Song Zang remained silent and quickly stole a glance at his status panel, his face pale.
So it was not merely a human skin—it was a sentient human skin capable of thought and judgment.
How impressive. Better not provoke it for now.
Appearing terrified, he swiftly lowered his eyes and hurriedly turned his head back around, no longer paying attention to the figure gradually receding into the distance.
No one noticed the flicker of interest that passed through Song Zang’s pitch-black eyes.
He was silently wondering when it would be his turn to walk backward along the mountain road and what principle lay behind such a strange phenomenon.
To someone with amnesia, everything novel in the world seemed even more novel.
His small movements attracted no one’s attention, so Song Zang continued sitting with his head lowered like a frightened quail until the bus jolted its way to Tianhai Stop.
A trace of dawn spilled over the horizon, and the rear door slowly opened.
At some point, Lin Wen Jing and Xie Chun Ye had reached an unspoken understanding. Working together, they hauled the unconscious Wang Shu upright and threw him directly off the bus.
His heavy body rolled out through the rear door. Just then, a motorcycle approached from the sloping side of the mountain road and stopped beside the bus.
Its rider was a lean, muscular local youth. He was shirtless, with a cigarette clenched between his teeth, its glowing red tip flickering beneath the vehicle lights.
The darkness veiled his face, making his features impossible to distinguish clearly.
After parking the motorcycle, the young man gave a quiet snort and muttered something in a dialect none of them understood. Then, unexpectedly, he planted one foot directly on Wang Shu’s head.
The kick carried considerable force. Watching secretly from behind the window, Song Zang instinctively shrank back.
“He wants this man,” the driver said flatly, translating the young man’s words for them.
Qiu Shuang’s expression became complicated. She disliked Wang Shu, and he was not a good person, but to abandon a human life so casually in an unknown game world…
“It’s all right. It has nothing to do with you.”
Lin Wen Jing immediately saw her hesitation. She raised a hand, stroked Qiu Shuang’s head, and comforted her gently.
The young man expertly bound Wang Shu with hemp rope and slung him across the back of the motorcycle like a pig whose survival no longer mattered. Meanwhile, the driver cast a meaningful glance into the rearview mirror.
“You’re all staying on?”
Qiu Shuang hugged Lin Wen Jing’s arm and shook her head. “Please keep driving, Uncle. We still need to catch our flight.”
Neither Xie Chun Ye nor Xiao Li Li objected.
After seeing a strange little girl walking backward along the mountain road, who would dare leave the bus at a time like this?
The driver nodded and said nothing more. The bus set off again.
The three women gathered together and began studying how to book their tickets.
To their astonishment, an option for “Tianhai Airport” had appeared out of nowhere in the booking app from the real world.
“Is this phone haunted?” Qiu Shuang asked in horror, suddenly feeling as though the device were burning her hand.
Xie Chun Ye calmly explained, “Novice instances don’t impose role-playing rules, so you can use your own phones as items. But you’ll need to be careful in the future. Most instances require some degree of role-playing, so don’t behave or speak too recklessly. If an NPC notices anything unusual, the storyline can easily collapse into chaos, and you could fail the instance at any moment.”
Failure meant being directly erased by the system.
“Thank you for the reminder, Brother Xie.” Lin Wen Jing smiled. “I booked tickets for you and Little Brother Song as well. Remember to transfer the money to me after we leave the instance.”
“Certainly—assuming you make it out alive.”
Xie Chun Ye’s answer was hardly polite, but Lin Wen Jing still saved his contact information. Qiu Shuang watched their interaction in confusion, having no idea when Lin Wen Jing had managed to establish such a rapport with him.
“Thank you, Sister Lin. Can I pay you in cash?” Song Zang asked cautiously.
Lin Wen Jing raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”
Song Zang took several red banknotes from his pocket and handed them over with obvious reluctance.
There was no helping it. He did not have a phone. Song Zang had always avoided electronic devices with location-tracking functions whenever possible.
Once the tickets had been successfully booked, everyone relaxed slightly and quietly waited for the next challenge.
The sky gradually brightened, signaling that the oppressive night was about to end.
Yet at that exact moment, a strange black thread appeared at the edge of Song Zang’s vision and wound its way up from behind his shoulder.
The thread carried a sticky, horrifying presence and an indescribably damp, cold stench. It slowly crawled around Song Zang’s neck, forming a noose-like circle that tightened little by little.
Song Zang bit his lip lightly in discomfort and pretended not to notice it at all. He merely curled himself into a ball with a pale face, not daring to make a sound and disturb the others.
The black thread remained wrapped around him for quite some time, but Song Zang was completely unharmed and showed no sign of being strangled to death.
It tugged hard, trying to drag him backward into endless darkness… but he did not move.
It pulled again. He still did not budge. Song Zang remained quietly seated, as steady as a boulder.
Seemingly unable to understand what was happening, the black thread recklessly began probing elsewhere.
It crawled down from his slender neck toward his delicate collarbone before finally reaching for Song Zang’s faintly trembling left wrist.
Before it could touch his skin, however, something abruptly changed.
“Aaaaaahhh!”
“Aaaaaaaaaahhh!”
Several earthshaking, inhuman screams erupted from the back of the bus.
Indeed, the agonized shrieks were coming from the black thread itself.
A faintly sinister, pale blue flame suddenly ignited around Song Zang’s wrist, carrying an inexplicably familiar presence. In an instant, it set the black thread ablaze and began steadily consuming it.
The dangerously unnatural thread managed only a few screams before it was completely incinerated, leaving behind several drifting specks of ash.
The flames did not leave, however. They continued licking the soft flesh of Song Zang’s wrist, scorching hot and utterly unrestrained.
Like a puppy marking its territory, they were childish and domineering, refusing to allow anyone else to touch what belonged to them.
Song Zang’s face remained pale, but his interest only deepened.
He had not noticed when this “indecent creature” had secretly attached itself to him.
Although its form was different, Song Zang remembered its presence very clearly. It was the same thing that had molested him earlier.
Had the black thread not triggered it, who knew how long it would have remained hidden?
Unfortunately… this habit of causing trouble regardless of the circumstances was interfering with Song Zang’s current progress through the game.
So he began to cry.
Under everyone’s wary, inquisitive gazes, the delicate and frail young man trembled all over, looking panicked and helpless as tears poured down his face without restraint.
Noticing that Xie Chun Ye was ready to attack at any moment, Song Zang said shakily, his eyes red, “Brother Xie, what happened? I feel terrible. Please save me.”
The flames that had been burning furiously paused and silently lowered their temperature.
Seeing that the method worked, Song Zang immediately cried even harder. “It hurts. My wrist hurts so much…”
Xie Chun Ye’s brows drew tightly together, and his eyes were difficult to read behind his glasses. Nevertheless, he did not refuse Song Zang’s plea for help. He quickly strode over, seized Song Zang’s wrist, and lowered his eyes to examine it.
“It’s red and slightly swollen. What did you touch just now?”
“I don’t know. I only wanted to open the window and get some air…” Song Zang lied without hesitation.
Xie Chun Ye’s gaze sharpened as he glanced toward the narrow, dark gap in the window.
Perhaps the strange screams from earlier had come from outside.
Xie Chun Ye swiftly reached this conclusion but showed no curiosity whatsoever about investigating further.
He was exercising extraordinary restraint now.
“Don’t touch or move things carelessly in the future. Follow the game’s objectives obediently, or you won’t even know how you died.” At this point, Xie Chun Ye paused and could not resist adding, “And cry less. Don’t be so delicate. Injuries are common inside instances.”
The flames secretly hiding beside Song Zang’s wrist suddenly flared, looking inexplicably furious. Fortunately, Xie Chun Ye was only holding Song Zang loosely. Otherwise, the blazing fire might have bitten him.
Song Zang had no idea what it was angry about.
He obediently lowered his head and listened to the lecture while confirming one thing.
—Xie Chun Ye absolutely could not see the pale blue flames.
That made sense. Anything capable of causing Song Zang pain could hardly be ordinary.
It was extremely powerful, could change its form, and had not displayed much genuine malice… Perhaps it was merely a spectator who enjoyed watching chaos unfold.
Song Zang pursed his lips slightly, feeling a little more anticipation for what the rest of the game might bring.
Xie Chun Ye carefully examined his wrist for quite some time but could find no evidence of injury or supernatural contamination.
He could only temporarily attribute Song Zang’s pain to lingering aftereffects from being bitten by the enormous bloody maw.
As for any other possibilities?
Xie Chun Ye gave Song Zang a long, penetrating look.
The exquisitely beautiful young man had unnaturally pale skin and long, black lashes that were curled and damp. Only the tip of his nose and the corners of his eyes were pitifully red.
He resembled a porcelain doll, yet through some remarkable stroke of luck, he had escaped disaster and remained completely unharmed.
Xie Chun Ye could not help wondering whether Song Zang possessed a hidden attribute that increased his luck.
Unfortunately, his temperament was unstable. He cried over the slightest thing and shed tears merely because his hand hurt. Xie Chun Ye had no idea why the system had chosen such a player.
Xie Chun Ye did not voice his thoughts, but Song Zang could see the helplessness and irritation in his eyes.
Excellent. That meant Xie Chun Ye was not an extreme social Darwinist. Even though he looked down on Song Zang for having no combat ability, he would not casually bully a newcomer.
Song Zang’s plan to cling to a powerful protector was progressing increasingly smoothly.
After watching Xie Chun Ye return to his seat, Song Zang lowered his head and began communicating with another, even more powerful potential protector.
He carefully rubbed his wrist and said in a soft, aggrieved voice, “Please… stop bullying me.”
In the next instant, the pale blue flames vanished without a trace.
Song Zang’s lips curved almost imperceptibly.
It was so obedient.
“Final stop, Tianhai Airport.”
Before the bus had even come to a complete stop, the driver hurriedly pressed the button to open the doors.
He then turned toward everyone. His face looked even stiffer than before, and his urging tone carried an inexplicable desperation. “Get out!”
They exchanged glances and immediately ran off the bus without hesitation.
Song Zang walked last, casting the driver a thoughtful glance.
Ever since that indecent creature appeared, the driver had become unusually normal. He had made a concerted effort to suppress his violent temper and prevent his eyes from turning bloodred.
His current eagerness to drive them away was probably also an attempt to put as much distance as possible between himself and that creature.
Song Zang rubbed his wrist and suddenly wondered whether the thing had been drawn there because of him.
More than anyone else, he knew that his fear and tears had a certain chance of attracting malicious entities with twisted senses of humor.
That was why, upon first seeing his special title, Song Zang had been rather surprised that the game system had not given him some sort of charm ability.
Clack—
The instant Song Zang stepped off the bus, the rear door slammed shut without mercy.
At the same time, a blue system interface floated before his eyes.
【Game Title: “Journey Through Tianhai”
Assigned Role: None
Clearance Requirement: Take three different forms of transportation within Tianhai City and successfully reach the corresponding destinations. (1/3)
Optional Mission: Uncover the truth concealed behind Tianhai City. (10%)】
Song Zang closed the interface and took a deep breath of the slightly thin air at the high-altitude airport.
Then he noticed that everyone else looked extremely grim.
“Goodbye, Mr. Driver!”
Ning Si Si politely waved, her smile innocent and adorable as her twin pigtails bounced along with the movement.
Yet watching her cheerfully bid the driver farewell only made everyone’s expressions worsen.
Song Zang raised an eyebrow slightly and discreetly swept an assessing gaze over Ning Si Si.
The little girl was looking less and less human. He had no idea what Xie Chun Ye saw in her.
Naturally, Song Zang had no intention of pointing it out. Maintaining a confused expression, he shifted behind Xie Chun Ye and followed everyone’s gaze toward the front of the bus.
There was no driver in the driver’s seat.
Only an empty human skin sat there.
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Futile Devices Scans 
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