“Xiao Bai, do you still smell the white fog? That foul stench you mentioned before…”
Ye Shu, an ordinary player, didn’t share the sharkman’s keen sense of smell. She couldn’t detect a thing—none of it made sense to her.
The merman pressed close to the window, sniffing about like a curious puppy before giving Ye Shu a sure nod. He couldn’t pick up on anything, yet that stench of putrid mud was once so strong you didn’t even have to open the window to notice it.
Only, the retreat of this white fog felt unnatural…
Xiao Bai slipped out the window for another sweep of the area. After a careful patrol, he found nothing out of place—no hint of fog, no sign of danger. He returned looking confident: “It’s gone for now.”
“For now?”
That was the thing—the survival game was barely halfway done. Surely, new threats waited just around the corner.
Ye Shu packed away the protective suit back into her inventory. She sent a brief message to Su Bai and, without hesitation, headed for the exit. Not another minute could she stand in this asylum.
“Sister Ye, are you finally heading out? Haven’t you been holed up inside for days now? Out to bask in the moonlight at this hour?”
Lin Qing greeted her with a lazy, unmoved smile, as if he’d been expecting her all along.
It caught Ye Shu off guard to run straight into Lin Qing the moment she stepped through the door. She forced a chuckle: “Yeah, what a coincidence! Little brother Lin, out to admire the moon too?”
“That’s right. I’ll join you, Sister. Ten days lost to the gloomy fog—I’ve been suffocating in there.”
“You want to leave the asylum, don’t you? Let’s go together. We did partner up last game—surely Sister Ye won’t leave me behind?”
From her pocket, the sharkman peered out, only half his face visible, shooting a look of utter disdain at the teenager opposite.
Crafty!
Was this the so-called fox-faced charmer Da Piaoliang warned about?
Brazen, truly shameless!
And yet—there was something so familiar about him… Like a face glimpsed before, though it felt strangely new.
“Alright then.”
She replied out of politeness, but—why did Lin Qing take it at face value? This could get tricky. Having him tag along would only complicate things, and she was in a hurry to meet Su Bai. Was he always this forward, so quick to treat strangers as friends? But Lin Qing had made it out of the catacombs unscathed—not as harmless as he looked.
Let him come—he might just be useful.
Ye Shu gave a twitch of the lips and nodded coolly, not betraying a whit of her reluctance.
The original body had been admitted to the hospital with no means of transport; stranded on a mountainside, it would take hours to reach the city on foot. But Ye Shu never put herself through needless hardship. She randomly picked out a car and expertly jimmied the lock.
Lock-picking—she’d picked it up from a thief in one of the last survival runs.
“Sister Ye… I’d never have guessed you could do that!”
Lin Qing’s surprise flickered across his face; this was clearly outside his expectations.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“We’re headed for Jing City—are you coming along?”
Ye Shu contacted Su Bai. Pang Pangzi was there too. With his stacked luck on their side, maybe this round wouldn’t be fatal!
“Xiao Bai, how is it now?”
She was still uneasy about the mysterious white fog, even though it had vanished without a trace.
“Mistress, the fog’s scent has almost completely dissipated—no protection needed.”
Lin Qing’s gaze drifted to the palm-sized half-fish peeking from Ye Shu’s pocket, his smile growing even warmer.
Where did Ye Xiao Shu get all these strange things?
This fish… it rang a bell. Picked up at sea, wasn’t it? A male, if memory served.
“Excellent. Xiao Bai, keep constant watch. The moment anything changes, you notify me first.”
With the merman’s reassurance, Ye Shu finally felt at ease.
“Understood, Mistress.”
He ducked back into the pocket, leaving only his pale gray eyes peeking out, locked on Lin Qing.
Something was off with this one. Why did he keep eyeing Xiao Bai, cold and predatory—as if Ye Shu was his to claim?
“Of course, of course. Wherever you’re headed, I’ll follow. Is this your spirit pet, Sister?” Lin Qing wasted no time hopping into the car, buckling himself in as if born for mischief.
“Yes. My spirit pet.” Ye Shu replied casually. She had no intention of revealing how all her contracted pets were brought over from game dungeons.
Silence pooled between them again.
Night wind howled as the car raced down the road.
Lin Qing fiddled with the radio—through the static, an urgent news flash caught their attention, the mention of the white fog sharp in Ye Shu’s ears.
“Breaking news: The first batch of patients who fainted and were hospitalized have regained consciousness…
“Ms. Xu, the first to recover and the very first admitted, was found to be in good health by hospital tests. She’s expected to be discharged in two days, having weakened from several days’ fever.”
“Across the nation, the white fog dispersed overnight… Could it be connected to the patients’ comas?”
The fog barely cleared—and now the patients wake up? A coincidence far too neat to ignore.
Dread tightened in Ye Shu’s heart.
“Sister, don’t you find that strange?”
Ye Shu was at a loss, so she answered politely. “It’s certainly strange.”
“No risk, no reward. Want to head to the hospital and see what’s really afflicting those patients?” Lin Qing lounged back in his seat, eyes glimmering as they met Ye Shu’s.
“No way!”
“That’s a death wish. Go yourself if you’re inclined.” She refused him flatly.
“You really won’t go?”
“No. But if you must, I can at least drop you at the hospital entrance.” Ye Shu’s face remained blank as she pressed harder on the accelerator.
The last game had bled her dry. If not for her deep health pool, she’d have died a dozen times. This round, she was determined to recover—even if it meant sitting out the main event. She’d banked plenty of points already… though it still wasn’t enough to quit the game.
“Sister Ye, I was just kidding! Just kidding—you really took it seriously?”
Ye Xiao Shu, always unpredictable. With her fierce streak, she should’ve leapt at a risky challenge.
Lin Qing puttered with the radio. Ye Shu kept her eyes on the road. They spoke no more.
The battered old car rolled up to a modest villa on the outskirts of town.
As soon as Ye Shu opened the door, Su Bai swept her into a fierce embrace.
“Shu Shu, I finally found you! I’ve missed you so much. I’ve been waiting, barely slept, barely ate, worried sick for days.”
Staring at Su Bai, plump and well-fed, Ye Shu was momentarily lost for words. ‘Barely ate’? She looked more like she’d gained weight hiding indoors.
“Big Hero Ye, it’s been forever!”
“You are… Pang Pangzi?” She squinted at him; he seemed thinner than before.
“That’s me. Thought I’d never make it out alive last time.”
“With you on our side for this round, Boss Ye, we're finally set!” Pang Pangzi couldn’t hide his excitement. After several games without Ye Shu’s protection, he’d visibly slimmed down, the faint outline of good looks emerging beneath the bulk.
Lin Qing’s smile faded, the easy charm draining from his features. That Su-something woman was bad enough—how did that fat guy manage to latch onto Ye Shu too?
When they entered the living room, Lin Qing nearly lost his composure.
Sitting on the couch were two other familiar faces—old friends, every last one of them.