Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Chapter 126

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Mo Yi regretted it.

He had no intention of having any emotional entanglements with the other party. No matter whether the other party’s confession was from the heart or otherwise, his ambiguous response just now would lead the other party on.

However, after hearing Mo Yi’s response, the body that was merely loosely encircling him just now froze abruptly. The breathing close to his ear changed instantly, blatantly displaying the man’s violently changing emotions.

Wen Chen’s arms tightened instantly, hugging so tightly as if he wanted to crush Mo Yi into his own flesh and blood. The gap between the two men was completely filled, and Mo Yi could clearly feel how the chest pressing snugly to his own, was heaving unsteadily and violently.

It was so tight that he couldn’t breathe. It was so tight that he could almost hear his ribs cracking.

This sudden fierce hug interrupted Mo Yi’s train of thought, and his words of rejection lodged deeply in his throat.

He raised his hand with difficulty, patted Wen Chen on the shoulder, and squeezed out two words from his suffocated throat.

“Let… go.”

Wen Chen seemed to have just realised he’d gone overboard and quickly relaxed his strength.

He took a step back, leaving room for Mo Yi to breathe, but he left his arms encircled around him, as if he couldn’t bear to let Mo Yi go. Under the light, his light-coloured eyes appeared sharp and cold, and he stared anxiously at Mo Yi.

“How are you? Are you okay?”

Wen Chen pursed his lips. His eyes drooped slightly, and he explained in a helpless tone. “Sorry, earlier, I was too…”

Mo Yi coughed violently a few times and hurriedly raised his palm to stop Wen Chen from completing his sentence.

Straightening his bent waist, he raised his eyes to look at Wen Chen. His eyes were glistening, damp from his coughing, but the glint of his pair of dark black eyes were tough and indifferent under the shimmering film of water.

Mo Yi open his mouth to say, “No, I should be the one to apologise. I shouldn’t have given you such an ambiguous reply.”

He had fully gotten his bearings back at this moment, and with a clear and rational mind, he said easily formulated the rest of his sentence.

“What I meant earlier was although I do not hate you or your touch, it does not mean that I am willing to accept your… confession, or pursuit.”

Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. His pale face was soft and handsome, but his voice was cold and indifferent.

“Indeed, your guess was correct. This has nothing to do with gender, race, or species. However, there are too many unanswered mysteries with regards to both this game and your existance, and I hate feeling like I am not in control.

In other words, it also means that I would never fully put my trust in you, let alone fall in love with you, do you understand?”

His words were so cruel that they hurt.

“I have no interest in your purpose here, be it true love or other plans. All I want to tell you is that everything you are doing would be meaningless, and you don’t even need to try, because there wouldn’t be any results.”

After Mo Yi finished speaking, he raised his eyes to Wen Chen who was standing opposite him.

Only to see a nearly blank expression on his face—Mo Yi couldn’t help but feel a little guilty—and then, he heard Wen Chen reply in a very soft voice, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.

“Earlier… You said that you don’t hate me?”

Mo Yi, “…”

Huh?

Before he could react, he saw Wen Chen’s eyes lighting up and the corners of his lips lifting. Although there was still no expression on his face, one could tell that he was in a good mood.

“You also said, you don’t hate my touch?”

Mo Yi was a little confused. “…”

Was there a difference between what he just said and what the other party heard?

At this moment, Wen Chen seemed to have finally restrained his joyful emotions. He tried his best to flatten the smile on his lips, but his eyes were still bright. He cast a meaningful look at Mo Yi, and replied in a deep voice.

“I understand.”

Mo Yi, “…” ???

So… what exactly did you understand?

Before he could react, he heard a sudden loud bang from outside the door. A faint tremor came from his feet and the huge sound wave passed through the thin wall, making his ears buzz.

Mo Yi’s eyes sharpened immediately and he no longer cared about continuing to entangle with Wen Chen on the topic just now. Instead, he turned and ran towards the place where the voice came from.

He flung open the shaking door and a bout of smoke and dust covered him in the next second.

Mo Yi suppressed his coughs as much as possible, raised his arms, and covered his face with his sleeves.

The sprinkling of dust clouded their vision with a dirty greyish yellow colour, and it took some time before everything finally settled enough for him to see the outlines of the other objects in the house.

This was a wide and almost empty hall, looking gloomy and old. The interior was covered by a layer of thick dust, and the old ceiling and floor showed a dirty colour under the dim light.

The wallpaper was loose, hanging down and revealing the mottled and ugly wall plaster.

And in the centre of the hall filled with falling dust, was a huge hole where the wooden flooring had broken off. There were cracked wood chips on its circumference, forming sharp angles on all sides of the dark abyss.

And the rumbling sound they’d heard earlier obviously came from here.

Mo Yi walked forward slowly, carefully observing the surrounding environment.

He stopped a few steps away from the big hole, and used his flashlight to peer into it.

The white beam sone into the darkness, sweeping around in vain. There was absolutely nothing else he could see other than some rising dust and wood chips which had yet to settle.

Mo Yi frowned.

He regretted not stopping Jiang Yuanrou from leaving just now. Although she came to this old house in her last instance, she had opened the branch quest after all, so there might be hidden dangers even in what they consider as the safest location.

Inhaling deeply, he subconsciously lowered his gaze to search the depths of the hole. In the next second, he froze when his gaze landed on a corner of the wooden floor under his feet.

There were a few bright red blood stains on the broken plank which was lifted at an angle.

Mo Yi crouched and stretched out a hand to the dazzling blood. He lightly rubbed his fingertips together. The sticky and warm touch of blood seemed to penetrate his skin and spread inward.

Still fresh.

Mo Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. He turned his gaze to the huge hole in the centre of the floor again, as if he was thinking about something.

At this moment, a hand stretched out from behind his side and gently held his wrist.

Mo Yi glanced in the direction of the touch, only to see Wen Chen standing not far behind him, looking at him steadily.

He raised his eyebrows, puzzled.

“What’s the matter?”

Wen Chen shook his head slowly at him, then said, “You can’t help her with whatever happens next.”

Mo Yi was taken aback. He frowned and asked in a low voice, “What do you mean?”

Wen Chen pulled Mo Yi away from the dangerous edge of the hole before replying.

“This instance was designed for Jiang Yuanrou. What she encounters next would be a test she has to face, and if you were to intervene, you would harm her instead.”

Mo Yi subconsciously turned his head to look at the dark pit, recalling the guess he had about the membership tests when he was still in Edwin’s spiritual world—

He organised the words in his mind, then asked.

“So, the membership test is indeed a comprehensive evaluation of the player in that instance, and the reason why those players who started the test did not return to reality was because this test would connect all the conflicts and danger in the instance with the player who is taking the test, right?”

Wen Chen looked at him firmly. “Yes.”

His face turned pale for a moment.

Mo Yi didn’t notice it. Instead, he lowered his eyes, and his drooping lashes covered the expression in them.

He rubbed his fingers together, then moved his wrist lightly, breaking away from Wen Chen’s weak grasp.

Mo Yi raised his head thoughtfully. He looked around the entire hall before moving his lips, muttering softly as if talking to himself.

“And there are two kinds of players who fail the test. The first kind are forcibly dragged in by the instance and were killed by the dangers and clues. These individuals end up just like ordinary players who died in the instance, and are slowly forgotten in reality.

The second kind are those who were not killed in the instance. They survived all the way until the countdown ended, however, their comprehensive evaluation didn’t meet the requirements of the game, so they were also considered to have failed.”

A strange colour flashed in Mo Yi’s dark eyes. “This second type of players are not forgotten in reality. Even Jiang Yuanrou’s props show Jiang Yuanbai didn’t die, only that his life was in danger…”

Wen Chen looked at Mo Yi quietly. Deep shadows were casted on his deep facial features, and there was a little light in his eyes, he opened his mouth and replied.

“That’s right, they were left behind.”

Just as he blurted out these words, his face turned pale again.

Mo Yi frowned, deeply immersed in his own thoughts. He fixed his eyes on a certain point in the air, as though he wanted to see something through it.

But Wen Chen’s words seemed to wake him up, and Mo Yi subconsciously followed the voice and looked at him.

Only to hear Wen Chen continue speaking.

“Now Jiang Yuanrou must confront Edwin. This is the significance of this instance…”

This…?

Mo Yi was stumped. His gaze suddenly fell on the corner of Wen Chen’s lips—

There was a trace of blood slowly sliding down from the corner of his lips, appearing glaringly bright on his pale skin.

Mo Yi was startled. He reached out and grabbed Wen Chen’s arm which was lying limply by his side and looked at him with a frown.

“Stop.”

—Wen Chen had said too much, and the game was punishing him.

“It’s okay.” Wen Chen turned his face and looked at him deeply.

“You can trust me…”

Mo Yi was stunned by this reply. He recalled what he said just now, and instantly understood the meaning of Wen Chen’s words. This understanding brought a wave of mixed feelings afloat in his heart.

He had personally experienced the pain of being silenced from the game—and that’s when he didn’t even mention anything important yet. And during that time, he’d still felt unbearable pain despite his high tolerance.

Not to mention that what Wen Chen was doing now was basically a direct confrontation with the game… the pain he was experiencing now would be unimaginable.

Even if Mo Yi’s heart was made of steel, he couldn’t help but be faintly touched.

He looked at Wen Chen with some confusion, and said, “You… there’s no need…”

Wen Chen looked at him, and said with a firm tone. “There are no secrets between you and me.”