Hearing the sob in Song Zang’s voice, Qiu Shuang grew so anxious that she could no longer remain still and immediately tried to rush forward to save him.
Lin Wen Jing, however, continued holding her arm, her voice exceptionally calm and gentle. “Wait. You don’t have the ability to save him.”
Qiu Shuang froze slightly. She turned and met Lin Wen Jing’s gaze for a moment before finally calming down, although her expression remained grim.
Lin Wen Jing gently hooked her fingers around Qiu Shuang’s trembling hand, concealing the gesture beneath the hem of her clothes so that no one could see it.
At the same time, Song Zang imperceptibly narrowed his eyes, suppressing the keen interest glimmering within them. While continuing to pretend to sob in terror, he voluntarily pushed his arm even deeper inside.
He felt something slick, wet, and cold envelop his hand, exuding a dense stench of blood from the inside out. Icy, razor-sharp teeth pressed lightly against his arm and ground against it, as though toying with prey before a meal.
Song Zang disliked the freezing sensation. He had always preferred warm, soft things. No longer hesitating, he paled and bit his lip before firmly grabbing the insufficiently warm tongue and crushing it in his fist.
No one else could see it anyway, so it probably did not matter if he squeezed it until it burst…
Gurgle—
Splurt—
“Aaaaaahhh!!”
Thin streams of blood flowed freely between his slender fingers. A hideously agonized roar abruptly exploded inside the bus, and the vehicle itself began bucking and swaying along with it.
“Song Zang! Song Zang, are you all right?” Qiu Shuang nearly lost her footing. Supporting Lin Wen Jing, who had also stumbled slightly, she called out anxiously.
“…”
Song Zang stood frozen in place, trembling all over. As though frightened senseless, he did not answer.
Meanwhile, the sleeping Ning Si Si was startled awake by the tremendous noise. She threw back her head and began wailing. “I want Mommy! I want Mommy!”
The only response was the creaking friction of the bus as it shook.
Xie Chun Ye did not go to rescue Song Zang. Instead, he turned and pulled Ning Si Si protectively into his arms, comforting her in a gentle voice, although his attention was elsewhere.
His gaze remained fixed on the rearview mirror as he calmly observed the driver’s expression, prepared for any sudden change.
Sure enough, the driver became agitated. A bloodthirsty redness spread through his eyes, and veins climbed from his neck toward his temples, as though he were about to lose control of his foul temper.
But in the next instant, something quietly changed in a way that completely defied Xie Chun Ye’s expectations.
The driver, who had been on the verge of exploding, suddenly stiffened. He exaggeratedly lifted both hands and clutched the steering wheel, staring fixedly at the mountain road ahead. He did not utter a word and no longer dared pay the slightest attention to what was happening behind him.
At the same time that the driver began behaving strangely, Song Zang immediately sensed that something was wrong as well.
The shattered tongue and the filthy, putrid matter surrounding it were re-forming… No. They were not re-forming. They were being replaced.
Song Zang could clearly feel the fragments being crushed and devoured by an even more powerful entity. It then replaced them without hesitation and forcefully wound itself around him once more.
What had originally been jelly that could be crushed with a single squeeze had now become an enormous, icy python.
Its presence was overwhelmingly strong. It even rubbed itself against Song Zang’s arm several times before leisurely coiling around him, tightening inch by inch. Its tail pressed against his palm and suggestively traced a circle there.
What kind of indecent creature was this?
Song Zang’s tears immediately spilled out.
Just as when the owner of an illegal workplace had harassed him in the past, his face turned deathly pale. Trembling faintly, he pleaded in a small voice, “C-Could you let me go…? I’m scared…”
The indecent creature molesting him paused.
Song Zang immediately cried even harder. The slightly drooping corners of his eyes were wet and crimson, making him look unbearably pitiful.
A moment later, an invisible force violently shoved him away, and the enormous bloody maw vanished without a trace.
The bus’s course became steady again, as though the reality-warping abnormality had never appeared.
The only remaining evidence was the “Wealthy Man Seeks Heir—Generous Compensation” notice. It was still pasted over an advertisement for a men’s health clinic, its white edges stained with several eerie spots of blood.
Everyone sighed in relief, but Song Zang was inwardly astonished.
—What did that mean? It had simply let him go?
While privately wondering about it, he pretended that his legs had gone weak and nearly fell backward onto the floor. Qiu Shuang hurried over to steady him and repeatedly checked his arm.
After confirming that Song Zang was unharmed, she took a packet of tissues from her pocket and handed it to him, comforting him softly. “It’s all right, little brother. It’s over now. Everything’s fine.”
Song Zang’s frightened sobs had yet to stop. He accepted the tissues with a trembling hand and raised his eyes to meet Qiu Shuang’s slightly guilty gaze.
“Thank you, Big Sister.” Sniffling, he forced out a pale smile and spoke softly.
Of course, he understood that no matter how impulsive Qiu Shuang might be, she would never recklessly risk her own life to save him.
Especially with Lin Wen Jing holding her back.
Song Zang took a tissue and discreetly lowered his head to examine his left arm.
A ring of red encircled his slender wrist. His palm was damp and flushed with an ambiguously suggestive shade of pink. How annoying.
No one except Song Zang knew that before the invisible creature had forcefully pushed him away, it had deliberately… licked him.
It was strong.
Extremely, extraordinarily strong.
Song Zang had barely had time to evade it. He had assumed that the two of them would have to fight.
Unexpectedly, a single soft plea had been enough to make it leave voluntarily.
The next time they met, he could cry even harder. Song Zang considered this and quietly curved his lips.
Perhaps it was particularly susceptible to that sort of thing.
Before Song Zang could properly savor the experience, the person determined to ruin the atmosphere began making trouble again.
Wang Shu looked as though he had only just recovered his senses. His expression was resentful and ferocious. “How is that possible?! Did it already eat its fill? Why? Why didn’t it eat—”
Before he could finish, Wang Shu crashed heavily to the floor, his protruding belly rippling with the impact.
Xie Chun Ye covered Ning Si Si’s eyes with one hand and knocked Wang Shu unconscious with an effortless punch.
After hitting him, Xie Chun Ye expressionlessly adjusted his glasses. Not a trace of redness marked his long, pale fingers.
Clearly, to a veteran player, killing a novice would be as easy as slaughtering a chick.
“Have I been too accommodating?”
Xie Chun Ye’s voice was icy. Standing protectively beside Ning Si Si, he slowly swept an intimidating, scrutinizing gaze across everyone.
“When you discover an abnormality, you should tell me immediately instead of stupidly believing a monster.” He raised his foot and stepped on Wang Shu’s skeletal left arm before abruptly applying pressure. “If anyone else becomes a burden, don’t blame me for resorting to violence.”
Crack—
The white bones snapped cleanly in two.
The three women fell silent. The only sounds inside the bus were Song Zang’s restrained sobs and the noise of the moving vehicle.
“Quiet!”
Xie Chun Ye turned toward Song Zang, sounding unusually irritable. Perhaps it was because events had unfolded differently from what he had anticipated. Perhaps it was because the “stage boss” he had remained vigilant against had shown no reaction whatsoever. Or perhaps… his instincts told him that something was deeply wrong with this so-called novice instance, filling him with inexplicable unease.
The chill-inducing unease made him instinctively move farther away from Song Zang. It also made him unwilling to investigate the vanished bloody maw.
Song Zang merely trembled all over and nodded vigorously. He clamped both hands over his mouth and forcibly suppressed his sobs.
He curled up on the seat beside the advertisement board with his head lowered, no longer daring even to meet Xie Chun Ye’s eyes.
Xie Chun Ye remained silent for a moment before adjusting his glasses in speechless exasperation.
【Special Title: Mask (10/100)】
Excellent. Xie Chun Ye had finally begun treating him as useless trash.
Song Zang curved his lips in satisfaction. His shoulders shook ever so slightly at precisely the right intervals, making it appear as though he were still crying in fear.
He counted silently. There were five other players, Employee Number One, the bus driver, and Ning Si Si. That only amounted to eight people.
Song Zang could not determine what the remaining two entities were.
Nor did he care.
If ghosts and monsters also counted toward the number, then at this rate, advancing his title would not be difficult.
From now on, he only needed to follow Xie Chun Ye and continue acting like a useless weakling clinging to an expert for protection.
The thought put Song Zang in a good mood. He secretly raised his damp eyes and began observing his surroundings.
He noticed that the bus driver’s attitude had become extremely strange. All signs of his apparent road rage had disappeared. He remained eerily silent, his face stiff as he obediently drove.
Even when Lin Wen Jing attempted to draw more information from him, he refused to respond, as though trying to disguise himself as a wooden carving that had never possessed the ability to speak.
The others might not understand, but Song Zang and Xie Chun Ye could both faintly sense the driver’s abnormal emotions.
—He was afraid.
But what was he afraid of?
Song Zang guessed that he feared the indecent creature that had taken the liberty of molesting him.
But it was not truly that bad. After all, Song Zang had merely been teased, had his palm licked, and had his arm coiled around and rubbed against… while Wang Shu’s entire arm had been devoured without leaving a scrap behind.
Song Zang suddenly decided that he no longer disliked it.
Because it resembled Xiao Bai a little.
Many small animals enjoyed playing with their owners’ hands. When Xiao Bai became excited, it would hold Song Zang’s palm in its mouth and gently nibble it with its teeth. Although it clearly wanted to bite a few more times, it never dared use the slightest force.
Perhaps that indecent creature was the same—merely a powerful animal within the game world that possessed intelligence.
Unfortunately, it felt icy cold and was not particularly comfortable to touch…
Song Zang abruptly pursed his lips. His clean, cold fingers rested against his knee and rubbed lightly.
Two or three tiny white hairs had somehow become stuck to the side of his trousers and now clung to his fingertips.
He glanced toward Xie Chun Ye, then lowered his eyes and slowly returned to the rear corner of the bus.
Ning Si Si seemed uncomfortable and was dependently hugging Xie Chun Ye’s arm, so Xie Chun Ye did not interfere with Song Zang’s movements.
Song Zang curled himself up once more. Hiding his pale face behind the seatback, he stared expressionlessly at the dog hairs on his fingertips.
The bus swayed forward. The distant silhouette of the airport appeared and disappeared beneath the moonlight, while passenger planes could be seen taking off ahead, their red lights flashing in the deep night sky.
The air seemed to be growing thinner little by little.
Xie Chun Ye’s phone was gone, so he was now holding the phone Xiao Li Li had lent him. Frowning, he said, “The elevation is twenty-eight hundred meters. Our final stop is a high-altitude airport.”
Upon hearing this, the previously quiet Xiao Li Li suddenly understood. “No wonder I’ve been struggling to breathe! I thought I was just terrified.”
Qiu Shuang said, “…Li Li, you are terrified.”
Realization dawned on Xiao Li Li again. “Oh, I see. Actually, I’m also a little hungry. Mr. Driver, does Tianhai Airport have a McDonald’s?”
The driver did not answer.
“Quiet,” Xie Chun Ye suddenly said.
Xiao Li Li blinked in confusion and followed his gaze. Her expression froze slightly.
A small figure had appeared through the bus’s wide front windshield.
A princess dress, twin pigtails, and a delicate, adorable appearance.
Its clothes were identical to what Ning Si Si was currently wearing.
Black leather shoes stepped heavily and slowly along the uneven mountain road.
As the approaching headlights illuminated the figure more clearly, the atmosphere inside the bus began to freeze.
—Because “she” was walking backward.
Her twin pigtails swayed gently, and her skirt fluttered up and down. The bizarre and absurd sight sent a chill through everyone’s hearts.
The bus driver, who had remained silent for a long time, finally lost control and shouted a curse. “Fuck!”
He gripped the steering wheel so tightly that it creaked and stepped hard on the accelerator, leaving the figure behind the bus. His eyes remained fixed on the road ahead as he shouted, “None of you fucking turn around!”
Xie Chun Ye’s expression was equally grim. Frowning, he repeated, “Don’t turn around. Anyone who looks back will become the next person walking backward along the mountain road.”
Naturally, everyone listened to the veteran player’s advice at a time like this.
Except Song Zang.
Song Zang glanced up at the rearview mirror.
After confirming that he had practically no presence in everyone else’s eyes and that no one was paying attention to him, he turned around without hesitation.
In the next instant, Song Zang’s pupils contracted slightly.
When the headlights had illuminated it earlier, the figure’s back had appeared to belong to a real, living little girl who closely resembled Ning Si Si.
But when Song Zang turned and saw “her” from the front, everything changed in an instant. It was as though the gloomy mountain fog obscuring the truth had been dispersed by a clear breeze.
It was an intact human skin wearing a princess dress.
The mountain wind dragged it backward like a thin, translucent balloon that had partially deflated.
The person who had removed the skin had been highly skilled and had even carefully applied makeup to its face.
But such exaggerated, heavy makeup looked deeply unnatural and grotesque on a little girl.
Within the waves of freezing mountain wind, the bluish-white face, flushed with artificial color, had already twisted into a hideous shape.
Its hollow eye sockets were completely black as they stared directly toward Song Zang.
【Special Title: Mask (11/100)】
Futile Devices Scans 
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