Chapter 63: Bye-Bye, Nian’er

    Jin Jiuchi gritted his teeth and braced himself for yet another round of wounds on his body.

    However, the pain he was anticipating never came. Instead, what welcomed him was Xinxin’s heartrending scream that almost pierced through his eardrums, along with the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart. The pungent stench of blood intensified in the air – but not his blood.

    Jin Jiuchi swiveled around in shock, only to see Dong guarding his back while holding onto the fourth nightmare creature. Blood dribbled out of the man’s stomach from where Tang Ye’s hand had sunk into. And in front of Jin Jiuchi’s eyes, his appearance slowly changed from Zhi’s muscular and sturdy stature into an overly thin middle aged man with skin as dry as tree bark, looking as if all the blood in his body had been sucked dry.

    This was the true appearance of Dong, and also the same figure whom Jin Jiuchi had seen from the fourth floor window on the very first night.

    Not only Jin Jiuchi, but Xinxin and Nian were also in the state of extreme shock, if not more. A nightmare creature protecting players? How could such a ridiculous thing be possible?!

    However, it was exactly what was happening in front of them right now.

    "Urgh..." Dong let out a grunt of pain as he struggled to turn his neck to face Jin Jiuchi. His eyes bulged out unnaturally as if he had seen something terrifying, and blood spurted out of his mouth as he hollered with a hoarse voice, "Go! Get out of this place!!"

    With a flick of his hand, he threw something toward them which Xinxin scrambled to catch. His eyes flew wide in shock when he saw what it was.

    The ticket... it was the return ticket!

    "Damn you..." The nightmare creature possessing Tang Ye growled in anger. He couldn’t pull his hand back as Dong was gripping onto him tightly, and thus he used his other hand trying to grab onto Jin Jiuchi and Xinxin. "No one is allowed to go out of this place without my permission!"

    Sensing the attack, Jin Jiuchi’s instinct kicked in and he evaded the hand by a hair’s breadth, all the while questioning the reality in front of him. What was going on? Why would Dong protect them? Didn’t Nian say that nightmare creatures tend to be hostile toward players? Jin Jiuchi had many questions in his mind right now, but none was more important than securing their lives. For now, they had to get away from this mad creature as far as possible!

    Carrying Xinxin with him, he began to sprint toward the door.

    "No!" The creature grew even crazier when he saw them attempting to escape. "Hold them back! They’re not allowed to go!"

    As if injected by a magical potion, the wounded and battered rodents – which had suffered from Jin Jiuchi’s violent attacks – became even more erratic and vigorous. They chased after Jin Jiuchi and pounced on him like a surge of flood that threatened to drown and raze the whole village to the ground.

    "Oh wow..." Looking back, Jin Jiuchi let out an astonished whistle at the horrifyingly formidable image, whereas Xinxin was too terrified to even let out a squeak. The scene where hundreds of ruby-eyed rodents hunting them down like a pack of hungry wolves was surely going to appear in his nightmare from now on.

    Just as Jin Jiuchi thought that he would surely lose one or two more pounds of flesh this time, another shocking development occurred again – this time from the other two nightmare creatures!

    Madam Liu, with her spider bottom half severely injured by Nian’s blade, dropped down from the ceiling to stand between Jin Jiuchi and the rodents. Tiny spiders crawled out between her spindly legs to clash with the bloodthirsty rats and a chaotic battle between hundreds of creatures ensued.

    At the same time, Miss Zhao materialized from thin air, still clad in her crimson wedding robe with blood dripping out of her body, and appeared behind the fourth nightmare creature to restrain his other hand.

    They shouted at Jin Jiuchi in unison, "GO!"

    It was a three versus one, and now the path in front of Jin Jiuchi was free of hurdles!

    "Quick, Yang Rouchuan!" Nian hastily beckoned for him, having seen the yellow kindergarten bus waiting for them outside. "The bus is here!"

    Jin Jiuchi gritted his teeth and rushed forward without looking back. Echoing beside his ears – aside from his own heartbeat and his surging blood – was the cries of agony belonging to Miss Zhao, Madam Liu and Dong, as well as the enraged roar of the fourth nightmare creature.

    Jin Jiuchi caught Nian’s hand when he came near and together, the three of them burst out of the entrance door to welcome the chilly and crisp night air.

    In an instant, all the sounds became diluted as if the crisis they had just gone through was already more than a lifetime away.

    Xinxin slid down from Jin Jiuchi’s arms and staggered toward the bus, his limbs as weak as noodles. "F–Finally... I thought that I would surely die inside! Brother Yang, once again I really want to—" he turned back and the words abruptly got stuck in his throat when he saw Jin Jiuchi and Nian a few steps behind him, wrapped in a strange atmosphere.

    "What is the meaning of this?" Nian asked in a low voice. He had been walking toward the bus when Jin Jiuchi caught his wrist, causing him to halt in his tracks.

    "Nian’er..." the man posed a very sorry figure right now. His hair was utterly disheveled, his face dirtied by blood, ash and dust. And his left arm... even now it was still bleeding without any signs of stopping. Nian ran his gaze across the badly burnt flesh that revealed a hint of white bones beneath, and his brows creased into deep lines. He could not figure out how Jin Jiuchi could still give a careless smile as if he did not feel the pain at all.

    Nian had just wanted to urge Jin Jiuchi to get into the bus first when he heard the man say,

    "Nian’er, can you smile for me again?"

    Nian’s gaze snapped to him, furious. "What the hell are you playing at now?! If you have words to say, then say it after we board the bus!"

    "You can’t?" Jin Jiuchi jutted out his bottom lip into a tiny pout. He reached out and wiped the pad of his thumb on the corner of Nian’s lips. "Too bad, I really want to see it. Nian’er, you look really pretty when you smile, you know?"

    The heat from Jin Jiuchi’s finger made his lips all tingly. Nian did not know how to explain it, but he instinctively had a bad feeling about what Jin Jiuchi was going to say next. He held the man’s wrist and dragged him toward the bus, but Jin Jiuchi was unmoving as if the soles of his feet had been nailed to the ground. Nian felt his heart tremble, "Y–Yang Rouchuan...?"

    "It’s not Yang Rouchuan, but Jin Jiuchi. Jin-Jiu-Chi," he said again with emphasis as if he wanted to imprint the name into the jade doll’s mind.

    "You..." Nian parted his lips to say something when he caught Jin Jiuchi’s eyes. Shock coursed through his body when he saw that the man’s right eye was slowly turning black. They painted a bizarrely beautiful image under the night sky – one silver and one onyx – gazing down at him with a smile. He still looked like the same old Jin Jiuchi, yet the onyx eye was giving him a dark and evil air, making him look all the more obscure and mysterious.

    "I’ve thought about it, and I can’t leave them alone after all..." he let go of Nian’s hand with a sigh. Not giving the jade doll any chance to recover from his shock, he swiftly ran back into the apartment. When he got to the door, he turned back with a bright smile and waved his hand, "Bye-bye, Nian’er!"

    "Wait—!" Nian’s pupils dilated in shock, but then Jin Jiuchi already shut the door closed behind him, trapping him alone with the rampaging nightmare creatures inside.

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    Bonus scene: Dong’s original diary entries

    [They are all crazy! How can they have the heart to lock him underground for years and deprived him of his freedom and rights?! No... I can’t just sit still and let it happen. The boy is completely innocent!]

    [I tried to talk to Madam Liu about this, but she warned me saying that I shouldn’t poke my nose into others’ business. How can I not, when I saw what a miserable life that boy is living?! I have decided. I have to bring him away and set him free!]

    [I am wrong. Oh dear merciful God in heavens, I have committed a grave mistake!]

    [Madam Liu is right, that boy shouldn’t be let free for his dangerous and dark nature. He’s not a human... he’s a demon! It’s my fault... everything is my fault! I shouldn’t have set him free. Now everyone in the apartment is in grave danger!]

    [I have to rectify this mistake. It is my responsibility to bring everyone out safely...!]

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    A/N: *cough* just a little clarification in case you are confused. They are currently in a low-level Cycle, but for some reason (explained later cos it’s spoiler :p) they triggered ultra hard mode, which is the appearance of the shadow aka big boss. Otherwise they only have to deal with three mildly(?) dangerous creatures. And to counter this ultra hard mode, the three nightmare creatures become the players’ help.

    If there’s something you are confused about, feel free to ask me in the comment section ^^ I will try my best to reply