Chapter 198 - Resting Memories

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"Ghost Flame!" Cheng Xiu said.

The black flame burst forth from her open palm and covered the Rat counsellor completely.

The Rat screamed in pain as the flame consumed its entire body.

Cheng Xiu fell to her knees and dry heaved.

She spit out blood.

"Human!" the Fork screamed as it rushed her side. "Are you okay?"

Cheng Xiu squeezed her eyes shut to suppress the nausea that she started to feel.

She cut off the Qi connection of the puppet to her immediately.

The puppet turned into a blue talisman again and returned to her storage space.

"Human?" the Spoon asked.

Cheng Xiu raised her eyes and looked at the three of them.

"Are you guys worried about me?" she asked them in a cracked voice.

"No way!" the Fork denied.

"Hmph!" the Spoon turned away from her.

"Yes," the little Torch said to her. "You are the only way for us to break through this Dimensional drift, after all."

Cheng Xiu nodded. "Yes…that is the only reason that you guys would care about me, ah…"

"What happened!" the Fork asked in worry.

Cheng Xiu let out a low chuckle. "Nothing. Just thinking about my other companions."

"We should leave soon," the Spoon said to her.

Cheng Xiu got up from the cold floor and walked towards the blank wall on the opposite side that the rat was climbing in. "Let's go, then."

"Wait!" the Spoon said. "How…how do you know which wall to approach?"

Cheng Xiu smiled. "The wall at that side will lead to the outside world, and this wall…the one that is opposite the one that counsellor climbed will send us to the other Rat Counsellor."

"Then why are we going there!" the Fork asked her in agitation.

Cheng Xiu shook her head. "How can it be so easy? We can only clear this dungeon if we defeat all the bosses in it. The dimensional Drift will not go away without us defeating the other counsellor too."

"We don't think so!" the Fork screamed.

"It is not your choice," the Cheng Xiu said as she took a step forwards.

The Torch blocked her path.

Cheng Xiu stopped and stared at the creature.

"You…you are weak right now," the Torch said, "You even spit blood. Do you think it is smart to go to the next fight without even resting?"

Cheng Xiu frowned. It was right. She would just die if she went like this…and she couldn't die without clearing the dungeon in this round. If she did, then the NPC Xiao Hua will die. And even though it is an NPC, any life that was entrusted upon her to protect should be protected.

But…

"…What should I do?"

The Torch was surprised that she listened to its words. It had always thought that humans were impulsive and reckless but now…it seemed this one was different at least.

"Go out," the Torch said. It felt the resistance that Cheng Xiu had to this idea so rushed to explain itself. "So that you can rest for a few moments and maybe even buy some things to replenish yourself. After that you can come back here. I am sure there would be other means to reach the counsellor."

Cheng Xiu thought about it for a moment and then nodded. That did seem to make sense.

She walked to the other blank wall, her steps staggering, and pressed her palm on it's cold surface.

The wall split open and revealed the Red hue of the nest again.

Cheng Xiu gulped and stepped out of the room.

The three animated objects ran past her like their life depended on it.

"You! Don't you know that you have to take us with you! We would have been trapped in there if we did not act quickly!" the sliver Fork screamed, the red hue of the Torches no longer reflected on its surface.

Cheng Xiu blinked. "You guys did not tell me there was something like that before."

The three stood still, understanding her words.

"Well…anyway! We are now free!" the Fork said happily.

"We are not," the Spoon said in a calm voice.

The spokes on the Fork drooped. "We are not? Do we have to fight a rat counsellor again?"

"You are asking that as though you are the one to fight Lord Ronni," the Torch said with a disdainful voice.

Cheng Xiu blinked. "Which one of you is Ronni?"

"Is there something wrong with your memory?" the Fork asked.

Cheng Xiu stiffened. "What?"

"We told you that the Rat counsellor was called Ronni."

"I am fine," Cheng Xiu said. "I just forgot about it for a few moments."

"You can buy the things you want to now," the Torch said, pointing towards the place that a black masked man stood.

Cheng Xiu looked around. There were no chasms around her anymore.

She walked up to the counter, her strides calm and collected.

The woman at the counter was thin and frail. She was flirting with the man in the black mask who kept looking at his talismans. He asked for more.

The NPC nodded and went into a room behind the cupboard to get more.

They waited for a long time.

The NPC returned with another box of talismans.

The man looked through them all and asked the NPC to get another box.

As the NPC left, Cheng Xiu could not hold back anymore.

"Excuse me," Cheng Xiu said to him.

The man looked up. Deep black eyes that seemed like the unending starry sky looked at her.

"Yes?" he asked.

Cheng Xiu blinked. There was a sense of familiarity in the aura around him and the way that he held himself. Even his voice seemed to be familiar to her.

Cheng Xiu shook such thoughts away. His voice was too memorable. There was no way that she would have actually forgotten that kind of a voice if she had actually heard it.

"Are you done?"

"Are you in a hurry?"

Cheng Xiu frowned at the man's question. "I…um…I have to get back to the quest at hand after refreshing myself."

The man hmmed. "I can't decide which talisman to buy. Can you help me?"

Cheng Xiu blinked. She looked above the man's head to find a floating blue crystal. Definitely a player. "I don't have much experience in this area."

"That is fine…I just need an honest opinion."

Cheng Xiu looked sideways at the man. She leaned forwards to peek at his collection.

The closer she got to him, the more her heart seemed to settle. She felt like he was someone who was capable. Someone she could trust to not screw things up.

Cheng Xiu stilled. Where did that thought come from.

The masked man looked at the white masked woman in front of him with considering eyes and then chuckled.

"First time visiting a Nest?"

Cheng Xiu blinked. That was right. This place was called the Nest…someone told her that…who? Who told her that?...

"You should not be so nervous about it," the man said to her. "The Nest is a safe heaven. The NPCs of the dungeons can not influence the place much."

"So they can influence the place to an extent?" Cheng Xiu asked the man.

He nodded. "The Nest is the place that the Witch of the Dungeon creates her magical spells and stuff. You can think of it as a warehouse. So the fact that the players can go in and out of it safely is tells you how much the tower controls the Nests. But in the end, if the NPC witch is someone significant in the dungeon the Nest becomes places of ambushes."

Cheng Xiu thought his words over. She remebered that the Twins of this dungeon were all witches. And there were hidden moves on her mind throughout the dungeon.

"Then I have to be careful I guess," Cheng Xiu said with a laugh.

"Oh? Why is that?" the man asked.

"The Queens of this dungeon are witches."

The man made a sound of understanding. "Then we should get out of here quickly. Please choose a talisman for me."

Cheng Xiu nodded. "Sure. So what are you looking of exactly?"

The man stilled. "What?"

"I mean…what is the purpose of the talisman? Why are you buying it?"

The man frowned. "That…that…"

Cheng Xiu was curious about the doubt in his voice and looked up from her examination of the talismans.

"What is it?"

"I don't know," the man said.

Cheng Xiu detected the displeasure at that idea in the man's tone.

"I guess everyone forgets such things occasionally," Cheng Xiu comforted him, "My best friend takes me shopping and then forgets what exactly she wanted to buy and keeps staring at the shop shelves as though it will help her restore her memories. It happens."

"It doesn't happen to me," the man said it in a cold voice. "I might be in an illusion."

"Aren't you a Level 70 player? How can you fall into an illusion?"

"How do you know that?" the man asked in suspicion.

Cheng Xiu stilled. "I…don't know…"

The man looked at her for a moment. "I guess we should introduce ourselves to each other again then."

"Huh?"

"Something tells me we came into this Nest together."

Cheng Xiu stood still in shock.