Defeating an Immature Self

The thought arose, like a maggot clinging to bone, difficult to dislodge. Chen Xiyao tried to push away the distracting thoughts, but trapped inside the narrow, dim cardboard box, with nothing to do, the more she tried to suppress them, the more her mind wandered.

Just like late at night when the world is quiet, people can't help but overthink, Chen Xiyao slowly began to be cornered by the overwhelming pressure of her own thoughts.

Losing all sense of time, unsure if Feng Xue would return, and the extreme oppression of claustrophobia made Chen Xiyao's heartbeat sound deafening. Her consciousness seemed to detach from her body, yet it was still confined within the prison of the cardboard box.

She wanted to immediately flip open the cardboard box and run to a place with many people, but she was held back by the danger outside. Different voices even began to emerge in her mind.

And they were exposing the questions Chen Xiyao had forcibly suppressed from her consciousness—

"Is it really as dangerous outside as he said?"

"Will those people really torture her?"

"Maybe Feng Xue is the bad guy?"

"Maybe..."

"No, that's wrong!" Chen Xiyao suddenly pinched her thigh hard, using the pain to break free from her wild thoughts.

She couldn't confirm whether Feng Xue was telling the truth or not, but she was certain that man must have secretly done many things for her.

In a world where eating wasn't necessary, the daily source of food was a problem, but he had stayed with her all day. When did he go hunting?

Also, in the past few days, the smell of blood on him had become heavier. He might not have noticed it himself, but Chen Xiyao could clearly feel the change.

While she was sleeping, he must have secretly handled many things.

And today...

He left all his Equipment behind.

Chen Xiyao reached into the unknown dimension, touching the White Robe, Sleeve Blade, Shoe... left by Feng Xue.

She could clearly feel the significant weakening of his presence after he took off his Equipment, wearing only a canvas work suit.

If she were captured, all his Equipment would be unrecoverable. Was it really necessary to scare her like this?

No, there was another possibility! That the people chasing you were also a deception! You're not in danger at all!

A voice echoed in her mind, but Chen Xiyao quickly found a counterargument—

"If it's all fake, then there's even less reason to leave! After all, I still have a chance to escape. Once I really escape, I can easily discover the truth, and then he'll have essentially cultivated an enemy!"

"And there's the skirt! Leaving aside the toys and the handgun, spatial Equipment should be a rare item no matter how you look at it. Although I don't understand how he turned paper into strange items, it should follow some rules. And he tried for so long yesterday, it should only have been to create a Storage Item. But in the end, he gave the only Storage Item to me. Even if it's a skirt, selling it or trading it would be better than casually giving it to me!"

As Chen Xiyao thought, she felt more and more that she was correct. Although Feng Xue was cold, he was definitely a good person!

However, should she go out and take a look?

Even though Chen Xiyao had tried her best to tell herself that it was dangerous outside, driven by an intense sense of loneliness, she couldn't suppress the urge to go out.

With this cardboard box, as long as she was careful, there shouldn't be a problem, right?

Or rather, this cardboard box should have been prepared for stealth!

The thought, once sparked, became uncontrollable. Chen Xiyao placed her hands on the sides of the cardboard box, gently lifting it two centimeters, and then, in a squatting position, took small, shuffling steps, slowly moving towards the door.

But before she could reach the door, she suddenly heard a faint rustling sound. This made her, who had been in silence for a long time, immediately perk up her ears.

"He's back?" Chen Xiyao's heart was filled with surprise for a moment, but she still forced herself to suppress the idea of flipping open the cardboard box and rushing to the door to greet him. She leaned the cardboard box against the wall and brought her eyes to the peephole, carefully observing the situation outside.

There was a not-too-large hole in this wall. If the person coming in was a bad guy, she would immediately activate her Skill and escape through it.

She had already tried the Misty Field ability. Although she couldn't create a misty area five meters high with a fifty-meter radius like Feng Xue, she could turn the entire room into a misty environment.

"Bang!"

The door was roughly kicked open. Chen Xiyao's heart skipped a beat. Although she hadn't clearly seen who it was, Feng Xue's return would definitely not have been so noisy.

As expected, with the already broken door colliding with the wall, several men in uniform clothing rushed into the house and began searching everywhere.

They didn't communicate with each other like the minor characters in novels, revealing information, but remained silent, quickly and efficiently checking the situation in the room.

Chen Xiyao's heart leaped into her throat. Even though she had verified the function of this box with Feng Xue, she still couldn't help but worry about being discovered.

Rustle, rustle...

Noisy sounds came from several rooms one after another. Even without seeing it with her own eyes, Chen Xiyao could imagine the tragic scene of bed boards being flipped over and stools being kicked down.

Although there weren't many decorations, the bedroom was still tidied up by her. Even though she had to change locations every two or three days, hearing it being destroyed like this still felt unpleasant.

These people came and went in a hurry. After making a mess of the room, they disappeared from Chen Xiyao's sight.

"They're looking for me... or rather, traces of my existence?" Chen Xiyao had this thought, feeling nervous and fearful, but also inexplicably a little thrilled.

She looked at the open doorway and suddenly began to move in small, shuffling steps, cautiously approaching it.

"These guys are so rough, they're definitely not good people!" Chen Xiyao thought to herself as she watched about forty to fifty people constantly entering and exiting the surrounding rooms, her cardboard box resting against the wall near the doorway. Although there was no evidence that they were after her, based on their methods alone, she didn't think anything good would come of her being discovered.

"Should I follow them and see?" Seeing that the nearby residences had been swept clean, Chen Xiyao watched the crowd and finally decided against it. Not to mention that they were all riding motorcycles, even if they were just walking, it was a highly unrealistic problem for her to try and keep up with them in a squatting, shuffling gait.

"Seriously, why can't these grunts talk more and let me understand the situation!"