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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Fray for the donation! ^^
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Ruan Qing didn’t know that 'Ruan Qing' had disappeared. He tried his best to calm himself down, even resorting to some hypnotic techniques. Taking advantage of the moment when the ghosts were fighting, he searched for clues in the rooms of Building D.
It seemed that only those six ghosts lived in Building D, and now was the best time to investigate.
Building D was as tall as the other buildings, with just as many rooms, making it difficult to find the rooms of those six ghosts. Ruan Qing spent a considerable amount of time before he finally found one of their rooms.
It was Duan Ming’s room.
The clues in a ghost’s room were naturally about the ghost, so the clues in this room were about Duan Ming.
Ruan Qing carefully flipped through the documents and diary on the table.
As it turned out, Duan Ming and the other four were not construction workers at all. They came from different places and worked in different professions, but they had one thing in common.
Before the kidnapping incident, all of them had visited this neighborhood—even Ren Yanqing was no exception.
At that time, the neighborhood wasn’t a neighborhood; it was a graveyard.
However, the documents didn’t record what they had gone there to do, nor did they mention what had actually happened at the time.
A... graveyard?
Ruan Qing suddenly thought of something. He grabbed the documents and immediately left the room, then climbed to the top floor of Building D.
From the rooftop, he could clearly see the entire layout of the neighborhood and feel that chilling, spine-tingling sensation.
It was eerie, sinister, and terrifying.
The neighborhood was shaped like a rectangle, resembling the form of a coffin!
Without hesitation, Ruan Qing turned to leave. But just as he did, several dark figures leaped up from below and landed on the rooftop of the adjacent building in an instant.
It was... those six people.
No, not just six—there was a seventh person.
During the day, the six didn’t look particularly frightening; they appeared as living humans. Ruan Qing forced himself to stay.
His intuition told him that the seventh figure was suspicious.
Because only the seventh figure didn’t look like a living person. Instead, it was completely shrouded in black mist, making its appearance impossible to discern.
Like a shadow still lingering in the darkness, twisted and eerie, just looking at it sent a chilling sensation creeping up one's spine.
Moreover, the six individuals who had been fighting fiercely were now, for some reason, united in attacking that dark figure.
Yet, even with the six of them joining forces, they seemed no match for the shadowy figure. They didn't even dare to confront it directly, ensuring that not a single wisp of the black mist touched them.
The battle was intense, and Ruan Qing watched intently. None of them noticed that the black mist emanating from the shadowy figure was spreading, devouring everything in its path, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.
Even the base of Building D, where Ruan Qing was, began to be swallowed by the black mist, slowly creeping up toward the rooftop.
By the time the darkness reached the floor below Ruan Qing, the entire building began to tilt. Only then did everyone realize what was happening.
Including Ruan Qing, who was on the rooftop.
Ruan Qing's face turned pale, and he instinctively stepped back. But the erosion was too fast. In an instant, it had consumed most of the floor below him, and the building could no longer hold itself up, collapsing in one direction.
The group, rarely showing fear, now looked terrified. They rushed to the edge, desperate to save him.
But it was too late. Ruan Qing's figure was buried in the rubble.
Along with Ruan Qing, Zhou Jinchen was also buried.
Zhou Jinchen had always been watching Ruan Qing, even during the fight. When the accident happened, he was the first to react and the only one who managed to reach Ruan Qing in time.
The impact of the collapsing building was immense, and coupled with the yin energy that consumed everything, even Zhou Jinchen felt powerless.
Yet, Zhou Jinchen shielded Ruan Qing without regard for his own safety, blocking all the falling debris, the shattering glass, and even the yin energy.
However, Ruan Qing still seemed to have passed out from the shock of the high-rise fall.
Zhou Jinchen wasn't faring much better. A fatal wound from a falling rock marked his forehead, and his face was cut by shards of glass. Blood streamed down his handsome face, completely staining the front of his shirt.
Some of the blood even dripped onto Ruan Qing, whom he was protecting beneath him.
Ghosts not only revert to their living forms during the day but also suffer a significant reduction in their powers.
Zhou Jinchen, also known as the system, could clearly feel his strength waning as dawn approached, weakening to the point where he could barely hold on.
He couldn't withstand the collapse of the building, nor could he resist the erosion of the yin energy belonging to 'Him'.
Yet, the person before him remained unconscious. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, one might have thought the young man had already passed away.
This dungeon offered no chance of clearing it.
Ordinary players had none, and Ruan Qing, as a special NPC player, had even less.
When the dungeon's name changed to the <Haunted Building>, the system knew this very well.
That was why it had recklessly used its power to send him back to a previous point in time, despite the risk of exposure. Yet, the system had still ended up like this.
He felt somewhat unwilling.
Unwilling to let the young man die like this, and unwilling to let him forget everything about it.
After all, he had worked so hard to get this close to him, to reach this point.
But now, all of this was about to be reset.
If Ruan Qing died in this dungeon, he would forget everything and become an NPC in this dungeon once again.
Perhaps one day, someone might take him out of this dungeon, and he would become a special player again. Or perhaps, he would be trapped in this dungeon forever.
But in either case, he wouldn’t remember him.
He was unwilling.
But directly replacing Zhou Jinchen was already walking on the edge of a knife. If it used its power to help him again, it would definitely trigger 'His' restrictions, and everything would be reset.
By then, he would no longer remember any of this.
Zhou Jinchen silently watched the unconscious figure, his eyes filled with indescribable emotions.
There was reluctance, heartache, and regret.
In the end, he slowly closed his eyes, a look of resolve in his gaze, as he summoned power that did not belong to Zhou Jinchen.
If he had to choose, he would rather lose all his memories and gamble on a possibility for this person—and for himself.
Even if that possibility was almost zero.
Just as Zhou Jinchen was about to recklessly use his power, a soft, melodious, yet weak voice rang out.
"No need."
Zhou Jinchen opened his eyes in surprise. The person beneath him had woken up at some point and was now looking up at him.
Ruan Qing gazed at Zhou Jinchen indifferently and repeated his words once more, "No need."
"'He' won't let me die."
"At least, not now."
If he couldn't clear the level, he would only die on the final day of this instance.
Zhou Jinchen's thin lips pressed together tightly. "Have you... found a way?"
"No," Ruan Qing chuckled softly and shook his head. With great effort, he reached out and wiped the bloodstains from Zhou Jinchen's face, then whispered, "Just protect me until the last second of your life."
Zhou Jinchen silently looked at Ruan Qing for a few seconds before finally murmuring in a low voice, "Okay."
As Zhou Jinchen's "okay" fell, the narrow, dim space fell into silence. No one spoke again.
Neither of them had the strength to speak anymore.
The atmosphere was eerily quiet, so quiet that they could hear each other's heartbeats. Strangely, it gave off a sense of peaceful tranquility.
Time seemed to stand still in that moment.
It was unclear how much time had passed—long enough for the sun to rise, long enough for the fourth day of the instance to arrive.
And long enough for Zhou Jinchen... to finally lose his strength.
Ruan Qing gently wrapped his arms around Zhou Jinchen's neck. As Zhou Jinchen closed his eyes and collapsed, Ruan Qing leaned in slightly and kissed him.
Their lips met, the kiss tender and lingering.
Ruan Qing turned his head slightly to look at the person who had stopped breathing and whispered softly, as if murmuring to himself, "You've worked hard."
"Goodnight."
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