69 missing

◎Who took out his eyeballs◎

It turns out that this kind of thing has happened before.

Li Yiqing stared at her back silently: "A Liu, are you okay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that question just now."

Liu Ge shook her head slightly. Judging by the speed of time in the real world, her lover had actually passed away not long ago, but according to the speed of time in the dungeon, it seemed like a long time ago. "It doesn't matter."

"She was a really good girl. My wish was once hers." Liu Ge hid his entire face in the sleeping bag and muttered, "If it weren't for saving me, with her abilities, she should have survived to the end."

"I've caused her trouble." The wind and snow outside continued to howl, almost completely drowning out Liu Ge's voice. It was hard to tell whether she was confiding in someone or talking to herself. "I will strive to survive until we fulfill our shared wish."

"Go to sleep." As if she didn't want to talk any more, she closed her eyes without waiting for Li Yiqing to reply.

“…”

A dreamless night.

The next morning, all three of them were awakened by a scream.

Sensing that something might have happened, Qi Qiuxue immediately stood up, quickly put on her heavy mountaineering clothes, and walked out of the tent: "Let's go take a look."

"Okay." Li Yiqing and Liu Ge followed closely behind, walking out of the tents one after another. The team brought four tents in total, two for girls and two for boys. Taking into account the differences between men and women, a distance was deliberately left between the tents of the two sides.

Qi Qiuxue saw all the NPCs gathered around the boys' tent, their faces filled with either fear or anxiety. She quickly walked over and asked the female team member next to her, "What happened?"

The NPC she was questioning was named Shen Jia, a girl with brown hair. She glanced at Qi Qiuxue standing beside her and said with a pale face, "Zhang Xue, you're here."

"Wang Qiang is missing." Shen Jia told Qi Qiuxue what he had learned. "According to Xiao Liu and Dali, who shared the same tent with him, Wang Qiang left the tent at midnight last night and didn't come back until dawn."

"Are you sure he didn't turn back halfway?" Qi Qiuxue asked.

"No." Hearing the two talking, the NPC named Dali walked over quickly. "I was woken up by Wang Qiang when he left. I took a look in the direction where he was sleeping. His sleeping bag was the same as it was in the morning."

"Did he say anything before he left?" Qi Qiuxue continued to ask.

"No." Dali shook his head. "I asked him specifically at the time, but he didn't seem to hear me and ignored me at all. I thought he might be going out to relieve himself, so I didn't think too much about it and turned around and fell asleep again."

"Who knew he didn't come back until daybreak? It was dark and the roads were slippery, and there was such a strong snowstorm outside. What important matter could he have to do in the middle of the night?"

Qi Qiuxue: "Have you tried to contact him using the intercom?"

"I tried." Dali sighed. In fact, he had a vague suspicion in his heart, but after all, he had known his companion for so long, so he didn't want to think too badly. "I still haven't received a reply from him."

It seems that the situation is very bad.

Qi Qiuxue took the opportunity to take a look inside the tent. Wang Qiang's coat was neatly placed next to the sleeping bag. It was so cold in the mountains, with a temperature difference of at least ten degrees between day and night. Even if you were dressed warmly, you couldn't stay outside for too long in the middle of the night, not to mention that the other party was only wearing such thin clothes.

"Are we all there yet?" Without waiting for anyone to discuss anything, Sister Yang, the team leader, made the decision. "Let's put our ascent up the mountain on hold and go look for Wang Qiang together."

"It's difficult to walk in the snow, and it's not easy to tell the direction. Everyone, bring your walkie-talkies, mark the road along the way, and be sure to pay attention to safety. Once you find Wang Qiang, contact everyone first."

"Okay." Everyone nodded in response without any objection.

So the remaining twelve people were divided into four groups and headed in different directions.

Unexpectedly, the first one to get into trouble this time was the NPC.

With her previous experience in the Nanyang Private Girls' School dungeon, Qi Qiuxue was always wary of NPCs and would not believe their words 100%. Instead of worrying about Wang Qiang's safety, she was more concerned about whether this was a trap set by the other party for the players.

"Put your own safety first." She warned Li Yiqing and Liu Ge beside her, "If anything unusual happens, turn back immediately."

"I understand." Li Yiqing and Liu Ge nodded together, and the three of them continued to walk forward shoulder to shoulder.

Qi Qiuxue took the opportunity to observe the surrounding terrain and conditions. Most of the trees on this mountain were old and dead, with bare branches and no life. Heavy snow piled up on the branches, and in an instant it accumulated into a thick layer. It fell from the branches that could not bear it, making a dull and heavy sound.

There should still be signs of life on this mountain. Qi Qiuxue found a series of small footprints not far away. They looked like a hare or some other small animal.

Before they knew it, they had been walking for a long time. There was heavy snow and dead trees everywhere. At first glance, the scenery was no different from what they had seen not long ago. If they had not marked the way along the way, they might not have been able to find the way back.

"Where did you go?" Li Yiqing was exhausted and hungry after running since early in the morning. She sighed softly, stood on tiptoe and raised her head, trying to look further away.

This really worked. In the vast snow, she saw a blue human figure.

"...I seem to have seen Wang Qiang." Li Yiqing frowned quickly and raised her finger to show Qi Qiuxue and Liu Ge. The two looked in the direction she pointed and saw someone standing there.

It’s Wang Qiang, for sure.

"We found Wang Qiang." Before rushing over, Qi Qiuxue first contacted the others using the walkie-talkie, and then they quickened their pace and rushed straight towards where Wang Qiang was.

Soon, they came behind Wang Qiang.

The man was not wearing a coat, only a few pieces of warm clothes. He stood straight in front of a huge dead tree like a stone sculpture, with his head raised high, looking above the dead tree, as if there was something special hidden there.

"Wang Qiang?" Liu Ge walked straight forward and called his name.

Wang Qiang did not respond. Only the walkie-talkie in his pocket made a hissing sound, a series of irregular noises that sounded weird and scary.

So Liu Ge took a few steps forward again and tentatively put his hand on his shoulder.

Wang Qiang's body temperature was as cold as a stone. He had long lost the warmth that a normal person should have. He was stiff and hard, as if he had been dead for a long time.

"..." Liu Ge didn't touch him again. The three of them walked around to the front and looked at Wang Qiang's face.

His eye sockets were empty, his eyeballs had long since disappeared. The blood flowing from the wounds quickly solidified into ice on his face, forming several strange and terrifying blood clots.

"How painful must this be?" Li Yiqing gasped and instinctively grabbed the corner of Qi Qiuxue's clothes. "Who took out his eyeballs, and under what circumstances?"

"Why... His face was expressionless, as if he felt no pain at all."

indeed.

If they had not seen him alive before, they would probably have mistaken him for a lifelike and terrifying statue that was specially made to look like this.

What is Wang Qiang looking at?

Qi Qiuxue stood beside him, raised her head to the same angle as the dead Wang Qiang, and stared silently at the huge dead tree.

...There's nothing there.

【Author’s words】

Here we come!

Thank you for your Bawang tickets and nutrient solution, and thank you for your comments and reading~