Chapter 181 – 1992-2020
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The two turned and went downstairs. The company has already called twice and, if it drags on, something more terrible may happen, so the two of them quickened their pace and hurried downstairs.
Lian Qiao was afraid that something would happen on the stairs, so he walked ahead immediately. Xu RenDong followed closely behind.
However, just after turning the corner, Xu RenDong lost his feet inexplicably and fell straight forward.
Lian Qiao sensed something was wrong, he just turned his head but he didn’t have time to react and only heard a blunt “dong”. Xu RenDong had already fallen heavily to the ground.
The physical reflex of falling down the stairs was to put out both your arms to break your fall. So Xu RenDong’s head was not hit but the nerves in both arms were numb from the shock. His knee was also hit hard on the ground and was excruciatingly painful.
Lian Qiao was startled. He hurried to help him and he was worried and said: “Why are you so careless?!” But when his eyes accidentally swept across the stairs, his expression changed again.
At this time Xu RenDong had already endured the pain, got up from the ground and whispered: “I’m sorry, I was too anxious.”
Lian Qiao shook his head: “No, it’s not your problem, the stairs are missing a piece.”
Xu RenDong was stunned. Looking back, he realized that he didn’t step into the air just now because of carelessness, but because there was really a missing piece of that flight of stairs.
Two whole steps just disappeared inexplicably. It looked extremely abrupt, as if it had been bitten hard by some hungry glutton.
But when Lian Qiao came down a second ago, the stairs were obviously in good condition, but they disappeared when Xu RenDong came down. Obviously, this mutation was an attack launched against Xu RenDong.
If he hadn’t been vigilant in his heart, he might have hit his head directly on the wall with this fall. The bleeding from his head is relatively light and he might have been killed on the spot.
Xu RenDong sighed: “I guess it’s the same as that time on the subway.”
Lian Qiao: “Yes. The environment is changing. Don’t delay any longer, let’s go quickly.” He stretched out his hand to RenDong, “Come up, I’ll carry you. “
But Xu RenDong pushed his hand away: “No need. Don’t waste your energy, I can do it myself.”
Lian Qiao glanced at him, didn’t say anything and just nodded.
The two continued to walk down the stairs. This time, the two of them were no longer in a hurry, and both were careful with their steps. Fortunately, nothing changed in the stairs behind.
The two arrived at the bottom of the stairs smoothly. Xu RenDong’s car was parked at the door, and the two stood in front of the car, hesitating.
Drive or walk?
Just now Xu Ren fell down the stairs and got hurt a little. Although it will not hurt muscles and bones, walking will inevitably be affected.
But if you drive, the dangers you may encounter on the road will be even more deadly. If the brakes suddenly failed, or the steering wheel turned without following instructions, they would have nowhere to escape.
To be on the safe side, the two decided to walk to work.
It takes about half an hour to walk from their apartment to the company. There are also other public transportation facilities such as subways and buses along the way. With the lessons learned from the past, they certainly dare not sit on it.
At this time, it was nearly half past nine and the community was quiet, with no one around.
It stands to reason that although this is not the rush hour for work, it should not be so empty.
The two walked cautiously on the road in the community, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
“Not even birdsong,” said Qiao Lian.
“Hmm. The world seems to be at a standstill.” Xu RenDong took out his phone and looked at the time, confirming that the second hand is still turning and the time in this world was indeed still passing slowly.
But he just had the feeling that…the whole world stopped and waited for him.
It felt weird.
When the two came to the gate of the community, they saw an even weirder scene.
The road is also quiet. But unlike the community, the road was full of people at this time. Those who go to work, those who go to school, those who walk the dog and those who walk the baby, everyone was here.
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However, all the pedestrians on the road stopped and looked here as if they had received some kind of instructions. They are obviously living people of flesh and blood, but at this moment they are like logs, with stiff expressions and dull eyes.
All eyes were on one point, which was Xu RenDong.
This scene reminded him of the beautiful maids he saw in the Nine Linked Rings. But this time was not the same as then. At that time, he was alone in a dark and strange earthen building. He knew clearly that he was in a world of ghosts and monsters, so he had a subtle sense of distance.
However, at this time he was standing at the gate of his own community, on the main road of the city that he had to pass every day to and from get off work. As far as the eyes can see are extremely familiar scenes in reality, but everything was different from reality.
Those passers-by and the drivers in those vehicles have all turned into sculptures in the wax museum, lifelike but full of lifelessness.
What’s even more frightening is that there are many familiar faces among these people. The dog walker he often met when he went downstairs for a walk, the aunt who took the baby out for a walk every day, and the young student who overslept…
They just stared at him like this. Like staring at someone who shouldn’t be here, who doesn’t belong here.
Xu RenDong felt a strong sense of resistance in his heart. He took a deep breath and forced himself to take a step forward. The moment he was walking, everyone’s eyes followed him, making his back suddenly covered in white sweat.
He hated the feeling of being watched by so many people, let alone being stared at by these things who didn’t know whether they were people or ghosts.
Lian Qiao sighed and interlocked his fingers: “Is your leg okay? Let’s go faster.”
Xu RenDong nodded and quickened his pace.
As he walked, everything around him seemed to come alive again. Those clay sculpture-like passers-by not only followed him with their eyes, but even their bodies began to move stiffly.
RenDong Qiao clenched his weapon subconsciously. Fortunately, they did not gather towards the two of them but still followed their original route. Those who should go to work go to work, and those who should go for a walk went for a walk.
…It seems that these people have no intention of attacking for the time being.
While keeping an eye on their surroundings, the two continued to walk towards the company.
Even though they were outside, the two of them felt extremely depressed, so they didn’t speak on the way, but just hurried on their way.
Along this main road, you can reach Xu RenDong’s company by walking straight down. As they walked, the two suddenly noticed a large group of people on the sidewalk in front of them. They were looking at something and the sidewalk was tightly blocked.
Whatever they’re doing, curiosity killed the cat. Xu RenDong said: “Let’s go around.”
Lian Qiao said “Yes” and the two of them crossed the road and came to the sidewalk on the other side.
Just about to continue walking, RenDong suddenly noticed something strange. At the same time, Lian Qiao screamed: “RenDong!”
Xu RenDong’s heart tightened and Lian Qiao suddenly pulled him back. He staggered a few times and, before he could stand still, he felt a gust of wind above his head. Then there was a loud bang and a huge cement block fell from the sky and hit the stone road in front of him.
In an instant, the dust went flying. Xu RenDong felt something wet and warm splash on his pants.
He took two steps back subconsciously and looked down—his pants were spattered with blood and pieces of meat, and there was a hot smell.
“…” There was a sudden desire to vomit in his stomach. Xu RenDong’s throat twitched and, when the dust in front of him fell to the ground, he saw clearly that there was still a person under the huge cement block.
Most of the man’s body was crushed, leaving only a head and two arms outside. A large pool of blood gradually spread out under his body.
“Are you okay?” Lian Qiao asked.
Xu RenDong pursed his lips and shook his head. He looked up and, sure enough, there was a huge crane above their heads. The traction rope under the crane was empty, shaking slightly in mid-air. It was obvious that the cement block fell from the crane.
They were so focused on avoiding the crowd just now that they didn’t notice that there was a construction site around them. Fortunately, Lian Qiao reacted quickly, otherwise it would be Xu RenDong lying under the concrete block at this moment.
“…” Xu RenDong felt lingering fear, pursed his lips and said, “Let’s go.”
Lian Qiao showed a worried expression, but didn’t say anything and just nodded.
Most of the unlucky passerby’s body was crushed under the concrete block and there was no doubt that he was beyond saving. However, when passing by the unlucky passerby, Xu RenDong clearly saw that the passerby raised his head with a strange smile on his face and then stretched out his bloody hand towards him, making an invitation gesture.
…Where is he going to invite me to?
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Xu RenDong’s heart trembled and he told Lian Qiao about this in a low voice. Lian Qiao didn’t turn his head, stared straight ahead and said lightly: “Don’t pay attention to him. I’m afraid the whole world’s malice will gather on you today. You must be firm in your heart and don’t be influenced by them.”
Xu RenDong reluctantly can’t help smiling bitterly.
Of course he knew that on this day in 2020, all unforeseen dangers would come to him. He himself is the danger.
If they were separated, would Lian Qiao be safer?
There was no need to say this and he knew that Lian Qiao would not approve of it. Up to now, he and Lian Qiao have been the driving force for each other to live. To let Lian Qiao leave him to live alone, the idea itself would be hurtful to Lian Qiao.
So Xu RenDong didn’t say anything but just held Lian Qiao’s hand tightly.
The rest of the journey can be said to be full of danger. There are psychopaths who suddenly emerge from the crowd holding sharp knives, inspection manhole covers that disappear inexplicably in the middle of the sidewalk and even shop window glass that bursts suddenly without any warning.
Danger is danger, but for the two who are on high alert, it is nothing. It’s just that these things are all aimed at RenDong and some certain things couldn’t be avoided. In the end RenDong had a lot of wounds on his body.
After going through all kinds of hardships, the two finally came downstairs to the company.
Xu RenDong breathed a sigh of relief. Lian Qiao stared at the entrance of the office building and suddenly said: “I didn’t meet any ghosts along the way.”
Xu RenDong frowned. Indeed, what they have encountered along the way are all kinds of dangers that can occur in real life. It was more of an accident than a danger. As for those teammates who died and turned into ghosts before, none of them have appeared yet.
Xu RenDong sighed: “I’m afraid they are all waiting for me in the company.”
Lian Qiao raised his head, looked at the office building with dozens of floors and said, “This building is so tall, what if there is a fire or something? We can’t escape even if we want to.”
Xu RenDong laughed, “Don’t set the flag.”
Lian Qiao stuck out his tongue and smiled at him. So the two entered the office building side by side.
The company was located on the 15th floor. The two pushed open the glass door and were surprised to find that everything in the company seemed to be as usual.
Everyone sat at their desks and worked hard. Even though the two came here in a rush, everyone just glanced up and then immersed themselves in their work again, as if they didn’t care about them.
There was a huge contrast between the colleague’s reaction and those strange pedestrians outside. This moved Xu RenDong a little.
“It’s changed.” Xu RenDong said.
Lian Qiao walked side by side with him to the desks that belonged to them, thinking in his heart: Today is 2020 and the colleagues around him have indeed been replaced by the group of RenDong’s colleagues in reality.
Lian Qiao couldn’t help sighing.
Xu RenDong has a normal relationship with these colleagues and he doesn’t have much contact with them, so it can be said that he has no strong relationships with them. What’s more, this is a ghost dungeon and RenDong knows it well. Even though they were the colleagues who got along with him, if they really wanted to attack them, RenDong would kill them immediately and would never soften his hearts.
Lian Qiao sighed and even he didn’t know why he sighed. He just felt a little distressed.
The two went to the desk. Xu RenDong turned on the computer to check the time and it was almost noon now. There are several documents on the table with sticky notes on them, which are the work that Xu RenDong will do today.
RenDong glanced at it and said: “I don’t know what will happen if I behave passively and won’t go along with it.”
Lian Qiao said with emotion: “It’s the end of the world and you have to go to work, can you be more miserable?”
RenDong thought about it seriously and said: “Yes I can. That would be to work overtime at the end of the world.”
Lian Qiao: “…” You make a lot of sense.
The two looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing.
Along the way, the nerves of the two were always tense. At this time, they were finally able to relax a little.
However, it is impossible to completely relax their vigilance. Xu RenDong started to deal with work matters and Lian Qiao stayed by his side every step of the way, vigilant about his surroundings.
Just as RenDong finished processing a report, his colleagues suddenly pulled away their chairs with a “crash” and stood up at the same time.
The two drew out their weapons reflexively but their colleagues didn’t do anything strange, just gathered together with smiles.
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“Everyone, come and try and see if the rice balls I made are delicious?” A young female colleague held a small lunch box in her hand, which contained various rice balls. Lian Qiao remembered that her name was Liu XiaoQi.
All the colleagues cheered and reached for the rice balls in the lunch box. After eating, they were all full of praise.
Liu XiaoQi greeted the two of them: “You guys come too, you’re welcome to try some.”
RenDong and Lian Qiao looked at each other. Lian Qiao shook his head slightly. Of course, it is impossible for RenDong to easily eat the things the NPC gave him at the end of the world, so he politely said: “Don’t worry about us. We have a bad stomach, so we can’t eat cold things.”
Liu XiaoQi looked away in disappointment. She curled her lips and said, “Oh, that’s it. Then what will you have for lunch?”
Lian Qiao continued: “Let’s go out and find something to eat.” Then he and RenDong got up and walked towards the gate.
The colleagues laughed and praised Liu XiaoQi’s craftsmanship but they didn’t respond to the departure of the two of them. When the two reached the door, someone shouted: “Xu RenDong, don’t go too far. The lunch break is only half an hour. You have been absent from work for so long before. If you are late again in the afternoon, the boss will definitely remember that you have been absent for the whole day.” “
RenDong agreed and walked out of the office with Lian Qiao.
The company was located on the 15th floor. It is impossible to take the elevator. They climbed the stairs before and were so tired that they really didn’t want to climb the stairs again just for lunch. Fortunately, there were still some compressed biscuits left in the backpack, so RenDong took Lian Qiao to the stairwell, sat on the stairs and ate biscuits with mineral water.
Seeing the ease of his actions, Lian Qiao said with a smile: “Did you always hide here to eat?”
“Yes.” RenDong said calmly while unpacking the biscuits, “The office is a bit noisy during the lunch break. So I often hide here to rest.”
It was noon and the sun was abundant, shining on the two of them through the floor-to-ceiling windows. It felt warm and lazy.
There was no one in the corridor, it was quiet and, because of the bright sunshine, there was no ghost at all.
Lian Qiao relaxed a little and asked with a smile: “Is the usual atmosphere of your company so good?”
RenDong said: “Probably. I don’t care much.”
Lian Qiao: “Then if you were in the real world, you would eat her rice balls?”
RenDong shook his head: “Probably not. Because I really have a bad stomach, I will have diarrhea when I eat that. Things like rice balls are unpalatable after being heated in a microwave.”
Lian Qiao said: “Then if she made other things? For example, heart cookies… heart small cakes or something…”
RenDong could not help being a little surprised when he heard the flavor of his words: “Are you jealous?”
Lian Qiao raised his hand with a smile. He wiped the cookie crumbs from the corner of RenDong’s mouth. His eyes lingered on his lips fascinatedly and there was a trace of jealousy and infatuation in his voice: “A person like you will be missed wherever you go. I have long found out that the little girl in your company likes you. It’s just that you… …” He paused, then shook his head amusedly, “Forget it, just pretend I didn’t say anything. Otherwise, you’ll blame me for being jealous again.”
RenDong said helplessly, “Why are you still thinking about this at such a time…?”
Lian Qiao turned his head and looked out the window, but his fingers were still intertwined with RenDong’s. The sun fell on his soft smiling face, which was so warm that it made people feel a little trance.
“I just suddenly felt that, right now, sitting quietly with you is as happy as a dream.”
“This is not a dream.” Xu RenDong said, “But, although it is in the dungeon, it is like a dream for the two of us.”
“But right now sitting together, holding hands, this is really happening. We have been together for a long, long time.” He said, his face was slightly flushed, but he continued to speak shyly , “We belong to each other and it has been like this for a long, long time.”
It was unknown which sentence touched Lian Qiao. He turned his head and looked at RenDong in a daze. Some inexplicable emotion flashed in his eyes, which was fleeting and difficult to capture.
The next second, he smiled again. Leaning over, he pressed a light kiss on RenDong’s lips.
“En. We have belonged to each other for a long, long time.”
After eating the biscuits, they took a short break and headed back home. As soon as they walked out of the stairwell, he bumped into Liu XiaoQi who was throwing garbage away.
When Liu XiaoQi saw the compressed biscuit packaging bag in the hands of the two of them, her face suddenly became a little ugly.
Xu RenDong didn’t quite understand what her expression meant, so he casually asked her what was wrong while throwing the trash into the trash can.
Liu XiaoQi curled her lips: “Do you eat this at noon?”
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Xu RenDong said: “Just eat casually at noon, isn’t this a short lunch break?”
Liu XiaoQi: “Then why didn’t you eat…” Although she didn’t finish, her eyes flashed and she quickly shook her head. “Forget it, it’s nothing.” Then she turned and went back to the company.
Xu RenDong was puzzled. He turned around and asked Lian Qiao: “What’s wrong with her?”
Lian Qiao: “Let me just say, you are so irritatingly slow sometimes. I don’t know if you are really stupid or pretending to be stupid.”
“Stupid…?” Xu RenDong thought for a moment and suddenly realized. His expression suddenly became awkward.
The two returned to the office door. Xu RenDong stretched out his hand to push the door but, just as he put his hand on it, he retracted with a “hiss” and blurted out: “It’s so cold!”
Lian Qiao frowned, took out a portable stick from his backpack and pushed the glass door open with the stick.
As soon as the door was opened, a strong cold wind blew out from inside. Both of them shivered and the hairs all over their bodies stood on end.
“What’s going on, why is the air conditioner suddenly turned on so cold?” Xu RenDong rubbed his arms.
Lian Qiao raised his head, wiped his face lightly and said with a smile: “This is not an air conditioner, it’s just a refrigerator.”
Xu RenDong was taken aback. Because he saw melting snow on Lian Qiao’s hands.
It was that gust of cold wind just now, which made his eyebrows instantly covered with frost.
A layer of white fog in front of the eyes obscured the scene inside the office, making it hard to see clearly. It’s likely some kind of abnormality has occurred in the office at this time. However, they still had to go in to take a look. After all, before they left, their colleagues reminded them that “the lunch break is only half an hour.”
The two took out their jackets from their backpacks, put them on, tightened the zipper, and walked in with their weapons in hand.
Passing through the white mist, a completely different scene appeared in front of their eyes.
The whole office really turned into an ultra-low temperature freezer and everything was covered with a white layer of frost. Although the fluorescent lights were on, the office area was gray and there was a sense of icy chill.
Several colleagues are still sitting at their desks, clacking and typing on the keyboard. Their hair and clothes were all covered with icicles but they didn’t seem deterred at all, other than their keyboard movements being a little stiff. There were even dry cuts on the fingers.
The two raised their vigilance and walked past their colleagues cautiously. They found that these people had become like frozen meat in a freezer, with dull expressions and cloudy eyes. Like a group of numb zombies.
It’s really commendable that they have turned into zombies and are still working.
Xu RenDong was inexplicably amused and tried to say hello to his colleagues. The colleagues turned their heads slowly and the corners of their mouths twitched, as if they were talking to him.
This is the exact opposite of the enthusiasm a moment ago. But they have all changed from living people to zombies, so the attitude change is also reasonable.
Xu RenDong wrapped his jacket tightly but still felt cold. He turned to Lian Qiao and said, “The temperature in this place is too low.”
“It’s a pity that we can’t go out anymore.” Lian Qiao grumbled angrily. RenDong looked in the direction he pointed, only to realize that the glass door they just walked in had disappeared at this moment.
Instead, there was a solid, thick wall of ice.
Xu RenDong frowned, went back to the ice wall, and knocked on it with a crowbar. There was a heavy muffled sound on the ice wall and, just by hearing the sound, one could tell that the wall could not be broken by brute force.
It’s over, now they are locked in the freezer.
He folded his arms, feeling a little helpless in his heart, but he didn’t regret it. After all, these things can’t be avoided. If they didn’t follow the rules of the instance, the instance will only give them a heavier punishment. Xu RenDong knows this better than anyone else.
There is no escape. They can only face it.
“Then here comes the problem.” Lian Qiao looked around and pondered, “How to get out from here?”
Xu RenDong thought for a while, then pointed to the manager’s office and said, “Should I go to ask for leave?”
Lian Qiao: “?”
Chapter 181 – 1992-2020
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The two turned and went downstairs. The company has already called twice and, if it drags on, something more terrible may happen, so the two of them quickened their pace and hurried downstairs.
Lian Qiao was afraid that something would happen on the stairs, so he walked ahead immediately. Xu RenDong followed closely behind.
However, just after turning the corner, Xu RenDong lost his feet inexplicably and fell straight forward.
Lian Qiao sensed something was wrong, he just turned his head but he didn’t have time to react and only heard a blunt “dong”. Xu RenDong had already fallen heavily to the ground.
The physical reflex of falling down the stairs was to put out both your arms to break your fall. So Xu RenDong’s head was not hit but the nerves in both arms were numb from the shock. His knee was also hit hard on the ground and was excruciatingly painful.
Lian Qiao was startled. He hurried to help him and he was worried and said: “Why are you so careless?!” But when his eyes accidentally swept across the stairs, his expression changed again.
At this time Xu RenDong had already endured the pain, got up from the ground and whispered: “I’m sorry, I was too anxious.”
Lian Qiao shook his head: “No, it’s not your problem, the stairs are missing a piece.”
Xu RenDong was stunned. Looking back, he realized that he didn’t step into the air just now because of carelessness, but because there was really a missing piece of that flight of stairs.
Two whole steps just disappeared inexplicably. It looked extremely abrupt, as if it had been bitten hard by some hungry glutton.
But when Lian Qiao came down a second ago, the stairs were obviously in good condition, but they disappeared when Xu RenDong came down. Obviously, this mutation was an attack launched against Xu RenDong.
If he hadn’t been vigilant in his heart, he might have hit his head directly on the wall with this fall. The bleeding from his head is relatively light and he might have been killed on the spot.
Xu RenDong sighed: “I guess it’s the same as that time on the subway.”
Lian Qiao: “Yes. The environment is changing. Don’t delay any longer, let’s go quickly.” He stretched out his hand to RenDong, “Come up, I’ll carry you. “
But Xu RenDong pushed his hand away: “No need. Don’t waste your energy, I can do it myself.”
Lian Qiao glanced at him, didn’t say anything and just nodded.
The two continued to walk down the stairs. This time, the two of them were no longer in a hurry, and both were careful with their steps. Fortunately, nothing changed in the stairs behind.
The two arrived at the bottom of the stairs smoothly. Xu RenDong’s car was parked at the door, and the two stood in front of the car, hesitating.
Drive or walk?
Just now Xu Ren fell down the stairs and got hurt a little. Although it will not hurt muscles and bones, walking will inevitably be affected.
But if you drive, the dangers you may encounter on the road will be even more deadly. If the brakes suddenly failed, or the steering wheel turned without following instructions, they would have nowhere to escape.
To be on the safe side, the two decided to walk to work.
It takes about half an hour to walk from their apartment to the company. There are also other public transportation facilities such as subways and buses along the way. With the lessons learned from the past, they certainly dare not sit on it.
At this time, it was nearly half past nine and the community was quiet, with no one around.
It stands to reason that although this is not the rush hour for work, it should not be so empty.
The two walked cautiously on the road in the community, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
“Not even birdsong,” said Qiao Lian.
“Hmm. The world seems to be at a standstill.” Xu RenDong took out his phone and looked at the time, confirming that the second hand is still turning and the time in this world was indeed still passing slowly.
But he just had the feeling that…the whole world stopped and waited for him.
It felt weird.
When the two came to the gate of the community, they saw an even weirder scene.
The road is also quiet. But unlike the community, the road was full of people at this time. Those who go to work, those who go to school, those who walk the dog and those who walk the baby, everyone was here.
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However, all the pedestrians on the road stopped and looked here as if they had received some kind of instructions. They are obviously living people of flesh and blood, but at this moment they are like logs, with stiff expressions and dull eyes.
All eyes were on one point, which was Xu RenDong.
This scene reminded him of the beautiful maids he saw in the Nine Linked Rings. But this time was not the same as then. At that time, he was alone in a dark and strange earthen building. He knew clearly that he was in a world of ghosts and monsters, so he had a subtle sense of distance.
However, at this time he was standing at the gate of his own community, on the main road of the city that he had to pass every day to and from get off work. As far as the eyes can see are extremely familiar scenes in reality, but everything was different from reality.
Those passers-by and the drivers in those vehicles have all turned into sculptures in the wax museum, lifelike but full of lifelessness.
What’s even more frightening is that there are many familiar faces among these people. The dog walker he often met when he went downstairs for a walk, the aunt who took the baby out for a walk every day, and the young student who overslept…
They just stared at him like this. Like staring at someone who shouldn’t be here, who doesn’t belong here.
Xu RenDong felt a strong sense of resistance in his heart. He took a deep breath and forced himself to take a step forward. The moment he was walking, everyone’s eyes followed him, making his back suddenly covered in white sweat.
He hated the feeling of being watched by so many people, let alone being stared at by these things who didn’t know whether they were people or ghosts.
Lian Qiao sighed and interlocked his fingers: “Is your leg okay? Let’s go faster.”
Xu RenDong nodded and quickened his pace.
As he walked, everything around him seemed to come alive again. Those clay sculpture-like passers-by not only followed him with their eyes, but even their bodies began to move stiffly.
RenDong Qiao clenched his weapon subconsciously. Fortunately, they did not gather towards the two of them but still followed their original route. Those who should go to work go to work, and those who should go for a walk went for a walk.
…It seems that these people have no intention of attacking for the time being.
While keeping an eye on their surroundings, the two continued to walk towards the company.
Even though they were outside, the two of them felt extremely depressed, so they didn’t speak on the way, but just hurried on their way.
Along this main road, you can reach Xu RenDong’s company by walking straight down. As they walked, the two suddenly noticed a large group of people on the sidewalk in front of them. They were looking at something and the sidewalk was tightly blocked.
Whatever they’re doing, curiosity killed the cat. Xu RenDong said: “Let’s go around.”
Lian Qiao said “Yes” and the two of them crossed the road and came to the sidewalk on the other side.
Just about to continue walking, RenDong suddenly noticed something strange. At the same time, Lian Qiao screamed: “RenDong!”
Xu RenDong’s heart tightened and Lian Qiao suddenly pulled him back. He staggered a few times and, before he could stand still, he felt a gust of wind above his head. Then there was a loud bang and a huge cement block fell from the sky and hit the stone road in front of him.
In an instant, the dust went flying. Xu RenDong felt something wet and warm splash on his pants.
He took two steps back subconsciously and looked down—his pants were spattered with blood and pieces of meat, and there was a hot smell.
“…” There was a sudden desire to vomit in his stomach. Xu RenDong’s throat twitched and, when the dust in front of him fell to the ground, he saw clearly that there was still a person under the huge cement block.
Most of the man’s body was crushed, leaving only a head and two arms outside. A large pool of blood gradually spread out under his body.
“Are you okay?” Lian Qiao asked.
Xu RenDong pursed his lips and shook his head. He looked up and, sure enough, there was a huge crane above their heads. The traction rope under the crane was empty, shaking slightly in mid-air. It was obvious that the cement block fell from the crane.
They were so focused on avoiding the crowd just now that they didn’t notice that there was a construction site around them. Fortunately, Lian Qiao reacted quickly, otherwise it would be Xu RenDong lying under the concrete block at this moment.
“…” Xu RenDong felt lingering fear, pursed his lips and said, “Let’s go.”
Lian Qiao showed a worried expression, but didn’t say anything and just nodded.
Most of the unlucky passerby’s body was crushed under the concrete block and there was no doubt that he was beyond saving. However, when passing by the unlucky passerby, Xu RenDong clearly saw that the passerby raised his head with a strange smile on his face and then stretched out his bloody hand towards him, making an invitation gesture.
…Where is he going to invite me to?
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Xu RenDong’s heart trembled and he told Lian Qiao about this in a low voice. Lian Qiao didn’t turn his head, stared straight ahead and said lightly: “Don’t pay attention to him. I’m afraid the whole world’s malice will gather on you today. You must be firm in your heart and don’t be influenced by them.”
Xu RenDong reluctantly can’t help smiling bitterly.
Of course he knew that on this day in 2020, all unforeseen dangers would come to him. He himself is the danger.
If they were separated, would Lian Qiao be safer?
There was no need to say this and he knew that Lian Qiao would not approve of it. Up to now, he and Lian Qiao have been the driving force for each other to live. To let Lian Qiao leave him to live alone, the idea itself would be hurtful to Lian Qiao.
So Xu RenDong didn’t say anything but just held Lian Qiao’s hand tightly.
The rest of the journey can be said to be full of danger. There are psychopaths who suddenly emerge from the crowd holding sharp knives, inspection manhole covers that disappear inexplicably in the middle of the sidewalk and even shop window glass that bursts suddenly without any warning.
Danger is danger, but for the two who are on high alert, it is nothing. It’s just that these things are all aimed at RenDong and some certain things couldn’t be avoided. In the end RenDong had a lot of wounds on his body.
After going through all kinds of hardships, the two finally came downstairs to the company.
Xu RenDong breathed a sigh of relief. Lian Qiao stared at the entrance of the office building and suddenly said: “I didn’t meet any ghosts along the way.”
Xu RenDong frowned. Indeed, what they have encountered along the way are all kinds of dangers that can occur in real life. It was more of an accident than a danger. As for those teammates who died and turned into ghosts before, none of them have appeared yet.
Xu RenDong sighed: “I’m afraid they are all waiting for me in the company.”
Lian Qiao raised his head, looked at the office building with dozens of floors and said, “This building is so tall, what if there is a fire or something? We can’t escape even if we want to.”
Xu RenDong laughed, “Don’t set the flag.”
Lian Qiao stuck out his tongue and smiled at him. So the two entered the office building side by side.
The company was located on the 15th floor. The two pushed open the glass door and were surprised to find that everything in the company seemed to be as usual.
Everyone sat at their desks and worked hard. Even though the two came here in a rush, everyone just glanced up and then immersed themselves in their work again, as if they didn’t care about them.
There was a huge contrast between the colleague’s reaction and those strange pedestrians outside. This moved Xu RenDong a little.
“It’s changed.” Xu RenDong said.
Lian Qiao walked side by side with him to the desks that belonged to them, thinking in his heart: Today is 2020 and the colleagues around him have indeed been replaced by the group of RenDong’s colleagues in reality.
Lian Qiao couldn’t help sighing.
Xu RenDong has a normal relationship with these colleagues and he doesn’t have much contact with them, so it can be said that he has no strong relationships with them. What’s more, this is a ghost dungeon and RenDong knows it well. Even though they were the colleagues who got along with him, if they really wanted to attack them, RenDong would kill them immediately and would never soften his hearts.
Lian Qiao sighed and even he didn’t know why he sighed. He just felt a little distressed.
The two went to the desk. Xu RenDong turned on the computer to check the time and it was almost noon now. There are several documents on the table with sticky notes on them, which are the work that Xu RenDong will do today.
RenDong glanced at it and said: “I don’t know what will happen if I behave passively and won’t go along with it.”
Lian Qiao said with emotion: “It’s the end of the world and you have to go to work, can you be more miserable?”
RenDong thought about it seriously and said: “Yes I can. That would be to work overtime at the end of the world.”
Lian Qiao: “…” You make a lot of sense.
The two looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing.
Along the way, the nerves of the two were always tense. At this time, they were finally able to relax a little.
However, it is impossible to completely relax their vigilance. Xu RenDong started to deal with work matters and Lian Qiao stayed by his side every step of the way, vigilant about his surroundings.
Just as RenDong finished processing a report, his colleagues suddenly pulled away their chairs with a “crash” and stood up at the same time.
The two drew out their weapons reflexively but their colleagues didn’t do anything strange, just gathered together with smiles.
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“Everyone, come and try and see if the rice balls I made are delicious?” A young female colleague held a small lunch box in her hand, which contained various rice balls. Lian Qiao remembered that her name was Liu XiaoQi.
All the colleagues cheered and reached for the rice balls in the lunch box. After eating, they were all full of praise.
Liu XiaoQi greeted the two of them: “You guys come too, you’re welcome to try some.”
RenDong and Lian Qiao looked at each other. Lian Qiao shook his head slightly. Of course, it is impossible for RenDong to easily eat the things the NPC gave him at the end of the world, so he politely said: “Don’t worry about us. We have a bad stomach, so we can’t eat cold things.”
Liu XiaoQi looked away in disappointment. She curled her lips and said, “Oh, that’s it. Then what will you have for lunch?”
Lian Qiao continued: “Let’s go out and find something to eat.” Then he and RenDong got up and walked towards the gate.
The colleagues laughed and praised Liu XiaoQi’s craftsmanship but they didn’t respond to the departure of the two of them. When the two reached the door, someone shouted: “Xu RenDong, don’t go too far. The lunch break is only half an hour. You have been absent from work for so long before. If you are late again in the afternoon, the boss will definitely remember that you have been absent for the whole day.” “
RenDong agreed and walked out of the office with Lian Qiao.
The company was located on the 15th floor. It is impossible to take the elevator. They climbed the stairs before and were so tired that they really didn’t want to climb the stairs again just for lunch. Fortunately, there were still some compressed biscuits left in the backpack, so RenDong took Lian Qiao to the stairwell, sat on the stairs and ate biscuits with mineral water.
Seeing the ease of his actions, Lian Qiao said with a smile: “Did you always hide here to eat?”
“Yes.” RenDong said calmly while unpacking the biscuits, “The office is a bit noisy during the lunch break. So I often hide here to rest.”
It was noon and the sun was abundant, shining on the two of them through the floor-to-ceiling windows. It felt warm and lazy.
There was no one in the corridor, it was quiet and, because of the bright sunshine, there was no ghost at all.
Lian Qiao relaxed a little and asked with a smile: “Is the usual atmosphere of your company so good?”
RenDong said: “Probably. I don’t care much.”
Lian Qiao: “Then if you were in the real world, you would eat her rice balls?”
RenDong shook his head: “Probably not. Because I really have a bad stomach, I will have diarrhea when I eat that. Things like rice balls are unpalatable after being heated in a microwave.”
Lian Qiao said: “Then if she made other things? For example, heart cookies… heart small cakes or something…”
RenDong could not help being a little surprised when he heard the flavor of his words: “Are you jealous?”
Lian Qiao raised his hand with a smile. He wiped the cookie crumbs from the corner of RenDong’s mouth. His eyes lingered on his lips fascinatedly and there was a trace of jealousy and infatuation in his voice: “A person like you will be missed wherever you go. I have long found out that the little girl in your company likes you. It’s just that you… …” He paused, then shook his head amusedly, “Forget it, just pretend I didn’t say anything. Otherwise, you’ll blame me for being jealous again.”
RenDong said helplessly, “Why are you still thinking about this at such a time…?”
Lian Qiao turned his head and looked out the window, but his fingers were still intertwined with RenDong’s. The sun fell on his soft smiling face, which was so warm that it made people feel a little trance.
“I just suddenly felt that, right now, sitting quietly with you is as happy as a dream.”
“This is not a dream.” Xu RenDong said, “But, although it is in the dungeon, it is like a dream for the two of us.”
“But right now sitting together, holding hands, this is really happening. We have been together for a long, long time.” He said, his face was slightly flushed, but he continued to speak shyly , “We belong to each other and it has been like this for a long, long time.”
It was unknown which sentence touched Lian Qiao. He turned his head and looked at RenDong in a daze. Some inexplicable emotion flashed in his eyes, which was fleeting and difficult to capture.
The next second, he smiled again. Leaning over, he pressed a light kiss on RenDong’s lips.
“En. We have belonged to each other for a long, long time.”
After eating the biscuits, they took a short break and headed back home. As soon as they walked out of the stairwell, he bumped into Liu XiaoQi who was throwing garbage away.
When Liu XiaoQi saw the compressed biscuit packaging bag in the hands of the two of them, her face suddenly became a little ugly.
Xu RenDong didn’t quite understand what her expression meant, so he casually asked her what was wrong while throwing the trash into the trash can.
Liu XiaoQi curled her lips: “Do you eat this at noon?”
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Xu RenDong said: “Just eat casually at noon, isn’t this a short lunch break?”
Liu XiaoQi: “Then why didn’t you eat…” Although she didn’t finish, her eyes flashed and she quickly shook her head. “Forget it, it’s nothing.” Then she turned and went back to the company.
Xu RenDong was puzzled. He turned around and asked Lian Qiao: “What’s wrong with her?”
Lian Qiao: “Let me just say, you are so irritatingly slow sometimes. I don’t know if you are really stupid or pretending to be stupid.”
“Stupid…?” Xu RenDong thought for a moment and suddenly realized. His expression suddenly became awkward.
The two returned to the office door. Xu RenDong stretched out his hand to push the door but, just as he put his hand on it, he retracted with a “hiss” and blurted out: “It’s so cold!”
Lian Qiao frowned, took out a portable stick from his backpack and pushed the glass door open with the stick.
As soon as the door was opened, a strong cold wind blew out from inside. Both of them shivered and the hairs all over their bodies stood on end.
“What’s going on, why is the air conditioner suddenly turned on so cold?” Xu RenDong rubbed his arms.
Lian Qiao raised his head, wiped his face lightly and said with a smile: “This is not an air conditioner, it’s just a refrigerator.”
Xu RenDong was taken aback. Because he saw melting snow on Lian Qiao’s hands.
It was that gust of cold wind just now, which made his eyebrows instantly covered with frost.
A layer of white fog in front of the eyes obscured the scene inside the office, making it hard to see clearly. It’s likely some kind of abnormality has occurred in the office at this time. However, they still had to go in to take a look. After all, before they left, their colleagues reminded them that “the lunch break is only half an hour.”
The two took out their jackets from their backpacks, put them on, tightened the zipper, and walked in with their weapons in hand.
Passing through the white mist, a completely different scene appeared in front of their eyes.
The whole office really turned into an ultra-low temperature freezer and everything was covered with a white layer of frost. Although the fluorescent lights were on, the office area was gray and there was a sense of icy chill.
Several colleagues are still sitting at their desks, clacking and typing on the keyboard. Their hair and clothes were all covered with icicles but they didn’t seem deterred at all, other than their keyboard movements being a little stiff. There were even dry cuts on the fingers.
The two raised their vigilance and walked past their colleagues cautiously. They found that these people had become like frozen meat in a freezer, with dull expressions and cloudy eyes. Like a group of numb zombies.
It’s really commendable that they have turned into zombies and are still working.
Xu RenDong was inexplicably amused and tried to say hello to his colleagues. The colleagues turned their heads slowly and the corners of their mouths twitched, as if they were talking to him.
This is the exact opposite of the enthusiasm a moment ago. But they have all changed from living people to zombies, so the attitude change is also reasonable.
Xu RenDong wrapped his jacket tightly but still felt cold. He turned to Lian Qiao and said, “The temperature in this place is too low.”
“It’s a pity that we can’t go out anymore.” Lian Qiao grumbled angrily. RenDong looked in the direction he pointed, only to realize that the glass door they just walked in had disappeared at this moment.
Instead, there was a solid, thick wall of ice.
Xu RenDong frowned, went back to the ice wall, and knocked on it with a crowbar. There was a heavy muffled sound on the ice wall and, just by hearing the sound, one could tell that the wall could not be broken by brute force.
It’s over, now they are locked in the freezer.
He folded his arms, feeling a little helpless in his heart, but he didn’t regret it. After all, these things can’t be avoided. If they didn’t follow the rules of the instance, the instance will only give them a heavier punishment. Xu RenDong knows this better than anyone else.
There is no escape. They can only face it.
“Then here comes the problem.” Lian Qiao looked around and pondered, “How to get out from here?”
Xu RenDong thought for a while, then pointed to the manager’s office and said, “Should I go to ask for leave?”
Lian Qiao: “?”
