Chapter 11

Xie Xubai's statement that he was willing to listen to Xu Qingran's story was not just empty talk.

When he first looked at the group, he noticed that Xu Qingran's position was awkward.

While her teammates were experienced, she acted like a complete novice.

She didn't know what to do, lacked ability, was not valued, and was even ostracized and discriminated against. She couldn't contribute to her teammates' analysis of the situation, and when she was in danger, no one except Yan Yue was willing to save her.

Like a drop of water in the ocean, or a spark from a campfire, it's dispensable.

Confusion, low self-esteem, depression, pain.

If these negative emotions hadn't overwhelmed Xu Qingran, she wouldn't have so easily believed the superficial kindness of an NPC.

She would never have shown such disbelief when Xie Xubai rushed to save her.

Even when the man with the buzz cut tried to hurt Xie Xubai, she didn't hesitate and immediately went to protect the young man.

Xie Xubai was well aware of the predicament Xu Qingran was facing.

He put himself in the other person's shoes, imagining how painful and uneasy he would have felt at that time, and his eyes became even more tender and gentle, as if they could be squeezed to release water.

His heartache was genuine; he was trying to empathize with Xu Qingran.

Under Xie Xubai's gentle gaze, Xu Qingran felt for the first time since entering the instance that she was being wholeheartedly valued and was not just an invisible person.

How could she not be moved?

However, Xu Qingran also had her concerns.

If what the boss said is true, and the Ghost King was not framed but was born with evil, then according to the course of the dungeon, the two sides will definitely fight.

At that time, Xie Xubai, who is valued by the Ghost King, will also stand on the opposite side.

Seeing that Xu Qingran's eyes trembled but she remained silent, Xie Xubai was puzzled.

After a moment's thought, he guessed that it might be due to the fat man's words earlier.

It's not a big problem.

Without pressing further, Xie Xubai gave Xu Qingran a reassuring smile, leaned back, and pretended to be exhausted, waiting for the medicine to take effect.

Unexpectedly, three minutes later, a girl's hoarse and heavy voice suddenly came from the side: "...You guessed right, I didn't choose to live this kind of life in the first place."

"Most of us are not like that."

Xie Xubai paused, then turned to look at Xu Qingran.

Xu Qingran asked, "Do you know what my favorite food is?"

Before the young man could answer, she replied to herself, "It's egg noodles made by my mom."

As she finished speaking, Xu Qingran's eyes were already red.

She felt as if a knife was stuck in her throat; her mouth opened and then closed again. Tears welled up in her eyes, stubbornly refusing to fall.

Her hands unconsciously gripped the blanket, and she repeatedly told herself: I can't cry, I can't cry.

But……

"But I can never eat it again."

After saying this, Xu Qingran blinked and realized that something had fallen. She hurriedly covered her eyes with her hands, and hot tears soaked her palms.

She kept telling herself not to cry, that crying was the most useless thing to do, but who knew that the more she wiped away her tears, the more she cried.

As her vision blurred, she sobbed hoarsely, "I've tried cooking it myself, with the same seasonings and the same steps. I've cooked dozens, even hundreds of bowls, but the taste just isn't right... it's just not right!"

When you have something, you don't realize how precious it is; but when you lose it, you can't help but feel regret and remorse.

Xu Qingran recalled how she used to sit at home a few years ago, scrolling through videos on her phone, laughing so hard she snorted like a pig. Her mother looked at her with disdain and said, "How will you ever get into society looking like this?" Her father was also laughing heartily beside her.

At the time, she didn't care, was impatient with the nagging, and grumbled: "Whoever wants to join this messed-up society can join. I want to be my parents' little darling for life."

Then came the Infinite Game.

She lost her mother, her father, and finally, her home.

What were Mom and Dad wearing that day? Did she speak to them in her final moments? Did she tell them how much she loved them? Were they in great pain when they passed away? ...

I can't remember anymore, and the more I think about it, the more frustrated I become.

Xu Qingran heard a suppressed sob burst from her own mouth, so faint it was almost inaudible, just like her own helplessness. Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer and burst out: "Why can't I do anything? Why am I so useless?!"

Xie Xubai stared at Xu Qingran, who was frantically wiping away her tears, and was taken aback. He suddenly realized that he had misunderstood something.

Upon first meeting Yan Yue and his group, he noticed their menacing aura of someone who had been through the wringer, and their adherence to the unspoken rule of the survival of the fittest, where they attacked innocent people without any scruples. He assumed that the players were like mercenaries, ruthless outlaws driven by greed.

However, Xu Qingran's words and reaction shattered his viewpoint.

She said she didn't want to live that kind of life, and that most of them were forced into it.

And there is a high probability that Xu Qingran's entire family will perish because of this, otherwise she, who longs for peace, would not risk her life to wander and suffer, and would blame herself for being powerless.

"Player", "Game", "Instance".

For modern people with vivid imaginations, just a few keywords are enough to conjure up a series of stories in no time.

Before Xie Xubai could think about it more deeply, his head suddenly started to throb, the pain far more intense and overwhelming than the second time.

It was as if an unnamed force was warning him that this was not "knowledge" he could currently comprehend!

At this critical juncture, Xie Xubai could only restrain himself from having wild thoughts.

Turning around, he saw Xu Qingran crying uncontrollably, so he hurriedly got out of bed to get some tissues.

"Don't cry, it's okay," he comforted softly.

After venting her emotions with a good cry, Xu Qingran suddenly felt an overwhelming fatigue and was so sleepy that she couldn't keep her eyes open.

It's not just the tranquilizers that are working.

As a new player after the reshuffle, she lacked the resilience of veteran players. Since entering the instance, she had been on edge, and her body was already on the verge of collapse.

Before her eyelids closed, her unfocused and sorrowful eyes looked slightly upward, as if gazing through Xie Xubai's body at the high and mighty gods.

"I want to go home..." the girl murmured softly.

Putting aside Xie Xubai's cheating abilities, Xu Qingran didn't actually reveal any information.

What she said applies to any family facing a sudden misfortune.

No matter how good Xie Xubai was to her, no matter how much she was attracted to Xie Xubai, and no matter how cruel the dungeon rules were to a newcomer like her.

She has always stood firmly on the side of humanity.

"..." Xie Xubai lowered his eyes and remained silent. He carried the girl who had fallen by the bedside onto the bed and carefully tucked her in.

The spirits then appeared and touched his fingers.

Xie Xubai snapped out of his daze, looked around at the room full of yellow talismans, and then asked, "Won't these talismans have any effect on you?"

The spirits shook their heads dismissively; how could such a powerful talisman possibly harm them?

Xie Xubai was relieved and patted their heads: "What did you find? Take me there."

He had previously instructed the spirits not to act rashly, so their sudden appearance at this time must mean they have made some important discovery.

Thunder rumbled outside, and thick, long, silvery-white lightning snaked through the clouds. Dark clouds pressed against the sky, making it pitch black and devoid of light.

Upon closer inspection, however, it became clear that the dark clouds were actually composed of countless vengeful spirits. And the continuous thunder and lightning were, of course, the attacks unleashed by the players.

The two sides fought fiercely, but the players still had the upper hand.

Compared to the battle during the day, they were clearly struggling much more.

It's not that the players have become weaker; it's that the power of these vengeful spirits has increased, as if they are sounding a death countdown for the players.

Players who discovered this were equally alarmed: "The dungeon is getting harder!"

"Damn it, it's not even the third day yet, could it be that we triggered the hidden event ahead of time?"

The players were too preoccupied to notice Xie Xubai below. The latter used the slaughterhouse's architecture to conceal himself and made his way to the back of the factory.

The place was even more desolate, with pebbles scattered all over the ground and hardly any weeds to be seen. There was a dry well, but it hadn't been used for a long time. The stone bricks were covered with moss, and the water inside had long since dried up, emitting a foul, fishy smell.

Xie Xubai turned on his phone's flashlight, the light shining into the deep well. All he could see were rocks and dirt; he still couldn't see anything that needed attention.

Seeing that the spirits were still lingering around the dry well, he didn't hesitate. He picked up the rope tied to the wooden bucket, pulled hard to test its strength, and said to one of the spirits, "You stay here and keep watch. See if anyone comes."

The ghost nodded.

Xie Xubai wrapped the rope around his wrist twice, looked down into the nearly ten-meter-deep well, took a deep breath, and clumsily descended into the well, mimicking the rock climbing moves he had seen on television.

Little did they know that the bottom of the well was also covered with slippery moss.

"...!"

He stepped on it and immediately slipped, feeling a strong sense of weightlessness; his heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

If I hadn't been quick enough to grab the edge of the well, I would have been smashed to pieces.

The ghosts hurriedly supported the young man's body. Xie Xubai held on tightly to the rope, his mind blank for two or three seconds before he came to his senses and exhaled with lingering fear: "If I have time in the future, I must sign up for a rock climbing training class."

The spirits patted his trembling fingers affectionately.

Ten meters may seem deep, but it only takes a few dozen seconds to descend.

Xie Xubai was about to land when his gaze suddenly sharpened as he noticed a clue in the difference between the old and new soil.

He hung in mid-air, stretching out one foot and kicking at the damp, fresh soil.

With a loud bang, the sound of the wooden partition being hit came from below.

Seeing that there really was a trap, Xie Xubai's eyes lit up, and he immediately did the same thing, kicking it hard a few more times.

Thud, thud, thud—!

The wooden plank was finally kicked away, and the soil covering it fell off in a rush.

A strong, pungent smell of blood hit us, ten times stronger and more acrid than before!

Xie Xubai quickly covered his mouth and nose and closed his eyes tightly. He persisted for several minutes before the stench, which could have caused someone to faint on the spot, slowly dissipated.

At this point, the rope had reached its end. He roughly estimated the height, let go, and jumped down, landing relatively smoothly.

This looks like a basement.

Xie Xubai tried to walk forward.

After a few steps, my toe bumped into something, semi-oval in shape and brittle. It rolled a few times on the floor and then came to a stop with a crack.

He looked down, and his pupils contracted again. The thing that had been kicked away was a skull!

To be precise, it was a dog's skull.

Xie Xubai stopped in his tracks, sniffing the stench of blood around him. A sense of foreboding arose in his heart. He turned on his flashlight again, illuminating the dim surroundings.

In the huge basement, cat and dog bones were piled up on all sides, as if they had been forcibly pulled out of their bodies or cut up with tools. Some flesh was still stuck to the bones, rotting and turning black over time.

There were no intact bones; some were half broken, others were broken into several pieces. It was unclear whether they were broken by a sharp weapon before or after death.

They were piled up like small mountains, countless in number, and as far as the eye could see, it resembled a small mass grave.

"..." Xie Xubai couldn't bear to watch any longer and was completely speechless, his clenched fists cracking.

The spirits grasped his fingers, gesturing for him to look forward.

Right in front of you, there was a safe.

Xie Xubai hurried over and found that the safe was locked and required a key to open.

Just as he was thinking about how to get the key from the fat man, the ghosts suddenly gathered together and burst out with tremendous power.

With a deafening roar, the alloy safe was smashed open!

The ghosts that had successfully captured him scattered again, jumping around in front of Xie Xubai, seemingly proudly showing off their achievements.

Praise me! Praise me! Praise me now!

Seeing how capable the little ones were, Xie Xubai praised them with delight, "You did a great job!"

The praised ghost jumped even more joyfully, its head held higher than ever.

The commotion was so loud that it had likely already attracted the attention of others. Xie Xubai didn't delay; he reached into the broken safe and took out a book.

The pages were yellowed, and there was no title. It looked quite old, and when you held it, you could feel a slight, bone-chilling coolness.

Upon flipping through the book again, one finds it filled with ancient characters, obscure and difficult to understand. However, thanks to the inexplicable spoken word, Xie Xubai reads it without any difficulty.

[I read in the book that dogs are inherently loyal and are among the best at controlling animals, but unfortunately, as livestock, they are not intelligent and have limited strength. If they could be tamed using secret methods...]

Xie Xubai's pupils reflected the words, and his heart pounded faster and faster.

He finally learned what the fat man had done and finally found a way to help Ping An escape from her predicament!

Author's Note: