Was this He Yuncong the one she knew?
The system had said that only one of the three—her parents and him—had survived. It turned out she hadn’t guessed wrong; he had truly endured a year and a half in the instances.
In that instant, Mu Shan’s mind filled with all sorts of thoughts: worry, curiosity, and a trace of hidden fear.
He was a four-digit player, even ahead of the Rogue she had met…
Was he still the same him from before?
After a long while, she still didn’t rashly step forward to acknowledge him.
He Yuncong couldn’t see, and his walking speed wasn’t fast.
The bandages wrapped around his face and the black mask gave him an intense, indescribable oppressive aura.
Though blind, he cleverly avoided all obstacles in his path. In the stagnant atmosphere, he sat down at the bar, and no one approached within a circle around him—it became a vacuum zone.
The female boss poked her head out from the kitchen and quickly poured a glass of wine. Apart from that, the previously bustling tavern fell silent; not a single person spoke or moved.
The air was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
Everyone was restrained, their attention shifting from Mu Shan to that man.
Only the white male drunkard, still with an axe at his neck, flushed red and breathed rapidly: “You… you…”
Mu Shan pushed the axe forward a bit and signaled him with her eyes to shut up.
The sharp axe blade cut the skin on his neck, but David didn’t get angry—instead, he seemed even more excited.
His fat face turned purple-red as he panted heavily.
“You Asian quail, bug monster not even enough for one bite, puny humans like you I could crush with one hand, weak and frail just like little birds that never grow up…”
David continued his ravings; the blood from the cut on his neck had already soaked his collar, yet he seemed oblivious to the pain.
Alcohol drove one mad.
Mu Shan frowned and pressed the axe forward further; the iron blade squeezed folds into his fat neck.
Everyone else in the tavern seemed more nervous than David.
Norman Nov and Richard’s expressions changed as they lowered their voices: “Hey, are you out of your mind? Shut up now!”
“Let’s go; there’s nothing fun here…”
Interrupted by the two, David fumed like a mad bull: “Is it my fault? She’s the one threatening me with a weapon now! Asians are just a bunch of East Asian sick—ah!”
A sudden change occurred.
…
Blood splashed everywhere as Mu Shan struck without warning.
The axe blade, originally pressed against the white man’s neck, suddenly shifted direction, slicing upward past David’s earlobe and smoothly severing half his ear.
Everyone’s attention had been on Position 1; no one had taken the weak, young Mu Shan seriously.
She was like a slender wild rose that suddenly sprouted thorns, drawing blood.
In an instant, crimson blood gushed out like a spring.
David clutched his ear with both hands, his whole body bouncing up before collapsing from the intense pain. His body twisted and spasmed grotesquely on the ground as he let out a heart-wrenching scream.
“Aaah—!!!”
The wine glass in his hand smashed to the ground with a clang, spilling liquor that mixed with the blood.
The two white men stared in dazed shock, startled.
The other players wore similar expressions; everyone was stunned, forgetting how to react.
Mu Shan coldly glanced at the writhing man on the ground and took two steps forward, axe still dripping blood.
“Hold it; what did you do!” Norman Nov and Richard had drawn their guns, finally snapping back to reality as they rushed over to block her path.
The once-silent tavern now filled with David’s piercing screams.
The fat man rolled on the ground like a fish, tears and snot streaming as he screamed with bloodshot eyes: “My ear, my ear, you bastard! I’ll kill you—!!!”
Such a conflict finally made other players unable to sit still.
Anbu Chuanliang and Huang Hongbo approached, while Xia Xueqin stayed farther away.
Mu Shan looked at the players surrounding her, gripping the axe in her left hand while her right reached into her pocket to clutch her life-saving yellow talisman and scroll.
“This is self-defense; just a small warning.”
Huang Hongbo eyed her unkindly: “He was just drunk. Did he do anything excessive? Yet you cut off half his ear.”
“Is that so? I think since he was so arrogant, he was prepared to get beaten at any moment,” Mu Shan said.
After entering the instance, she had always believed that a moment of impatience could spoil great plans, especially since she had only gone through her second instance—her qualifications weren’t deep.
But the current situation forced her hand.
1. This was a team cooperation instance; players couldn’t survive solo like in Zombie Siege unless she accepted the system’s massive 3000-gold failure penalty;
2. David had verbally insulted her and provoked her repeatedly; he and his two accomplices might escalate soon;
3. After endless instances, players’ mental states grew stranger. Suppressed anger could cause internal harm; better to vent on others than oneself;
4. With Huang Hongbo and unfamiliar players present, who were [hostile/neutral] toward her, staying weak would brand her as 【utterly feeble】 in their impressions. Potential teammates like Xia Xueqin and Yu Da wouldn’t choose to cooperate or help her.
It was well-known: the instance world didn’t tolerate the weak.
Thus, David was the “chicken” to kill to warn the monkeys. If she didn’t act, she would become the warned “chicken.”
Seeing the two white men about to say more, Mu Shan suddenly pulled out the parchment scroll and held it high: “I advise you all not to act rashly!”
“Or it’ll be mutual destruction with the BOSS.” She lowered her voice.
The Blood Holy Mother Summoning Array scroll came from the underground labyrinth, hidden in the palace depths. Even unused, it emanated eerie bloodlight.
The players present weren’t newbies; they knew the danger. The timid ones immediately retreated a few steps.
Mu Shan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She knew to follow a slap with a sweet date: “Everyone, I came to the village today just to scout and make friends—no intent to conflict. My profession is support; my skill locates supplies, making team foraging twice as effective. Plus, one of my skill products is a hardworking, obedient zombie worker—perfect for home or travel. Friends in need can buy or trade with me.”
Their attention clearly shifted. Anbu Chuanliang lowered his voice: “What kind of zombie worker? How much…”
He got a fierce glare from Norman Nov and the others and immediately shut up.
Xia Xueqin smoked and tsked twice: “Forget it; no laws in instances, only strength talks. We supports aren’t pushovers.”
“Some people bully the weak like a dog that can’t stop eating shit, still thinking they’re real-world society thugs. But pity, some female players look weak but pack bigger heat than you—hahaha!”
Norman Nov’s face changed several times: “Position 4, you’re siding with her?”
Xia Xueqin lazily shifted posture: “I think a skilled support is more valuable than some drunk who can’t find north.”
“You…”
At the bar, Yu Da, who had been eating with his head down, suddenly slammed his empty plate with a bang. The crisp clash of dishes rang out, his action tinged with impatience.
In mere seconds, the tavern’s atmosphere had subtly shifted.
Mu Shan steadied her mind; she knew she was safe.
The writhing David on the ground still roared: “You won’t leave unscathed today—!!!”
His eyes were full of bloodshot veins as he clutched his bleeding ear, struggling like a vengeful ghost.
Xia Xueqin waved dismissively: “Everyone, let’s go; this guy’s lost it.”
Mu Shan put away her axe. She had no intention of tangling with David in a crowd, especially with the ill-intentioned Huang Hongbo present.
Fighting would expose more of her skills and items, unfavorable for future battles.
Several players prepared to leave.
But at that moment, a blurry black shadow appeared behind the white man. The shadow slowly approached, stepping on David’s back as if unaware of him.
David lay face-down; he couldn’t see behind but felt the excruciating pain on his spine, spewing garbled curses: “Who is it, &￥%@…”
But soon he couldn’t curse anymore.
The person stepped forward again, the other foot pinning his right arm. The immense, inhuman force felt like a mountain…
The opponent crushed his joint with overwhelming power, like stepping on a hemp rope.
David’s face drained from red to deathly pale, saliva and tears smearing his face. His arm was at the human limit.
He quickly abandoned dignity, wailing loudly for mercy: “Help, it hurts! Help aaaah! I was wrong, please…”
But the surrounding players stayed silent, pretending not to exist—even his white companions didn’t dare approach.
Mu Shan stared in shock at the man. It was… He Yuncong.
No trace of “anger” showed on his face as he stepped on David like an ordinary carpet.
Silent from start to finish, he was like a stone statue, devoid of human emotion.
In contrast, Mu Shan clearly heard the creak-creak of David’s arm bones under strain.
The sound of impending collapse.
Richard reacted first: “Position 1, are you sober? He’s not a monster!”
Xia Xueqin laughed mockingly: “Position 1 never looks where he’s going; hilarious. See if you dare get drunk and harass girls again—serves you right!”
Norman Nov glared at her and chimed in: “David is Position 12; he can’t have an accident. We need his geographic advantage for large-scale monster ambushes!”
Anbu Chuanliang whispered too: “…Dream Faller, the side quest penalty gold isn’t cheap.”
Huang Hongbo was surprised by the turn but didn’t want to oppose someone: “Everyone calm down; we’re allies on the same front.”
Allies footing the bill, Mu Shan silently retorted in her mind.
But no matter what others said, He Yuncong ignored them. His bandaged eyes saw nothing, leaving players unable to gauge his emotions.
Mu Shan watched him, her heart pounding harder.
She wanted to see the face hidden under the cold beast-head mask, but he remained stern and indifferent, unresponsive to others—like a living sculpture.
Suddenly, Mu Shan clearly realized he wasn’t the childhood sweetheart she grew up with.
He wasn’t the one who skipped class with her, trod sea waves with her, watched sunrises with her.
He had changed into a familiar stranger.
The man before her was a completely different “existence,” meticulously forged by the instances.
Did he… still remember her?
After an unknown time, He Yuncong suddenly moved. He stepped forward over David. Everyone heard a crisp crack as bone shattered.
David let out a short screech. As He Yuncong walked away, the fat man rolled on the ground clutching his arm, tears streaming, eyes red, like a wriggling worm.
Even so, he couldn’t cry out, only gaping silently.
Mu Shan was utterly shocked; everyone felt a chill down their spines.
He Yuncong stepped over the obstructing body and walked toward her. He precisely located her position, nothing like a blind man.
“Newcomer Position 5.”
“Are you Chinese?”
He Yuncong extended a hand, probing toward her: “Your voice sounds familiar.”
The others in the tavern showed shocked expressions; they couldn’t gauge the Dream Faller’s mental state—he’d gone mad before.
Mu Shan looked at the man inches away, swallowed secretly, and hesitated on how to respond.
The sound of flowing sand rang out again, and his cobra arm bracer suddenly came alive. The golden little snake slithered flexibly along his arm, smoothly reaching his fingertip, where it flicked its tongue toward Mu Shan.
Patches of yellow sand surged out from under their feet like boiling water, quickly submerging the soles of her shoes.
Mu Shan had no idea what skill this was. She took half a step back, her back pressing against the wall.
Even though she hadn’t said a word, hadn’t given any response, He Yuncong had gotten the answer he wanted.
He took another step forward, bending down with a joyful expression on his face.
“Shanshan, I remember your scent.”
“You’re still alive.”
The two of them were extremely close now, so close that the beast-head mask on his head was nearly brushing her nose.
The man before her was utterly unfamiliar: unfamiliar attire, unfamiliar personality, unfamiliar smell.
He reached out to touch her face, but they hadn’t had such intimate contact since elementary school graduation. Mu Shan instinctively leaned her head back, her body stiff and unable to react.
The surrounding players all stared wide-eyed at the two of them, especially the three white guys and Huang Hongbo, whose gazes were filled with suspicion.
She felt like their stares were going to burn her to a crisp!
What was wrong with him… This wasn’t a good place for a reunion at all.
David on the ground let out a timely, shrill wail of agony.
Mu Shan snapped back to reality and pushed away his outstretched hand. She stood on tiptoe and quickly whispered something in his ear.
Without waiting for his reaction, she hurried out of the tavern.
Meanwhile, the Dream Faller stood motionless in place, simply gazing quietly in the direction she had left.
“…”
The remaining players had no idea what had just happened.
Norman Nov and Richard forgot to drag David away, and even Yu Da set down his plate without eating.
“Mu Shan, Shanshan?” Xia Xueqin looked stunned. The cigarette in her mouth fell to the ground. “Ouch!”
“So the childhood sweetheart Number One was looking for wasn’t Susu or Shanshan, but Shanshan!”
Mu Shan rushed out of the tavern and hid behind a wooden shack across the street.
To be honest, she had no idea how to face He Yuncong now that he had become a completely different person.
He had once been an overly paternalistic childhood friend, relentlessly nagging her every day to do her homework, go to bed early, and stop playing on her phone. They hadn’t had any intimate contact since elementary school, and even during four years of university, they had only seen each other a handful of times.
For such a person to suddenly say he remembered her scent and want to hug her and touch her… This world had gone magical!
Mu Shan hid behind the cover for a while and saw Xia Xueqin, Huang Hongbo, Yu Da, and others emerge from the tavern one after another. The two white guys headed in another direction. They hadn’t taken the injured David with them; he was probably still inside the tavern.
The problem was, He Yuncong still hadn’t left after a long time.
What was going on… Had he fallen asleep in there?
The owner of the wooden shack where she was hiding—an NPC—stared at her in terror, as if she were a bandit. More and more villagers passed by, and Mu Shan wasn’t sure if the surroundings were safe. She gritted her teeth and decided to leave first.
Mu Shan found the raft she had hidden earlier in some bushes not far from the village entrance.
She took out a prop she had prepared long ago from her backpack.
【Confession Balloon (Auxiliary Type)
Usage: Blow the balloon at the origin point. After releasing it at the destination, the balloon will ignore the weight hanging from its bottom and return to the player-set origin point.】
She had filled it with air on the riverbank by her safe house entrance and kept it in her backpack ever since.
In theory, this balloon could carry her back to the safe house along the same route.
Mu Shan tied the thin balloon string to the raft. The moment she let go, the small white balloon indeed lifted the entire bathtub raft into the air, following her incoming route and swiftly returning through the sky.
If anyone had looked up at that moment, they would have seen a bathtub carrying a person flying over the forest canopy—an effect no less absurd than using a stick to pry the Earth off its axis.
Newton’s coffin lid couldn’t hold it down.
Mu Shan sat in the bathtub, occasionally plucking berries hanging from the treetops on either side, soon filling the basin.
Her emotions had been too intense earlier. Now, cooled by the wind, she felt that the message she had left him was too simplistic…
His mental state didn’t seem very healthy either, but returning to the tavern to find him made her hesitate; she always had her reservations.
He Yuncong had grown up with her since childhood, practically like a half-brother.
Mu Shan simply hadn’t expected him to be the Dream Faller everyone was talking about.
The one who had been searching for her nonstop, the one called a “madman.”
…
He had moved in later and become her neighbor.
Back then, her parents and relatives would tease that she had gained a little follower for nothing.
No matter if Mu Shan was digging in the dirt under a tree or playing on the slide, there was always an especially loyal little fan trailing faithfully behind her.
Girls developed earlier, so even though he was older, Mu Shan was still a bit taller when they stood together.
He had been fair and delicate back then, with refined features that made people want to pinch his cheeks hard.
Because she was taller, she always liked to call herself the big sister in public.
Whenever someone asked outside, Mu Shan would pat her chest and put her arm around him, who was half a head shorter: “This is my younger brother, who’s a year older than me! His name is Yunyun!”
From Yunyun, to He Yuncong, to the Dream Faller.
He stood in place, deeply inhaling the last faint trace of her scent lingering in the air.
The tavern was long empty.
But the smile on He Yuncong’s face never faded.
In He Yuncong’s vision, the surrounding scenes were always bizarre and grotesque. The place he entered wasn’t a tavern but a monster’s lair. What was handed to him wasn’t wine but some unidentified crimson liquid.
The proprietress bared a blood-filled maw, her teeth split to her ear roots.
The other players were grotesque amalgamations, like monsters stitched from mismatched designs.
He walked alone through such a world, switching daily between madness and sanity.
As time passed, his sane moments grew fewer and fewer. He would often wake up unsure when or how he had ended up somewhere new.
But he always remembered that he had to find someone—someone very important.
“Shanshan? It’s the apocalypse and you’re still doing the childhood sweetheart thing? Who knew the famous Dream Faller was such a romantic.”
A player whose face he could no longer recall laughed mockingly, deliberately provoking him. “What to do? The little girl I just killed… she seemed to be called Shanshan too…”
That player never got to finish his words; He Yuncong tore him apart with his bare hands.
He Yuncong always walked alone, from sunset to moonrise. His body was splattered with blood—both from monsters and players.
He had no idea which instance he was in or how many days he had survived. He didn’t care about the looks from those around him. The system rewards and gold coins slipped through his fingers like flowing sand, impossible to grasp.
He maintained his routine for long periods: eating when sane, killing monsters when dreaming.
This time, when he wandered into a place on instinct, he finally sensed something familiar.
—It was like someone suddenly pulling open the curtains in a pitch-black room; his vision lit up with light.
Under that warm glow, she stood there, clean and pure.
“Brother Yuncong, wait for me.”