CH 29

Because of the limited space in the corridor, the two elevators were closely attached to each other and looked quite strange. In an act of tacit understanding, the two of them did not mention the barbecue again but instead put all their thoughts onto the elevator.

The two elevators were exactly the same and there was no difference in appearance. Xu RenDong suddenly thought of something. He turned his head, walked towards Lian Qiao and stretched out his hand towards him. He touched Lian Qiao’s shoulder and there was nothing in the way. That meant that the air wall that restricted his movement on the road the first time did not appear this time.

Lian Qiao was suddenly touched by Xu RenDong and was taken aback for a moment. Then he quickly realized his intention. So he also reached out to explore. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stretched out his hand, he heard a bang as though he had hit something.

Lian Qiao immediately said: “There’s a wall here.”

Xu RenDong tried to walk back to the door of his apartment. “There’s one here too”

It seemed that they were stuck together with the elevator in the space between the two apartments. It had formed a confined space with the two of them locked inside. Fortunately, their two spaces were fused together rather than independent of each other. Otherwise they probably would not be able to see each other.

The two looked at the two identical elevators in front of them and couldn’t help falling into contemplation.

Lian Qiao asked: “Will these two elevators lead to the same place?”

Xu RenDong said: “I don’t know. I haven’t encountered such a situation before.”

Lian Qiao was a little surprised: “You have never teamed up with others before?”

Xu RenDong: “That’s right.”

Lian Qiao suddenly curved his eyes and smiled. He didn’t say anything, just walked to the front of the two elevators and pressed the two buttons respectively.

Both doors opened. As before, it was empty inside. Only the metal body reflected a cold light. The two people stood outside the elevator and looked for a while but they couldn’t see anything.

Lian Qiao said, “We can only try it and see.”

Xu RenDong nodded: “Let’s go in together.” As he spoke, he approached Lian Qiao, “Stay close to me. I’m afraid the elevator door will suddenly close.”

Lian Qiao was startled by his sudden approach and hissed as he drew his breath in sharply.

Xu RenDong: “What’s wrong?”

Lian Qiao: “No…nothing.” He turned his face slightly and looked at their arms which were touching. He could feel the other person’s body temperature through his shirt and it made Lian Qiao’s heart beat wildly.

… Did he do it on purpose?

Lian Qiao quietly glanced at Xu RenDong again but sure enough, the patient’s entire attention was on the elevator.

Lian Qiao took a deep breath and suppressed his frantic heartbeat. Then the elevator doors closed and started to make a low running sound.

One second before he was still in his warm and comfortable home, thinking about what to eat for supper. The next second after he was forced to enter the elevator to face an unknown horror again. Xu RenDong’s mood was inevitably a little heavy. For a moment, only silence remained in the elevator.

Before long, two words appeared in front of them: Esophagus.

These two big characters appeared out of thin air, just like the original “Matryoshka”. Like a trick of light and shadow, it could be seen but not touched. It’s just that this word looked bad and didn’t conjure up any good images.

Xu RenDong was silent for a moment and then asked Lian Qiao: “What do you think?”

Lian Qiao rubbed his stomach: “I’m even more hungry…”

Xu RenDong: “…”

Lian Qiao stared at the word “esophagus” and swallowed his saliva: “I want to eat aorta {sounds gross but is a common hotpot ingredient, along with intestines etc}. I also want to eat lamb skewers, lamb kidneys, grilled chicken hearts, grilled chicken wings, grilled eggplant and enoki mushrooms…” He stared at the prompt phrase and became sincerely hungry.

Xu RenDong had no choice but to say, “Okay, when we get out, we’ll go eat.”

He really wanted to bow down to Lian Qiao. In this situation he could still think about barbeque meat. But thanks to Lian Qiao’s presence, Xu RenDong’s heavy heart gradually became clear again.

In fact, he is not ready to go to the world of ghosts and die repeatedly. If he is alone here today, he is afraid he would fall into an abyss of negative emotions and be unable to extricate himself.

But it’s different with Lian Qiao. Xu RenDong even raised the corners of his mouth slightly and looked forward to the barbecue after leaving here.

However, it didn’t take long for him to begin to feel something was wrong.

“Lian Qiao?” He just called out, only to see Lian Qiao’s face change.

“Brother RenDong, you are getting smaller!”

Xu RenDong looked down and sure enough, his body was shrinking rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The sleeves and trousers have become very long and loose and hung down softly. At the same time, the same changes were happening to Lian Qiao. They watched as their bodies shrank and the elevator ceiling moved further and further away from them. Soon, their small bodies couldn’t hold up the adult clothes any longer so they had to use their hands to pull the clothes around them to prevent it falling down and leaving them naked.

When the body finally stopped changing, they found that they had both become children.

At this time, Lian Qiao seemed to be about five years old. He was a little boy with a silly face, looking as though snot was about to run out of his nose at any second.

Xu RenDong frowned, “Are you okay?” As soon as he uttered the words, he realized that his voice had also become tender and soft. He couldn’t help being taken aback. Lian Qiao couldn’t help it anymore and laughed out loud.

“Brother RenDong, you have become so cute!” He excitedly pulled Xu RenDong to the elevator door, “Look at you, I’m still taller than you!”

Xu RenDong could barely see through the reflective metal surface. Two figures, one big and one small. At this time, Lian Qiao was indeed half a head taller than him. But the reflection of the elevator was very vague. He really couldn’t see what he had become, so he had to judge based on his height. He was probably three or four years old.

How could this be? Xu RenDong wanted to ask his question very much but he knew that Lian Qiao had no answer. He could only sigh.

Lian Qiao looked at the big boss who was half a head shorter than him. Feeling suddenly bold, he stretched out his hand to squeeze the big boss’ soft cheek.

Xu RenDong: “…what are you doing?”

Lian Qiao exclaimed from the bottom of his heart: “It feels so good…”

Xu RenDong: “……” When Lian Qiao said that, he was also a little curious, so he raised his hand and pinched himself. His face is indeed soft and tender, like a pudding and was full of collagen.

Lian Qiao looked at Xu RenDong who was pinching his own cheek with a serious expression. He couldn’t help but smile. He curled his eyes and muttered softly, “You are so cute.”

Xu RenDong suddenly felt that his behavior was quite naive. He turned his head away and said sternly: “We’re almost there, get ready.”

Lian Qiao said okay but he couldn’t help continuing to smile and take secret glances at him.

Hearing the ding sound, the elevator door opened immediately. What unfolded in front of the two of them was a dark scene with a gothic setting.

A huge rusty iron gate stood in front of them. Behind the iron gate was a building similar to a monastery. Although the monastery was dilapidated, it was extremely magnificent and the outer walls were too high to be seen over. Withered ivy vines covered the wall, looking lifeless and extremely gloomy.

Xu RenDong was thinking, how could there be such a high wall? Lian Qiao suddenly stood on tiptoe and sighed: “It’s over, the dwarf’s perspective is really uncomfortable.”

Xu RenDong was taken aback: “The dwarf’s perspective?”

Lian Qiao realized that he had started speaking gibberish again and hurried to explain: “In other words, because we have all become children and are too short, everything around us will feel unnaturally tall and big. So our visibility will also be limited. We’d better find a small bench or something similar as soon as possible to help us explore later. Something that can be carried around and which we can step on. Otherwise we will not find all the items placed in high places.”

Xu RenDong nodded. He hadn’t gotten used to this young child’s body. Although he can understand the visual difference, he would probably forget to pay attention to any clues that were high up if Lian Qiao hadn’t reminded him.

At this time, he again felt the benefits of entering the ghost world with Lian Qiao and couldn’t help feeling at ease.

The two walked out of the elevator and found that a dozen children had gathered around the iron gate. They were probably their teammates this time.

Xu RenDong swept around and found that the eldest of these people was only six or seven years old. The youngest had even turned into a baby and was being held by a girl. Xu RenDong couldn’t help frowning when he saw the baby. Shrinking the entire team is one matter but someone even turned into a baby? That was too much!

These teammates also looked different. Xu RenDong judged from their facial expressions that about half of this group of people were newcomers. They didn’t understand the situation clearly and were crying anxiously while questioning the people around them. They made a lot of noise and were loud and messy. The other half was silent, watching the newcomers making noise with cold eyes. They should be experienced players.

Compared with the last time in this world, the number of old players has increased significantly. Does this mean that the instance clearing conditions this time will be more difficult?

At this time, a thin and withered old woman came out of the monastery. She was wearing a black and white nun’s gown, wrapped tightly all over her body, leaving only a sallow face exposed. Seeing the group of children at the door, the old nun snorted from her nose in a weird manner and her fish-like eyes swam up and down the children: “You returned so late! I should just close this door and let you all die outside. I should lock you out and let the monster tear you apart and eat you all!”

The woman was shrivelled like the withered vines on the wall and her voice was as sharp as a knife scraping across metal. After hearing her scolding, nobody said anything at first but then a chubby little boy stepped forward and took the initiative to admit his mistake: “I’m sorry auntie. We won’t do it again.”

When everyone saw this, a trace of astonishment flashed across their faces. The old players were the first to react, rushing forward and joining in: “Yes, auntie, we know we were wrong! Please forgive us!”

However, the old nun ignored the children’s flattery and just swept her gaze across them using eyes like dead fish. She snorted from her nose: “No one is allowed to eat tonight. Reflect well on your wrongdoings!” After speaking, she turned his head and walked towards the monastery.

The children looked at each other. The little fat child who had just taken the lead in admitting his mistake sighed helplessly. He smiled at everyone and encouraged: “Don’t be discouraged, it’s just the beginning. Let’s go in.”

This little fat child was so calm and composed, he was obviously an old player. His comforting words immediately made the fearful newcomers find a source of comfort and they eagerly followed him.

The children walked into the courtyard silently. Just when the girl holding the baby was about to step into the door, the little fat child stretched out his hand and said with a serious face: “I advise you to leave him here.”

The girl was only four or five years old at this time. Her short chubby arms hugged the baby, looking very strained. She asked, “Why?”

The little fat kid said, “He has become like this and certainly won’t be able to help us.  I don’t know if his intelligence has deteriorated. If he cries at a critical moment, maybe he will cause a big problem for us.”

The little fat kid was very calm and his analysis made a lot of sense. After he said this, he glanced at the other old players, obviously wanting to get their support. One of the thin girls said coolly, “That’s right. Please don’t be a Virgin Mary at a time like this. You might think you’re being kind by saving him now, but then perhaps he’ll kill the entire team. That’s how it was in my last world. There are always a few idiots who think they are the saviors but the result was…humph.”

Xu RenDong felt that he had been shot while lying down.

The girl was instantly angry: “Damn you, I’m taking him! If you are afraid of death, stay away from me. Don’t fucking point your fingers randomly!”

Everyone was stunned by this sudden explosion of anger. Xu RenDong was secretly impressed. Amazing, he thought. So you can also answer in this kind of way.

At this time, Lian Qiao suddenly interrupted: “Actually, I don’t think it’s appropriate to abandon teammates at the beginning. Once you start the game, the team’s atmosphere won’t be right. Haven’t you ever thought that when you yourself becomes extraneous, other teammates will also abandon you without hesitation? Is that really what you want?”

The thin girl said coldly: “That’s just fate.”

Lian Qiao sighed and looked at Xu RenDong. Xu RenDong understood what he wanted and nodded at him. Lian Qiao understood, turned around and announced to everyone: “It’s not easy to come to an agreement at this time. Let’s split up for the time being.”

The two people walked to the girl and the baby tacitly at the same time.

The others couldn’t argue with them so they agreed. So everyone kept their distance quietly and entered the monastery one after another.