The air was thick with the stench of blood. Xiao Cheng looked up in a daze, but before she could see anything, Fang He suddenly covered her eyes with his hand.
His palm was very hot. Xiao Cheng blinked slightly, looking a little flustered. His eyelashes brushed against Fang He's palm, and the slight tickling sensation made him tremble slightly involuntarily.
Apart from Fang He's slightly rapid breathing, there was almost no other sound. Xiao Cheng didn't know what had just happened, so she gently tugged at his hand and asked teasingly, "Hey, what kind of blindfolded game are you playing all of a sudden?"
"Don't ask, it's not suitable for children." Fang He chuckled, a noticeable vibration coming from his chest. "I'm protecting your exceptionally young heart."
Xiao Cheng: "..." I don't believe you for a second.
But Fang He wouldn't let go, so what could she do? She was just a weak little girl with no strength to even kill a chicken.
The small, pitiful girl sighed helplessly, then leaned lazily against Fang He's chest in despair: "I'll protect you."
Fang He didn't expect her to suddenly withdraw her strength, and her entire weight pressed down on him, causing his limbs to stiffen for a moment.
Now Xiao Cheng can hear more than just his breathing.
She laughed teasingly, extended a finger, and gently poked the back of his hand: "Some reliable adult male, I heard you, your heart is racing."
The words fell.
Fang He jerked his hand back as if he'd been electrocuted, taking a few steps back in an attempt to cover up his blunder: "I don't know what you're talking about."
"What are you thinking? I was just worried you might have a heart attack here. It's just routine for me to look after my teammates." Xiao Cheng looked at him with a grin and said earnestly, "You should pay attention to irregular heartbeats as soon as possible, young man."
As she spoke, she kept glancing around out of the corner of her eye. On one hand, she wanted to know what Fang He wasn't showing her, and on the other hand, she was afraid that if she did see something, she would be suddenly disgusted.
The ground was covered with the corpses of fleshy spheres, their deaths not particularly gruesome, mostly killed with a single blow. In a corner, many fleshy spheres piled up into a mound of corpses. At first glance, it didn't seem like anything special, but upon closer inspection, it appeared that something was buried beneath the mound.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Xiao Cheng walked over there, but before she had taken two steps, Fang He grabbed her.
He was wearing dark clothes, and now that he was closer, Xiao Cheng realized that his clothes were almost completely soaked in blood.
No wonder there was such a strong smell of blood.
She frowned slightly, temporarily putting the matter of the mountain of corpses behind her, and stared into Fang He's eyes as she questioned, "Are you injured?" There was a hint of coldness in her tone that she herself did not realize.
Fang He felt a little flustered under her gaze, but he still tried to remain calm and explained, "I'm not injured, it's not my blood."
Seeing the continued suspicion in her eyes, he paused slightly before continuing, "It's those players. They're all dead now; what we have now is just an empty shell."
Xiao Cheng thought again of the shattered head and the mass of flesh scattered on the ground. Fang He had probably experienced the same thing, or perhaps his situation was even more critical than hers.
But his body didn't even have the slightest scratch.
Based on what happened when he first woke up, it's conceivable that Fang He stayed by his side the whole time.
A strange feeling welled up in Xiao Cheng's heart. She felt like something was off about her, so she shook her head vigorously to shake off these inappropriate thoughts.
“It’s a pity that A009 got away.” Fang He seemed oblivious to everything and continued, “He seems a bit strange now. His strength has been affected by something, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to escape so easily. I guess… he must have done some kind of experiment on himself.”
"Where are Su Xin and Xu Chu? Have you seen them?" Compared to that pervert A 009, Xiao Cheng was more concerned about Su Xin and Xu Chu, who seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
But in reality, I had little hope left; in this situation, the odds were clearly against me. Who knew if they were among the corpses hidden beneath the mass of flesh?
“No, they’re not among these players.” Fang He gently shook his head.
That's barely good news.
Xiao Cheng let out a long sigh of relief: "What's next? Where do we go? A009 has escaped; he'll probably target Qiao Liao."
"Don't worry, it won't happen," Fang He said confidently. "Besides, I already have a clue. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll be able to clear this dungeon soon."
A009 escaped not from the outside, but from a hidden door in the monitoring room.
Xiao Cheng stared speechlessly at the tunnel entrance, which was about half a person's height and hidden behind the surveillance screen.
"Is this a mouse? Why is it making so many holes?" That's an absurd statement. "And all crooked and twisted like this, what decent person would spend all their time digging tunnels?"
"That must be hard on you, thinking A009 is a decent person." Fang He reached in and groped around for a while, then pulled his arm back and rubbed the grayish-white powder off his fingers.
"What is this?" Xiao Cheng asked, leaning closer to take a look, somewhat puzzled.
Fang He didn't let her look closely, and quickly brushed the powder away: "Ashes." He casually remarked, "Guess what he ate to barely maintain a human appearance?"
Xiao Cheng: "..." Every day is filled with disgusting things.
"Should we go in from here?" She started to mentally prepare herself, and after a while, she was able to temporarily ignore her uncomfortable feelings.
Then Fang He quietly said, "Are you stupid? Let's take the right path."
Following Fang He's left and right turns until they emerged from a room on the first floor of the building, Xiao Cheng racked her brains but still couldn't figure out how Fang He had figured out the bizarre layout of the place.
"Is it really that amazing?" She watched in disbelief as Fang He moved the huge wardrobe aside, revealing a secret passage behind it. "You didn't build this place, did you?"
“Because normal people would choose to place the secret passage in a safe place close to themselves.” Fang He calmly stood guard next to the wardrobe. “We are faster than him. He hasn’t come out yet. We just need to wait.”
Xiao Cheng: "..." Why are you admitting he's a normal person now?!
As it turned out, his guess was absolutely correct.
A009 crawled out covered in dust, and as soon as it poked its head out, it was blocked.
He stood there stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into maniacal laughter: "Get out of the way! You don't want your companions to get hurt, do you?!"
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