CH 69

The sky gradually darkened, sweeping the warm light of dusk through the streets and alleys. Ge Tingting quickly checked the doors and window as Huang Jin sat up on the bed, propped up his body, and looked out the window vigilantly.

Night was coming. It was less than an hour before the last nightfall.

The first nightfall occurred around 11 a.m., and the “night” lasted for about half an hour. This time, the night was coming at noon. Their partners had just left for twenty minutes, so they had to hide for at least half an hour.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t get separated.

According to Shian’s request that “you must not act separately for over an hour”, Yin Ren’s and Zhong Chengshuo’s situation was a bit bad… They didn’t know what would happen if they were separated for too long.

Huang Jin casually glanced at Ge Tingting, then abruptly stopped.

“Hey!” He took out two wooden peace and tranquility talismans from his pocket and threw one towards Ge Tingting.

The latter was leaning against the window, motionless, as she stared intently outside. It seemed that she didn’t hear Huang Jin as the wooden talisman fell at her feet, and she didn’t respond.

Click.

Hearing the crisp sound of wood, the girl seemed to have woken up from a dream and rubbed her eyes vigorously.

[Ten Thousand Taels: Your thinking was a little stagnant just now. What are you looking at?]

[Ear Person: I’m looking at pedestrians. They are smiling at me.]

[Ten Thousand Taels: They have no face.]

[Ear Person: I know. I was confused for a short while. It’s just… I think the world should be like this—it’s normal.]

[Ear Person: Strange, last time I thought it was very scary.]

[Ten Thousand Taels: Wear the wooden talismans and keep it close to you and stay away from the window.]

[Milky Way: Huang Jin’s suggestion is good, but there’s no need to be so close to the enemy.] Lu Xiaohe suddenly joined the conversation. Strangely, the text of her reply was beating slightly.

[Milky Way: Look at %. There is no @ or anything %#…] Incomprehensible characters began to mix between her words.

Huang Jin pressed his temples hard and then looked intently at the two replies from “Milky Way” that had disappeared.

Compared to Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, they encountered trouble first.

Ge Tingting was extremely cautious around adult men. After the pair of partners left, she shrank to the corner farthest from Huang Jin and just stared out the window without making any eye contact. In a sense, it was as if both were alone.

It wasn’t until Ge Tingting’s thoughts on the surface began to stagnate on the surface of her body and became mottled that Huang Jin noticed the strangeness.

It was no wonder why Shian emphasized “don’t act separately for more than an hour”. Inside the Archive, “being alone” was dangerous. Even if they weren’t injured as a result, their mobility and efficiency would become lower.

For example, like now. In Huang Jin’s eyes, this hotel was familiar. He only stayed here for a few hours, but he felt a subconscious intimacy as if he had lived here for many years.

Huang Jin also hung a peace and tranquility talisman around himself and took a deep breath. “Since there’s only us now, you’d better not stay by the window. It’s not safe there.”

“Okay.” After Ge Tingting put on the talisman, she finally recovered. Her body was trembling slightly. “But I have to take another look at the situation.”

As night fell, the orange-red outside the window had faded to gray-black.

Ge Tingting took a deep breath and bravely glanced out the window. Sure enough, the monsters reappeared.

This time, the ranks of the small monsters were sparse; much fewer than last time. Their posture had also changed subtly. Last time, they seemed to be wandering aimlessly, while this time, they all swarmed in a certain direction, looking as if they were in a hurry.

[Ear Person: I can hear their squeaking sound. They may be communicating.]

[Ear Person: It’s different from last time. They were very quiet last time.]

After typing, she closed the curtains with a swish and ran to Huang Jin’s bed to sit down. Huang Jin nodded at her, indicating he had seen it.

After Ge Tingting communicated with him, Huang Jin’s inexplicable “environment intimacy” quickly faded—as if immersed in a game with crude modeling, suddenly a figure outside his field of vision began to talk. That impact was enough to make people realize the dividing line between “reality” and “illusory”.

The Archive was truly a wicked place.

“Hello, Lu Xiaohe?” Making sure that there weren’t any little monsters that were breaking into the room, Huang Jin tapped on his headset. “It’s nightfall. Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo haven’t come back yet.”

“It’s not a problem,” Lu Xiaohe said. “I’m looking at their physical condition, and the two of them are fine for the time being.”

It was better to say that those two guys were more than capable. Lu Xiaohe took a sip of her orange soda as her eyes swept across the emotional scale.

Zhong Chengshuo’s emotions were still stable at “Curious”, “Excited” and “Like”. Yin Ren didn’t have any emotions, such as fear. At most, he was a little “Surprised”, and the rest were only “Happy” and “Like” which kept floating higher.

Why was the “Like” index of these two guys getting higher?

Lu Xiaohe scratched her head, perplexed.

The emotions inside the “Archive” would be more prominent, but Shian could only analyze emotions, but couldn’t distinguish the source.

As far as Lu Xiaohe knew, the interior of the Archive wasn’t a good place.

This time, Guo Laifu’s “street Archive” was even considered normal compared to the Archive that Unit 7 had entered last time. In the mind of that mad man was a huge harem, which forced the people in Unit 7 to wear concubine clothing. Wang Ge of the science post had to run around wearing a dress and suffered greatly.

But no matter how innocuous the background of these files was, they always had a distorted and treacherous side. Coupled with the monsters crawling all over the ground at night, the Archive itself was by no means inviting.

Besides affection towards one’s companions, Lu Xiaohe couldn’t think of anything else these two guys would like—the problem was that the indicators of these two people were already beyond the scope of affection towards one’s teammate. As soon as night fell, their “Like” index gratifyingly rose.

It shouldn’t be some new type of monster that confused them, but it was a pity she couldn’t see the surveillance screen. Lu Xiaohe sighed.

“Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, report your situation.”

She tried to contact the two of them.

“I’m running for my life right now. Let’s talk later.” After a gap of more than ten seconds, Yin Ren’s vague voice came.

Lu Xiaohe: “……”

She glanced suspiciously at the emotional indices of the two people and for the first time began to doubt the accuracy of Shian’s machinery.

……

To be precise, Yin Ren was indeed fleeing.

The surrounding buildings looked like residential areas, but who knew what the hell kind of messy things were inside. The moment those monsters appeared, Yin Ren grabbed Zhong Chengshuo’s waist, and the two flew into the sky again.

Not long ago, it seemed that not many of these monsters could fly. They just need to remember this place and quickly fly back to the hotel—

“Yin Ren!” Zhong Chengshuo warned.

Yin Ren looked down and almost choked.

For some unknown reason, all the small monsters in the vicinity gathered around them. They squirmed into groups, folded into thin and long “arms”, and grabbed at the two of them.

In the dark night, they seemed to have dived into a deep sea of malicious intent. The arms looked like seaweed floating with the waves.

“Not possible!” Lord Ghost King hugged his partner tightly and flew higher. “Weren’t they quite peaceful before?”

Did they commit any taboos? Such as an electric shock, sealing the toilet, cutting off a sample with scissors, or something like that…

Perhaps all that was too much. Yin Ren silently dodged an inverted arm. He couldn’t go back to the hotel now. If these things followed, the scene would be enough to leave brand-new psychological scars for Huang Jin and Ge Tingting.

…But why was Zhong Chengshuo so calm?

Yin Ren looked at the scholar’s face—Zhong Chengshuo was looking curiously at the little monsters stacked on top of each other with no emotion on his handsome face.

“How about this. I’ll find a roof nearby and use that trick again.” Yin Ren removed the headset and whispered to Zhong Chengshuo.

If he wrapped a wing ball around them, it should be regarded as “tightly closed door and windows”. When the night was over, they would fly back immediately.

“No,” Zhong Chengshuo responded simply. “Once you’re affected, the consequences are unimaginable.”

“How can I…” Yin Ren suddenly realized something before he finished speaking.

His emotions in the “Archive” weren’t right. There was always a feeling of lightness deep in his mind. His mood swings were greater than those of the outside world, so it was difficult to say whether they had anything to do with these things.

“After entering here, you’ve been very excited and often distracted.”

Seeing that Yin Ren didn’t respond, Zhong Chengshuo sincerely added. At this moment, he was tightly hugged by Yin Ren around his waist and abdomen, so his voice was a bit low.

“You and Huang Jin aren’t the same. We can’t take risks.”

Yin Ren held his partner’s hand tightly.

If he went out of control like Huang Jin, then Zhong Chengshuo would be one unlucky man—a single blow would not solve the Evil Force in his human form. Even if it was only a one-in-a-billion chance, Yin Ren didn’t want to be cocky.

“I understand,” Yin Ren replied solemnly. “Let’s continue to stall for time.”

“No, find another roof.” Zhong Chengshuo turned his head and took off his headset. “You can’t try, but I can.”

His face was full of eagerness. “Even if I can’t take a sample, I have to get some data.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Yin Ren protested.

“You can control me, and you’ll protect me,” Zhong Chengshuo said without much thought.

Yin Ren: “……”

Lord Ghost King’s breathing was short for a few seconds. He looked away, and his voice became muffled again. “Indeed.”

Not only did his evil identity fail to deter Zhong Chengshuo, but it became a pigtail in the hands of the other party. However, what Zhong Chengshuo said was still accurate—looking at those eyes, he couldn’t say anything harsh in response.

Yin Ren painfully decided that when they returned he would read <The Art of Communication>. It most assuredly contained some mysterious knowledge he wasn’t aware of.

Not long after, Yin Ren found a spacious roof and put Zhong Chengshuo down.

“…You try. I’m nearby. We’ll withdraw if the situation isn’t right.” As the small monsters slowly approached, Yin Ren looked more nervous than Zhong Chengshuo. “Don’t force it.”

Zhong Chengshuo moved and put black gloves on his hands. Yin Ren floated above him, posing in a protective posture as his long hair fluttered in the air.

The small monsters climbed along the side of the building, and the first batch was about to arrive.

Whoosh. A fleshy xanthium rushed towards Zhong Chengshuo. Yin Ren saw Great King Yama grab it then—

Placed it on top of his head.

Yin Ren and the fleshy xanthium: “?”

Zhong Chengshuo held his breath for a few seconds, then tore it off suspiciously. “Why are you so useless?”

Fleshy xanthium: “……”

Oh, this was the Zhong Chengshuo that Yin Ren was familiar with. For a moment, Yin Ren felt that the thing wanted to curse.

Zhong Chengshuo flicked it off with his hand. The xanthium was thrown off the roof as Zhong Chengshuo tried the same thing with two more. Except for making him feel slimy, they didn’t do any harm to him.

The second group of monsters that climbed up were spider-legged. They were white all over, and their four spider feet were spliced from the root. Those things were about half a person tall and moved awkwardly and stiffly, making people’s stomachs churn as they watched them.

The one in the lead ran quickly and wrapped itself around Zhong Chengshuo in a menacing manner. Seeing that Zhong Chengshuo successfully confronted the monster, Yin Ren rolled up his sleeves and created a series of winds that carpet bombed the area. All the spiders that were rushing over were all blown away by the gale.

Comrade Xiao Zhong and a spider’s feet were passionately embraced for a few seconds in the middle of the gale…

“You’re useless too,” he commented with disappointment.

Zhong Chengshuo made a beautiful spin, and the spider-footed monster was thrown to the ground. Great King Yama stepped on the thing’s long foot connection with one foot and pressed his hands hard. A dull sound resonated; the spider-footed monster’s foot was actually ripped off by him.

This time, before Zhong Chengshuo could say anything, the white monster rolled back and ran away.

Yin Ren raised his hand to stop the wind. The offensive of the rest of the little monsters suddenly slowed down significantly. They surged around the roof, watching these two bold humans.

Zhong Chengshuo split the overly long spider foot on his knee and removed a long, sword-like hooked claw, spinning it around his hand with satisfaction. “Yin Ren, take a break.”

Having said that, he took the initiative to rush towards the small group of monsters.

Yin Ren floated faintly in the air. He thought for a while, then tore open the dried mango bag he was carrying.

Unlike when he fought against Bai Yongji, this was the first time he had witnessed “King Yama” fighting head-on.

Like a sharp knife, Zhong Chengshuo pierced the place where the monsters were most dense. It was confirmed that the “useless” ones were knocked into the air by the first wave, while Zhong Chengshuo would deliberately let those with “faces” get close.

However, they didn’t satisfy him—the encirclement of the little monsters was torn apart again and again, and they quickly joined the category of “useless” and were ruthlessly swept off the rooftop by Zhong Chengshuo.

Zhong Chengshuo’s physical strength seemed inexhaustible. The severed limb was like a piercing, sharp sword. The long legs that were wrapped around his suit were chopped and swept away. He moved freely in the sea of monsters without a single superfluous action.

The suit jacket that was unbuttoned flew up and down like a black dead leaf.

When he hit the target, Zhong Chengshuo jumped off the edge of the low building, using the little monsters as a pedestal as he leapt freely in the air. His body was like a fish swimming in the deep sea.

For a while, fleshy xanthium and spider legs were scattered about, while sticky fern-like monsters were trampled on the ground.

The emotional influence they prided themselves on having had no effect, and their bodies couldn’t trap this evil spirit. The small monsters in the dark night all folded and crawled around Zhong Chengshuo, trying to avoid him.

Finally, the sky gradually lit up, and those distorted figures silently disappeared.

The first beam of light appeared. Zhong Chengshuo jumped off the edge of the rooftop and landed on the back of a spherical monster. The monster turned into a phantom in the light. Zhong Chengshuo’s feet didn’t touch anything solid, and he fell straight downward—

“Snap.”

The next moment, Yin Ren grabbed Zhong Chengshuo’s hand and pulled him back onto the rooftop.

Zhong Chengshuo raised the corner of his mouth.

Despite such a thrilling moment, Zhong Chengshuo’s breathing wasn’t chaotic; only his clothes were slightly damaged. When he returned to the rooftop, he sat on the edge and straightened his sweaty hair as he took a long breath.

Yin Ren sat down beside him. “They can’t affect you. Is this also an ability of a science post?”

Unlike Huang Jin, Zhong Chengshuo had no emotional abnormality, but when Lu Xiaohe was briefing them, she didn’t say anything along the lines of “science posts aren’t affected”.

“Perhaps,” Zhong Chengshuo said hesitantly. “The combat ability of these things isn’t strong, but they’re difficult to kill. It’s best not to entangle with them too much… If we must face them, I’ll need a spirit weapon.”

Before dawn, there were quite a few severed limbs and unknown liquids on the ground, but not a single body in sight. If the emotional influence of these things was still there, they probably weren’t easy to deal with.

Yin Ren was silent. His gaze stopped on Zhong Chengshuo’s messy hair—they had rushed out in such a hurry that he had only remembered to take the dried mangoes, and he hadn’t brought the cleansing wipes.

What a miscalculation.

Fortunately, he still had a way to redeem himself. Yin Ren picked up a piece of dried mango and wrapped it in a napkin, then handed it over to Zhong Chengshuo. “Here, replenish your strength.”

“My hands aren’t…” Zhong Chengshuo opened his mouth, but a piece of dried mango was instantly stuffed into it.

“It’s not bad to watch the sunrise and then go back.” Yin Ren also took a bite and sighed vaguely. “It’s dawn.”

Zhong Chengshuo chewed on the dried mango as he tore open a pack of alcohol wipes and wiped his hands repeatedly five times before he grabbed a piece of the preserved fruit through the napkin.

The bloody dawn swept by, and the street gradually lit up. In the orange-red light, there was a thin mist floating under the building, giving the lush trees a hazy feel, revealing a strange beauty.

“There’s no sun,” Zhong Chengshuo said after he finished chewing on the dried mango.

“Mm, there’s no sun,” Yin Ren repeated. “Next time we play outside, we can take a look at a version with the sun.”

Zhong Chengshuo turned his head and looked at Yin Ren solemnly. He opened his mouth and was just about to say something—

“Yin Ren! Zhong Chengshuo!” Lu Xiaohe’s scream came out of both their pockets. “Put on your headset! I know you’re there!”

Through Comrade Huang Jin’s punctual broadcast, she knew it was dawn and a certain two people’s vital signs were stable, with “Excited” and “Like” readings at a new high.

“Xiaohe Jie?”

“What the hell are you two doing?” Lu Xiaohe felt suffocated as she couldn’t reveal that they were being monitored emotionally. “Why aren’t you wearing your headset?!”

“I was fleeing too messy just now and was afraid of losing it, so I stuffed it in my pocket.” Lord Ghost King lied on the spot. “There was a small crisis, but nothing happened. Zhong Ge and I are fine.”

“…” Lu Xiaohe’s silence was full of suspicion.

“We also found new clues,” Zhong Chengshuo added in time. “We can start the investigation in the afternoon.”

“I see,” Lu Xiaohe reluctantly replied. “Next time, don’t run too far away from the stronghold.”

“Understood.”

……

At 3:00 p.m. outside time, four people stopped at the entrance of the school.

The old doorman opened the window and looked at them blankly. Although he had just seen them a few hours earlier, he didn’t seem to recognize Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo.

“Not a person.” Huang Jin lowered the brim of his cap. “He has no thoughts on him. He’s just a dead thing.”

“What are you doing here?” the old guard asked indifferently.

“Sending a child to school.” Yin Ren put his hand on Ge Tingting’s shoulders. “This is my cousin, whom my family is currently taking care of for the time being. You see, she’s wearing the school’s uniform.”

Ge Tingting gulped. She straightened out her school uniform and put on a stiff smile.

This was Guo Laifu’s brain, so the school uniforms were naturally the style he was most familiar with subconsciously—that was, the style of this school.

“What about him?” The doorman examined Ge Tingting for a moment and then pointed to Zhong Chengshuo.

“He is my…” Yin Ren coughed dryly. “He’s my lover and just transferred to be a trainee teacher. We’ll be living in the faculty dorm, so we’ll often trouble you in the future.”

Zhong Chengshuo said with a stern face, “Mm, I teach biology.”

The strange face of the old doorman twitched twice, but he didn’t say anything. He then turned to Huang Jin. “Maintenance worker? Janitor…”

“Yes, I’m a janitor.” Huang Jin stared at the ground and recited his lines dryly. “Things in the school are breaking fast, and I can fix anything.”

This time the guard thought on the janitor the longest.

“I see.” A few minutes later, he muttered to himself. “Alright, you guys can come in.”

The rusted metal door slowly slid open, and the four of them cautiously stepped into the campus.

“Our school implements fully enclosed management,” the old doorman said slowly as everyone passed through the gate. “You can’t leave even after death, so pay attention.”

The author has something to say:

Thinking about it carefully, two of the four people have not gone to high school (…)

Xiao Zhong is having fun (×

Xiao Yin: We were really fleeing. We only used wind control and physical strikes!