Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Cheng Miao felt as though the almost tangible black fog would suffocate her. Fortunately, she tore free an instant later and awoke as if breaking out of sleep paralysis. Slender arms wound around her neck, followed by a girl throwing herself into her embrace.

“Why did you take so long?” Qi Jiajia’s voice was sharp and fierce. Her arms squeezed until Cheng Miao struggled to breathe. Cheng Miao patted her, then motioned for Lin Zhu to help her stand.

Mindful of the difference between men and women, Lin Zhu had not dared touch Cheng Miao. The moment she looked at him, he hurried forward and pulled her to her feet.

Lin Zhu was tall, nearly five foot eleven despite still being in high school. At five foot six, Cheng Miao was no burden for him.

She sighed inwardly. If she had known it would not affect anything, she would have petted her little fatty a few more times. At home, the cat complained whenever Cheng Miao so much as gave it a single stroke.

“You’re awake, Cheng Miao! Those two were losing their minds with worry.” Freckles had been huddled nearby. When she saw Cheng Miao awake, two happy dimples appeared in her cheeks.

“Were you the first one awake? That was fast.” The newcomer had tremendous potential, and Cheng Miao praised her without reservation.

Freckles smiled shyly without answering, then crouched again beside Chen Yu, who was still trapped in her nightmare.

She did not tell anyone that her nightmare had been about friendship.

But the friendship she longed for most had already shattered beyond repair. Such a perfect reconciliation was impossible.

The illusion had not tempted her in the slightest.

Cheng Miao surveyed their surroundings. They stood in a stairwell, with stairs extending both upward and downward into thick darkness. Whatever lurked there could not be seen.

It resembled the darkness she had found beyond her front door.

She looked at the three people against the wall. Qiao Jin’s eyes curved into a smile as soon as Cheng Miao glanced over. “I knew you’d be fine. Those two little teammates of yours were beside themselves.”

Qi Jiajia flushed faintly, but her words still bristled. “You were slower than a complete newcomer. How was I supposed to know you weren’t dying in there?”

“Hey, don’t say things like that.” Lin Zhu flailed as he tried to stop her from continuing. The two bickered in the stairwell, easing some of the tension.

Cheng Miao was watching Qi Jiajia cling to Lin Zhu and bite him until he yelped when a deep male voice spoke beside her. “Does your team still have room for another member?”

Cheng Miao could hardly believe it. Qin Musong was unquestionably powerful and exceptionally reliable. His level was far above hers.

She had considered asking him to join, but never imagined he would agree, much less offer first.

The two who had been fighting immediately stopped and gathered around Cheng Miao.

She looked at them. Lin Zhu’s expression said he would accept whatever she decided. Qi Jiajia’s said she did not care either way.

The fact that Qi Jiajia did not particularly dislike Qin Musong was unexpected.

After a moment’s thought, Cheng Miao said, “I have one question. You seem especially concerned about Qi Jiajia.”

She sensed that Qin Musong was an honorable man, but after what happened with Zhao Liang, she could not afford to lower her guard.

At the mention of Qi Jiajia, Qin Musong visibly softened. “My daughter is about her age.”

The others understood. So the handsome older man was married.

Cheng Miao nodded, satisfied with the answer. Qi Jiajia was the youngest and had the weakest ability to protect herself. Qin Musong would be an enormous asset to the team.

“Then tell me which Grand Hotel you’re staying at. We’ll do our best to meet up with you.”
Qin Musong shook his head. “I’ll come find you.”

Even Qiao Jin was surprised. “You’ve already reached a Hotel. You’re going to clear Guesthouse-level instances with them all over again?”

Qin Musong smiled like a lone wolf glimpsing moonlight. “Traveling farther matters more than taking fewer steps. Besides, I have a feeling that finding them is the wisest choice.”

Cheng Miao did not stand on ceremony. She gave him the name Parrot Guesthouse, and Qin Musong nodded without another word.

“Chen Yu! Chen Yu, wake up! None of this is real. Wake up!” Freckles’s voice rang out, choked with tears. Cheng Miao and the others gathered around her.

Chen Yu lay on the floor with her eyes tightly shut, but her body was turning strangely transparent, as if she were about to disappear.

“What did you see this time?” Qiao Jin asked Cheng Miao curiously.

Cheng Miao looked at the girl only one step from safety and closed her eyes. “The thing you desire most.”

“Good thing it wasn’t me. Otherwise, I’d never have made it out.” Qian Ming exaggeratedly grabbed Qiao Jin’s hand and used it to pat his own head.

Qi Jiajia looked disdainful. Everyone had a different weakness. Some would lose their lives to a beautiful illusion, while others would never allow such things to impede them.

Chen Yu stood before the door to her little home, her back to the person behind her as tears streamed down her face.

Her hand was already on the door. One more step, and she would be outside.

“Yu’er, look at me.” A man’s gentle, clear voice sounded behind her.

Chen Yu trembled. She bit hard on her lower lip and repeated through her tears, “This is fake. You’re fake.”

The clean-cut man looked desolate, the stubble on his face lending him a weary air. “Yu’er, do you remember the last thing you said to me?”

Chen Yu went still. She turned slightly and looked at the man she had seen in countless dreams. “I said I didn’t want to live alone. If you died, I didn’t want to live either.”

Sorrow filled his eyes alongside indulgent affection. “Now I’m back. I’m standing right in front of you. Are you still going to leave me?”

Chen Yu began to break down. Her fingers clenched around the doorknob again and again, the pain in her palm preserving her final thread of reason.

“All right.” The man sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Then can I have one last hug?”

Chen Yu watched him raise both arms and tilt his head at her.

The gesture was familiar to the depths of her soul. Her last defenses crumbled, and she burst into sobs.

Crying, she threw herself into the arms of the man she had yearned for day and night.

“Chen… Yu?” Freckles watched Chen Yu turn transparent, then vanish from her arms.

She sniffed, and her tears poured free like water through an opened floodgate.

Chen Yu was the first person Freckles had met in her very first instance.

Freckles habitually hid everything behind her shell. Only Chen Yu had noticed her fear and anxiety. Chen Yu had constantly comforted and encouraged her.

Freckles’s hand rose unconsciously to her chest. Chen Yu had given her this necklace, calling it the good-luck charm from her own first instance and hoping it would bring Freckles the same fortune.

Qin Musong hauled the dazed Freckles upright and slung her over one shoulder.

Qian Ming pulled Qiao Jin to her feet. He looked toward the faint light at the bottom of the stairs, then up toward the unfathomable darkness and its horrifying effects, and shrugged.

Cheng Miao tightened her shoelaces and stood, refusing to remain submerged in grief over Chen Yu’s death. “We go up.”