Into the water

Li Xian hurried to his feet, but his wounds slowed him considerably. He had barely run a few steps before the Village Chief nearly caught up.

The Village Chief spread his withered hand behind him, reaching over him like death itself.

Li Xian gritted his teeth and shouted at the figure ahead:

"Shen Xiaomei's body is at the bottom of the river!"

As the words left his mouth, the Village Chief's hand didn't close around his neck. Instead, his feet suddenly left the ground.

The world spun. By the time he recovered his senses, he had been slung over a shoulder and carried a considerable distance.

"Are you trying to drive me mad with all that noise?"

Ji Xie spoke through gritted teeth beside Li Xian's ear.

Ji Xie ran fast, pulling away from the Village Chief almost effortlessly. He even overtook all the players ahead and moved into the lead.

Under everyone's stunned gazes, Li Xian silently tightened his grip on Ji Xie's clothes.

The journey from the well to the river was neither long nor short. Soon, some of them began running out of stamina, their steps growing heavier.

Xu Yao was the first to fall behind, and the distance between her and the Village Chief kept shrinking.

She stared desperately at everyone's retreating backs, tears spilling uncontrollably from her eyes and blurring her vision.

Xu Yao didn't dare look back, but she could hear the Village Chief's footsteps drawing closer...

Since Ji Xie was carrying him over his shoulder, Li Xian still had the energy to watch what was happening behind them. Seeing that the Village Chief was about to catch Xu Yao, he reached out and patted Ji Xie's back.

"Run faster."

"Tch. What do you think I am, a horse?"

Despite his complaint, Ji Xie picked up his pace. He was already in the lead, and now he pulled even farther ahead of the others. The well was almost within reach.

[Isn't the streamer going a bit too far? Didn't he say that right after looking at Xu Yao?]

[He's already out in front, but he still has to kick someone when they're down... tsk, tsk.]

[Seriously? Don't forget he's still fatally wounded. How would he have the energy to think about that?]

[That's why he couldn't control himself and showed his true colors. Otherwise, why would he say that?]

As the comments attacked Li Xian, the Village Chief's footsteps drew right up behind Xu Yao.

She ran forward in vain, biting her lip until it bled. But nothing she did could change the fact that the Village Chief was already behind her.

Why? Why did they all have to run so fast...?

On the verge of breaking down, she stared aimlessly ahead. Suddenly, her eyes met Li Xian's.

Despite the darkness and the distance between them, she heard Li Xian speak to the man carrying him with absolute clarity:

"Run faster."

Fear and despair finally crushed Xu Yao. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

Li Xian must be laughing at me.

She sprawled on the ground without a shred of dignity, struggling to get up. Yet the moment she fell, her legs seemed to lose every last ounce of strength. They could no longer support her weight.

Xu Yao turned her head and saw the Village Chief right beside her.

I'm going to die.

That was the only thought left in her mind.

Then she saw the Village Chief walk up beside her...

And pass her by.

Xu Yao's eyes widened in disbelief. Her heart felt as though it would leap out of her chest.

What happened? Why didn't the Village Chief kill me?

I... survived?

Xu Yao's gaze instinctively followed the Village Chief's retreating back.

Next, the Village Chief caught up with Qian Xin, who was second from the rear, then Zhao Fengyi...

But he passed each of them in exactly the same way, rushing straight toward Li Xian, who had already reached the well.

Xu Yao understood everything in an instant. At the same time, her face burned as if someone had slapped her.

Li Xian was running so fast... to save me.

The sooner he reached the river, the less attention the Village Chief could spare for the people behind him. Shen Xiaomei's body was at the bottom of the river, and if they retrieved it, he would surely be at a disadvantage.

[Feeling that slap now?!! Li Xian was running that fast to save people!!!]

[I knew something was off. No matter how you look at him, Li Xian isn't the kind of person those comments made him out to be. He's been taking the biggest risks pretty much this whole time, okay?]

[Still, this scene reminded me of when I was a kid and ran the fastest, only to get bitten by a dog...]

[I almost let those people sway me just now... Sorry, streamer!!]

[+1]

[+1]

"This Li Xian seems like a decent guy, huh?"

Cheng Xin said.

Honestly, in the same situation, he wouldn't have spared a thought for so much else. Death was commonplace in Instances. Even for a player from his own guild, he would have weighed the pros and cons first.

"He's still too young."

That was Cheng Xin's conclusion.

But as he spoke, his hands kept moving, tapping the light screen several times.

[Ding! Congratulations! The streamer has received a tip of 1,000 points from "Ninety-Nine Multiplication Table"!]

The sudden system notification startled Li Xian.

Ninety-Nine Multiplication Table? What kind of ridiculous name was that?

His confusion lasted only a moment before he pushed it aside. They were only a few steps from the river.

He patted Ji Xie's back. "Put me down."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go into the river."

Ji Xie frowned. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. Hurry."

Ji Xie turned to look at Song Qingzhang, who was running behind him with the Village Chief drawing ever closer.

After estimating how much time remained, he reached a conclusion:

They would only just have enough time if Li Xian went into the water.

Wait, why am I starting to think about how he can clear this Instance?

With an odd expression, Ji Xie lowered Li Xian from his shoulder and watched him leap into the river without hesitation.

Seeing Li Xian enter the water, Song Qingzhang changed direction and ran back toward the village.

The others didn't understand, but they were eager to escape too. Yet they had barely gotten up and taken a few steps before piercing cries rang in their ears again.

Their Mental Value plummeted without warning, and everyone collapsed helplessly to the ground.

In the water, Li Xian shuddered the instant his body sank beneath the surface.

It was summer, but the river wasn't pleasantly cool. It was bone-chillingly cold.

The river water was clear, but visibility was poor in the darkness. Li Xian narrowed his eyes and cautiously swam downward.

Before he even touched the riverbed, waves of crying reached his ears.

"Waa-waa-"

This time, the crying didn't echo through his mind as it had before. It came from a distinct direction. Rather than avoiding it, Li Xian swam straight toward the sound.

[Warning! Unidentified object detected! Mental Value -5!]

Instead of merely displaying a simple notification as before, the system issued a warning.

The crying grew louder, and Li Xian's Mental Value kept dropping.

[Can he really make it in time? His Mental Value is almost at the critical point!]

[Hallucinations start below 60 Mental Value, and he's underwater...]

Li Xian's Mental Value quickly dropped below 60. The scene before him began twisting uncontrollably, and the cries in his ears grew louder and louder. Faintly, he thought he could even hear children murmuring.

"It hurts..."

"I'm so scared..."

The river seemed to churn up their emotions along with the water. As Li Xian's Mental Value sank lower and lower, he began to feel what they felt.

Pain, fear, struggle...

The murmurs grew louder.

"Can someone... stay with me...?"

But the strongest emotion was loneliness.

The scene before his eyes suddenly became clear. Li Xian reached out and touched Shen Xiaomei's body.

She lay at the bottom of the river, missing half an arm.

Her body looked as though she were asleep, without any sign of decay or bloating. A group of children's skeletons huddled closely around her.

Some lay across Shen Xiaomei's knees; others held the hand resting over her chest.

Li Xian reached out and tried to pull Shen Xiaomei free, only to meet fierce resistance.

The skeletons, which had merely been nestled against her, clung tightly to Shen Xiaomei when they noticed what Li Xian was doing.

Their intense resistance instantly flooded Li Xian's heart.

Li Xian let go and discovered that one of the skeletons had climbed onto his arm.

"A big brother. A young big brother."

"Will you stay with me?"

Like a stone dropped into water, those words sent a ripple through their surroundings. Upon hearing them, all the skeletons began gathering around Li Xian.