Chapter 22: Poison-Insect Stronghold 21

"What are you doing, you bad man!"

She was no longer a child; she didn't need anyone to wash her feet for her.

"Brother Zhou Shan!"

She gritted her teeth in anger. Looking at his cold, handsome face, a surge of reckless courage rose within her, and she actually lifted her foot and kicked him in the shoulder.

A dark, smudged footprint was instantly left on his shoulder.

His shoulder was hard and bruising, and the young girl couldn't help but let tears fall—even though she was the one who had done the kicking.

"Does your foot hurt from the kick?"

Zhou Shan didn't care at all about the dark, dirty footprint on his shoulder; instead, he wore a look of heartache.

The fragile girl shook her head through a veil of tears, looking at him in terror. She had been the one to kick him, yet he was the one worrying about her foot being hurt. What kind of strange person was he?

"Why are you crying?" The man slowly revealed a faint smile.

Zhou Shan’s tall body was like a beautiful monster. His thick eyelashes trembled slightly in the shadows, concealing the intense love burning within his pupils. The man’s pitch-black, deep eyes gazed at the girl, lingering on her snow-white cheeks and reddened eyes.

He bowed his head to stare at her.

"If you cry again, I'll throw you into the insect room." He spoke softly. "How about I let the insects eat you?"

The girl’s body stiffened instantly. She wasn’t truly a fool; she could certainly sense the danger in his words. How could he be so wicked? The insect room—that must be a room filled with venomous bugs. If he threw her in there, how could she possibly survive? She had only kicked him once, and he was already threatening to kill her.

No.

She sniffled, pretending to be pathetic. "Stop teasing me!"

After hesitating for a long moment, she said angrily, "You aren't allowed to bully me."

He shouldn't scare her or pretend that he was going to kill her. The dungeon boss could easily take her life, but he shouldn't toy with her emotions. Even if it was just a lighthearted joke, Zhou Zhou was still afraid.

—

Chu Mingxiu’s room was next to the girl’s.

In the darkness, the narrow space was filled with a heart-palpitating silence. He closed his eyes, keenly sensing the movement of the air, when suddenly, he heard a sobbing sound. It was a woman’s voice, faint and weak.

The man recognized it in an instant: it was the voice of that little fool.

He froze. Had something happened? Why... why was she crying?

Utilizing the keen senses granted by his "Spirit Vision," he looked through closed eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them abruptly, his expression shifting. Cold, violent currents churned in the depths of his eyes.

Is this dungeon boss really that disgusting? Does he enjoy bullying people so much that he even threatens to throw them into the insect room?

Is he planning to kill her?

He hadn't noticed that the girl’s body was trembling with fright, bullied to the point of tears.

"Zhou Zhou, were you scared?" Zhou Shan chuckled lowly.

"Brother Zhou Shan!"

"Why are you so bad?"

The girl pushed the man away and, putting all her strength into it, kicked him twice more. "Why would you scare me like that..."

Chu Mingxiu listened expressionlessly to the sounds coming through the wall. Flirting, is it? The man’s thin eyelids trembled, his gaze downcast, cold and repressed.

—

Zhou Zhou felt that the current situation was a bit dire. The way the man looked down at her was far too oppressive.

"Brother Zhou Shan, I’m very scared." She truly didn't want to be eaten by insects. "So... are you really going to throw me into the insect room?"

"...No." Zhou Shan was silent for a moment before apologizing. "I'm sorry... Zhou Zhou, I went too far."

He hadn't intended for it to be this way, nor had he wanted to scare her. The man sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her small face with tenderness and affection, watching her eyes, which were still glistening with tears from the fright.

"I won't touch you, and I won't scare you anymore." Zhou Shan reached out to stroke her soft hair. "Zhou Zhou... how could I ever throw you into the insect room?"

"You are my treasure, after all."

Hearing his words, Zhou Zhou didn't dare move a muscle. Who knew whether the dungeon boss's words were true or false? What if he still decided to kill her?

She closed her eyes and lay down powerlessly, only then finding the time to ask, "...Why would he do this? Scaring me, toying with me..."

The system, having witnessed the scene, was somewhat silent; it didn't quite understand human emotions. "Perhaps..." Following its own assumptions about the characters in the Escape Game, it added, "Perhaps it is to collect a toll. This might be the small price you pay to stay alive."

"Is that so..." Zhou Zhou stared at the pitch-black, lightless ceiling, her expression slightly dazed.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch in the Escape Game. You survived the dungeon boss, so naturally, he will collect his payment elsewhere."

So the payment he demanded was to tease her? What would she do if he kissed her lips away in the future?

Zhou Zhou closed her eyes, refusing to think about it any longer.

The man behind her wrapped his arms around the girl with a sense of possessive force. The heat radiating from behind him was astonishing, bringing a strange sense of comfort. On this narrow bed, Zhou Zhou’s eyelids drooped, and she drifted off to sleep.

...

In the silent, dim room, Zhou Zhou did not sleep peacefully.

She felt as if something was pressing down on her...

She opened her eyes, groggy, and found herself in an empty cave. A faint, ghostly light clung to the dark, damp cavern, and she was sitting on the ground, a wave of unbearable pain radiating from her knees.

Zhou Zhou looked down and saw that her knees were bleeding, as if she had collided with something...

Moreover, a gray-pink butterfly had landed lightly on her skin. In an instant, it melted into her flesh like water.

What... what is this!

Zhou Zhou’s eyes widened in terror, and she hurriedly called out to the system in her mind, "022... are you there? What happened to me?! I... wasn't I just sleeping...?"

"You were sleeping..." the system’s voice was clear, "but you may have been dragged into the dream of an NPC."

A dream?

Zhou Zhou looked up, and sure enough, the cave was shrouded in a layer of white mist. Everything felt illusory. The patch of skin where the butterfly had melted began to itch incessantly. Her skin crawled, and she suppressed the urge to look at her knees.

She didn't dare to look. God only knew what that butterfly was. She had never been particularly brave, and in this bizarre dreamscape, which felt like a horror movie, she didn't want to get to the bottom of the butterfly's nature. She didn't even dare to think about it. She feared that if she did, not only would she fail to understand, but she would also scare herself to death.

"...Hey... why are you staring blankly?"

"Have you considered my suggestion?"

Someone was asking her.

Zhou Zhou looked up at the person who had spoken. He appeared abruptly before her, and she found herself naturally taking in his appearance. He was a man of exceptional features, quite tall, wearing long sleeves and robes. He appeared somewhat slender, and as he faced the girl, he looked down at her.

Suddenly, he pressed his hand onto the girl’s shoulder, while his other hand pinched her cheek.

"...Your face is so soft."

Stinky, stinky man—her face was already red from his pinching.

?!

Zhou Zhou was stunned. Are all dreams this strange now?!

She suppressed the shock in her heart and struggled slightly to shake off the hand pinching her face. He darkened his expression and tapped the girl on the head.

"Don't move."

"Venomous insects... they love little girls with delicate skin like yours the most. If one crawls into your heart, you'll be finished."