Chapter 127
Mo Yi didn’t know what to say for a while.
He subconsciously tightened his fingers which were holding on to Wen Chen’s arm. The cold skin under his fingertips was moulded to his palm, and the slight coolness was transmitted along his nerve endings all the way to his brain.
His eyes were momentarily dazed.
It seemed like… in his memory, there was someone who once said to him—
“You can trust me.”
Mo Yi immediately came back to his senses, and instantly let go of Wen Chen’s wrist as if he had been scalded.
His complexion turned a lot paler. He fixed his pair of dark eyes on Wen Chen’s features which were blurred under the dim light, as if he was searching for that strange…familiar feeling which had just crossed his mind.
However, that sensation had completely sunk into the depths of his consciousness like a clay cow sinking into the sea. No matter how hard Mo Yi searched, he couldn’t find a single trace of it, as though what he’d felt earlier… was just his illusion.
Mo Yi pursed his lips, tightening the seam into a straight arc, which looked like a string which was about to break.
He moved his eyes away from Wen Chen’s face, and gave up on this meaningless search.
However, just as he looked away, Wen Chen suddenly took a step forward and brought the distance between them closer.
He pressed his lips to and sucked on Mo Yi’s lips without any warning. The tip of his tongue nimbly pried open Mo Yi’s teeth, allowing the salty liquid filled with the scent of fishy rust to flow into Mo Yi’s mouth along the tip of his tongue.
And before Mo Yi could react, Wen Chen let go of him and took a step back in time.
The kiss was over before Mo Yi could do anything to stop it.
Wen Chen, who was standing several steps away, spoke in a calm tone.
“Don’t waste it.”
Mo Yi stared at him, dumbfounded, feeling as powerless as someone punching cotton.
He ground his teeth resentfully, then raised his hand angrily and scrubbed vigorously at his lips with the back of his hand.
In the next second, Mo Yi realised just how immature this reaction was and he couldn’t help but feel a burst of embarrassed heat rising in his ears.
He pursed his lips which had been rubbed raw, then took a deep breath. Averting his gaze, he gritted out between clenched teeth, “Let’s go…”
Mo Yi immediately turned around after speaking, striding off towards the other end of the hall at the speed of wind.
Wen Chen stood on the spot and stared at Mo Yi’s back that was steadily swallowed by the darkness. The rare expression on Mo Yi’s face just now resurfaced in his mind, and the corners of Wen Chen’s lips curled up uncontrollably.
In the next second, he followed Mo Yi in big strides.
By the time Wen Chen caught up with Mo Yi, he had completely calmed down his fluctuating emotions and his pale face had returned to its previous calmness and rationality.
Mo Yi moved his wrist, allowing the flashlight to sweep slowly across the room and illuminating the space in front of him.
Narrowing his eyes, he surveyed the room with sharp eyes.
The halo of light illuminated the floating dust dancing through the dense darkness, akin to a swarm of living insects.
In the depths of this hall was a revolving wooden escalator. The marble handrails were covered in a layer of old dust while clumps of cobwebs spanned the handles and the corners of the stairs, dispersing the light from his flashlight.
The escalator stretched into the darkness, leading to the dark second floor.
Mo Yi withdrew his gaze and slowly took a step forward. The floor under his feet creaked hollowly with his movements.
The circular ring of light from his flashlight settled on a hidden corner under the stairs, where there was a locked door covered in dust. This door was tightly closed and likely led into a basement.
There were handprints imprinted on the rough door frame, the dried blood showing a deep dark brown shade under the light.
Mo Yi’s eyes lingered on it for a moment.
Wen Chen, who was standing a small distance away, looked at him and asked, “Are you going to find Jiang Yuanrou?”
Mo Yi turned to him upon hearing this, then shook his head slowly and replied in a deep voice.
“If the guess earlier was correct, then the next part of her test would be akin to a game between her and Edwin, and I will harm her if I tried to help.”
Wen Chen continued staring at him deeply. “Then what do you plan to do now?”
Mo Yi averted his gaze, his dark eyes narrowing. “Of course it is to help her fulfil her original purpose of entering this instance.”
With a solemn expression, he said in a low voice.
“According to my experience in my previous instance, the confrontation with the boss in the instance will only complete the side mission. Since the fight between Jiang Yuanrou and Edwin is not likely to be easy, she will probably lose her chance to find Jiang Yuanbai in this instance.”
Mo Yi exhaled slowly. The palm holding the flashlight tightened and he subconsciously began stroking the metal shell of the flashlight.
“So, the only one who can search for him is me.”
Wen Chen stared at him and said coldly.
“You will not be able to find him.”
Mo Yi was taken aback. He turned to Wen Chen and stared at him with a deep look. “What do you mean by that…?”
Wen Chen took a step forward. The light highlighted the sharp contours of his handsome face, and the man stared back at Mo Yi with a pair of pale eyes.
“This game will never allow you to find him.”
Mo Yi frowned. But before he could say anything, he heard Wen Chen continue.
“Neither of you should have been able to enter this instance. However, Jiang Yuanrou’s prop forced the game to put the two of you here. That is the reason why this instance did not seem like a normal one, and the only players here are you two.”
Mo Yi’s expression became more solemn.
Wen Chen took another step forward slowly, and said in a low voice, “The game will not allow anyone to snatch away its spoils, so it will not let anyone find Jiang Yuanbai.”
—Its spoils.
Mo Yi keenly noticed Wen Chen’s words. He narrowed his eyes.
Wen Chen’s complexion turned pale again, his flickering light-coloured eyes locked onto Mo Yi’s face as he parted his lips.
“Jiang Yuanbai’s state now is neither alive nor dead. You could say that he exists, but it is not wrong to say that he doesn’t exist in this instance either— As a player, it is impossible to be able to locate him here.
But I can help you.”
Mo Yi snapped his gaze up to meet Wen Chen’s, but his expression remained calm.
“What do you want?”
For you to make such a sacrifice, what do you want in return?
—After all, he was not someone who could believe in unconditional giving, or in the emotion dubbed as ‘love’. Love, in itself, was a false proposition, an irrational behaviour caused by hormones released in the biological brain.
Moreover… this man standing in front of him was not even a living thing.
And as he said from the very beginning, there was no such thing as trust.
Wen Chen stared at Mo Yi, and said slowly and earnestly.
“A kiss.”
A look of astonishment appeared on Mo Yi’s face—he really didn’t expect this.
He knew that hidden under his gentle appearance, he was a cold-blooded person, was someone so rational that he could be considered ruthless.
After all, how could a person who didn’t even care about himself, care much about others?
Therefore, Mo Yi did not actually have much of an obsession with saving Jiang Yuanbai. After all, even if he failed, he wouldn’t be losing much.
Mo Yi looked at Wen Chen in a tangle of suspicion and other emotion, as though he was looking at an alien he couldn’t understand.
But now, he found himself actually caring a little—
Why? Why was this man looking at him like that?
That kind of look… it was as if to this man, he was the only important existence in this world, which was really odd.
Mo Yi had sufficient self-awareness to know that he did not possess any sort of charisma which would make people fall in love with him at first sight, or a level of beauty which could make people throw themselves at his feet.
So, what could have brought this on?
—Or, did it have something to do with the weird sense of familiarity he felt before?
Mo Yi looked at Wen Chen with an unreadable expression as he replied.
“Deal.”
Wen Chen curved his eyes. The light-coloured eyes seemed to be filled with layers of mist. He took a step back and opened the door, widening the distance between the two of them, and then stretched out his right hand.
Mo Yi reached out and shook his hand.
The temperature of the opponent’s palm was much lower than that of ordinary people. The cold fingers were clasped, fitting snugly against the contours of Mo Yi’s hand.
.
Wen Chen looked away expressionlessly. He raised his fist to his lips, only give one low cough, before turning away.
“Follow me.”
During the movement, Mo Yi noticed the reddened ear hidden amidst the other man’s dark hair.
Mo Yi lowered his eyes to cover up the gloomy expression in them, then moved his feet to follow.
The two made their way to the door of the hall one after the other.
This old house had been in disrepair for a long time, and the door frame had almost completely decayed. The two rickety door panels sat on the rusty door hinges, while dust and sawdust fell from the top of the frame.
Wen Chen raised his head and pushed open the wooden door.
There was a hoarse and dying groan coming from the broken door, before it slowly creaked open to reveal the scene outside the old house.
There was a light blue countdown overhead. It was as though one could hear the passage of time while watching the displayed second timer silently and slowly regressing.
There were more than twenty minutes left.
A barren space encircled the old house like a perfectly round circle of decorations.
Further outside of that open space was a dense cloying darkness which could not be penetrated. It seemed as though it was able to swallow all light, and was dangerously and silently surrounding this entire open space.
Everything out here was dead silent. The only sound was the crunch of dry soil under his feet.
And every time Wen Chen took a step forward, his complexion became paler.
He turned his face slightly, as if he was trying to avert his face from Mo Yi, who was walking a few steps behind him.
The two men stopped at the borderline of this instance and the darkness surrounding it. The darkness right before them was shifting as though it could flow, looking every bit like mist which had condensed into a solid body.
Wen Chen raised his hand. Every movement he made was visibly slowed down, as if there was a great weight was tugging on him.
Gritting his teeth, he moved his fingers lightly.
Then, as if summoned by something, the darkness in front of him suddenly parted—revealing a path.
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