Zhou Nuocheng raised his other hand. His long fingers bent slightly as he gently lifted Shi Ran’s chin, guiding her gaze forward.
Shi Ran’s head was lifted. She turned to look at him in confusion.
“If you don’t like it, then don’t look. Do you think I’m dead? Why are you trying so hard?” Zhou Nuocheng said lazily, though his eyes reflected the flickering firelight. “We watch the ground, you watch the surroundings. Nothing will happen to you.”
Shi Ran’s expression softened slightly. A tear clung to her long eyelashes—not from crying, but because she had been too focused to blink. She understood he was trying to calm her down.
“Thanks,” she said, then turned back to scan the surroundings alertly.
The three of them reached the door and were about to open it.
“Left rear!” Gu Ming shouted.
Without hesitation, Zhou Nuocheng on the left didn’t move—his clone instantly detached from his body. The “Zhou Nuocheng” clone drew his blade and stabbed toward the zombie. Flowing fire curled along the blade, illuminating the surroundings as if tearing through the air.
Shi Ran quickly opened the door. The three of them rushed inside.
Outside, the clone fought the crawling zombies. Inside, Zhou Nuocheng expanded his firelight to help search for the computer.
The room was neat, with no signs of struggle or blood. A desk by the window held a computer and some documents.
But on the left side of the room, a small figure sat on the bed with its back turned toward them.
Gu Ming’s pupils contracted. He hadn’t sensed anything inside at all.
“There are more zombies outside now. We’ll handle them—go get the computer,” Zhou Nuocheng’s clone said from outside. The zombies upstairs were much faster than those outside, and all of them were crawling types.
The small figure suddenly turned around at the sound.
A horrifying face was revealed under the firelight. The girl’s eyes were dark red, one eye completely missing. Her purple-black skin had coarse dark growths on it. Her long black hair draped to her ankles as she crouched on the bed, staring at them excitedly.
Shi Ran immediately moved, rushing toward the desk.
The girl shrieked and lunged at her.
Gu Ming instantly sent out ice blades. But just before they hit, the girl suddenly shrank—her long black tail twisting like a snake. She moved even faster and leapt toward Shi Ran.
Shi Ran reacted immediately, forming a lightning sphere.
But at that moment, she realized she would have to make contact. If she missed, she would be bitten.
She didn’t have time to think anymore.
She released a powerful surge of electricity, aiming for a finishing strike.
Just as her attack was about to land—
A blur appeared in front of her.
Zhou Nuocheng had stepped in.
Shi Ran’s pupils contracted sharply. Her lightning could no longer be pulled back—it struck directly at him.
Thud.
The sound of teeth piercing flesh echoed.
Zhou Nuocheng let out a muffled groan as he endured both the bite and the violent electric shock to his chest.
His ability surged through him. Flowing fire and Shi Ran’s lightning were unleashed at the same time. The girl behind him was blasted by the combined force—“bang!”—and turned instantly to ash as she fell.
The power of his flames was terrifying.
Shi Ran immediately withdrew her hand, unsure what to do. “You…”
“It’s pretty strong. Not bad,” Zhou Nuocheng said lightly. He was standing very close, still carrying faint electrical currents. Then, with a faint smile, he flashed back to his clone.
His clone ability was extremely fast—within a limited range, he could instantly switch positions. He didn’t even need to think; it was like moving a finger naturally. He could swap between clones at will to avoid damage.
When the girl attacked Shi Ran, Zhou Nuocheng hadn’t hesitated. He used his clone to swap positions instantly, taking the hit himself.
Only then did Shi Ran relax slightly. But she noticed from his expression that the one who had protected her was the real Zhou Nuocheng—meaning he had taken the full pain.
“Um… sorry. Are you… okay?” Shi Ran asked awkwardly.
Zhou Nuocheng raised an eyebrow, pretending nonchalance. “Tch. I’m fine. If anything, it felt… pretty good to get shocked.”
In reality, half his body was still numb, which conveniently dulled the pain from the bite. Even though the clone took the physical damage, he still shared the sensation.
This girl really went all out.
Shi Ran surprisingly didn’t argue back. Instead, she turned and stored the computer and desk into her space.
“What’s this?” Gu Ming noticed a white object shining in the ashes.
Shi Ran crouched down and picked it up carefully. It was a small, translucent white stone.
“…A crystal core?”
A crystal core? That shouldn’t appear this early.
In the original story, this only appeared after the “June Snow” incident.
Before she could think further, loud banging came from the second-floor door outside.
“Something’s happening with Shuyao’s side. Let’s go down!” Shi Ran said immediately, putting the crystal away.
Zhou Nuocheng’s clone had already killed most of the crawling zombies upstairs. There were originally over ten, but only five or six remained.
“The crawling zombies on this floor were probably all drawn here by that girl,” Gu Ming said.
They didn’t stay any longer and quickly went downstairs.
Outside, they closed the iron door and recalled Zhou Nuocheng’s clone to avoid noise.
Faint voices could already be heard downstairs. It was dark outside, and with Ye Shuyao and the others covering for them, they could blend in as if they had just arrived from the entrance.
“What happened?” Shi Ran yawned, pretending to have just woken up.
Ye Shuyao immediately walked over and whispered, “Someone is missing.”
“Hmm?” Shi Ran glanced toward the corridor.
Ye Shuyao quickly understood and lowered her voice further. “Not Chen Teng—we left him asleep. He hasn’t woken up yet. The missing one is Li Quan.”
“It was Zhao Yuhui who noticed. She woke up from stomach pain, couldn’t find Li Quan, thought he went to the bathroom—but the bathroom is inside the room. Everyone’s been too scared to go today, so we realized… he’s probably gone.”
Tang Yao added after hearing the explanation, relaying the situation to the group.