***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Mimi for the donation! ^^
***
Even when the villa shook violently, it didn’t immediately shatter.
Clearly, that transparent thing protected the entire Yang family villa.
However, after the blood-red tentacles struck the glass window again, the cracks spread and widened a bit.
It obviously couldn’t hold on much longer, and the blood shadows outside were increasing.
There was only one result if he stayed.
Ruan Qing wasn’t particularly afraid of death, nor was he afraid of losing his innocence.
But being played with by something inhuman... he’d rather not.
Ruan Qing glanced at the cracks that seemed to endure a few more impacts, carefully moving toward the side of the bed, afraid of provoking the tentacle.
The tentacle, originally ready for another violent strike, abruptly stopped as Ruan Qing approached slowly.
Then it wildly twisted its enormous body outside the window.
It looked unusually excited.
After a few excited body twists, it quieted down and extended a small tentacle from its massive body, gently placing it on the glass window.
There was no brutality or frenzy like the previous attempts to strike the glass; instead, it carried a hint of cautiousness and gentleness.
Clearly, it had no face, no features, and certainly no eyes.
Yet, its posture seemed as if it were sneakily observing its crush, accompanied by a somewhat shy feeling.
Unfortunately, this appearance didn’t evoke cuteness, but rather fear and dread.
Ruan Qing paid no attention to the abnormal tentacles, not even giving them a glance.
Seeing the tentacles pause, he increased his pace, picking up the small knife he had placed under his pillow.
The small knife couldn’t inflict any harm on the blood shadow and tentacles; after all, his strength was insufficient to destroy the blood shadow.
But it’s not meant for self-harm either.
In a situation with choices and options, Ruan Qing wouldn’t be weak enough to resort to suicide.
Though he wouldn’t truly die, it meant entrusting the hope of clearing the game instance to someone else.
Someone extremely unreliable.
In the end, he could only trust himself.
After getting the small knife, Ruan Qing grabbed a small bag nearby and put everything he needed into it.
Without hesitation, he turned and entered the bathroom, then climbed up the ventilation duct using a stool.
Tentacles outside the window: “!!!”
***
The ventilation duct was a shared passage, even connecting to the first and second floors and other villas.
It’s a vertical connection. Descending from higher floors simply required sliding down, but climbing from lower floors to higher ones was not as feasible.
The ventilation duct, like the villa after 10 PM, resembled a vast maze.
It’s even more challenging to grasp the direction than in the villa.
Without remembering the route or making marks, one would undoubtedly get lost.
Due to limited visibility inside the ventilation duct, Ruan Qing didn’t dare to be overly confident, marking his way as he searched.
After careful exploration, he found that the ventilation duct did not connect to the fourth floor.
It seemed the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of the Yang family’s villa formed a completely independent system. Even the ventilation ducts didn’t interconnect.
It’s impossible to reach the fourth floor through the ventilation duct.
Due to the impact of the blood-red tentacles, many players ran out of the room.
At this moment, Ruan Qing was on the third-floor corridor, looking through a crack at the scene below.
However, he did not call for help or make any sound.
Even when someone passed below him, he stopped moving to avoid detection.
The impact sounds came from the main villa on this side, attracting numerous blood shadows.
Players ran towards other villas.
Many blood shadows were also drawn away by the players.
In just a short ten minutes, except for the players who were scared and stayed in their rooms, there were hardly any people left on this side of the main villa.
The figures of blood shadows were also no longer visible.
Ruan Qing had climbed to a position near the stairs on the third floor, where the ventilation ducts connected.
He took out binoculars from his bag, confirmed that there were no more blood shadows nearby, and then took out a tablet.
Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that it was the same one Yang Chenyan had smashed in the hall.
Although there were still cracks, it could still be somewhat used.
It was just a bit laggy and unstable.
But it was enough.
Ruan Qing operated on the tablet for a few moments.
Then he quietly waited for something to happen.
In less than ten minutes, a mysterious blood shadow appeared at the end of the third-floor corridor, slowly approaching Ruan Qing.
Ruan Qing took out a small knife, pried open a piece of the ventilation duct connection, and then, when the blood shadow reached directly below him, he jumped down, carefully holding the tablet.
There was no hint of fear or hesitation.
The blood shadow below instantly caught him and held him in its arms.
Then it quickly walked towards the other side of the corridor.
Because the figure of the blood shadow was not small, it completely blocked Ruan Qing’s figure, making it almost impossible to see him from behind.
In reality, what held Ruan Qing was not a blood shadow but a red robotic figure similar to the form of a blood shadow.
The robot imitated the posture of a blood shadow. If one didn’t pay attention, it’s almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Previously, when Ruan Qing was programming the robot, he naturally didn’t create just one but three.
He even took the opportunity to craft a small toy on the side.
While passing the stairs to the fourth floor, Ruan Qing tapped on the tablet again.
Something resembling a silver-white spider crawled out of his bag, then crawled onto the ground and quickly ascended the stairs.
Through the crack in the door on the fourth floor, it disappeared directly.
The spider was light-colored and very small, almost inconspicuous.
Even when it moved, it was challenging to perceive its presence.
Ruan Qing had no physical ability, but the robot clearly compensated for this shortcoming.
Unfortunately, the robots in the villa seemed to still be in the development stage and were not equipped with any weapons.
Otherwise, if they had weapons, he wouldn’t have to fear encountering a blood shadow.
After arriving at another villa, Ruan Qing found a place to hide.
Then he controlled the spider with the tablet, observing the images sent by the spider.
The fourth floor was empty at the moment, with no one around, and most of the room's lights were off.
But the study’s light was on.
Ruan Qing controlled the spider to quickly crawl to the study on the fourth floor.
At this moment, there were three figures in the study.
When the spider just entered the doorway, Yang Wenmin seemed to sense something. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then his gaze sharply looked in the direction of the door.
Ruan Qing froze directly.
Was he... discovered?
Ruan Qing dared not manipulate the spider any further.
Just as Yang Wenmin was about to approach, a loud impact sounded, and the entire villa shook once again.
Seeing this, Ruan Qing immediately took the opportunity to control the spider, to leave its position at the door and hide in the gap of the sofa.
Yang Wenmin didn’t glance at the door again but turned to look at the blood-red tentacles outside the window with a stern expression. “Who has been suppressing it these past few days?”
