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墨書 Inktalez
The markings on the boulder were created by her and Qin Yaojie to commemorate their relationship, but as she traveled, she discovered that important parts of these markings had been erased.
By the time she could decipher them, all that remained were simple, indecipherable words. She thought these markings were intentionally left for the First Batch of Players, and that later, Outsiders would erase the important parts when they saw the markings left by those ahead of them; it was common knowledge.
Rao Tingxue surprisingly did not recognize these markings.
Xu Nuan reached out to touch the markings, momentarily at a loss. If this marking was not inferior to those of the First Batch of Players, could she assume it was meant for her, someone who understood their meaning?
Once her thoughts were set in motion, they spiraled uncontrollably. Xu Nuan followed this line of thinking, and questions sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
How did Qin Yaojie know she would come to the game?
Who erased the important parts of the markings?
What exactly did Qin Yaojie say? What was his purpose?
Xu Nuan's expression shifted unpredictably, leaving Rao Tingxue even more baffled.
"Should I know these markings?"
Rao Tingxue glanced sideways at the suddenly agitated Xu Nuan. Not one to be foolish, she suddenly considered a possibility.
"Could it be that this marking is something Yaojie left behind for you?"
As Rao Tingxue came back to her senses, her face changed dramatically. She angrily pulled Xu Nuan and spoke sharply.
"What’s going on? Didn’t he break up with you a long time ago? Why would he leave a mark for you? What is Yaojie thinking? Does he even care about me?"
Xu Nuan only caught the information she wanted from Rao Tingxue's rambling.
"How can you be so sure this mark is for me?"
Xu Nuan narrowed her eyes, her demeanor shifting dramatically as her tone became somewhat aggressive.
"I ask you, are there any particularly special people among the First Batch of Players?"
Rao Tingxue, who had thought she was in a position of power to suppress Xu Nuan, was suddenly taken aback by Xu Nuan's sinister tone. The fear of having brushed past death in the Stone Forest returned to her. She remembered how this woman looked when she went mad, not recognizing anyone. She swallowed hard.
"What do you mean? What do you mean by 'special people'? In my eyes, there's only Yaojie; I don't care what others are like!"
At this moment, Rao Tingxue couldn't help but express her admiration for Qin Yaojie, hoping to provoke him.
However, using the same tactic repeatedly would lose its effect over time. Xu Nuan was no longer the person who would lose herself at the mention of Qin Yaojie. Upon realizing that Qin Yaojie had concealed so much and might even be plotting something, Xu Nuan forced herself to remain calm.
Once she calmed down, rationality followed suit.
"Rao Tingxue," Xu Nuan said slowly and deliberately.
"If you truly like Qin Yaojie, then you should understand his situation among the First Batch of Players. Otherwise, why would you be so eager to find him and plead for medication? Are the other factions among the First Batch of Players really inferior to yours? Don't they want to save their leader?"
Xu Nuan's words struck deep, and Rao Tingxue's face turned pale. She stumbled back a few steps and collapsed onto the ground, clearly shaken.
"I don't know! I don't know anything!"
Rao Tingxue became agitated, her gaze starting to wander as she waved her hands wildly.
"I don't know! All I know is that those people respect Yaojie very much, and they respect me too! You must understand that Yaojie is one of the main designers of this game; those players rely on him. Otherwise, they wouldn't listen to him so obediently!"
Though Rao Tingxue's words were one-sided, hearing her insist that Qin Yaojie was one of the designers made Xu Nuan believe her a little more. Adding in the mysterious Zhang Xiao and Ning Han, Xu Nuan felt even more convinced. Plus, recalling Qin Yaojie's strange behavior from her memory added another point.
Eight points.
Xu Nuan let out a heavy breath, clenching her fists tightly. The pain from her nails digging into her flesh kept her alert.
"Rao Tingxue, even if I believe you that he is one of the designers, do you know any other designers?"
Rao Tingxue shook her head in terror, and then her face turned pale as a thought struck her.
Noticing this, Xu Nuan stepped forward, gripping Rao Tingxue's shoulder with a slight force, her voice filled with tension.
"What did you just think of? You know other Designers, don’t you? What role does your father play in all of this?"
Xu Nuan's words clearly touched a sensitive nerve in Rao Tingxue. Suddenly, she pushed Xu Nuan to the ground and began to retreat, shaking her head continuously, her mind starting to cloud.
"No, these things aren’t my dad’s doing. He was deceived; he was tricked by his partners into losing control of the game, which is why I’m struggling so much in this game. Otherwise, I would have succeeded long ago. Otherwise, Yaojie would have succeeded too; he’s a Designer! How could a Designer be stumped by the game they created?"
Rao Tingxue appeared to be losing her grip on reality, but her logic remained intact.
"I want to find the other Designers. I need to identify the person who deceived my dad and those who set traps for Yaojie. It was Ning Han who had information about those bad guys; that’s why my dad let him in and why I collaborated with him."
As Xu Nuan sat on the ground, struggling to get up while carefully questioning the inconsistencies in Rao Tingxue's words, she realized that Rao Tingxue had retreated too far and was now at the edge of the cliff.
"Ah!"
This damned familiar scene!
Xu Nuan didn’t have time to stand up; she lunged forward, grabbing one of Rao Tingxue's hands in an attempt to pull her back. Instead, she found herself being pulled toward the cliff by Rao Tingxue.
"Hold onto my hand! Don’t let go!"
Xu Nuan was grateful for the strength she had built up in the game, allowing her to barely hold onto Rao Tingxue in this dire situation. But it was still only barely enough; the gravitational pull felt like it would drag them both down.
Her bones and flesh protested as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead, and her already pale face looked pitiful.
"Don’t… don’t let go of me!"
After hoarsely uttering those words, Rao Tingxue finally realized that it was Xu Nuan holding onto her—not her younger brother or those who feared the threats from Rao Group—but her rival.
Of course, she began to realize that this so-called rival was merely her own delusion.
Xu Nuan gritted her teeth, afraid to speak, fearing that if she let out her breath, she would lose strength and give up on Rao Tingxue.
With her hands straining, her legs were also working hard. When she hooked onto a large rock, Xu Nuan took a deep breath and forcefully kicked her legs back. As she pushed against the edge of the rock, she recklessly wedged her leg in, stabilizing herself.
The weight was something her hands could not bear, yet it also represented a life. Xu Nuan never expected that by securing her leg, she would truly find the strength and courage to gradually pull Rao Tingxue up.
The wind in the mountains was gentle, dispelling the heat brought by the blazing sun. Xu Nuan sat on the ground, gasping for air, momentarily unable to attend to the wounds on her hands and legs.
Rao Tingxue was not in much better shape. When she was about to fall off the cliff, her leg had already been scraped. Just moments ago, when Xu Nuan grabbed her hand, it had dislocated. The reason her hand could dislocate so easily was due to her weight and the fact that Xu Nuan had previously dislocated it.
Having narrowly escaped death, Rao Tingxue was momentarily speechless. The madness she had during her confrontation with Xu Nuan had vanished. She had entered this game for Qin Yaojie, believing that with Qin Yaojie as the Designer and his father as the initiator of the game, she would thrive within it. However, reality dealt her a harsh blow; she was treated no differently than other players, with no special privileges. She even suspected that her father was being controlled by someone else, that this game had become someone else's possession.
She had no clues; that was the saddest part.
"Why... did you save me?"
After hesitating for a long time, Rao Tingxue finally spoke. She remained stunningly beautiful but could not hide the fatigue between her brows or the emptiness in her eyes, resembling a puppet that had lost its source of life.
"I'll make it clear: I won't thank you. I won't give Yaojie to you either, and don't think you'll learn anything from me!"
At this moment, Xu Nuan finally had some strength to check the scrapes on her hands and legs. Hearing Rao Tingxue's words, she first froze for a moment before breaking into a light laugh.
"What do you mean by laughing? Do you look down on me?"
Rao Tingxue's temper flared up immediately; however, feeling weak, she couldn't muster much anger before it faded away.
Xu Nuan did not turn to look at Rao Tingxue but instead tilted her head back to gaze at the blue sky above, where a few white clouds floated.
"I don't need your thanks; perhaps I should thank you instead."
"What does it mean?"
Behind her, Rao Tingxue was even more confused, starting to doubt whether Xu Nuan had lost her mind.
"Soft words won't work on me. I don't know anything, so don't try to pry more information out of me."
"I know you don't know anything."
Xu Nuan's tone was light, her entire being seemed as if it could be swept away by the wind at any moment.
"I want to thank you for one thing: no matter what has happened, Qin Yaojie is your bottom line."
Xu Nuan smiled faintly into the air, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.
"I don't know if he ever liked you, but since you like him so much, he must be aware of your feelings. I also want to thank you for being by his side during the first three months of last year when I could only complain and fall apart at home."
She didn't know what had happened with Qin Yaojie; she didn't understand why he had become involved in game design and ended up where he was now. What she did know was that during those three months, when she was in pain, Qin Yaojie was suffering too. After their parents' car accident, Qin Yaojie suppressed his own grief and pretended that nothing had happened. Even though at that time, she was still lost in her own fantasies. Occasionally, she would wonder if it was because she had been lost in her imagination that Qin Yaojie hadn't changed, that their parents hadn't been in an accident, and that everything remained the same; perhaps that was why she had lost those memories.
Because of her fantasies, there would be retribution—after forgetting, remembering again would bring unbearable pain.
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