Chapter 74

“You ran off without saying a word! And then you didn’t come back for ages.” Luo Jia Bai said, distressed and frustrated. “That makes people really worried about you.”

“I just ran into Feng Shan. He swam over from that direction and even told me to hurry over and collect your corpse! My heart almost stopped from fright!”

Lu Li raised the card, his damp hair plastered to his face. He wiped the water from his eyelashes with the back of his hand. “I’m going to fetch the Item.”

Seeing him like this, Luo Jia Bai couldn’t bring himself to say anything reproachful; his anger faded. “Next time, give me a heads-up.”

Sometimes, he felt Lu Li was very capable-calm and methodical when faced with critical situations, making people instinctively want to get close and trust him.

Other times, he thought Lu Li’s emotional intelligence was a bit lacking, and his common sense was extremely deficient, like a child at home who needed constant care. He worried outsiders might take advantage of that to bully Lu Li.

“As long as you’re alright.”

Luo Jia Bai finally dragged Lu Li over near the exit.

The water had already covered most of the exit, leaving only a narrow gap.

Luo Jia Bai felt around underwater for the exit, but no matter how he searched, all he touched was tile.

His expression changed. “After the exit was submerged, it turned into tile!”

Luo Jia Bai forced his arm through the only remaining gap above the water, but as soon as his shoulder got through, he was stuck.

Water flowed through the crack, and the empty space slowly turned into tile, trapping Luo Jia Bai’s hand tightly so he couldn’t pull it out.

He had to rely on Lu Li’s strength to yank his arm back.

The gap kept shrinking.

Mr. Qiao’s voice came from behind them, his laughter sinister. “Two little mice, I’ve found you!”

A huge hand reached out for them.

“Crack, crack…”

Two claws reached in through the gap.

The powerful claws turned any spot they touched into brittle ice, shattering the tile.

The next moment, a Black Bird squeezed in through the gap.

Light from outside shone in through the exit. Mirella seemed to be kneeling outside, looking in, a bit anxious. “Did you go in? Did you find them?”

The Black Bird flapped its strong wings, delivering a solid kick to Mr. Qiao first.

Mr. Qiao clutched his hand, suddenly frostbitten, and shouted, “Maid! I’m freezing! Go get me some clothes!”

Then, the wind from the flapping wings blew into Lu Li and Luo Jia Bai’s faces.

Luo Jia Bai said, “Oh my God, cats really are made of liquid. It squeezed through such a tiny gap, and now its tail is hitting me in the face. Is this Mirella’s cat?”

Lu Li was baffled. He rubbed his eyes, opened them again, and confirmed that it was indeed a Black Bird flapping its wings in front of him.

What Luo Jia Bai thought was a tail must have just been the Black Bird repeatedly smacking him with its wings.

The Black Bird’s two claws landed on their shoulders-one on each.

Suddenly, it lifted them up.

It burst through the gap with them, threw them onto the ground, then jumped down itself and shook the water from its feathers.

“We’re out!” Luo Jia Bai exclaimed, clutching his sore backside in shock. “This cat can fly!”

Lu Li said, “Is it possible that it’s a bird?”

The Black Bird looked up at him with a hint of displeasure.

Its raised head was gently stroked by Mirella.

Mirella picked it up and asked softly, “Are you tired? Did you overuse your ability? Go back and rest for now.”

The Black Bird twisted its head back and forth, carefully avoiding letting Mirella touch its sharp beak, and after a moment slowly let out a meow.

Then it tore open a rift and returned to rest.

Luo Jia Bai tilted his head to listen, now completely sure. He patted Lu Li on the shoulder. “Listen, a cat’s meow! I told you it was a cat!”

Lu Li thought, this is just too absurd.

It was like some kind of illusion.
He opened the Evil Spirit Bracelet and saw a screen densely packed with Bullet Comments in the Live Stream Room, all saying strange things.

He could vaguely tell that these Evil Spirits were arguing fiercely because his clothes were wet.

He leaned in to try to see what exactly the Bullet Comments were saying, and the comments even froze for a few seconds before exploding with even greater enthusiasm. Tips from the Audience flooded in.

Luo Jia Bai, exhausted, lay on the ground unable to get up. Noticing the constant red light flashing on Lu Li’s Evil Spirit Bracelet, he gasped for air while giving a thumbs-up, “You’ve learned how to use your looks to attract tips and popularity so quickly. You’ve got the assets, and now you’ve found the right way to use them.”

Lu Li: ?

Luo Jia Bai coached him, “If you want more interaction, just unbutton two buttons.”

Lu Li frowned, closed the Live Stream Room, exchanged a quick-drying function at a high price in the Shop, then fastened every button on his shirt up to the very top with meticulous care.

The Bullet Comments finally quieted down.

A dead silence fell.

The world grew peaceful again. Lu Li dried off the card as well. On the front was a picture: a harmonica and a pile of beautiful shells stacked like a small mountain.

On the back, there were words:

[Every day I come to the seaside, and finally, I met him again.]

[He always appears behind that reef, saying he wants to hear my tune one more time. His voice is so pleasant.]

[He brought out many beautiful shells in exchange, wanting me to stay a little longer by the sea. It’s rare to have an Audience who appreciates my music, and I’m delighted.]

[It turns out he is a Sea Demon about to come of age.]

[Next time the moon is full, it will be his coming-of-age ceremony. He invited me to attend.]

Lu Li flipped the card over, looking at the harmonica. It looked familiar.

Back in the Poor Village, he had seen a Hunter playing a harmonica.

But he had been too far away to be sure if it was this one.

The Wristband vibrated.

[Key Item exploration progress: +0.2]

“This looks like another room,” Luo Jia Bai, now rested, stood up and looked around. “Just the three of us?”

They left the bathroom and entered a much larger and more spacious room.

Mirella said, “When I came in, there were no other Players here. Maybe we’ve been grouped according to how quickly we cleared the last stage.”

The room was split in two, with blue furniture on the left and pink on the right.

Luo Jia Bai looked up.

On both sides stood matching cribs.

There were also matching desks.

The desks had rounded corners, and a dozen or so picture books were scattered across the tops, all with rounded edges as well.

This way, whether bumping into the desk or picking up a book, no one would get hurt.

Mirella said, “Nursery.”

The door creaked open.

Mrs. Qiao entered. She shut the door, took off her ten rings one by one, then hummed as she walked inside.

The massive door closed.

A small door opened at the bottom of the main door.

A faint light shone through the small door.

Luo Jia Bai watched Mrs. Qiao, moving cautiously in the shadows.

The three of them hid behind the desk, keeping their voices low, “That little door should be the exit.”

Mrs. Qiao’s huge body sat down in the middle of the room, rummaging through the books on the desk.

“Today we’ll continue last night’s bedtime story. Let Mama see, which one did we read yesterday…”

“Which one was it!” Mrs. Qiao swept all the picture books off the desk. “Which one did we read yesterday?”

From outside the little door, the sound of a piano drifted in.

Mrs. Qiao, agitated, overturned the desk, “Damn it! Playing the piano again! I can’t even think! I can’t find the book!”

The desk they were hiding behind suddenly vanished.

The three were abruptly bathed in light.

Mrs. Qiao screamed and tried to stomp on them, “Where did these Mice come from!”