Chapter 4
We reached the corner, but Ye Tiancheng was nowhere to be seen. On the ground lay only a torn piece of cloth.
Bai Cancan picked it up, looked at it, and said with certainty, “It’s the Boss’s.”
My heart sank. We hadn’t heard a sound just now, and Ye Tiancheng knew martial arts-there was no way he could be taken away so silently.
Looking around, all we saw were rows of Candy Houses, decorated with brightly colored candies. They looked delicious, but no one knew what terrifying things might be hidden inside.
Bai Cancan wanted to go into each one to search, but I grabbed her. “Don’t be impulsive. The two of us together aren’t even half as strong as him. If we rush in, we’ll just get ourselves killed. There’s no way we can save him.”
“Then what do we do!” Bai Cancan said anxiously. “We should’ve come out with him just now!”
“If we had, there would just be one more sacrifice.” I took out the Pocket Watch from my backpack. “I don’t know if this still works.”
Bai Cancan leaned over and asked, “Is this… a prop?”
I nodded. This Pocket Watch was something I got from the player Yue Shiyao in the ‘Ghost King’s Wedding’ instance. Back then, I used it to stop time and killed the Ghost King.
“Let’s try it.” I opened the cover, pulled Bai Cancan into a hidden corner, and turned the minute hand back five minutes.
As soon as I finished, Bai Cancan and I sped backwards, returning to the Cookie House and shutting the door.
When our movements stopped, we stared at each other in shock.
“Go!” Bai Cancan reacted faster than me, flung open the door, and ran out. I hurried after her.
We arrived just in time to see Ye Tiancheng being dragged inside by a giant Eggbeater. His body was shredded into mince by the rapidly spinning blades, and a piece of his clothing fell to the ground.
The Eggbeater took only a minute to grind Ye Tiancheng to bits. Then the ground twisted, like a giant mouth constantly swallowing and spitting, devouring the flesh and the Eggbeater. In the blink of an eye, nothing was left on the ground.
Silent. Spotless.
All of this happened in just two or three minutes. We watched as a living person died right before our eyes.
Bai Cancan’s eyes turned red. She rushed over and clawed desperately at the ground, shouting, “Spit it out! Give him back!”
“It’s useless.”
A young girl stepped out from the shadows, her gaze numb as she looked at the ground. “My boyfriend was just swallowed too.”
Bai Cancan jumped up, ran over, grabbed the girl’s collar, and demanded harshly, “So you just watched him get swallowed and didn’t warn anyone?”
“Why should I warn him!” the girl screamed shrilly. “Everyone here only cares about themselves. Who cares if others live or die! If he died, he deserved it!”
“You-!” Bai Cancan raised her hand to hit her, but I quickly pulled her back.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” I dragged Bai Cancan away. “Back, back!”
Bai Cancan stomped along beside me, muttering under her breath, “I’m so mad, I almost hit her. Xiaoxiao, can you still use that Pocket Watch?”
I looked down at the now gray dial and hands, uncertain. “I only used it once before in ‘Ghost King’s Wedding.’ This is the second time. I don’t know if it’ll work again.”
“Let’s try again when we get back.”
We returned to the Cookie House. I tried turning the hands again, but nothing happened.
“Looks like it won’t work,” I mused. “Maybe it needs a cooldown. Last time, when Yue Shiyao and I used it, at least half an hour passed between uses.”
Bai Cancan was anxious, but there was nothing she could do except wait for the Pocket Watch to cool down.
The sky grew darker and darker, and the egg tart sun made by Bai Cancan slowly set.
Finally, the Pocket Watch finished cooling down.
I set the time to 16:00.
The second hand ticked by, and outside, the sky grew bright again.
Ye Tiancheng’s figure became clear before us, quickly returning to a whole person.
Bai Cancan rushed over and grabbed him, asking excitedly, “Boss, are you okay?”
Ye Tiancheng’s face was pale. He opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word-instead, he vomited.
He threw up a large puddle of egg liquid.