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墨書 Inktalez
He Min was startled by the return of Xu Nuan. Her clothes were in disarray, some torn and stained with blood, and her arms were wrapped in bandages. Her face was terrifyingly pale, and her eyes lacked any sparkle. The areas covered by her clothing concealed any other potential injuries.
The three of them had only been searching for the statue for a few minutes, and He Min couldn't believe that Xu Nuan's luck could be this bad. When she saw the blood-stained statue in Gu Ze's hands, she thought she had uncovered the truth.
"Even if you're competing with other teams for the statue, you shouldn't push yourself like this!"
He Min approached to grab Xu Nuan's arm but hesitated when she saw the bandages on both of her arms and hands, frowning and sighing instead.
"Are you being stubborn again and refusing to call us over?"
Xu Nuan shook her head but remained silent, too exhausted to explain. She felt completely drained, and until now, she couldn't believe she had gained the upper hand in her struggle with Guo Xu. What frightened her more was that she had fought with a mindset of certain death; did such thoughts really unleash immense power?
More than that, she was anxious about her recent actions and Gu Ze's words, which made her reluctant to turn back and face him as he followed behind.
"Check her over again. I'll head back to the statue from this point; you all should rest."
After Gu Ze finished speaking, he left with the bloodied statue. This meant he now possessed two statues, making him a prime target for other teams, which also indicated that Xu Nuan and He Min were safe for the time being.
Xu Nuan considered turning back to stop Gu Ze from his actions but thought better of it due to his personality and previous comments. She swallowed her words and found a tree to sit down and rest, watching Gu Ze's retreating figure.
He Min seemed oblivious to the subtle tension between Xu Nuan and Gu Ze. After searching all morning, she was also quite tired. She sat beside Xu Nuan, rummaging through her backpack to find supplies to help check on Xu Nuan again.
Breaking the silence, Xu Nuan spoke up.
"You don't need to; you should rest too. I've taken care of all the bandaging."
Xu Nuan was genuinely exhausted; her voice was weak as she spoke. Her eyes fluttered open briefly before closing again, and soon she fell asleep.
Only when surrounded by her friends could she let her guard down, and that was what Gu Ze wanted to convey to her—the feeling of relying on friends and companions.
He Min paused her movements and glanced at Xu Nuan, who had quickly fallen asleep. Her gaze lingered on Xu Nuan's disheveled clothes before finally resting on her increasingly gaunt face. A complex expression crossed her features, emotions swirling in her eyes.
She had always known that Xu Nuan bore more burdens than she did, and there were thoughts that she could not even begin to touch. However, human hearts are difficult to control; everyone was quietly changing in this game. Some changes would only be realized in hindsight, revealing a chasm that could not be crossed between oneself and the past.
Xu Nuan had no idea how long she had slept. She hadn’t rested well the night before, and after battling a Player with vastly superior skills, both her mind and body were exhausted. She fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, which was rare for her. What she couldn’t know was whether the absence of dreams was due to sheer fatigue or because of someone else.
When Xu Nuan slowly awakened, Gu Ze had already returned, but He Min was nowhere to be found. She sat up abruptly, panic rising within her as she asked Gu Ze.
“Amin? She wouldn’t have gone out alone, would she?”
She had become so sensitive that any companion leaving her sight filled her with worry. She could no longer control these emotions. With Guo Dafu, she still felt uncertain; however, Ning Han and Guo Xu made it clear that there were indeed people who wanted to kill him. The Mastermind might even be the one responsible for her parents' deaths. She was terrified—not of her own death or failing to avenge her parents or Qin Yaojie—but of the possibility that her companions might suffer because of her.
She didn’t know how many among the Players wanted to kill her. She didn’t want to bear any emotional debts; she understood all too well the allure of money for those people and for most Players at present. She was even sensitive enough to worry that a friend one moment could become an enemy the next due to greed.
This game had yet to fully reveal its cruelty; there were surely more extreme tasks waiting for them in the Survival Game ahead. She felt frightened and didn’t know how to alleviate it.
“I’m here, Nuan.”
Before Gu Ze could respond, He Min’s voice came from behind her. Xu Nuan turned around in a hurry to see He Min looking surprised as she emerged from behind the tree where Xu Nuan had been leaning.
Xu Nuan bit her lip, falling silent; she realized she had been acting too neurotic lately.
He Min approached her, squatting down beside her and gently asking.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"No."
Xu Nuan shook her head and looked up at the sky, realizing that the sun had begun to move toward the west, which meant that in less than two hours, darkness would envelop the island, forcing them to stop their search for the statue.
Determined to set off, every second spent in this place felt like torture. However, He Min disagreed and pressed down on her knee, and soon after, Gu Ze spoke up.
"Do you understand? Just now, your feelings were exactly what we were worried about regarding you."
He Min turned in shock to look at Gu Ze, who spoke these words with a calm expression. She had never seen Gu Ze speak to Xu Nuan in such a tone before. Although Xu Nuan appeared indifferent and calm about many things, she actually despised being spoken to in a reproachful manner.
This time, Xu Nuan surprised her as well; she did not refute Gu Ze's words or get angry. Though her expression was grim, it was more about discomfort than anything else.
Something must have happened between these two. Moreover, Xu Nuan returning with injuries was not simply about competing for the statue. He Min, with her keen insight and clear mind, quickly analyzed the situation. While feeling helpless and pained for Xu Nuan's character, she also experienced a faint sense of loss. She had indeed changed in this game, but she thought that Xu Nuan would remain true to herself. Instead, Xu Nuan had also changed and no longer relied on her as before; there were now things she kept hidden from her.
Such changes were truly frustrating.
However, being adept at concealing her thoughts, He Min chose not to expose this point but instead smiled to ease the tension.
"I'm sorry, Nuan. From now on, I'll let you know whenever I go out alone. You don't need to worry."
As a woman, she naturally understood the thoughts of another woman better. After experiencing Qin Yaojie's incident, Xu Nuan had become a person lacking in security. Whether in friendship or love, she had grown anxious and fearful of loss. This was something that required a remedy to resolve; unfortunately, remedies were so hard to find in the game.
"I was too nervous; I'm sorry."
Xu Nuan immediately followed He Min's words but dared not look at Gu Ze again.
After resting for a while, the group decided to continue their ascent, planning to meet up with Xu Hang and the others at a new height once night fell.
As the three walked side by side, He Min suddenly spoke up.
"If Xu Hang and his group don't find the statue, we should place one on their side to distract those monitoring us."
"Yeah."
Gu Ze had no objections to this plan, though he didn't fully agree with He Min. Initially, it was his suggestion to place the statue in their group; he wanted to use it to draw out some people, but it seemed he had miscalculated.
Xu Nuan also had no issues with this idea. Having both statues in their group was indeed risky. However, she was curious about the progress of the other groups. Excluding Guo Xulin's group, which she suspected had ulterior motives, Chi Xiaoming's group seemed quite honest and likely had already found a statue.
She had no qualms about using extreme measures if necessary.
As they walked through the Olive Grove, He Min suddenly asked, "Nuan, how did you find that statue? We've been searching at this height all day without any luck. Was it hidden away or in an unexpected place?"
Xu Nuan paused; she couldn't exactly say the statue just fell from the sky.
"Actually, I don't really know," she hesitated for a moment before simply recounting her experience. "I just happened to see it there."
"Oh, I see."
He Min felt that Xu Nuan's words were as good as nothing and would not help them in their next actions. She wanted to ask more, but then she noticed Gu Ze looking at her through Xu Nuan, and that gaze clearly warned her not to ask any further.
He Min, who had always thought of Gu Ze as a gentle person, was taken aback by the expression he was showing now. She was curious whether Xu Nuan was aware of this side of Gu Ze. After some reflection, she sadly realized that in this game, Xu Nuan spent more time with Gu Ze than with her. Although she might have been the first companion Xu Nuan acknowledged, it seemed that Gu Ze was perhaps the one Xu Nuan trusted the most.
Feeling a mix of emotions, He Min fell silent.
The three of them walked in silence until Gu Ze chose a direction. He Min accompanied Xu Nuan down another path, keeping a distance that wasn't too far apart as they searched. Although they all believed that searching for the statue this way was time-consuming and inefficient, they had no other choice at the moment. The System's earlier words offered no clues to ponder over; they could only proceed with this option.
After turning around and catching a glimpse of Gu Ze's busy figure, Xu Nuan felt a bit relieved. When she turned back, she saw He Min looking at her helplessly, prompting her to immediately apologize.
"What did you just say? I zoned out and didn't catch it."
He Min sighed lightly and pointed at the Tail Ring in Xu Nuan's hand.
"I was asking if you wanted to check where Xu Hang and the others are."
"Oh, that," Xu Nuan replied as she looked up at the sky and then back at Gu Ze, shaking her head.
"It's not dark yet; there's no rush. Let's wait for Gu Ze to decide."
He Min smiled slightly, pressing her lips together in silence. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Xu Nuan turned away again.
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