CH 25

The Escape 25 

Xin Lan seemed to have fallen into a dead end, or so it seemed, because on the surface it looked like it.

A straight corridor to the bottom, with black doors on either side.

The space was so cramped and narrow that it felt like you were smothered in something and couldn’t breathe.

In the first moments of her predicament, she didn’t move, just waited for the system in her head to answer, even though she thought it might be useless.

Zero Nine bowed her head in shame in the system space, her powers were too limited in this world, like a compass going haywire in the event of a paranormal event, and she hadn’t scanned anything outside of space this time.

Xin Lan didn’t react too well to this, as was to be expected.

She didn’t open the doors in a hurry, but looked at the wall thoughtfully.

Zero Nine: Host, what are you thinking about?

Xin Lan’s face cleared of its gloom, and she touched the wall with regret.

If I had all my abilities, then I would have chosen to break the wall and walk out.

But the quest world doesn’t allow her to do something like break a wall with one punch, unless she’s in a world of some kind of power.

It’s a shame.

Zero Nine didn’t say a word. This was really too simple, too crude and too real.

Xin Lan said she wouldn’t think about it, but she kicked the wall anyway, with her foot of course, not her hand.

But the moment she kicked it, she felt a sense of déjà vu, like the feeling she had felt in the punishment game when she stepped on the human skinned ghost.

It didn’t seem hard to the touch, but after a few kicks, it was like stepping on the skin of a doll, slightly indented, but not overly soft.

It was impossible to break it, so Xin Lan took the folding knife out of her pocket.

On the other side, Shen Shuiyan was confronting Anna.

She was holding the blade in her hand, threatening Anna’s head, and not far away, in a straight line, was Anna’s body, with Xu Deng standing beside her, her eyes moving back and forth between them warily.

Anna’s mouth was closed as she was threatened by Shen Shuiyan’s slashing of her tongue and face.

“Get her out of there.”

Shen Shuiyan pressed the blade in her hand closer to Anna’s lips, and Anna moved her lips.

The next moment, her body lunged forward and Xu Deng saw it and knocked her away, and they both fell to the ground.

Xu Deng was feeling a bit dizzy at the sight of the headless body, and it was a bit of a thrill to see it up close.

She tried to get up, but the body moved even faster and tried to attack Shen Shuiyan again.

Seeing this, Xu Deng tugged on the torso’s foot and was driven a few steps, dragging it along the ground for a few metres.

She took the pain and picked up a razor blade and stabbed the torso hard.

Anna’s torso paused for a moment at this action, but Xu Deng recoiled and pinned the torso underneath her, her arms and legs entangled, not allowing it to move.

Anna glared in anger as her head was held and her body was pinned down.

The steel bar of the seat on the audience stage was pulled up and flew towards Shen Shuiyan, slamming into the hand that held the knife.

Shen Shuiyan rushed to block it, while the other hand still had a firm grip on Anna’s hair.

The tip of the knife was open on both sides, and as Shen Shuiyan blocked without letting go of the blade, the blade cut her hand and red blood dripped down her palm.

Shen Shuiyan frowned, but still didn’t let go, roughly stabbing the tip of the knife into Anna’s mouth.

“If you don’t let her out, I’ll really cut it so that you can be something like the real Anna, a thing that doesn’t speak.”

Shen Shuiyan couldn’t care about anything else, the Little Tiger was very powerful yes, but the Little Tiger didn’t know where she was now and she was in a panic.

Anna spat out a string of slurred words that Shen Shuiyan barely understood and took the blade out of her mouth and pressed it against her face.

Shen Shuiyan waited for Anna to move, only to see Anna’s expression suddenly twist and let out a cry of dismay.

She looked at Xu Deng and Xu Dang looked at her.

Both of them looked at each other with a slightly confused expression.

The head in her arms started to struggle again. Shen Shuiyan dropped the blade and had to use all her strength to ensure that the head of the suddenly insane Anai would not fly out.

The body pressed underneath Xu Deng was also moving, almost toppling Xu Deng over.

Anna’s screams echoed in her ears in an eerie way.

Xin Lan found something interesting inside the wall, and instead of scratching the wall, she looked at the doors.

If she was right, this was in fact Anna’s body, and each door might represent an organ.

Xin Lan was looking for the heart, and after entering the liver and stomach one after another, she finally found it.

The room was full of intertwined blood vessels and in the middle was a beating heart.

In the middle of the heart was a doll with round eyes and a pretty face, the very Anna she was looking for.

Xin Lan opened the folding knife and sliced through the blood vessels that were blocking her.

A sudden jolt and Xin Lan steadied herself and continued to slice at the veins in front of her.

Anna felt the pain and let out a scream, but something else made her panic even more, she wanted to melt back together so that she could have all her strength, but the two kept stopping her.

Come on, get out of her body!

Xin Lan felt the place where she was shaking even more, and a great suction was coming from the doorway, trying to suck her out of it.

Xin Lan tugged at the veins that held her body in place, and almost ten centimetres away was a beating heart.

The freshly severed blood vessel was scattered to the side, but there was no blood, as if it had been damaged, and Xin Lan’s other hand was still cutting the blood vessel around Anna’s heart, trying to resist the suction from outside the door.

The woman on the outside might not know that there is an old saying that it is easy to invite the devil but difficult to send him away.

After about one minute, Xin Lan took the doll in her hand and at the same time, she was ejected from the room without control.

The moment she was ejected, she wondered what happened to Shen Shuiyan.

Outside, Shen Shuiyan was a little shocked to see the change in the skull in her hand, but quickly realised that the change could not have happened for no reason, it must have been done by the Little Tiger who didn’t know where this thing had gone.

The head in her hand gradually receded from its original beauty, and her skin took on a dark greenish hue, her eyes were thin and long, her lips dark, and she looked a little like some kind of mutated animal.

Her features changed all at once, and Shen Shuiyan felt that there was no way to threaten her if she kept her hands on her.

The skull let out a miserable cry, and a long, thin tongue stretched out from its dark lips, licking towards Shen Shuiyan.

“Xu Deng, get up!”

Xu Deng climbed up with a start, no longer pressed against the deformed body.

The female body, which had been wheaten skinned, had turned black and blue like the head, and had grown some kind of limbs, making it look ugly and strange.

This is what the dolls call a terrible monster.

When Xin Lan was ejected from the room, she was still a little dizzy, and when Shen Shuiyan saw her suddenly appear, she rushed to hold her.

The round eyes were open, and the mouth was open, unable to make a sound.

It looked so grey and decrepit, and although it was a dead thing, it should not have looked so lifeless.

The monster’s head and body had come together the first time it detached itself from Shen Shuiyan and Xu Deng.

She was about 5’8″ and Xin Lan was only 5’6″, standing at a discreet distance, watching her warily.

“Give it to me.”

The monster’s voice hadn’t changed much, it was the same female rocker’s voice, just a little more muffled and hoarse.

“You two get out first.”

There was no time for the two of them to get together.

Shen Shuiyan hesitated for a moment, and the moment she locked eyes with Xin Lan, she clenched her fists, and before she went out from the light point, she also salvaged Xin Lan’s clothes from the seat, and the moment she disappeared, Xu Deng followed closely behind her.

The monster didn’t care about them, his long, slender eyes were fixed on Xin Lan, or rather on the Anna in Xin Lan’s hand.

As Xin Lan tried to move towards the spot of light, the place shook violently.

“Give it to me!”

As the monster approached, Xin Lan took the doll and shook it at her, an act that was tantamount to provocation, and the monster lunged.

The monster lunged at her, bending down to avoid it, and when the monster’s claws reached out, she used the doll as a shield and placed it in front of her.

The Annai in front of her looked like she was in shock, dumbfounded and in tears.

Xin Lan felt the wetness of her fingers and thought it was quite amazing, but the doll could talk, so it was not unusual to see tears coming from somewhere.

“You’re scaring it!”

The monster stopped and looked at Anna with greedy, thirsty eyes, and spoke reproachfully to Xin Lan.

Xin Lan looked amused at the monster’s attitude and wiped away the doll’s tears.

“Anna, why don’t you stay with me? I’ll stay with you, we’ll sing and dance together and become big stars, how wonderful would that be? You’re so good looking and I sing well too.”

The monster was no longer manic, but rather curt in her approach to Anna in Xin Lan”s hand.

She did not know that it was not Anna herself who would stay or go, but Xin Lan.

“Anna was bullied all the time and all she did was cry, Anna was pretty so they were jealous, Anna’s voice was ruined because everyone made it happen, everyone said that Anna was a bad kid and needed to be punished, Anna wanted to run away and one day she made it, where did she go, where did she go, she’s in my heart.”

The monster sang the song and looked at little Anna with pitying eyes.

“You are one of the bullies, aren’t you? You have taken away its liberty and stolen its appearance.”

Xin Lan had no intention of reasoning, but only used this to distract the monster.

For Anna, it was hell on both sides, and it was a doll that was living as a human.

The monster did not listen to what Xin Lan said, she had picked up a random object in her hand as she kept backing away.

“I think you’re right, it’s better to stay with you rather than let Anna be bullied over there, so here you go.”

Xin Lan said and threw something in her hand towards the other side.

The monster lunged at it and found that it was only a lamp and reacted quickly, but Xin Lan was faster and had already touched the spot of light and left in the first place.

Although Xin Lan was a fighter, she could also distinguish between situations, and this was obviously not the right time for a fight.

After Xin Lan came out, the dolls that were already lifeless suddenly seemed to ‘come to life’.

“The bad kid is back!”

“I can’t believe the monster didn’t eat them!”

“Punish it, punish it!”

“Gouge out its eyes!”

The dolls’ voices were full of innocence, but the meanings they expressed were so obviously malicious.

“Anna was bullied all the time and all she did was cry, Anna was pretty so they were jealous, Anna’s voice was ruined because everyone made it happen, everyone said that Anna was a bad kid and needed to be punished, Anna wanted to run away and one day she made it, where did she go, where did she go, she’s in my heart.”

The dolls spoke in unison, their identical smiles eerie, their pure, clean voices full of malice.

Anna cried again, tears falling onto Xin Lan’s hand.

Shen Shuiyan saw the tears and thought that if Anna had been able to speak, she would have had a lot to say.

“It’s time for you to come out, we’ve found Anna.”

Xin Lan said to the air, looking at the hourglass, which had not yet finished leaking.

Anna was lifted up by an unknown force and Xin Lan let go of her hand, watching Anna float in mid-air.

Anna was silent, but her tears were no longer flowing.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know that my little Anna was so badly bullied.”

When that voice rang out in the air, all the dolls felt like they were being choked, unable to make a sound.

The tears on Anna’s face were wiped away by unseen hands, and all the dolls trembled in fear.

“Twenty clue fragments for you, congratulations on completing the game.”

As the voice faded, Xin Lan and the others reappeared on the stairs.

“Finally, back.”

Xu Lan looked down the corridor of the school and felt a sudden sense of kinship.

Shen Shuiyan was also relieved to find the campus even more pleasing after the series of events.

Xin Lan felt her pocket and found a small bag, which she took out and found that it contained many pieces.

“Are we going to be able to get out of here soon?”

Xu Deng had a longing light in his eyes.

“Soon, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow at the latest.”

Xin Lan put the pouch back in her pocket and said so.

“Let’s go back to the dormitory.”

Xin Lan subconsciously went to take Shen Shuiyan’s hand after saying that, but he found that Shen Shuiyan’s hand had shrunk a little and the feeling in his palm was not right either.

“What’s wrong with your hand?”

Xin Lan frowned, let go of his hand and took Shen Shuiyan’s wrist, stretched his palm under the light, and saw the long wound across Shen Shuiyan’s palm.

“Nothing, I accidentally got a scratch earlier.”

Shen Shuiyan shook her head, the Little Tiger finally got out on her own, she didn’t even help much.

She let Xin Lan frown at her palm and saw a bit of worry on her face, but she felt a bit of joy.

“Did that monster do this? If I’d known you were hurt by her, I would have kicked her twice before we went out.”

Xin Lan was so serious that she felt she had suffered a loss.

Shen Shuiyan was amused by her, and with her other hand, she gently patted Xin Lan’s hand that was holding her wrist.

“Let’s go back.”

Xu Deng had already gotten used to this kind of three-person situation, and followed behind Xin Lan as she walked.

After pulling Shen Shuiyan back to the dormitory, Xin Lan asked Zero Nine to find out if there was any medicine to prevent the wound from getting inflamed.

She found it in Xiaochun’s drawer, and there was a spray of Cloudy White Medicine in it.

It turns out that Xin Lan and the others hadn’t seen Xiaochun today.

Maybe something has happened.

Shen Shuiyan obediently reached out and allowed Xin Lan to spray her.

She frowned when the spray touched her wound, but didn’t make a sound, looking at the girl with her eyes focused in the light.

She was really gentle, Shen Shuiyan thought.

And that gentleness was hidden beneath an overpoweringly beautiful exterior that few people could see unless they wanted to.

The rose may be thorny, but when held in the palm of her hand, the petals are delicate, soft and fragrant.

A rose may not describe a third of the beauty of Xin Lan’s appearance, nor her dangerous beauty.

A rose is a beautiful rose, but it is also a delicate one, and it is easy to break.

She is the king of the forest, a woman of unhurried elegance and grace, and when she reveals herself, some people will be intimidated.

She would open her claws and show her sharp teeth, so no one would have imagined how cute she would be when she gently scratched the beast’s jaw.

Shen Shuiyan was fortunate enough to be able to touch her gently, looking at Xin Lan in the white light, her eyes as deep as a deep, bottomless lake.

When Xin Lan finished spraying the medicine on Shen Shuiyan’s hand, she raised her eyes and saw Shen Shuiyan wondering what she was thinking about, looking at her and lost in thought.

“Back to your senses.”

Xin Lan shook his hand.

Shen Shuiyan blinked her eyes and resumed her normal appearance.

“What were you thinking about, so deep in thought?”

“I was lost in my thoughts.”

“Are we going out now?”

It was still three hours before midnight, plenty of time.

“I’ll go out with Xu Deng, you wait here and lock the door.”

Xin Lan was thinking about the wound on Shen Shuiyan’s hand, so it would be inconvenient to help her.

When Shen Shuiyan heard this, her mood, which had been bright and cheerful, suddenly turned grey.

She had just thought that it was good to be hurt, that the Little Tiger was so concerned, but the next moment she was a burden.

Shen Shuiyan knew the importance of the matter, and although she wanted to go with him, she nodded honestly and agreed.

Xin Lan took all the pieces out of her pocket and placed them in front of Shen Shuiyan.

“Aren’t you afraid that I will escape with all your assets?”

Shen Shuiyan said jokingly.

The first time I saw you, I said, “You’re one of my people, so even if you want to run away, where can you go?”

Xin Lan raised her chin, not seeing the light in Shen Shuiyan’s eyes the moment she turned around.

When Shen Shuiyan heard the words ‘my people’, her heart jumped, and her newly depressed mood instantly improved.

Xu Deng was pushing at her eyes, but she felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

In the system space, Zero Nine rubbed his hair and felt that something was wrong too.

Xin Lan closed the door and Shen Shuiyan locked it behind her, staring blankly ahead.

Xin Lan walked to the door, Xu Deng did not stand beside her, but followed her, Xin Lan brought her own BGM, she could not stand beside her, she felt safer behind her.

Today was different from yesterday. Yesterday was a big fight, but today everyone was quiet and the doors were closed.

Xin Lan walked through the corridor, but either the door was wide open and no one was there, or it was closed tightly, and Xin Lan tried to push it, but it didn’t open.

“Is it because there are so few people there that everyone is hiding?”

Xu Deng guessed that the cafeteria was already pathetically empty when they had dinner this afternoon.

There were probably only about fifty people in the cafeteria, excluding those she hadn’t seen.

The men and women were separated and there were five floors in total.

There should have been more, but for the afternoon gym class, twelve people had to die, and ten classes, or 120 people, died during the afternoon.

Apart from the first two, all the others were killed by their classmates.

Xu Deng’s back was suddenly shivering, she couldn’t think about it, the more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

“They won’t all be hiding.”

Xin Lan said with certainty.

The prey would hide, but not the hunter.

There must be someone like her, walking through the schoolyard, waiting to catch them.

And Xin Lan wasn’t afraid of being attacked by a group.

Suddenly something occurred to Xin Lan and she lifted her legs to walk back.

When she arrived at the dormitory next to hers, Xu Deng instantly remembered the blood she had seen that day, and the bodies that had fallen to the ground.

Xu Deng’s heart clenched slightly, but as soon as she saw Xin Lan, her heart relaxed again.

Xin Lan tried to shove it, but it didn’t open.

Zero Nine: Two life-forms.

Xin Lan knocked twice and was very polite.

If it is not necessary, Xin Lan will always be very polite first and then go to the door.

When no one answered, Xin Lan knocked twice more.

Okay, we’re done with the formalities, it’s time for the troops.

Xin Lan took a few steps back and started to kick the door with skill.

There was a loud bang and Xu Deng shuddered subconsciously.

The lock was loosened a little, and after observing the condition of the lock, Xin Lan continued to kick the door.

The dormitory door was not of good quality, it was a wooden door, so it was easy for Xin Lan to kick it, if it was a steel door, Xin Lan would have climbed the balcony and assaulted it.

The door was kicked open and there were two girls inside.

The one with the knife was a short girl, and the one in her arms could not be seen, but she must be the one standing next to her now.

The short girl was very nervous, and her hand seemed very steady with the knife, but Xin Lan felt her tremble slightly.

Was she scared? Maybe.

The girl with the knife waved it in the air a few times as Xin Lan approached.

“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll do something.”

The girl sighed with relief as Xin Lan stopped, but the next moment her eyes widened as a sharp pain shot through her wrists and the knife was knocked out of her hand.

Xin Lan completed a handsome roundhouse kick and retrieved her foot in just a few seconds.

Xu Deng picked up the knife and held it in her hand, standing sideways, looking out the door while keeping an eye on the inside.

The shorter girl looked more calm as she saw that her weapon was gone, but her heart lifted.

The taller, more refined girl next to her was cool from start to finish, the two of them holding hands, seemingly very close.

“You know why I’m here, bring it out.”

Xin Lan moved her wrist, she remembered that several people had been down here, these two girls must have had quite a few on them.

Xin Lan’s intention was clear, she would take it or else, her hands were already moving and she was ready to fight.

Xu Deng was behind her, holding a knife and gesturing twice. Although her eyes were broken and she looked a bit funny, her expression was cold and frightening.

“Why should we give you what you want? Do you think we’re easy to bully?” The short girl said, looking imposing, but then her expression fell and she gave a rather friendly smile, “But all things are negotiable, how about forming a team, your team should not be full, we are all classmates, we have no grudges in the past, why don’t we go out together?”

The student was acting out her face and acting out her sudden persuasion to the fullest, and she started to negotiate very smartly.

The girl next to her gave her a helpless look, and looked at Xin Lan with a hint of pleading on her face.

“How many of you are there?”

“Six.”

Xin Lan cupped her chin and nodded.

“Okay, fine. If you become my teammate, don’t try anything, or else I can take it out of your stomach even if you swallowed the fragments of the clue.”

Xin Lan had a warm smile on her face, but her words were unrelentingly threatening.

“My name is Qi Xiao, her name is Zhou Chun.”

“Xin Lan, Xu Deng.”

Xin Lan pointed to herself and then to Xu Deng.

So, they had met and formed a team.

It was said that they were a team, however, Qi Xiao and the girls kept a certain distance from each other as they followed Xin Lan.

Xu Deng walked alongside them, watching the two out of the corner of her eye.

After all, they had been through the Stairway to Doom and the Dollhouse together, and Xu Deng was self-aware of the new girl on the team.

With Zero Nine scanning ahead of her, Xin Lan could tell exactly which rooms were occupied and which were not.

She told Xu Lan and the others to push on the doors, while she went to the rooms that were bound to be occupied.

Xin Lan kicked down dozens of doors in one night and took home a lot of loot.

She did it with ease and without any fuss.

Xu Deng, Qi Xiao and the others wanted to help, but when they saw Xin Lan kick one of them, knock one of them out with a lamp, and then knock them out with a shoulder slam, all three of them were silently withdrawn in a minute.

Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun originally planned to be on guard against Xin Lan, to avoid having the fragments taken away and killed or thrown away, after all, the students were all crazy, who could guarantee that she would not do that, but after seeing Xin Lan’s strength, they decided to behave themselves.

The two of them, with no weapons, might not be enough to fight Xin Lan.

Xin Lan was physically strong and most of the girls were weak, not to mention the fact that she had to fight them one by one and soon swept through the girls’ dormitory, getting pieces of all of them.

Xin Lan did not go so far as to kill all the girls, she just knocked them out and hit them so hard that they would not wake up until a day had passed, and then asked Xu Deng and the others to tie them up with something like a rope and a belt to kill them, and then put cloths in their mouths to prevent them from waking up and screaming.

Even if Xin Lan and the others were fast, an hour had passed since they had done so.

When Xin Lan returned to the dormitory, Shen Shuiyan looked behind Xu Deng and saw two more people following him, narrowing her eyes and looking up from her memory.

“Teammates.”

Xin Lan said.

Shen Shuiyan nodded, making sure Xin Lan was okay, and then gave a light smile to Qi Xiao and the others.

Xin Lan sat down on a chair and crossed her legs.

Shen Shuiyan handed her water, and Xin Lan gulped it down twice without ceremony, letting out a sigh of relief.

“A great harvest.”

With a smile on her face, Xin Lan pulled out all the loot from her pocket and gave it to Shen Shuiyan, the quantity of which made Shen Shuiyan guess.

“All of this in the dormitory?”

“Yes.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My foot hurts.”

Xin Lan thought for a moment and moved her foot.

“Why? Did you get injured?”

Shen Shuiyan was suddenly a little nervous.

“I kicked down the door,” Xin Lan withdrew her foot, “It’s a good thing it’s a wooden door, otherwise it would be very difficult to kick down.”

Looking at the Little Tiger’s mumbling face, Shen Shuiyan was amused and helpless.

“Are they always like this?”

Qi Xiao asked Xu Deng, who was next to her, in a low voice.

Xu Deng nodded his head and calmly pushed up her glasses, which were slipping a bit.

“Just get used to it.”

This kind of atmosphere, where no one is around and it seems like no one else is there when you talk, is good to get used to.

It was a trio, no, now it was a group of five, a two-person unit.

She often feels like she doesn’t fit in.

Xu Deng was a little happy to have a teammate to keep her out of the loop, but she immediately realised that they were also like Siamese twins.

It was clear that they were both happy, but they were alone and lonely.

Xin Lan took off her jumper and wore a white autumn coat underneath, shaking the collar.

“Is it hot?”

“Yes, I’m sweating a lot. I’m going to take a bath and have a good night’s sleep afterwards.”

“Yes.”

Of course.

Shen Shuiyan also felt that she had run for a long time today and although she was not sweating now, she felt sticky and greasy, and more importantly, Xin Lan had gone to wash the incense, so should she lie under the same blanket with her stinking, then she would be embarrassed to put her hands on Xin Lan at night.

Xin Lan didn’t ask if the others were going to go, she just said that she had taken care of the situation in the residence for the time being, and that she didn’t know if anyone would come in later, so she would do it if she wanted to.

The three remaining teammates were all prepared to do so, but after all, they were girls who liked to be clean, and the opportunity to take a shower was one that almost everyone would not miss.

The three of them went back to the dormitory next door to get their things. Xu Deng had brought a few pieces of clothing with her, and since it was winter anyway, she didn’t have to change into her original dormitory alone, although all those people were probably unconscious.

Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun naturally went into one of the bathrooms, Xu Deng went next to them, Xin Lan was in the first one, and Shen Shuiyan was next to her.

Although they wanted to wash together, there was no good excuse. If it was a dangerous situation, they could say that it was safer to wash together, but in this case, it was too embarrassing to squeeze in together, otherwise they would be looked at by Xin Lan in a strange way.

She washed her hair and showered quickly, using the hairdryer to half-dry it first, and then leaned over to wait for her teammates.

Although it was not scary when we all went in together, it was probably scarier to stand here alone with the hairdryer blowing and not being able to hear what was going on behind us.

Shen Shuiyan was the second one to come out and smiled when she saw Xin Lan leaning over and waiting for someone.

How can I help it? This gentle and reliable feeling makes me feel so comfortable, so comfortable that I want to go up and rub the Little Tiger’s head hard, and then bury my head and suck on it.

Shen Shuiyan only dared to think about it, but now was not a good time at all.

She thought that maybe she would have to wait until they were out and get better acquainted before she could do such intimate acts.

After the remaining girls were all done, the five of them went back to the dormitory and locked the door like a primary school group.

Xin Lan, Shen Shuiyan, and Qi Xiao, Zhou Chun, shared a blanket, while Xu Deng crawled into bed alone, slightly shivering from the winter cold.

The bell rang, announcing the end of the hunt.

By this time, Xin Lan had already slept soundly, so Shen Shuiyan was awake for a while, and then fell into a sweet dream with Xin Lan in his arms.

The game is cruel, but at least it is gentle to the players in one way, at least it allows people to sleep well and not suffer from hunger.

Perhaps this is the benefit of being a ‘school student’.

The next morning, Shen Shuiyuan’s alarm clock rang, she reached out her hand to cross it off, rubbed her eyes and yawned.

She looked at Xin Lan’s sleeping face at her fingertips and felt that her skin was so nice that it must be very comfortable to touch.

Although she had hugged her waist, she had never touched her face before. There was no good excuse or reason to do so when she was awake, and she dared not touch her face when she was sleeping, for fear of waking her up and making her angry.

Xin Lan also opened her eyes and found herself very close to Shen Shuiyan.

She got up calmly, brushed her long, dishevelled hair out of her eyes and stepped over Shen Shuiyan to get out of bed.

Shen Shuiyan smelled her fragrance as she passed by, and was dazed.

The two of them began to pinch each other’s faces in a childish manner, and their relationship looked very good.

She wanted to kiss Xin Lan’s face and pinch each other’s faces, too.

After she had washed up, she waited for everyone to go to breakfast together.

The dormitory building was quiet and almost dead, some of them were passed out in the dormitory, maybe some of them were already awake but suffering from their tied hands and gagged mouths.

Shen Shuiyin took out all the pieces of string and counted them one by one, there were more than 80 of them, plus Qi Xiao’s and Zhou Chun’s, more than 90.

Qi Xiao and Zhou Chun watched quietly as they put together the picture, and exclaimed in their hearts that they had made a profit.

The two of them were very intimate, as they didn’t need to make the pictures, and their faces were full of relaxation and joy knowing that they could get out.

The two of them were so intimate that they didn’t need to make the picture.

Shen Shuiyan felt that something was wrong, but nothing was wrong, so she continued to lower her head and join Xin Lan in the serious puzzle.

If Xin Lan had looked up, he would have understood what the scene was.

A typical sweet scene of two Betas or one Beta and one Omega.

The eighty or so pieces that made up the map.

There are still some parts that are incomplete, but they don’t get in the way.

“Are we ready to go out?”

Qi Xiao was a little excited, but Xin Lan and Shen Shuiyuan looked at each other.

They still had some unfinished business to attend to.

Xu Deng, who probably knew what they were planning, was silent, wanting to get out of this place right now, but she hadn’t forgotten who it was that had made it so easy for them.

“I’ll go, I’ll be back soon.”

Shen Shuiyan was going to give Zou Yunfei hope and then let him wait there until he found out that they had already gone out, and then wait in despair for himself to die in here.

“I’ll join you and finish him off right away.”

Xin Lan felt that it was better to punch him in the face than to let Zou Yunfei find out for himself, rather than let him realise the truth.

As soon as they could, Xin Lan told the others to wait for them at the bottom of the school building.

However, when Zhou Yunfei pulled him to his side, he didn’t say anything and went to wait at the bottom of the building with Xu Deng.

Zhou Yunfei sat in class, his face bruised and battered from the fight last night.

He had locked the door for the second half of the night to give himself some breathing space, although he hadn’t been able to kill either of them.

When someone gently called out to him at the door, Zhou Yunfei went to look and found it was Shen Shuiyan.

Shen Shuiyan waved at him with a slightly anxious expression.

Zhou Yunfei hurriedly walked out and asked her what was wrong.

“Xin Lan has collected a lot of fragments and found a way out.”

“What?”

Zhou Yunfei was shocked.

“I told her I had to come to the toilet because I had a stomach ache, and I snuck over to tell you that I’m going to take you first, ahead of Xin Lan.”

“Good!”

Zou Yunfei was so moved that he hurriedly agreed to follow behind Shen Shuiyan.

When he reached the staircase, he saw Xin Lan, who was standing there with her hands in her lap, smiling and laughing.

Zou Yunfei froze and shivered.

T/N:

no reason 无缘无故 (wúyuánwúgù): no cause, no reason (idiom); completely uncalled for

spoke in unison 异口同声 (yìkǒutóngshēng): different mouths, same voice / to speak in unison (idiom)

Identical 一模一样(yīmúyīyàng): exactly the same (idiom) / carbon copy 

intimidated. 望而生畏 (wàng’érshēngwèi): intimidate at the first glance (idiom); awe-inspiring / terrifying / overwhelming

will always be very polite first and then go 先礼后兵 (xiānlǐhòubīng): peaceful measures before using force (idiom); diplomacy before violence / jaw-jaw is better than war-war

without any fuss. 拖泥带水 (tuōnídàishuǐ): lit. wading in mud and water / a slovenly job / sloppy

where no one is around and it seems like no one else is there 旁若无人 (pángruòwúrén): to act as though there were nobody else present / unselfconscious / fig. without regard for others