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A strong longing arose in his heart, and he longed to return to his world, to be back with his family. 

But when would I be able to go back?

Zheng Wei sat down beside Allen, who was crouched there silently weeping, and placed a hand gently on his shoulder, looking into the distance with a dazed expression.

The two sat by the river until the sun began to set. Their stomachs began to protest, making “gurgling” sounds. Zheng Wei and Allen suddenly realized that they hadn’t eaten all day.

Allen and Zheng Wei looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter.

“We haven’t eaten all day, and I didn’t even notice,” Allen said. His pain had been released along with his tears, and he now looked much better.

“After speaking everything out, I feel much better,” Allen said with a smile to Zheng Wei. “Thank you, bro, for being willing to listen to me.”

“You’re welcome,” Zheng Wei shook his head and said, “Didn’t you say we’re family? I feel the same way, so I’m happy to help you.”

Zheng Wei meant every word he said. He really wanted to be friends with the members of the Cherry Blossom Team, even though he didn’t belong there.

“Thanks, Zheng,” Allen said, feeling touched. He smiled sincerely at Zheng Wei and said, “I’ll remember what you said.”

Zheng Wei smiled but didn’t say anything. He really liked the people of the Cherry Blossom Team, but he knew it was all fake. He had been forced into this world by the system for the mission. Once the mission was complete, everything would disappear.

Allen stood up and stretched, looking at the sun in the distance. “I didn’t know crying was so exhausting,” he said jokingly. “I feel like I’ve just finished a strenuous race on an empty stomach.”

He spoke in a tone that suggested the previous pain was just an illusion. But Zheng Wei knew the scars hadn’t disappeared; they never would.

But since Allen appeared to be fine now, Zheng Wei wouldn’t pry further. Some wounds could only be healed by oneself; others couldn’t help too much.

“Let’s go back and eat something,” Zheng Wei said. He stretched his limbs and looked at the small house in the distance. “I think Jin and the others must be impatiently waiting for us.”

Both of them returned to Martin’s grandmother’s cottage and pushed open the door to find only Ellie in the living room. The quiet girl was sitting on the sofa, holding a book in her hand.

“You’re back?” Seeing Allen and Zheng walk in, Ellie immediately put down the book in her hand and ran toward them excitedly. “Why did you come back so late? I thought you got lost.”

“How are you, Allen? Are you okay?” Ellie walked up to them and gave them a hug.

“I’m fine.” Allen hugged her back, indicating that she didn’t need to worry. “Zheng kept me company for a while, so I’m okay now.”

“That’s good. We were all very worried about you.” Ellie patted his shoulder, looking relieved.

“By the way, you must be hungry.” She let go of Allen’s hand. “We made some food and left some for you in the kitchen. I’ll go get it for you.”

“She’s such a thoughtful girl,” Allen praised.

There were some scrambled eggs and sandwiches in the kitchen. Zheng and Allen took their plates to the dining table next to the living room and began to eat heartily. They were really starving.

“How’s Martin doing?” After finishing their meal, Zheng asked.

“He’s not doing well.” Ellie shrugged. “But don’t worry, Jin and Diane are with him.”

“Okay.” Zheng nodded, understanding that anyone in Martin’s position wouldn’t be feeling well.

“Are they still upstairs?” Zheng looked up at the second floor.

“No,” Ellie’s answer caught Zheng off guard.

“Then where are they?” Zheng was surprised and quickly asked.

“Um…” Ellie hesitated for a moment and looked at Allen, showing a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“What’s wrong?” Allen became puzzled seeing Ellie’s expression. “Is there something I shouldn’t hear?”

“No…” Ellie said hesitantly. “Martin wanted to vent, you know, so he took his gun and went to the forest. Diane and Jin went with him.”

“What?” Allen immediately stood up, his eyebrows furrowed. “This is ridiculous. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun and could easily hurt himself.”

Allen was the oldest among them and had a relatively stable personality. When facing the other members of the team, he always had a brotherly sense of responsibility.

“I know,” Ellie shrugged, looking helpless. “I and Diane also said that, but we couldn’t stop him. Martin is not in a good mood now.”

“Even so, you should have waited for me to come back,” Allen paced back and forth, covering his face. “Those three haven’t even touched a gun before. Something is bound to go wrong.”

“Diane and Jin are watching him. They won’t let him do anything reckless,” Ellie said in a low voice, but her confidence was clearly lacking.

“Ellie, did they say where they were going?” Zheng Wei asked. “We need to find them.” Who knows when the evil spirit will appear? Zheng Wei can’t let them wander outside.

“They just said they were going to the forest, but I’m not sure where exactly,” Ellie said. “But they said they’ll be back before dark.”

Zheng Wei looked out the window. The sun was already approaching the horizon. It was already past 4 p.m., and there were about two hours left until dark.

“How long have they been gone?” Zheng Wei thought for a moment and asked.

“About two hours,” Ellie took out her phone and checked the time.

“Do you want to go find them?” She looked at Zheng Wei and Allen.

Allen looked at the sky outside and said to Zheng Wei, “Zheng, I’ll go prepare some things. We’ll go out together to find them later.”

“Oh, okay,” Zheng Wei nodded and stood up. “What should I bring?”

“You?” Allen looked at Zheng Wei and sized him up. “Change your clothes first.”

Zheng Wei looked down and realized that he was still wearing the pajamas he had worn to bed last night, which were covered in dust from the basement.

“I’ll come with you guys too.” While looking for clothes, Ellie also stood up from the couch and said to Allen. She was influenced by Allen’s attitude and now felt a little uneasy.

“Ellie, you should stay here. If we miss each other, they will at least know where we went,” Allen was not too reassured about having Ellie follow along.

He patted Ellie’s shoulder and comforted her, “Whether we find anything or not, we’ll be back as soon as it gets dark. Don’t worry too much. I was just a little anxious earlier. Diane should be watching over Martin.”

“Allen, let Ellie come with us,” Zheng Wei, who had been silent all along, spoke up. “If you’re worried that Martin and the others won’t be able to find us, we can leave them a note.”

“It’s easier to find people with more people,” Zheng Wei explained. “And, I’m not too comfortable leaving Ellie alone here.”

Although the evil spirit was still asleep and the house didn’t seem dangerous, in any story, as soon as the companions split up, there will be no good ending. So Zheng Wei hoped that everyone would act together as much as possible and not leave anyone behind.

Allen thought about it and felt that Zheng Wei had a point, “Okay, Ellie, you can come with us. I’m going upstairs to get something. If you guys need anything to bring, hurry up and pack.”

“Okay, I’ll write a note first,” Ellie nodded. Although she didn’t think there was any danger in staying here, it was still better to go out and look for people with Allen and Zheng than to wait alone.

“Well, let’s move quickly,” Allen said before running upstairs. Zheng Wei went to the bathroom with his clothes.

In the bathroom, Zheng Wei took off his dirty clothes. While he was taking off his clothes, something fell out of his pocket with a “ding” sound and landed on the tile.

He looked down and saw the letter opener he had found in the basement. As he gazed at the shiny silver opener, a sudden wave of unease washed over Zheng Wei. He quickly changed into clean clothes, picked up the letter opener from the floor, and put it into his pocket.

God bless, nothing bad happens.

When Zheng Wei came out of the bathroom, Allen and Ellie were already waiting for him in the living room.

“Okay, let’s go.” Seeing Zheng Wei, Allen said, “Let’s go and hope those guys didn’t cause any trouble.”

The three of them left the house, heading towards the forest along the stream, with the sun slowly rising on the horizon.

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