Ch27 - Clearance Key

(Kill Me, or Kiss Me)

Edited by Sliver Wind 

“… Can you call the werewolf back and let me play with him?”

Behind the screen.

 

 

Zhou Wenyan put down the legs he was resting on the table and leaned his body towards the most central screen of the six displays. The screen resolution was clear; he could see the person standing in front of the camera well, even the small tiger tooth peeking through and the ever-present dimple.

Involuntarily, he stretched his hand out, fingertips falling right on his cheeks to press against the small and cute dimple. 

After a pause, he laughed, and his voice was a little low and hoarse, “No…”

 

His fingers slowly traced the outline of the person on the screen, and just as he touched those distinctive black and white eyes, it twitched suddenly.

Signs of struggle appeared on his face. Zhou Wenyan covered most of his face with the palm of his hand but it still exposed an eye that was shifting from a light coffee shade to the deepest of blacks.

“If you like him, I can make him accompany you by making him stay.”

 

The voice that spoke from his mouth was completely different from before – it was indifferent and emotionless as if he was a god that was looking down on all beings.

This was the real Director.

“No.”

 

Zhou Wenyan spat out the word with all the adamance he could muster. 

The Director’s voice did not fluctuate: “You will agree eventually. After all, you will go insane very quickly if you don’t find some entertainment here.”

Zhou Wenyan’s complexion was ugly, “Shut up.”

Zhou Wenyan did follow Shen Dongqing into the Fukuyama Psychiatric Sanatorium Copy, and while he did not know if it was due to an error cropping up or because the game scheming against him, there were indeed six players when Shen Dongqing joined which made him the additional seventh player. Due to such circumstances, the game could only open up a temporary game with two opposing camps and it had issued him the identity of the Director.

It was fine if he did not enter the copy, and similarly, he had been subjected to games where there were two camps before. It was just that… the original Director’s consciousness had yet to dissipate and it continued to exist within Zhou Wenyan and it would jump out from time to time to fight for physical control over his body. 

Director: “Oh, you care about this person.”

Zhou Wenyan’s brows jumped, “None of your…”

Before he could finish speaking, his body stiffened and he slowly put down his hand. His other eye had also turned black and it exuded an inorganic indifference.

In the literal blink of an eye when Zhou Wenyan’s state of mind had destabilised, the Director had taken advantage of his weakness and seized full control. 

The Director stood up and smoothed out his white coat. Facing the reflection on the screen, he revealed an emotionless smile.

“It’s time to welcome the guests.”

 

*

Shen Dongqing stood in front of the camera and waited for a while. 

But the red light was still flashing without giving any visible reaction, and the werewolf did not run out either.

It seemed like his request was rejected.

“Stingy,” Shen Dongqing muttered.

Shen Dongqing no longer dawdled; he turned around and walked outside. 

What Shen Dongqing did not know was that, just as he turned around, the camera suddenly tilted upwards as if…. It was trying to catch his figure.

As they meandered out of the inpatient building, they came to an empty sports field that had some fitness equipment.

But they were installed ages ago so rust and stains long had its way with the equipment. The simple swings were swaying slightly as they hung in mid-air.

Blueberry held onto the map and pointed out the directions: “The office building is opposite of us and we need to cross through the sports field.” 

Thus, the group of people walked towards the sports field.

After the last person stepped onto the sports field, a sudden mist shrouded around them and the entire inpatient building was obscured by mist.

It was made apparent that they could not go back and could only move forward.

The radio set up in the sports field suddenly sounded. 

The loudspeaker had seen little use in the past years and the sound being transmitted from it became distorted and strange and it even had a scratchy quality to it.

“Some patients have escaped from the ward. All medical staff and security guards are requested to catch these patients.”

“The patients are currently on the sports field.”

The sports field went quiet again. 

Fang Qi lowered his head to look at the hospital gown he was wearing while he clung onto the vestiges of his hope: “Is he talking about us?”

Twin Ponytails returned him a question: “Who else, if not us?”

 

Boom—

The players on the sports field suddenly heard a dull noise, and following that, there was a series of scattered and fragmented footsteps approaching them. 

It seemed like there were a lot of people that were rushing here.

Fang Qi noticed that Shen Dongqing’s complexion had changed slightly. Concerned, he immediately asked: “Big boss, what’s wrong?”

Shen Dongqing waved his hand: “It’s nothing, I’m just a little uncomfortable.”

He could hear the innumerable screams of the spirits who had been wrongly murdered and it was so noisy that it was giving him a headache. 

Deeply worried, Fang Qi asked, “Should we make a run for it first?”

Big boss was the only fighting force here.

*

And the first opponent to arrive was a giant. 

The giant was one floor tall and it was clad in a security uniform, except it was not exactly a suitable description, considering how it was tattered and torn and exposed the sutures sewn across his four limbs. His face was of a similar patchwork; there was the young and the old, male and female could not be differentiated; it was as if someone had taken every face and stuck them together by means of thread to form a single face and it was extremely uncoordinated.

Probably because his body was colossal, the giant’s speed was not very fast and each step he took caused a wave of tremors on the earth.

“RUN!”

Blueberry ordered and the group lifted their legs and ran away. 

As they were running, Blueberry did not stop analysing: “The game will not give us a dead end and this is just a game of pursuit. As long as we reach the office building, we will be fine. The giant can’t enter.”

The sentence gave them hope.

After running for a while, Fang Qi had a realisation: “Why are we missing a person?”

Once they heard Fang Qi say that, the others subconsciously stopped. 

None of them had noticed it because they had run off in a hurry just now, but all of them came to realise that they were missing one person – namely, Shen Dongqing had disappeared, and the giant was not chasing them either.

The group stayed in a safe corner and looked back, only to discover that Shen Dongqing was standing in front of the giant.

 

Shen Dongqing had the height of a normal adult man, but he was akin to a little chick when he was standing in front of the giant and he looked awfully small. Despite the huge difference, he did not flee and still chose to raise his head to look at the giant instead.

“You’re very ugly,” Shen Dongqing pouted his lips in disgust, “Aren’t you irked by the fact that you’re trapped inside this ugly monster?” 

The giant drew back the corners of his mouth and ignored the man’s ravings. With both hands, he raised his axe up high.

Bang—

The axe impacted the ground heavily, and a deep pit was smashed into the flat ground. The gravel and dust surged up together and blurred their vision.

Excited by the prospect of seeing the broken bits and pieces of flesh and blood that it had caused, the giant issued an unfathomable roar as he pulled out the axe that was stuck in the ground. 

However, his imaginings did not manifest; there was not even a single trace of blood or flesh in the pit, and the young man had disappeared.

With the IQ the giant had, it could not understand why that was the case. Muddle-headed and ignorant, he decided to search for another target.

“I’ll help you.”

Shen Dongqing’s voice sounded from behind the giant. 

The giant was huge in stature and it made it inconvenient to move. Stiffly, he turned his body around in an attempt to find the person who had spoken only to feel something land on his back as he was turning halfway.

*

“Ah…” Twin Ponytails exclaimed.

From where they were standing, they happened to see Shen Dongqing land on the giant’s back after executing a light leap. Subsequently, the giant wracked up a frenzy as it started slapping its back incessantly, trying to slap the person off him. 

The giant’s palms were very large and it was heavy in weight; each slap incurred a loud slam, and if it were to land on a person, there was a high likelihood they would break upon touch.

It pulled at the heartstrings of the people spectating, and they were terribly afraid that it would accidentally hit Shen Dongqing.

Twin Ponytails: “Is he not afraid of death?”

Skinny was already scared to the point he had no soul left and he proposed: “We should really run while he is buying us time.” 

While Shen Dongqing’s previous performance was quite fantastic, it did not necessarily mean he would win against that giant. If you had to know, the giant’s arm was almost as thick as Shen Dongqing’s whole person and the axe he was holding was big and heavy, in fact, Sister Axe’s axe was essentially a child’s toy compared to it.

Running away while they had the opportunity to do so was the better option.

 

Fang Qi was the least worried and he said firmly: “I want to stay here and wait for Big boss.”

What kind of joke were they cracking? Why would he run away with them when he had a big thigh to hug? 

After a moment of hesitation, Blueberry stated, “I will stay too.”

Since it was three against one, Skinny could only choose to stay.

However, after waiting for a while and seeing Shen Dongqing consistently fail to overwhelm the giant, the idea of leaving reared its head within Skinny again. The open field had been dangerous from beginning to end, and they would only be safe once they entered the office building.

Skinny said cautiously: “Why don’t I go ahead and explore the road first?” 

Fang Qi: “If you want to leave, just leave, stop making excuses.”

Blueberry glanced at him: “Do whatever you want.”

And thus, the small group that had temporarily formed was dissolved.

Skinny left the team. After being taken away by the werewolf, it had broken his courage and he hated the fact that he could not leave the sanatorium earlier. He still had some life-saving props in his hands, and it should suffice until he found the key. 

Before he left, Skinny had stolen the map Blueberry had as well.

Blueberry hadn’t taken any precautions against him. When she finally reacted, it was too late to give chase because Skinny’s figure had already entered the mist.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Mjcu Hl ugjyyfv jtbiv bo Diefyfggs: “Mbgufa la, atfgf’r cb qblca lc mtjrlcu.”

Diefyfggs uglaafv tfg affat, “Dea atf wjq…” 

Mjcu Hl tjv jc lcvfrmglyjyif jwbeca bo rfio-mbcolvfcmf: “Gbc’a kbggs, Dlu ybrr klii tjcvif atja.”

*

Zfjcktlif, Vtfc Gbcudlcu tjv ifjqa boo atf uljca’r yjmx ilutais, jcv tf tjv abgc boo atf rfmeglas nfra atja atf uljca tjv yffc kfjglcu ktlif tf kjr ja la.

Once the vest was torn off, it revealed the giant’s gigantic and thick upper body. 

It was apparent that his body was made out of many remains stitched together, and how many it took to form such a huge and tall body was not known.

His figure was extremely disgusting and it was vomit-inducing.

 

Shen Dongqing threw away the vest and raised his eyes to meet the pair of eyes on the giant’s chest.

He was probably a young man in his teens and his entire person was embedded into the giant’s body, all twisted up and weird. After finally seeing the light after a long time, the teenager’s eyes were bursting with joy, and he kept wriggling in an attempt to break free from the giant but the thin threads kept him bound tightly to the large network of bodies. 

If the vest hadn’t been taken off, he was afraid that those eyes would have enveloped in the darkness forever.

Shen Dongqing snorted.

In his eyes, the body was composed of countless spirits who had been wrongly murdered, and they were ceaseless in their cries and shrieks, similar to that of a hundred sparrows chirping close to his ears.

“So freaking noisy.” Shen Dongqing yelled out, “SHUT UP!” 

Those wronged ghosts closed their mouths in fear.

The giant remained oblivious as he lifted his axe to chop down at Shen Dongqing again.

Shen Dongqing did not evade it this time, and he grabbed the axe before it could fall on him.

The scene was a little strange. 

The giant, taller than three metres in height, was carrying an axe that was more than a meter long but it was caught by the frail Shen Dongqing with one hand, and no matter how hard it pulled at the axe, it could not move it.

The spectators were all stunned.

Twin Ponytails was gobsmacked: “This, this..”

Fang Qi continued for her: “This is a Big boss, do you understand?” 

Twin Ponytails and Blueberry: No, I don’t really understand it.

Shen Dongqing simply snatched away the axe and used it to slash the giant.

Due to its gigantic body, it was extremely cumbersome which made it impossible to dodge, and it could only passively bear the blow.

The axe fell. 

The giant let out a sharp and blood-curdling scream. What Shen Dongqing truly did was unknown as well because the flaxen threads that kept the giant together broke. Like dumplings going under, the countless numbers of bodies fell from him and became a small pile of corpses.

Leaving only a cowering, short and small dwarf.

 

The dwarf, upon seeing Shen Dongqing, was so frightened he blacked out directly. What remained was only a pile of corpses – no, it was more accurate to say that it was a ground strewn with wronged ghosts.

They were nebulous in conduct as they wandered around in confusion, and it looked quite spectacular. 

Fang Qi was the most afraid of ghosts and he hugged himself as he trembled.

Blueberry stared at the group of wronged ghosts with vigilant eyes, afraid that they would suddenly act up.

Shen Dongqing……

Shen Dongqing was hungry. 

Before he entered the copy, he did not eat much. Right now, in his eyes, these groups of wronged ghosts were like little biscuits, and they were little biscuits who could walk.

He could not help but swallow.

While the wronged ghosts were without intelligence, they could still perceive danger and their translucent bodies started shivering in fear.

Fortunately for them, Shen Dongqing had been a human for a fair amount of time and because he had eaten tastier things, he no longer cared for these dirty begrudging ghosts. Shaking a cookie jar of this sort in front of him had little effect. 

He lowered the axe and leaned on it before he spoke: “If you want to be redeemed, stay, if you don’t want to be redeemed, scram now.”

As soon as he said those words, he saw some corpses climbing out of the pile because they were either unwilling to leave or they were afraid of Shen Dongqing. In a moment’s work, they had slunk away, unseen, leaving behind the wronged ghosts who harboured sentiments to leave.

Noticing that the intensity of the wronged ghosts had decreased, the other three converged with Shen Dongqing.

Fang Qi asked: “Big boss, what are you doing?” 

Shen Dongqing chopped down with his axe and the corpse disappeared into thin air. He replied: “Redemption ah.”

Fang Qi ……

Was this a physical redemption?

With the greatest care, he took out a stack of rune paper: “You can use this to speed up the process.” 

They were items that could be redeemed from the System Mall. It was fair to the young and the old and it could be used to redeem harmless wronged ghosts in a convenient and efficient manner. However, it had no effect on ferocious ghosts.

Shen Dongqing waved him away: “Move that further away from me, I’m not comfortable with it.”

 

How could he give a former ferocious ghost a redemption talisman?

Fang Qi quickly put away the talisman. 

Shen Dongqing continued with his physical redemption.

One corpse after another, they turned into white lights and disappeared into thin air, and the speed could not be considered as slow.

Just as they were at the final two wronged ghosts, Blueberry suddenly spoke: “Wait…” She scrutinised the handsome teenager and said with some uncertainty: “I think I know this person.”

Feeling strange, Fang Qi asked: “Isn’t he a NPC?” 

“No,” Blueberry said, “I think he’s a player.”

Shen Dongqing halted his action: “We’ll know once we ask him.”

He stretched out his hand, index and middle finger closing together, before he tapped on the space between the teenager’s brows.

The teenager’s body shook as his consciousness was awakened again. His eyes sobered from its previous confusion and he struggled to grasp the current situation. 

“I… What happened to me?”

Warmly, Shen Dongqing reminded him: “You died.”

Teenager: “… What?”

“We’re in the Fukuyama Psychiatric Sanatorium.” 

The teenager remembered it: he was pulled into the Infinite Nightmare Game and later, he entered this copy only to lose his life. Calm as ever, he accepted the reality that he had died.

“Maybe I can go home after I die.” The teenager was extremely open-minded. “Would you like me to help you send a message? If I really make it back home, I can help you report that you are safe and sound.”

The others looked at each other.

Fang Qi took the lead in speaking: “I am a second-generation nouveau riche who possesses neither the learning nor the skill, and I am the only child my parents have. Since I’ve disappeared, my parents must be very upset, so I’ll trouble you to find them and tell them to hurry up and have a second child.” 

Similarly, Blueberry and Twin Ponytails wanted him to help them report back to their homes, especially Twin Ponytails who was in tears as she did so.

Only Shen Dongqing said nothing.

 

The teenager gazed at him and asked: “How about you?”

Indifferently, Shen Dongqing said: “No need.” This body was already dead; otherwise, he would never have come to occupy this body. 

The teenager gave him another glance before he nodded: “I’m going back.”

Before he was almost redeemed, the teenager suddenly remembered something as he hurriedly said: “Map… The map is fake! Beware of the Director!”

Right after, he turned into a streak of shining light, and his future destination was unknown.

Fang Qi felt a little melancholic: “I don’t know if I can really go home after I die.” 

Twin Ponytails joked: “Would you like to try?”

Fang Qi shook his head immediately: “No thanks.” He jogged towards Shen Dongqing and asked: “Big boss, do you know where you’ll go after you have been redeemed?”

Decisively, Shen Dongqing answered: “I don’t know.”

Fang Qi: “But…” 

Shen Dongqing rolled his eyes: “It’s not like I’ve been redeemed before.”

Fang Qi: That sounds very true.

Only Blueberry remembered the important point: “He said that the map was fake.”

Fang Qi shrugged his shoulders: “It’s been stolen anyway, it doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake at this point.” 

Blueberry was somewhat anxious: “How do we find the Director’s office then?”

Fang Qi: “Big boss?”

Shen Dongqing clapped: “We’ll grab someone and ask for directions.”

Raising his spirits, Fang Qi urged: “Then let’s hurry.” 

In the other games, they were always the ones being chased by the ghosts and monsters, now that they had the rare opportunity where they could bully the ghosts and monsters, they naturally had to do it a few more times.

“We’re not in a rush.” Shen Dongqing sat down on the swing that was nearby.

 

He shifted his backpack to the front and opened it before he went through the contents in it with great interest. “I want to eat something first.” He took out a packet of cookies before he widened the opening of his bag and showed it to them generously: “Do you want some?”

Other people: …… 

Was it really okay to think about eating at a dangerous time like this?

Shen Dongqing tore open the packaging for his biscuits and tilted his head as he nibbled on his them. He asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”

Now that they thought about it, they did feel hungry.

Fang Qi was the first to go up and  take a packet of small bread. 

Like a broken pitcher that was damaged from the fall, Blueberry lined up behind Fang Qi.

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In the end, the four people sat around the swings and wiped out all the snacks in the bag, littering the entire ground with its various packaging.

Fang Qi sighed comfortably: “How nice—”

If the sky was clearer, it would be like an outing in the wild. 

Shen Dongqing polished off the last jelly before he stood up. He instructed: “Clean up the garbage.”

Fang Qi did not fully absorb what he said: “Ah?”

Strictly, Shen Dongqing said: “Everyone has a responsibility to protect the environment.”

The sentence was quite reasonable, but why did it feel incompatible with the sanitorium they had as their background? 

However, the others could only climb to their feet and pick up the trash that was on the ground. When the last packaging was stuffed into the backpack, they heard the sound of footsteps coming closer.

“They’re here!” Fang Qi’s eyes brightened.

After waiting for a few beats, numerous figures could be seen wobbling out of the fog one by one.

They were wearing clothes that identified them as doctors and nurses and their complexions were ghastly white. They wielded instruments like scalpels and pliers in their hand and they surrounded the entire sports field. 

However, they did not expect that not only did these people not fear them, they actually looked faintly excited that they had arrived.

*

 

Skinny was holding onto his map as he ran on quick feet.

Perhaps because the ghosts and monsters had been lured over by the other group, he did not encounter a single instance of danger and his journey thus far had gone unimpeded. 

He could not help but pat his own shoulders for running away so fast, and he was even gloating at the misery of others: “They’re all idiots. They should have ran while they could, and now they can’t even run at all.”

However, he was fine with that – since someone was attracting the heat, it would only make it easier for him to find the key.

As he continued to follow the map, Skinny stepped into the office building that was being illustrated.

Initially, he had been extremely careful as he held onto his life-saving props. But after discovering that there was no one in sight, he gradually relaxed his vigilance. 

The map indicated that the Director’s Office was in the basement.

Skinny murmured: “Why is it below?”

Despite his apprehension, he did not think too much into it and continued to follow the signs shown on the map.

Without having to waste much effort, Skinny found himself at the door of the Director’s Office. He tried the door and he realised he lucked out because the door was not locked. 

He just had to find the key before he could leave….

As he was thinking that, he pushed open the door.

Before he could properly scan the office’s appearance, an odour infiltrated his nose.

“What—” 

A figure flung itself onto Skinny and latched onto his body, knocking him down.

It was a small fetus that was not fully developed; its skin was pink and there was a long umbilical cord hanging on its navel.

The fetus was, without a doubt, smaller than the palm of his hand, but Skinny could not throw it off no matter how desperately he struggled.

Then, it grinned at him, revealing densely packed sharp teeth in its mouth before inclining its head, gnawing and biting at his flesh. Skinny was screaming miserably throughout until his hands finally fell to his sides, powerless, and the map slipped out of his grip, soaking itself in his blood. 

“The stupid do not deserve to be my toys.”

Before he died, Skinny heard an indifferent voice speak up, and as he struggled to open his eyes, he could only see a figure in a white coat gradually fade away.

 

*

“This one won’t do.” 

“Not this one either.”

Shen Dongqing grabbed a nurse to scrutinise her. Dissatisfied, he tossed her aside before he grabbed another doctor.

All these multitude of ghosts with their teeth and dancing claws were essentially defanged and declawed in front of Shen Dongqing, and they were being picked and tossed like goods on a shelf.

Fang Qi who was standing at the side: “Big boss, just what kind are you looking for?” 

Shen Dongqing: “These ones are too ugly.”

All the medical staff present looked a little cruel to the eye; if they were not missing their arms, they would be missing their legs and Shen Dongqing was not a fan of bullying the disabled.

It could be said that he did not have a choice previously, but now that he had an array in front of him, he had to properly choose one that was of sound body and health.

Lowering his voice, Fang Qi told Blueberry: “Maybe it’s because we aren’t big bosses ourselves, which is why we can’t keep up with Big boss’s rhythm.” 

Having finally found someone he was satisfied with, he waved away the group of doctors and nurses as he carried away a cultured middle-aged man with glasses. “You can all go.”

The other ghosts who were not selected looked like they had been pardoned as they fled the scene as if they could not wait to get back into the mist.

Despite the fact that the doctor had a sharp scalpel, he could only stare at Shen Dongqing as he held it stiffly, not daring to use it.

Shen Dongqing let go of his hand and directed: “Take us to the Director’s Office.” 

After hearing the word “Director”, the doctor was visibly shivering from fright, and he frantically shook his head.

Shen Dongqing: “Afraid of dying?”

The doctor understood what he was saying. He nodded his head.

Airily, Shen Dongqing said: “If you don’t take us there, you’ll die even faster.” 

Doctor: ……

However, under such a coercion, the doctor had no choice but to lead their team to the Director’s Office.

 

As Blueberry followed after him, she noted thoughtfully: “It’s in the same direction that the map pointed towards.”

After they arrived at the five-storey building, the doctor did not enter. Instead, he routed around the building and came to a small trail behind it. 

When they reached this point, the doctor refused to take another step no matter how they tried to convince him.

Shen Dongqing: “Okay, you can go now.”

Gratitude coloured the doctor’s face.

But before he could leave, Shen Dongqing suddenly said: “Wait.” 

Thinking that the King of the Underworld was going to go back on his words, the doctor looked at him with some nervousness.

Unexpectedly, Shen Dongqing only took the scalpel that he was holding and shoved it into his backpack.

“Lend it to me.” Shen Dongqing stated.

And what could a doctor do? He could only nod as tears streamed down his face. 

If you had to know, they were usually the ones grinning hideously as they pursued the players, so why were they being oppressed and exploited in this instance?

As the doctor recalled the past years and months, he could not help but feel sad.

“Let’s go.”

Shen Dongqing walked into the small house first. 

The small house only had one floor and the door was not locked.

After opening the door, a total of six electronic screens hanging onto the wall came into view since they were facing the door, and it was currently showing the images of the sanatorium. The sports field, the office building, the inpatient building… none of them went unmonitored.

They had been under surveillance the entire time.

Then, what about the person monitoring them? 

Twin Ponytails was a little uneasy, “I can’t shake off the feeling that it’s not safe here.”

Calmly, Blueberry retorted: “There is no safe place here. We need to quickly find the key and find the way out of here.”

 

However, despite turning the whole house over, they could not find the key at all.

“There’s no key here.” Blueberry furrowed her eyebrows. “What should we do?” 

Fang Qi no longer thought these things out for himself, and he subconsciously turned to look at Shen Dongqing: “Big boss?”

Shen Dongqing, who had been stationary from start to finish, finally moved. He walked two steps forward and came to the front of the displays. Feeling around the screens briefly, he discovered a button hidden in the corner and pressed it.

Click—

A sound rang out in the house. 

The wall on the right cracked and opened up a gap, and both sides of the wall unfolded, revealing a narrow passage that only allowed one person through, and it seemed to tunnel right into the ground.

The opening was small and dark; there was not even a single spot of light.

It was as if it was hiding a carnivorous beast.

Shen Dongqing said: “I’ll go down first, wait for me here.” 

This group of people were very fragile, he had to take better care of them.

Hastily, Fang Qi bopped his head in acquiesce.

Using the wall as his support, Shen Dongqing descended and the stairs grew steeper the deeper he went. Thankfully, his eyes gradually adapted to the dark and he could see his surroundings clearly.

After walking for three to four minutes, he finally reached the bottom. 

There was a door at the end as well.

When Shen Dongqing pushed at it, a ray of light suddenly burst out.

Having stayed in the dark for a period of time, Shen Dongqing was a little uncomfortable with the light, and his physiological reaction kicked in, causing tears to water his eyes. When he eventually got used to the difference, he opened his eyes.

It was white. 

The entire room was white, without any impurities.

The floor tiles and ceiling was white, and even the figure standing inside was wearing white to the extent where he almost blended into his background.

 

Shen Dongqing rubbed his eyes: “Zhou Wenyan?”

The man turned around slowly and smiled at Shen Dongqing. 

Indeed, he was Zhou Wenyan, except he was wearing a white coat which accentuated his slender waist and long legs, and he looked like a model, standing there.

“You’re here.” Zhou Wenyan said, “Come here, I’ll give you the key.”

Shen Dongqing did not move forward immediately.

Warmly, Zhou Wenyan said: “What’s wrong?” 

Shen Dongqing stared at him for a long while, but he still walked forward in the end, until he reached Zhou Wenyan’s side.

Zhou Wenyan brought Shen Dongqing even deeper into the room: “The key is inside, follow me.”

Shen Dongqing followed him without a trace of doubt.

When they went inside, the walls changed from snow-white to transparent glass; it gave a clear view of what was going on inside the room. There were dozens of incubators placed inside the room, and all of them were nurturing things that were grotesque in shape and appearance. 

“Do you like these?” Zhou Wenyan stopped to ask Shen Dongqing when he noticed that the shorter man seemed interested in them.

Shen Dongqing shook his head: “Too ugly.”

Zhou Wenyan sighed softly, “It’s a pity then.”

Suddenly, Shen Dongqing turned to look at him and stated: “You’re not Zhou Wenyan.” 

Zhou Wenyan: “Why do you say that?” His irises changed from its original light coffee shade and blackened out entirely, not leaving a single trace of white.

As a matter of fact, he was not Zhou Wenyan. Rather, he was the Director of the Sanatorium.

Shen Dongqing stopped playing along and he moved against him directly, wanting to subdue him.

Unfortunately, the Director was of a different calibre compared to the stinky fish and decaying shrimp outside and he dodged it with ease. Additionally, because he was possessing Zhou Wenyan’s body, Shen Dongqing was somewhat hesitant in his attacks. 

The Director switched back to his voice of indifference: “How did you find out?”

Honestly, Shen Dongqing answered, “You don’t look delicious.”

 

Although the skin and vessel was one and the same, he did not have that distinctive and thick yin energy, and it was apparent at first glance that he was not Zhou Wenyan himself.

Having received a ludicrous answer, the Director no longer pursued the question. Instead, he shook his head and said: “You could have suffered less, but you had to be too smart.” 

This was the first time someone had praised him for being smart, and he crinkled his eyes with some joy. “Relax; I’ll go easy on you, I’ll tell you that much.”

Both of them struck out at the same time.

Despite fighting for a period of time, Shen Dongqing was still more proficient, and he pressed the Director to the ground without any mercy. His sharp scalpel flicked out and pressed against his neck, all it would take was a light stroke before he would draw a line of blood.

The Director was fearless: “You do not dare to hurt this body.” 

Shen Dongqing thought about it, saying: “Well… you are right. Since that’s the case, it’ll be fine once I drag you out.”

Subsequently after, he reached out with his free hand and forcefully seized something, pulling hard at the translucent body from Zhou Wenyan’s person.

Not long after the Director was separated from Zhou Wenyan, he snapped back like a rubber band and  shrank back into his vessel.

Shen Dongqing was about to try again when someone caught his hand. 

“Don’t mess around,” he threatened.

“It’s me,” Zhou Wenyan blinked and his eyes returned to its light coffee hue.

Shen Dongqing lowered his head and sniffed him in earnest.

The taste was back to normal. 

He settled down his heart.

Shen Dongqing asked, “Who was that person?”

He was a little upset.

That man smelled stinky and sour, and he almost contaminated his reserve grain. 

Zhou Wenyan replied, “He was the Director of the Sanatorium.”

Frowning, Shen Dongqing stated, “I don’t like him, chase him out this instant.”

 

Zhou Wenyan reassured him, “It’ll be fine once we leave.”

Having found the important point, Shen Dongqing said: “Then give me the key and we’ll leave.” 

“The key is with me but it won’t be easy to give it to you. There’s only two ways to do so.” Zhou Wenyan continued to speak, “You can either choose to kill me, or…”

The corners of his mouth tilted up and held a hint of laughter: “Or choose to kiss me.”

The pair stayed in their positions.

As long as Shen Dongqing leaned down slightly, he could kiss Zhou Wenyan’s lips. 

He hesitated a little before he brushed against it like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water.

Before Zhou Wenyan had the time to savour it, the person had already touched him and parted.

“You liar,” He licked the corner of his lips.

Shen Dongqing was extremely innocent: “You didn’t say how long I had to kiss you for.” 

Zhou Wenyan laughed, “I have erred.”

Shen Dongqing asked: “Where’s the key?”

Zhou Wenyan took Shen Dongqing’s hand and guided the scalpel towards his chest. Underneath the sharp blade was his beating heart.

“Come.” He instructed tepidly, “Use the scalpel to cut downwards.” 

The white coat was wide open.

Zhou Wenyan was wearing a light blue shirt beneath the coat. Due to the keenness of the scalpel, he accidentally severed the button on the top.

Ding—

The button rolled to the ground. 

His chest was exposed as well, revealing strong but unexaggerated muscles.

“Here,” Zhou Wenyan pointed at where his heart was: “The key is below.”

 

The key to leaving the sanatorium was with the Director, in every sense of the word. The Director was without feelings, and he only found joy in cultivating his monsters, to the extent where his life was of no matter to him.

He did not allow a single person to leave the sanatorium, and his perverseness had led him to put the key below his heart. Only by killing him, could one escape. 

When Zhou Wenyan became the Director, the setting was also imposed on him.

Zhou Wenyan vaguely understood what the game was trying to get at.

He and Shen Dongqing had broken two copies in the game and they were treated as unstable factors that needed to be eliminated. However, the game was not allowed to actively kill the players, and all it could do was make them mutually kill each other.

Hence the given settings for the copy. 

If Shen Dongqing did not kill him and take the key, he would never be able to leave the copy.

And if he allowed Shen Dongqing to escape, not only would he not die as the loser, he would have to replace the Director and the sanatorium would become his eternal prison.

Whatever the outcome was, it was in accordance to the game’s wishes.

However…. 

Zhou Wenyan had never bowed down to the game’s wishes.

“Do it,” Zhou Wenyan stared directly into Shen Dongqing’s eyes. He said seriously, “Trust me.”

“After you take the key, leave the premise within three minutes.”

“Leave me be.” 

 

“And…” Zhou Wenyan paused for a beat as he squeezed Shen Dongqing’s hand, “Be with me after we get out of here?”

*

When waiting, time seemed to drag out slowly. 

Fang Qi could not help but pace around.

Twin Ponytails said: “Can you stop moving? You’re making me dizzy.”

 

Fan Qi stood still and looked towards the black tunnel: “He’s back, he’s back!”

Twin Ponytails and Blueberry gathered immediately. 

Shen Dongqing stepped out of the darkness. His hands were covered with blood and he looked extremely terrible.

“Big boss, are you injured.” Fang Qi asked with concern.

Shen Dongqing: “I’m fine, it’s not mine.”

He opened his hand: “I got the key, let’s get out.” 

The group left in a hurry.

Being able to leave the damned game was something that made everyone happy, but Shen Dongqing was the sole exception because he felt depressed.

Stepping close to him, Fang Qi asked: “Big boss, what’s wrong?”

Shen Dongqing: “I spoiled my reserve grain.” 

Fang Qi simply assumed that ‘reserve grain = food’. Hence, he consoled: “You can always find another one.”

“I can’t,” Shen Dongqing shook his head. “He’s special, he’s different from others.”

Fang Qi: “He?”

When he thought about the injured Zhou Wenyan, Shen Dongqing felt like the key was cutting into his palm. 

“Should I be more serious?” He thought, “I shouldn’t be treating this as a game. If I was more serious about it, this wouldn’t have happened.”

When other people got injured, Shen Dongqing did not feel anything at all. But when the person became Zhou Wenyan, he felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.

“We’re here, Big boss, take out the key.” Fang Qi’s voice interrupted Shen Dongqing’s train of thought.

Shen Dongqing returned back to his senses. Taking out the key, he unlocked the lock on the door. 

Open it, open it, everyone else could not wait to go out.

Shen Dongqing glanced back. The fog was pouring in and it had already veiled the small house from sight.

 

However, Zhou Wenyan did not come out.

T/N: Author-dada decided to celebrate entering her novel’s VIP status by making a 9k chapter… If this chapters feels very long, it is, and its partly because this translator hates decimals… 

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