Chapter 183 Guardian (Part 41)
"How far are we from the back door?" Song Yanchi seemed to have noticed something and asked, expressing the doubts in Qiao Yuan's mind.
Su Zeyuan: "Soon."
This time, the other party was not trying to comfort him. Soon after he finished speaking, they quickly reached the back door. After passing through the back door, the gate of Changyao Middle School soon appeared in front of everyone.
Even though it was also Su Zeyuan's dream, compared with the liveliness of Pinggu Middle School, Changyao Middle School seemed much more dull. The night sky above seemed to be covered with a layer of gray cover, and the quiet atmosphere made it seem even more lifeless.
Qiao Yuan originally thought that this might represent Su Zeyuan's unpleasant memories of Changyao Middle School, and the quiet environment also represented Su Zeyuan's disappointment with Changyao Middle School. However, from the information she obtained from her indirect conversation with Su Zeyuan, the latter's memories of studying and living in Changyao Middle School formed a sharp contrast with Zou Lu's narration.
Of course, what is bright is Su Zeyuan, while what is dim is the lives of players like Zou Lu.
Judging from Su Zeyuan’s reaction, he had no idea about the existence of ghosts when he was in Changyao Middle School.
It seems that the abnormality of Changyao Middle School in the other party’s dream has nothing to do with his mood.
As Qiao Yuan thought about this, he set his eyes on the school gate in front of him.
Although there were security booths on both sides of the school gate, there were not many people inside, so the few people and the ghost were able to reach the school gate unimpeded .
Like the gate of Pinggu Middle School, the gate of Changyao Middle School was closed.
Qiao Yuan did not rush forward like before, but looked at Su Zeyuan.
So far, Su Zeyuan has acted as if he had mistakenly entered a school he had been to before, and he didn't know why the school had become so eerie and confusing. But after seeing the school gate, his eyes lit up and he was the first to step forward and push the door open.
However, it was obviously impossible for him to push open the heavy door by his own strength, so after trying a few times, Su Zeyuan quickly turned his eyes to the other people for help.
After making sure that nothing happened when Su Zeyuan touched the door, the other players stepped forward.
However, no matter how hard they pushed the door, it didn't move at all.
Song Yanchi's muscles were tense from exerting too much force. When he found that he couldn't push the door open, he subconsciously looked at Qiao Yuan: "Sister, how did you open the door before?"
Before Qiao Yuan could answer, Su Zeyuan, who was standing at the door with her at the time, quickly responded: "That's how we push it."
Song Yanchi continued to look at Qiao Yuan, and only looked away after the other party nodded.
Su Zeyuan took in Song Yanchi's reaction, but the smile on his lips did not disappear.
Qiao Yuan was wondering why he couldn't open the door.
She had wondered why there were so many cracks on the door, wondering if it meant that there was a crack in Su Zeyuan's heart. However, after learning of Xu Yunchuan's true identity, she realized that the other party must have opened the door once.
It was also because of this that when pushing the door with others, in addition to paying attention to Su Zeyuan, another person Qiao Yuan paid close attention to was Xu Yunchuan.
Xu Yunchuan hadn't spoken a word since he approached the door. Judging from the way his brows were slightly furrowed, he seemed to be lost in some kind of deep thought.
He couldn't open the door. Was it because they were there, or because the other party couldn't open the door at all?
Many possibilities flashed through Qiao Yuan's mind at once, but of course she couldn't ask directly at the moment.
Tang Huan's voice also rang out at this time: "This door can't be opened..."
"Should we think of other options?"
She had originally hoped to leave directly from this door, but now it seems that not every dream can leave from the door, which made Tang Huan's face look disappointed for a while. She also soon noticed that the others were silent for a long time, so she couldn't help but speak out.
Su Zeyuan was the first person to respond, but his expression also looked distressed: "Of course, let's think of other ways."
Although he felt that there was something wrong with Su Zeyuan, he was the master of the dream after all. Therefore, when he saw his thoughtful expression, Tang Huan couldn't help but reveal his anticipation in his heart.
Qiao Yuan also spoke up at this time, asking the other party if he had felt anything strange when he was at Changyao Middle School.
Following Qiao Yuan's suggestion, Su Zeyuan seemed to have really thought of something, and took a few people to other directions of the school.
Tang Huan kept a distance from Su Zeyuan like before and walked at the end of the team.
Although Qiao Yuan and Su Zeyuan had walked side by side before, Su Zeyuan would always keep a certain distance from her out of politeness, and this time was no exception.
Xu Yunchuan and Song Yanchi were on the right and left respectively. Since the heart was on the left, close to Song Yanchi, Qiao Yuan just let Him go, which was just enough to separate her and Su Zeyuan.
Under the leadership of Su Zeyuan, several people went to other places to check the situation. Although they only encountered a few ghosts along the way and avoided them first, they still found nothing.
Song Yanchi looked depressed, and he glanced at Su Zeyuan from time to time. He really wanted to ask the other party directly what was going on, but without Qiao Yuan's instructions, he could only temporarily suppress the urge.
Although Tang Huan did not speak, her expression was already filled with despair. After all, she had discovered a situation that made people feel even more devastated.
She lost contact with the system.
Tang Huan originally just wanted to ask the system whether her identity would be erased in the real world after she died in this copy, but she didn't expect to get a response from the system. You know, although her system doesn't talk much, it can be said to answer every question, even if there are no answers to some questions, it is more sensible than her ex-boyfriend to respond.
At first Tang Huan thought the system didn't hear her, but after calling the system's name a few more times and still getting no response, she realized the worst had happened.
Just as Zou Lu said before, they also lost connection with the system.
Tang Huan couldn't help but wonder if after she died in this strange copy, all traces of her life would be erased like Dou Yu, and who would live in the house that she had paid off the mortgage for several years.
Thinking of her own house, Tang Huan finally managed to stop her collapse. She felt a little hopeful and looked at Qiao Yuan subconsciously. Tang Huan realized belatedly that these days of getting along had made her somewhat dependent on Qiao Yuan. For example, now, she looked at him subconsciously.
Qiao Yuanzheng turned around and talked to Xu Yunchuan.
After finding that she couldn't find a way out of the dream, Qiao Yuan also became a little anxious. In fact, she discovered the disconnection with the system earlier than Tang Huan. When she was asking the system whether it had found out the abnormal situation of this copy, she found that the system's response was mixed with a "sizzling" sound like a poor signal contact.
This sound only lasted for a few seconds and soon disappeared along with the system sound.
Qiao Yuan quickly realized that she had lost contact with the system. However, the system was of no use in the dungeon on weekdays, not to mention that she had learned from Zou Lu that she could still leave the dungeon without the system. However, the disappearance of the system reminded Qiao Yuan of an important thing -
This is probably just the beginning.
According to Zou Lu, if they didn't get out, what would be waiting for them would be death one after another.
Qiao Yuan glanced at Xu Yunchuan, who was standing beside her. His expression had returned to normal. She couldn't tell whether Xu Yunchuan had discovered anything, so she could only ask in a tactful way.
Xu Yunchuan seemed to be waiting for her to ask, and then he quickly said: "I do think there is a place that is very suspicious. Maybe we can leave from there."
Song Yanchi and Tang Huan were originally skeptical about Xu Yunchuan's words, but after hearing Qiao Yuan say, "Since there is no other way out now, why not go and have a look," they had to admit that what Qiao Yuan said was right.
The group soon changed to Xu Yunchuan leading the way.
Since their previous mutual suspicion, Su Zeyuan and Xu Yunchuan stopped arguing, but he also stopped talking to Xu Yunchuan.
But after Xu Yunchuan led the way for a while, Su Zeyuan quickly seemed to realize something and said vigilantly: "We have never walked this road before, how do you know?"
Although they had been to the places Xu Yunchuan mentioned before, the route he took this time was obviously not the same as before.
Xu Yunchuan was not in a hurry: "I looked at the school map before joining you."
If it was before, Su Zeyuan would have nodded. But after hearing Xu Yunchuan's words, he did not answer immediately.
Just when everyone thought that Xu Yunchuan and Su Zeyuan were about to clash again, and Qiao Yuan was ready to step forward, Su Zeyuan seemed to take a step back and said, "So that's how it is."
After hearing Su Zeyuan's words, Tang Huan felt relieved. The other party's initiative to give in also made her regain some familiarity. The fear she had for Su Zeyuan dissipated a lot invisibly.
But after hearing Su Zeyuan's initiative to give in, Qiao Yuan did not feel much relieved. The feeling of impending storm in her heart urged her to leave here quickly.
Xu Yunchuan did not seize the opportunity to argue with Su Zeyuan, but continued to lead the way.
At this moment, something unusual happened.
The few of them had walked along the road before, and although they had encountered ghosts, they had been peaceful most of the time. But they didn't expect that at this moment, Tang Huan suddenly screamed.
When she noticed that everyone's attention was on her, she immediately explained embarrassedly: "It's raining outside? Why do I feel like there's a leak?"
After hearing Tang Huan's words, Song Yanchi's first reaction was to look out the window, while Qiao Yuan looked up at the top of Tang Huan's head. At this time, Tang Huan and Song Yanchi also noticed Qiao Yuan's actions and looked in the direction she was looking.
When Tang Huan saw clearly what was above his head, his body stiffened.
There was a twisted figure lying on the ceiling, with twisted limbs clinging to the ceiling, crawling at a high speed. The school uniform on its body showed its student status. Its face was pale, making the red and blue blood vessels on its face more obvious. Its bloodshot and resentful eyes met Tang Huan's gaze, and its mouth, which was almost stretched to its temples, was drooling, and one drop of saliva even fell directly into her eyes right in front of her.
Tang Huan's body froze, and her scream got stuck in her throat as she blinked. It was not until she heard Su Zeyuan shout "Run" first that she seemed to react and stumbled after the figure closest to her.
Although Qiao Yuan also ran away, she knew that the ghost probably had no intention of killing them, or it could not kill them now. After all, if the other party had already made up its mind to kill them, it would have done it without waiting until they discovered it.
Just as Qiao Yuan thought, the ghost didn't chase for long and soon disappeared.
However, Qiao Yuan and others did not relax because of this. After all, the appearance of this ghost was just the beginning, and soon more and more ghosts appeared.
Tang Huan was injured to begin with, and after running for a while he was already out of breath. He stammered, "Why... why are there so many ghosts..."
This was the first time she encountered so many ghosts in a dungeon. Even just thinking about it casually made her scalp tingle. Tang Huan also saw two familiar figures among the ghosts.
Zou Lu, whom I had known before, and Dou Yu, whom I had just met.
Because they were familiar ghosts, Tang Huan was more able to detect their abnormalities. The two ghosts' faces were bloody and their expressions could not be seen clearly, but this did not prevent Tang Huan from seeing from the windows of their souls, their lifeless eyes, that the two ghosts no longer recognized them, and chasing and intercepting them seemed to be completing a mission.
It's almost like...
Su Zeyuan: "Too many ghosts."
"It's as if someone deliberately led us to this ghost-filled route."
As soon as this thought came to Tang Huan's mind, Su Zeyuan's voice quickly rang out, and the other party's words seemed to see through her thoughts. And although Su Zeyuan's words did not mention a name, it was no different from naming it.
Even though she already knew that Su Zeyuan was the master of the dream, Tang Huan still subconsciously looked at Xu Yunchuan, thinking in her heart about the possibility that he would harm them.
Xu Yunchuan could naturally hear the targeting in Su Zeyuan's words, and quickly spoke up for himself: "It's not me."
"And with so many ghosts, it means this is the right path, but someone panicked and sent ghosts to block it."
Qiao Yuan nodded in agreement in his heart.
She and He thought the same thing in this regard, just like how there were so many ghosts blocking them when they left Pinggu Middle School. Qiao Yuan was also skeptical about the route Xu Yunchuan had chosen, but when she saw so many ghosts chasing around, she felt relieved.
Yes, it’s this familiar feeling.
Especially the appearance of Dou Yu and Zou Lu, and their lifeless eyes as if they were being controlled, further confirmed Qiao Yuan's thoughts.
And the people who control these ghosts...
Qiao Yuan's eyes fell on Su Zeyuan in front of him. Only the owner of this dream was most likely to control these ghosts. The other party's purpose was also very simple. It should be because they were getting closer and closer to the exit of the dream, just like before at Pinggu Middle School.
Although those ghosts were controlled by Su Zeyuan, they were obviously still afraid of Xu Yunchuan, so they did not dare to really move forward. A delicate balance was reached between them.
Now Qiao Yuan just hopes that this balance can last until she leaves here.
In the following period of time, because there were more and more ghosts, Su Zeyuan and Xu Yunchuan had no time to continue arguing.
But when we were almost at our destination, an accident happened.
A ghost hand stretched out from the ground and attacked Tang Huan directly.
Su Zeyuan was the one who reacted the fastest at this time, and he stretched out his hand directly to Tang Huan. When Tang Huan was caught by the ghost, her attention was already on how to escape from the situation in front of her, so when she noticed a pair of hands stretched out in front of her, she hurriedly grabbed them without even having time to think.
After escaping, she was about to say thank you, but when she looked up, she found it was Su Zeyuan. The smile on her face froze instantly and she quickly pulled her hand back.
Su Zeyuan watched her movements.
Tang Huan also realized that her action of pulling back her hand was very abnormal, and she hurriedly tried to find an excuse to make up for it. She lowered her head, not daring to look at the expression on Su Zeyuan's face at this time, and said with all her might: "I... I'm sorry, I'm not used to touching the hands of the opposite sex."
However, Su Zeyuan did not say "it doesn't matter" like he did before.
He was silent for a long time, and even when Qiao Yuan said it was getting late, he still showed no sign of leaving.
"You are afraid of me." Su Zeyuan suddenly said.
Although his tone still sounded gentle, the content of his words still made everyone feel cold in their hearts.
Especially Tang Huan, after all, she had just shaken off Su Zeyuan's hand, and it was hard for her not to suspect that the other party was targeting her when he said this. She glanced at Su Zeyuan secretly, and was quickly scared away by his expressionless face.
Isn't it okay to not get used to touching the hands of the opposite sex?
Qiao Yuan also realized the problem.
Although Su Zeyuan had his back to her and she couldn't see the expression on his face, Qiao Yuan could still hear the seriousness in his tone.
She knew very well how shy Su Zeyuan was. If it were before, he would never have said such words, let alone in such a confident tone. Instead, he would have kept it in his heart.
And Su Zeyuan is like this now...
Qiao Yuan took a step back calmly, and asked in confusion, as if he didn't understand what Su Zeyuan meant: "What are you afraid of?"
Song Yanchi also reacted quickly, following Qiao Yuan's words and said, "Student Su Zeyuan, what are you talking about?"
Su Zeyuan still didn't move: "You already know."
"Know that I'm not human."
Although Su Zeyuan was about to reveal his true intentions, Qiao Yuan simply pretended not to hear him and feigned shock: "You...you are not a human?!"
"How is that possible?!"
Although Tang Huan had seen Qiao Yuan's acting skills, it did not prevent her from admiring Qiao Yuan's acting skills. After all, she heard from Qiao Yuan that Su Zeyuan might not be a human, but the other party's reaction now made Tang Huan doubt herself from the bottom of her heart.
Wait, did Qiao Yuan really not know about this before?
She glanced at Su Zeyuan's expression in front of her. The other party looked a little confused and obviously doubted whether Qiao Yuan knew it.
