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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Samie for the donation! ^^
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But even though Ruan Qing had exerted all his strength, the speed was still slow, and the footsteps and crawling sounds behind then were getting closer.
Ruan Qing tightly bit his lower lip, not daring to look back at all.
Qi Muran would absolutely not let himself die, so he must be safe, and he also had the talismans given by Qiao Nuo.
Qi Muran was obviously testing whether Ruan Qing would leave him behind.
If he really abandoned the other, it would provoke Qi Muran and make the situation even more dangerous.
But reason was one thing, and emotions were another.
Listening to the increasingly dreadful sound getting closer, a layer of mist covered Ruan Qing’s eyes, and he was close to biting his lower lip until it bled.
Just when Ruan Qing was about to give in, a “meow!” sounded behind him.
A black cat, seemingly out of nowhere, directly extended a paw towards those things.
Then Ruan Qing heard the footsteps and crawling sounds getting farther and farther away.
It seemed that those things were scared away by the cat?
Ruan Qing’s long eyelashes trembled slightly, but he still didn’t dare to look back, continuing to support Qi Muran and move forward.
Qi Muran glanced at the young man supporting him, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
The young man’s physique was indeed poor, and his strength was pitifully weak.
But he was still trying his best to support him, showing no intention of abandoning him.
Innocent and kind, extremely foolish.
But for those in the darkness, it was an irresistible poison.
Like poppies, beautiful yet addictive.
And probably because of the fine sweat oozing from the young man, the fragrance of orchids became even more intense.
Intensely alluring, as if luring someone.
Just as Qi Muran was about to speak, footsteps of several people came from the darkness not far away.
They were walking towards the two.
A hint of displeasure flashed in Qi Muran’s eyes, but in the end, he said nothing.
Ruan Qing’s face turned pale the moment he heard those footsteps.
If there was something dreadful ahead, he and Qi Muran had almost nowhere to escape.
Moreover, they might end up facing those things head-on.
Seeing and not seeing are entirely different concepts. While not seeing, Ruan Qing could still use psychological suggestion to numb himself. However, once he saw it, psychological suggestion was entirely ineffective.
He could not suppress the fear and dread deeply rooted in his soul.
It’s a fear that remained unconquerable since being dragged into the cemetery.
Just as Ruan Qing felt his whole body go weak, he heard a familiar voice.
It was the voice of the player in the black T-shirt.
Indeed, the players who had just escaped ran over. They initially intended to leave directly but decided to stay, wanting to see if the two would make it out.
Just as the players were about to give up, they saw the two not far away.
The player in the black T-shirt ran up, “Are you guys okay!?”
Ruan Qing breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head slightly, but halfway through the shake, he stopped. Then he spoke in a low voice, “Brother Mu got injured trying to save me.”
The player in the black T-shirt immediately prepared to take Qi Muran from Ruan Qing’s hands but was refused by Qi Muran.
“It’s just that I suddenly fell, and it hurt a bit. I couldn’t stand steady for a moment, but now it’s much better.”
Seeing this, the players were not very surprised. Due to the healing abilities of Qi Muran, he could recover much faster than others.
The player in the black T-shirt, noticing Ruan Qing’s astonishment, explained, “God Mu has healing abilities, so his self-healing power is quite strong. Most of the time, injuries heal quickly on their own.”
Ruan Qing: “Oh.”
But being able to heal oneself after being injured... Had he seen that somewhere before?
Ruan Qing squinted his eyes for a moment. Qiao Nuo?
Qiao Nuo healed a head injury instantly back then, and later, when he cut his own hand to draw a circle for him, it healed as well.
This series of events seemed too coincidental—Qi Muran, surnamed Qi, capable of self-healing, feared by shadow ghosts.
Moreover, only three parts of the remnant soul of the pen spirit had been identified.
Qiao Nuo, Shen Yu’an, and the pet spirit.
According to what Qiao Nuo said at that time, the pen spirit was dismembered into four parts by the four individuals in Room 404 of Building A. Correspondingly, its remnant soul should also be divided into four parts.
In other words, one part was still missing.
However, Qi Muran was a player, and most people knew him as a player. He didn’t seem to be possessed.
Because Qi Muran had just suffered internal injuries, Ruan Qing didn’t know if his self-healing effect was similar to Qiao Nuo’s.
After all, it could be just a coincidence.
Now, the most crucial thing was to find the fourth part of the pen spirit’s remnant soul.
As Ruan Qing analyzed the suspicious individuals in his mind, something suddenly touched his trouser leg, making Ruan Qing stiffen in fear.
Fortunately, the next moment, he heard a ‘meow’ sound.
Ruan Qing looked down, and sure enough, it was the black cat.
The black cat was affectionately rubbing against his trouser leg, as if begging to be held.
Ruan Qing bent down and picked up the black cat, whispering a ‘thank you.’
If it wasn’t for the black cat just now, he might have been caught by those things.
The black cat affectionately rubbed against Ruan Qing’s hand again, as if comforting him.
Qi Muran looked at the black cat nestled against the young man, a shadow passing over his eyes. The next moment, he hesitated and looked at the cat in Ruan Qing’s arms. “Classmate Xia Qing, is this cat yours?”
Without waiting for Ruan Qing to answer, Qi Muran continued, “I heard that some ghosts disguise themselves as black cats to get close to humans and then kill them when humans aren’t paying attention, so I just wanted to ask you.”
Other players immediately looked at the black cat in Ruan Qing’s hands with vigilance upon hearing this.
And in the moment after Qi Muran finished speaking, Ruan Qing’s face turned pale. He instinctively let go of the black cat, even taking several steps back.
Not because of what Qi Muran said, but because after Qi Muran spoke, the black cat’s body showed a momentary stiffness.
Exactly the same as when Qiao Nuo talked to him about the pen spirit.
Qi Muran... was right.
The black cat was indeed a ghost.
It might even be the fourth part of the pen spirit’s remnant soul.
About the legend of the black cat, there were many stories, and it seemed normal for it to scare away ghosts.
But if the black cat was a ghost, that would be abnormal.
Because ordinary ghosts couldn’t scare away other ghosts at all.
There were no other thoughts in his mind aside from it being a remnant soul of the pen spirit.
The black cat indeed was a part of the remnant soul of the pen spirit, buried alongside the remains near the toilet.
Initially, after frightening the young man in the toilet, he had intended to find a beautiful body. However, he unexpectedly encountered the weakened pen spirit first.
The pen spirit, in order to become stronger, wanted to merge with him, but he naturally resisted.
However, the pen spirit had the strongest power among the remnant souls. Even if it became weak, it was not something he could resist.
Not only did ‘he’ take away a large amount of his power, but he was also almost directly killed by “him.”
He entered the body of the passing black cat and, coupled with encountering the young man, barely survived.
However, because he wasn’t accustomed to the cat’s body, he found it challenging to control the cat’s natural reactions.
It’s clear that he had been exposed now; the black cat glanced deeply at Qi Muran and eventually disappeared into the darkness.
The players ultimately did not pursue it.
Because in this ghost domain, the one thing not lacking was ghosts. If the other party gave up, there was no need to pursue and kill.
Moreover, there was no certainty they could overpower them.
And they came to the instance not to kill ghosts but to investigate.
Now the top priority was to find out who the pen spirit really was.
The players headed directly towards the abandoned building.
They wanted to use the piano mentioned by Cheng Mingzhe to go back seven years and see if they could get the name of the pen spirit.
Even if they couldn’t get the pen spirit’s name, they had to find out where the pen spirit’s remains were.
it'd be weird if a player was a part of the soul in this instance, wouldnt that make no sense?
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