Mu Ke cradled Bai Liu (6)'s head in his arms and wept. But the crying did not last long. He forced himself to stop, roughly wiping the tears from his face before standing up.
When he turned, he saw Miao Gaojiang inching toward the door, clearly intending to slip away.
Mu Ke's gaze sharpened instantly, a fierce and chilling hostility rising from him. "Where are you going?" he asked coldly. "Bai Liu (6) is dead, but I'm still alive. He gave me the item that can control you. You'd better behave."
Miao Gaojiang's back stiffened. He slowly turned around and met Mu Ke's tear-reddened yet utterly expressionless stare. The look sent a shiver down his spine.
Mu Ke clenched his teeth. "If you dare disobey me, I'll kill you. I'm not as kind as Bai Liu (6). I won't keep you alive out of mercy. Now come here and carry him."
He looked down at Bai Liu (6), lying quietly on the ground, drained of all color. Mu Ke's eyes reddened again, but he forced back the tears that threatened to spill.
"Put him on your back," Mu Ke said hoarsely. "You're not allowed to leave him behind. If you do, I'll kill you."
Taking a deep breath, Mu Ke lifted his gaze toward the baptismal pool beneath the statue. Beneath it lay the passage Bai Liu (6) had told him about—the way they could escape.
Tears shimmered in his eyes, but his resolve was firmer than ever. "We'll drain his blood and take it to save his investor."
"Move faster." His voice trembled despite his effort to keep it steady. "Put Bai Liu (6)'s body into the baptismal pool. I'll find something to heat the water. Don't let his blood turn cold… it won't draw properly if it does."
—————————————————
Wednesday, Ward 501, 6:15 a.m.
Bai Liu stared at his silent phone for a moment before putting it away. His voice was calm as he announced, "There hasn't been a call yet. My child should be dead."
Mu Ke's face was pale as he looked at Bai Liu, whose health had dropped to only 0.5. "Then what are you going to do?"
"There's a way," Bai Liu replied evenly. "I anticipated this possibility. It might develop into a very bad situation, but I prepared a backup plan. It's just… somewhat dangerous."
His gaze shifted to Liu Huai, who sat on the edge of the hospital bed, still dazed. "The key to clearing this game lies with Liu Huai."
Liu Huai lifted his unfocused eyes. "Me?"
He had endured too much turmoil in one night—the aftereffects of his sharply declining health, his mental value dropping below ten, and the overwhelming information Bai Liu had forced upon him. His current mental state was unstable.
Liu Jiayi's voice seemed to float around him as though she were calling his name. She laughed sweetly. The scenery before him swayed and spun. The air felt thick like mud, as if fish were struggling through it, unable to reach the shore. In his distorted vision, a dirty little girl stood behind Bai Liu, clutching his shoulder and smiling brightly at him.
Liu Huai knew it was the side effect of his plummeting mental value. Even understanding Bai Liu's words felt difficult.
"The key to clearing the game… why is it me?" Liu Huai stared blankly at his blood-soaked body, at the empty space where his arms had been. "Aren't I about to die?"
Bai Liu's tone remained light. "Yes, you do look like you're going to die. But Liu Jiayi will never let you die easily. You are indeed the key to clearing this instance."
At the mention of Liu Jiayi's name, Liu Huai froze.
Bai Liu continued indifferently, as if he hadn't noticed. "From this perspective, the game isn't safe for Liu Huai at all. Miao Feichi and Miao Gaojiang are both here. To save you, she will draw her own blood to heal you."
"She might recover some health, but her healing ability has already been weakened by the system. She'll be in even more danger than we are. We must take advantage of that gap—restrain her and force her to restore our health."
His gaze settled on Liu Huai's stunned face. "Her vigilance is no less than mine. But Liu Huai, you are the exception. When she draws blood to heal you, I want you to control her. I won't kill her or harm her. We'll take her through the instance with us and make limited use of her abilities."
Bai Liu lowered his eyes to the phone that had remained silent all morning. "After all, she used something I rarely encounter—kindness—to kill my child."
Liu Huai was silent for a long time. At last, he lowered his head and drew a shaky breath. "As long as you don't hurt her, I'll cooperate."
Just as he finished speaking, Mu Ke's phone rang.
He picked it up in surprise. On the other end came little Mu Ke's gasping voice—he was running. "Is Bai Liu (6)'s investor there? Can you let him answer?"
Bai Liu and Mu Ke exchanged a glance. Bai Liu took the phone.
Little Mu Ke was sobbing between breaths. "Bai Liu (6)… Bai Liu (6) he—"
"He's dead?" Bai Liu supplied calmly.
The words seemed to flip a switch. Mu Ke burst into loud sobs. "Yes! I don't know what Liu Jiayi did, but she killed him!"
The child's weak heart made it hard for him to breathe as he cried and explained what had happened. When he mentioned that he had Miao Gaojiang carry Bai Liu (6)'s corpse while running, Bai Liu's voice turned cold.
"What about you? Mu Ke, you have heart disease. You can't engage in strenuous exercise. If Miao Gaojiang is carrying the body and you keep running, you'll collapse. The passage from the welfare home to the private hospital isn't short. You won't last."
Mu Ke's breathing was indeed ragged. He had run from the handicrafts classroom to the church, drawn Bai Liu (6)'s blood, and now sprinted through the underground passage toward the hospital.
He was currently racing through a tunnel beneath a statue of a god, where the air was thin. He clutched the bag of blood drawn from Bai Liu (6)'s body. His lips had turned dark and purplish. Still, he gritted his teeth and ran.
"Throw the body down," Bai Liu ordered calmly. "Have Miao Gaojiang carry you instead. Bai Liu (6)'s corpse has no further use. It's only slowing you down."
Mu Ke inhaled sharply, his voice trembling with shock and anger. "Bai Liu (6) gave his life to save you, and you want me to leave his body in this tunnel? Leave it to monsters that eat children and drain their blood?!"
"Yes," Bai Liu replied lightly. "Because he has no value now."
Mu Ke tried to hold back his tears but failed. He roared hysterically, "I won't leave him here!"
He screamed into the phone in a childish voice, hurling every curse he knew.
"You're a dog! You've been using Bai Liu (6) from the beginning! You lied to him! You made him think you were a good person—but you're not! He died for you!"
His voice broke. "Even so, he knew you were using him and still chose to die for you! Every drop of blood was drained for you—I drew it myself!"
Tears and snot streamed down his face. "You're not worthy! You can't treat him like this! Even if he's dead!"
After venting everything, Mu Ke forced himself to breathe deeply until he gradually calmed down.
The line fell silent. Bai Liu could hear only the child's embarrassed sobbing.
Finally, Mu Ke spoke again, his voice low and unwilling, as though he didn't want anyone to hear it.
"Bai Liu (6) is still valuable, even in death. He hid a coin inside his body that can control Miao Gaojiang. He meant to give it to you. I can't tell anyone where it is. I can't leave him."
It sounded as though he were trying to convince himself more than Bai Liu.
Bai Liu's tone remained steady. "Leave him in the tunnel. I'll retrieve it. I know where he hid it. I believe he intended for you to hide the body and inform me later. Running with it is only exhausting you pointlessly."
His objective analysis, devoid of emotion, gradually calmed Mu Ke.
It was true. Under the current circumstances, hiding the body and informing the investor later was the safest option. Only he and Miao Gaojiang knew about this tunnel.
But—
Mu Ke bit his lower lip. He simply didn't want to leave Bai Liu (6).
"You can still control Miao Gaojiang without the coin," Bai Liu continued. "He's on the run. He's in the same camp as you. I know you don't want to leave Bai Liu (6), but he has become a burden."
"I'm willing to die for Bai Liu (6)," Bai Liu said calmly. "But he died not only for you, but for all of us. Carrying his body will only waste what he sacrificed. If you collapse from a heart attack, everything he did will be in vain."
"Do you want to waste his final intentions?"
There was only the sound of heavy breathing.
After nearly half a minute, Mu Ke finally gritted his teeth and gave the order through tears. "Miao Gaojiang… put Bai Liu (6) aside and carry me."
Then he spoke viciously into the phone as he was lifted. "You're not worthy of him saving you. You should just die of illness, you trash investor! I hate you!"
Bai Liu did not respond. He simply waited quietly for the child to finish venting.
After a moment, Mu Ke spoke again in a low, stubborn voice. "Wait obediently in the hospital, you garbage investor. I'll bring his blood to save you."
There was the sound of the phone being hung up fiercely, as if he didn't want to say another word to the garbage Bai Liu.
Bai Liu: "..."