearance of said effect. At this moment, a vague groan sounded from the side. Mo Yi hurriedly turned to look, only to see Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyelids fluttering as if she was about to wake up, so he took the roll of bandage out of her mouth. Jiang Yuanrou opened her eyes, but her gaze was still a little out of focus. She took a few deep breaths before looking up at Mo Yi. ¡°Did you get it¡­?¡± Her voice was hoarse and broken, shaking slightly. Mo Yi gave a small nod, and then brought the thing nestled in his palm before Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyes¡ª On his blood-stained palm was a small key which was different from the one Mo Yi picked up before. His was brass while this one was bright silvery white and shimmering underyers of undried blood. Jiang Yuanrou appeared to have rxed. She let out a long breath, her neck tilting backwards and the back of her head hitting the door panel with a soft ¡®thud¡¯. Mo Yi was not in a hurry to ask questions. Instead, he patiently waited for Jiang Yuanrou to recover from the intense pain just now. After a few minutes, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s pale face finally regained some vitality. She took a few deep breaths, then rose to her feet with the support of the wall next to her. Mo Yi reached out to help her, helping Jiang Yuanrou to lean back against the door and change her posture. Jiang Yuanrou followed Mo Yi¡¯s guide and sat up straight. She took a few shaky breaths and hesitated for several seconds before continuing her exnation. Mo Yi lowered his eyes slightly. While listening carefully to her, he sorted out and integrated Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s experience earlier in his heart. The room where he found a butterfly painted with blood on the wall was actually the room where Jiang Yuanrou encountered an illusion, and after she broke the illusion, she found two keys¡ªa brass-coloured key and this second silvery white key. However, before she could do anything else, she was caught by the ¡®monster¡¯ wandering around this floor. Jiang Yuanrou used a prop in desperation. Although she couldn¡¯t escapepletely, she could at least ensure that the monster would not be able to harm her body before the effect of the prop was lifted. However, she had identally lost the brass key during her struggles, leaving only the silvery white key in her hand. As she had already fallen into the hands of the monster then, she made a decisive decision in order not to hide the remaining key. She cruelly chose to hide it inside the wound on her abdomen, which had appeared due to the use of the prop. Earlier, the time for the side effects to be lifted hade, but the foreign object in her wound caused it to be unable to heal, so it resulted in bouts of severe pain which made Jiang Yuanrou involuntarily let several pained groans slip. After listening to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s exnation, Mo Yi fell into a period of contemtion. It seemed that this floor was pretty simr to the previous floor. There were illusions to confuse yers. If the yer broke the illusion, a butterfly drawn with blood would appear on the wall and key clues would be given. There were also almost no differences in the monsters other than their gender. These two floors were indeed very simr, except for the difference in map. This made Mo Yi involuntarily think about how some mental asylums have the rule of stratifying ording to gender¡ªso although these were two different floors, their rules are almost identical. If so¡­ then what about the -1F? Mo Yi¡¯s throat was slightly dry. He swallowed, moving his Adam¡¯s apple to suppress the uneasiness in his heart. He nced at Jiang Yuanrou, and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you still able to walk?¡± Jiang Yuanrou reached out and pressed on her abdomen, hissing softly. She looked up at Mo Yi, and said, ¡°If the side effects caused by the prop include wounds or pain, then painkillers are useless.¡± Jiang Yuanrou paused, showing a pale smile. ¡°But painkillers are very useful for the remaining pain after the side effects disappear, so¡­ I should be fine now.¡± Mo Yi nodded in acknowledgment. He reached out to help Jiang Yuanrou up from the ground, and the two stood quietly in the dark for a while, listening to the movement in the corridor outside¡ª Dead silence. There was no whimpering, no footsteps, no rustling of cloth. Jiang Yuanrou and Mo Yi exchanged a look in the dark, then stretched over and pushed open the half-closed door before walking out one after another. They moved slowly and cautiously, as if afraid of disturbing something in the dark. The silence in the corridor was so eerie that it almost made one¡¯s heart chill. Just when the two of them stepped out of the room, Mo Yi suddenly felt a strong sense of uneasiness. It was like a huge hammer hitting his heart, bringing vague pain and suffocation. He instinctively turned his head around. There was a blurry figure standing quietly in the darkness at the end of the corridor. Mo Yi¡¯s scalp exploded, and a feeling of cold horror surged from the bottom of his heart as a thought shed across his mind like lightning. It knew from earlier that the two of them were hiding in this room, so it pretended to go away, only to circle back in the dark without making any sound, and waited quietly¡­ ¡ªwaiting for the moment when they came out! Mo Yi was cold from head to toe, and he heard himself shouting at Jiang Yuanrou. ¡°Run!¡± T/N: Since this is unlimited flow, I¡¯d assume that a certain level of gore/horror is to be expected. I¡¯m not sure if I should go into the specifics in the TW like ¡°gore, digging fingers into open wound¡± or leave it vague as just ¡°gore¡±. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share. In the same vein, if you happen to find anything you hope to see tagged as a TW, do let me know in thements of the relevant chapter anytime. I do try to include as many TW as possible but as my own tolerance for gore and horror is high, I¡¯d inevitably overlook a few potential squicks. Chapter 109

Chapter 109

The shart ending lilt of his yell reverberated through the surrounding walls, echoing in the empty corridor and pierced the eardrum clearly, leaving a buzzing noise¡ª Jiang Yuanrou was stunned for less than half a second before she immediately snapped back to attention! The two ran towards the end of the corridor together, sprinting at a speed as though they were intending to use up all the strength in their bodies. The howling of the wind poured into the running Mo Yi¡¯s ears. It was as if all the other sounds were fading away the more they ran, and only the rapid beating of the heart and the noisy rush of blood filled his mind, mixing together to form a buzzing white noise. The walls nking their line of sight were swaying up and down with each step they took, causing the shadows in the darkness to undte ordingly as well. Mo Yi gritted his teeth. His chest was heaving rapidly and the pain caused byck of oxygen was slowly umting in his joints. However, he didn¡¯t dare to slow down his pace in the slightest. The scene he¡¯d seen from the corner of his eye when he turned his head just now was still deeply imprinted on his retinas, burning along the optic nerve all the way to his mind¡ª That fuzzy shadow hidden in the darkness quickly started to move upon hearing his shout. It sped up steadily, chasing after them. The sound of its hurried footsteps and the rustle of cloth dragging along the ground was akin to a marching drum band of despair. Mo Yi caught a glimpse of the lower half of the monster¡¯s face under the light. Those thin lips stretched awkwardly from ear to ear, twisted into a big arc, which resembled an odd smile. Mo Yi did not manage to continue staring. ¡ªBecause he and Jiang Yuanrou turned their heads and ran away. There was a small light at the end of the corridor in front, and as the two of them ran towards it desperately. The footsteps behind them were unhurried but persistently followed them like a shadow, hanging closely behind them. The low whimpers slowly crawled up the back of the listener like a cold snake, leaving cold, slippery and sticky traces, as it nestled eerily into their ear. They can¡¯t get rid of it, can¡¯t escape. It was tightly entangled around them, slowly tightening. Mo Yi¡¯s back was frigid. The cold sweat on his body was pouring outyer afteryer, adhering the thin clothes snugly to his cold skin. A newyer appeared even before the previous dried, and the resulting bone-piercing chill slowly prated into his skin. His eyes were fixed on the sight in front, his muscles were tensed up, and his teeth were clenched tightly¡ª He was almost there, almost there! There were lights illuminating the bend at the end of the corridor. Mo Yi remembered that if he turned right there, it would be the fork he¡¯d passed by earlier. There was ¡®Area B¡¯ written in bright red blood on one side of the wall. So then¡­ what if they went to the left? Mo Yi flipped his shlight on while running, and shone it into the deep darkness on the left side of the corridor ahead. The messy beams of light swayed with his movements, dispelling the darkness a little. Within the mass of undting shadows, he caught sight of something metallic and reflective. The reflection was so bright in the dark that it almost hurt his eyes. While panting for breath, Mo Yi squinted intently and noticed that the darkness on the left was not extending but instead formed a somewhat sunken shape. It was not another dark corridor¡­ But an iron fence! As the two people pulled closer, the scene on the left became more and more apparent. The brass-coloured iron fence had a cold glint in the dim lighting, looking cold and silent. There was an iron fence door in the middle, which was tightly shut, and the bout of eerie darkness visible from the narrow gap between the door and railing seemed to have no end in sight. A me of hope rekindled in Mo Yi¡¯s heart. Because it wasmon knowledge that such fences weremonly used to segregate the patient area from the staff area! He inclined his head to Jiang Yuanrou who was running beside him and hissed in a low voice. ¡°Left!¡± At this point in time, the two of them had just made it to the fork in the corridor. Jiang Yuanrou understood and ran to the left immediately. She reached out and grabbed the doorknob on the iron fence, and pulled hard¡ª The iron door nged, but it did not budge. The door was locked. Mo Yi casted a nce at the corridor behind him amidst their struggles: the figure was approaching them rapidly. The sound of footsteps resounded in the empty corridor, each hollow step piercing their hearts. Before Jiang Yuanrou managed to say anything, Mo Yi seemed to have had a revtion and he strode forward, speaking between breathless pants. ¡°Get out of the way.¡± Jiang Yuanrou quickly stepped aside. Mo Yi reached out to touch Into his pocket¡ªfingers curling around something cold and hard lying quietly at the bottom of his pocket. His breathing shifted slightly. He pulled out the key¡ªthe light of the shlight in his other hand briefly shed across the brass key, and was then directed to the keyhole on the door. The footsteps were getting closer. The blood all over his body seemed to be surging up to the top of his head. His pounding heartbeat roared in his ears, so loud that Mo Yi could hardly hear any other noises. Two words kept repeating in his heart. Hurry up! Hurry up! His cold fingers trembled nervously. The tip of the brass-coloured key missed the keyhole several times and just when it seemed as though it wasn¡¯t possible to push the key in, a metallic clink rang out. The whimpers were practically right next to his ears¡ª Mo Yi subconsciously raised his head and nced to the side, only to see that figure was nearly right before them! Most of her face was illuminated by the faint light at the other end of the corridor, and he could clearly see her twisted lips stretching from ear to ear in the same distorted smile. Her eyes were a thin blood-red slit, shing with a strange and cold light. Her ashen face was as stiff as a frozen mask, revealing a chilling malice¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened and he thrusted them forward¡ªthe key was pushed snugly into the keyhole, making a crisp clink. He twisted it hard, and the mottled iron fence swung into the darkness inside with a rusty and hoarse squeak. The woman stretched out her hand at an inhuman speed. However, she reached pass Mo Yii who was closer to her and went straight for Jiang Yuanrou! In an instant, a thought shed through Mo Yi¡¯s mind¡ª Since yers in this mental asylum were assigned to different floors ording to their gender¡­ then what was their connection with the same gendered monster on each floor? After all¡­ Jiang Yuanrou was keenly aware of the side effects of using props in the instance, but she still chose to use it. This meant that it was forced to use herst resort. Well, if his guess was correct¡­ If this monster caught Jiang Yuanrou, the consequences might be irreversible. Mo Yi gritted his teeth and steeled his heart. Reaching out, he yanked Jiang Yuanrou over and shoved her through the open iron door! Then he rushed towards the monster with the rebound of strength. Cold palms sped his shoulders tightly like the sharp ws of an eagle. The nails were deeply embedded in his flesh through the thin clothes, and the piercing pain hit him instantly. Mo Yi grunted. He could smell the strong and rancid smell of blooding from the other party¡¯s body, and when mixed with the cold and dry air in the corridor, rapidly eroded his senses. The staggering Jiang Yuanrou who was pushed into the door by him, snapped her head around to look at him. Her pale face was somewhat blurred by the darkness but her light brown eyes remained surprisingly bright. She rushed a few steps in Mo Yi¡¯s direction and grabbed his arm, pulling him over with all of her strength¡ª! To her surprise, the hand sped on Mo Yi¡¯s shoulder seemed to have lost its strength and became rxed, which made Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s burst of strength rather effective. Mo Yi was tugged over by a huge force and only managed to regain his bnce after several steps. The monster¡¯s pale and skinny palms were still relentlessly reaching out towards Jiang Yuanrou, but it was stopped by the iron door that mmed shut, and its withered hands could only hang in mid-air in vain. The moment the iron door was mmed shut, the lock on it was automatically activated. A huge tremor sounded in the dark and dead silence, stirring up shockwaves in the air. Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou were standing in the darkness behind the door, their bodies tensed, panting vigorously, as they somehow still remained vigntly alert for what might happen next. The woman slowly lowered her hands in the air and grabbed the cold iron fence. Her back was turned to the light in the corridor, and her whole face was soaked in the deep darkness. They were unable to see the outlines of most of her features clearly, except for the corners of those twisted lips which were stretched from ear to ear. She turned her head away and walked slowly back down the corridor. Her long skirt was dragged on the ground. There was a soft rustling of fabric as well as her low whimpers, but they both gradually became weaker and weaker as she walked further away. Mo Yi¡¯s body rxed a little. Blood was properly pounding through his veins again, and it made his vision blurry. He blinked vigorously, drew in several deep breaths which sent the cold and dry air down his respiratory tract and into his lungs. As he intently watched how the woman¡¯s back was slowly swallowed by the darkness, his eyes darkened. It appeared that¡­ Although she was a monster on this floor, she was unable to vite the physicalws of this floor. She couldn¡¯t push open the door closed by Jiang Yuanrou earlier, and was unable to go through this locked iron fence this time either. Mo Yi breathed out slowly, then turned to look at Jiang Yuanrou. Only to find that Jiang Yuanrou was looking back at him with a solemn expression. Before Mo Yi could say anything, she stepped forward and yanked on the cor of Mo Yi, who was much taller than her, revealing his thin shoulder. Under the faint light, she could make out a bluish handprint on the fair skin. Jiang Yuanrou touched it hesitantly. It was only then that Mo Yi felt the burning pain, and could not help but let out a small hiss. She frowned contemtively. Releasing Mo Yi¡¯s cor, she rolled up her sleeves and exposed her arm. There was a purple-ck handprint on it. This imprint that was akin ck silk threads was spreading towards her upper arm which was swollen. There were bloodstains from where the nail marks were at, which looked particrly gruesome under the dim light. Jiang Yuanrou said with some hesitation, ¡°When she caught me before, there was no possibility of escaping at all¡­¡± It was now that Mo Yi realised he had yet to share his discovery about the genders with Jiang Yuanrou earlier when they were interrupted by her res of pain. So, he told Jiang Yuanrou briefly about the clues he found and his corresponding conjectures. After listening to Mo Yi¡¯s words, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s pale face was still solemn. However, her brows were pulled into arger grimace, and her pair of light brown eyes were fixed at a point in the void, as if she was pondering about something. She opened her mouth hesitantly: ¡°This¡­¡± Jiang Yuanrou shook his head immediately, interrupting her own words, as if denying her own thoughts. ¡°No, it¡¯s impossible.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart was constricted. He stared intently at Jiang Yuanrou, then asked in a low voice, ¡°What is impossible?¡± Jiang Yuanrou contemted for a few long seconds and finally parted her lips as if she was ready to say something. But at this moment, suddenly, without warning, a small but crisp sound came from the darkness behind the two of them, seemingly especially loud in this dead silence¡ª ¡°Crack!¡± Chapter 110

Chapter 110

The reverberation of that small sound was infinitely amplified in the darkness before tapering off. The now-silent corridor seemed to be stretching infinitely onward into the deep shadows too. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s unspoken words came to an abrupt end. The two turned their heads at the same time and nced at the dark corridor behind them. There was no light or sound at all. It was lying behind them like a ck hole, making one wonder if the sound they had just heard was real or just an illusion of their own. Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou exchanged a look, noting the surprise in each other¡¯s eyes. But now there was no turning back anymore. Now the monster on this floor already knew that the two of them were behind this iron fence, and based on their previous experience, she obviously possessed intelligence. Although she seemed to have gone far for now, she could be simply hiding at the end of the corridor and peeping at them. There was no way for them to know for sure if she was gone, and as long as they are unsure, they can¡¯t afford to take the risk. So their only option right now was to bite the bullet and move forward. Mo Yi took a deep breath. There was a slight tingling paining from his shoulder. It was not severe, but it made his brain extraordinarily clear. He turned on the shlight in his hand and shone into the dense darkness The pale beam of light couldn¡¯tpletely prate the darkness. It simply diffused in mid-air, revealing blurry outlines in the distance. Mo Yi made a gesture to Jiang Yuanrou. Jiang Yuanrou nodded in understanding, and the two of them walked slowly towards the depths of the corridor. Deeper and deeper, the cramped darkness in the corridor enveloped them, blurring their figures into the silent darkness as well. Mo Yi moved his wrist a little and the beam of light moved along, illuminating their surrounding environment¡ª This was a very ordinary-looking corridor. The doors on both sides of the corridor were tightly closed, and the blurry ss window panels on the doors revealed the lifeless darkness behind each of them. Mo Yi tilted the shlight up to the sign above the door, only to see a few faded words under ayer of light dust. Staff office. He moved closer, trying to push on the door¡ªit was locked. Jiang Yuanrou, who was walking beside Mo Yi, moved to push on the door opposite in the same way, only to shake her head slowly. It was also locked. Furthermore, that strange sound earlier only sounded once, and never again. The corridor in front of them had no visible oddities, as if the clear sound they heard just now was nothing but a bubble-like dream, as if it never happened, and it wouldn¡¯t happen again. Mo Yi¡¯s brows slowly pulled together into a frown. There was a glint of doubt in the depths of his dark eyes¡ªif it wasn¡¯t that he remembered clearly how Jiang Yuanrou also turned around earlier, he would have really thought that the sound was just a hallucination. They walked forward quietly in the darkness, and soon they came to the end of the corridor. It was exactly the same as the -3F. There was an iron gate with interconnecting diamond patterns, which was welded to one of the walls nking it. On the wall was a panel and a narrow card slot. The elevator! Mo Yi breathed a sigh of relief¡ªit seemed that this was the way they could take to leave this floor. But his expression quickly turned solemn again. Firstly, they have yet to find the source of that sudden sound. Secondly, there was still a key on this floor that they had not used¡­ Mo Yi didn¡¯t think that this game would give clues which werepletely irrelevant. Therefore, he leaned closer and carefully observed the buttons and sockets of the elevator, then took out the employee card he found on the third floor from his pocket, and tentatively swiped it in the card slot. As expected, the elevator was unresponsive. On the contrary, Mo Yi breathed a sigh of relief. So the props on one floor could only be used on that same floor. He slid the employee card back into his pocket, then turned to survey his surroundings. Just then, Mo Yi heard Jiang Yuanrou on the side say in a low voice, ¡°Hey.¡± Mo Yi followed the sound and saw that Jiang Yuanrou managed to push open the door beside her on the opposite side of the corridor. In the darkness, she raised his chin at Mo Yi and said in a low voice. ¡°This door can be opened.¡± Mo Yi scanned the sign on the door with the shlight in his hand, and read the dust-covered words. Archive room. He pursed his lips slightly. The trace of joy in finding a key breakthrough slowly surged in his heart, and he couldn¡¯t help but pick up his pace a little. And at this moment, Mo Yi suddenly stepped on something under his feet. An odd sensation came up along the sole of his shoe as a subtle crack resounded in the darkness. Taken aback, he withdrew his foot and nced down. There was a vague outline in the darkness, but he couldn¡¯t see what it was. Mo Yi bent down and focused his light on the ground¡ªonly to see a small candy lying quietly on the dirty smooth-tiled ground. He was really stunned for a moment, and it was only after a few seconds of pause that Mo Yi reached out and picked up the candy. It was a fruit candy. Strawberry-voured. The light pink wrapper glinted brightly under the shlight, refracting a hue of colours. Mo Yi remembered this brand¡ªin the real world, Wen Chen often gave him this brand of candy. And¡­ although he didn¡¯t really want to admit it. Mo Yi really liked this brand of strawberry candy. Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened unconsciously. The wrapped candy in his hand made a soft sound. His brows were slightly furrowed with a shallow crease between them. His thoughts were momentarily jumbled. He couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it as countless questions piled up in his mind. Was the sound just now made by this candy? Why did this candy appear here? Was it rted to Wen Chen? If so, how did he manage to put it here? And why? Mo Yi¡¯s expression was pinched. His lips were pursed into a tight line and his lips were even a little pale. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s voice sounded in the darkness. Her soft voice was lowered and her tone sounded a bit puzzled, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mo Yi was pulled out of his thoughts by her voice and couldn¡¯t help being slightly startled. He looked up at Jiang Yuanrou who was standing not too far away, then sneakily stuffed the candy into his pocket as if nothing had happened. ¡°Nothing much.¡± After brushing it off, Mo Yi straightened up and walked through the open door. As soon as he entered the room, he was greeted by the smell of old rotting books, mixing along with a faint smell of dust into a smell of paper that an archive room should have. Frowning, Mo Yi shined the shlight into the room and slowly looked around. The room was not big. There were several rusted metal shelves which were ced very close to each other, with neat stacks of documents on them. The documents looked aged, with their edges yellowed. He walked further in, with Jiang Yuanrou following behind him. However, just when Mo Yi was about to head over to one of the metal frames, he felt his clothes being tugged on. He nced behind him, only to see Jiang Yuanrou letting go of the corner of his clothes. There was a trace of embarrassment on her face as she muttered hesitantly, ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t have my backpack anymore, so¡ª¡± Mo Yi put two and two together. Since Jiang Yuanrou was caught by the monster previously, all the items she had brought in with her from the real world were lost. As such, he nodded in silent understanding and handed a spare shlight from his backpack to Jiang Yuanrou. She showed a faint smile to Mo Yi. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Mo Yi shook his head, indicating that he doesn¡¯t mind, and added in a low voice, ¡°It will be faster if we searched separately.¡± Jiang Yuanrou nodded, and the two walked off in different directions, each standing in front of two metal shelves full of documents. Mo Yi switched the shlight to the hand which had been dislocated before, and leafed through the documents casually with his uninjured hand. Neither of them know how long the documents have been left untouched but the top area was covered with a thickyer of dust. A burst of fine particles would fly with even the slightest movement, dancing through the air illuminated by the shlight. He coughed several times, choked by the dust, then waved his palms before his face to disperse the dust in the air in front of him. Next, Mo Yi frowned and casually pulled out a thin document to read in greater detail. As he turned the pages, Mo Yi¡¯s brows became more and more creased, and the movements of his hands became faster and faster, until finally he started to turn the pages at approximately one second each time¡ª His gaze deepened as he stared at the end of the page for a long moment, before he closed the folder. Mo Yi frowned¡ªthis folder was empty. The edges of the paper were wrinkled and yellowed due to the passage of time, but each page waspletely nk, devoid of any information. He set the file folder aside and pulled out another one to read. It was also nk. Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. An ominous premonition struck him. He hastily threw the file aside, then randomly pulled another folder out from the shelf¡ª nk. His movements became erratic. He strode towards the other shelves at a faster pace, and pulled out folder after folder as he moved, both thick and thin¡­ . All of them were nk. Unnerved yet suspicious, Mo Yi frowned. The pale light from his shlight made his face look bloodless. He scanned the shelf in front of him with dark eyes, then raised his gaze to study the other corners of the room. Jiang Yuanrou happened to raise her head from where she was in another corner of the room, her expression being one of bewilderment. She tossed the folder in her hand away and came over. Stopping a small distance from Mo Yi, she shook her head slowly, and said in a low voice: ¡°¡­It¡¯s all nk.¡± Mo Yi fell into a deep moment of contemtion¡ªit was not rare to have simr locations like libraries or archives in an instance, in fact, many instances incorporate such ces as an important way for yers to obtain information, and they would usually have a mechanism which blurs out information irrelevant to the instance to prevent overwhelming and confusing the yers. But since these instances were all rted to the real world, even if there was a blurring of information, the game would still use a method that conforms to reality. For example, in his first and second instance, those books and files with irrelevant information were all unreadable due to water damage. However, in this instance¡­ the documents were nk? This was too strange. Unless¡­ the fact that they were nk was in itself, a clue. Just when Mo Yi was deeply immersed in his own thoughts, he suddenly heard Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s surprised voice from several steps away, cutting into his ears clearly, ¡°¡­Hey,e over and look at this.¡± Mo Yi looked in Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s direction, only to see that she was pointing her shlight further into the archive room, training the bright beam of light on one of the shelves. His gaze followed the light. There was a small metal box on one of the shelves. Its lid was tightly closed and the silver-white keyhole on it glimmered under the light. Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Taken aback, Mo Yi¡¯s gaze froze on the area illuminated by the shlight for several seconds. The small box was lying quietly on the old mottled iron shelf. It was covered in ayer of dust and was nearlypletely camouged with the looming piles of folders beside it, except for its silver-white keyhole on the top which was shining with metal lustre under the light. The smell of dust permeated the cold and gloomy archive room, spreading along from his respiratory tract to his lungs. Mo Yi moved his injured hand subconsciously. The dull, shallow pain was directly transmitted to his mind through the feeling of being paralyzed by a thickyer of ice, stimting his peripheral nerves. He slipped his eyes shut. His breathing was a little unsteady. Ever since he hade to this -2F, he had always felt like he had lost his sense of reality. This feeling gradually deepened as he came into contact with the illusions again and again. Just akin to mud umting in the bottom of his heart, it slowly increased and rose, feeling as though it were all about to overflow out from his seven orifices, submerging his five senses and paralysing them. This was the sensation of panic rising from the bottom of his heart. It felt as though everything around him was an illusion¡ªthis instance, this floor, this corridor, Jiang Yuanrou, and even himself, were all of these real? Or were they all just an illusion? And the appearance of that candy just now deepened this feeling. The reason behind its appearance, was it something this instance deliberately fabricated to confuse him? Or was it real? This instance misled yers with illusions, giving them clues which were both true and false, and in turn, gradually deprived the yer of their sense of reality. In light of the tense situation earlier, Mo Yi had forced himself not to think about this disturbing question yet the more he tried to suppress his suspicions, the more it grew in him. He clenched his hands. There was a continuous sharp pain from the root of his injured finger, breaking through the thick frigid numbness of the nerve. The pain pierced deeply into his muscle like a sharp steel needle, scraping the bone. The pain curbed the ubiquitous sense of unreality in his heart slightly. A low, concerned female voice sounded in the dark and spacious room, ¡°¡­Mo Yi?¡± Mo Yi seemed to be startled by Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s sudden voice. He snapped out of his thoughts and concealed his lengthy concerns by curling the corners of his lips up into a reassuring smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± After he finished speaking, he suppressed the chaotic emotions in his heart, then reached out to touch his pocket. Deep in this pocket was the hard and cold metal key. Mo Yi took it out, observing its appearance under the shlight: there were traces of solidified blood on its silver-white metal surface and dark blood stains lining its jagged teeth. Stroking the cold surface of the key, Mo Yi made his way towards the iron box. He inserted the key into the silver keyhole of the iron box. The slight sound of metal shing against metal resounded in the dead silence of the room, and then the shape of the lock and key snapped together snugly. Mo Yi took a deep breath and exerted force with his fingertips. With a soft ¡°click¡±, the box unlocked. He lifted the ajar lid of the box, and shone the shlight at it to examine its contents¡ª Only to see a card lying at the bottom of the metal box. Bewildered, Mo Yi reached out to pick up the card. It was an employee maic card, which was almost exactly identical to the employee card he found on the upper floor. It seemed to be a bit old, with the picture on it blurred and peeling off. But it was still possible to recognise from the blurred outline of the photo that the owner of this maic card was a woman with long hair. Mo Yi frowned, his face stained with a little mncholy. He originally thought that the box would contain information about this instance, and not the maic card which they needed to leave this floor. That being said, this also made sense¡ªafter all, Mo Yi obtained the maic card to leave the upper floor after he broke the illusion, and Jiang Yuanrou also obtained the key to this box after a simr ordeal, with the difference being that there were more twists and turns in her case. At the same time¡­ another issue with this instance was presented clearly. There were too little clues. Regardless of images or words, there were simply too few clues. The only thing they¡¯ve gotten that might pass off as a clue was the butterfly which they didn¡¯t know the hidden meaning of. Furthermore, even the archive room did not hold any information about this instance. All the papers in the folders were nk and the only item in the iron box was the maic card. The scarcity of clues in this instance was abnormal. Mo Yi nced down at his wristwatch¡ªmore than one-third of the game time in this instance had passed but he still didn¡¯t know any crucial information.. This was too abnormal. Mo Yi lowered his arm and studied the maic card in his hand. Before he could take a closer look, he heard a loud banging from outside the door. The sound of metal vibrations buzzed and diffused through the air, ringing loud and clear in their eardrums. Startled, Mo Yi exchanged a nce with Jiang Yuanrou hastily. He stuffed the maic card into his pocket, turned and ran out. The two ran into the corridor and looked in the direction of the sound, only to let out a gasp at the same time. The woman who had chased them earlier was standing upright in front of the tightly closed iron gate they had entered this part of the corridor from,? with her back to the faint ceiling light.. Then as though she had seen Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gazes, the smile on her side face illuminated by the ceiling light became more and more exaggerated and grotesque, while her palms continued moving, pping the cold iron railing vigorously. The groaning from the metal was loud and sharp, cutting through the air extremely easily and piercing into the human brain. Mo Yi noticed that clouds of dust and soil were falling down from the joint between the metal railing and the wall above, and the falling speed of the debris only became faster and faster as the woman continued pping more and more violently¡ª She would definitely break down the gate sooner orter. Mo Yi clearlyprehended the severity of their situation. Taking a deep breath, he patted Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s shoulder and spoke in a low voice. ¡°We have to go.¡± The two turned and walked towards the darkness at the end of the corridor, then stood still in front of the closed elevator door. Mo Yi took out the maic card from his pocket and swiped it at the groove on the wall, only to hear a soft ¡®beep¡¯. The sound of machinery moving came from the elevator shaft, and the groan of metal against metal echoed in the empty corridor. The pping sounds from the gate behind became more and more urgent. Mo Yi turned and nced at the woman, only to see that her ferocious and stiff face remained unchanged in the darkness, with a pair of almost scarlet eyes staring intently at the two of them. Large pieces of wall ster fell down along with the dust. The railings were visibly loosened. A fineyer of cold sweat broke out on Mo Yi¡¯s back. He took a deep breath and snapped his head back to look at the still tightly closed elevator door, feeling a little anxious in his heart. Less than half a minuteter, there was a small ¡®ding¡¯ from the elevator shaft. The diamond-shaped metal railing creaked open first, followed by the elevator door. Dim yellow light came in through the slowly opening door, illuminating the cold and gloomy end of the corridor. Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou heaved a sigh of relief and quickly walked into the elevator. The elevator door closed behind them, shutting out the creepy scalp-tingling pping sounds. There was only silence inside the closed elevator, apanied by the humming and whirring of machinery. This elevator too, simr to his previous one, did not have any buttons or a visible operating mechanism. There was just a vivid -2 disyed on the screen along with a small triangle which was slowly moving up step by step, indicating that the elevator was going upwards automatically. Mo Yi returned to his thoughts which were interrupted earlier, and pulled out the two maic cards from his pocket to carefullypare them under the dim light in the elevator. The names and photos of the employees were almost unrecognisable, with only the name of the mental asylum below still moderately discernible. Mo Yi leaned in closer and squinted at the blurry words. ¡°Edwin Mental Asylum¡±. Mo Yi pursed his lips. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a little frustrated¡ªit¡¯s been two hours since he entered this instance, and he had just learned the name of this mental asylum, which is too much of a failure. Though¡­ the name of this mental hospital is a bit weird. Edwin¡­ This should be a person¡¯s name. Mo Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, and couldn¡¯t help but feel a little puzzled. Logically, there were not many mental asylums which would use people¡¯s names as part of their official name, let alone using a given name rather than a surname. Just then, he recalled something and turned to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing by the side. ¡°When you were entering past the iron gate earlier, were you about to say something?¡± Jiang Yuanrou raised her head upon hearing the words. Her face looked a little pale, and she leaned against the cold wall of the elevator, exhaling slowly. ¡°I just felt¡­ it¡¯s a little unbelievable¡­¡± She lowered her eyes and fixedly stared at a point in the darkness. With her longshes covering her light brown eyes, her pale lips moved slightly, seemingly deep in thought. The temperature in the enclosed elevator was slightly higher than that of the corridor, and together with the rhythmic whirring of the machinery from all four walls, as well as the dim yellow light overhead, gave the two of them the chance for a breather. Mo Yi watched Jiang Yuanrou patiently, waiting quietly. He saw Jiang Yuanrou taking a deep breath to calm down, then finally s[poke. ¡°When you mentioned gender separation just now, I was a little surprised because in myst instance with Yuanbai, the yers were separated ording to gender and the boss of that instance also ughtered and hunted us down ording to gender¡­¡± Mo Yi stared at Jiang Yuanrou thoughtfully. A quick thought suddenly shed in his mind and he interrupted Jiang Yuanrou without warning. ¡°That boss, do you know what his name is?¡± Jiang Yuanrou was taken aback by Mo Yi¡¯s sudden question and immediately replied subconsciously . ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Edwin, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Chapter 112

Chapter 112

Mo Yi was stunned. This answer seemed to be outside of rationality yet at the same time, it was also within expectations. Jiang Yuanrou blinked her light brown eyes while observing the changes in Mo Yi¡¯s expression, and asked cautiously, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Yi was roused from his thoughts by her voice. There was no visible change to his expression and he merely looked at Jiang Yuanrou with a pair of dark eyes, and handed her the two maic cards without saying anything. Jiang Yuanrou hesitated for a few seconds before taking the two maic cards from Mo Yi¡¯s hand. A look of surprise appeared on Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s face under the dim lighting of the elevator. The fingers holding the edges of the two cards turned slightly white due to the force she was gripping them with. She raised her head to look at Mo Yi with a heavy look on her pale face. Pursing her bloodless lips, she then asked, ¡°How could this be?¡± Mo Yi shook his head, solemnity lining his brows as he subconsciously stroked the knuckles of his ice cold hand with his fingers. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jiang Yuanrou lowered her head again in disbelief, studying the faded and blurry writing on it once again. Mo Yi looked at her and said, ¡°There are too few clues in this instance. I can onlye up with a few simple guesses at most, but none of them have a reliable basis to back it up.¡± He paused, meeting the gaze of Jiang Yuanrou who had raised her eyes, and then continued speaking. ¡°The only thing that can be affirmed now is that this instance has a lot to do with the one you experiencedst time.¡± Jiang Yuanrou had obviously alsoe to the same conclusion. There was an abnormal flush on her pale face while her light brown eyes lit up, as if she was suppressing the emotions in her surging heart. She took a deep breath and nodded cautiously, the corners of her lips were pressed into a tight line and her voice was trembling slightly. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Mo Yi instantly understood the meaning behind her words. Since their current instance was rted to the previous one, it meant that there was nothing wrong with the prop she used¡ªthey are now indeed in the same instance as Jiang Yuanbai. Mo Yi lowered his eyes subconsciously and his gaze fell on his bandaged palm. The bandage on it was no longer as white as it was earlier. It was now stained with a little dust and blood, making it look crumpled. He held his wrist with his other hand then moved his fingers lightly. A swelling pain came from the wound. Mo Yi sucked in a shallow breath, then raised his head to look at Jiang Yuanrou, and said, ¡°Tell me as much as possible about your experience in thest instance.¡± Although the game restricted yers from exchanging information between different instances, with how this instance was so tight-lipped about clues, it seemed that the breakthrough point would likely only be found in the instance which Jiang Yuanrou previously experienced. What they could do now was to find a way tomunicate these details while avoiding the restrictions ced on them by the game as much as possible. Or¡­ they could actually use this to their advantage. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. The dim light overhead casted a sharp shadow on his face. Anything which was automatically censored by the game would be an unrted key point that only existed in the previous instance, which could then narrow the scope of their investigation. Jiang Yuanrou seemed to have suppressed her agitated emotions. Pursing her lips, she nodded then began to talk. The metal walls of the elevator vibrated slightly with the groaning of the machinery, and the sound almost became a soft background noise that slowly melded into Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s voice. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes fell on a corner of the elevator. He narrowed his eyes and listened quietly. The setting of the previous instance was a huge old mansion. There were a total of 24 yers who entered, 12 men and 12 women. The total survival time was 14 days. The yers were sorted into different floors ording to their gender, and the monster hunted and killed different genders every day. Jiang Yuanrou summarised the basic information of her previous instance, frowned and thought about it, then added, ¡°In thest instance, Yuanbai and I¡­ didn¡¯t try to initiate the side mission, so we don¡¯t know much enough about that instance.¡± A hint of gloom appeared between her brows, and thest traces of rosiness vanished from her pale face: ¡°I suspect¡­ the reason why his mission failed may have something to do with it.¡± Mo Yi nced at Jiang Yuanrou and replied, ¡°Perhaps.¡± ording to what he saw and heard after the end of hisst instance, the main criteria for judging whether a yer can enter the Senior Member Club seemed to be the [yer Comprehensive Ability Evaluation], and although the initiation of side missions should be one of the ways to gain points, it should not be the only one. Jiang Yuanrou took a deep breath, and then continued, ¡°Although we didn¡¯t open the branch line, we still found some clues, such as the name of the boss and¡­¡± Halfway through her sentence, her voice was suddenly lodged in her throat, only leaving behind a shallow gasp. Jiang Yuanrou tried to open her mouth, but she still couldn¡¯t make any sound. She looked up at Mo Yi, her eyes shing, and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. ¡°So, what was redacted was an important clue?¡± Mo Yi nodded and answered, ¡°Yes. Although our information cannot be sharedpletely, in this way, at least we both now know some clues about this instance.¡± He paused, and added, ¡°But¡­ Perhaps you could try to find other ways to tell me, for example, what was the clue that you couldn¡¯t tell just now, about?¡± Jiang Yuanrou frowned and was deep in thought for dozens of seconds, before speaking again. ¡°The identity of the boss. ¡± Mo Yi nodded thoughtfully, and signalled Jiang Yuanrou to continue. Jiang Yuanrou subconsciously stroked the edges of the two hard maic cards in her hand with her fingers, leaving white marks on her soft fingertips. She continued, ¡°In thest instance, male and female yers were casted separately, so I was separated from Yuanbai for a while¡­ At that time, I didn¡¯t want to start the side plot, so I restrained mymunication with Yuanbai, so I do not know his experience during that period of time.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°But when I met him, I felt that he knew more about that instance than I did.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s fingers pressed harder into the edges of the card, and her fingertips turned whiter. ¡°And his understanding was much deeper.¡± Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help raising his eyebrows. His gaze turned solemn. This reminded him of hisst instance. In that instance, the other yers¡¯ grasp of the clues in that instance was hardly as good as his¡ªexcept for the other two yers who¡¯d deliberately leaked clues to. And in this instance, Jiang Yuanrou had a unique clue about herst instance. In addition to what she said just now¡­ Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s in-depth understanding of the entirety of the previous instance¡­ And the three of them all happened to be reserve members of the senior member club at that time. Was this just a coincidence? Mo Yi lowered his eyes. His long eyshes drooped, covering his dark eyes. His pale face was calm and indifferent, showing no emotion. He only heard Jiang Yuanrou continue to say: ¡°My understanding of that instance basicallyes from the basement of that house.¡± Mo Yi raised his eyes and looked at her with some interest. ¡°The basement?¡± Jiang Yuanrou nodded. ¡°There is a secret red door in the basement. We couldn¡¯t enter without a key, but I found a notebook outside the secret door. Although the notes were old and difficult to read, they were very useful.¡± ¡°You found the name Edwin in that notebook?¡± Mo Yi asked. Jiang Yuanrou gave a ¡°hmm¡±. She seemed as if she was about to say something more, but at this moment, there was a ¡®ding¡¯ in the elevator. . Then the elevator grinded to a halt, its metal walls shaking while the sound of machinery in the background stopped. Mo Yi raised his head and nced at the screen embedded on the wall. The number in the small grey-ck square had turned into a cold -1 at some point, and the previously moving small triangle had also be stationary. Unlike the danger he encountered in the elevatorst time, this time the elevator reached its destination extremely easily. The metal door in front of him slowly opened, slowly revealing the world outside the elevator. It was a long and dark corridor. There were no lights overhead in the corridor, leaving only a gloomy grey ceiling which was much lower than the -2F and -3F, and it gave people an extremely depressing and cramped feeling which left them feeling suffocated. Mo Yi turned on the shlight in his hand and stepped slowly into the corridor, feeling a little uneasy in his heart. ¡ªCompared with the other two floors, this floor was really different. Dirty wallpaper lined the walls. This wallpaper was of neatly arranged green grids, which were almost a dim dark green colour under his light. On the ground was a carpet that had probably not been changed for so long that it appeared greasy. There were even two small wallmps on either side, shining dimly in this deep and dense darkness. The air was musty and dusty, with a smell of decaying wood and woollen carpets. This floor no longer looked like a horrifying mental asylum.. It seemed like¡­an ordinary house. Mo Yi blinked, and even had the illusion that the two floors he experienced just now were just a dream. He and Jiang Yuanrou stepped out of the elevator one after another. The carpet under their feet felt soft and the metal door of the elevator closed behind them, making a hoarse groan. The dim yellow light behind them disappeared, leaving only the shlights in their hands still shining in the entire corridor. Dead silence spread quietly in the narrow corridor, submerging the figures of the two like a rising tide. Chapter 113

Chapter 113

The air in the corridor was dry and warm. The walls on all sides seemed to be closing in on them, squeezing and condensing the darkness into the entirety of this long corridor. Mo Yi tried to take a few steps forward. The carpet under his feet was greasy and thin, and he could almost feel the hard and cold touch of the floor below when he stepped on it. He turned his shlight onto the wall beside him. A circle of bright spots lingered on the dull green wallpaper, illuminating the pattern on it. On the wall slightly above the ground was a strangely shaped oil stain. The colour of the pattern under and around the stain was deeply sunken, looking like an unhealed wound and at the same time, also a half-lidded eye. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze remained on the stain for several long seconds and he seemed to have noticed something. Frowning, he leaned closer to the wall and carefully studied the patterns on the wallpaper, only to see that the dark green lines forming the edges of the grid above were actuallyposed of densely packed small butterflies when he looked closer. Mo Yi pursed his lips and moved away. Jiang Yuanrou turned to look at him and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Yi hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook his head: ¡°It¡¯s nothing¡­¡± The two continued to walk forward. The corridor waspletely silent. The only sound that could be heard was the rustling of their soles against the surface of the carpet. The corridor was long and narrow, and the light of the shlight waspletely absorbed by the deep darkness ahead, as if the space before them was a bottomless abyss with neither light nor sound. On the wall beside them was a monotonous and repetitive pattern which slowly changed as the two walked deeper, which resembled undting waves when illuminated by the shlight. There was a dead silence all around them. As if affected by this oppressive atmosphere, Jiang Yuanrou and Mo Yi were also silent as they moved side by side. Then, suddenly, the corridor ahead turned sharply around a corner, with a dim wallmp for illumination. The two of them rounded the bend and found that there was still a long corridor ahead. Mo Yi felt a faint sense of uneasiness rising in his heart. Although the previous two floors were full of dangers, they were still predictable since the route and routines were simr, but there was such aplete and huge change on this floor. It made it almost impossible to predict what would happen next. This feeling of being out of control made him very ufortable. Mo Yi tightened his hand around the shlight. There was a dull pain at the base of his thumb, and the sensation was akin to a physical manifestation of a bout of anxiety which sought to pry open his heart and sneak into his thoughts. The corridor ahead took another turn in apletely different direction. Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou exchanged a look. They hesitated for a few seconds before continuing to walk forward again. The atmosphere in the air was so heavy and solemn that it was almost hard to breathe. This new stretch was deep and narrow, with no doors or forks to be seen. The only thing before them was this singr passage that extended quietly deeper and deeper into the darkness. Mo Yi took a deep breath, and finally decided to voice out his conjecture. Lowering his voice, he spoke. ¡°Yuanrou.¡± Jiang Yuanrou turned to him with a questioning look on her bloodless face. Mo Yi opened his mouth yet did not continue to speak. Jiang Yuanrou asked in a low voice curiously. ¡°What¡¯s wrong¡­?¡± This time, it wasn¡¯t that Mo Yi didn¡¯t want to say anything, but there was some kind of strange force strangling his throat, preventing him from saying the words he had conceived in his mind¡ª ¡°In the instance of this membership test, you are the one being tested, so the key point of this instance would be on you. And if you can¡¯t solve it , you would be the same as Yuanbai, failing the instance and be trapped here forever.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯splexion darkened. She realised that Mo Yi¡¯s current state was not because he didn¡¯t want to say anything, but because he couldn¡¯t say it¡ªthis meant that Mo Yi had discovered some key information. Mo Yi took a deep breath. He pondered for a few seconds, then spoke again after deliberation. ¡°Thank you for the clues about this instance. I still have to count on you in the future as well.¡± Jiang Yuanrou stared at him for a long while, then nodded lightly and then gave a low ¡®mn¡¯. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re wee.¡± Mo Yi averted his gaze. Bursts of burning pain came from deep inside his throat, as if there was a me burning in the pit of his stomach straight through his oesophagus and into his mouth. He knew that this was the limit of what he could hint at. ording to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s experience, she should be able to understand that he was hinting at a certain key information, but she likely still had no idea what he wanted to mention specifically. Mo Yi let out a long sigh internally¡­ Now he could only hope that Jiang Yuanrou would be able to grasp his hint soon. The key point this time was definitely in the instance Jiang Yuanrou experiencedst time, and it was extremely likely that it was one of the pieces of information she wasn¡¯t allowed to tell him.. The two continued to walk forward along the corridor. Subtle footsteps resounded in this silent semi-enclosed space, rustling against the ground at regr intervals, and when apanied by the dimness and monotony of the corridor, would make any person feel drowsy. However, Mo Yi¡¯s nerves were slowly tensing up. He felt as though the atmosphere in front of him was akin to a bow that was being drawn to its full capacity, and the gradually increasing force tightened the bowstring into a trembling straight line that felt just as if it would break in the very next second. He swallowed slowly, his dry throat aching. Suddenly, Mo YI caught something from the corners of his eyes¡ªthere seemed to be something on the wall beside him¡­ He came to an abrupt stop and nced at the wall. Dark spots were lining the crumpled wallpaper, and the green lines on it were extending monotonously into the distant darkness. And there was a small but deep oil stain on the boring pattern, its clear edge starting at a location slightly higher than the ground, and looking like an unhealed wound or a half-lidded eye. Mo Yi momentarily froze. A huge sensation of unease rose from the bottom of his trembling heart. He could hear his own stiff and monotonous voice as he spoke, and he could hardly recognize his own tone. ¡°We are going around in circles.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was also surprised, and quickly whirled around to look at him. ¡°What?¡± Mo Yi illuminated the odd stain with his shlight. The glint of gloominess in his eyes surged. ¡°I saw this spot about ten minutes ago, not long after we left the elevator¡­¡± What about the elevator then? Did it also¡­? Mo Yi stopped speaking, and turned his head to look behind him. All he could see was a long and deep corridor leading straight into a deep and dense darkness. There was no way to see the end at a nce, and the monotonous and repetitive wallpaper was blurred in the darkness, showing an odd shade of dull green. The sense of surreality in my heart seemed to be sprouting from the fertile soil at the bottom of his heart, emerging slowly into the front of his mind. There was a small whisper in his mind, asking him questions softly. Was everything in front of him real? Were the corridors real? Were they really going in circles? Was that stain real? Or did it exist just to mislead them into thinking they were going around in circles? Mo Yi gritted his teeth. He clenched his wrist with his other hand, mercilessly plunging his fingertips into his wound. Pain sprung up his nerves like a series of vicious bug bites, slowly prating the depths of the brain. He knew that his current state was not normal. He had gone through one floor more than Jiang Yuanrou, and as such, also experienced several more illusions. Therefore, this mental asylum had a much deeper impact on him than on her. The tiny voice continued to ask him. ¡°Is Jiang Yuanrou real?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart froze slightly, and he realised btedly that those words were not spoken by the voice in his heart, but came from beside him. A soft female voice. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s voice. He whipped his head over in the direction of the voice. Along with his sudden movement, the thinyer of ice sweat slid down his back, making him feel as if he was cold from the top of his head to the bottom of his soles. There was no one around. Jiang Yuanrou was gone. Mo Yi heard his heart thundering loudly in his chest, resonating with the sounds from his lungs and chest, to create a buzzing white noise which enveloped the silent corridor. He was standing alone in the cold and dark corridor. He was holding a shlight in his hand, and there was only a solitary beam of light shining into the darkness. Mo Yi¡¯s fingertips turned white from exertion. A wave of sharp pain rose from the depths of his mind. Inhaling deeply, he took a few steps backwards slowly and pressed his back against the cold wall, as if he could regain some sanity and strength by leaning against the wall. Logic and reason were akin to a sturdy arm, re-steering the wheel in his mind. Mo Yi closed his eyes, sorting through his chaotic thoughts. If this Jiang Yuanrou was fake from the beginning, then he never left -2F from the beginning. If Jiang Yuanrou was real, then they must have lost each other after entering -1F. In the absence of more evidence, Mo Yi had nothing he could confirm, especially while in this environment which was deliberately engineered for the yers in this instance, the only thing he could trust now was his own intuition. Perhaps. The scariest thing about this instance was how it could drive yers to the brink of madness. A yer who was not determined enough may be driven crazy directly inside this instance.. Mo Yi exhaled deeply, calming down his emotional ups and downs just now. Then, he moved his heels back another half a step, and pressed his whole body tighter against the wall behind him. At this moment, he felt that the wall behind him seemed to have moved slightly, imperceptibly. Surprised, Mo Yi snapped open his eyes. He stood up straight then turned to look behind. Due to the pressure he exerted just now, there was a shallow gap on the wall, as if a deep mark was carved on the wall with a knife. And the strangely shaped oil stain happened to be right next to this dark crevice. Mo Yi paused. He stretched out his hand to press against the wall and slowly applied force, only to hear a slight ¡®crack¡¯. The gap widened, then slid inward. It was a door. That lone section of the wall slid further and deeper inward, first revealing a clear outline then the shadows and darkness behind it¡ª The door opened. Chapter 114

Chapter 114

TW: Animal cruelty, animal death A door slowly emerged from the wall before Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. The dull green wallpaper was shrouded in deeper shadows as the door panel slid inward. The space behind the door was pitch ck, akin to an abyss standing just a step away from him. A stale and dull atmosphere emanated from the depths of that door, mixed with a faint scent of blood. A thinyer of sweat broke out on Mo Yi¡¯s palms. He moved his fingers holding the shlight, moving the beam of light onto the door that appeared unexpectedly. The light was swallowed by the abyss. There seemed to be only emptiness within. He took a slow, deep breath, then closed his eyes. His swollen and hot eyeballs were covered by his cold eyelids, which brought a trace of calmness and reason back to his chaotic mind. Now, Mo Yi unexpectedly calmed down. He recalled and analysed every clue he had earlier, and then sorted them out in his mind. ording to his experience on -3F, the illusion in this instance would not take the initiative to cause harm to him, but would induce him to make wrong choices and stay in this instance forever. The illusion couldn¡¯t perfectly imitate the game¡¯s control over the yers, so Jiang Yuanrou was very likely to be real. So, that one time when he wanted to disclose to Jiang Yuanrou his conjecture about the instance of this membership test was very likely thest time he saw the real Jiang Yuanrou because there had been a restriction put on him by the game at that time. Mo Yi opened his eyes, revealing a pair of dark eyes under hisshes. They were glinting coldly, looking rational and calm. His gaze fell on the dark green wallpaper, carefully studying those dark lines which make up the small grids. They were a stream of butterflies each connected to the previous from end to end. Under the unsettling shadows in the corridor, they appeared to have a gtinous substance seeping out of them. Then, the only exnation for their current predicament was that this floor separated the two of them after theirst conversation. Mo Yi closed his eyes and listened to the sound of his heart beating steadily in his chest. He let out a long breath. With his gradual deepening understanding of this game¡¯s mechanism, he felt strongly that his task this time was onerous. Not only did he have to survive in this instance where all the clues were deliberately kept from him, he also had to help Jiang Yuanrouplete her test while also bringing out Jiang Yuanbai, who they still had no clue of his whereabouts¡ªevery single one of these tasks were almost impossible. No wonder Jiang Yuanrou made such a generous offer back then. Mo Yi sighed helplessly. Then, he calmed down and raised his eyes to study the door that opened quietly. His face was pale and calm, and he stepped into the door leading to the pitch-ck unknown. As he moved, the darkness slowly surrounded and swallowed him. All around him was the increasingly dull smell of dust, mixed with the familiar smell of blood and decay from the previous floors, lingering cloyingly at the tip of his nose as if it wanted to invade every inch of his senses. Mo Yi was nearly choked into suffocation. He continued moving his feet relentlessly, walking deeper into the room. Meanwhile, he also took the chance to slowly turn his wrist, sweeping his shlight around to observe the environment he was in. This was a veryrge room, its interiorpletely pitch-ck without the slightest light or sound, making one almost doubtful if they were really in an existing space. The carpet under his feet was different from the one in the corridor. This fluffy feeling was a clear indication of its price, it seemed to be covering the entire floor of this room and quietly absorbing all the sounds. Mo Yi seemed to have stepped on something under his feet. He tilted the shlight to shine at his feet, and saw that it was a disembowelled doll. In its half-broken head was a lonely blue ss eyeball. Long blond hair d in dust hung in locks from the back of the doll¡¯s bald head. It looked pitiful and miserable. Mo Yi carefully moved his foot away, then continued to walk forward, yet he soon found himself stepping on something again. He shifted his light down, illuminating the disembowelled plush doll under his feet¡ªhe could no longer tell its original appearance. Only pieces of cotton leaking from the inside of its belly could be seen, the imagery resembling broken internal organs flowing out of its body. There was also a pool of coagted and dried blood on the ground beside the doll, and the blood-stained long-haired carpet showed a shade of dirty dark brown under the light. Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He couldn¡¯t help speeding up his steps until he almost? tripped over something soft on the ground. Stabilising his body, he followed the light in his hand, only to see a dead mouse lying quietly on the carpet. It seemed to have just died not long ago, and its death was miserable. Its bones were cut out, its bloody muscles exposed, and even the internal organs spilling out of its soft belly seemed to be steaming with warmth. Mo Yi calmed himself down. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he stood in ce, and moved the shlight to illuminate the area around the mouse¡¯s corpse. Sure enough, in the darkness not far from the mouse, there was another small ck shadow lying quietly in the dust. He frowned and took a few steps in that direction, only to realise it was a dead cat. The bloody fur on one half of its body was tightly attached to its bony corpse, while the fur on the other half was torn off, revealing the bright red muscle texture. Sliced pieces of its flesh were carefully positioned on the long-haired carpet, looking¡­ like a pair of wings made of flesh and blood. A chill surged from the soles of Mo Yi¡¯s feet straight up his forehead. A fineyer of cold sweat broke out on his back. He moved his throat a little stiffly, restraining the chill that rose from the depths of his heart. Turning his head, he used the shlight to illuminate a wider area¡ª A dead dog lying on the floor, with a pair of mature wings made from its own flesh and blood unfurling at its side. Then, finally, the beam of light in Mo Yi¡¯s handnded on the ground at least two or three metres away from him. It was a human-shaped shadow. Cold sweat broke out on Mo Yi¡¯s palms. The metal shell of the shlight became wet from his grip. The strong and turbulent smell of blood invaded his senses, upying them, and he even felt as if he was able to taste the hint of coppery-rust in the air. He took a few steps closer in that direction. The shadow on the carpet gradually became clearer. It was the corpse of a man, lying on the floor with his limbs stretched out. The muscles of his upper body were almostpletely stripped off, leaving only the bloody white skeleton and a pile of guts which have slid out. Large areas of muscles were carefully and neatlyid out on the carpet with obvious level of skill and attention to detail. Ayer of blood which was so thick that it was almost ck in colour, seeped into the carpet, forming a deep brown blood stain. The condensed smell of blood and decay in the air was almost nauseating. Mo Yi¡¯splexion turned paler. His lips were tightly pursed in silent contemtion as he fixed his dark eyes on the pieces of flesh arranged on the carpet as huge butterfly wings. He understood why this room was so hidden. The room was full of disyed trophies¡ªbut they are not just the yers who had died in this instance, but also¡­ the victims from the real world that this instance was built on. He subconsciously ran his fingers along the hard metal surface of the shlight stained with his body temperature. He pressed his lips into a tense line. This was the first clear clue that appeared in this instance. Mo Yi turned his head and looked again at the corpses and toy fragments he came across along the way just now, the traces between his brows became more and more profound. He had an inkling that¡­ none of this was so simple. The heavy and sultry air in the room turned the bloody smell into a cloyingly putrid scent, which made people feel a little suffocated. Mo Yi circled around the corpse on the ground and walked towards the wall at the end of the room. His light fell steadily on the dull green wallpaper on the wall. The patterns on it seemed clearer in the darkness shrouded by shadows, the butterflies looking as though they were floating. There was a door on the wall where the gap with the frame was so integrated with the wallpaper that it was difficult to distinguish it without careful observation. Mo Yi stepped forward and opened the door. In front of him was another long corridor, with deep turns at both ends, with no clues on where either ends led to. He must have never been to this corridor before¡ªbecause there were three or four rooms scattered in this corridor while the previous one was apletely closed passage. The most important thing was that there was a window opposite to where Mo Yi was. And that window seemed to be constructed for the sole purpose ofmunication between the two corridors¡ªthrough the dim ss, one could see the corridor on the other side. It had the exact same dull green wallpaper, dark brown carpet, and was also equally narrow and lengthy. . There were no rooms in that corridor. Mo Yi took a step forward, his eyes falling on the corridor through the window. His hands and feet were cold. He saw something on one end of that corridor¡ªa red door. The bright redcquer on the door looked as dazzling as fresh blood, and the thickcquer seemed to have a strong scent of rust, as if sticky blood would be dripping down the straight door frame in the next second. Just looking at it seemed enough to make him smell the strong smell of blood emanating from that door. What Jiang Yuanrou said earlier echoed in Mo Yi¡¯s mind. ¡®There is a secret red door in the basement. We couldn¡¯t enter.¡¯ His heart tightened slightly. There seemed to be a thin buzzing sound in his eardrums. At this moment, Mo Yi heard a thin, child-like voice. ¡°You came.¡± Chapter 115

Chapter 115

A fineyer of cold sweat broke out on the surprised Mo Yi¡¯s back. He turned his head suddenly and looked towards the ce where the sound came from. He noticed another tightly closed door right beside one which he just came out of. The colour of the door panel was mottled and ugly, resembling the surface of an aged canvas. Dark brown spots, likely to be bloodstains which have long since dried up, were sttered all over the door panel. And the voice seemed toe from inside this door. The difference between this room and others along this corridor was that there was a rusty steel te welded near the bottom of this closed door. It was tightly embedded into the wooden panel, and there was even a dark thin slit across the bottom of it, making it seem as though it could be lifted. This was like¡­ a little window to pass things through. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating violently in his chest. The shirt stered to his back was wet with cold sweat but he couldn¡¯t feel the coldness at this moment. His gaze was firmly glued to the steel te on the door, and he seemed to be unable to move his attention away. There was some strange and unknown premonition in his heart that he could not put his finger on, but it was tugging at his mind, pulling at his nerves, and bringing a sense of trembling that could not be ignored. At this moment, a hoarse and rusty creaking sounded in the dead corridor. It was thin and sharp, like a sharp knife scraping across the tight nerves of a person, and making their scalp go numb. The small steel te was slowly lifted up. The thin shadow below gradually expanded as a result, followed by the sight of several thin and pale fingers slowly stretching out from the darkness within. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing stagnated for a moment. Those pale fingers were bone thin, with just ayer of skin wrapped around the skeleton, looking as though it was a mere corpses. But it was still obvious at a single nce that it was a pair of children¡¯s hands. That thin and soft child¡¯s voice wafted through the heavy door, sounding oddly ethereal as it repeated the words: ¡°You came.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple moved slightly. He felt a dry and painful feeling, but he took a deep breath nevertheless and replied in a hoarse voice. ¡°Yes.¡± A child¡¯s giggle came from behind the door, echoing in the empty corridor. ¡°You are so interesting.¡± Mo Yi had calmed down by this point. He shifted his body without a sound, positioning his body at an angle while keeping his eyes trained on the steel te and the hand protruding from it. Controlling his voice, he replied cautiously. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± The child¡¯s voice behind the door sounded again, crystal clear. ¡°Generally speaking, shouldn¡¯t you be asking me: who are you? Why are you here? What¡¯s your purpose?¡± The voice suddenly shifted into one with a hint of mystery. ¡°Or¡­ ask: Where is mypanion? Is she still alive?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart stuttered. His fingers shrank subconsciously but the expression on his face remained calm. ¡°Do you want me to ask those questions?¡± As if realising that Mo Yi was trying to seize the flow of this conversation, that child¡¯s voice suddenly became rougher. ¡°Of course not!¡± The protruding thin fingers tightened suddenly, and the sharp nails seemed like they would dig holes into the wooden door panel. Yet in the next second, the child¡¯s voice became sweet again. ¡°However¡­ if you were the one who asked these questions, I might have answered it.¡± Ayer of cold sweat leaked from Mo Yi¡¯s back. He pursed his paling lips nervously, but his voice was still steady and calm: ¡°Well then, who are you?¡± The child¡¯s voice burst into giggles. ¡°You should have guessed it a long time ago, right? I am Edwin.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s pale fingertips hanging by his sides twitched. His breathing rate changed slightly¡ªhe did guess this, but he didn¡¯t expect the other party to give the answer so easily. He continued to ask another question ording to the order Edwin provided earlier. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Edwin¡¯s voice was tinged with resentment and viciousness. ¡°Of course it was because I was locked up.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating violently. A thinyer of hot sweat was emerging from his palms, which made them very wet and ufortable. Struggling to control his breathing, he continued to ask. ¡°Who locked you up?¡± Edwin giggled. ¡°Of course it is the other Edwins.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s fingers tightened slowly, feeling a little startled. ¡ªWhen he was in that room just now, he actually had some vague guesses in his mind. Those corpses ranging from toys to small animals to humans were obviously for experimenting and improving the killing technique¡ªwhich was then also carried out in the exact same way on the dead yers they¡¯d encountered on those two floors. This instance was a mental asylum, and its name was Edwin¡­ This meant that this ce had to have some rted associations with the boy. It was just that all of these were simply one of the conjectures Mo Yi came up with, and he had listed at least four or five possible alternatives. This instance did not provide any more evidence and clues, which makes him unable to narrow down the number of objections. But to think the ¡°Edwin¡± on this floor¡­ would actually reveal the answer directly?! Mo Yi¡¯s brows were tightly pulled into a frown. He couldn¡¯t refute the proposed conjecture for a while as all the evidence pointed to the same conclusion¡ª What the other party said was right. The reason why this mental asylum was called Edwin, was because Edwin himself was a mental asylum. The man on -3F, the woman on -2F, and the child on this floor, they were all the same person, they were all Edwin. So in the prompt at the beginning of this instance, it said, You are me. And thepletely nk reference room on -2F backed up this conclusion too. Since this mental asylum itself was not a real building, it was naturally impossible for it to have any materials in its archive room. But Mo Yi still had a vague uneasiness in his heart. Because if that was the case¡­ Then who was that person who pushed him on -3F? What was the meaning of the butterfly that kept appearing all over the three floors? Was it just a murderous symbol of a psychopathic killer? As if realising that Mo Yi hadn¡¯t replied for a long time, there was a trace of dissatisfaction in the child¡¯s voice when it sounded again. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± Mo Yi came back to his senses. He took a deep breath, feigning a calm tone. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I was just stunned by your words.¡± Edwinughed. His giggles echoed in the corridor, which sounded a little frightening. After about half a minute, he suddenly stoppedughing and spoke in a more solemn tone. ¡°She likes killing women, he likes killing men, but I only like toys and small animals.¡± His voice suddenly became terrifying and deep. ¡°That¡¯s why they locked me up.¡± Mo Yi recalled what Jiang Yuanrou said before. In her previous instance, the boss ughtered the yers by a specific gender each day. If Edwin really had a dissociative identity disorder, then he really only showed two personalities then. He squinted his eyes, staring at the finger protruding from under the steel te, and suddenly asked the third question asked by the other party. ¡°What¡¯s your purpose?¡± Edwin slowly withdrew his finger, leaving only a narrow gap left on the steel te again. His voice sounded muffled behind the door panel, thin and weak, gently reaching his ears. ¡°Of course¡­ it¡¯s mutual benefit and reciprocity.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition rose from the depths of his heart. ¡°Look behind you.¡± The voice sounded child-like and innocent. Mo Yi turned and looked behind¡ªfollowing the window to look at the opposite corridor¡­ He saw a familiar, petite figure standing at the end of the corridor, with a stiff body and slightly lowered head. Her long curly brown hair hung down, with deep shadows shrouding the rest of her face except for a pale pointed chin. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating wildly. His hands and feet were cold, and a thinyer of sweat appeared on his forehead, slowly trickling down his hot temples. He subconsciously took a step forward, and the situation in his eyes became clearer¡ª Jiang Yuanrou was walking along the corridor at an extremely slow speed. The pattern of the dull green wallpaper on the corridor wall seemed to be moving and spinning around her. Her movements were stiff, as if she was being manipted by something, and she moved towards the end of the corridor step by step. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze shifted and his eyes fell on the end of the corridor. There was a door in a deep bright red colour, which looked so rich that it appeared as if blood was slowly flowing down the straight door frame and deeply imprinted onto the wall. ¡ª¡±Up is down¡±. ¡ª¡±To go is to stay¡±. If what Edwin said was correct, then although they were slowly going up in the elevator, they were actually slowly moving deeper. And if Jiang Yuanrou walked out of that door, then she would have left in the deepest part of the dungeon¡­ Then she would be left behind here forever. Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened harshly. A cold feeling spread upwards from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, and a huge tremor moved along his nerves to the other parts of his body. He took a sudden step forward, rushed to the window, and reflexively pped on the cold ss vigorously with his palm. There was a banging sound and vibration from the ss, and he heard his hoarse voice echoing in the silent and narrow corridor. ¡°Yuanrou!!!¡± Mo Yi pounded on the blurry and hard ss as hard as he could. There was a fiery paining from deep within his throat, as if there was sand particles rubbing against each other, and also a sharp twinge from the base of the injured finger, as though there was a dull rusty knife sawing on his nerve, bringing waves of difort to him like he was having heart palpitations. At this moment, the soft child¡¯s voice sounded from behind again. His voice was cold and smooth, as if it was a cold-blooded animal which was slowly wriggling and shrinking its soft body. His words left cold and slippery marks on the listener¡¯s skin, causing goosebumps and physiological tremors to erupt through them. ¡°¡ªHow about you let me out of here and I¡¯ll help you save her?¡± ¡°Mutual benefit.¡± Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Mo Yi¡¯s sweaty palm was pressed against the hard ss, and the edges of his palm have turned white due to the force. The ss under the palm was stained with a little body heat, which in turn felt scalding to his ice cold palm. A dense pain emerged from the base of his injured finger, the nerve endings stimted with stabs of pain akin to needle pricks. He rxed his hand and withdrew it, leaving a white handprint on the ss which slowly ebbed and disappeared. Mo Yi stared at Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s stiff profile across the window for a while, then averted his face. His lowered eyelids covered his dark pupils as he looked back towards the door. The welded steel te on the door remained closed, with those skinny and pale fingers retracted from view, leaving only a deep shadow leaking from the gap under the steel te. ¡°Did you do it?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s voice was slightly hoarse, as if there was sand and gravel rubbing against his throat, his tone seeming as though there was aplex yet suppressed emotion surging in him. There was a soft gleeful giggle from behind the thin door, followed by the soft voice of a child passing through the dead and silent corridor into his ears. ¡°How is that possible? Can¡¯t you see that I am locked up tightly?¡± The surroundings were silent, and Edwin¡¯s voice rang eerily in the empty corridor. ¡°TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, time waits for no one~¡± While listening to the child¡¯s deliberately lowered voice, Mo Yi was looking through the window at Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s thin and petite back as she walked slowly and stiffly towards the blood-red door with a strange rhythm and gait. Mo Yi¡¯s tone was stiff and tense, and one could hear a slight tremor in it if they listened carefully. ¡°How do I let you out¡­?¡± The child¡¯s voice behind the door was filled with unbridled joy that held a hint of creepiness. ¡°The key is in the room you just walked out of. You find it and take it here to open my door. I will help save your partner.¡± After listening to Edwin¡¯s words, Mo Yi¡¯s tone became even more urgent. It was mixed with an unconscious tension and helplessness, like a bowstring which was stretched to the extreme, and could be snapped with just a little more force. ¡°But¡­¡± Edwin¡¯s tender voice held a hint of gloomy displeasure as he interrupted coldly. ¡°Do you still want her to live?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s breathing hitched. The deep voice held a trace of forbearance and helplessness, as if the owner was gnashing his teeth. ¡°Okay¡­¡± Immediately afterwards, before Edwin could say anything else, Mo Yi¡¯s voice sounded in the corridor, seemingly unsteady and disordered. ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact location of the key, and I don¡¯t know how long it will take to find it¡ª¡± His voice suddenly became low, with a bit of ruthlessness and aggressiveness. ¡°So, so if Yuanrou is dead, even if I find the key, I won¡¯t let you out.¡± Edwin¡¯s immature voice was a little impatient. ¡°Until you find the key, I promise that nothing will happen to her.¡± Then, the child¡¯s voice immediately became vicious and cold. ¡°Of course, for that, you¡¯d better find the key within ten minutes, otherwise¡­ I can¡¯t guarantee nothing will happen to her.¡± ¡°Alright¡­¡± Mo Yi uttered a monotonous word dryly, then turned away and sped up his pace, striding back towards the door he just walked out of. He stretched out his hand and pushed the door open. The strong smell of blood and dust washed over him. Shadows and darkness gathered around him as he walked deeper, swallowing his figure. The door covered in the dull green wallpaper closed quietly behind him, blocking out the faint light in the corridor. The vivid mood swings and visible emotions on Mo Yi¡¯s face disappeared immediately. The entanglement, anger, and tension just now were akin to a thinyer of frost and snow under the sun, leaving only a slightly damp and hard ground in its wake, which almost made people think that everything that had happened just now was nothing more than a phantom-like illusion. He flicked on the shlight. With a soft ¡®click¡¯, it lit up, staining Mo Yi¡¯s bloodless face with ayer of pale colour which made him look like a ghost in this dark room. He raised his dark eyes slightly, staring coldly ahead. ¡ªThis ¡°Mutual benefit and reciprocity¡± with Edwin was equivalent to seeking the hide from a tiger. Even if the decision was made for a good purpose, it was very likely that he woulde to regret itter. In addition, he did not hold much consideration for human life in the first ce, be it Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s or his own. If Jiang Yuanrou was in danger when he was around her, he would of course try his best to help her, but if Jiang Yuanrou faced danger due to her own wrong judgement after they separated, then it could only be said that it was her mistake¡­ Therefore, it was extremely illogical to hope that Mo Yi would make an unwise decision just to save her life. In addition¡­ With the existence of illusions in this instance, it still remains to be answered whether that Jiang Yuanrou was really her. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. Two small yet bright lights were shining in his dark pupils, akin to the cold stars and moon on a cold winter night. That was precisely why he acted like he was deeply affected by Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s predicament at the beginning, so that Edwin would think that he had acquired an extremely useful bargaining chip, a bargaining chip which couldpletely control him. It was only in this way that Edwin would be paralyzed and intoxicated by the joy of his imminent victory, and reveal his ws and ws in just a few words. That was also why Mo Yi pounded on the window and shouted Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s name so affectionately at the beginning, then acted like he was restless and being led by the nose in the subsequent confrontation, then bit by bit, tried to subtly test each other. And in Edwin¡¯s words, he found a small, non-obvious loophole. Mo Yi took a step forward, pacing slowly in the room. His eyes followed the movement of the shlight, wandering around the room as he continued contemting¡ª Edwin had said at the beginning that he was not the one who manipted Jiang Yuanrou, because he was locked up and did not have the ability to. This was very likely to be true. The key to his room was just next door, but he couldn¡¯t get his hands on it, which clearly illustrated that his control on this floor was greatly limited after he was locked up, and that was why he had to count on Mo Yi to look for the key. Mo Yi walked forward slowly along the wall of the room. While walking, he bent his knuckles and rapped at the wall lightly, trying to see if there was a hidden space inside. The sound made from beneath the dark green wallpaper was hard and cold¡ªsolid. Pursing his lips, he continued down the train of thought just now in his mind, thinking deeper. ¡ªWhen confronting Edwin just now, he proposed that ¡®Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s life needed to be protected while he was looking for the key¡¯, and Edwin easily agreed, even going to the point of giving him a moderately reasonable time frame. And since he wanted to regain his freedom so badly, the possibility of deception was notrge. After all, Mo Yi made his point very clearly¡ªif Jiang Yuanrou was dead by the time he found the key, their deal would not stand. So¡­ Edwin obviously had a certain degree of control over Jiang Yuanrou. He was unable to control the space in this room right next to him, but was able to influence Jiang Yuanrou, who was separated from him by a whole corridor, and had the confidence to ¡®keep her safe for ten minutes¡¯. Furthermore, the window that was very ¡®coincidentally¡¯ positioned¡ªit just happened to be at the door he came out of, and happened to be able to see into the opposite corridor where there was the crucial blood-red door at the end. There was only one reasonable exnation for why there were so many ¡®coincidences¡¯ stacked up. And that was that what he had seen earlier was not real but a maniption by Edwin from inside that door. But¡­ the key would still need to be found. Not only was it a rare clue in this instance which had very few hints, but it might also be a very important bargaining chip in the future. But¡­ for Edwin to know that Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou were separated, as well as clearly form a wless illusion with her appearance¡­There are only two possibilities. One was that his control on this floor was not as weak as Mo Yi thought, and the other was that he had met Jiang Yuanrou before and might have evenmunicated with her. A tiny trace of uneasiness welled up in Mo Yi¡¯s heart, along with small, ominous ripples. Regardless of which answer was correct, neither was the exnation Mo Yi wanted. He took a deep breath and suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his mind, then stood still at the base of the wall, raising his dark eyes to stare thoughtfully at the void in the darkness. Mo Yi had already walked around the room previously, and found no spots to hide things in the surrounding walls. Although the room wasrge, there were not many things in it, and it also had a simpleyout. So where was this key? Mo Yi¡¯s brows pulled together slowly as he rubbed his cold fingertips subconsciously. His gaze fell on the broken doll on the floor, and he couldn¡¯t help being but freeze. Then, he strode forward quickly and crouched to pick up the toy. The arms, legs and feet attached to the body fell off, emanating a stale smell of dust which entered his nostrils. There wasn¡¯t anywhere to hide things¡­ Mo Yi pursed his lips. He walked to the dismembered plush toy next, and carefully searched the clumped cotton in its belly, but also came up empty. He stepped up to the mouse¡¯s corpse next. Enduring the slight nausea, he slowly inserted his fingers into the mouse¡¯s exposed belly and rummaged through the greasy internal organs of its thin and small body. Nothing. Mo Yi seemed to have found a knack, and his movements sped up. After searching the cat¡¯s corpse to no avail, he immediately turned his attention to the disembowelled male corpse. Crouching beside it, he stretched his palms into his exposed internal organs. The smell of blood in the air became more and more intense, and the scent was almost suffocating. Mo Yi endured the difort and nausea and slowly moved his fingers that were deeply embedded in the cold and sticky viscera of the dead body. After groping through the broken intestines and lungs, his fingertips came into contact with something cold and hard. It seemed to be the outline of a key. Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Mo Yi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He used his forefinger and thumb to pinch the hard key buried deep in the internal organs, and pulled his hand out of the cold belly of the corpse with a little force. There was a sticky rubbing sound, and the smell of blood and rot in the room became stronger. Mo Yi held his breath slightly to suppress the surging nausea in his stomach, and then shone a shlight at his hand. Amidst the dark red blood and internal organs, a small keyy quietly on his palm, reflecting a slight halo from his shlight. Its surface was not smooth, and it even felt uneven. Dark maroon marks were deeply imprinted on the key, and it was impossible to tell whether it was rust or blood. Mo Yi struggled to open his backpack with one hand. He pulled out several tissues and cleaned the blood off of his palm before carefully wiping the key. The full appearance of the rusty key appeared in front of his eyes. Mo Yi scrutinised it over and over for a while but found nothing special, so he slipped it in his pocket. He nced down at his watch. There was not much time left until the time limit of ten minutes, and it was time to find Edwin. Mo Yi rose to his feet. Making a sudden movement after crouching for so long made his eyes darken slightly, and he blinked his eyes vigorously before stretching his stiff legs, and then walked towards the door. He opened it and the dim light in the corridor instantly streamed in from the widening gap. Familiar scenes reappeared before his eyes, the long and narrow corridor, the dull green wallpapers, and the blurry window. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze fell on the blurry ss. The handprint he left earlier was still on it. The foggy white mist had nearlypletely disappeared, leaving only half of his palm lines on the cold surface of the ss. And through the ss, Mo Yi could see Jiang Yuanrou standing stiffly in the corridor. Her petite figure was facing away from him, her back and limbs tense while she stood in ce in the middle of the corridor without moving forward or retreating, as if her attention had been attracted by something. Edwin¡¯s voice came from behind, and his immature voice sounded a little eager. ¡°Have you found the key?¡± Mo Yi turned his head and nced at the tightly closed door panel. The mottled door panel was of various colours, resembling an old and dirty canvas. A thin childlike voice came through the cracks in the welded steel tes under the door, and it sounded a little more anxious than before. ¡°Did you find it?!¡± Mo Yi gave a ¡®mn¡¯ of affirmation. ¡°But how could I be sure that you would fulfil our promise after I open the door?¡± Edwin¡¯s voice turned sinister. ¡°You can¡¯t, but without me, she will surely die.¡± Mo Yi slightly lowered his gaze, as if he was deep in contemtion. His gaze fell on the half-closed steel te, slowly tracing the cool white light reflected on it. He spoke with an anxious and restless tone which didn¡¯t match his expression: ¡°Okay then¡­¡± Edwinughed, and before he could say anything else, Mo Yi continued. ¡°But¡­ which key is it?¡± Edwin was obviously choked for a while, and he didn¡¯t make a sound for a long time. After a few seconds, he spoke grimly. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Mo Yi, ¡°I found three keys in that room, which one is the key to open your door?¡± His fingers reached into his trouser pockets, slowly picking up the three keys inside. Two were the copper keys and the silver key used on -2F, and one of them was the rusty key found inside the human corpse in the room just now. The sound of nging metal rang in his pocket. Mo Yi continued without changing his expression. ¡°I found one in the belly of a doll, one in the belly of a mouse, and one in a human corpse.¡± Edwin¡¯s voice suddenly rose, and he cried in disbelief. ¡°How could there be three? Impossible! Impossible!¡± Mo Yi had some ideas in his mind¡ªalthough the bosses on the previous two floors were limited by the physical conditions of each floor, they seemed to have nomunication abilities, so Mo Yi was unable to confirm the extent of abilities of this ¡®Edwin¡¯ who couldmunicate and even negotiate with him. But if Edwin was unable to dispel even this simple lie of his, then the person who was locked inside the door probably did not have the kind of control over this corridor that he feared. This would in turn prove two things. One would be that the Jiang Yuanrou seen in that window was fake, and the other would be that¡­ Edwin had seen Jiang Yuanrou before. Mo Yi already had concrete guesses in his mind, but he remained calm on the surface, and deliberately asked, ¡°Or¡­ should I try them one by one?¡± The atmosphere behind the locked door turned even more oppressively sour. There was a dead silence in the narrow corridor. After a while, Edwin responded in a gloomy voice. ¡°Don¡¯t use it for now¡­¡± Sure enough. Mo Yi lowered his eyes knowingly¡ªording to Edwin¡¯s paranoid nature and fickleness, since he found that the development of the matter waspletely different from what he imagined, he naturally didn¡¯t dare to try things out lightly, for fear that it was a trap. Furthermore, if what Edwin told him was true, then the bosses on the other two floors were Edwin¡¯s other two personalities, and the rtionship between them was not harmonious¡­ and this rift between them would just make it more difficult for Edwin to see through Mo Yi¡¯s lie. The corners of Mo Yi¡¯s lips curled up slightly, but there was still a look of embarrassment on his face. He seemed to be pondering for a while before he continued. ¡°Then Yuanrou¡­¡± There was silence inside the door. Mo Yi hit the iron while it was hot, and said in a somewhat eager voice, ¡°I, I can go to several other ces on this floor to find the whereabouts of other keys. If you can guarantee Yuanrou¡¯s safety during this period¡­¡± This proposal was very reasonable. Edwin¡¯s voice came from inside the door. The childlike and tender voicebined with his gloomy tone made it sound strange through the thick door. ¡°Go, but if you try anything else¡­ don¡¯t forget that yourpanion is still in my hands.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face remained unchanged, but his tone turned eager and uneasy. ¡°I, I know.¡± Immediately afterwards, he spoke hesitantly and somewhat weakly. ¡°Do you have any ces you find suspicious? Or rooms where you think the key might be? I would at least need some area to search in¡­?¡± Mo Yi held his breath slightly, waiting for Edwin to step into this trap. The instance gave him too few clues and the corridors on this floor were far tooplicated. Blindly searching would waste too much time, which was a luxury they did not have, so he had to try fishing for information from the boss¡­ After all, the ce where the key may be hidden must have a special status in this instance, and it may very well be the key point of this breakthrough. Mo Yi¡¯s heartstrings tensed¡ª After a short silence, Edwin¡¯s childish voice sounded again, his tone cold and gloomy. ¡°There is a room in the other corridor¡­ If there is no key in that previous room, then the other possibility would only be there.¡± Mo Yi continued to ask calmly. ¡°Theyout of this floor is tooplicated. I might not be able to find it with so little information¡­¡± There was another gloomy silence. Next, there was a ¡®squeak¡¯ from rusty metal, followed by a dirty ball of paper tossed out from under the metal partition. It rolled twice on the thin and greasy carpet, then came to a stop on the ground. Mo Yi raised his lips restrainedly. He stepped forward a few steps, bent down and picked up the paper ball from the carpet. With the rustling of paper against paper, his fingers deftly unfolded and smoothed the ball of paper, revealing the crumpled paper surface. A crooked simple map was drawn on it with crayons. The lines were immature, and it looked like a child¡¯s drawing. Mo Yi rolled his eyes. However, he knew that this was the best result he could get, so he epted it as soon as he saw it. ¡°Please protect Yuanrou. I, I will definitelye back as soon as possible.¡± His voice was firm. There is a trace of urgency mixed in, and along with just the right amount of fear and anxiety, sounded very realistic. After finishing speaking, Mo Yi stepped forward without hesitation and turned up the light of the shlight to the highest level, before walking off quickly towards the depths of the corridor, leaving the closed door far behind him. The light in front of him was getting dimmer, and the surroundings looked more and more ghostly under the flickering light of his shlight. Heavy shadows swayed atop the dark green wallpaper, making the dark green butterflies look as though they were moving slowly. Mo Yi roughly sketched the outline of the map drawn on the piece of paper in his mind, and then he speeded up his pace with ease, shuttling through the maze-like corridors. The nearly identical corridors gave people some sort of visual fatigue, while the repeating simr scenes everywhere subconsciously numbed people¡¯s attention. Mo Yi lowered his head again to look at the crumpled paper in his hand, then slowly stood still. A little further forward should be the room marked on the simple map. He stared at the crooked lines on the paper for a few seconds. Next, he carefully smoothed and folded the paper, and stuffed it into his pocket. After doing all this, Mo Yi raised his head and took a deep breath, then finally walked towards the depths of the shadowed corridor ahead. A door was quietly iid at the end of the corridor. The paint surface on the wooden door was mottled and peeled off, making it look very old. Unlike the rooms that Mo Yi passed by along the way, the door of this room was half-closed, and deep, lightless darkness seeped through the cracks of the door, as if something was peeping behind the door. Mo Yi let out a breath slowly, then strode forward hastily. He stretched a hand out to push the door open, but just when his cool fingers were about to touch the door panel, his movements stopped. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. He changed the direction of his outstretched hand, and slid it down the side of the wooden door. Following his movements, fine pieces of sawdust drifted down and floated under the beam of the shlight, looking like falling dust, and the expected rough texture came along his fingertips¡ª This door had been destroyed by force ¡­In other words, it was smashed open. Moreover, the traces on it were very new, which meant that this should have just happened not long ago¡­ An expected name slowly came to Mo Yi¡¯s mind. Jiang Yuanrou. Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Mo Yi¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, his dark pupils staring thoughtfully at the marks on the door that had been knocked open, before he exerted more force with his palm. The door opened silently to the inside and the gloomy darkness poured out from within. He shone the shlight in his hand towards the door, and the pale beam of light pierced through the dark and dusty room, revealing hazy silhouettes. Both the corridor and the room were dead silent. Mo Yi held his breath and subconsciously tightened his fingers holding the shlight. He took a step forward, into the room. As he moved deeper into the room, he found that those blurred outlines were slowly being revealed under the light, bing more vivid. Mo Yi moved his wrist slowly, his gaze sweeping around the room as it followed the movement of his shlight. But the more he looked around, the more rmed he felt¡ª This room¡­ It seemed to be an execution room. The surrounding cold walls framed a small and closed space. There were no windows or wallpaper on the bare walls, revealing only a dirty iron-grey wall stained withrge dark brown spots which appeared to be dried blood. There are all kinds of strange-shaped iron tools scattered on the walls and ground, with their sharp edges d in reddish-brown rust marks and dark brown blood stains, making people ufortable to even entertain thoughts about what and how these tools had been used. The room was also filled with a strange smell that could not be ignored. It seemed to be a mix of the stale stench of blood that had been sealed for a long time, and the pungent smell of strong disinfectant. Mo Yi frowned and looked around the room. Raising his wrist, he shone the light in his hand at the end of the room, only to see that there seemed to be a door in the darkness. He walked carefully around the iron torture instruments piled up on the ground and towards the door deep in the room. The door was ajar. Mo Yi shook the shlight trained on the ground, and its bright beam of light shed across the floor¡ªthere were brand new traces on the dusty ground, so this door should have just been opened recently. Mo Yi took a deep breath and then pushed on the door with a little force at his fingertips. A scent of blood so ufortably thick that it almost condensed into a solid body rushed towards his face in an instant. It was such an astonishingly strong smell of rust, as if there was a mountain of corpses and a sea of ??blood hidden behind this door. Mo Yi coughed a few times and forced himself to suppress the difort in his stomach, before furrowing his brows as he stared into the darkness in front of him intently. There were countless pale limbs winding up and down in the darkness, reflecting the pale light from his shlight. Semi-coagted blood was flowing between the ovepping limbs. The sharp contrast in colour of the deep dark red liquid against the pale skin was so vivid that it almost hurt Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. In the room were piles of simrly mutted corpses, their heads and feet ovepping and limbs scattered messily, and the huge wounds on them revealing bright red muscles and white bones underneath, which made the sight seem like a sickly twisted oil painting. Mo Yi¡¯s frown tightened. The sensation of despair and the acrid smell of blood in this room was suffocating. He promptly covered his mouth and nose with his hands. His face was pale and solemn. Next, his gaze fell on the pile of corpses for about half a second before he averted it. He swept his shlight slowly across the room. Mo Yi quickly discovered some signs of incongruity in the room¡ªsome of the corpses were obviously turned over, their broken and mutted limbs were thrown to the side and there were also some blurry footprints in the pool of blood on the ground. He took several steps forward. There was the sensation and sound of him stepping on half-clotted blood, which was extraordinarily loud in the dark and closed room. Mo Yi shifted, changing his angle, and looked peered towards the separated pile of corpses. Within the pool of blood was an iplete cab which was half-fallen on the ground. Snow-white pieces of paper spilled out of the cab, scattering on the dark red and viscous blood, which stained the edges of the paper with irregr smudges. It looked like something someone had messily turned over. Mo Yi moved over to pick up the nearest piece of paper from the ground, and skimmed its contents hastily under the light. It was a medical record. Most of the writing on it was unreadable due to the dark red blood on the ground. Mo Yi moved his fingers slightly, and the patient¡¯s name at the top of the page was revealed. It was a familiar name: Edwin Carter. Mo Yi was taken aback. He raised his legs to avoid the dead bodies lying on the ground, and walked further into the room to pick up another piece of paper on the broken cab. It was much older than the one just now. Its edges were dark yellow and there were scattered mildew spots in the middle of the bloodstains. But what caught Mo Yi¡¯s attention was the blurred blood fingerprints on the side of the paper¡ªit seemed that they had just been printed on it. The thicker stench of blood and the damp smell of corpses was still lingering at the end of his nose. Mo Yi frowned, avoiding the lifeless pale wrists of the bodies and their bluish white and purple stiff fingers, and carefully examined the paper in his hand. This was still a medical record. The handwriting on it was blurred due to the age and it was difficult to read under the light¡ª It seemed to be a diagnostic record. The specific type of mental illness and patient information could no longer be seen, only the doctor¡¯s signature at the bottom of the page was still visible¡ªEdwin Carter. Mo Yi frowned slowly, and subconsciously rubbed the rough paper with his fingertips, his lips taut. Before Edwin was diagnosed with a dissociative disorder, he used to be a psychiatrist, which could exin why there were all those inhumane methods of treating mental illness on -3F. However, what about the other two floors? Especially this torture room here on this floor¡­ He turned his body to the side to avoid the half-outstretched pale sole, and continued walking into the room to reach for another piece of paper lying on the ground. At this very moment, Mo Yi¡¯s movements suddenly stopped, and he seemed to catch some vague sound in his ears¡ª It seemed to be the sound of something cracking, or the sound of something peeling off the wall. It also felt as though there had been some dust that had fallen on the face, making him a little itchy. Mo Yi raised his head subconsciously. His gaze met a pair of light blue cloudy eyes. The bloodshot eye sockets were wide open, with half of the eyeball very nearly rolling entirely out of the eye socket, and Mo Yi could almost see the brightly coloured optic nerve inside. A fineyer of cold sweat broke out on his back, but before he could do anything, the pale hand he¡¯d passed by earlier grabbed the corner of his clothes. The whole pile of corpses started squirming slowly. The mutted limbs ovepping one after another moved as if they¡¯d regained life, letting out a series of creepy and horrifying sounds of limbs rubbing and bones colliding in the darkness. Mo Yi was terrified. He reacted instantly, retreating away from the pile of corpses. The pale limbs protruding in a nted angle stretched towards him, trying to grab his wrists and angles, trying to make him sink into the pile of dirty bloody corpses exuding the breath of death and decay. Mo Yi struggled desperately, his heart beating like a drum in his chest, almost leaping out of his throat. At this moment, he seemed to have stepped on a severed limb in a pool of blood. His foot slipped, and with his body unstable, he promptly fell backwards. Despite feeling dizzy by the fall, Mo Yi took advantage of the momentum and gritted his teeth as he rolled out of the pile of corpses! With this one move, he actually broke through the wave of those limbs. His body hit one of the walls. Mo Yi braced himself on the wall and climbed to his feet. His body was covered with dust and blood, painting a terribly pathetic sight. He turned his head and nced at the pile of corpses behind him. Under the flickering light of the shlight, he could see that the pale limbs were still squirming in the darkness, struggling to move towards him. Mo Yi¡¯s heart clenched. He sprang towards the ajar door behind him and rushed out, then turned around and mmed the door shut, closing the door on the strong smell of blood from the broken limbs. As a result, the smell of blood in the air became lighter again, and was taken over by the stale smell of dust. Mo Yi pressed a hand firmly against the trembling door. His chest was heaving and the cold sweat on his back glued his shirt to it, bringing a chill to him. Mo Yi randomly grabbed a stick-shaped iron tool and used it like a makeshifttch to bar the door. Then he let go of his hands and took a few steps back slowly while panting. Although the door was still trembling, it was obviously much more stable now, and he estimated that it would not be knocked open for at least a while more. Mo Yi moved his wrist and let out a slight ¡®hiss¡¯. ncing down, he saw a deep bright red handprint on his thin and pale wrist, with a shocking shade of blue around the edges. It seemed that he had been grabbed by one of the corpses during the struggle just now He took a deep breath, shook his hand indifferently, then used the shlight to shine onest time on the door he was stuck on. The door stood silently in the darkness, no longer moving. Mo Yi touched the deep imprint on his wrist with some regret¡ªit was a pity that he didn¡¯t see the content on the innermost piece of paper just now. He felt that it was a key clue in this instance, and was the final piece he needed to unravel the puzzle of this instance. But¡­ why did those corpses suddenly start to move? And that strange sound he¡¯d heard before they started moving¡­ Mo Yi frowned slowly, and then stared at the room he was in. For some reason¡­ He had the feeling that something was different in this room. He pursed his lips, a guess welling up in his heart. Mo Yi strode towards the outside of the room. Just as he opened the door, the scene in the corridor made him slightly startled. ¡ªThe corridor had changed drastically. The dull green wallpaper pasted all over the corridor had be old and dirty. Deep cracks stretched along corners of the wall up to the ceiling, looking like spider webs, while dust and broken wall ster were falling down and leaving bits and pieces on the torn and greasy carpet. This entire corridor seemed to have experienced an earthquake, or perhaps another fifty years of age. It almost gave Mo Yi a feeling as if he had been transported to yet another time. Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Mo Yi frowned slowly, staring solemnly at the changed corridor in front of him. The air was filled with the smell of old carpets and rotten wood. It mixed with the faint smell of blooding from the room behind him, spreading out into the long and dark corridor. He took a few steps out into the corridor. The broken carpet under his feet could not hide the desperate groan from the floor. The cracked ground was covered with spider web-like marks, extending from the door to the dark end of the corridor, looking just like deeply-carved tentacles protruding from the shadows, slowlying out from under the carpet on the dusty ground. Mo Yi roughly swept through the corridor with his shlight, the cold beam illuminating every bit of detail. He pursed his lips, and the crease between his brows became deeper. It was unlikely that he had entered an illusion¡ªthe purpose of an illusion was to deprive the yers of their sense of reality and make them unknowingly follow the guidance of the illusion onto a road of no return. Therefore, the illusion in this instance would try to make the yer feel as if they were not inside an illusion, instead of making drastic changes to the environment in the instance as it was doing now. So, if it was not an illusion causing such a drastic change in the instance without warning¡­ Another possibility jumped into Mo Yi¡¯s mind, causing his pulse to quicken and his breathing to hitch¡ª It was the start of a side storyline. This was the most optimistic and most likely guess right now. Jiang Yuanrou was an experienced yer. If she couldprehend the prompt Mo Yi gave her when she was in the corridor just now, and realise that the key clue of this instance was her experience in her previous instance, then she would be able to start the side plot rather easily. Coupled with the traces he¡¯d found in the room just now¡ª¡ªJiang Yuanrou may have entered that room and found the key clues in it. Furthermore, she had met the Edwin who was locked in the room before too, so she definitely had more, and not fewer, clues than him¡­ Wait, the Edwin locked in the room! Mo Yi¡¯s brows and eyes twitched. He frowned and stared at the appalling situation in the corridor on this floor, feeling an indescribable uneasiness in his heart. He subconsciously clenched his hand tighter around the shlight, rubbing its hard metal shell with his cold fingertips. Mo Yi took a step forward, and walked in the direction he had juste ording to the route in his memory. His steps were hurried, and the sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. The surrounding walls reflected the echo of his steps, mounting the feeling of restlessness in one¡¯s heart. He walked down the long, dirty and dusty corridors, and manoeuvred through the branching roads in the corridors. The further Mo Yi walked, the more frightened he became. The walls in the corridor seemed to have been shaken by something and have all be distorted and skewed. Shocking cracks spread like spider webs above the head. The state of the entire corridor seemed to be one of a toy twisted by hands, and the ground was terribly uneven. Finally, he came to the part of the corridor from earlier. The originally lit wallmp in the corridor had been extinguished, and there was a bottomless darkness in front of it. There is a palpitating silence in this darkness, making people feel as though there might be something hidden in the depths of the darkness. Mo Yi took a deep breath. A thinyer of cold sweat appeared in his palm. He adjusted the shlight in his hand, then walked towards the depths of the corridor without hesitation. Everywhere where the lightnded on was a mess, and it seemed that the further he looked, the worse the situation in the corridor was¡ªthe floor was scattered with bricks and dust which might have fallen from the ceiling, and the dirty wallpaper was rolled up to reveal the cold grey wall ster beneath, and the whole corridor was filled with a smell akin to that after a disaster. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze lingered on the wall to his right for several seconds. There was arge mirror there, the blurred and dusty mirror surface covered with a messy and dense number of cracks. And in the corner of the mirror, through the thick dust and dense cracks on it, one could see an iplete and blurred palmprint printed on the surface of the ss¡ªthis should be the ¡®window¡¯ that Edwin let him see through before. He looked inside, and there was no other corridor or any blood-red doors. Only his own reflection was shown in the centre of the cracked mirror, and the light in his hand was the only light source in the corridor, reflected into countless blinding spots on the shattered mirror. Mo Yi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple bobbed. His throat felt dry, and there was a burst of burning pain apanying his movements. He exhaled slowly, then turned his head to nce at his side¡ª Although he was mentally prepared, Mo Yi still gasped when he saw the scene in front of him. The wall of the room that Edwin had been locked in waspletely twisted. The door was squeezed out of its frame and several pieces were scattered on the ground. The iron te was lying in the dust not far away, leaving only half of the original wooden nk still attached to the lower door hinge, hanging unsteadily in mid-air. The ck and twisted door frame grinned at Mo Yi, revealing a silent and mockingugh. Mo Yi only felt that his breath was stuck in his throat. his head was a little dizzy, and he was a little suffocated for a while. ¡­the door opened. Before his confused mind could react to the situation in front of him, he saw a pale hand stretching out from behind the door without warning, grabbed Mo Yi¡¯s arm suddenly, and pulled him into the room! Mo Yi only felt a sense of dizziness exploding before his eyes. His back hit the cold and hard wall heavily, and the twisted and uneven surface dug into his back, bringing a burst of unbearable pain. A pair of hands clenched his arms tightly like an iron vice, pinning him against the wall and rendering him unable to move. Mo Yi wanted to struggle subconsciously, only to hear a familiar voice in his ear. ¡°It¡¯s me, don¡¯t make a sound.¡± Jiang Yuanrou? Mo Yi¡¯s eyes widened slightly due to surprise. For a moment he even forgot to resist. A force pulled his shlight away and with a ¡®click¡¯, the beam of light disappeared instantly, plunging his vision into darkness. And in this darkness, only the messy and intertwined breathing of the two people remained. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s breath trembled slightly. She leaned close to Mo Yi¡¯s ear, and said quickly in a low voice. ¡°Now I finally understand the connection between this instance and my previous instance¡­¡± She paused, then added in a low voice. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Mo Yi held his breath in the dark. He raised his eyebrows slightly and asked in a breathy voice, ¡°Have you opened the side plot?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s breathing hitched. After a pause, she said hastily, ¡°Yes¡­ but I didn¡¯t actually want to at that point in time¡­¡± Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly stopped, then added in a serious tone. ¡°This is not the time to be talking about this. We have more important things to tackle right now.¡± Then, before Mo Yi could say anything, Jiang Yuanrou continued speaking at a faster pace. ¡°The boss of this instance is the same person as the boss of the previous instance, both of whom are Edwin. Edwin¡¯s father was a serial killer. He locked his victims in his basement for torture. Edwin was also the object of his father¡¯s perverted desires when he was a child. Later, his father was arrested and locked up in a mental asylum, he was also sent to a foster family to grow up.¡± Mo Yi listened quietly, his gaze staring into the darkness thoughtfully¡ª ording to the prompt that ¡®up is down¡¯, then although this floor is the highest floor, it should be the deepest level of Edwin¡¯s consciousness, which was the corridor the child knew his father used to conduct murders on, so the boss on this level was Edwin in his childhood. He heard Jiang Yuanrou continue. ¡°Edwin¡¯s foster family didn¡¯t treat him well. His foster mother didn¡¯t abuse him as directly and violently as his father did, but treated him in another cruel and covert way¡­¡± She paused, then added, ¡°I think it is precisely because of this extreme split between patriarchal and matriarchal rights that Edwinter developed those two personalities, one male and one female.¡± Mo Yi leaned against the wall and listened quietly. The cold touch of the wall prated through the texture of his thin clothes, and he could almost feel the trembling of Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s palm next to him, only to hear her speeding up again as she continued. ¡°What I said just now was a summary of the clues of my previous instance, and the further information I unearthed in this instanceplemented my understanding of Edwin¡¯s subsequent experience¡ª¡± Mo Yi frowned slowly and interrupted her in a low voice. ¡°Wait a minute. You are able to tell me about your experience in your previous instance now?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s facial outline looked a little blurred in the darkness. She nced at Mo Yi, then shook her head hastily, only to nod again. ¡°It is a little ambiguous¡­ What this game doesn¡¯t allow yers tomunicate is the instances that yers have experienced before, but after opening the side storyline here, the two instances have been merged by default, and the game will naturally not prevent yers from discussing the clues in their current instance.¡± She paused, and continued, ¡°This is the only advantage for me to open the branch line in advance.¡± After finishing this exnation, Jiang Yuanrou didn¡¯t wait for Mo Yi¡¯s reaction and immediately moved back to the earlier topic. ¡°Edwin waster admitted to medical school. The methods he chose to use to treat mental illness was very extreme and was stopped by the hospital, so he chose to go back to his father¡¯s old house and conduct experiments in private¡ª¡± Mo Yi pursed his lips. He recalled the pile of corpses in the room just now. He heard Jiang Yuanrou continue. ¡°For some unknown reason, Edwinter changed from using extreme methods to treat mental patients to conducting murders, andter, he was arrested and diagnosed with split personality.¡± Jiang Yuanrou just finished speaking, only to hear the familiar robotic voiceing from his ear. ¡°Dang dang dang dang! Congrattions to yer No. 02 Mo Yi for unlocking the hidden plot of this escape game. The side missions are open. Completing the side missions will reward you with generous points. Please keep working hard!¡± Hearing the robotic sound in the air, Jiang Yuanrou seemed to rx a bit. With a deep breath, she let go of Mo Yi¡¯s palm, took a few steps back, and then said in a deep voice. ¡°In this instance, up is down. We seem to be close to the ground now, but we are actually going deeper.¡± She stopped abruptly, then turned to look at Mo Yi with a deep look. ¡°If we want to leave Edwin¡¯s spiritual world, we have to go back¡ª¡± Go back? A ridiculous idea shed through Mo Yi¡¯s mind. Before he could ask, Jiang Yuanrou stared at him in the dark and said in a low voice. ¡°Yes, go back to -3F.¡± Chapter 120

Chapter 120

A feeling he couldn¡¯t put his finger on enveloped Mo Yi for a moment and he quietly looked at Jiang Yuanrou in the darkness. Back to -3F¡­ Although this conclusion seemed absurd, it was unexpectedly reasonable. He lowered his voice and asked, ¡°Do you know how to go back?¡± Jiang Yuanrou paused in surprise. She stared at Mo Yi in the dark for a while, then said in a low voice, ¡°¡­I thought you would ask me a lot of questions.¡± Mo Yi let out a low chuckle, the deep sound wave fleeting in the silence. ¡°Even if I ask, can you answer it?¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s tense face rxed slightly, showing a small smile. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t¡­¡± Everything in this instance was still rtively unknown, every step taken was full of uncertainty, and they were unable to guarantee if all decisions they made werepletely correct. It was akin to walking inplete darkness, where one could never be sure whether their next step would lead to the light or into the abyss. And in this game, hesitation would mean death. The only thing they could do was to put all their eggs in a single basket and bear all the consequences it brought to them. Mo Yi understood this, and Jiang Yuanrou understood it too. Everything went without saying. The atmosphere between the two rxed a little, no longer as suffocatingly tense as it was before. Mo Yi straightened his waist and pushed away from the wall behind him. He nced around the dark room he was in then exhaled slowly. ¡°And¡­ in any case, we couldn¡¯t stay on this floor any longer.¡± The consequences of Edwin being released from this room would be disastrous. Mo Yi was not? naive enough to believe that he was locked deep in his consciousness only because he was unwilling to join forces with the other two personalities. Not to mention that since he¡¯d tricked Edwin previously, staying on the third floor now would be courting death. Jiang Yuanrou nodded solemnly, then lowered her voice, and abruptly said in the dark. ¡°I know how to go back.¡± Mo Yi was stunned into silence for half a second before realising that she was answering his question just now, only to have Jiang Yuanrou use the silence to continue speaking . ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s not exactly counted as knowing, but I have a hunch.¡± Mo Yi nodded. ¡°Then where are we going next?¡± Jiang Yuanrou put the shlight back into Mo Yi¡¯s palm. His cold fingers and the cold shell of the shlight almost merged into one, as though it had never left his palm. Her voice rang in Mo Yi¡¯s ear. ¡°Go to the elevator.¡± The two walked out of the twisted and deformed door frame one after the other. The moved carefully through the cracked and rugged corridor, trying not to let their footsteps make a slight sound. However, cracked flooring and broken carpet would always make a soft rubbing sound, and that soft sound echoing through this silent and long corridor, was enough to make one¡¯s scalp tingle. They walked towards the room where Mo Yi found the key. Jiang Yuanrou took a step forward, reached out and grabbed the door that was firmly stuck in the twisted door frame. Putting one foot against the corner of the door frame, she yanked at it forcefully. . The fragile wooden door let out a hoarse groan, then it suddenly copsed under Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s strong force. She surveyed the dark and quiet corridor vigntly, and only after confirming that her actions just now did not attract any undue attention, did she walk in with Mo Yi. The dark and closed room was filled with a thick smell of dust, and the sound of gravel and sawdust falling to the ground was clear and vivid in the extremely quiet room. Mo Yi¡¯s pace stalled, and he frowned. Jiang Yuanrou, who was walking in front, realised that something was wrong with Mo Yi. She came to a stop too, turned her head and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Yi didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he kept his brows were tightly frowned, and his dark eyes were stained with a trace of solemnity¡ª Something was not quite right here. He clenched his icy fingers subconsciously. He flicked them lightly on the surface of the shlight twice, then seemed to have finally made up his mind and slowly pushed the switch of the shlight by one notch¡ªa dim beam of light instantly spread across the room, dispelling the darkness. Jiang Yuanrou was startled by the sudden light. Her lower lip quivered, as if she wanted to say something to stop Mo Yi¡¯s daring behaviour, but decided against it in the end, swallowing her protest back down into her throat. Standing at the same spot, Mo Yi slowly rotated his body, sweeping the beam of light across the room¡ª The interior was in a mess. The cracked ceiling and ground looked as though it was the victim of a huge earthquake, while the dirty carpet and wallpaper had a dull, brassy hue in the light. However, other than these, everything else seemed the same as before¡­ Except the fact that the room waspletely empty. There were no broken dolls and soft toys, no disembowelled animal corpses, and no corpse of a man whose internal organs were exposed while the flesh and blood of his upper body were arranged into the shape of outspread butterfly wings¡ª The trophies previously disyed in the room have all disappeared without a trace, and not even a single trace of blood remained on the floor. If it wasn¡¯t for the semi-solidified blood still between Mo Yi¡¯s nails, he would almost have thought that those corpses he¡¯d previously seen were just his hallucinations. But now, he identified what the incongruity was¡ª That bloody and rancid smell in this room which nearly suffocated him, leaving behind only a dusty smell in this old room. Mo Yi¡¯s brows were furrowed tightly, and a faint sense of uneasiness surfaced in his heart. Jiang Yuanrou also looked around in shock before eximing in a low voice, ¡°This¡­ how could it be?¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes to cover up the contemtion in his eyes. Pursing his lips, he interrupted Jiang Yuanrou. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but now is not the time to worry about this. The most urgent thing now is to leave this floor.¡± Jiang Yuanrou restrained her exposed emotions. She nodded slowly, and changed the topic. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go.¡± Mo Yi cast ast nce around the whole room, as if he wanted to imprint the scene here in his eyes, then finally switched his shlight off and continued to walk forward with Jiang Yuanrou. After opening the door, the familiar corridor appeared in front of them. It didn¡¯t seem to have been damaged that badly, and still looked simr to its previous state. The few remaining small wallmps on both sides of the wall flickered faintly. However, all the other lights hadpletely disappeared in a heavy and thick shadow, leaving the depths of the corridor ahead shrouded in darkness. The dirty wallpaper covered some parts of the cracks on the wall underneath it, which resemble veins extending into the far distance. The two moved forward in the dark, into the depths of the corridor. Since this corridor was oneplete path without any branches, and there was no illusion making them walk around in circles, the two soon came to the end. In the dark depths, the familiar metal gate of the elevator was embedded in the wall. There was a dark gap between the slightly twisted metal door. The walls to either side of the door had several deep cracks which reached up into the ceiling. Dust fell from the ceiling, which made people feel slightly uneasy. There were no card slots on the wall next to the elevator. Jiang Yuanrou let out a long exhale. She handed the shlight to Mo Yi, and then took a few steps forward. She squeezed her fingertips into the gap between the metal doors, and exerted force with her two arms. As several teeth-stinging squeaks of metal sounded in the cramped and closed corridor, the gap between the two doors slowly widened¡ª Mo Yi was a little uneasy. He took a few steps forward. ¡°Do you need my help¡­?¡± Jiang Yuanrou sneaked a nce back at him, and said in a low voice with a smile on her lips. ¡°No need.¡± As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a hiss from the metal doors, and they slowly separated until there was a gaprge enough for one person to pass through. ¡°¡­¡± Mo Yi looked at Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s slender arm, then silently looked away. Jiang Yuanrou took a few steps back. She took the shlight from Mo Yi¡¯s hand, switched it on and shone it into the crack of the door, only to see that it was pitch ck inside, and the metal walls of the elevator were reflecting the light¡ªthe elevator itself was on this floor. She took a deep breath, then turned sideways, and deftly got into the elevator. The elevator made a slight tremor and a hoarse hissing sound with her movements, which made Mo Yi¡¯s heart clench involuntarily. Jiang Yuanrou stood still in the elevator, her voice muffled through the crack of the door. ¡°There is nothing wrong inside.¡± Mo Yi followed her into the elevator as well. The air in the elevator was turbid and stuffy, and the dim light in the corridor shone into the dark space through the door crack of the elevator. The iron sheet under his feet was trembling slightly, making one feel uneasy just standing on it. Jiang Yuanrou turned the shlight on to the maximum. She groped around for something beside the small ck screen in the elevator. Mo Yi did not know what she pressed, but she froze suddenly, then deeply sunk her nails into the corner of the iron sheet, and forcefully lifted off a small piece of metal te next to it¡ª Jiang Yuanrou breathed a sigh of relief, then pulled a maic card out of her pocket. Under the light of the shlight, Mo Yi saw the appearance of the maic card¡ªit was covered entirely in dark red, and it was unclear if that red was blood or its original colour. Jiang Yuanrou swiped the maic card using the small metal te that she dug out, and the elevator roared to life. A bright red number suddenly lit up on the darkened screen: -1 The elevator door slowly closed and a small scarlet inverted triangle appeared next to the bright red number. There was a slight vibration in the elevator, and then it began to head downwards. Unlike the previous few times, there was no sound in the elevator this time, only the friction sound of the elevator moving, and this silence made people feel ufortable. The air in the enclosed space was heavy and dull. Jiang Yuanrou let out a long breath. She wiped the fine beads of sweat on his forehead with his hands, and said with a sigh of relief. ¡°I almost thought my conjecture of its use was wrong¡­¡± Mo Yi took the scarlet card from her. He flipped it back and forth under the light, studying it carefully. There was no information on it, only a rich blood red which covered the entire card and exuded a scent of rust. Jiang Yuanrou, who was standing by the side, spoke. ¡°I found it in a room full of dead bodies. When I found it, it was on a note with several lines of nonsense written on it, and I inferred its purpose based on those words.¡± At this moment, Mo Yi suddenly thought of something, and asked, ¡°By the way, you mentioned something earlier regarding the timing of you opening the side storyline. You said that you didn¡¯t want to at that point in time¡­ What did you not want to do?¡± Jiang Yuanrou was surprised by Mo Yi¡¯s sudden question. After she realised it, her face couldn¡¯t help but turn a little gloomy. She pursed her lips. ¡°After I came out of the room with corpses, I entered an illusion, and you were in the illusion.¡± Mo Yi was startled, only to hear Jiang Yuanrou continue in a low tone. ¡°You asked me about the clues of this instance. I had yet to figure out that I was in an illusion, so I told the whole story¡ª¡± She lowered her eyelids, and continued speaking. ¡°So the subplot of the instance was opened. However, your name was not in it, and it was only then that I realised I was in an illusion. After which, that fake you showed a terrifying smile and disappeared.¡± Jiang Yuanrou added, ¡°Then I went to see the room where Edwin was locked, and found that he had disappeared. After that, I heard your footsteps, so I hid in the empty room and waited for you toe.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s face was gloomy. He stared at the slowly moving inverted triangle on the screen thoughtfully, sorting out the new clues that appeared in this floor: The purpose of the illusions in the other two floors were all to confuse them and lure them into being trapped in this instance forever, and their bosses were all low in intelligence. But that was not the case on this level¡ªthe illusion on this level could be manipted by Edwin. He controlled the illusion to let the yer see what he wanted the yer to see, then use the yer to achieve his goal. However, the only question is¡­ When he first saw the illusion, he happened to be next to the room where Edwin was locked up, and saw Jiang Yuanrou being controlled. Meanwhile Jiang Yuanrou entered the illusion in the room where the corpses were¡­ If the purpose of showing her an illusion was because Edwin wanted to lure her to start the side plot so he could gain freedom through the transformation of the interior of the instance¡ª Then, at that time, Edwin should still be locked up, and should not have been able to let Jiang Yuanrou, who was so far away from him, fall into an illusion. Mo Yi¡¯s eyebrows were deeply creased with contemtion, and he couldn¡¯t think of a reasonable exnation even after a while. As if on cue, the speed of the elevator under his feet gradually slowed down. There were a sudden shake before it came to a stop. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help being startled, and subconsciously raised his head to look at the small screen next to the elevator door. The blood-red inverted triangle had stopped shing, and the bright red and dazzling -1 had also changed to -2. And in the next second, the elevator door opened slowly and silently. Chapter 121

Chapter 121

The elevator door opened slowly. The two metal doors which were somewhat dented and deformed struggled to part, letting out unpleasant squeaks as they chafed against the ground. Both the spaces on either side of the doors were dark and dead silent, with the only source of light being the digits on the screen shimmering with a blood-red gleam. There was also a faint smell of blooding from the deep shadows outside the elevator, and this faint smell of rust seemed to invade their noses down to their lungs, leaving a salty and fishy scent lingering on the back of their tongues. In the dead silence, Mo Yi could almost hear the resonance of his own even heartbeat and slow breathing. They exchanged a pointed look, then turned their bodies sideways and carefully squeezed out between the elevator doors one after the other. The familiar corridor in their memory reappeared in front of their eyes. There was a weak light in the depths, but it was far from being able to dispel the shadows in the long corridor, and only the high iron fence in front of them glinted, reflecting that cold light. Neither of them noticed any visible changes, as if opening the side storyline had not affected this floor. However, Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou couldn¡¯t take it lightly¡ªafter all, the thrilling scene they experienced in front of this railing was still fresh in their memory. They suppressed their breathing and walked towards the gate as quietly as they could. Mo Yi took out the small silver key from his pocket, and then walked to the iron door. Jiang Yuanrou turned on the shlight knowingly to shine it on the keyhole, and cupped the other end of the keyhole to prevent the light from leaking further into the corridor. Following a small metallic clink, there was a light click from the gate and it slowly and silently slid open. Mo Yi exhaled slowly. Pressing on the hinge with one hand to prevent it from making a sound, he then carefully pushed the door open. They made their way out quietly. The corridor in front of him split into two forks. Mo Yi lowered his eyes and made a calction in his heart, then made a gesture to Jiang Yuanrou: go straight. Although there are many rooms where they could hide in on the right, ording to the behaviour of the boss on this floor, he suspected that they would not be able to deceive her with the same trick again. Their only issue was that the woman left in this direction before. However, this was also a shortcut they could take to get to the elevator faster. Jiang Yuanrou nodded. She turned off the shlight and walked forward together with Mo Yi. They walked through the unlit corridor until they came to a fork. Mo Yi subconsciously looked up at the wall illuminated by the pale light. There were two crooked words written on it in half-frozen bright blood: Area B. Blood flowed down from the characters, leaving snaking trails down the cold and dirty wall. He took two steps forward quietly, then turned his body sideways and peered around the bend. A familiar sound entered his eardrums. Drip, drip. The muffled dripping sound of water droplets came from the darkness, evenly and rhythmically prating the dead silence in the corridor, which made people subconsciously tense their bodies up. Mo Yi froze, his expression turning ugly for a moment. There was something different this time. The sound of water droplets wasing from the direction of the elevator. Furthermore, when he came this way previously, almost all the lights in this main corridor had been turned off and only faint and continuous dripping sounds could be heard from the deep darkness, with each drip hitting the depths of the listener¡¯s anxious heart. However, they had no other option except to walk in the direction where the sound of dripping water wasing from¡ªafter all the elevator was in that particr direction. He turned his head and said in a low voice to Jiang Yuanrou, ¡°You walk behind me.¡± The boss on this floor targeted female yers. Moreover, her prop was still on cooldown, so getting caught now might as well be a game over for her. Jiang Yuanrou nodded cautiously. Mo Yi took a deep breath slowly. A thinyer of cold sweat slowly formed on his back. He flipped the shlight in his hand on¡ª Although this might reveal his position, it was a necessary risk. He couldn¡¯t afford to walk into apletely pitch-ck space where he didn¡¯t know what dangers were lurking, which would be akin to sending himself to his death. The two made their way slowly towards the depths of the corridor one after the other. As their steps approached, the sound of water droplets in their ears gradually changed from distant and blurred to one which was loud and clear. The smell of blood in the air gradually became more intense too, prating and upying every sense of people¡¯s senses. Drip, drip. At this moment, Mo Yi suddenly slowed down his pace. He frowned. There was a sticky and slippery sensation under his feet. The dripping sounds were echoing in the darkness, seemingly amplified countless times in this dark and cramped corridor, clearly transmitting into his eardrums. Mo Yi angled his wrist and lowered the light to his feet. The round light spot was reflected by the floor, which appeared as smooth as a mirror. It took Mo Yi a few seconds to realise that the entire ground in the corridor ahead was covered by a dark red blood pool which was as t and still as ake. The smell of blood in the air seemed as though it had condensed into a solid body, making one¡¯s stomach churn with nausea. Suddenly a small ripple appeared on the mirror-like surface of the blood pool illuminated by the shlight. These gentle arc-shaped ripples slowly expanded from a distance away from them, scattering the spot of light. Drip, drip. The sound seemed to being from somewhere right in front of them. Mo Yi¡¯s heart was beating violently in his chest. His cold fingers subconsciously clenched around the shlight, his fingertips turning white from the sheer force. He slowly tilted his wrist up, shining in the direction where the ripples were spreading from. The light pierced through the dense darkness, illuminating a spot just a small distance away¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s eyes widened slightly and he subconsciously gasped. There was a dead body nailed high on the wall a few steps away from him. The corpse was firmly pinned against the wall like the taxidermy of a butterfly. A pale and deformed face was facing Mo Yi, the eyes were a mere bright red slit, while the twisted lips remained stretched from ear to ear in a huge and weird smile. The long silk skirt on the corpse was hanging down heavily, and the blood which had soaked through it was dripping from the hem¡ª Drip, drip. Round ripples appeared on the mirror-like surface of the dark pool on the ground as the blood dripped down. The boss who had chased them on the second floor before¡­ was actually nailed to the wall, just like her victims. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gaze followed the shlight and she let out a sharp inhale upon seeing the scene. Shock left her incoherent and unable to control the volume of her voice. ¡°This, this is¡­?¡± Mo Yi took a step forward tentatively. He studied the corpse hanging on the wall for a while¡ªit looked lifeless and motionless, dead. His brows were tightly creased. He did not feel any amount offort. Instead, this death was like a heavy boulder was pressing down on his heart, which was so heavy that it was stifling. The danger of this floor had abruptly changed from a known level to one which was vague. And¡­ of course, the killer of this female boss could only be more dangerous than her. Mo Yi subconsciously thought of Edwin who had been released from -1F, and his expression turned solemn. He pressed his lips into a tight grimace. Jiang Yuanrou, who had recovered from the shock just now, stared at the corpse nailed to the wall. With herplexion still remaining a little blue, she lowered her voice. ¡°We have to leave this floor as soon as possible.¡± The two of them came to the same conclusion by coincidence¡ªit was not suitable for them to remain too long on this floor. Mo Yi nodded in affirmation. He turned the direction of the shlight in front of him again, then quickened his pace and walked towards the elevator at the end of the corridor together with Jiang Yuanrou. The blood pool under their feet made a sticky sound with their steps, echoing between the empty and silent walls. As they approached the elevator, Jiang Yuanrou stepped forward likest time and forcefully parted the metal doors. They could only see half of the elevator. It was stuck in the middle when Mo Yi used it previously, and was still jammed in the same position. Mo Yi stepped forward, bent down and peered into the elevator. The bright beam of the shlight illuminated the narrow space inside the elevator. The interior of the elevator looked terrible. The metal flooring and one of its walls appeared to have been punctured by some hard object, and the affected regions were caved inwards, the edges reflecting the light with a sharp lustre while the holes revealed the deep darkness of the elevator shaft. Everything about the elevator seemed dangerous and scary. But it was the only way they could take. Jiang Yuanrou sucked in a deep breath. Pushing on the ground with her palms, she leapt into the elevator in a sh. The elevator made a hoarse sound with her movements, and the strained steel support ropes were pulled taut. The portion of the elevator which was at the same level as his body, shook violently, and then slowly stilled. Mo Yi felt half-relieved. He took off his backpack and tossed it to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing in the middle of the elevator, then imitated what she did just now. He supported the ground with his palms, and jumped into the elevator slowly and cautiously. Although he ensured that his movement was as gentle as possible, the elevator still made a jarring groan from the friction and sank. There was the sound of the steel wires being pulled and also the screeching of metal rope being tighteneding from all around them in this narrow and enclosed space. Jiang Yuanrou quickly took a few steps forward. She groped around the perimeter of the small screen, and skillfully found and opened the metal te. After she swiped the scarlet card in the card slot, the elevator vibrated suddenly. The metal doors of the elevator closed. The same bright red -2? as what Mo Yi saw previously, as well as a small inverted triangle, appeared on the dark screen. The elevator began to move slowly and silently, then quickly elerated and descended. Mo Yi still did not dare to allow himself to rx even in the slightest. He turned around and directed the shlight at the huge holes in the elevator. The hard steel walls were obviously unable to hold off the attack of the unknown creature. The metals had caved inward, looking like tofu that had been crushed. And through the irregr openings, one could see the fast-moving and changing darkness outside. The sharp edges of the holes glinted unnaturally under the light of the shlight as they shifted between reflecting light and being shrouded in dark shadows as the shlight swayed along with the slight shaking of the elevator. Frowning, Mo Yi took a step forward and crouched down, then tentatively reached out and swiped his hand lightly across an edge of the broken iron sheet. He rubbed his fingertips together. There was a weird slippery sensation on his fingers. Mo Yi opened his palm and looked at his fingertips under the light, only to see that they were covered in ayer of fine silver-white powder. It seemed to be¡­ scale powder? T/N:?Scale powder is basically butterfly scales, which are so small that they have a powder-like texture. I never knew butterflies had scales because I am terrified of any and every insect in existence and the sheer number of insect images I have unwittingly stumbled upon during my research for this arc has scarred me for life¡­¡­¡­¡­ Chapter 122

Chapter 122

The beam of the shlight swayed as the elevator descended, forming irregr spots on the ground. Jiang Yuanrou leaned forward. Her gaze followed the direction of the light to his fingers, and asked with some doubts, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you find anything?¡± Mo Yi stretched out his palm to Jiang Yuanrou, showing the thinyer of silver-white powder on his fingertips, which not only felt slippery and weird to the touch, but also shimmered under the light. He opened his mouth and said, ¡°This powder was on the metal wall which was caved in. I think it is simr to scale powder.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was stunned for a moment, then took a closer look at the powder on his fingertips, and continued asking. ¡°You mean¡­ simr to the ones on the wings of butterflies and moths?¡± Mo Yi nodded, his expression looked a little solemn with the backlight. Patting the scales on his fingers off, he then stood up. His eyes were still locked on the irregr hole at the bottom of the elevator, while deep in contemtion. The sharp edge shone with some fluorescence under the light, which was likely due to the scale powder. This ¡®butterfly¡¯ had been entangled with them like a ghost since the start of this instance. Whether it was the blood-drawn butterfly which would appear after each illusion, or this scale powder on the butterfly¡¯s wings they found in this elevator, the entire instance seemed to be closely entangled with this little insect from beginning to end. Mo Yi had an inexplicable premonition in his heart¡ªthey were about to touch the core of the entire instance. The elevator, which was akin to an enclosed iron box, shuddered twice suddenly, then slowed to a stop. Mo Yi looked up at the faintly glowing screen. The number on it shed an ominous bloody light: -3. This was where it all started. Mo Yi took a slow and deep breath. He fixed his eyes on the two tightly closed metal doors, watched them form a gap, and then slowly parted further to the two sides. A faint smell of blood mixed with the smell of stale and rotten dust slowly wafted in from beyond the open metal door. The cold air of the corridor came from the depths of the darkness, and when it entered the enclosed and warm elevator, made them feel the sudden drop in temperature. This cold air pierced through the thin fabric of his shirt and permeated his skin, making Mo Yi shiver slightly with ayer of goosebumps rising on his skin. Jiang Yuanrou exchanged a look with him. She then walked out of the elevator, and moved towards the depths of the corridor. The corridor here was not as empty as the one on the previous two floors, but was messily strewn with countless sundries. Under the light of the shlight, these trinkets, which were piled up in the middle and blocking their way, formed countless fuzzy and undting shadows. Everything seemed to be exactly the same as before he left. The yellowed pieces of paper and documents scattered on the dirty floor, the broken desks and chairs with missing arms and legs lying in a mess in the corridor, the iprehensible graffiti on the walls illuminated by the flickering shlight, and even the dried patches of dark brown blood on the mottled walls forming countless crazy scribbles. The corridor was filled with an indescribable strange smell, which seemed to be a mixture of the smells of disinfectant and blood. This scent seemed to cling lifelessly to the entire dark corridor, coldly invading the yers¡¯ respiratory tracts. The doors of the elevator closed slowly behind them, letting out a small metallic groan. Mo Yi was more familiar with this floor while Jiang Yuanrou basically knew nothing about itsyout as she had woken up directly on -2F. He pursed his lips slightly, and shone his shlight into the room beside him. The flickering light illuminated the scene in the room next to the elevator. The corpses and messy items inside which were hidden in the deep shadows were revealed under the shlight. It was no different from when he left. Mo Yi turned to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing beside him, and asked in a low voice. ¡°Where are we going next?¡± Thisyer should be the deepestyer. ording to the prompt in this instance, thisyer should also be the highestyer of Edwin¡¯s consciousness, but despite this, they were still inside Edwin¡¯s spiritual world. Furthermore, from Mo Yi¡¯s memory, there was no other elevator they could take. So how should they proceed? Jiang Yuanrou turned her head to look at Mo Yi. Her features, which were blurred in the pale peripheral light of the shlight, lifted in a wry smile. ¡°Actually¡­ I don¡¯t know either.¡± She took a deep breath and said slowly. ¡°The exit should be on this floor, but¡­ I really don¡¯t know where it is or what it looks like.¡± Mo Yi lowered his eyes and nodded to show that he understood. He pulled out the map he¡¯d previously found on this floor, and unfolded it under the light of the shlight. ¡°This is the map I found on this floor before, maybe we can find some clues.¡± Jiang Yuanrou nodded. She leaned closer to look at the paper in his hand. ording to the description of this floor on this map, -3F was actually much smaller than the other two floors. It had a straight corridor with an elevator at one end and a staff room at the other end, and? several narrow wards along the way. Jiang Yuanrou pointed at the cked-out room, and whispered in a concerned tone. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± Mo Yi nodded. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s where mentally ill patients receive treatment. This was the ce where I entered an illusion for the first time in this instance.¡± Jiang Yuanrou seemed to be deep in contemtion as she whispered, ¡°It sounds like a very important ce.¡± Mo Yi nodded in agreement. He refolded the map and stuffed it into his pocket. ¡°Let¡¯s go and have a look, maybe we can find some new clues.¡± After this conversation, they made their way towards the opposite side of the corridor one after the other. Cautiously, they bypassed the sundries scattered on the ground, trying to reduce the risk of identally hitting something and making unnned noises. The only light from overhead illuminated a small area of the corridor under it¡ª As well as the half-coagted dark red blood on the ground. The strong smell of blood permeated their nostrils while the icy air infiltrated their lungs, bringing a cold, tingling sensation. Mo Yi was slightly taken aback. He turned his head and exchanged the same puzzled and uneasy look with Jiang Yuanrou. This scene¡­ seemed familiar. Mo Yi pursed his lips subconsciously. With his pale lips pressed into a straight line, he took a deep breath and subconsciously quickened his pace, walking towards the deep darkness of the corridor¡ª The light of the shlight moved along with him, shining into the darkness ahead. A dead body was nailed high on the wall. It looked just like an insect specimen, lifeless and stuck securely to the dirty wall, where dark red blood snaked down the surface and collected around the foot of the corpse in a half-coagted pool. It was a man. His neck was hanging limply as if broken and his pale face was covered by shadows. Mo Yi moved to the side and changed the angle from which he could see the man¡¯s face¡ª There was a huge and weird smile on the corpse¡¯s face, his twisted lips stretching from ear to ear, while his eyes were two blood-red slits, staring nkly out at a point in the void. After having seen a simr body before, Mo Yi was not as shocked asst time. . He frowned, slowly drawing his brows together. His gaze grew focused and slid down the horrific corpse, studying it inch by inch, until it finally stopped on the ground. Jiang Yuanrou nced at the corpse, then turned to look at Mo Yi: ¡°Is¡­ Is this the boss of this floor?¡± Mo Yi nodded. His pale lips were pursed even tighter and the expression on his face became a little gloomy. Jiang Yuanrou took a shallow breath and continued speaking. ¡°Could it be that the one who killed them was the Edwin who was released on -1F? Is he¡­so scary?¡± Mo Yi stepped forward all of a sudden. After a few steps, he crouched down without warning and reached out to touch the blood on the ground. He raised his head to look at Jiang Yuanrou. With a pale face and solemn expression, he shook his head slowly. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s him.¡± Jiang Yuanrou froze. Mo Yi lowered his head and rubbed his fingertips together. The dark red blood between his fingers was smeared by his movements. The sticky touch was transmitted to the brain along the nerve endings. He paused, and then spoke again. ¡°The blood of the corpse on -2F was still fluid, but the blood on this floor has dried up.¡± Jiang Yuanrou stood still for a moment. Her eyes flickered and steered the conversation in a low voice, ¡°So¡­ the -3F boss was the first to be killed, and the woman on -2F was killed after he died¡­?¡± Mo Yi nodded with a gloomy expression. He pressed his palms on his knees and pushed himself back onto his feet, then turned to look at Jiang Yuanrou. ¡°I might have encountered two bosses on this floor. However, since I was not sure if the person who pushed me was just part of an illusion, I didn¡¯t mention it.¡± Mo Yi paused. His voice slightly hoarse when he continued. ¡°¡­ Now it seems that it is very possible that it was not my hallucination, but a real existence.¡± Jiang Yuanrou raised her head slightly, staring at Mo Yi closely with her bright light brown eyes. There was a trace of disbelief when she opened her mouth to ask, ¡°He has been following you¡­?¡± Mo Yi nodded with some difficulty. He nced at the hanging corpse with aplicated expression. ¡°Furthermore,I suspect that the one who made you fall into the illusion on -1F was not the locked Edwin, but the boss who followed me down. The reason why he tricked you into opening the branch line was not to let Edwin out¡­ ¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s face turned pale while the glint in her eyes became solemn and cold, as she finished the sentence on Mo Yi¡¯s behalf. ¡°¡ªbut to let himself out.¡± T/N: This is thest triple update. We will be returning to double updates on Wednesday from next week. Hopefully everyone reading has been enjoying the arc so far! Chapter 123

Chapter 123

A faint smell of blood permeated the long and narrow corridor,plementing the deep shadows which were seemingly trapped within the dirty and blood-stained walls. There was a buzzing tube light not too far away from them, casting a faint and dim light downward onto the corridor. The conjecture they had just put forward earlier sent a shudder down their spines¡ª In the numerous split personalities of such a cold-blooded serial killer, there would obviously be an evil personality. The reason why this personality killed the bosses on -3F and -2F, then tried to open the door on -1F was likely to gain control of Edwin¡¯s body. Mo Yi lifted his gaze. He took a final look at the corpse hanging on the wall, then turned to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing beside him. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go to that room to have a look. Maybe we can find some clues.¡± Jiang Yuanrou¡¯splexion was still pale. She took a deep breath, and then nodded slowly. ¡°Okay.¡± With their current situation, there was nothing they could do even if their guess was true. What they should focus on was searching for clues and finding a way to get out of here. Mo Yi nced down at his watch. There was less than an hour left until the end of this instance. Not only had they not uncovered any relevant clues, they have also not found Jiang Yuanbai yet. And it would be impossible to save Jiang Yuanbai if they missed this chance where they were in the same instance. This was the first time that Mo Yi hoped the survival time required by the instance would be longer, so that they could stay here for more time. He lowered his wrist, exhaled slowly, then moved his fingers slightly to adjust the angle of the shlight in his hand. The straight beam of light shone into the deep darkness, its flickering light illuminating the vague outlines of the undting shadows ahead. The two walked towards the depths of the corridor one after the other. Although the bosses on this level were no longer a threat to them, there were still more hidden and unknown dangers waiting for them. They had to be more cautious. The atmosphere in the hallway was heavy and tense, and one couldn¡¯t help but be anxious for whatever may happen next. They soon came to the door of the cked-out room. Mo Yi turned his head and nced at Jiang Yuanrou. They exchanged a look of affirmation, before he pushed on the door with his fingertips. The door slid open slowly and silently into the darkness within. The gaping door frame was akin to a huge dark mouth, as if waiting for something to step into its empty insides. Mo Yi took several steps forward and used his shlight to illuminate the room¡ª The area inside was not small, with the cold iron beds scattered disorderly and some hanging curtains knocked over onto the damp and the dirty ground. It was difficult to decipher the original colour of those curtains, and only the half-rusted mottled metal parts were still gleaming under the light. On one side of the room was the familiar iron bed, with stained straps strewn across the surface. An old dusty instrument was ced on the table beside it, with countless densely packed wires hanging down and electrodes of different colours connected to the other end. And the two other iron beds which the dead bodies were once bound on were, unsurprisingly, empty. Just like the human corpse in the room on -1F, it disappeared utterly, not even leaving behind the blood on the ground. He swept the light of the shlight across the iron beds. The belts were scattered on the dirty leather bed and sharp ice picksy quietly on the top of it, with their metal tips glinting coldly. But the beds werepletely clean, without any trace of brain pulp or blood. Mo Yi stared at the beds thoughtfully, then moved the shlight to other corners of the room. The butterfly outlined with blood on the wall of the room was still bright and dazzling, its ugly and bloated body still stretched across the wall and ceiling, looking distorted and weird. Jiang Yuanrou took a few steps forward. She walked to the bed used for electric shock therapy and stretched out her hand behind the old instrument¡ª¡ª Mo Yi turned to look, and noticed that she was picking up a dusty medical record from the corner of the table. Jiang Yuanrou patted off the dust on it, then turned on her shlight and read the medical record. After a quick nce through its contents, she looked at Mo Yi with a serious expression. ¡°Come and see this.¡± Mo Yi strode over and looked down at the open folder in Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s hand. The paper inside was very old. Its rough surface was a dull grey-brown, and the handwriting on it was also very blurred, which made it very hard to read under the dim light. It seemed to be a record of some treatment methods. The patient¡¯s name and information had been blurred out, but the recorded treatment methods could still be seen¡ª Electric shock, craniotomy, lobotomy¡­ With the flipping of each page, cruel methods which had been banned in modern society surfaced before their eyes one after another, their descriptions more than enough to make people shudder. This folder was obviously the record of experiments which had been conducted in this room. The subtle sound of flipping pages resounded in the empty and silent room, scratching gently on their eardrums, which made the listener uneasy. But before long, they reached thest page. Compared with the previous pages, this page looked clean, with only the name of the patient printed on the top of the page. The shlight illuminated the handwriting on it clearly and distinctly. It was exactly the same handwriting as on the previous pages: Edwin Carter. Stunned, both Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou raised their heads to look at each other¡ª A conjecture emerged in their hearts at the same time¡­ Edwin used himself as an experimental subject in order to find a cure for mental illness. ording to modern-daymon sense, these cruel and ignorant treatments at that time could not cure mental patients at all, but would actually bring about even more serious consequences, be it physically or mentally. Edwin himself had a tragic childhood experience, due to the influence of his perverted murderous father and a family history of mental illness. Therefore, such experiments not only failed to cure his mental condition but aggravated his mental illness. Perhaps this was why Edwin gradually changed from using extreme methods of treating mental patients to pure massacre, after moving back to his father¡¯s old house. Mo Yi stared at the mboyant signature on the dark yellow paper and subconsciously stroked the paper with his fingers. Perhaps¡­ It was also at this time that Edwin split out this most terrifying evil personality. Jiang Yuanrou let out a long sigh, then shut the folder with a little force. The paper inside shed slightly under the light of the shlight. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes paused when he suddenly caught the shing handwriting under the light¡ª He reached out and grabbed, saying in a low voice, ¡°Wait.¡± Jiang Yuanrou froze, stopping her motions as she stared at Mo Yi questioningly while asking, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Yi took over the medical record folder from Jiang Yuanrou with a serious face, and then reopened the folder to thest page. Next, he turned over the page with his fingers, flipping it to the back¡ª¡ª Their hearts jumped at the same time. There was an ugly butterfly at the back of the paper, visible under the light. Its bloated body ominously upied the whole sheet, and the pattern on its huge wings was in the shape of eyes, lifelessly staring back at everyone who looked at it. Was there a special meaning as to why this butterfly appeared at the back of this page? If Edwin¡¯s experiment on himself led to the birth of that evil personality¡­ Then did it mean that this butterfly, in fact, had nothing to do with Edwin¡¯s other personalities? Mo Yi was startled. As if he¡¯d suddenly thought of something, he whipped his head around to look at Jiang Yuanrou with burning eyes, and asked her in a low voice. ¡°When you were on -2F, after you were caught by that woman, were you stuck in the same room as her until I went to rescue you?¡± Jiang Yuanrou was taken aback by Mo Yi¡¯s question, but still nodded. Mo Yi¡¯s breathing hitched. He stared at Jiang Yuanrou and asked the next question. ¡°Were you still conscious during that period?¡± Before Jiang Yuanrou could answer, he continued to ask, ¡°Do you still remember what she did to you during that time?¡± Jiang Yuanrou frowned and said with some uncertainty. ¡°I lost a lot of blood at that time, and was soaked in ice water, so my memory is a bit unclear. However, I seem to have the impression that¡­ she was¡­ talking to me? Or telling me a story¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s throat bobbed. His voice was a little hoarse. He forced himself to calm down, and after a few seconds, he continued speaking. ¡°Before the 20th century, the treatment of mental illness was mainly divided into two primary methods, one of which was the surgical school of thought, which hoped to use surgical therapy, such as craniotomy and electric shock, to treat patients. The other was focused on using love and tenderness, which tried to cure patients with enough care and concern.¡± Mo Yi paused, looking at Jiang Yuanrou. ¡°This is done by using empathy. The physician would try tomunicate with the mentally ill patients by chatting.¡± Jiang Yuanrou blinked, still too shocked to put two and two together. ¡°So¡­ that woman actually wanted¡­ to treat me?¡± Mo Yi nodded slowly. He took a deep breath and continued. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡­ the Edwins on the -3F and -2F were probably split personalities created due to his obsession with curing mentally ill patients. The -3F was for surgical therapy, and the -2F was for empathy therapy. Meanwhile, the -1F likely housed Edwin¡¯s master personality, so only the Edwin there couldmunicate with us.¡± Jiang Yuanrou pondered for a while, and asked, ¡°So¡­ the reason why the other two personalities locked him up was actually¡­ to protect him?¡± Mo Yi was silent for a few seconds, then replied, ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± His eyes fell on the end of the page with the butterfly on it, and he saw a single word written in the same handwriting he saw previously. ¡°stop¡± Under it was a crooked handwriting: ¡°why?¡± ¡°just STOP¡± The crooked handwriting appeared again: ¡°they be beautiful only after they die.¡± ¡°just like a butterfly.¡± Mo Yi froze, and immediately said, ¡°When the butterflyrva is in the cocoon, it will dpose until only a few remnants of cell tissue are left. From a biological standpoint¡­ this is also a form of death.¡± [To live is to die] In the same way, [to die is to live]. Mo Yi turned to Jiang Yuanrou, pointed at the writing on the corner of the page with his finger, and spoke in a low voice. ¡°I¡¯ve deduced where the exit of this floor is.¡± Reina: Apologies for beingte this week, I didn¡¯t notice that I forgot to schedule the chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading! Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Jiang Yuanrou was stumped for a moment. ¡°What?¡± Mo Yi turned to look at her, his dark eyes slightly narrowed, shimmering like amber under the light of the shlight. ¡°In this instance, the most symbolic symbol is the butterfly, which would appear on the wall after the yer breaks an illusion, such as the butterfly in the room on -2F, and this one.¡± He pointed to the wall beside him. Jiang Yuanrou followed the direction of his finger and her eyes fell on the ugly blood-stained butterfly lying quietly on the wall. She nodded slightly. ¡°Yes.¡± Mo Yi nced at the drawing of the butterfly on the medical record and said in a deep voice. ¡°All butterflies appear at the end of the illusion, and they are all drawn with blood, except for one ce¡ª¡± He returned his gaze to Jiang Yuanrou, his pale fingers gesturing at the handwriting at the bottom of the medical record, then continued in the same deep voice. ¡°Besides, I saw the same words there.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was still slightly stumped. She subconsciously took the thin dusty medical folder from Mo Yi. Mo Yi rxed his hand, and pulled open the door of the room instead. He said in a low voice, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two walked out of the room one after the other. The only light in the corridor was not far away, and its flickering both illuminated the grim walls and dirty floors while drawing out creepy undting shadows. On the floor was the half-coagted pool of blood shed by the man who was nailed to the wall, along with the same thick smell of dust and blood spreading throughout this cramped space. Mo Yi hurriedly stepped over the scattered papers and broken furniture on the ground, and strode forward. Next, he stopped under the pale and cold tube light, which was making a soft hissing sound overhead as it illuminated this section of the corridor¡ªas well as the half-open door of the dark room on the side of the corridor. Mo Yi stood still in front of that door, only shining his shlight into the room. The room was as dark and cold as he remembered. The beam of light swept across it, lighting up the objects inside one after another. The iron bed on which he woke up was lying crookedly in the depths of the ward, with the restraint belt broken by Mo Yi syed out across it, the cold leather imprinted with deep marks of his earlier struggle. Before the iron bed was the dirty sign, with blurred writing shrouded by the darkness. Mo Yi walked into the room with a frowning Jiang Yuanrou following. He stopped in front of the iron bed, and the light of his shlight fell on the wall opposite of the bed¡ª Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gaze followed the direction of the light beam, and she froze with a grimace when she noticed the pattern on the wall. Under the pale light, she could see the dark brown bloodstains covering the entire wall. The semi-dried bloodstains casted deep shadows, and together with the messy graffiti, formed a huge butterfly which was lying spread out quietly on the wall, staring at her with the familiar pattern of lifeless eyes on its wings. Jiang Yuanrou stared at it closely, but it was not until she took a step forward that she finally discovered the difference between this butterfly and the others. The other butterflies were painted on the walls with blood, but this butterfly¡­ seemed to have been scratched out on the wall with fingernails. Embedded deep within the uneven undting lines were half-coagted blood residue and bits of flesh, as well as remnants of nails. Just looking at this sight alone was enough to make one¡¯s scalp tingle. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s eyes fell on the words made with blood on the corner of the wall. ¡°STOP¡± She subconsciously turned her head to look at Mo Yi, and was about to ask something, but saw him move abruptly without warning. Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s unspoken words were stuck in her throat, leaving her to nkly watch Mo Yi fumbling around in the room in a daze. It took her a while to snap back to attention, and she lowered her voice to ask. ¡°What are you looking for?¡± Mo Yi took the time to turn his head to look at Jiang Yuanrou, then quickly averted his gaze and continued to flip through the items in the room. ¡°Tools for suicide.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was taken aback. ¡°What¡­?¡± Along with her single gaps came the creak of the iron bed, followed by a series of sparks as the metal feet of the iron bed were dragged across the rough concrete floor. Mo Yi seemed to have realised the ambiguity in his words. He stopped pulling the iron bed, straightened up, and looked at Jiang Yuanrou to exin. ¡°It is not exactly suicide either.¡± He paused to organise his words before continuing. ¡°The process of breaking out of the cocoon and bing a butterfly is a death for thervae of the butterfly, and this should also be an aim pursued by Edwin¡¯s evil personality. He believes that human existence in itself is nothing more than an ugly caterpir, and only death can bring it a new life, just like a butterfly.¡± Jiang Yuanrou narrowed his eyes slowly, and murmured in a low voice. ¡°To die is to live¡­?¡± Mo Yi nodded hastily, and continued with some excitement. ¡°ording to this particr Edwin¡¯s obsession with the butterfly, the key to leaving his spiritual world should be in this room.¡± Jiang Yuanrou took over the flow of the conversation. ¡°So simply put, right now, we have found the door, but we stillck the key, right?¡± Mo Yi nodded, and continued. ¡°ording to the hint given in this instance, we are now trapped in Edwin¡¯s spiritual world. In other words, we are likervae trapped in a cocoon. To get out of this cocoon, we must ¡®die¡¯ once.¡± Mo Yi frowned in distress, paused, and then said in a deep voice. ¡°However, ordinary death will not only not allow us to leave, but will also cause us to truly die¡­ That¡¯s why I said, we have to find tools formitting suicide.¡± Jiang Yuanrou nodded in understanding, then rolled up her sleeves and walked forward, showing a small smile at Mo Yi. ¡°I understand now. You can leave this to me, otherwise it will take forever before you finish moving the bed.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± He retreated a few steps rationally to make way for Jiang Yuanrou, then stood behind her and watched her easily drag the iron bed out of its original ce¡ª Just at this moment, Mo Yi¡¯s back happened to lean against the cold wall. He was slightly startled by the uneven wall and subconsciously turned to look at the ugly and twisted butterfly on the wall behind him. His eyes narrowed slightly, staring intently at the wall, as if he was deep in thought¡­ Even when Jiang Yuanrou called him from behind, he didn¡¯t hear it. Mo Yi stretched out his fingers slowly, plunging his fingertips into the depressions on the wall, then slowly slid and stroked along the direction of the undting and extending lines. When his fingertips touched the eye-like pattern on one of the wings, a tingling pain hit him. Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help letting out a sharp hiss as he withdrew his fingers from the wall as if he had been scalded. A drop of bright red blood oozed from his wound and slowly slid down his pale fingertips. Mo Yi looked at the wall and noticed a few drops of blood left on the ce he touched just now. Before he could do anything, he saw a red light shing on the ce stained with blood. The blood was instantly absorbed by the wall. His eyes lit up. It seemed that these instances for the membership test had something inmon with each other! Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s gaze was also attracted by the blood-stained area on the wall, and she froze in surprise. A short momentter, she stepped forward. ¡°Blood¡­?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes glinted, and he nodded. ¡°Should be.¡± After finishing speaking, he pressed his finger back onto the ce just now, and the pain came instantly. Mo Yi frowned slightly, feeling his blood being sucked out of his body quickly by something. Jiang Yuanrou was about to do the same, but Mo Yi stopped her. ¡°You should wait a little.¡± Jiang Yuanrou was stumped. ¡°Why?¡± Mo Yi answered her indirectly with another question. ¡°Do you know where we will go after we leave Edwin¡¯s spiritual world?¡± Jiang Yuanrou frowned, but did not answer. Mo Yi stared directly into her eyes, and continued. ¡°You can think of it this way, this instance has twoyers, the inner and the outer. After leaving here, it is by no means the end, but we will enter the outer portion, and after arriving there, it will be your stage to shine.¡± Jiang Yuanrou stared at Mo Yi, her brows still pulled into a frown. ¡°How are you so sure?¡± Mo Yi¡¯splexion turned paler. He pursed his pale lips. ¡°Take it as¡­ a reminder from a friend .¡± The hard candy was pressing against him from his pocket. If this instance was a closed underground space, then it was impossible for Wen Chen toe in. However, since this candy appeared, its appearance itself was a reminder that they were not really underground, but were more likely to be in a parallel space. If so, then after leaving here, they shoulde to the outer world of this instance¡ªwhich meant that they woulde face to face with Edwin himself. Mo Yi looked at Jiang Yuanrou seriously, and spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll be counting on you after we get out.¡± The main aim of this instance was for the membership test for Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s existence. Therefore, it was crucial for Jiang Yuanrou to preserve her strength until they left the spiritual world, because it was only after this that she could disy her potential to the game. Jiang Yuanrou nodded solemnly. However, the entirety of this one butterfly couldn¡¯t possibly be fed by only one person¡¯s blood, so when Mo Yi couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, Jiang Yuanrou also ced her palm on the wall. The speed at which the butterfly turned red instantly doubled. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes became slightly blurred. The cold feeling spread from his fingertips to his whole body. He could hardly feel his fingers anymore. He could only feel the cold and heavy drowsiness pulling him down, numbing his senses to the point where he could no longer feel pain, or other existence beside him. There was only a frigid, freezing cold. He had no idea how much time had passed. Maybe it had been a minute, or perhaps a century. Then suddenly, there was a light click by Mo Yi¡¯s ear, as if an eggshell was broken, that pierced the fog shrouding his senses. The wall he was bracing himself on seemingly vanished all of a sudden. Mo Yi instantly lost his bnce, staggered and fell forward. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the iing impact against the cold ground. Only to be caught by something in the very next second. Mo Yi¡¯s chest was pressed against the other person¡¯s, and strong arms circled around his body, hugging him tightly. He buried his face in the other man¡¯s neck. A familiar scent instantly surrounded him, densely invading his senses¡ª It was the smell of mist in the pine forest after rain. Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Mo Yi tried hard to open his eyes but his eyelids felt heavy, as if they were made of lead. His eyshes drooped heavily, his vision blurring, leaving some patches of colours floating in front of his eyes. A pair of hands pressed against his back, and the slightly cold touch prated the fabric on his skin. Mo Yi tried to move his body, but his limbs were as numb as though he had lost consciousness, and the movements he could make were tiny¡ª He rubbed his cold cheek against the equally cold neck of the other party, and he felt an odd temperature beginning from the area they were touching. A low and hoarse groan escaped from Mo Yi¡¯s throat, as if he wanted to say something, but he could only make some monotonous sybles. He vaguely felt his head being lifted up by a hand, followed by something touching his lips. It was soft and icy. Something thin and dry pressed against his lips snugly, rubbing gently, followed by a moist and warm object licking his lips and gently prying open his teeth. Mo Yi¡¯s mind was in a daze. He subconsciously followed that alluring touch of temperature and pressed his lips closer together, sucking the moist tip of the tongue which was inserted into his mouth. The fresh pine forest scent from the other person seemingly spread from that point of contact, seeping out into Mo Yi¡¯s mouth along with their shared saliva. The gentle and warm temperature slowly prated the blood vessels all over his body along his mouth and respiratory tract. The strength in his body was visibly restored as the warmth began to flood outwards from Mo Yi¡¯s chest to the rest of his body. ¡­¡­not enough. Mo Yi struggled to raise his arms and returned the hug fiercely, trying his best to absorb even more warmth. ¡­Not enough, not enough! He forcefully pushed the tip of his tongue towards the source of warmth, biting and sucking fiercely. A sweet and fishy taste permeated his lips and the apanying scent of rust filled his mouth as warm blood slipped down his throat in an instant, burning all the way down with a scorching heat. Their chests were pressed together tighter and tighter, bing so close that they could almost feel the trembling of the other party¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s sanity gradually recovered, his blurred mind steadily bing clear, and he blinked several times nkly. His vision cleared, and he regained his senses¡ª Mo Yi looked at the magnified face in front of him, and his mind went nk for a moment. There was a numb sucking sensationing from the tip of his tongue. A slight electric current came from his warm and moist mouth, which made him realise very clearly that¡ª He had already put his tongue into the other party¡¯s mouth. Wen Chen¡¯s sculpted facial features were close in front of his eyes. His trembling eyshes were drooping slightly and the corners of his eyes were flushed abnormally. There seemed to be a loud ¡®bang¡¯ in his ears and Mo Yi felt that the pores all over his body were emitting heat, and the blood was rushing fiercely up to the top of his head. He retreated in a hurry, but he didn¡¯t expect that the way they were entangled would cause him to lose his bnce as a result. On the contrary, it was Wen Chen who hurriedly steadied him with quick eyes and hands. And so, Mo Yi fell back into another dizzy state. The two of them were about the same height, and their second contact became familiar¡ª The two pairs of lips were pressed together again. Mo Yi ced his hands on Wen Chen¡¯s shoulders and neck and ended their second kiss. Panting, he took a step back and stared at Wen Chen, who was only a step away from him with his mouth open. There was no change in the other party¡¯s contoured pale face, except for a pair of light grey eyes which were glistening wetly, and there was a faint flush of red at the corner of his eyes. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze fell on the other party¡¯s lips unknowingly¡ª Wen Chen¡¯s originally pale lip colour had been ravaged into a ripe bright red, and his slightly thicker lower lip was stained with bright blood. Mo Yi pursed his lips subconsciously. There was a tingling pain on his lips, as if telling him: Yes, it was you who did this, it was not a dream. More blood rushed to the top of his head. His cheeks were so hot that they were almost smoking, and Mo Yi spoke dryly. ¡°Hi¡­¡± He didn¡¯t know where to look, so he could only avert his gaze, only to see a shocked face. Jiang Yuanrou stood a few steps away, dumbfounded, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets. Mo Yi¡¯s brain stopped functioning. He felt that the heat on his face was going to be set on fire. If you ignored the red tips of the ears, Wen Chen looked incredibly calm, and he simply turned around and looked at Jiang Yuanrou before stretching out his hand to her. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Mo Yi¡¯s friend, Wen Chen.¡± His voice was low and slightly hoarse. Jiang Yuanrou still hasn¡¯t recovered from the shock just now. After all, anyone who had just experienced a life-and-death moment in a horror instance, only to turn and see her friend passionately kissing a stranger with the same sex¡ªand even did it twice¡ªwouldn¡¯t be able to react instantly. She subconsciously held Wen Chen¡¯s outstretched hand, and then mechanically answered him. ¡°Jiang Yuanrou¡­¡± She quickly regained herposure after her introduction. With her face slightly flushed, she brought a clenched fist to her mouth, coughed awkwardly, then spoke. ¡°Well¡­ you guys talk first, I¡¯ll go to other rooms, anyway, I¡¯m familiar with this ce.¡± After she finished speaking, she ran away as if she was fleeing. Mo Yi looked at Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s back. The temperature on his face was rising instead of falling, and he coughed softly before looking away in embarrassment. After his gaze fell to other ces in the room, he realised what Jiang Yuanrou meant when she said ¡®I¡¯m familiar with this ce¡¯. They were standing in the middle of a dpidated room right now. The walls of the room were covered with rough wallpaper and it was almost impossible to distinguish the dull green grid pattern under the heavy dust. There was nothing inside the room, with only scattered and broken wood chips and bricks on the floor and a crooked window on the side wall. There was no ss on the window, leaving only several wooden sticks which were crookedly nailed to the frame as the only obstruction to the dark lightless sky outside. Mo Yi looked at the window nkly, then took a step in that direction¡ª A faint fluorescent blue countdown appeared in the cracks between the wooden boards, dyeing the rough surface of the wooden boards with ayer of light blue. There were 40 minutes left. Currently, they were probably inside the old house of Jiang Yuanrou¡¯sst instance. Mo Yi frowned slightly. He turned around and met the gaze ofWen Chen who was walking towards him¡ª His eyes were subconsciously attracted by the other¡¯s bright red lips. Mo Yi felt that his cooled down cheeks were starting to heat up again, and he reflexively gave a low cough, then opened his mouth to break the deadlock. ¡°About that¡­¡± Mo Yi stopped in embarrassment after saying those two words¡ªhe didn¡¯t know what to should say next. He was silent for a while, then asked boldly. ¡°Well, do you need to treat your wound¡­?¡± As soon as he blurted this out, Mo Yi felt a little regretful¡ªwhat on earth did he just say? What did he ask the Mist? Treat his wound? Moreover this wound was because of him, because he bit him! A smile appeared on Wen Chen¡¯s face. ¡°Yes.¡± Stunned, Mo Yi snapped his head up to nce at him. Only to see Wen Chen walking up to him with long legs, then bent to kiss him again. There was a light salty rust scent spreading in his mouth, apanied by the sensation of a wet tongue gently licking his lips once. Mo Yi¡¯s cheeks became hot again. He took a step back abruptly and stared at Wen Chen, dumbfounded. ¡°Wait, wait, you¡­ what do you mean by this?¡± Wen Chen gently rubbed his moist bottom lip with his thumb, smearing the crimson colour under his fingertip. His light-coloured eyes focused on Mo Yi. ¡°Blood. You can¡¯t waste it, especially since you are still in a weakened state.¡± Mo Yi knew that Wen Chen¡¯s blood could save his life, but to have it in this way, was¡­too¡­ His brows drew into a crease, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. But in the next second, Wen Chen took another step forward and stopped Mo Yi from speaking. Mo Yi subconsciously took a step back, only to find his back pressed against a cold and hard wall. Wen Chen¡¯s deep voice came to his ears. ¡°What I meant was¡­ can I woo you?¡± Mo Yi couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he heard that. The cold touch of the wall behind him spread through the sweaty shirt to his skin, sessfully calming his mind down. The bewilderment and confusion brought about by being pulled back from the edge of life and death finally receded from her body like a tide, leaving only the dark and hard sandy banks of reason. Mo Yi frowned. He looked back at Wen Chen with a pair of dark and solemn eyes. ¡°We are the same gender, and not even of the same species.¡± In the deep shadow, a pair of light-coloured eyes were hidden in the shadow, looking at him with burning heat. ¡°Both of us know that neither of us are concerned about this, so there is no need to use this excuse to prevaricate me.¡± Mo Yi gave a low chuckle. He straightened his back which was leaning against the wall, and took a step closer to Wen Chen. ¡°Then can you tell me why?¡± Their distance was close enough that Mo Yi could clearly see the tips of his ears which were hidden in his ck hair. They were defying his master¡¯s wishes, revealing a reddish colour that did not match his calm demeanour. Mo Yi squinted his eyes as he looked at Wen Chen. There was a slight sense of pressure transmitted through those his deep ck eyes, which made it hard to hold eye contact. ¡°We both know that your attitude towards me had been very odd since the start, so¡­ don¡¯t try to brush me off with something like love at first sight.¡± Wen Chen looked at him deeply. ¡°Of course it¡¯s not love at first sight.¡± Mo Yi frowned, and said firmly, ¡°So we have met before.¡± Wen Chen didn¡¯t answer. He merely turned his head to the side slightly, and the lights overhead casted sharp shadows down onto the deep contours of his chiseled face. And so, Mo Yi got the answer he wanted. He stepped back a little, his eyes drooping slightly. His eyes were cold, and he seemed to want to say something. But in the next second, Wen Chen stepped forward abruptly, hugged him with his slender arms, and pressed his cold cheek against Mo Yi¡¯s warm neck, which made thetter shiver. Mo Yi was about to push him away, when he heard Wen Chen¡¯s trembling voice next to his ear. ¡°I was really worried¡­¡± Mo Yi paused. Wen Chen didn¡¯t use any strength to hold his arms, and only held them loosely. But even so, Mo Yi could feel the slight trembling from the healthy body that was pressed close to him. ¡°This instance is more difficult than normal. In order to prevent me from interfering, it even created a doubleyered game mechanism.¡± Wen Chen¡¯s icy breath lightly pressed against his neck. ¡°I was really, really¡­¡± The rest of the words were swallowed back down into his throat, leaving only some muffled sybles which could be heard. ¡ªA faint scent of pine forest lingered at the tip of his nose. Mo Yi¡¯s mind was full ofplicated thoughts. His arms in the air froze. He turned around and he patted Wen Chen¡¯s back lightly, yet somewhat unnaturally and hesitantly. The two maintained this unnatural embrace. Wen Chen¡¯s deep yet weak voice came from beside his ears, with a little tentativeness and uncertainty in his tone. ¡°So, do you agree¡­?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°After all, you don¡¯t hate me, do you?¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes drooped and his gaze fell on the bright red tips of the ear right in front of him. He hesitated for a few seconds, and then replied in a strange way. ¡°¡­Maybe?¡± Chapter 126

Chapter 126

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Mo Yi regretted it. He had no intention of having any emotional entanglements with the other party. No matter whether the other party¡¯s confession was from the heart or otherwise, his ambiguous response just now would lead the other party on. However, after hearing Mo Yi¡¯s response, the body that was merely loosely encircling him just now froze abruptly. The breathing close to his ear changed instantly, tantly disying the man¡¯s violently changing emotions. Wen Chen¡¯s arms tightened instantly, hugging so tightly as if he wanted to crush Mo Yi into his own flesh and blood. The gap between the two men waspletely filled, and Mo Yi could clearly feel how the chest pressing snugly to his own, was heaving unsteadily and violently. It was so tight that he couldn¡¯t breathe. It was so tight that he could almost hear his ribs cracking. This sudden fierce hug interrupted Mo Yi¡¯s train of thought, and his words of rejection lodged deeply in his throat. He raised his hand with difficulty, patted Wen Chen on the shoulder, and squeezed out two words from his suffocated throat. ¡°Let¡­ go.¡± Wen Chen seemed to have just realised he¡¯d gone overboard and quickly rxed his strength. He took a step back, leaving room for Mo Yi to breathe, but he left his arms encircled around him, as if he couldn¡¯t bear to let Mo Yi go. Under the light, his light-coloured eyes appeared sharp and cold, and he stared anxiously at Mo Yi. ¡°How are you? Are you okay?¡± Wen Chen pursed his lips. His eyes drooped slightly, and he exined in a helpless tone. ¡°Sorry, earlier, I was too¡­¡± Mo Yi coughed violently a few times and hurriedly raised his palm to stop Wen Chen frompleting his sentence. Straightening his bent waist, he raised his eyes to look at Wen Chen. His eyes were glistening, damp from his coughing, but the glint of his pair of dark ck eyes were tough and indifferent under the shimmering film of water. Mo Yi open his mouth to say, ¡°No, I should be the one to apologise. I shouldn¡¯t have given you such an ambiguous reply.¡± He had fully gotten his bearings back at this moment, and with a clear and rational mind, he said easily formted the rest of his sentence. ¡°What I meant earlier was although I do not hate you or your touch, it does not mean that I am willing to ept your¡­ confession, or pursuit.¡± Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. His pale face was soft and handsome, but his voice was cold and indifferent. ¡°Indeed, your guess was correct. This has nothing to do with gender, race, or species. However, there are too many unanswered mysteries with regards to both this game and your existance, and I hate feeling like I am not in control. In other words, it also means that I would never fully put my trust in you, let alone fall in love with you, do you understand?¡± His words were so cruel that they hurt. ¡°I have no interest in your purpose here, be it true love or other ns. All I want to tell you is that everything you are doing would be meaningless, and you don¡¯t even need to try, because there wouldn¡¯t be any results.¡± After Mo Yi finished speaking, he raised his eyes to Wen Chen who was standing opposite him. Only to see a nearly nk expression on his face¡ªMo Yi couldn¡¯t help but feel a little guilty¡ªand then, he heard Wen Chen reply in a very soft voice, as if he was afraid of disturbing something. ¡°Earlier¡­ You said that you don¡¯t hate me?¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± Huh? Before he could react, he saw Wen Chen¡¯s eyes lighting up and the corners of his lips lifting. Although there was still no expression on his face, one could tell that he was in a good mood. ¡°You also said, you don¡¯t hate my touch?¡± Mo Yi was a little confused. ¡°¡­¡± Was there a difference between what he just said and what the other party heard? At this moment, Wen Chen seemed to have finally restrained his joyful emotions. He tried his best to tten the smile on his lips, but his eyes were still bright. He cast a meaningful look at Mo Yi, and replied in a deep voice. ¡°I understand.¡± Mo Yi, ¡°¡­¡± ??? So¡­ what exactly did you understand? Before he could react, he heard a sudden loud bang from outside the door. A faint tremor came from his feet and the huge sound wave passed through the thin wall, making his ears buzz. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes sharpened immediately and he no longer cared about continuing to entangle with Wen Chen on the topic just now. Instead, he turned and ran towards the ce where the voice came from. He flung open the shaking door and a bout of smoke and dust covered him in the next second. Mo Yi suppressed his coughs as much as possible, raised his arms, and covered his face with his sleeves. The sprinkling of dust clouded their vision with a dirty greyish yellow colour, and it took some time before everything finally settled enough for him to see the outlines of the other objects in the house. This was a wide and almost empty hall, looking gloomy and old. The interior was covered by ayer of thick dust, and the old ceiling and floor showed a dirty colour under the dim light. The wallpaper was loose, hanging down and revealing the mottled and ugly wall ster. And in the centre of the hall filled with falling dust, was a huge hole where the wooden flooring had broken off. There were cracked wood chips on its circumference, forming sharp angles on all sides of the dark abyss. And the rumbling sound they¡¯d heard earlier obviously came from here. Mo Yi walked forward slowly, carefully observing the surrounding environment. He stopped a few steps away from the big hole, and used his shlight to peer into it. The white beam sone into the darkness, sweeping around in vain. There was absolutely nothing else he could see other than some rising dust and wood chips which had yet to settle. Mo Yi frowned. He regretted not stopping Jiang Yuanrou from leaving just now. Although she came to this old house in herst instance, she had opened the branch quest after all, so there might be hidden dangers even in what they consider as the safest location. Inhaling deeply, he subconsciously lowered his gaze to search the depths of the hole. In the next second, he froze when his gazended on a corner of the wooden floor under his feet. There were a few bright red blood stains on the broken nk which was lifted at an angle. Mo Yi crouched and stretched out a hand to the dazzling blood. He lightly rubbed his fingertips together. The sticky and warm touch of blood seemed to prate his skin and spread inward. Still fresh. Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. He turned his gaze to the huge hole in the centre of the floor again, as if he was thinking about something. At this moment, a hand stretched out from behind his side and gently held his wrist. Mo Yi nced in the direction of the touch, only to see Wen Chen standing not far behind him, looking at him steadily. He raised his eyebrows, puzzled. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Wen Chen shook his head slowly at him, then said, ¡°You can¡¯t help her with whatever happens next.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. He frowned and asked in a low voice, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Wen Chen pulled Mo Yi away from the dangerous edge of the hole before replying. ¡°This instance was designed for Jiang Yuanrou. What she encounters next would be a test she has to face, and if you were to intervene, you would harm her instead.¡± Mo Yi subconsciously turned his head to look at the dark pit, recalling the guess he had about the membership tests when he was still in Edwin¡¯s spiritual world¡ª He organised the words in his mind, then asked. ¡°So, the membership test is indeed aprehensive evaluation of the yer in that instance, and the reason why those yers who started the test did not return to reality was because this test would connect all the conflicts and danger in the instance with the yer who is taking the test, right?¡± Wen Chen looked at him firmly. ¡°Yes.¡± His face turned pale for a moment. Mo Yi didn¡¯t notice it. Instead, he lowered his eyes, and his droopingshes covered the expression in them. He rubbed his fingers together, then moved his wrist lightly, breaking away from Wen Chen¡¯s weak grasp. Mo Yi raised his head thoughtfully. He looked around the entire hall before moving his lips, muttering softly as if talking to himself. ¡°And there are two kinds of yers who fail the test. The first kind are forcibly dragged in by the instance and were killed by the dangers and clues. These individuals end up just like ordinary yers who died in the instance, and are slowly forgotten in reality. The second kind are those who were not killed in the instance. They survived all the way until the countdown ended, however, theirprehensive evaluation didn¡¯t meet the requirements of the game, so they were also considered to have failed.¡± A strange colour shed in Mo Yi¡¯s dark eyes. ¡°This second type of yers are not forgotten in reality. Even Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s props show Jiang Yuanbai didn¡¯t die, only that his life was in danger¡­¡± Wen Chen looked at Mo Yi quietly. Deep shadows were casted on his deep facial features, and there was a little light in his eyes, he opened his mouth and replied. ¡°That¡¯s right, they were left behind.¡± Just as he blurted out these words, his face turned pale again. Mo Yi frowned, deeply immersed in his own thoughts. He fixed his eyes on a certain point in the air, as though he wanted to see something through it. But Wen Chen¡¯s words seemed to wake him up, and Mo Yi subconsciously followed the voice and looked at him. Only to hear Wen Chen continue speaking. ¡°Now Jiang Yuanrou must confront Edwin. This is the significance of this instance¡­¡± This¡­? Mo Yi was stumped. His gaze suddenly fell on the corner of Wen Chen¡¯s lips¡ª There was a trace of blood slowly sliding down from the corner of his lips, appearing ringly bright on his pale skin. Mo Yi was startled. He reached out and grabbed Wen Chen¡¯s arm which was lying limply by his side and looked at him with a frown. ¡°Stop.¡± ¡ªWen Chen had said too much, and the game was punishing him. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Wen Chen turned his face and looked at him deeply. ¡°You can trust me¡­¡± Mo Yi was stunned by this reply. He recalled what he said just now, and instantly understood the meaning of Wen Chen¡¯s words. This understanding brought a wave of mixed feelings afloat in his heart. He had personally experienced the pain of being silenced from the game¡ªand that¡¯s when he didn¡¯t even mention anything important yet. And during that time, he¡¯d still felt unbearable pain despite his high tolerance. Not to mention that what Wen Chen was doing now was basically a direct confrontation with the game¡­ the pain he was experiencing now would be unimaginable. Even if Mo Yi¡¯s heart was made of steel, he couldn¡¯t help but be faintly touched. He looked at Wen Chen with some confusion, and said, ¡°You¡­ there¡¯s no need¡­¡± Wen Chen looked at him, and said with a firm tone. ¡°There are no secrets between you and me.¡± Chapter 127

Chapter 127

Mo Yi didn¡¯t know what to say for a while. He subconsciously tightened his fingers which were holding on to Wen Chen¡¯s arm. The cold skin under his fingertips was moulded to his palm, and the slight coolness was transmitted along his nerve endings all the way to his brain. His eyes were momentarily dazed. It seemed like¡­ in his memory, there was someone who once said to him¡ª ¡°You can trust me.¡± Mo Yi immediately came back to his senses, and instantly let go of Wen Chen¡¯s wrist as if he had been scalded. Hisplexion turned a lot paler. He fixed his pair of dark eyes on Wen Chen¡¯s features which were blurred under the dim light, as if he was searching for that strange¡­familiar feeling which had just crossed his mind. However, that sensation hadpletely sunk into the depths of his consciousness like a y cow sinking into the sea. No matter how hard Mo Yi searched, he couldn¡¯t find a single trace of it, as though what he¡¯d felt earlier¡­ was just his illusion. Mo Yi pursed his lips, tightening the seam into a straight arc, which looked like a string which was about to break. He moved his eyes away from Wen Chen¡¯s face, and gave up on this meaningless search. However, just as he looked away, Wen Chen suddenly took a step forward and brought the distance between them closer. He pressed his lips to and sucked on Mo Yi¡¯s lips without any warning. The tip of his tongue nimbly pried open Mo Yi¡¯s teeth, allowing the salty liquid filled with the scent of fishy rust to flow into Mo Yi¡¯s mouth along the tip of his tongue. And before Mo Yi could react, Wen Chen let go of him and took a step back in time. The kiss was over before Mo Yi could do anything to stop it. Wen Chen, who was standing several steps away, spoke in a calm tone. ¡°Don¡¯t waste it.¡± Mo Yi stared at him, dumbfounded, feeling as powerless as someone punching cotton. He ground his teeth resentfully, then raised his hand angrily and scrubbed vigorously at his lips with the back of his hand. In the next second, Mo Yi realised just how immature this reaction was and he couldn¡¯t help but feel a burst of embarrassed heat rising in his ears. He pursed his lips which had been rubbed raw, then took a deep breath. Averting his gaze, he gritted out between clenched teeth, ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­¡± Mo Yi immediately turned around after speaking, striding off towards the other end of the hall at the speed of wind. Wen Chen stood on the spot and stared at Mo Yi¡¯s back that was steadily swallowed by the darkness. The rare expression on Mo Yi¡¯s face just now resurfaced in his mind, and the corners of Wen Chen¡¯s lips curled up uncontrobly. In the next second, he followed Mo Yi in big strides. By the time Wen Chen caught up with Mo Yi, he hadpletely calmed down his fluctuating emotions and his pale face had returned to its previous calmness and rationality. Mo Yi moved his wrist, allowing the shlight to sweep slowly across the room and illuminating the space in front of him. Narrowing his eyes, he surveyed the room with sharp eyes. The halo of light illuminated the floating dust dancing through the dense darkness, akin to a swarm of living insects. In the depths of this hall was a revolving wooden esctor. The marble handrails were covered in ayer of old dust while clumps of cobwebs spanned the handles and the corners of the stairs, dispersing the light from his shlight. The esctor stretched into the darkness, leading to the dark second floor. Mo Yi withdrew his gaze and slowly took a step forward. The floor under his feet creaked hollowly with his movements. The circr ring of light from his shlight settled on a hidden corner under the stairs, where there was a locked door covered in dust. This door was tightly closed and likely led into a basement. There were handprints imprinted on the rough door frame, the dried blood showing a deep dark brown shade under the light. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lingered on it for a moment. Wen Chen, who was standing a small distance away, looked at him and asked, ¡°Are you going to find Jiang Yuanrou?¡± Mo Yi turned to him upon hearing this, then shook his head slowly and replied in a deep voice. ¡°If the guess earlier was correct, then the next part of her test would be akin to a game between her and Edwin, and I will harm her if I tried to help.¡± Wen Chen continued staring at him deeply. ¡°Then what do you n to do now?¡± Mo Yi averted his gaze, his dark eyes narrowing. ¡°Of course it is to help her fulfil her original purpose of entering this instance.¡± With a solemn expression, he said in a low voice. ¡°ording to my experience in my previous instance, the confrontation with the boss in the instance will onlyplete the side mission. Since the fight between Jiang Yuanrou and Edwin is not likely to be easy, she will probably lose her chance to find Jiang Yuanbai in this instance.¡± Mo Yi exhaled slowly. The palm holding the shlight tightened and he subconsciously began stroking the metal shell of the shlight. ¡°So, the only one who can search for him is me.¡± Wen Chen stared at him and said coldly. ¡°You will not be able to find him.¡± Mo Yi was taken aback. He turned to Wen Chen and stared at him with a deep look. ¡°What do you mean by that¡­?¡± Wen Chen took a step forward. The light highlighted the sharp contours of his handsome face, and the man stared back at Mo Yi with a pair of pale eyes. ¡°This game will never allow you to find him.¡± Mo Yi frowned. But before he could say anything, he heard Wen Chen continue. ¡°Neither of you should have been able to enter this instance. However, Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s prop forced the game to put the two of you here. That is the reason why this instance did not seem like a normal one, and the only yers here are you two.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s expression became more solemn. Wen Chen took another step forward slowly, and said in a low voice, ¡°The game will not allow anyone to snatch away its spoils, so it will not let anyone find Jiang Yuanbai.¡± ¡ªIts spoils. Mo Yi keenly noticed Wen Chen¡¯s words. He narrowed his eyes. Wen Chen¡¯splexion turned pale again, his flickering light-coloured eyes locked onto Mo Yi¡¯s face as he parted his lips. ¡°Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s state now is neither alive nor dead. You could say that he exists, but it is not wrong to say that he doesn¡¯t exist in this instance either¡ª As a yer, it is impossible to be able to locate him here. But I can help you.¡± Mo Yi snapped his gaze up to meet Wen Chen¡¯s, but his expression remained calm. ¡°What do you want?¡± For you to make such a sacrifice, what do you want in return? ¡ªAfter all, he was not someone who could believe in unconditional giving, or in the emotion dubbed as ¡®love¡¯. Love, in itself, was a false proposition, an irrational behaviour caused by hormones released in the biological brain. Moreover¡­ this man standing in front of him was not even a living thing. And as he said from the very beginning, there was no such thing as trust. Wen Chen stared at Mo Yi, and said slowly and earnestly. ¡°A kiss.¡± A look of astonishment appeared on Mo Yi¡¯s face¡ªhe really didn¡¯t expect this. He knew that hidden under his gentle appearance, he was a cold-blooded person, was someone so rational that he could be considered ruthless. After all, how could a person who didn¡¯t even care about himself, care much about others? Therefore, Mo Yi did not actually have much of an obsession with saving Jiang Yuanbai. After all, even if he failed, he wouldn¡¯t be losing much. Mo Yi looked at Wen Chen in a tangle of suspicion and other emotion, as though he was looking at an alien he couldn¡¯t understand. But now, he found himself actually caring a little¡ª Why? Why was this man looking at him like that? That kind of look¡­ it was as if to this man, he was the only important existence in this world, which was really odd. Mo Yi had sufficient self-awareness to know that he did not possess any sort of charisma which would make people fall in love with him at first sight, or a level of beauty which could make people throw themselves at his feet. So, what could have brought this on? ¡ªOr, did it have something to do with the weird sense of familiarity he felt before? Mo Yi looked at Wen Chen with an unreadable expression as he replied. ¡°Deal.¡± Wen Chen curved his eyes. The light-coloured eyes seemed to be filled withyers of mist. He took a step back and opened the door, widening the distance between the two of them, and then stretched out his right hand. Mo Yi reached out and shook his hand. The temperature of the opponent¡¯s palm was much lower than that of ordinary people. The cold fingers were sped, fitting snugly against the contours of Mo Yi¡¯s hand. . Wen Chen looked away expressionlessly. He raised his fist to his lips, only give one low cough, before turning away. ¡°Follow me.¡± During the movement, Mo Yi noticed the reddened ear hidden amidst the other man¡¯s dark hair. Mo Yi lowered his eyes to cover up the gloomy expression in them, then moved his feet to follow. The two made their way to the door of the hall one after the other. This old house had been in disrepair for a long time, and the door frame had almostpletely decayed. The two rickety door panels sat on the rusty door hinges, while dust and sawdust fell from the top of the frame. Wen Chen raised his head and pushed open the wooden door. There was a hoarse and dying groaning from the broken door, before it slowly creaked open to reveal the scene outside the old house. There was a light blue countdown overhead. It was as though one could hear the passage of time while watching the disyed second timer silently and slowly regressing. There were more than twenty minutes left. A barren space encircled the old house like a perfectly round circle of decorations. Further outside of that open space was a dense cloying darkness which could not be prated. It seemed as though it was able to swallow all light, and was dangerously and silently surrounding this entire open space. Everything out here was dead silent. The only sound was the crunch of dry soil under his feet. And every time Wen Chen took a step forward, hisplexion became paler. He turned his face slightly, as if he was trying to avert his face from Mo Yi, who was walking a few steps behind him. The two men stopped at the borderline of this instance and the darkness surrounding it. The darkness right before them was shifting as though it could flow, looking every bit like mist which had condensed into a solid body. Wen Chen raised his hand. Every movement he made was visibly slowed down, as if there was a great weight was tugging on him. Gritting his teeth, he moved his fingers lightly. Then, as if summoned by something, the darkness in front of him suddenly parted¡ªrevealing a path. Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Right after finishing this movement, Wen Chen¡¯s back straightened stiffly, as if every muscle on the skeleton was trembling violently. He clenched his teeth tightly, his paleplexion turning whiter and whiter. He curled his trembling fingers and managed to squeeze a word out from between his teeth. ¡°Quick¡­¡± Mo Yi subconsciously took a step in his direction, but was roused by Wen Chen¡¯s hoarse voice in the very next second. Taking a deep look at Wen Chen, he understood that he couldn¡¯t waste a single precious second right now, so he quickly darted down the parted road. The thick and deep darkness was divided akin to how Moses parted the Red Sea, forming a gap wide for one person to pass through. The two edges of this partition were were steep, pressing down on him with a horrifying sense of oppression. Mo Yi ran onto the path with his fastest speed. There was no other sound besides the violent beating of his heart and the rush of blood in his eardrums, making the space seem like a deathly silent graveyard. He emptied his mind, forcing himself to focus solely on running forward along this path under his feet. Wen Chen remained standing at where he was, staring at Mo Yi¡¯s back with his light-colored eyes, watching as the other man¡¯s back was swallowed by the darkness. It only after he was certain he could no longer see Mo Yi that he allowed himself to tremble uncontrobly from head to toe. His pale lips were tightly pressed into a firm line, but despite this,rge streams of blood still overflowed from the seam. Wen Chen raised a shaking palm to wipe the blood away but he kept his eyes trained on the crack in the darkness ahead¡ª As if that direction contained the only thing he cared about in this world. There is a fluid flowing slowly from the two parted high sections, with countless lurking dangers and variables slowly oozing towards the fragile gap in the middle, as though trying to destroy this nuisance in its body. However, that path continued to stand tenaciously under the pressure, refusing to be eroded. Mo Yi ran forward with vigorous strides. The road under his feet was hard, and there was a strange sense of solidity when he stepped on it. The road was extending into the depths of the darkness, but there seemed to be no end in sight. Mo Yi gritted his teeth and tried to speed up his pace. The walls around him were moving inward bit by bit, making a small leaned slightly inward, making a low rumbling sound¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s heart tightened instantly. He forced himself not to think about Wen Chen¡¯s violently trembling fingers just now, and simply summoned up all of his strength to continue running forward. At this moment, there was a change in the scene ahead¡­ He saw a person half-floating in the darkness at the end of this narrow road¡ªhis limbs seemed to be trapped in some sucked into the cloying darkness, leaving only half of his body exposed. The head of his man was also drooping limply. His pale eyelids were covering his eyes, giving him the faint appearance of death. Mo Yi¡¯s eyes lit up¡ªJiang Yuanbai! He mobilized all the strength in his body and ran forward with all his might. When he came to Jiang Yuanbai, he heard another hoarse groan from the dark walls around him. Mo Yi¡¯s heart contracted violently and he immediately stretched out his hand to tentatively hold Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s shoulder, trying his best to yank him out of the darkness. However, the darkness was sucking on his limbs like a swamp. With each tug Mo Yi made, it pulled Jiang Yuanbai in with an even greater force. Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s pale lifeless face lolled onto its side, seemingly having sunk deeper into the darkness. Mo Yi stretched out a hand and patted Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s cold and pale cheek, calling his name loudly. Jiang Yuanbai was still hanging lifelessly in the air, without any reaction. He gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand to touch the ck substance that was tightly wrapped around Jiang Yuanbai¡ª The substance felt cold and slippery, with an ufortable gtinuous texture, and it exuded a sinister and ominous atmosphere. Gritting his teeth, Mo Yi pushed his own palm into the deep and dense darkness and fumbled around to find Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s forearm. He tugged on thetter¡¯s arm forcefully, trying in vain to pull on it while yelling Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s name loudly. Beads of sweat oozed from Mo Yi¡¯s forehead. The cold sweat almost soaked through the clothes on his back and his injured fingers were in severe pain as though they had been soaked in ice water. And at this very moment, the silver-white ribbon wrapped around his wrist were revealed when his sleeves rolled up due to his frantic struggle. The darkness around him shrunk when it touched the ribbon¡ªinstantly disappearing like a puff of smoke as it scattered in all directions. Mo Yi felt that the force dragging down on his arm lightening instantly, and he couldn¡¯t help but look down at his arm in astonishment. He tried to move his wrist. Sure enough, the thick and viscous jelly-like darkness instantly dissipatted uponing into contact with the ribbon. Mo Yi¡¯s spirit lifted. As if on cue, the dark wall around him let out another broken groan. The steep angle of the wall shifted again, moving a little closer towards the middle. Cold sweat slid down his hot temples. Mo Yi could hear his heart pounding. He knew that this meant that Wen Chen couldn¡¯t hold on for much longer. Mo Yi¡¯s movements sped up, and the darkness wrapped around Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s limbs disappeared along with his movements. When thest bit of darkness binding Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s arm disappeared, the unconscious man¡¯s heavy body seemed to have lost all support in an instant, and fell down suddenly. At the same time, the whole world seemed to start shaking and roaring¡ª! As if the game itself realized that one of its spoils had been stolen, the darkness on either side instantly rolled up like a boiling sea, angrily and violently hitting the fragile walls that were holding them apart. The wall let out a dying groan as if it was about to be shattered inch by inch, and struggling to stay upright under the impact. Mo Yi gritted his teeth and dragged Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s heavy body forward. Wisps of darkness escaped from the cracks in the walls on both sides. The scene in front of him was as terrifying as that of doomsday. After he rescued Jiang Yuanbai, the way back seemed to have beeb shortened by more than half, and there was even a faint light ahead of the straight road. The exit. Mo Yi pulled Jiang Yuanbai forward with all his strength. His own arms and thighs felt sore and tingling, and his willpower seemed to be his only source of strength that kept him pushing forward. After being battered and riddled with holes, the walls around the body tenaciously remained upright, akin to leaves which were fluttering in a violent storm, only to still fervently resist the pouring rain. Fragile yet indestructible. The path leading to the exit was right in front of him, seemingly magnified. Mo Yi shoved Jiang Yuanbai towards the light with all his strength, then rushed forward in staggering steps with the remaining strength. The moment he left the area, the power which had been preventing the surging darkness on both sides from pouring down instantly disappeared, and the narrow road behind him was instantly swallowed up. Mo Yi¡¯s vision turned ck. The scenery around him seemed to be blurred into one piece and he couldn¡¯t see anything clearly. His arms were half on the ground, barely supporting his heavy body, and his ears were full of buzzing white noise. He was panting violently. Sweat slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground in front of him. It took a while for Mo Yi to regain his senses. He struggled to straighten up. Yet before he could take a look at Jiang Yuanbai who he had just tossed forward, he found himself anxiously searching for the figure of another person. Finally, he spotted that familiar figure crouching on the ground at the ce he had just left. The blurry silhouette was slumped on the ground, as if it was about to be swallowed by the raging darkness behind him. Mo Yi¡¯s heart thumped. He braced his body and walked over briskly. Only to see Wen Chen lying on the ground trembling. His tall body curled up, as if he was experiencing a great amount pain. Bright blood seeped into the ground from under his body. As if noticing Mo Yi¡¯s arrival, Wen Chen struggled to avert his face, hiding his face deeper into his drooping ck hair, so as not to let Mo Yi see his face. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± That low muffled voice seemed to be suppressing something. Mo Yi stood beside him with a confused expression. He looked down at Wen Chen, his dark eyes seemingly devoid of emotions yet also seemingly rolling with a dark undercurrent at the same time. He continued staring at Wen Chen quietly for a long time, then let out a soft sigh. That sigh was so soft that it would have probably been swallowed by the wind and disappeared without a trace in the very moment he voiced it. Mo Yi crouched down and carefully reached out to help Wen Chen up. He lifted Wen Chen¡¯s head up with difficulty, and half wrapped his arms around the other¡¯s body, forming a half hug. The opponent¡¯s tall figure trembled uncontrobly within his arms, his ck hair cascading down from around both cheeks, revealing a frighteningly paleplexion. His head was resting on Mo Yi¡¯s palm, and he stared at Mo Yi¡¯s half-lowered face with his light-colored eyes. The lower half of Wen Chen¡¯s face was almost covered in dark red blood, which was a rather rming contrast to his fair skin. Mo Yi lowered his eyes, his eyshes cast deep shadows on his pale cheeks, and his voice was soft as if it would be blown away in the next second. ¡°Are you okay¡­?¡± Wen Chen struggled to raise his shaking hands. He pulled Mo Yi¡¯s cor with all his strength, leaving a few streaks of blood on the crumpled light-colored fabric. ¡°Not okay.¡± His voice was as hoarse as a broken windmill, and the two depressing words seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. Mo Yi followed the direction Wen Chen was tugging him in and lowered his head along with it. His deep ck eyes focsed on Wen Chen from under his eyshes, staring at thetter quietly. At this moment, Wen Chen seemed to have broken out from his usual calm and indifferent appearance. He was staringg fiercely at Mo Yi, like a beast that had chosen a victim to devour, and his trembling light gray eyes looked both dangerous andpelling within his reddened eye sockets. However, his voice was broken and weak. ¡°Hug me¡­¡± Mo Yi¡¯s movements stalled. His eyes darkened, like the surface of a darkke, reflecting Wen Chen¡¯s face. Then in the next second, he slowly lowered his body halfway and stretched out his arms to embrace Wen Chen. Wen Chen straightened up abruptly. His strong arms trembled and returned the hug forcefully, his cold palms tightly grasping Mo Yi¡¯s shoulders as he fiercely knocked his chin against Mo Yi¡¯s neck. His eyes were a little red, and his pale fingers were trembling. ¡ªAs if he had found his long-lost treasure. Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Mo Yi wrapped his arms around Wen Chen¡¯s icy body. Hisshes were lowered, covering the expression in his eyes. He rested his chin on Wen Chen¡¯s shoulder, hugged him firmly, and pressed his palm weakly on the back of Wen Chen¡¯s shaking shoulder. There was the cold and thick scent of blood as well as the faint smell of pine forest lingering at the end of his nose, enveloping all of his senses like a mist. They were pressed so closely together that Mo Yi could even feel every tremor of the other person¡¯s body and every inch of his tightening arms. It was almost difficult for Mo Yi to distinguish whether the trembling came from himself or the other party. They embraced quietly in the pool of blood while sitting on the barren ground. At this moment, a familiar robotic voice suddenly came into Mo Yi¡¯s ear. ¡°Congrattions yer Mo Yi, you havepleted the side mission: Madness. The mission reward has been sent to your ount, please collect it after the game is over.¡± Mo Yi was momentarily shocked by the interruption, which brought him out of his trance-like state earlier. Since he heard this voice, it meant¡­ Jiang Yuanrou had seeded. She sessfullypleted the side quest, and most likely, also sessfully passed the membership test. Mo Yi subconsciously looked up into the sky, looking for the fluorescent blue countdown, but when he raised his head, he couldn¡¯t help but tremble all over. His eyes widened in shock, and he stared at the dark sky in front of him in disbelief¡ª There were cracks forming in the sky which had been as dark as an eternal night since his first instance. These light blue cracks looked as though they were on a shattered ss mirror, spreading outward with spider web-like lines, stretching from the edge of the countdown to the entire sky, making the entire ensemble look fragile and deadly. How could this be? Mo Yi stared at the crack in the air. He quickly recovered from the shock and his mind spun with possible conjectures. This kind of situation had never happened to him when hepleted the side mission before, so the biggest possibility was from the variable of him rescuing Jiang Yuanbai. If he recalled correctly, the moment he pulled Jiang Yuanbai out of the dark matter, the entire instance trembled, and those cracks probably started to appear at that point in time, but the situation then had been too chaotic that he hadn¡¯t noticed it. Mo Yi squinted his eyes, staring thoughtfully at the cracks in the air, and he seemed to catch a glimpse of something¡­ There seemed to be something shing faintly in those fluorescent blue cracks, as if there was an intermittent current flowing through. Startled, Mo Yi quickly poured his attention into identifying what the shing object was, his heart feeling as if it was ravaged by a stormy sea¡ª It was a string of codes. It seemed to be the same string he¡¯d seen when he first entered the game space, but this code was far moreplete, far more detailed¡­ And far more beautiful. It was leaping in the sky, exuding a breathtaking light which was shining like life itself, yet also seemed as though it would shatter into nothingness in the next second and leave those staring at it bedazzled. Mo Yi seemed to bepletely entranced. He held his breath and stared up at it, his heart tthumping with a strange and frantic joy until a familiar voice woke him up. ¡°Mo Yi!¡± Mo Yi was startled. He momentarily regained himself from the strange stage earlier, and the same voice reappeared, rining out like thunder in his ears. ¡°¡ªMo Yi!¡± Mo Yi snapped back to alertness. He saw that the old house not far away was close to copsing. The walls were caving in, with dust and rubble falling, and the entire building was creaking as it stood precariously under the cracking sky. Jiang Yuanrou was limping out slowly from the mansion. Her whole body was covered in blood, with the differing shades of blood dyeing her clothes dark brown, while her face was covered with bloodied scabs. While panting with difficulty, she hobbled over to Mo Yi with a limp leg. Mo Yi weakly raised his palm, patted Wen Chen¡¯s back which had stopped trembling to motion for him to let go, then turned his head and looked at the sky again¡ªit was still covered by spider web-like cracks, but he could no longer see that code which was shing just now. Just like before, it had disappeared without a trace again, as if everything he had seen earlier was just a figment of his imagination. Mo Yi¡¯s peripheral vision swept across the corner of the sky, and noticed that the fluorescent blue countdown timer was cut into several broken pieces, but he could still barely distinguish the remaining time: 00:05:36 There were still five minutes left in this instance. Jiang Yuanrou staggered over to him, equally puzzled and shocked by the strange scene in front of her. She parted her lips as if she was about to ask something, but at this moment, her eyes, which were dull due to blood loss, swept halfway across the room. Her gaze glossed past Wen Chen and Mo Yi, who were sitting on the ground, only tond on Jiang Yuanbai who was lying on the ground not far away from them. Jiang Yuanrou froze on the spot, her whole body as stiff as a piece of wood. Eyes widening in disbelief, she looked straight at Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s half-exposed side face, as if she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes¡ª Mo Yi stared at Jiang Yuanrou silently. Only to see her ignore all the wounds on her body as she immediately rushed towards Jiang Yuanbai who was lying on the ground. With trembling hands, she lifted Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s head from the dusty ground. The moment she saw his face, big tears rolled down from her eyes, leaving a clear track down her cheek which revealed her originally paleplexion. She shook Jiang Yuanbai. However, her movements were gentle as if she was afraid of waking him up. Her weak voice was trembling in disbelief. ¡°Yuanbai¡­?¡± Jiang Yuanbai was still lying on the ground without a sound. His ashen face was covered with the dust from the ground, and with his eyes closed, he lookedpletely lifeless and incapable of responding to Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s calls. Mo Yi had been paying attention to their situation here since the beginning, and when he saw this scene, he couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. He turned to Wen Chen with a questioning look, staring at him with dark eyes, as if asking silently. Wen Chen seemed to have regained a little strength. His face was no longer as pale as it was before, so he raised his hand and wiped the blood on his chin with the back of his hand, then replied coolly. ¡°He¡¯s fine, physically.¡± Just as Wen Chen spoke, Mo Yi saw Jiang Yuanrou extend a finger under Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s nose. Herplexion was pale and her thin lips were pressed tightly together, as if she was subconsciously holding her breath. The moment Wen Chen¡¯s voice fell, Mo Yi noticed Jiang Yuanrou¡¯s body rx as she let out a long exhale¡ª That likely meant that she had detected a weak breath, and Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s life was not in danger. But Wen Chen¡¯s voice rang in Mo Yi¡¯s ear at the same time. ¡°However it may not necessarily be the same psychologically.¡± Mo Yi snapped his head back to Wen Chen with a frown. However before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a muffled cry. Jiang Yuanrou bent over Jiang Yuanbai¡¯s unconscious body, her petite and thin body was trembling slightly, looking fragile and powerless. There was a low choking sound, and her suppressed cries sounded painfully hoarse. It felt like he was peeking into the soft interior from under a cracked armor. In the next second, Jiang Yuanrou forcibly restrained all the fragility and emotions she had disyed earlier. Straightening her posture, she turned her head to look in Mo Yi¡¯s direction. Her face was stained with blood and tears, and her eyes seemed so sharp and clear in contrast, seeming as though she had washed them clean with water, as she stared fervently at Mo Yi. She struggled to rise to her feet, her movements stiff and slow but extremely firm. The blood and mud all over her body slid down the hem of her clothes with her motion. After standing up with difficulty, Jiang Yuanrou then slowly bent her slender and straight waist, and bowed deeply. Mo Yi stared at her without saying anything. The shattered sky behind Jiang Yuanrou was divided into several pieces by fluorescent blue lines, and the countdown timer above was changing at a constant speed. There were ten seconds left. Jiang Yuanrou straightened her back. She looked deeply at Mo Yi with her eyes, moved her lips, and spoke in a solemn tone. Thank you. Five seconds left. Mo Yi felt that his hand was clenched by another cold hand, and those slightly cold fingertips were pressed down hard against his skin, causing slight pain. He turned his head to look¡ª Three seconds left. Wen Chen was staring at him intently too. His light gray eyes were like mist, and the blue cracks in the sky were reflected on his irises which were fixated on him. Then, in the next second, outdated electronic music and the familiar robotic voice sounded in Mo Yi¡¯s ears. ¡°Congrattions on your sessful escape!¡± All the sounds, lights and shadows seemed to be pulled away, and Mo Yi only felt a blur in front of his eyes. His vision turned ck, and he lost consciousness. When Mo Yi opened his eyes again, he found that he had not returned to the real world, but was in the dark void from before. There was no light or sound here. His entire body was once again enveloped by the pitch-ck darkness, and he was unable to use any of his five senses here. There was only that robotic female voice which rang in his ears. ¡°Congrattions to the yer Mo Yi for upgrading his membership level, the system is evaluating¡ª¡± Mo Yi keenly recognised that there was an odd part to the quality of the voice this time, which was different from the previous few asions. There was a light whistling sound of electricity, as if it was part of an old machine which had failed, and the resulting voice now sounded odd and unnatural. Faint fluorescent blue spots gathered in the darkness, revealing several characters. ¡°The ¡öprehensive ¡ö evaluation: ¡ö¡ö¡± The characters were broken and messy, resembling a shattered LCD screen which was shing a line of illegible characters. Mo Yi was momentarily stumped, but before he could react, the female voice sounded again. ¡°Congrattions on your upgrade to A-level member of the senior member club. The new permission will be avable the next time you enter the game.¡± The system did not give Mo Yi any chance to ask questions this time round, and directly continued speaking with its loud mechanical voice. ¡°Teleporting to the real world¡ª¡± Mo Yi¡¯s eyes went dark, and he lost consciousness immediately. After an unknown amount of time, he snapped his eyes open again. The familiar scene in front of him came back into view, which gradually reawakened his memory. Mo Yi stared at the ceiling and panted slightly for a good while. His eyes were a little dazed as he stared at the nk void while his body remained bathed in ayer of sweat. As if on cue, he felt something cold touch his cheek. Mo Yi turned to look, just in time to spot Wen Chen who standing beside his bed, retract his fingers. Thetter was leaning down to stare at him. The sunlight streaming in from the window turned the man¡¯s light-colored eyes into the shade of champagne, and casted deep shadows across his high nose bridge. He moved closer. Mo Yi could almost distinguish the fluttering arc of each and every one of hisshes¡ª Only to see Wen Chen lowering his eyes to stare at him, and saying in a low voice: ¡°Good morning.¡± Mo Yi stared back. Wen Chen continued with a smile. ¡°What about my reward?¡± Chapter 130

Chapter 130

Mo Yi pursued his lips and remained silent, his dark eyes trained on Wen Chen¡¯s profile, which was seemingly swirling with a dark undercurrent. Their eyes meet, their breaths intermingling. An ambiguous atmosphere spread between the two men, feeling as though there was something blooming in the silence. Mo Yi lightly averted his gaze, moved his face away from the shadow cast by Wen Chen, and then sat up slowly as if nothing had happened. A hint of disappointment shed in the depths of Wen Chen¡¯s eyes before he also straightened up. The soft light streaming in from the window behind him blurred his facial features and stretched the casted shadow from his upright figure into a straight and silent line. Mo Yi raised his eyes to look at him and said, ¡°Come here.¡± His voice was still hoarse after having just awoken, and it tickled against the eardrum like the soft caress of velvet before blending into the morning light overflowing into the room. Wen Chen snapped his gaze up, his light-coloured irises framed by his straight brows so piercingly bright that it almost hurt Mo Yi¡¯s eyes. Wen Chen strode forward, and the distance between them shortened instantly. Mo Yi raised his hand to grab Wen Chen¡¯s shirt. He tugged at it, forcing thetter to bend down. Wen Chen dipped his body down along with Mo Yi¡¯s insistence, leaning on the baffle at the foot of the bed with one hand while staring intently at Mo Yi with a deep gaze, as if wanting to imprint Mo Yi¡¯s face into the deepest recesses of his mind. The familiar scent of pine enveloped Mo Yi. Mo Yi stretched out his other hand, resting it against Wen Chen¡¯s cheek. Wen Chen appeared to be taken aback by this sudden action. He froze for an instant, but then quickly rxed his body in the next moment, obediently allowing Mo Yi to gently caress his face with his fingers. Mo Yi stared at him thoughtfully, his fingers lightly tracing the sharp angles of Wen Chen¡¯s jaw. The skin under his fingertips was slightly cold, the temperature and texture resembling delicate jade. The cool surface seemingly warmed up under Mo Yi¡¯s careful carasses and the temperature gradually rose, turning warm against his fingertips¡ª Mo Yi¡¯s pensive gaze slowly sharpened as he focused his sight on Wen Chen¡¯s face. There was a slight blush on the other man¡¯s face beginning from the roots of the ears. It crept up, dyeing his whole face a light pink, and the tips of his ears hidden in the ck hair were even more red. But Wen Chen refused to look away. He kept his eyes trained on Mo Yi, his light-coloured eyes scalding and his breathing hurried. It¡¯s itchy. Mo Yi lowered his eyes slightly. Then, as if to make the itching go away, he exerted a little force on his hand to pull Wen Chen¡¯s face closer, and gently kissed the other man¡¯s lips. Their lips pressed lightly against each other, the soft velvety texture was clearly and distinctly imprinted in their minds. Mo Yi parted his mouth and sucked on Wen Chen¡¯s lower lip lightly, and the other¡¯s body trembled slightly. Wen Chen raised his hand to hold Mo Yi¡¯s nape. He made a move to return the kiss, but was stopped by Mo Yi¡¯s finger on his chin. Mo Yi withdrew, breaking the kiss, then rose to his feet. He looked back at Wen Chen, his gaze tracing the contours of Wen Chen¡¯s face. The soft, short and tender kiss just now was nothing more than a brief rubbing of the lips, with no deeper contact. However, Wen Chen reacted even more intensely than the deep kiss they shared previously, with his face beingpletely red, chest heaving violently, and his light-coloured eyes watering and gaze fierce yet confused. He stared nkly at Mo Yi, his breathing still messy and heavy. He pressed his lips together into a tight line, as though trying to suppress something. Mo Yi nced away, surveying his room, and his eyesnded on the white note on his bedside table. He did not reach out to pick up the piece of paper immediately. Instead, he simply moved his shoulders lightly, his brows furrowing into a deep grimace when he felt the thin fabric of his sweat-drenched clothes pulling ufortably on his body. Mo Yi turned to Wen Chen and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to take a shower, you can treat do as you please in the meantime.¡± After speaking, he turned and walked towards the bathroom. Wen Chen¡¯s gaze never left him, but the light in his eyes slowly dimmed, and he eventually nodded in a silent affirmation. Mo Yi¡¯s gaze flickered slightly. He leaned forward all of a sudden, tilting his body down, and dropped a light peck on his lips. Wen Chen¡¯s eyes widened instantly. Mo Yi¡¯s ears grew warm. He spun around and said as he stalked into the bathroom as if nothing had happened, ¡°By the way, you¡¯ve used up so much of your energy in the instance earlier. Are you sure you¡¯re fine?¡± Wen Chen¡¯s voice,ing from behind him, was deep and hoarse. ¡°¡­not sure.¡± Mo Yi¡¯s hand was already on the doorknob of the bathroom, but when he heard this, he subconsciously turned to look at Wen Chen questioningly. ¡°Oh ?¡± Only to see that Wen Chen¡¯s figure was slowly getting more and more translucent under the soft sunlight streaming through the window. The halo of light passing through his body grew brighter, and with it, Wen Chen¡¯s features blurred away bit by bit. ¡°I may have to sleep for a while.¡± The colour on his face hadn¡¯t faded yet. He was staring at Mo Yi with eyes which were bing fainter, yet he still raised the corners of his mouth. ¡°It¡¯s just that I have to ask for my reward first, otherwise what would I do if you decide to default?¡± After saying this, Wen Chen seemed to have recalled something and let out a small, unnatural cough. At this point, his figure had almostpletely dissipated into a light mist, only leaving a vague outline under the sunlight. Yet before hepletely dissipated, he said onest sentence, the words echoing softly through the room. ¡°¡­but now I owe you something in return.¡± Mo Yi took in the sight of the empty room. The corners of his mouth twitched, and he pushed hard on the doorknob with his shaking palm. ¡ªHe didn¡¯t know why, but he had a feeling that he didn¡¯t want to know what Wen Chen would return him with. Half an hourter. Mo Yi exited the bathroom while drying his wet hair. The steam in the bathroom swirled out along with him, and a light fragrance of shower gel permeated the room. cing a slightly damp towel on his shoulders, Mo Yi walked to the bedside table and retrieved the snow-white card and opened it. He nced at it hastily. The words on it were exactly the same as before, the only thing that changed was the duration before the next instance. This time it was a full month. He nonchntly slid the piece of paper back, then opened the small grey box beside it. Inside were the props that Mo Yi bought before thest instance begun. He browsed through the list of items casually, and realised that the purchased props were all automatically transferred into his virtual backpack. Mo Yi pursed his lips slightly¡ªat least in this regard, this game was considered rather humane. He casually inspected the memory of the virtual backpack, and found that there were still several empty grids. At this moment, he seemed to remember something. Mo Yi seemed slightly taken aback. His eyes slowly lit up. He quickly closed his virtual backpack and pulled the wet towel off his shoulder as he strode to the desk and switched on theputer. He stared at the screen with full concentration, slender fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard. The clear and intensive typing sound resounded in the empty room. Strings of symbols and numbers appeared on the light blue screen, the lines increasing one by one, row by row. The reflection of the screen was reflected in Mo Yi¡¯s dark eyes, which were flicking quickly across the screen. Mo Yi stared intently at the small screen in front of him. His concentration was entirely devoted to it as he tapped the keyboard relentlessly, his thoughts morphing rapidly into symbols which flowed out from under his fingertips into lines of data on theputer screen. Then, after an unknown amount of time, Mo Yi finally stopped. He stared at the screen in front of him, his brows pulled into a tight crease¡ª He reached a dead end. The code he saw in hisst instance was just an iplete string of broken codes, and had been delicately concealed. Meanwhile, the code string that Mo Yi typed just now is the most likely option amongst countless possibilities derived from the broken code. He¡¯d typed out the original code from his memory, then used his ability to first try toplete it, then to expand and develop it. Mo Yi stared at the results he had typed on the screen. The screen¡¯s fluorescent light bathed his facial features in a pale blue light, emphasising the furrow of his brows. ¡ªHe reached a dead end. This string of code was too messy andplicated. Even if he tried his best, the result still remained iplete, inert and unworkable. It couldn¡¯t create anything simr to what he¡¯d experienced in the instances¡ªthe ever-changing and fluid closed loop. Mo Yi let out a long sigh in frustration. He turned away from the screen, only to realise that at some point, the room was almostpletely dark, and the only remaining sources of light were from the faint twilight streaming in from the open window and theputer screen in front of him. He moved his shoulder lightly, and couldn¡¯t help hissing¡ª His whole shoulder was so stiff and sore. It felt as though he had just run a marathon. Every single movement he made, no matter how slight, pulled on all his muscles and brought bursts of intense pain. Ever since he washed his hands in the golden basin, Mo Yi had never been in such pain again. He frowned, rubbing his stiff shoulders. Suddenly, he heard a soft, subtle vibration. Mo Yi subconsciously turned his head to look at the mobile phone he had put aside, only to see its screen light up and a message appeared. The name on the disy was Jiang Yuanrou. He reached for his phone with difficulty and unlocked it with an upward swipe, only to see a long list of missed calls and unread messages. Mo Yi frowned slightly¡ªhe was so focused just now that he didn¡¯t even hear the buzzing even once. He was about to click on thetest message when a hasty knock came from the door. Mo Yi froze. He tapped on the screen and nced at the message on the light blue screen: ¡°I¡¯m here.¡ª¡ªfrom Jiang Yuanrou¡± The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!