***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Somebody for the donation! ^^
***
Ruan Qing stood by the window, looking down at the bewildered male student by the door with an air of detached superiority.
The student noticed Ruan Qing and met his gaze.
Once again, he had lost this round.
Without the ability to use his powers, being forced off the train meant certain doom.
He made no attempt to escape, allowing the insects to swarm over him, devouring his body.
The moment he was completely engulfed, the nightmare world shifted.
The train vanished, the terrifying insects disappeared, and in their place stood an enormous villa.
It was night, and heavy rain poured outside. The villa was pitch-black, with only the occasional flash of lightning briefly illuminating its interior.
But those fleeting moments weren’t enough to reveal the villa’s full layout—or what lurked inside.
Ruan Qing pulled out his phone, using its dim light to scan his surroundings.
Yet the instant the screen lit up, noises echoed around him. His instincts screamed danger, and he immediately turned off the phone, darting away from his spot.
A second later, a knife plunged into the exact place he had just been standing.
It was a doll.
That one second of light had been enough for Ruan Qing to see clearly—the room was packed with life-sized dolls, their sheer numbers creating an eerie, suffocating presence.
Light made the dolls move. And when they moved, they killed anything alive.
Even the lightning outside counted as light. The only moments of safety came in total darkness.
But in total darkness, it was impossible to see, making escape from this doll-infested villa nearly hopeless.
Death by the dolls seemed only a matter of time.
***
The villa had an unsettling number of windows, their glass panes reflecting the countless dolls inside—a sight that sent chills down the spine.
Especially under the flickering lightning outside, the scene appeared even more horrifying.
Xiao Mingyu was certain this time—there was no way that young man could survive.
Even if he managed to avoid the lethal dolls, the darkness would dull his senses. All Xiao Mingyu had to do was strike during that moment of obscurity, ensuring a fatal blow.
This was also why he had chosen to "die" in the train compartment earlier—only by faking his death in front of the young man could he lower his guard.
He pitied him, even admired him, but he couldn’t let him live any longer.
Xiao Mingyu hid in a corner along the only path leading out of the villa, disguising himself as one of the dolls, ready to kill the young man the moment he let his guard down.
But after a long wait, no one came.
Xiao Mingyu was puzzled. Had the young man already died?
If he had, that lunatic would’ve gone completely berserk by now. Why was there no reaction at all?
He waited another half hour, but still, no one appeared. Confused, he finally stepped out of his hiding spot.
The villa was eerily silent, as if empty—but the path he’d been guarding was the only exit.
Could there be another way out?
No, impossible. The villa had just one exit. The man had to still be trapped inside.
Maybe he was hiding somewhere, too terrified to move.
Xiao Mingyu muted his footsteps and swiftly searched the villa. But aside from countless dolls, there was no trace of any living person.
The young man was truly gone. Xiao Mingyu racked his brain, unable to figure out how he’d escaped.
Just as he prepared to keep searching, a sharp pain tore through his back.
Xiao Mingyu looked down in disbelief at the gaping wound in his abdomen, then turned to see Ruan Qing standing behind him.
Under Ruan Qing’s cold gaze, he slowly collapsed to the ground.
Ruan Qing had never left the villa at all. The prey had simply become the hunter.
In this game of cat and mouse, it was clear who had more patience—and who had emerged victorious.
Ruan Qing watched Xiao Mingyu fall. He didn’t bother asking questions. He knew he wouldn’t get answers now.
He could uncover the truth on his own.
Find the answers yourself from this person.
However, this person’s mental strength shouldn’t be underestimated. He had to first crack their psyche to seize the opportunity to infiltrate.
Only then could he hypnotize them.
As Xiao Mingyu’s death unfolded, the scene shifted once again.
***
Xiao Mingyu’s expression twisted slightly. He touched his perfectly intact abdomen, where phantom pain still lingered.
“Tch, ruthless.”
That person looked frail and delicate, but when it came to stabbing someone, they showed no mercy—completely different from what he’d seen during the livestream.
Though Xiao Mingyu muttered “ruthless,” there was an unconscious flicker of admiration in his eyes.
An ordinary person would’ve died the moment he blew up the train, yet this one had forced him to die in the train’s space and even counter-killed him in the villa.
This went far beyond mere “excellence.”
Even with his powers sealed, he wasn’t someone easily deceived—yet that person had genuinely slipped past his awareness.
He looked fragile, as if he’d wither without someone’s care, yet he’d seen through everything in an instant and even orchestrated Xiao Mingyu's death in return.
His own carelessness played a part, but the other’s brilliance was undeniable.
If not for the fact that he had to kill him, he might’ve been willing to become close friends.
A shame.
This time, Xiao Mingyu didn’t choose a direct confrontation. Instead, he littered the entire space with traps, ensuring there was no escape.
After setting the traps, Xiao Mingyu felt pleased. This time, that person was undoubtedly doomed.
Now, the only concern was how to deal with the lunatic after the other's death.
Lost in thought, Xiao Mingyu moved forward—until a faint click reached his ears. Before he could react, searing pain tore through his abdomen again.
In a daze, he stared down at the triggered mechanism beneath his foot and the arrow now impaling his stomach, his expression blank.
…Had he set a trap here?
'Not really, right? And I don’t think any of the traps were set with arrows either?'
He had laid so many traps, densely covering the entire space, that even Xiao Mingyu couldn’t be entirely sure for a moment.
***
The nightmare world had shifted countless times, yet each time ended with Xiao Mingyu’s death—most of the time before the two could even properly engage in a fight.
Like now, for instance.
Xiao Mingyu clutched his abdomen, which had been pierced countless times, spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
He could hardly believe it—he’d been killed over and over, yet hadn’t managed to land a single hit on his opponent.
The only time the other guy got hurt was when he tripped over his own feet.
This was nothing short of humiliating.
But the worst part was that he couldn’t even use his powers. The moment he did, that lunatic would show up, and his death would be even more brutal.
Damn it! Wasn’t this guy supposed to be some weakling with nothing but a wisp of a soul left?!
Why was killing a weakling so damn hard?! This is so fucking ridiculous!
Xiao Mingyu took a deep breath, suppressing the fury in his heart, and staggered in another direction while clutching his stomach.
But after just a few steps, he slowly came to a halt—because standing not far away was a figure.
Ruan Qing looked at Xiao Mingyu’s stunned expression, tilted his head slightly, and smiled gently and politely.
"Good evening."
Thank you for the chapters!!
ReplyDelete