ID No. 019 - Chapter 17.1

Zhang Yan and Zhao Yuan were completely wiped out by the time they reached the stone cave, their bodies filthy and disheveled.

Zhang Yan had carried the unconscious Ah Wu the entire way.

Having nearly lost his life to those creatures, Zhang Yan vented his anger on Ah Wu, kicking him repeatedly.

Zhao Yuan flinched at the sight, his shoulders shrinking. Only after Zhang Yan’s rage subsided slightly did he timidly speak up, “If we hide here, will they come after us?”

Zhang Yan’s eyes were bloodshot. “Don’t ask me.”

His appearance made Zhao Yuan a little unsettled. “But didn’t you say Chen Yang might be here?”

“I said maybe.” Zhang Yan’s temper flared again. He cursed, then delivered two more kicks to Ah Wu. “Zhao Yuan, keep an eye on him!”

Zhao Yuan jumped in alarm. “Where are you going?”

Zhang Yan didn’t reply. He took off at a sprint and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Yuan gripped a thick stick, nervously guarding the figure on the ground—essentially the “boss” in this game—too afraid to even blink.

If the man so much as twitched, Zhao Yuan would swing the stick down.

The area outside the cave was silent, save for the sound of the wind and the soft rustling of leaves. As time passed, Zhao Yuan’s racing heartbeat gradually steadied. He wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there, but the arm he held the stick with had become sore. Just as he considered switching hands, his expression suddenly changed.

What was that sound?

Something was coming.

Oh no! It was those monsters!

The stick slipped from his unsteady grip and fell to the ground. As Zhao Yuan bent down to pick it up, he lost his balance and fell flat on his face. Panicking, he scrambled into the stone cave, hastily rearranging some hanging plants to block the entrance.

The noises outside grew louder and clearer. It was the sound of something heavy being dragged across the ground.

Images of blood-soaked, grotesque, man-eating creatures flooded Zhao Yuan’s mind, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Clutching the stick tightly, he retreated further into the cave.

He shouldn’t have run inside. This was a dead end.

Then, a startled voice rang out from outside, rough and breathless from exhaustion: “Ah Wu? Why is he here?”

A moment later, the voice yelled, “Zhang Yan? Zhao Yuan?”

Zhao Yuan, overjoyed, pushed aside the plants blocking the cave entrance and rushed out, only to freeze in place at the sight before him.

That person’s arm was wrapped in blue-striped fabric, with two coarse, resilient vines wound tightly around his fingers. The other ends of the vines were tied to a stone pillar. His other hand was also wrapped in the same blue fabric, stained with dark green sap of unknown origin. A loop of wire was coiled tightly around his knuckles.

He stood there, exuding an unyielding aura of iron-blooded ruthlessness, like a warrior who had carved his way through a battlefield, weary but resolute.

Behind him were the cluttered marks of the stone pillar being dragged across the ground.

Zhao Yuan’s eyes widened, his expression a mix of shock, admiration, excitement, and relief. All the emotions channeled into his body when he dashed forward, like a child that saw his father.

He let out a heartrending cry: “Chen Yang!”

“…” Chen Yang, who had just fought his way through several waves of monsters, was completely taken aback. On reflex, he dropped the vines and darted behind the young man at his side.

Zhao Yuan was then repelled by the swish of a crutch.

The blow sent Zhao Yuan tumbling to the ground. As he lay there, one thought crossed his mind. “Why does this feel so familiar? Is the crutch at odds with him… Wait! It wasn’t the crutch. It was the crutch’s owner!”

Zhao Yuan knew the young man disliked him, but he didn’t mind at all. After all, the young man treated everyone except Chen Yang the same way. He detested them and never spared even a single word. “How cool is that?” Zhao Yuan thought.

While Chen Yang dragged the stone pillar into the cave and positioned it at the point where the space overlapped, Zhao Yuan eagerly crowded around him, talking non-stop about how he hid in a water vat yesterday, was captured and pretended to have mutated, and then escaping with Zhang Yan’s help before he had to drink manure water with fertilizer. Then, the two of them entered a strange forest and encountered Ah Wu.

Zhao Yuan rambled about almost dying in a swamp because someone was trying to get him killed.

He even complained about how they nearly couldn’t find the cave, grumbling about Zhou Xiaoxiao’s paths disappearing. It was through their blood, sweat and tears that they finally reached the cave.

Chen Yang, however, didn’t bother explaining that he had hidden those paths. His arms, worn out from overuse, trembled slightly with exhaustion, and he lacked the strength to move, let alone continue the conversation.

“Where’s Zhang Yan?”

“Dunno.” Zhao Yuan scratched his head, hesitating before continuing, “His mood got a lot worse all of a sudden. Kind of like… uh, like Lin Yue.”

The implication was clear: Zhang Yan’s mental state was off.

Chen Yang didn’t respond, simply glancing at Ah Wu lying unconscious on the ground. It was great that he didn’t need to go through the trouble of hunting him down.

His line of sight was obstructed and a shadow fell over him. The faint familiar scent now carried the smell of fertilizer. Chen Yang didn’t look up. His thoughts were wandering.

Everyone and everything they needed was here, but it wasn’t time yet. At 10:35, when the overlapping space emerged, they’d head for the altar.

He was jolted back to reality by a cool touch around his wrist. The young man had taken his arm, removing the cloth covering his wound. The exposed injury, coated with herbal medicine, stung sharply as the wind brushed against it, like being scraped with a blade.

Zhao Yuan caught sight of the gruesome wound and blanched. “Y-you—what happened to you?”

“Got bitten by a monster,” Chen Yang replied.

Zhao Yuan gawked at Chen Yang’s nonchalance in awe. He lost a chunk of flesh! It hurt just thinking about it! He sneaked a glance at the young man who was tending to Chen Yang’s wound.

If this guy’s a burden, then I’m actual trash.

Noticing Chen Yang’s pale, pressed lips, Zhao Yuan decided to distract him with conversation. “Have you guys seen Lin Yue?”

The name sent Chen Yang’s arm into a light tremor, pulling at his wound and he gasped in pain.

Chao Jian’s hands froze midway through applying the herbal medicine and lifted his gaze to direct an icy glare at Zhao Yuan.

At the young man’s glare, Zhao Yuan scooted a little to the side. However, he continued to stare, so Zhao Yuan moved over again. He kept scooting over all the way to the edge of the bushes. Only then did the murderous glare finally relent.

Zhao Yuan, a rather large man, was now helplessly crouched into a small ball on the ground. He held his head in his hands while his expression was one of confusion, completely unaware of what he did wrong.