Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The people from the Special Department knew that anyone who had just emerged from an instance would be exhausted, so they didn’t rush to disturb Yu Lingling.

Cheng Yu was upset. She and Cheng Mo had already received orders to leave, so she couldn’t stay to say goodbye to Yu Lingling in person. She hadn’t even had time to prepare a farewell gift.

In the end, she wrote a letter and slipped it into the mailbox outside Yu Lingling’s home.

As they left, Cheng Yu kept looking back. “Do you think Lingling will be okay on her own? Will the people who move in after us take care of her?”

Cheng Mo was loading their luggage into the car. “It’s better if we aren’t around her.”

Cheng Yu froze for a moment before she understood what he meant.

They had been assigned to live here in the first place because they were a senior brother and junior sister from the same sect, much like Yu Huan and Yu Lingling were brother and sister.

Now that Yu Huan was gone, if the two of them continued appearing around Yu Lingling…

After arranging the suitcases in the car, Cheng Mo said, “I think that’s also part of the reason they’re making us leave so soon.”

Cheng Yu fell silent.

While the Special Department waited for Yu Lingling to wake up and Liu Jianhui discussed arrangements for the residential complex with his superiors, Yu Lingling – who had cried all night – had already washed up, changed clothes, slung her bag over her shoulder, and left.

Yu Lingling wasn’t a fugitive. The Special Department merely wanted to discuss recruiting her, not arrest her, so naturally, they hadn’t surrounded the entire building.

In truth, Yu Lingling had sensed their presence and guessed what they wanted, but she had no desire to speak with them.

She slipped out through the residential complex’s rear entrance. After getting breakfast, she bought a high-speed rail ticket to the neighboring city.

It was nearly noon when the Special Department discovered that Yu Lingling was gone.

At first, they had simply allowed her the usual amount of time players needed to rest after leaving an instance. But when Yu Lingling took far longer than expected, they grew worried and asked Liu Jianhui to accompany them as they knocked on her door.

There was no response from inside.

The Special Department feared that Yu Lingling might have suffered an injury the Livestream Room hadn’t shown and was now unconscious. They were about to force the door open so the doctor they had brought could examine her, but Liu Jianhui stopped them.

“Check the nearby surveillance cameras and see if there’s any footage of her leaving,” Liu Jianhui said.

Yu Lingling had only been avoiding them, not the cameras. They soon traced her movements.

When the Special Department team captain saw her ticket information, he was puzzled. “What is she going to City A for?”

Liu Jianhui didn’t know either and couldn’t give him an answer.

Now that Yu Huan was gone, no one knew what Yu Lingling intended to do – just as no one knew what had triggered the awakening of an Exclusive Skill like hers.

To the Special Department, none of Yu Lingling’s actions followed any discernible pattern.

After Wen Ling learned of the situation, she issued a single order: Do not interfere with her.

Although Wen Ling disagreed with many of Yu Huan’s decisions, she still trusted and respected him.

Meanwhile, Yu Lingling, now in City A, didn’t think her actions were difficult to understand at all. She was searching for the hospital where Doctor Song and the boy her brother had mentioned were staying.

Yu Huan hadn’t left many things behind, nor had he had many things he wanted to do. Visiting those two in the hospital was one thing he hadn’t gotten around to. Taking her to the amusement park to see the fireworks show was another.

Yu Lingling couldn’t let her brother return with regrets. She had to make sure those two stayed alive until he came back and visited them in the hospital.

Unfortunately, the Special Department’s hospital wasn’t easy to find. Yu Lingling was sitting in a noodle shop her brother had once brought her to, eating a bowl of pork rib noodles.

The proprietress glanced at Yu Lingling several times before recognizing her. “Little girl, why are you here by yourself?”

Yu Lingling looked up at the proprietress with a piece of pork rib between her teeth. Remembering the manners her brother had patiently taught her, she quickly bit off the meat and swallowed it.
“Slow down, slow down. Don’t choke,” the proprietress hurriedly said when she saw Yu Lingling eating. “I just thought you looked familiar. You and your brother are both so good-looking, like celebrities.”

Yu Lingling perked up at the compliment to her brother. “My brother is away on a business trip, so he didn’t come this time.”

There weren’t many customers in the shop at the moment, and the more the proprietress looked at Yu Lingling, the more she liked her. “You came all by yourself? What’s a pretty young girl like you doing traveling so far alone? What if you run into a bad person?”

Still fussing, the proprietress went to get a warm bottle of soy milk. She opened it, stuck in a clear straw, and placed it beside Yu Lingling. “This one’s on me. If a stranger talks to you on the road, don’t engage with them. If someone asks for directions, you can point the way, but don’t lead them there yourself. And stay far away from any oddly dressed men. If anything happens, head somewhere crowded.”

Looking at how young and tiny Yu Lingling was, the proprietress worried herself sick. “Remember, if anything feels off, call the police. If a human trafficker really tries to grab you, smash anything you can get your hands on.”

Yu Lingling looked at her earnestly. “Your daughter must be very happy.”

At the mention of her daughter, a smile spread across the proprietress’s face. “Oh, that troublesome girl. She insisted on learning martial arts. I told her other girls her age were learning to paint, play the piano, or dance, so what did she need martial arts for? But she was determined. I couldn’t talk her out of it, so I sent her to classes. Who would’ve thought she’d actually have a talent for it? She even won an award a few days ago.”

“That’s wonderful,” Yu Lingling said.

Since she wasn’t busy and Yu Lingling didn’t seem to mind chatting, the proprietress went into the kitchen and returned with a clean bowl containing a braised chicken leg, braised tofu, and a braised egg. She pushed it toward Yu Lingling and sat across from her.

“You’re so thin. You’re much too young to be learning how to diet and lose weight. Girls should be healthy and eat their fill. These are all on me.”

Yu Lingling thanked her and began eating.

As they chatted, the proprietress learned that Yu Lingling and her brother only had each other, and her heart ached for them even more. Still, Yu Lingling was so neat and pretty, and she did well in school too.

“Your brother treats you so well. Once you’ve made something of yourself, you have to treat him well too.”

Yu Lingling nodded. “I will.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the proprietress asked, “Did your parents pass away from an illness? I’m not trying to bring up anything painful. It’s just that if they died from an illness, you and your brother should take care of your health and get regular checkups. The hospital here is quite good. Oh, and they’ve been handing out flyers for free consultations too.”

Yu Lingling answered honestly, “I don’t know. I’ve never met my parents, and my brother has never mentioned them.”

Drawing on her wealth of life experience, the proprietress immediately assumed their parents must have been irresponsible and abandoned their young children.

“Your brother is all you need. One good brother is worth more than countless lousy relatives.”

Yu Lingling agreed.

More customers entered the shop. Worried that her husband couldn’t handle them all by himself, the proprietress told Yu Lingling to take her time eating before going over to help.

Yu Lingling gnawed on the braised chicken leg as she watched the busy proprietress. Suddenly, a line came to mind.

“Though death claim us a hundred times, we shall never retreat. We will protect all living beings and never know regret.”

Had those people refused to retreat and fought without regret so they could protect people like the proprietress and her family?

And was it because they had never retreated or regretted their choice that people like the proprietress could live such lives?

Yu Lingling lowered her head and continued eating. After thinking for a moment, she took out her phone and opened the app that had suddenly appeared after she became a Full-fledged Player in the Horror Game.

It was the same app Yu Lingling had seen on her brother’s phone, with an identical icon. The only difference was that the one on her brother’s phone had been gray and white, as if it were dead, while hers was vibrant and alive.

Yu Lingling had already studied the app on the high-speed train. She opened the Player Forum and posted a request for help.

[I’m a Solo Player who just arrived in City A. I was injured in a dungeon. Where can I get medical treatment?]