Chapter 26: Manor Level 26

One after another, seven or eight monsters had already emerged from the mist, stopping in front of Ai Ling and He Xi.

At this moment, Ai Ling was completely dazed, having lost two of her three souls.

Although the monsters before her weren’t exactly aliens, they looked just as horrifying as them.

They had skin with various insect-like features—red, black, yellow, fluorescent, and even pink.

Their faces were skeletal, resembling human skulls, and most of them had seven or eight long, thin, sharp limbs.

Depending on the insect type, some had wings, others had compound eyes, some had pincers, some had long antennae, and some had straw-like tubes like mosquitoes… The most terrifying part was that their body shapes clearly showed distinct male and female features.

So, were they human or insect?

Ai Ling was so stiff with fear that she couldn’t even move a finger. Fluffy Ball had long since hidden back into her mind in terror.

Cold sweat trickled down her forehead in droplets, and Ai Ling struggled to turn her head, looking at He Xi in fear. “Quick, take me and fly away.”

He Xi tightly pressed his lips together, his eyes fixed on the monsters, his face pale. His hands clenched into fists, trembling slightly.

Ai Ling thought to herself, “It’s over. If even He Xi is afraid, am I going to lose my life here today?”

But in the next second, He Xi stepped forward, positioning himself protectively in front of her. “You can’t fly above the third-level platform, follow my command—one, two, three, run!”

As soon as the word “run” left his lips, He Xi grabbed Ai Ling’s hand and swiftly darted into a nearby building on the left.

The insect-like creatures let out eerie shrieks when they saw their prey escape, immediately chasing after them.

Inside the building, the old layout still remained, with scattered objects scattered on the floor. But everything was covered in vines and moss, making it hard to tell what they were.

The entire interior of the building had turned into a green world.

He Xi seemed to be very familiar with the area. He led Ai Ling through the building, hiding and dodging, climbing quickly to escape.

The two ran from the lower floors to the upper ones, and from one building to another, sometimes swinging across vines like monkeys to reach the next structure.

Although the zerg people were agile and fast, they seemed to lack intelligence and were not as familiar with the buildings as He Xi was, always being a step behind them.

Several times, Ai Ling felt like she was about to be caught by the spider-like creatures’ webs or sucked into the mosquito people’s long tubes, but He Xi swiftly snatched her away from the monsters’ jaws.

This was the first time Ai Ling had experienced such a heart-pounding, life-threatening moment. She clung tightly to He Xi’s hand, terrified that he might lose her.

They continued forward, evading one group of monsters, only to encounter another shortly after.

If it weren’t for the thin mist covering everything, Ai Ling would have been able to see from a high vantage point that the entire city was densely filled with these creatures.

No wonder ever since she climbed onto this platform, she had been feeling a constant sense of unease.

Being watched by so many strange things, it would be odd if she didn’t feel uneasy.

They ran and ran, and many times He Xi was tripped by monsters that appeared out of nowhere in front of them.

Strangely, even though He Xi could easily kill them, he never really went all out, even when the monsters actually wounded him.

On his white robe, which had somehow been washed clean, red roses began to bloom once again.

Ai Ling always felt like she was holding him back. If it weren’t for carrying her as a burden, he could have escaped this place quickly on his own.

While running, Ai Ling would glance at He Xi.

He Xi still kept his lips tightly pressed together, his brow furrowed, his deep eyes sharply scanning all directions, searching for even the smallest chance of escape in this perilous environment.

Ah, He Xi was so much more charming in times like this!

Ai Ling cursed herself, thinking, now is not the time to be lovesick. Stay focused, run faster, and escape for your life!

They ran through this city forest for about an hour before reaching the end.

Ai Ling could clearly feel that He Xi was slightly out of breath, and she herself was completely exhausted.

She had long wanted him to stop and rest, but He Xi refused, saying they could hold on a little longer, and that once they reached the third-level platform, the real forest would begin, and the zerg people wouldn’t follow them.

Ai Ling looked up and saw that ahead, there were no more tall buildings, and it had transformed into a proper forest.

The mist was also much lighter now, and everything looked lush and full of life.

At the very last moment, a dozen or so zerg people attacked from behind. He Xi grabbed the last vine in front of them and, holding Ai Ling, swiftly swung off the building and fell straight into the forest.

The zerg people chasing from above stopped when they saw them swing into the forest, and immediately halted, no longer pursuing.

Ai Ling, still swinging in the air, saw the zerg people stop and cheered, “Great! He Xi, we did it! We’re safe!”

“Bang!”

After that cheer, the two of them fell hard to the ground. The earth beneath them suddenly gave way, and with a crashing sound, they sank into the ground.

At that moment, Ai Ling thought, “No way, have I really gotten so heavy that I can even collapse the ground?”

A cloud of dust rushed toward them, choking Ai Ling, causing her to cough several times.

Rubbing her aching back, Ai Ling stood up, only to realize it was pitch black around them. It was probably some kind of cave or trap.

Ai Ling fumbled forward in the dark, calling out, “He Xi, He Xi?”

After some time, she finally touched He Xi’s hand.

Ah, so cold.

“He Xi, He Xi? Are you alright? Why is your hand so cold?”

From behind her, she heard He Xi’s voice, “I’m here.”

Boom!

Ai Ling’s body instantly stiffened, and the hairs on her body stood on end.

If the hand she touched wasn’t He Xi’s…

“Ah—!” Ai Ling screamed and jumped back.

Just at this moment, He Xi turned on a light, and Ai Ling shut her eyes, rushing to He Xi’s side, pointing forward:

“What is that thing? Quick, help me see what I just touched! Hurry, hurry!”

He Xi’s cold voice came, “If you’re dead, that’s a…”

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Before he could finish, Ai Ling screamed, “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, just take me up, I don’t want to know!”

Pfft~

He Xi couldn’t help but laugh, forcibly pulling down Ai Ling’s hand that was covering her eyes. “If you take a look, you’ll know. It’s just a statue.”

Ai Ling, who had just been trembling like a sieve, immediately calmed down, half-believing, half-doubting, and slowly turned her head.

Sure enough, it was a large, powerful statue, one of those artistic human sculptures, you know!

Ai Ling couldn’t help but feel relieved, glad that she had touched a hand and not something strange.

Then she remembered there was a man beside her, and it didn’t seem quite right to stare at an art sculpture like this.

She suddenly felt nervous and quickly turned her head, glancing at He Xi, only to find him grinning brightly.

Ai Ling’s face immediately turned red, and in embarrassment and anger, she pushed him. “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny? Pervert!”

He Xi had a teasing look on his face. “I always thought you were a fearless, tough woman, but I didn’t expect you’d be scared one day. Quite interesting!”

Uh… so, it turned out that he hadn’t noticed anything about art, and the pervert was actually her…

Ai Ling felt so awkward inside, wanting to bang her head against the wall, but on the outside, she pretended to stay calm as she walked towards the hole in the ground. “I’ve always been fearless. That wasn’t expected, right? Ugh…”

Ai Ling almost screamed again but stopped herself. She couldn’t keep slapping herself in the face, or it would get swollen.

Still, she couldn’t help but quickly turn and run back to He Xi, tightly grabbing his arm and pointing at the dark cave ahead, her voice trembling. “There, there’s a pair of eyes watching us.”

Upon hearing this, He Xi touched the wall, and after a few moments, all the lights in the cave lit up.

Ai Ling then noticed that this seemed to be an air raid shelter, with the long cave walls covered in floor tiles, and every two or three meters, a wall lamp was installed.

She didn’t know where He Xi had pressed, but now all the lights were on, revealing a row of sculptures ahead.

The pair of eyes Ai Ling had seen earlier were gems embedded in these sculptures.

Ai Ling was drawn to these stunning works of art, unable to resist walking over and gently touching their smooth faces and bodies, as well as the jewels and diamonds that still shone like new, having survived for thousands of years.

These sculptures are all of humans, just like He Xi—men and women, old and young, all of them vividly lifelike.

They all have charming smiles on their faces, as if they are telling Ai Ling about their wonderful lives.

Ai Ling clicked her tongue in admiration. “Why would such beautiful art be hidden in this cave?”

He Xi remained silent for a moment before responding with an emotionless expression, “They were once placed in Xihua Square. I suppose they didn’t want these artworks to be destroyed by the zerg tribe, so they moved them here.”

Ai Ling admired them a bit longer before nodding. “I see. I found two diaries written by the Blue Star people when I fell into the hole before. It seemed like they mentioned how their star lord went out to fight the zergs, but their planet was attacked by the zerg tribe. I wanted to ask you about that, but I didn’t know what happened to your star lord.”

She turned to look at He Xi, but He Xi immediately turned his back to her, staring at a stone table ahead. “Are you referring to that kind of diary?”

Ai Ling followed his gaze and saw, indeed, a piece of paper on the stone table, exactly the same as the ones from before.

【To be honest, the Blue Star people are quite pitiful.】

【Yes, if He Xi hadn’t needed to join the Star Federation fleet, with his strength, he could have protected Blue Star.】

【But even so, He Xi shouldn’t have killed the Ancestor God and made the entire universe mourn their loss.】

【Exactly, our T785 star also suffered a total defeat, and only a few survivors immigrated to G8795 to continue. We didn’t say we wanted to destroy the universe or take revenge on society.】

【Sigh, he should never have killed the Ancestor God, which led him to fall into madness.】

【Forget it, discussing this is pointless. Let’s keep watching, this third-level platform seems quite dangerous.】

【Unhappy, I don’t want to watch her risk her life, I just want to see her cook.】