Chapter 68: Wang Family Funeral Home
Although she didn’t see the scene of Chen Hai’s “death”, in Meng Ning’s heart, he was probably already dead.
And now, she didn’t even have time to lament the death of this pretty good teammate she had gotten along with; she had to make another choice right away.
“Since the ghost didn’t chase after me. I’ll still go to the duty room.”
Meng Ning thought: If she discovered any accident again, she would run away directly like just now, and go find other companions.
She still wanted to live.
So she couldn’t directly violate the “night shift” rules; she had to return to the duty room.
Forcing up her spirit, Meng Ning bit her lip and walked toward the duty room.
Perhaps because she had stopped just now, when she started walking again, she actually felt her legs somewhat unresponsive.
Aching and weak, it was the fatigue surging up after the stamina burst.
Just now when she went up the stairs, she had taken two or three steps at a time, putting a lot of pressure on her knees, but she hadn’t felt it at all before.
But now wasn’t the time to rest; she could only drag her overexerted legs and faintly aching knees toward the duty room.
Originally there had been two people on the way here, but now only one was left, without a companion by her side, even the calm night road made her feel somewhat terrified.
No movement at all would make her feel unease, feel a chill on her back, but once there was any rustling sound, it would make her even more panicked; even just the sound of wind blowing through leaves made Meng Ning’s body tremble slightly.
“I’m really too nervous; this won’t do.”
She realized this problem.
She was now like a scared bird, even though she hadn’t really seen the “ghost” yet.
She had already gone through four platforms; after the last platform, she had been promoted to level three. What she didn’t say during her self-introduction was that this was still her first time participating in a [C]-level mission.
Perhaps because of this layer of psychological pressure, she was much more nervous than in the previous instance.
“I performed pretty well in previous missions; even if the difficulty increased, it would definitely be fine. The train must think I can adapt to this difficulty, that’s why it upgraded me.”
She comforted herself.
The duty room was right in front of her.
The light inside the room was on; it was what she and Chen Hai had left on before leaving. In the dark night, this bit of light felt reassuring.
The door that had been closed when they left was also fine; as she got closer, she saw that the thing clipped to the door crack was still in place.
Meng Ning suddenly let out a sigh of relief.
“Good…”
She twisted the door handle; the duty room wasn’t big, and she could see everything at a glance. It was quiet and cozy inside, and for Meng Ning who had just escaped death, it had an indescribable appeal.
She closed the door, locked it, and then slumped into the chair in the duty room.
The heaving of her chest hadn’t subsided yet, and the fatigue from overexertion made her not even want to move a finger.
“I hope tonight, no more accidents happen.”
Time passed bit by bit; Lu Jinzhao woke up before dawn.
She slept very lightly, waking up almost every one or two hours to look around; that night, even she herself couldn’t be sure if she had actually fallen asleep.
But sleep was necessary; over three days, no one could hold out without sleeping at all.
Fortunately, ever since her transaction with the parchment, she needed much less sleep; after this half-asleep half-awake night, it actually counted as pretty good rest.
When Xiao Ping sat up from the bed next door, his eyes were dazed.
They hadn’t even taken off their shoes, just in case they could stand up and escape directly, but even though the dormitory had been calm last night, Xiao Ping seemed to have not slept a wink.
Lu Jinzhao looked at his fatigued expression, unsure if Xiao Ping could still react in this state when an anomaly occurred.
“Have you never participated in a long-duration mission before?” she asked directly.
Xiao Ping was stunned for a moment, then nodded: “…Yes, the longest one was surviving 10 hours inside the platform.”
“Wha-what’s wrong?” His brain was fatigued, making even his tone weaker than yesterday.
Lu Jinzhao looked at him and suggested: “Find some time today to catch up on sleep; this state won’t do.”
Xiao Ping reacted for a moment before realizing the meaning in Lu Jinzhao’s words, and hurriedly thanked her: “I understand, thank you.”
“It’s just… in this situation, I really can’t sleep.”
Lu Jinzhao didn’t say anything more.
In front of her, writing appeared on the parchment.
[You’re so kind-hearted.]
[Why weren’t you this kind-hearted in the last mission?]
This wasn’t pure curiosity; it carried a tone of sarcasm.
Lu Jinzhao didn’t answer it.
She wasn’t kind-hearted; in fact, she didn’t care about Xiao Ping’s life or death, nor his condition; she even thought that his dazed spirit was a point she could exploit—if any accident happened, having him die in her place would be easy.
But at the same time, Lu Jinzhao coldly recalled that if it were her when she had just boarded the train, she wouldn’t think this way; instead, she would probably remind the other to pay attention to their state, without harming herself.
After all, he was a teammate; a living human teammate was always better than a dead corpse.
Faced with this situation, the former Lu Jinzhao would also start with the mission itself, relying on herself to find a way to survive; teammates might become her tools, but she wouldn’t think of killing them first thing.
She was just imitating her former self.
[I get it; are you deliberately reminding him to let him lower his vigilance, think you’re a good person, and make it easier to use him?]
[Isn’t it better to let him stay in this fatigued state?]
[This way he’ll die quickly, and he can help you probe the ghost’s killing methods and taboos.]
The parchment tirelessly induced her.
But the more it guided, the colder Lu Jinzhao’s heart grew.
Because what she was thinking right now wasn’t much different from the parchment.
This made her even more disgusted.
Was she adhering to the thoughts in her mind, or following her true heart’s ideas?
She couldn’t judge, and could only rely on her understanding of her past self to maintain the appearance that “Lu Jinzhao” should have as much as possible.
[I know; you’re deliberately reminding him to make him relax his vigilance, think you’re a good person, and be easier to exploit, right?]
[Hee hee, looking at how he thanks you, don’t you think he’s so stupid?]
[Let him die.]
[For you to complete the mission smoothly, his death would be worthwhile.]
The parchment’s writing kept appearing, but Lu Jinzhao completely ignored it.
She couldn’t listen, couldn’t look, and certainly couldn’t believe.
Xiao Ping next to her had no idea what Lu Jinzhao was confronting right now; he washed his face with cold water, slightly reviving his listless spirit.
“Let’s go; we’ll go to the duty room to hand over shift.”
There was still half an hour until shift change; they had agreed with each other that if no accidents happened, they absolutely couldn’t be late for the handover.
“I’ll find a chance to catch up on sleep during the day; I won’t hold you back.” Xiao Ping thought for a moment and added.
Lu Jinzhao just nodded lightly.
[Hold you back?]
[Haha, this guy has no idea what you’re thinking; you can easily let him die.]
[This should be very simple for you, right?]
Simple?
Lu Jinzhao lowered her eyes, thinking to herself, you don’t know what I’m thinking either.
But aren’t you the same?
