I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Watching a horror movie in a horror movie?

With the March Hare gone, the remaining group of humans stood amidst the villa ruins while exchanging awkward glances.

Of the group, Si Jiayang, the most skilled cook, sighed and joked, “The bunny’s already been seasoned with cumin powder. We could just add some oil and if it weren’t still alive, it’d be ready for the pot.”

Jing Qizhen was exasperated. “What kind of dangerous talk is this…”

When Jing Qizhen had told the March Hare ‘good luck,’ he’d genuinely meant it.

After all, finding the Prince among the crowd relied entirely on the March Hare. His encouragement was far from the odd implications Si Jiayang seemed to be imagining.

The Earth suddenly chimed in, “Phew… I just went to Sichuan to check out some spicy rabbit dishes.”

Jing Qizhen: “You’re really an action-taker, huh, Babyball?”

The Earth replied proudly, “Of course! I always follow through on my words!”

Jing Qizhen: “…” The problem is, even if you followed through, you couldn’t eat it, could you? Was it really necessary to go just to look at it? Even as a ball, you could be kinder to yourself…

Having already eaten dinner, plus an impromptu barbecue session, the group returned to the villa where Yun Shuanghua had been staying.

The first floor of the villa was still filled with the rich aroma of baked goods.

Manman instinctively glanced at Si Jiayang.

Si Jiayang casually explained, “Oh, I baked some cookies in the oven earlier. They should be done by now and probably cooled.”

The others, visibly stunned: “=口=???”

Was he really this opportunistic about cooking?

Jin Guijuan bluntly turned to Manman and asked sincerely, “Sister Manman, how do you stay in shape with a boyfriend like him?”

Manman replied matter-of-factly, “I just taste everything, take two bites to check the flavor, but I don’t overeat. There’s always plenty of variety, so there’s always something new to try. Besides, do you think Si Jiayang and I maintain our athletic abilities for no reason? Eating so much means we have to rely on exercise to keep up our metabolism.”

Jing Qizhen: “…” That was unexpectedly realistic.

In the last erosion area they explored in the remote mountain village in Shennongjia, Si Jiayang hadn’t joined them. As a result, no one in their group, except Manman, had witnessed him take full advantage of a fully functional kitchen in an erosion area.

Now, Jing Qizhen finally understood that Si Jiayang’s ability to seize any opportunity to cook was unparalleled and his food was genuinely delicious. It was an extraordinary talent.

Inspired by Si Jiayang’s baking enthusiasm, the housemaid seemed to rediscover her rhythm as a kitchen assistant. She went to the kitchen, filled several pastel-colored shallow dishes with the cookies and brought them out for everyone.

Jing Qizhen glanced at Yun Shuanghua. As expected, the cold and handsome face that always seemed distant suddenly lit up with life and anticipation the moment food was presented.

Could the kid have gotten so hungry in the erosion area that he’d become delirious?

Jing Qizhen silently mocked the thought but still pushed a small plate of cookies toward Yun Shuanghua.

Yun Shuanghua gave off a strange vibe; silent, cold, and exuding a clear sense of distance, as if rejecting everyone around him. This feeling was so apparent that Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but notice it. It was in stark contrast to the sunny, warm, and talkative Yun Shuanghua they had encountered in the Yunhai Wancheng Department Store, someone who was even chatty when faced with ghosts. The difference was like night and day.

Sometimes, Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but wonder if this Yun Shuanghua might be an identical twin to the previous one he met. Surely, he couldn’t be an NPC generated by some erosion area, right?

Shaking off his wild thoughts, Jing Qizhen tossed two cookies into his mouth to enjoy the second dessert of the evening after the barbecue. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he said, “It’s now 10:37 PM. In less than an hour and a half, it’ll be the eighth day in this erosion area.”

Although Jing Qizhen had previously mentioned the rabbit sequence to everyone, the sudden reminder of the eighth day made the foreigners trapped in the villa for seven days shiver instinctively.

Everyone looked at the clock, realizing that before the March Hare returned, they might have to face a crisis likely connected to the rabbit sequence.

Manman gently rested her injured hand on her lap. “There’s not much time left. Should we just wait here on the first floor for the eighth day to arrive?”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “Let’s wait. If we split up and something happens, it’ll be harder to help each other.”

Angelina, who had experienced the third night, still felt uneasy. “I have a feeling everyone might suddenly fall asleep…”

When the March Hare had hopped around noisily that night, she had been the only one to wake up and notice its movements. Everyone else had been in such a deep sleep it was as if they were unconscious. At the time, her nerves were too frazzled to dwell on it, but looking back, she realized just how abnormal the situation was.

Jing Qizhen, however, remained calm. “It probably won’t happen.”

Angelina looked at him, puzzled.

The Earth chimed in confidently within Jing Qizhen’s mind, “It won’t! If you get sleepy, I’ll wake you up!”

Jing Qizhen: “…Thanks, but Babyball, could you lower your volume a bit?”

He didn’t want to develop tinnitus at such a young age.

The Earth: “Okay, okay, okay!”

The little ball agreed readily but Jing Qizhen had his doubts. When the time comes, the Earth might get too excited and forget the reminder altogether.

Joyce muttered to his cousin Wilcox, “You guys are really qualified to speak on this subject.”

After all, Jing Qizhen’s group had been caught in the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ storyline.

Wilcox glanced at his younger cousin but, remembering his promise not to hit him again, quietly averted his gaze.

After a moment of anxiety, Caroline suddenly thought of something else and blurted out, “Wait a minute. The March Hare has temporarily left, right? So nothing should happen tonight, right?”

Angelina: “=口=!!!”

Oh, right! The March Hare had happily hopped off with the stack of photos of ‘the Prince’ to report back to the Red Queen.

Jing Qizhen glanced at Caroline. “Is that what you think?”

Caroline: “What else?”

Jing Qizhen left it at that. “The March Hare left but someone else could take its place. While the villa was burned, the one we’re in right now probably is not linked to any fairy tale storyline, so this place might be safe.”

Caroline froze for a moment.

The group of foreigners exchanged glances but quickly looked away, as if avoiding suspicion.

The seven days they had spent trapped together had created noticeable rifts among them. When questions arose, their instinct was to observe each other, hoping to glean some kind of answer from the others’ reactions.

Gu Leshan straightforwardly asked, “According to the March Hare, has it been looking for a princess in that villa every day?”

Old Xiao, wiping the sweat from his forehead, added, “And the princesses it found never located the Prince and they all ended up dead…”

Gu Leshan felt a chill run through him. “The way you put it, it’s like the March Hare is some kind of walking disaster! Whoever it finds ends up in trouble!”

Jing Qizhen interjected, “Uh… not necessarily. If the March Hare were really that unlucky, the next one in trouble would be the Red Queen, followed by the Prince.”

Following this line of thought, everyone fell silent.

Gu Leshan let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, then. The Red Queen sounds like a big boss. No way she’d go down so easily.”

Manman couldn’t help but joke, “In that case, the March Hare might just be the ultimate weapon of the fairy tale kingdom.”

Jing Qizhen chuckled. “I suspect the deaths of those princesses had more to do with using the special tools in the erosion area. These tools seem effective but carry high risks and are prone to backfiring.”

Gu Leshan nodded. “So, the princesses who failed their tasks all met with accidents.”

Manman added, “Should we leave a camera at that other villa? With the March Hare gone for now, who knows if another fairy tale character might show up tonight.”

Jing Qizhen replied without hesitation, “When I sent the March Hare off, I stuck a camera near the rabbit hole.”

Manman gave him a thumbs-up.

As they spoke, they quickly finalized their plans. Everyone stayed quietly in the living room, waiting for midnight to arrive.

During that time, Jing Qizhen connected his phone app to the camera via Bluetooth and projected the footage onto the television.

There weren’t enough seats on the living room sofa. However, Jing Qizhen and his team of ‘rescue experts’ seemed perfectly at home, lounging as if they were in their own living room. It left the foreigners to grab cushions and sit on the floor, all staring at the footage on the TV.

The night outside was pitch-black and the camera footage was even darker, showing only the rubble near the rabbit hole from the villa’s remains, which had been dug out by the group earlier.

The Earth commented with precision, “You guys look exactly like those horror movie characters who meticulously orchestrate their own doom.”

Jing Qizhen: “…”

Honestly, he felt the same. The scene had all the trappings of a horror movie.

Next to him, Si Jiayang casually handed over a bag of freshly roasted crackers. “I just made these. Want to try?”

Jing Qizhen: “Oh, thanks.”

It was probably their fourth late-night snack of the evening!

Moments later, the living room was filled with a chorus of murmured thank-yous and the crunching of crackers. The housemaid even cautiously asked Si Jiayang for the recipe.

The Earth sighed. “…Wow! Si Jiayang can cook anything! He’s amazing!”

Jing Qizhen: “…”

This scene was something else. With this kind of soundtrack, any horror movie atmosphere was completely obliterated.

The ticking sound of the wall clock was completely drowned out by the crisp crunching of someone chewing on scorched rice until the clock’s hands reached zero, marking the stroke of midnight.

In the previously still scene, a knight’s hat suddenly emerged from a rabbit hole.

The Earth, which had been drooling just a moment ago, suddenly perked up. “It’s out, it’s out, it’s out!”

Gu Leshan reacted similarly, exclaiming, “The hat moved, it moved, it moved!”

The footage from the camera wasn’t very clear but fortunately, the lights in the ruined villa’s yard were still on. When the owner of the knight’s hat crawled out of the rabbit hole and fully appeared on camera, Jing Qizhen and the others finally saw the visitor clearly.

Fully dressed in a knight’s hat and knight’s outfit, adorned with a prominent red heart emblem, the visitor’s identity was immediately apparent.

Jing Qizhen said, “It’s the Knight of Heart from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, the Red Queen’s most loyal subordinate.”

Dragging his heavy armor, the Knight of Heart struggled to climb out of the rabbit hole and stared dumbfounded at the ruins before him. His once confident expression instantly became a blank slate.

The Earth said sympathetically, “Oh, this guy is scared stiff. He must not have expected the Princess’s castle to have turned into ruins.”