Chapter 125 Dangerous Dean "Should we... run away...?"
There seemed to be a grinding sound coming from the room. Liang Jun looked up in the direction of the sound and found that it was Dean Liang grinning from ear to ear.
He had been in this inhuman, ghostly state for some time now. Liang Jun couldn't see any embarrassment or discomfort he felt about this appearance; in fact, she could sense a slight sense of ease or even mastery from him.
At first, Dean Liang wanted to follow Liang Jun's example and sit down on the floor, but his current awkward posture made it impossible for him to do so.
Left with no other choice, he tentatively reached out and grabbed the bed railing, slowly groping his way to the bedside to sit down.
“It seems you haven’t come back to see me since you went to college and became an adult.”
Dean Liang seemed to sigh softly, his throat gurgling with a distinct wheezing sound, "Gun-jun, you were my favorite child in the orphanage, you know that, I miss you so much..."
Liang Jun was momentarily moved, but the last vestiges of reason within her forced her brain to repeatedly warn herself—
This is not the real world; this is a world governed by rules.
If both parties want to catch up, they can wait until after clearing the level to exchange pleasantries.
Now is definitely not a good time to relax and chat casually.
Liang Xun shifted uncomfortably, but finally decided to stand up.
She turned her legs slightly outward, easily regaining the high ground. "Dean, it seems inappropriate to discuss these matters now."
She remained highly vigilant and unwilling to get any closer to the other person.
"Why don't you tell me first, where have all my friends gone?"
Those murky eyes stared at her for a very long time, so long that Liang Jun began to wonder if "his soul had been drained from him," before Dean Liang finally looked away.
"I've really grown up..."
He sighed again, then slowly lowered his head, keeping his body folded over. "GunGun, you don't need to worry too much. Your friends are in a very safe space and there will be no danger."
He seemed to have thought of something else, and his tone became increasingly low, "You will naturally meet them after we finish talking."
A very safe space?
What is that?
Why was Dean Liang so certain?
Her rapidly working brain quickly raised several questions. Liang Xun frowned, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar person in front of her, her eyes filled with a sense of alienation.
"Dean, are you a player?"
Liang Jun thought that he might be a player with higher authority, or an NPC assigned by the system.
Otherwise, how do you explain his ability to move other players at will?
But Dean Liang did not show any discomfort after hearing her presumptuous question; his folded head still burst out with a hearty laugh.
He seemed very happy to be able to see Liang Jun.
Yes and no.
Dean Liang truthfully told her, "GunGun, you are very smart. You have been smart since you were little. You probably already realized that I am not the same as any of you."
Hearing the conclusion with your own ears and making your own subconscious judgment are ultimately two completely different feelings.
For the first time, Liang Jun realized that she herself was actually an awkward person. Although Dean Liang had subtly expressed some meaning, she subconsciously still wanted to defend him.
"But didn't you arrive at the hospital long ago—before this instance appeared?"
Liang Xun's tone was slightly hurried, "Director Geng and the others have taken meticulous care of your daily life. I even know that you once accidentally wandered into the hospital warehouse—so what role did you play during this time in the real world?"
This question seemed somewhat disconnected, or perhaps it was a taboo subject that Dean Liang couldn't answer. Unusually, he didn't reply directly to Liang Jun, but instead lowered his head, his stiff neck controlling his head as it shook laboriously again and again—
He was making a head-shaking motion.
"It's good that you know..."
He repeated over and over, "It's good that you know..."
The conversation seemed to have reached a stalemate. Liang Jun, holding her breath, walked to the window.
The air pressure here was too low, and she was having trouble breathing. Liang Jun originally wanted to open the window to let in some fresh air, but she suddenly realized that the windows of this ward had been sealed shut at some point.
An inexplicable irritability was pressing deep within her brain, and Liang Xun could only relieve it little by little by pacing around.
But the pair of faded glass balls at the end of the red mist were still staring intently at her. This state of being monitored was not pleasant, so Liang Jun decided to handle it herself.
She is no longer the little girl she used to be.
"Dean, please return my friends immediately."
She said, slowly and deliberately, "They need to come back to me in a complete, healthy, and vibrant state."
Dean Liang was not surprised by her attitude, but his actions and words revealed his regret.
The deformed little old man staggered off the bed and onto the ground. He wanted to look up at Liang Jun again, but his remaining strength was no longer enough to support him in completing the action.
"I haven't seen you in so long, Nunu," the hoarse voice said, filled with lingering affection. "You know, I wanted to chat with you a little longer..."
"Immediately, immediately, swiftly, instantly!"
Liang Jun decisively interrupted the other party, "Dean, if you really miss me, then please don't interfere with any of my or my friends' actions. Once we safely get through this dungeon, we'll have plenty of time."
“So much time…” Dean Liang murmured.
After a long silence, he seemed to realize something, his worn-out, dark brown sandals shuffling on the ground. "I know, I know..."
He staggered backward until he was backed into the gap between the wall and the hospital bed, then spoke softly, "Your friends will be waiting for you in the next room."
Despite his words, Liang Jun still couldn't let her guard down.
Her body was pressed tightly against the wall, always facing Dean Liang, moving sideways like a crab. "Dean, you're not lying to me, are you?"
Upon hearing this, Dean Liang seemed to be struck by something, and his body trembled violently.
He buried his withered head even deeper, and said in a muffled voice, "When have I ever lied to you..."
Liang Jun still refused to turn her back on the other party.
Her fingers were still tightly gripping the propofol at her waist. While keeping a close eye on the other person's every move, she quickly moved towards the door of the ward.
Liang Jun opened and closed the door extremely quickly, as if she was afraid that if she delayed even a second longer, she would be at risk of being left there forever.
Almost instantly, after confirming that there was nothing unusual in the corridor, Liang Jun rushed straight to the door of ward 714 without any hesitation.
The door behind her was slammed shut. She no longer paid attention to Dean Liang's twitching body and anxiously turned the doorknob in front of her.
The movement was so fast that it made a loud noise. The moment Liang Jun opened the door, everyone in the room turned to look at her.
Gu Keke, who was curled up on the hospital bed, was stunned at first, as if she couldn't believe it. She rubbed her eyes hard a couple of times. After confirming that the panting person was Liang Yun, she jumped off the bed and pounced on her.
"Sister Jun! Are you alright—"
Gu Keke's lips twitched slightly, and Liang Xun knew she was about to cry again. "Where did you go? We were so worried about you. You disappeared as soon as we turned around..."
Liang Jun didn't hear what she said next. Although the two were close, all she could hear was Gu Keke's sobbing.
She gently patted the other person's back, reassuring them, "I'm fine. What exactly happened between you two?"
Gu Keke sobbed, wanting to say something more, but her fragmented words couldn't form sentences at all, and instead, she was testing Liang Jun's Chinese listening comprehension.
Seeing this, Qi Zhixia had no choice but to pull the other person back to the bedside and explain on her behalf, "We were chatting in the room when we looked up and found you were gone. We searched the ward but couldn't find you. Just as we were hesitating whether to go out and look for you, we ran into Sister Xin and the others coming in."
Xin Sang, who was mentioned, took over the conversation.
“Our ward was empty, there was nothing there, so we got here quickly. I was quite surprised when I saw Summer and the others, I didn’t expect you to be so fast in your search; but Summer explained to us that they teleported to this room instantly and didn’t know what had happened.”
Jiang Zhiling, who was sitting obediently to the side, also looked at Liang Jun curiously, "Sister Jun, where were you at that time?"
"I……"
Liang Jun hesitated for only a few seconds before deciding to tell everyone what had happened, "I'm still in the same room."
This is hardly a secret; on the contrary, it's highly likely to be a clue to their success in the game.
Liang Jun didn't hide anything and told Lao Ren and Zhang Weiming everything about how she met Dean Liang and what they talked about.
After the brief explanation, Ge Lin, who was sitting on the bench, couldn't close his mouth for a long time.
"So, you've encountered the orphanage director you haven't seen in a long time in this instance, but he's now a madman—" he exclaimed emotionally, "This plot development is just too outrageous!!"
Ge Lin's ability to summarize has always been astonishing.
In contrast, Geng Qing appeared to be more pragmatic.
“That patient has indeed been treated here for a long time,” she said thoughtfully, “but he has never been willing to talk to us, has a strange and irritable temper, and his behavior has always been dangerous and violent…”
She looked at Liang Xun with a puzzled expression. "Is this really the same person?"
If Geng Qing's previous description of the mentally ill person was accurate, then Liang Jun has a 98% chance of not mistaking the other person.
But she also hid a crucial clue.
Liang Jun's fingers involuntarily reached to her waist, stroking the well-secured propofol, and then touched the bag containing the diary papers.
If I'm not mistaken, the faint "Liang" in the diary must be Dean Liang.
Various signs piled up in her mind, and although Liang Xun was unwilling to admit it, the facts were right in front of her—
Dean Liang is very likely the key NPC in this instance.
His identity underwent a magical transformation during this game.
He was no longer the director of the orphanage where Liang Jun grew up, but the director of this mysterious mental asylum.
A chilling feeling traveled up Liang Jun's spine, all the way to the top of her head.
She suddenly remembered the system rules that they had declared "invalid"—
It was the dean who took us in; it was the dean who gave us a home where we could celebrate.
Isn't that also true?
Liang Jun was so frightened by this closed-loop logic that she trembled all over and hurriedly interrupted the ongoing unspoken discussion.
We need to get out of here right now!
Dean Liang is dangerous; we should get as far away from here as possible.
Impulsiveness took over Liang Xun's mind. She didn't have time to plan anything important, and without lingering, she turned around and opened the door she had just closed.
A draft suddenly appeared from nowhere. The cold wind blew through the corridor and slapped against Liang Jun's face, bringing her back to her senses somewhat.
Before she could think it over, her teammates, worried about Liang Jun, squeezed out of the room and surrounded the door.
Where are we going?
Ge Lin asked curiously, "There are still so many rooms we haven't searched. Even though we've searched for so long and haven't found a single thing, what if the next room holds a crucial clue..."
Before he could finish speaking, he caught a glimpse of a dark figure at the end of the corridor out of the corner of his eye.
The words that were about to flow were instantly stuck in his throat.
Ge Lin seemed to be on vibrate mode, "Should we... run away...?"
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Author's Note: Coco: You know (wiping away tears) I've always been worried about you (wiping away tears)
Sister Jun: Don't say anything, just give me a hug!
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