◎ Escaping ◎
[Laughing so hard that every neighbor and police officer within a hundred miles would be mobilized to pin me in jail. Never seen an NPC fail this fast before!] +5 points awarded.
[Wiped out! Total wipeout! They have officially offended both mini-bosses now.]
[Quick, take another look! Once the dungeon resets, this “little canary” bug might be gone, sob.] +15 points awarded.
The two monsters were in hot pursuit. Xie Jingyan’s physical attributes were at the formidable S-rank, far exceeding normal levels. Without even lifting an eyelid, he kicked a hole through the wall and pulled He Yupu into the next room to hide.
Shen Weiran followed behind, coughing violently from the dust and ash. He glanced back at the monsters’ position and ducked into the room as well.
“What kind of sins did I commit in my past life?” he cursed while crawling through the hole. “It is the first time I have ever seen an NPC who can offend monsters this thoroughly, and this NPC is my teammate!”
The landlady was clutching the little ghost in one arm. Because of her massive bulk, she could not squeeze through the hole. She let out sharp, piercing screams from deep in her throat, her fleshy face trembling with rage.
With a slant of her hollow, pitch-black eyes, she lunged forward, her fangs snapping at the woman in white who was slower to escape.
The woman in white held her breath and sprinted into the hole. She dodged to the side, but the hem of her trousers was snagged by the landlady’s fangs.
She let out a terrified cry that sounded like a sob, frantically kicking her high-heeled shoes at the landlady’s face like a panicked little rabbit.
Shen Weiran, halfway through his escape, hurriedly returned to help. He bought a dagger from the system to slice off her trouser leg, only to be accidentally kicked twice by the flustered woman, losing 10 HP.
He lay on the ground, his expression briefly dazed.
High heels: truly terrifying.
After the woman in white broke free, she wiped away her tears and grabbed Shen Weiran’s arm, pulling him forward as they fled. Behind them, the landlady roared in futile rage; the room was filled with a thick, nauseating stench of decay.
On the other side, the little ghost could not enter because of its mother’s massive body blocking the tunnel. Watching its prey escape, it paced frantically in circles.
Finally, it simply smashed through the room’s glass and crawled across the wall in a weird, twisted form, leaving a long trail of blood behind it.
The little ghost reached the third room. Hearing movement inside, it leaned on the windowsill to “look,” but its blind eyes could not identify the people inside. It simply reached out and grabbed the sleeve of the woman in white.
The woman stumbled as she was yanked. Just as she was about to tell Shen Weiran not to pull so hard, she turned around and saw him pointing a gun directly at her. “Shen…”
Shen Weiran shouted, “Don’t look back!”
The little ghost ignored the gun aimed at its heart. It tilted its nearly severed head, its face covered in bloody, viscous grime, and whispered eerily, “Have you seen that liar?”
The woman in white knew it was referring to He Yupu. I cannot lie. Lying is wrong, she thought to herself.
Without changing her expression, she pointed in the opposite direction, toward the landlady’s location.
The little ghost, unable to see, nodded thoughtfully.
Having no interest in attacking these two, it bypassed them and crawled in the direction the woman had pointed, which happened to be exactly where He Yupu was hiding.
Shen Weiran’s hand holding the gun froze, his expression confused.
So, what was the point of your question?
With the landlady left behind in the first room roaring in futile anger and the little ghost chasing after the other two, Shen Weiran and the woman in white were perfectly safe in the third room.
The room was eerily quiet. The bulb overhead flickered. The walls were plastered with a viscous red substance, and the air was thick with the suffocating smell of blood.
The woman in white braved a crouch on the floor, carefully observing the hole created by Xie Jingyan’s kick.
The wall plaster nearby had crumbled, turning into white powder on the floor. The hole was half a person tall and a fist’s width wide.
The woman had some powder on her face. She gestured toward the hole, her expression astonished. “Kicked through four walls in a row. That is too exaggerated. Is that the kind of physical constitution a human should have?”
Shen Weiran’s hair was a bit disheveled. Leaning against a cleaner patch of wall, he explained to the newcomer with rare patience, “That is the physical attribute rating panel. You newcomers have not unlocked this feature yet; you will later on.”
The woman in white responded softly.
Halfway through his sentence, Shen Weiran paused. “Wait, the god-tier item. Could it really be with He Yupu?”
“If there truly is a god-tier item, he is the NPC for the starter quest, so he probably would have it.”
The woman in white was also unsure. “Because the games I played before were like that too.”
Shen Weiran’s face went pale instantly. “Damn! God-tier items attract hostility. Isn’t he dead for sure now?”
“Where are you going?”
Shen Weiran was already running, leaving only a blur. “Nonsense, I am going to save him, of course.”
His life was still bound to He Yupu’s!
The final room was a nursery. The floor was covered in toys, and the Barbie dolls on the shelves looked like real people, their mouths stretched to their ears, their eyes tracking He Yupu and Xie Jingyan as if ready to pounce and bite at any moment.
The two pressed themselves against the wall, eyes locked on the little ghost, trying to avoid it.
The little ghost crawled into the room, sniffing everywhere with its half-severed nose. It swiped at the tinkling toys on the floor, while its other hand fumbled through the air, searching for their figures.
A toy clunked and rolled toward He Yupu. His heart tightened, and he quickly lifted his right leg to dodge.
However, just as he lifted his leg, the little ghost lunged at the rolling toy, ending up right beneath his right leg. Its hollow eyes landed directly on He Yupu.
He Yupu’s breath caught in his throat. Seeing the little ghost about to touch him, he kicked the creature away.
The little ghost: “…?”
It slammed into the wall, blood-stained tears streaming from its mutilated eye sockets. Its grimacing little face actually looked somewhat aggrieved.
Shen Weiran emerged from the hole in the wall and fired continuously at the little ghost. Under the barrage of gunfire, the creature struggled, desperately dodging as it tried to close in on the three of them.
Xie Jingyan pulled a triangular military bayonet from his leg strap. His dark eyes were profound, carrying a ruthless pressure. He moved at double the speed, lunging before the little ghost and exerting force to slice its body open.
The little ghost had no time to resist. Black mist erupted from its wounds as it lay on the floor, screaming uncontrollably. Xie Jingyan lowered his gaze, his fingers tightening as he thrust toward its heart.
At the critical moment, the landlady burst through the door, knocking Xie Jingyan aside. Her arm was sliced by the bayonet, and the sound of shattering bone was drowned out by the intense fighting.
Xie Jingyan attacked backward with his elbow, followed by a kick that sent the landlady flying a meter away.
He ran toward He Yupu, crouched down, and with his slender fingers, scooped the man up in one arm. He did not look back as he shouted, “Let’s go!”
Shen Weiran fired two more shots while retreating, grabbed the woman in white who was following from outside, and bolted.