Chapter 17: Still Alive?

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Lu Xi blinked, trying to grasp what had just happened. Why couldn’t she remember anything? It seemed that Ji Chenling had been speaking to her—what was it he said? Why did she feel like part of her memory was missing? Was it just an illusion?

“Sis, give me a hand,” Ji Chenling teased, tugging at her sleeve with a playful grin.

Lu Xi snapped back to reality. Right, she needed to rescue someone.

She stood up and examined the cage around them. Strangely, as she pondered her next move, her palm instinctively touched the cage. A “click” sound echoed, growing louder and louder.

Then the entire cage began to fracture inch by inch.

[Congratulations, player Lu Xi, you have acquired the skill ‘Universal Key’.]

They called her a player, not a host. So the voice must have come from the system of this game world.

“Ji Chenling, did you hear that?” Lu Xi asked the man before her.

He smiled gently, lips curling upward. “Hear what? What did you hear, sis?”

Still caught in surprise, she looked up excitedly. “I just heard a voice saying I got a skill, something like a key.”

“That’s great! As long as you stick with me, you won’t have to worry about protection.” He flashed his usual innocent smile, harmless as a lamb.

“Cut it out.” Lu Xi shot him a glare. “You have a skill too—the one that forces people to tell the truth. When we first met, you even lied to me, saying you didn’t have any skills. That was harsh!”

“Are you mad?” Ji Chenling chuckled.

Mentioning it only made her angrier.

Lu Xi’s eyes narrowed, sparkling with indignation.

“Ji Chenling, seriously? I trusted you, but you pushed me into a ditch. As partners, we don’t even have basic trust. Don’t you think that’s too much?”

Ji Chenling cleared his throat lightly and smiled without a word.

“What are you doing?” Lu Xi cautiously stepped back.

He raised an eyebrow, eyes twinkling with amusement, and slowly closed the gap between them.

She stepped back; he stepped forward.

Until Lu Xi found herself with no escape.

Behind her was a corpse; one more step back and she’d step on it.

His breath brushed against her neck, his voice magnetic, deep and alluring.

“Don’t be mad, sis. It’s not worth ruining your health over anger.”

Lu Xi thought: Ugh! Such a shameless flirt.

“Or else...” Ji Chenling’s smile widened as he leaned in, “how about I show you my abs?”

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“Who wants to see... huh?!” Lu Xi suddenly lifted her head, eyes shining.

Ji Chenling threw his head back and laughed heartily.

Laugh, laugh, laugh! Why don’t you just laugh yourself to death?

Lu Xi rolled her eyes.

But honestly, how did he know what she was thinking?

Pouting, she said, “Come on, stop laughing. I still have a companion to rescue.”

She grabbed Ji Chenling’s sleeve and pulled him forward.

He let himself be tugged along lazily, showing no displeasure.

“Waaah... Lu Xi, you big liar! You said you wouldn’t leave me, but you did. Go eat dirt, wahhh...” Meng Yuanyuan was crying her heart out.

“Who’s going to eat dirt?”

A clear, pleasant voice suddenly rang out.

Meng Yuanyuan jumped up from the ground, and when she saw Lu Xi, she cried louder, as if seeing her own mother.

“I’ll eat dirt! I’ll eat dirt! Wahhh... Lu Xi, you didn’t leave! You’re so kind.”

Not only hadn’t she left, but she had also transformed and brought along a stranger player.

Meng Yuanyuan stretched her neck to look at the man a few times. His figure, his aura... how did it fit with such an ordinary face?

For some reason, deep down, she felt he shouldn’t look like that.

Lu Xi smiled at the sight and reached out her hand...

“What are you doing?” Meng Yuanyuan looked puzzled.

“Rescuing you,” Lu Xi said.

Meng Yuanyuan panicked. “I know that, but you came with nothing. How are you going to get me out? Are you going to tear the iron cage apart with your bare hands?”

Of course, Lu Xi wouldn’t try to rip the iron cage with her bare hands. That was impossible.

But she could do something much more magical.

She extended her delicate fingers and gently stroked the iron cage.

In an instant, the cage melted away like ice, disappearing completely in under a minute.

Meng Yuanyuan’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape, eyes wide with disbelief.

“You got a new skill?” she exclaimed, hopping joyfully in place. “That’s awesome!”

She was genuinely happy for Lu Xi.

In a game world, having no skills meant being inferior to other players.

You couldn’t protect yourself from danger or fight back against betrayal. It was pitiful.

But now, things were different.

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“Now we have to figure out how to get out,” Lu Xi fretted.

But she didn’t worry for long.

The man trailing behind her clasped his hands behind his back, fingers twitching subtly, unnoticed.

In the next moment, a flash of white light burst forth.

When their vision returned, the surroundings had changed drastically; they were out of the punishment zone.

“Is this Muguan Village?” Meng Yuanyuan covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

“Mom! I’m going to find Mom!”

She took off running.

The escape had been too easy, which even surprised Lu Xi, who usually disliked thinking too hard.

“Are you an experienced player? Do you know what’s going on?” she asked suspiciously, eyeing the man beside her.

Ji Chenling smiled innocently and shook his head.

“Have you been to this dungeon world before?”

Again, he shook his head.

“Forget it, let’s find other players first,” Lu Xi waved her hand, deciding not to waste time or energy on things she couldn’t understand.

Lu Xi was lazy by nature, preferring to go with the flow and lounge in one spot.

Eat, sleep, sleep, eat—that was the beautiful life she dreamed of, her personal utopia.

She naturally took Ji Chenling’s hand. “It’s your first time here and you don’t know your way around. Stay close to me, okay? You don’t know how scary this place is. Looks peaceful now during the day, but after dark, all the villagers turn into fierce ghosts, chasing you with axes and sharp farming tools.”

“And that village chief—a little old man in a blue jacket—you have to run if you see him. Use every ounce of speed and strength you have. That guy’s terrifying. He likes to chop off players’ heads and make lanterns out of them...”

Lu Xi babbled on, unaware that the brutal village chief she described had recently lost his head—literally—to the man walking beside her.

Ji Chenling held her hand, quietly watching her profile, reaching out to gently tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Xi noticed his unusual silence and thought he might be unwell, so she stopped and turned to look.

“Nothing,” Ji Chenling’s gaze fixed on her face as he suddenly said, “Your hair’s loose.”

“Oh.” Lu Xi immediately let go of his hand and began tying her hair, muttering, “I must look like a crazy woman right now.”

Her fingers brushed her neck unconsciously, and she paused for a moment.

Where was her wound?

She remembered falling into the dry well, being scratched by the village chief, and her neck being covered in blood.

Lu Xi was normally very sensitive to pain, but the intense sensory stimulation in this place had kept her from focusing on her injury.

Her mind was on high alert, adrenaline pumping at full force.

Minor wounds didn’t matter much; as long as they weren’t fatal, she could put them aside for now and recover later.