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At midnight on this day, it marked the first major outbreak of the antidote taken by Xu Nuan. There would be several more such outbreaks to come, and each one was a life-and-death test for her. If she couldn't endure it, it would be the end for Xu Nuan.
Feng Feng, the creator of the antidote, was naturally aware of the potential issues that could arise at every time point after Xu Nuan took the medication, and thus had made certain psychological preparations.
Although Chi Xiaoming and Feng Feng were partners of Gu Ze and believed that Xu Nuan was holding them back, often causing Gu Ze to give up easily obtainable advantages because of her, they essentially bore no grudge against her. In fact, it was thanks to Xu Nuan that they had the opportunity to collaborate with Gu Ze. If Xu Nuan could persist without any significant harm, everything would be fine, and they wouldn't have to concoct excuses to placate Gu Ze.
With this thought in mind, Feng Feng deliberately discussed some precautions with Chi Xiaoming before getting up to pursue the person who had been tracking them in this mechanism.
Chi Xiaoming was much more skilled than Feng Feng, who was a Pharmacist equipped with many peculiar drugs for protection. At this critical moment for Xu Nuan, she needed Chi Xiaoming's agility to watch over her while Feng Feng had no choice but to chase after the hidden figure.
When Feng Feng left, Chi Xiaoming finally had a clear view of Xu Nuan's pained expression.
At this moment, Xu Nuan's hands were bound. The torment from the drugs led her to attempt to alleviate her suffering by injuring other parts of her body. Chi Xiaoming could not stand by and watch Xu Nuan engage in self-harm; he nearly exerted all his strength to restrain her.
Like someone in withdrawal, Xu Nuan had little self-awareness at that moment. When she could no longer relieve her pain through injury, she instinctively attacked those around her.
Chi Xiaoming's skills allowed him to subdue Xu Nuan while dodging her attacks. However, after a struggle, both were drenched in sweat—Xu Nuan from pain and Chi Xiaoming from exhaustion.
Soon enough, this craving subsided, leaving Xu Nuan once again in a state of alternating cold and hot agony. Chi Xiaoming felt helpless; he was utterly unfamiliar with the nuances of Gentlemanly etiquette and had been nothing more than a meticulous finance professional before entering the game.
After enduring the alternating pains came the excruciating agony of shattered bones and torn flesh. Xu Nuan had gradually adapted to this; in her view, physical pain was bearable compared to the constant reminders of regretful past events that she could not change. However, soon enough, what she feared most happened—the scenes from her past reappeared before her eyes with such vividness that it felt as if she had returned to that time.
Yet even if she returned to the past, she had no power to change reality. She thought she would cry rivers of tears long since spent, but instead felt nothing.
Chi Xiaoming sighed in relief at Xu Nuan's lack of struggle but then looked down to see a face that was utterly disheveled.
Xu Nuan's eyes were wide open, staring blankly ahead without any spark; deep within her gaze lay an overwhelming despair. Tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string, making her otherwise plain features appear extremely wretched.
Chi Xiaoming originally frowned, not intending to pay much attention to the situation. However, after glancing at Xu Nuan a few times, he surprisingly felt a twinge of compassion. As a member of Chi Securities, he often attended various social events where he had to deal with women. Yet those women were always elegantly dressed, delicate and soft in demeanor. Xu Nuan was different from them; she cried silently, as if believing that even if she made a sound, no one would care.
Suddenly, he recalled how Gu Ze had been so focused on Xu Nuan before. He didn't understand Gu Ze's perspective, but thinking about how a woman treasured by Gu Ze was now in such distress made him feel an unusual sense of guilt.
Because of this guilt, he looked down at Xu Nuan again, who was still staring blankly ahead while tears streamed down her face. With Feng Feng's reminder in mind, he realized that Xu Nuan was trapped in an illusion, witnessing the very things she most feared. At that moment, he found Xu Nuan to be a truly remarkable woman.
Since he had done his research before entering the game, he knew Xu Nuan's identity. In his view, becoming Qin Yaojie's girlfriend was the worst decision Xu Nuan could have made in her life. She was an ordinary person entangled with this game because of Qin Yaojie, and later through an accidental conversation with Gu Ze, he learned about Xu Nuan's other misfortunes.
Losing her parents and being left alone was enough to defeat any strong man, yet Xu Nuan had not only survived but had gradually reached her current state. Whether it was amnesia or being drugged, none of the hardships had caused Xu Nuan to yield. Chi Xiaoming suddenly understood why Gu Ze admired Xu Nuan.
He looked down at Xu Nuan again and noticed that when she cried, there was still a hint of femininity about her; she appeared quite fragile, yet it did not evoke the same disgust he felt towards the women at social events.
In an unexpected impulse, Chi Xiaoming reached out and covered Xu Nuan's eyes. Her tears quickly soaked his hand, and the sensation stirred different emotions within him.
He had heard from Feng Feng that while Xu Nuan might experience hallucinations due to drugs, much of it stemmed from psychological effects influenced by her surroundings. If he could block her direct connection to the external environment at the right moment, it might slightly alleviate those hallucinations.
Once he extended his hand, Chi Xiaoming clearly sensed that Xu Nuan had calmed down somewhat; her emotions stabilized significantly. His hand was large enough that he could feel her breath against his palm—ticklish yet more so stirring something deep inside him.
In that moment, the usually cautious Chi Xiaoming lost his vigilance; he forgot that after seeing hallucinations, Xu Nuan would often fall into a state of addiction. Those unable to self-harm to relieve their pain might unconsciously lash out at others.
By the time Chi Xiaoming felt pain, Xu Nuan had already bitten his hand as if it were a towel. The force she exerted was purely a reaction against the cravings within her—unrestrained and intense.
As for the pain itself, Chi Xiaoming merely frowned without making a sound. When he looked down at his hand, he noticed blood seeping from where she had bitten him.
Such pain was nothing to him; despite realizing that Xu Nuan intended to bite off a piece of his flesh with such force, he still moved slowly to grasp her chin, intending to make her release her grip.
As soon as his gaze fell upon Xu Nuan's pained expression, he halted his movements. If he targeted her for an attack, it might distract her from the cravings that consumed her.
This thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he pushed aside the fact that his hands could unlock many mechanisms within the game.
Chi Xiaoming's lack of resistance provided Xu Nuan, whose self-awareness had nearly vanished, with a signal to attack him. After a brief moment of silence, Xu Nuan immediately launched an all-out assault on Chi Xiaoming, using both her hands and feet while still vocally expressing her frustration.
This level of aggression was insufficient to truly affect Chi Xiaoming; it merely made him exert a bit more effort and feel slightly more fatigued.
By the time Feng Feng returned empty-handed, Xu Nuan had already entered a brief state of exhaustion. She curled up in a corner, drifting into sleep, but her still pained expression indicated that even in her dreams, she was tormented by the relentless effects of the antidote. Meanwhile, Chi Xiaoming sat calmly nearby, occasionally glancing at Xu Nuan's condition.
Feng Feng returned without a hint of regret. Upon noticing Chi Xiaoming's gaze directed at him, he merely responded with indifference.
"He got away. That person was suspicious—dressed all in black late at night, even covering his face completely. Was he that afraid someone would see what he looked like?"
Hearing Feng Feng's description, a name flashed through Chi Xiaoming's mind rapidly, but lacking sufficient evidence, he refrained from voicing his suspicions.
"What was his purpose in following us at this time?"
Chi Xiaoming's expression remained neutral. When he noticed Feng Feng's gaze lingering on his right hand, he instinctively pulled it back slightly. Fortunately, Feng Feng did not seem to focus on that detail and instead answered his question.
"I don't know. Our identities are quite special; each of us has something others might find useful."
Feng Feng sat down confidently. Despite being shorter in stature, he did not lose any presence beside Chi Xiaoming.
"However, that oddly dressed person only knew to run away after spotting me; there was no intention to attack. It might have been a case of mistaken identity."
Chi Xiaoming, however, did not think so. As Feng Feng had said, their identities were all quite special, but Xu Nuan was the one that both the three batches of Players and the designers wanted to befriend or threaten the most. If that person only knew how to run away, there was a high chance they were heading towards the secret passage or were connected to the secrets of the Third Batch of Players. For the other Players, Xu Nuan, who had mingled with the Third Batch of Players from the very beginning, was already considered one of them.
If that were the case, it was indeed possible that the person was someone he recognized.
As he pondered this, Feng Feng suddenly became sharp-minded and stared at him intently.
"There are hardly any First Batch of Players left. That person must be from the Second Batch. Do you know anyone who dresses so strangely?"
With Feng Feng asking like this, Chi Xiaoming had no choice but to respond.
"In my memory, there is only one person who likes to wrap themselves up completely—Liu Minghong. He's a very peculiar individual and used to be quite close to Xu Nuan when he first entered the game."
After finishing his thought, Chi Xiaoming quickly added, "But anyone who wants to follow us without being noticed would likely dress like that. It's better not to jump to conclusions."
Chi Xiaoming waited for Feng Feng's response but saw him sitting there in a daze, a hint of disbelief crossing his face. Chi Xiaoming immediately realized something.
"You know Liu Minghong?"
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