Chapter 111 – Temple of the Five Internal Organs 1
“Wu…”
The two of them fell apart. Lian Qiao rubbed the back of the head that hurt from the fall, and before the black haze in front of his eyes disappeared, he felt a pair of trembling hands hug him tightly.
There was a violent gasp beside his ear and, in a chest that was close to him, a heart was beating wildly. Lian Qiao felt extremely guilty, hugged Xu RenDong back and apologized in a low voice: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, RenDong, I scared you, I’m sorry…”
Xu RenDong opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word. Lian Qiao found that his body was cold and his body was trembling uncontrollably. He felt distressed immediately and he quickly stroked his back and coaxed softly: “It’s alright, it’s alright, we’re all alright. Don’t be afraid, Brother RenDong, we are all fine… it’s alright…”
Xu RenDong’s frantic heartbeat gradually subsided. The first thing he did after he regained his strength was to push Lian Qiao away and scold: “Fuck you, what ‘it’s alright’?! Who told you it’s alright! You fucking almost died, don’t you know! If there was no elevator, if—” He didn’t finish his sentence because suddenly he couldn’t catch his breath and he covered his chest in pain.
Lian Qiao was startled and rushed forward: “Don’t get angry! I’m sorry, it’s all my fault! Where’s your medicine? Where is the medicine? Is it on your body?” After a while of randomly feeling around, he soon found the bottle of life-saving medicine.
Xu RenDong clutched the left side of his chest, his heart hurt so much that he was speechless. Lian Qiao hurriedly poured out the pills and stuffed them into RenDong’s mouth. RenDong put the tablet under his tongue but his chest was still in terrible pain. Every beat seemed to tear his heart apart. The pain was so painful that he could not wait to die.
Lian Qiao hugged RenDong and guilt and self-blame drowned him completely. He wanted to suffer in place of RenDong but he couldn’t do it at all. Fortunately, the pills took effect very quickly. Within two minutes, Xu RenDong’s breathing rate gradually eased and his face was not as pale as before.
Xu RenDong pushed Lian Qiao away again and stood up with a stagger. Knowing that he was angry, Lian Qiao didn’t dare to help him. He just raised his head and looked at him with wet eyes.
Lian Qiao was like a large dog that had been locked outside. He knew that he had done something wrong to make his owner unhappy, so he sat on the ground obediently and let the rain wet his fur and blow his body frozen, but he didn’t even dare shake off the water droplets.
Xu RenDong knew that he was deliberately pretending to be pitiful and begging for mercy but, after staring at him for a while, he couldn’t voice his accusations after all. After a long while, he sighed and dragged Lian Qiao up by the collar.
“Get up. What do you look like, sitting on the ground?”
In the end, he was soft-hearted.
Facing Lian Qiao, his heart was always soft and when it was touched, water would leak out. He couldn’t control it.
Lian Qiao got the amnesty he wanted and knew that Xu RenDong still loved him. His tail was lifted up all of a sudden. He jumped up and hugged Xu RenDong, burying his head in the neck of RenDong as if to please him, acting like a spoiled child and begged for mercy: “I know I’m wrong and I won’t dare to do it again. You can punish me again when I get home, okay?”
After he said that, he pecked his neck and made Xu RenDong feel itchy for a while, from the roots of his ears to the tip of his heart.
After the conflict was resolved, the two of them settled down and turned to look at the instance prompt that appeared in the air. Although they didn’t know why the elevator appeared just at that time, but now that they were here, they had to clear the instance before they could go out.
The prompt this time was very simple, with only three words, but it made the two of them get goosebumps on the spot.
“Temple of the Five Internal Organs”.
Not a good phrase by any means. What’s more, they didn’t have any of their things with them this time, which increased the difficulty of the instance clearance.
The two were silent for a moment and Lian Qiao suddenly said “I’m sorry” again in a low voice.
Xu RenDong: “Don’t apologize any more.”
Lian Qiao’s eyes were wet: “You don’t blame me?”
Xu RenDong said: “I will wait until I get home, and then I’ll punish you severely.”
Lian Qiao’s thoughts suddenly changed. What wet puppy being caught in the rain? His eyes immediately flashed and turned in a green light like a hungry wolf.
There is only one word left on the whole body: Greedy.
No matter what the road ahead, there was always the first step. The elevator door opened with a “ding” and the two of them were greeted by darkness that could not be seen through.
The elevator door closed behind him and the last ray of light disappeared. The two stood there for a while and were surprised to find that it was really black.
What’s even more strange is that there seemed to be no one around. Lian Qiao tried to shout twice but there was no response, not even an echo. It seems that the field was very expansive and that the players were scattered.
“What the hell…” Lian Qiao muttered and squeezed Xu RenDong’s hand lightly.
Since stepping into the darkness, the two of them have never let go of their hands. Lian Qiao’s action seemed to confirm that Xu RenDong was still by his side.
Xu RenDong narrowed his eyes, trying to identify the surrounding situation. Without light, of course nothing can be seen. He took out his phone and pressed the Home button. The phone made a sound of unlocking but the screen did not light up.
Xu RenDong felt that Lian Qiao turned his head towards this side. He asked with a little surprise: “The phone is broken?”
Xu RenDong said: “I don’t know.”
He tried a few more times. The phone repeatedly made sounds of unlocking and locking the screen. The touch screen also vibrated normally but the screen was always black. He couldn’t even make out the outline of the phone.
The anxiety in his heart was gradually confirmed. Xu RenDong sighed and said in the direction of Lian Qiao: “I’m afraid it’s not that the phone is broken but that we are blind.”
Lian Qiao was silent. In the darkness, Xu RenDong could not see his face but only heard him sigh.
“It’s over. This instance is a disaster.”
Not to mention that there may be a murderer in the darkness, just standing in the pitch black was scary enough. What’s more, they were still unarmed this time and were completely powerless in the face of danger.
Although Xu RenDong knew that he had to move forward, he found inexplicably that he also couldn’t move forward. He never knew that vision was so important to him that, after suddenly becoming blind, he was so insecure that he couldn’t walk.
Until Lian Qiao suddenly clenched his hand: “Let’s go.”
In the darkness, Lian Qiao’s voice was particularly low and sweet, like a looming light which made him suddenly have courage.
Xu RenDong took a deep breath and took steps towards the endless darkness.
Not long after the two set off, Xu RenDong’s mood gradually calmed down. He asked in a low voice, “Is this a forest?”
There was the soft touch of the moist soil under his feet and occasionally he stepped on the branches, making a light “crack” sound. From time to time something brushed across his cheek. It was soft to the touch, probably a twig that had just sprouted.
Although he couldn’t see it, he could still feel that he and Lian Qiao were walking through a forest in early spring.
However Lian Qiao said: “Not necessarily.”
Xu RenDong: “Why not?”
Lian Qiao: “It’s too quiet, there are no insects and birds, it’s not normal.”
Xu RenDong: “Maybe because it’s night time?”
Lian Qiao was silent for a moment and then said: “That’s possible. But the flow of air is also very strange.”
Xu RenDong was a little surprised: “The flow of air?” But he couldn’t feel the wind here at all.
Lian Qiao hesitated and said, “I don’t know if it’s my illusion but I always feel that there is a slight wind blowing in a certain direction. Perhaps…”
Before he could finish his words, the two of them went tense at the same time— behind them, there seemed to be something rustling and crawling?
Was it a snake? A beast? Or a ghost?
Forget about it, run first!
The two ran wildly at the same time. The road ahead was endless darkness and the branches and leaves were barrelled into head on, almost poking into Xu RenDong’s eyes several times. He was so shocked that he was covered in cold sweat and his body was stiff.
“Let me go first!” Lian Qiao stepped up and used his body to help Xu RenDong clear the way.
Xu RenDong followed closely and heard Lian Qiao groaning in a low voice from time to time, apparently his body was scratched by a branch. Lian Qiao was sweating coldly as he held his hand tightly but his fingers were clenched even tighter, whether it was because of tension or pain.
Although the two ran desperately, the thing behind them still caught up. Xu RenDong smelled a cold rancid smell, like an animal carcass soaking and rotting in the mud. The rustling sound seemed to ring through his ears and Xu RenDong could even feel that the thing stretch out its claws toward them and was about to pull him down into the abyss.
It can’t go on like this!
Xu RenDong steadied his heart, stretched out his hand toward the void and grabbed onto an oncoming branch. The thickness of the branch was suitable and turned into a wooden stick in his hand. Xu RenDong made a violent effort to break the branch. However, the expected “click” sound did not appear. At the same time, he felt a cold and rough thing wrapped around his arm and lifted him off the ground!
“RenDong!” Lian Qiao exclaimed, holding onto him tightly.
Xu RenDong was lifted in mid-air and his entire arm was entangled by the ghostly creature, almost tearing him apart. He endured the severe pain in his shoulder and arm and shouted to Lian Qiao: “Let go!”
” I—” The word “won’t” was not spoken but instead he heard a muffled groan: “Oh!”
Lian Qiao let go of his hand. Xu RenDong suddenly felt a chill in his heart and desperately stretched out his hand there but he couldn’t touch Lian Qiao.
He didn’t know what was going on in the darkness so he could only shout in panic: “Lian Qiao! Lian Qiao, what’s wrong with you! Where are you!”
Xu RenDong was still hanging in the air by the ghostly thing. He kept kicking and kicking, trying to break free but the things squeezing his arms were getting tighter and tighter, almost breaking his bones. Xu RenDong endured the severe pain to try and pull away but when he touched the thing, he discovered in horror that it was a piece of rattan.
It was cold and flexible. It was like rough cane and was as thick as an arm. It entangled him and dragged him off the ground!
Just when Xu RenDong touched the rattan, another rattan suddenly jumped out from the darkness, entangling his other arm, forcing him to open his arms.
Xu RenDong was pulled apart by the two vines. He felt that his arm was about to be torn off alive. The severe pain made him scream out of control: “Lian Qiao—” In the darkness, there was still no response.
All you can hear is— click, click.
It was the sound of a dislocated shoulder.
“Ugh—” Xu RenDong was in so much pain that he couldn’t make a sound. His neck fell back unconsciously. Before he knew it, his legs were also entangled in the branches. He was forced to open his body and his entire person was hanging in the air like the “big”/大 character.
The bones of his limbs were pulled out of the joints inch by inch, followed by the sound of tendon rupture. Xu RenDong was in despair. Tears and snot wet his whole face. He just wanted this torture to end soon, end soon.
Let me die–
So he rejoiced when the vines crawled up his neck.