CH 147

Chapter 147 – 1992-2020

Someone!?

Who was it?!

Little Apple’s first reaction was surprise: Was it another player who had been teleported with them? But after thinking about it, that wasn’t right. All other players except them should be dead. Even if someone survived in the wild, why didn’t they come to join them for so many days?

What’s more, the first snowy night was so cold and there were also probably ghosts hiding in the snow. Even if there were no ghosts, normal people would not be able to survive the night in the snow!

So, who was eating lunch here just a moment ago?

Little Apple couldn’t help but clench the watermelon knife behind her back. Lian Qiao didn’t say anything, just bent down and continued to rummage through the construction waste.

Little Apple asked: “What are you looking for?”

Lian Qiao: “A weapon.”

Little Apple was stunned for a moment, then remembered that Lian Qiao’s consecrated crowbar had already been given to Xu RenDong. This was the only anti-ghost treasure in the ghost world.

Lian Qiao not only gave up the crowbar, but also threw all the equipment in the backpack. At the moment, the two of them only have a watermelon knife on them. If they really want to fight,  Lian Qiao will suffer a lot.

Little Apple quickly handed him the watermelon knife: “Then I’ll give this back to you!” Who was she kidding, Lian Qiao’s fighting power was much stronger than hers so she wouldn’t lose out!

As long as Lian Qiao survived, she would have a chance to escape. What’s more, if Lian Qiao died, don’t worry about ghosts, Xu RenDong would surely kill her after school!

Lian Qiao didn’t take it but carefully rummaged through the rubble. Quickly, he grabbed a brick and weighed it in his hand.

“Well, I can use this.”

Little Apple: “…” Is it really appropriate to knock ghosts with bricks?

In the end, Lian Qiao’s actions were deliberate. He was not satisfied with one brick—he found several bricks and stuffed them into his coat pocket.

The bricks of that era were solid bricks of conscience and were very heavy. Lian Qiao saw that Little Apple was worried, so he generously gave her two pieces, telling her that the bricks can not only be used to hit people but also can be thrown as a hidden weapon and was very useful.

Little Apple: “…” I understand the truth of your words but I really can’t lift these two bricks!

Under Little Apple’s stern refusal, Lian Qiao had no choice but to stuff the two beautifully shaped bricks back into his pocket, then turned around and walked towards the unfinished building. Little Apple caught up and asked in surprise, “Aren’t you tired, walking with so many bricks on your back?

“They’re okay.” Lian Qiao didn’t even turn around. “These days I’ve gotten used to holding the baby and my arm has gotten stronger, my family’s baby is much heavier than this.”

Little Apple: “…Indeed.”

It has to be said, Lian Qiao looks quite handsome holding the baby with one hand.

The two entered the unfinished building and saw only darkness in front of them. Reasonably, their mobile phones had torches but it’s a pity that they have been in the instance for many days now and their mobile phones have long since run out of battery. The flashlight that Lian Qiao brought in was with RenDong as well so now he had to feel around in the dark.

Fortunately, the structure of the unfinished building was relatively simple. Once inside, it was a large empty room, with holes in the walls all around, through which a little light came in.

The two narrowed their eyes and, with the little light, they could barely make out the scene in the hall.

They didn’t know what the building was originally built for. Broken bricks and tiles were scattered on the ground and there were exposed wires on the wall. There seemed to be an electric light. Lian Qiao groped for a while on the unpainted wall and found the light switch. He  tapped it but the light didn’t come on.

There was no electricity.

This is also normal.

The wind from the street blew in through the hole in the wall and it was cool. At this time, the rush hour for work and school has passed, the road has become quiet and even the wind brings a sense of desertion. Little Apple felt chills on her back and couldn’t help rubbing her arms, and complaining: “It’s too dark here, I can’t see anything clearly.”

Lian Qiao’s voice came from the darkness, clear and calm: “It might be better to go upstairs.”

You still want to go upstairs? !

Little Apple instinctively didn’t want to go but she clearly knew that it was impossible not to go. If you don’t go into the tiger’s den, you won’t catch the tiger’s cubs. If there are any key clues hidden in this scene, then the clues will definitely not be lying in the sun waiting for them to find them.

It’s useless to be afraid so she decided to go herself.

Lian Qiao wouldn’t cheat her but he also wouldn’t protect her like he did with RenDong, so she could only be careful and follow Lian Qiao upstairs.

The stairs were very narrow, quite characteristic of that era. There was all sorts of rubbish strewn about on the steps but it was too dim to see clearly. Little Apple held her breath and took every step extremely carefully, for fear of making any noise and disturbing the things upstairs.

It was unknown whether it was because of Lian Qiao’s good night vision or his boldness, but the darkness didn’t affect his speed at all. But after a few steps, he will stop and wait for Little Apple.

So, in just a dozen steps, the two walked for several minutes and finally came to the second floor.

The second floor was better lit than the first but it’s still a large, empty room with nothing special besides construction debris.

Lian Qiao planned to go further up. Little Apple asked in a low voice: “Are we going to the top?”

“…” For some reason, Lian Qiao didn’t reply immediately.

Little Apple waited for his answer in amazement, vaguely feeling that his breathing rate was a little fast.

Something was not quite right.

“What’s wrong with you?” Little Apple whispered, “Did you find anything?”

“…No.” Lian Qiao finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly, “…It hurts a little.”

“Hurts?” Little Apple asked first. She didn’t know why but she felt panicked. “Your back?”

Lian Qiao gave a low “en”. He took another deep breath and then said: “It has been in pain for three days. It hurts quite a lot now..”

Little Apple was shocked. She thought the ghost claw print was just a mark and only now did she realize it also had a damage effect?! But she couldn’t tell at all that Lian Qiao had been enduring it all this time!

Was it because he was scared Xu RenDong would be worried? But this kind of thing is a matter of life and death, and he still wanted to conceal it, it’s really-

Thinking of this, Little Apple was startled again.

No, in fact, what Lian Qiao is thinking, she understood.

Even if Xu RenDong was told about the ghost hand print, so what? What can he do to save Lian Qiao?

It’s just adding to the trouble.

Little Apple felt complicated and didn’t know what to say for a moment. Lian Qiao didn’t care what she was thinking and just walked up without saying a word.

Little Apple raised her head, looked at the faint figure in the darkness and suddenly felt sore in her heart.

“Hey…” As soon as Little Apple opened her mouth, she felt a hand wave in front of her eyes.

“Shh! Don’t talk yet!” Lian Qiao slapped her mouth, which startled Little Apple so much that she almost fell off the steps.

Lian Qiao’s palms were hot and slightly damp with sweat. Little Apple’s face became hot and she couldn’t help pursing her lips. Inadvertently, her lips touched Lian Qiao’s palm and she suddenly felt that there were many strange dents in Lian Qiao’s palm.

Like… fingernail marks?

Little Apple’s heart skipped a beat— was he in such pain?

Has he always endured like this?

Lian Qiao really deserves to be a family with Xu RenDong. He shouldn’t be called Lian Qiao, he should be called Xu RenTong {“RenTong” is “Endure Pain”. “RenDong” if you remember, is “Endure Cold/Winter”.}

It’s so strange. RIght now it was an emergency but there were many strange thoughts in Little Apple’s mind. She couldn’t help raising the corners of her mouth and smiling slightly.

Lian Qiao seemed to be wary of something and didn’t notice Little Apple’s strangeness. He took two steps down, retreated into Little Apple and whispered in her ear, “Do you hear… the singing?”

Little Apple was taken aback and quickly listened intently. With Lian Qiao’s reminder, she finally noticed a strange sound coming from above the stairs.

The voice was exactly as Lian Qiao said, like a singing voice. But the melody was extremely strange, sometimes high-pitched, sometimes low-pitched and the tune dragged on for a long time but also sometimes stopped abruptly.

The singing was very far away, ethereal and uncertain. The person who sang was probably on the fourth floor so they couldn’t make out the lyrics. This person should also be unaware of their arrival.

Little Apple’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Suppressing her frantic heartbeat, she asked in a low voice: “What should we do?”

Lian Qiao: “Beat him.”

Little Apple: “…”

He just said it and immediately followed up with action. Lian Qiao quickly sprinted up to the fourth floor, grabbed a brick and threw it at the source of the singing. While smashing it down, he shouted: “Form is emptiness! Emptiness is form!” The sudden chanting echoed in the empty and dark building and, although it was absurd, it actually sounded a bit righteous.

Little Apple: “???” Throwing bricks with consecration on the spot? You really don’t delay when it comes to beating people and ghosts!

The shadow in the darkness also seemed to be stunned for a moment, before being hit by a brick in the head and falling to the ground with a bang.

Hearing the sound of falling to the ground, Little Apple immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Then she thought: wait no, I should add an extra stab in for security!

She took out a watermelon knife and was about to rush forward but was stopped by Lian Qiao.

“Don’t worry.” Lian Qiao said, “He’s already fainted.”

Little Apple said in amazement, “Then why don’t you hurry up and add an extra knife while he’s paralyzed?” (Note)

Lian Qiao said helplessly: “Why are you in such a hurry to silence him? What if he’s an NPC who provides clues?”

Little Apple: “You’re the one who said to beat him!”

Lian Qiao: “I said beat him but I didn’t say kill him. Come on, help me drag him out and see who it is.”

The structure of the fourth floor is different from the three floors below. It was divided into two rooms, one large and one small. The big room leads to the stairs, which is where they rushed up. But the big room was airtight and pitch black. There was a little light in the small room.

So they each dragged an arm and dragged the man into the small room.

As soon as Little Apple touched him, she knew that this guy was a man and he was quite a burly man. The warm body temperature, rough and soft skin all prove that this is a living person, not a ghost.

Little Apple wondered while dragging the person, why was this person hiding in the dark and singing, was he trying to scare himself?

And when the two of them dragged him to a bright place, they were even more surprised.

This was actually a monk!

Wearing a bright yellow monk robe, with six scars on the top of his head and a string of sandalwood rosary beads hanging around his neck, he looks like an through-and-through monk!

Little Apple was stunned and turned to look at Lian Qiao, only to find that Lian Qiao also looked shocked.

“Isn’t this the goddamn Rock…” Before he could finish speaking, Lian Qiao’s face suddenly changed, his fingers clutched his chest tightly and he knelt down on the ground frowning.

Little Apple was shocked. At the same time, a crisp sound was heard, which seemed to be the sound of a glass bottle falling to the ground. She turned around in surpris, and saw a bottle of “XX Soy Milk” rolling away from Lian Qiao’s feet on the ground. Not far away, there is a plastic bag on the ground. Inside the plastic bag were two boxes of lunch, unopened and still steaming.

The packaging of the lunch box was exactly the same as the one they saw in the garbage dump downstairs.

Before Little Apple could react, he suddenly heard someone’s voice on the stairs.

There are still other people?! Was it a friend of the monk?

Little Apple turned pale with shock. At this time, the monk fell to the ground, his head was covered with blood and his status was unknown. Lian Qiao knelt on the ground, clutching his chest, dripping with cold sweat, trembling all over, but three bloody handprints slowly appeared on his back.

And the voice on the stairs was getting closer! Judging by the sound, there were several people, laughing and talking raucously.

Faintly, there also seemed to be another shrill, thin, kitten-like voice. “No, no,” it called out.

What to do!?

***

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Note: Paralysis: Indicates the state in which a character cannot act after casting a certain skill/receiving specific damage.