Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 56

Volume 3: Song of the Wanderer

Great Demon King 15

The Game of the Brave

Just as Xin Lan sensed the hand was about to react, someone had already slapped it away.

            

“If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you touching?”

Yu Wanyan let out a light snort, looking at the hand.

She didn’t like her prey being touched. While she couldn’t intervene when Xin Lan and Qi Haolin were fighting, surely she could handle this?

            

Xin Lan turned her head but saw no one – just pitch darkness.

Ling Jiu: Host, there’s a hand down there, by your feet.

Ling Jiu swallowed nervously, trembling as she gave the warning.

            

Xin Lan: Is it a hand, or is it just a hand?

Ling Jiu: What’s the difference?

A hand is a hand!

            

Xin Lan: The difference is how much extends beyond the palm.

Ling Jiu: Just to the wrist.

Xin Lan’s eyes held contemplation – a hand appearing out of nowhere that ends at the wrist? What connection could it have to this pitch-black room with its chains and philosophical implements?

            

Ling Jiu: This hand can be scanned. Initial analysis indicates it’s male, approximately seventeen or eighteen years old, with scars on the fingers and back of the hand. Hmm… comparing the data, these injuries likely came from those philosophical implements over there.

The situation was clear now – a poor young man locked up in this dark room?

The hand belonged to this youth, so the key to this floor must be with him.

            

But the problem was they only had a hand – how could they communicate? Should they just wait?

The inability to see was extremely uncomfortable – even with eyes open, everything was pitch black, no different from being blind.

However, in this darkness, there was a faint light coming from Yu Wanyan.

            

Her body emitted a soft glow, making her particularly noticeable in the dark room.

Yu Wanyan hadn’t noticed Xin Lan watching her, as she stared at the hand on the ground.

The hand lay quietly near Xin Lan’s heel.

            

Xin Lan: Where’s the light switch for this room?

Ling Jiu: Outside.

Ling Jiu marked a red dot on the floor plan – there was a switch, but whether it would work was another matter.

            

“Hey, why is it so dark in here?”

Ren Difei’s voice suddenly echoed in the room; he must have come up the stairs.

The stairs in this building defied all logic, but then again, this was a supernatural occurrence, so logic didn’t apply. The stairs from the first floor led directly to the second floor’s room, and once up, there was no going back down.

            

Qi Haolin remained silent in the darkness, lost in unknown thoughts.

“Can you see anything with your glasses on?”

“Let me try.”

            

Hearing Xin Lan’s voice, Ren Difei quickly put on his glasses, only to remove them moments later.

“No good, it’s too dark. Can’t see anything clearly.”

Well, they’d need to turn on the lights then.

            

Xin Lan moved forward slowly, with Yu Wanyan following beside her.

People tend to hesitate in unfamiliar dark environments, fearing they might bump into something or fall. Xin Lan had no such concerns since the floor plan showed the space was empty, but she still didn’t take large strides forward, worried she might step on other body parts.

“Why don’t I hold your hand? We’ll move faster.”

            

Yu Wanyan suggested.

She could have carried Xin Lan too, but knew Xin Lan wouldn’t approve of that.

“No need.”

            

Xin Lan declined, which Yu Wanyan had expected, and she wasn’t disappointed.

They made it smoothly to the door, but when Xin Lan tried to turn the handle, she found it was locked.

“Is the door locked?”

            

Ren Difei had been feeling his way over and heard Xin Lan turning the handle.

Usually, doors couldn’t be locked from the inside, but this door was special.

“Should we look for a key? Normally, there should be one in here.”

            

Ren Difei said with his hand against the wall, though even as he spoke, he knew it was unlikely – without any light source, they wouldn’t be able to see the key even if it was right in front of them.

Xin Lan stepped back two paces and began kicking the door.

This was something she was quite familiar with – during the first Campus Hunting War, she had kicked down doors throughout an entire building by herself.

            

The dull thuds of her kicks echoed repeatedly, and while ignoring the pain in her foot, she managed to break down the door before long.

The world outside wasn’t completely dark; moonlight poured in like water, falling on the living room furniture, creating a somewhat desolate atmosphere.

Just as Xin Lan was about to press the switch, she heard Ling Jiu’s warning in her mind, and simultaneously, a cool soft hand grabbed hers, stopping her movement.

            

Ling Jiu: Host, that hand is on the switch aaaaaah, it’s disgusting. Good thing you didn’t press it.

A pale, greenish-white hand covered the white switch.

Moonlight didn’t reach this spot, so Xin Lan couldn’t see what was in front of her, but she could imagine the scene from Ling Jiu’s description.

            

“Thank you.”

Xin Lan thanked Yu Wanyan beside her and withdrew her hand.

Yu Wanyan felt the warmth suddenly disappear from her palm, leaving an inexplicable sense of loss in her heart.

            

Over there, Ren Difei was waiting for Xin Lan’s next move. He had originally wanted to turn on the living room lights but didn’t know where the switch was located, so for safety’s sake, he remained still.

There was a conscious dead person’s hand on the light switch – should they turn it on?

Xin Lan’s answer was of course.

            

She pressed down with one finger, and the room instantly became bright as day, but in the next moment, the lights went out again.

This sudden brightness made it hard for eyes to adjust, but Xin Lan seized the opportunity to clearly see the room’s layout.

It was a large, empty room without even a bed – just a wide sofa, a toilet, and a cabinet full of philosophical implements [zhé xué yòng jù – appears to be torture devices, euphemistically named].

            

Chains hung down to the floor, making it easy to imagine they had once restrained someone.

It seemed to be another unpleasant story, Xin Lan thought somewhat absently.

She seemed to be constantly experiencing these things, appearing to be satisfying face-slapping scenes, but actually, the original host’s experiences were more tragic than the antagonists’.

            

After all, there weren’t many antagonists who were tragic throughout – most turned dark later on, many had good early lives, though their ends were truly miserable.

“What do we do now?”

Ren Difei was at a loss. At least the first floor had clues telling them what happened to whom, but the second floor was just darkness. The lights had barely turned on before going out again, leaving him no time to see anything.

            

Following Ling Jiu’s instructions, Xin Lan turned on the living room lights and sat on the sofa.

Ren Difei habitually looked around, while Qi Haolin had already come out of the room but didn’t sit down, instead joining Ren Difei in observing their surroundings.

The living room was decorated very elegantly but had a minimalist style, seeming cold and impersonal.

            

“It’s no different from the original.”

Ren Difei took off his glasses and said to Xin Lan, quite puzzled.

Qi Haolin maintained his silence, not wanting to draw Xin Lan’s attention, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible.

            

Xin Lan wasn’t in a hurry; according to the time, it was only their second night since entering.

She had seven days to spend on this game and to deal with Qi Haolin.

Though it probably wouldn’t last that long, since there was no water or food.

            

Ren Difei observed the living room, searched every corner, but found no valuable clues before collapsing exhausted onto the sofa.

Xin Lan sat on the sofa appearing uninterested in her surroundings, but in fact, she was just waiting. There should still be three people downstairs – how many could make it up, or would none of them make it?

A growling sound echoed in the living room. Xin Lan looked up as Ren Difei embarrassedly covered his stomach, then his expression changed as he remembered something important.

            

“All our things are downstairs. We didn’t bring any food up, and now we can’t go back down. What are we going to do for the next few days?”

Because it had been dark outside and they’d been through various events, Ren Difei only now had time to pull out his signal-less phone from his pocket, discovering it was very late.

This meant that all day, he’d only eaten a few small bread rolls and drunk a small bottle of probiotics that Xin Lan had given him. This was barely enough for an adult male, but in that situation, who had time to think about eating or hunger? Now that things had calmed down, those feelings all came rushing back.

            

Ren Difei looked to Xin Lan like she was his main backbone [zhǔ xīn gǔ – figuratively meaning someone to rely on], hoping she could provide an answer. But this time, Xin Lan couldn’t give him one.

Xin Lan’s silence left Ren Difei somewhat desperate, and he sighed, huddling there with a worried expression.

Qi Haolin frowned in deep thought. Xin Lan wasn’t worried about food – she could endure hunger, though there was no need now. Although Ling Jiu could only make fried chicken and chicken rolls at present, having meat was better than having none.

            

Not long after, Xin Lan’s keen ears caught footsteps coming from that room, and soon Pi Tianzi appeared before them, holding an umbrella.

Most notable were the scars on her face and the bloodstains on her umbrella. The originally white lace parasol was now stained with a dark red, appearing particularly eerie.

Pi Tianzi was already wearing cute Lolita fashion, and this contrast gave off a dangerous aura.

            

Xin Lan found it interesting – she didn’t know how Pi Tianzi had died in the original plot. She looked quite formidable now, so how had Qi Haolin managed to kill her?

When Ren Difei saw Pi Tianzi, his body quietly tensed up.

Pi Tianzi’s current appearance emanated an extreme aura, and with her eye-catching attire, she would stand out even among forty or four hundred people.

            

The boss lady was different, lounging casually on the sofa, appearing very relaxed, but this only made people more terrified.

Thinking about the rules of this game, Ren Difei felt a headache coming on. He felt he had no chance of winning but didn’t want to die right now either.

When Pi Tianzi stood still, a chilling air began to surge through the room, permeating with coldness, that chill seeming to crawl slowly up the spine and into the bone marrow.

            

“She has hidden my body parts. I want you to find my body and piece it together within one day. If you succeed, I’ll give you the key.”

A voice suddenly rang out in the house, cold and hoarse, carrying a blood-curdling air.

“If you can’t do it…”

            

The voice’s owner let out a cold laugh without finishing the sentence.

The voice disappeared as abruptly as it had come, without any warning, making everyone’s hearts sink.

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LP: Re-translated on January 23, 2025

            

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