Chapter 189
Xing Nuo, bundled in his thick winter coat, walked down to the third floor as usual and looked at Qi Yao’s dust-covered door.
“Still not back.”
He frowned and asked Lu Qi:
“Lu Qi, can you check on Uncle Qi? See if he’s okay?”
He hadn’t seen him in so long. Something must have happened.
Lu Qi hummed, then, after a long silence, just as Xing Nuo was about to go to bed, replied:
“Qi Yao and his team are alive.”
Xing Nuo, who had been lying down, sat up and looked out the window at the thin layer of snow covering the ground.
“That’s good. That dungeon is dangerous.”
Lu Qi, using his limited energy, had discreetly infiltrated the dungeon and spent several hours exploring it.
“It’s a high-level dungeon. Not just ordinary people inside, but many players too.”
“A large amusement park dungeon. Each attraction is a sub-dungeon, all connected, a complex system.”
Similar to the amusement park Shen Yan had built, but larger and more elaborate.
Players challenging different dungeons, ability users trying to kill the core monster, ordinary people caught in the crossfire.
Everyone was fighting their own battles, the dungeon too complex, the atmosphere too paranoid, for any alliances to form, even teammates distrusting each other.
“The dungeon boss likes toying with humans, like a cat with a mouse. The death rate isn’t high, but the clearance rate is even lower.”
Clowns were inherently creepy, especially a high-level monster clown.
This monster had designed the dungeon to sow discord among the players, planting monster spies and using illusions and mind games.
It would watch with amusement as friends turned against each other, lovers became enemies, and teams fell apart, then appear, laughing maniacally, dancing a grotesque jig.
“Some players in this dungeon, trapped between life and death, clinging to survival, are slowly being driven insane, becoming clown monsters themselves.”
In the amusement park.
A player, starving, then suddenly finding food appearing out of nowhere, his sanity slipping,
thought, This dungeon is impossible to clear!
The boss is a devil, toying with us!
He was munching on the food, his mind on the verge of breaking, when his teammate suddenly jumped up, a knife in his hand, his laughter manic.
“Let the world burn! Let’s dance and sing!”
He put on a clown mask, readily available everywhere in the park, and started dancing and singing a strange, unsettling song.
The song echoed through the amusement park, its melody chilling.
The player, his face expressionless, ignoring his crazed teammate, sat down and ate his bread, his mind numb.
Perhaps he would also become a clown soon.
Dancing and singing, praising the great Clown, finding amusement in cruel pranks.
He wouldn’t be human anymore, but a monster.
The final exam results were out, and Xing Nuo was first in his class again.
But the gap between him and second place had narrowed. Everyone was improving. He was only a few points ahead.
He took his report card and winter homework assignments, his heavy backpack making him sigh as he walked home.
An Zimuo, walking beside him, his face pale, mumbled:
“Only two weeks of break, and so much homework! I’ll never finish!”
Xing Nuo placed his backpack on his scooter, the weight making the seat sink slightly, and sighed.
“A few hours a day…should be enough. An Zimuo, don’t wait till the last day. You’ll never finish, even if you stay up all night.”
An Zimuo, not in the same class as Xing Nuo, unable to copy his homework, groaned dramatically.
“I’m doomed!”
Xing Nuo, back home, organized his homework and reviewed his exam papers, checking his mistakes.
Night fell quickly, the sky turning a dark, inky black, without even a sliver of moonlight or starlight.
The darkness was unsettling.
Xing Nuo stretched and, hearing his brother call him for dinner, put his books away and went to the dining room.
After dinner, he chatted with his dad, watched a cheesy family drama, and then, as usual, went to bed.
He closed his eyes, feeling his dad’s hand gently stroking his hair, his brother peeking in through the doorway, his heart filled with warmth.
His family always worried about him.
Before he went to sleep, his dad would check on him, then Shen Yan, and even Shen Baizhou, despite his usual carelessness, would occasionally peek in to make sure he was asleep.
Later that night, when the house was quiet, Xing Nuo opened his eyes.
“Remember the plan?” he asked mentally.
Lu Qi replied: “Steal it and run. No hesitation.”
Xing Nuo’s eyes hardened, and the next moment, thanks to a temporary path opened by Lu Qi using his energy, he was in the amusement park dungeon.
He was wearing his bunny pajamas, the long, fluffy ears warm and comforting.
Having bypassed the dungeon’s entrance, like an ordinary person accidentally pulled in, he landed on a path, his knees hitting the ground. He rubbed them and slowly got up.
He looked around, not sensing any immediate danger, and, using a streetlight for support, stood up straight.
Lu Qi, having created a 3D map of the area, which now appeared before Xing Nuo’s eyes, said:
“Three hundred ten meters ahead…small dungeon…Hide-and-Seek.”
Xing Nuo nodded and limped towards it, stopping just at the dungeon’s boundary, one foot inside, one foot out.
“Lu Qi, can you reach?”
The Hide-and-Seek dungeon, despite its childish name, was A-rank.
And Lu Qi’s ability to absorb energy from dungeons had a limited range.
He tried several times, and finally, as Xing Nuo carefully adjusted his position, said:
“Yes! I can access the core energy!”
Xing Nuo was now halfway inside the dungeon. One more step, and he would be pulled in.
And with that dungeon boss’s twisted sense of humor, he would be tortured before he could escape.
He was just an ordinary human, without abilities or props. It was safer to stay outside and steal some energy for Lu Qi.
High-level dungeons were rare, and he wouldn’t steal from his family’s dungeons, so the amusement park was his only option.
He spent half the night huddled in a corner, discreetly siphoning energy from the dungeon with Lu Qi’s help.
They didn’t linger, leaving as soon as they had enough.
Dawn was breaking in the amusement park.
A strange, fiery red sun hung in the sky, and clowns, emerging from every corner, their laughter echoing through the park, danced their grotesque jigs.
Xing Nuo, glancing back as they left, shuddered at the sight of the creepy clown masks.
Fortunately, Lu Qi was efficient, and with this dungeon having merged with the real world, its loopholes easy to find, Xing Nuo was back in his bedroom within seconds.
His bunny pajamas dirty, he changed into his crocodile onesie, put on the hood, and climbed into bed.
He slept until almost noon.
Waking up, he stretched and yawned contentedly.
“So nice. After exams…I sleep in every day!”
Lu Qi, busy absorbing the stolen energy, just beeped in agreement.
Xing Nuo liked this feeling of constant companionship.
Lu Qi, residing in his soul, gave him a sense of security and comfort.
As if no matter what happened, someone would always be with him, even until the end of the world.
This feeling of connection and belonging was incredibly reassuring for Xing Nuo, who craved love and affection.
After a late breakfast/early lunch, he joined Shen Wen on the balcony, watering the plants, chatting about everyday things.
Having lived in the human world for so long, Shen Wen had become more human, his conversations now about mundane things:
“Tomorrow will be sunny. Mrs. Zhang said there’s a new bakery…their walnut cookies are delicious…I wonder when the tomatoes at the supermarket will be cheaper…”
Xing Nuo, crouching by the flowerpots, listening to him, smiled.
In the living room, Shen Yan, working on his laptop, a video playing on his tablet, his face serious:
“How to be a good boss? First, let’s talk about…”
Shen Baizhou, his hair wet, his face blank, lay sprawled on the sofa, groaning:
“I have to get rid of this stupid fish tank!”
He then turned to Shen Yan. “Can we order fried chicken for lunch? I have a coupon!”
Xing Nuo, listening to the familiar sounds of his family, his chin resting on his hand, as he played with the flowers in the pots, smiled contentedly.
