"Ahem... Gwen, is there something wrong?"

"No, not for now, Jiang Ran! What's wrong?"

Seeing Jiang Ran's blood-red arm, Gwen quickly ran to his side.

“It must be the problem with these flowers.” Jiang Ran shook his head helplessly. “There’s nothing I can do. This is what I’m exposed to as soon as I get here. I can’t avoid it. But since that’s the case, it also means that there must be a solution.”

"It's useless to you? That's a good thing. It seems this is just a barrier for humans."

"Alice! Are you there? We have to get out of here right now!"

With no response, Jiang Ran looked around and quickly spotted Alice lying in the flower field.

"Jiang Ran! She doesn't seem to be breathing!"

"Idiot! She's a monster! She wasn't breathing!"

Jiang Ran carried Alice on his back and ran off into the distance!

Gwen was unaffected, but Alice had not yet woken up, which meant the problem wasn't with the flower field.

With Jiang Ran sprinting at full speed, the three of them left the flower field in less than half a minute. Jiang Ran was also amazed by the scale of the flower field. There was even more blood on his arm, but strangely, he felt no pain at all.

Jiang Ran pinched the flesh on the back of his hand, but felt nothing. The loss of pain sensation was a serious problem, meaning he would not be able to accurately determine where the problem was in his body.

"Alice, Alice?"

Alice still didn't respond, so Gwen adjusted her posture and took over the task of carrying Alice on her back. After all, Jiang Ran's injuries were still unknown, and Gwen couldn't entrust him with such a task.

"Reach a sufficiently safe place by 1 a.m.?"

Jiang Ran didn't know the exact time, but it should be around 11 p.m., about two hours before 1 a.m.

The question is, what kind of place can be considered absolutely safe?

There's another problem: Jiang Ran needs to address his physical ailments first.

Beyond the flower field was a cluster of stone houses, overgrown with weeds, which looked like they had been abandoned for a long time.

"Those guys wanted to use evolution to get closer to the gods, but they probably didn't expect the place where the gods resided to be such a ghastly sight, cough cough..."

Although he felt no pain, Jiang Ran could feel his body growing weaker and weaker, a reaction to excessive blood loss.

The blood was seeping out for no apparent reason, and bandaging the wound was ineffective.

"hiss--"

A dark green snake climbed onto the roof, its scarlet forked tongue flicking out.

"I've discovered that these gods really do like to stuff a snake into dungeons."

The two newly announced rules do not include any methods to deal with bleeding, and coupled with the gradually weakening body, this greatly increases the difficulty of passing the game.

Jiang Ran pushed open the broken wooden door of the stone house. There was nothing inside; it was completely empty, not even basic furniture.

"Hmm..."

Alice groggily moved her fingers, and Gwen immediately put her on the ground and gently patted her face.

"Alice, Alice?"

"Hmm..."

Alice opened her eyes, her hands flailing about helplessly.

"Dad? Dad! Where's my dad?"

Alice's large bag was gone, presumably lost during their teleportation, which caused Alice to lose control of her emotions!

"How could this be! No, no! I still want to turn Dad into a doll! I want him to stay with me forever! No! I want to go back!"

With that, Alice rushed toward the door!

"There's no going back."

Jiang Ran called out to Alice.

"...Not going back?" Alice turned around stiffly and saw Jiang Ran covered in blood.

"Big brother, what's wrong? No, even you...no! It's okay, it's okay, you can stay with me! You can! Let me make you—"

Alice walked towards Jiang Ran step by step as if she were in a daze. Gwen took out the scissors and stood in front of Jiang Ran!

"Miss Gwen, are you going to stop me too? No problem, I'll just turn you into a doll then! Oh, you seem to have always been a doll, great, wonderful! We can be together forever! Forever!"

Alice!

Jiang Ran's low shout made Alice stop in her tracks.

"Do you really think that making someone into a doll will make them stay with you forever?"

"Then...what else?" Alice laughed, but tears streamed down her face. "Is there anyone else willing to stay with me? Is there anyone who can stay with me forever?! Why! Why am I the only one like this! If everyone is destined to perish one day! What is the meaning of my 'immortality'?!"

Without realizing it, Alice lowered her head, sobbed softly, and then raised her hands!

The silk threads gathered in the room!

"Soon, big brother, I won't let you feel any pain!"

"Alice, what do you think is truly important to people?"

"The really... important thing? Who knows what that is!"

"Then why do you think that a doll made from my corpse can represent me?" Jiang Ran smiled slightly, though it seemed somewhat forced amidst the blood. "Alice, what kind of companionship do you want—a real person or a cold object?"

"Can I just have people if I want them?" Alice could no longer hold back, grabbing Jiang Ran's collar with a sob in her voice. "Humans are such fragile creatures! They can die so easily! Yet they keep going to dangerous places! Tell me! What's the point of doing this?!"

“Because that’s what makes us human, Alice.” Jiang Ran ruffled Alice’s hair. “The meaning of life isn’t about its length. Sometimes, even a fleeting moment can be more exciting than someone else’s entire life.”

"But... all I have left of my life is its length!"

"Because it has infinite length, it has infinite opportunities."

"You, you... what nonsense are you spouting!" Alice shoved Jiang Ran's hand away. "You make it sound so good! In the end, you'll still have to leave! If you could stay with me forever, if you could, why would I need a doll!"

"Look! You're about to give up, aren't you?! That's just how humans are!"

"Alice, I won't die."

"Nothing can kill me as long as I don't want to die."

"You're really confident..."

"If I don't even believe in myself, then who will?"

"But...but!" Alice said, head bowed. "In the end, I'm still all alone..."

"So set off on your journey, Alice, for no one else is holding you back but yourself."