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墨書 Inktalez
Anxious and restless, this was the perfect description of Gu Ze's mood at that moment.
Dressed in a suit, he wore an appropriate smile as he spoke eloquently, handsome and charming yet polite.
In contrast, he wore a simple gray long-sleeve shirt, his expression blank but his eyes turbulent, with a resolute background.
Each of these was Gu Ze.
So, he had to wait for him.
Gu Ze and the other two discovered Xu Hang in the dark stone cave. As they approached Xu Hang, the warning sounds faded away.
Gu Ze crouched down to check Xu Hang's condition before addressing the other two, who were visibly anxious.
"He's just fainted; it's nothing serious."
Gu Ze's fingers brushed over the obvious marks on Xu Hang's back, his gaze deep and devoid of light.
Xie Huai exclaimed in surprise, "He was knocked out! Are there other players here besides us? Why would someone knock out Xu Hang?"
They all knew that zombies wouldn’t use sticks to attack people.
Deng Yinyin immediately chimed in, "Isn't it just Xu Nuan left in this level? It's strange; why would she hit Xu Hang? Did she discover some secret? Seriously, we're all companions; how could she do this!"
Xie Huai felt a bit awkward; his earlier 'we' included Xu Nuan.
However, Xie Huai glanced at Gu Ze's expression, fearing he might be angry. But Gu Ze seemed not to have heard Deng Yinyin's words. Instead, he continued to pinch Xu Hang's acupoint, trying to wake him up.
But Xu Hang showed no response; aside from his breathing and warm body, there was no sign of life.
"Is he really just unconscious?"
Xie Huai couldn't help but feel a bit skeptical.
"Sigh, there's no other way," Gu Ze said, exhaling as he took off his backpack and handed it to Xie Huai. "I'll carry him to find Nuan, and then we should all get through this level as quickly as possible. It's too strange here; it's better if we don't linger."
Xie Huai gladly accepted the backpack and tugged at Deng Yinyin, who seemed to be lost in thought. "Let's hurry and find someone to leave. It's really cold here, and staying too long isn't good for our health."
Especially for girls, Xie Huai silently added in his mind.
"I know, I don't need you to tell me."
Deng Yinyin shook off Xie Huai's hand and stood up on her own.
Xie Huai looked down at his hands in disappointment, carrying a backpack on each side as he followed Gu Ze.
Carrying one person's weight meant bearing the weight of a life.
Gu Ze decided that once Xu Hang woke up, he would have a serious talk with him about not casually giving away the weight of life.
The bright point representing Xu Nuan's location had yet to light up, which meant the locator had lost its function again. Suppressing the rising irritation within him, Gu Ze focused on discerning the direction and continued walking, occasionally calling out Xu Nuan's name.
"This doesn't seem like Xu Nuan's style," Xie Huai suddenly spoke up beside him. "In my impression, she's always been quite capable. She might lose contact occasionally, but she always shows up in emergencies. It's just that this time, she's been missing for a while, which is a bit unsettling."
At that moment, Xie Huai didn't notice Deng Yinyin trembling slightly, her face showing forced concern.
Gu Ze carried Xu Hang on his back, each step heavy yet resolute.
"Don't worry, she won't get into any trouble. Perhaps this time, she'll appear at the critical moment to help us succeed," one of them said.
"That's true," Xie Huai tried to keep his expression relaxed. "Maybe she has already found a way out and is just waiting for us to catch up with her."
As both of them focused on the possibility of good things happening, Deng Yinyin, who had been holding back her feelings, suddenly remarked coolly, "Yeah, she found the exit and left ahead of us."
Leaving Xu Nuan behind, she knew what the most likely outcome for Xu Nuan would be. Yet, while Gu Ze and the others still held onto hope for Xu Nuan, she chose to undermine that hope, as if only by doing so could her inner dissatisfaction and resentment find a momentary release.
"She wouldn't do that."
Gu Ze shot Deng Yinyin a cold glance before turning away and refusing to look at her again.
Deng Yinyin felt hurt by that emotionless gaze and glared directly at Xie Huai.
Confused, Xie Huai shook his head lightly. "Actually, I think Xu Nuan isn't that kind of person. Sure, she doesn't easily accept people as companions, but once she does, she won't abandon them."
Xie Huai wasn't entirely sure if his understanding was correct, but that's the impression Xu Nuan had given him. He believed this could be seen as a softness in women—a precious quality.
Deng Yinyin gritted her teeth, her chest heaving violently. She hadn't expected that even Xie Huai, who usually sided with her, would speak up for Xu Nuan. This realization twisted her emotions into a knot of jealousy and dissatisfaction that felt ready to burst.
The group wandered through the vast cave like it was a maze; Xu Hang remained unconscious and unaware of Xu Nuan's absence.
They all felt somewhat exhausted and disappointed; a brief rest and some food were no longer enough to restore them to their previous state.
However, this was not the most desperate moment yet. Just as they were casually eating something and preparing to set off again, they heard footsteps approaching—weak and heavy.
"I have a bad feeling about this," one of them murmured.
Xie Huai twitched his lips.
Gu Ze made a quick decision, "No matter what it is, we need to leave now."
He hurriedly slung Xu Hang over his shoulder and rushed out, with the other two following closely behind. However, they had not gone far when they noticed zombies pouring in from all directions.
"Why are there more zombies? Didn't we already return the Luminous Pearl?"
Deng Yinyin screamed in frustration. Before Gu Ze could respond, they heard a familiar voice.
"Am I seeing things? How come I see zombies again?"
"Hang, if you're awake, get down. You're too heavy."
Gu Ze unceremoniously tossed Xu Hang off his back. Xu Hang managed to land lightly on his feet, rubbing his eyes. Realizing he wasn't imagining things and that a new wave of zombies was indeed approaching, he immediately took off running.
"What are you all waiting for? Hurry up and run!"
Now it was just the four of them sprinting away. Fortunately, the cave had many forks, allowing them to dash from one opening to another at will. Of course, zombies were everywhere; sometimes they would turn a corner only to be met by a large group of them.
During their escape, Gu Ze didn't forget to ask Xu Hang about the reason for his fainting.
Xu Hang scratched his head, feeling puzzled himself.
"I was looking for Xu Nuan, calling out as I walked along. Then I found a cave that seemed strange and ran inside. Suddenly, I felt a pain in my back and lost consciousness."
"Did you see who hit you?"
Gu Ze frowned, finding Xu Hang's words lacking in value.
Xu Hang chuckled awkwardly a couple of times. "If seeing me could trigger a reaction, that would be great. Come on, I feel like we've walked through these caves over and over again. There's no exit, and we still can't find anyone. It's really strange!"
"It has been strange from the very beginning."
Gu Ze replied irritably, only to realize they had encountered another group of Zombies head-on. They quickly turned around and chose a side path to continue running, with the Zombies hot on their heels.
"The Lake Marathon back then wasn't this exhausting."
The group was running for their lives, while the Zombies could appear at any unexpected moment, as if playing a game of hide and seek with them.
"Panting."
Gu Ze was too exhausted to talk to Xu Hang anymore. However, that wasn't the worst part; after running for a long time, they found themselves in a dead end. In front of them was a smooth wall, with walls on both sides and the mindless Zombies behind them.
This was truly a desperate situation.
They had nowhere left to run.
The group was being forced back by the Zombies, looking around for any possible escape, but there were hardly any clothes left on their backs.
Gu Ze gritted his teeth, feeling somewhat unwilling to accept their fate. Xie Huaizhi kept shrinking back, while Deng Yinyin had already started to cry.
Just when they were at their wits' end, they heard a noise coming from the wall behind them. The group turned to look and saw Xu Nuan.
Xu Nuan looked puzzled as she pulled on a door with one hand. It was then that everyone noticed there was actually a hidden door in the smooth wall.
Is this the Bright Outlook?
The above is the sentiment of everyone except Xu Nuan.
"Aren't you coming in? Zombie is already behind you."
Only then did a few people rush to squeeze through the dark door.
Once inside, they discovered that the place where Xu Nuan was located was a very modern dark room, equipped with sofas, tea tables, hot water, and a huge electronic screen with many operation buttons that they couldn't identify.
As they looked around, Gu Ze kept greedily staring at Xu Nuan. She slightly turned her head away, neither too light nor too heavy.
"You all came too late."
Just as Gu Ze was about to explain, he noticed that something seemed off with Xu Nuan.
At that moment, Xie Huai leaned in closer.
"So you’ve been here all along? We were looking for you outside. Why didn’t you come out?"
Xie Huai's words didn’t carry much weight, but what followed from Deng Yinyin was different.
"Hmph, we were out there working ourselves to death while you were enjoying yourself in here. You didn’t even tell us; that’s just too much."
The remark made Xu Hang's lips twitch, and he pressed a hand over Deng Yinyin's mouth to silence her. Inside, he sighed at how different Deng Yinyin was from Lan Ling.
Feeling that she should perhaps explain herself, Xu Nuan suddenly felt a sharp pain in her leg. Looking down, she saw Gu Ze squatting on the ground, poking her leg with one hand. There were several layers of bandages wrapped around it, with some blood seeping through.
Xu Nuan moved her lips, preparing to speak, but was interrupted by Gu Ze's light laughter.
"You can't go out because you're injured. It seems like you're always getting hurt."
Xu Nuan detected a sigh and helplessness in his tone. As she looked directly at Gu Ze, she noticed the unmasked guilt in his eyes, making the smile she had deliberately raised at the corners of her mouth particularly glaring.
"I bumped into something while being chased by a Zombie."
Xu Nuan lied without blinking; if the truth came out, she wasn't sure what Gu Ze would do.
Gu Ze clearly didn't believe her, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.
Xu Nuan quickly changed the subject, pointing at the massive screen, the control keys, and the nearby computer keyboard.
"I discovered that those Zombies are being controlled by these things, but I don't really understand programming and don't know how to stop it."
"Don't worry, there's a tech expert here."
Xu Hang nudged Gu Ze, signaling him to be mindful of the situation; he and Xu Nuan should settle their matters privately.
Gu Ze nodded and walked over to the large control panel, examining it closely.
Behind them, Xie Huai and the others were still puzzled.
"Why would such things appear here? Were they intentionally left for Players to use?"
"Isn't it obvious? Haven't you noticed we've been unable to find an exit?"
Deng Yinyin wore an expression that said, "I knew it would be like this."
Meanwhile, Xu Nuan quietly approached Gu Ze.
"I suspect these things aren't meant for the Player. There isn't a single camera here; it's very secretive."
"You really can uncover any secret," Gu Ze replied, giving Xu Nuan an approving nod.
"This is the control panel of the Game Base. I've seen blueprints depicting these in the tech team; you're quite lucky."
Xu Nuan's eyes widened in surprise as she lowered her voice and asked, "Can you operate it? Can we just bypass this level?"
"What about you?"
Gu Ze turned back, smiling confidently, and gestured for Xu Nuan to look behind her.
When Xu Nuan turned around, she saw a well-lit passageway.
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