Lu Shiyan swept his gaze over the still-writhing chunks of flesh, then turned to Qi Sui.
"Any news from Qinian?"
Qi Sui was about to speak when a sudden change occurred.
Drip.
The faint sound of dripping water was magnified infinitely in the silent corridor.
Jiang Nuan jerked her head up.
A creature, twice the size of the hunting hounds from before, its body covered in black barbs, had merged into the mucus on the ceiling without a sound.
It hung upside down directly above Jiang Nuan, its massive mouth, split all the way to its ears, aimed at the crown of her head. A single drop of vile green venom stretched into a thread, landing beside her foot.
It had been waiting.
Waiting for the exact second everyone let their guard down.
Roar!
With all four limbs driving off the ceiling, the creature lunged straight down!
The monster’s fangs, the dripping venom, reflected in Jiang Nuan’s pupils.
She wanted to dodge. Her brain screamed commands, but her legs stayed frozen in place.
She shut her eyes in despair, bracing for the tearing agony.
Thud—
A dull sound of flesh being pierced exploded beside her ear.
The anticipated pain never came. Instead, a wave of scalding liquid, reeking of blood, splashed across her cheek.
Jiang Nuan’s eyelashes fluttered wildly. She snapped her eyes open.
Ye Que stood before her.
He hadn’t even had time to raise his gun.
The instant the monster pounced, this sniper had used his own left arm to shield Jiang Nuan’s head.
The creature’s two venomous bone spikes had pierced clean through Ye Que’s forearm.
The sharp tips of bone jutted out from the inside of his arm, mere centimeters from Jiang Nuan’s nose.
Blood sprayed from the wounds, splattering her face.
It was scalding.
That was... a living person’s blood.
Jiang Nuan’s breath stopped completely.
She stared blankly at the pale, bloody bone tips protruding from Ye Que’s forearm, her mind unable to process.
But Ye Que didn’t even frown.
His pitch-black eyes locked onto the monster inches away. His right hand pulled the dagger from his belt.
Backhand. A swing of the blade.
A flash of light traced a ghastly white arc.
Crack.
The monster’s head flew into the air. A fountain of foul black blood splattered the ground. The headless body crashed heavily onto the floor, twitched twice, and lay still.
Expressionless, Ye Que lowered his left arm. His right hand gripped the bone spike piercing his forearm and yanked it out in one motion.
Thud!
He tossed the bloody spike aside. The flesh around the wound began to blacken and rot at a visible rate, with poison spreading upward along his veins.
Qi Sui strode over.
He put away his black scythe and placed both hands over Ye Que’s blackening wound. A soft green glow emanated from his palms, like fireflies, pouring into the festering flesh.
"Don’t move," Qi Sui said. The smile had vanished from his face. His eyes were focused and serious.
The green light met the poison, producing a faint sizzling sound. Black necrotic tissue was stripped away bit by bit. The bleeding wound temporarily stopped.
Throughout this process, Ye Que stood perfectly straight. Only when the sizzling was loudest did he give a slight twitch of his eyebrows.
He looked down at Jiang Nuan, still frozen in place.
"Wipe it off," Ye Que said coldly, sparing just three words.
Jiang Nuan snapped out of it, frantically using her sleeve to wipe the blood off her face.
The note in her pocket—[Don’t trust anyone]—seemed to burn against her skin, searing her nerves.
And yet, Ye Que had saved her again.
"It’s a mutant," Lu Shiyan said, glancing at the corpse before picking up the interrupted question. "What’s the situation with Qinian?"
Sweat beaded on Qi Sui’s brow. While maintaining the healing, he spoke quickly. "He’s in bad shape. His mental link keeps getting disrupted by some high-frequency signal. I can only sense that he’s agitated, weak, and his general location."
The green points of light kept flowing in until the blood from Ye Que’s arm turned bright red and the flesh healed over completely.
Only then did Qi Sui withdraw his hands, pull bandages from his belt, and skillfully wrap the wound.
"Let’s move," Lu Shiyan said without wasting words, gripping his gun as he took the lead.
Ye Que flexed his left arm, drew his dagger again, and walked beside Jiang Nuan.
The labyrinthine corridors stretched under their feet, the mucus on the walls writhing with increasing intensity. Qi Sui led at the front, while Lu Shiyan and Ye Que flanked Jiang Nuan, guarding her between them.
Then, without the slightest warning, the ground beneath Jiang Nuan softened and flipped over.
"!"
She lost her balance completely. The floor vanished beneath her, and she plunged into pure darkness.
"Jiang Nuan!" Qi Sui lunged to grab her. His fingertips barely brushed her clothes.
The feeling of weightlessness engulfed her instantly. She didn’t even have time to scream. Her body slid uncontrollably down a smooth, icy, and completely enclosed passageway at breakneck speed.
All around her was dead silence, except for the wind whistling past her ears.
Jiang Nuan bit down hard on her lower lip, forcing herself to stay calm. She curled up, hugging her head to protect her vitals.
The slide twisted and turned endlessly.
About ten seconds later, a point of light appeared at the end of the tunnel.
The next second, she was flung out by an immense force, landing ungainly on a hard surface.
It wasn’t the nauseating softness of flesh. It was cold, smooth tile.
Ignoring the bone-rattling pain, Jiang Nuan scrambled to her feet. Her right hand drew the silver pistol from her waist. She gripped it with both hands, the muzzle aimed dead ahead.
The moment her vision focused, she froze.
Harsh white light poured down from above.
It was an immaculate, softly lit lounge.
White walls, spotless. A clean gray fabric sofa sat in the center. On the glass coffee table were several unopened bottles of water and a plate of washed fruit.
It was a stark, jarring contrast with the flesh den outside—and with her own filthy, disheveled state.
But what truly made her pupils dilate were the people in the room.
Jiang Ce, Qinian, Shen Wu.
The three who had gone missing, intact, in a room so clean it was surreal.
They bore no trace of blood. Their combat uniforms were as smooth as if never wrinkled.
Jiang Ce sat on a single sofa on the left, wiping his heavy arm cannon with a piece of spotless white cloth.
Qinian leaned against the edge of the coffee table, his long legs crossed, idly tossing a silver coin. Ding, ding. The sound echoed in the silent room.
Shen Wu sat on the farthest single sofa, head lowered, fingers tapping fast on the virtual keyboard of a portable light computer, as if processing urgent intelligence.
Too normal.
So normal it was spine-chilling.
"Who?"
Hearing the noise, Jiang Ce stopped wiping his arm cannon and turned to the door.
Seeing Jiang Nuan with her gun raised, the signature bright smile spread across his face, revealing two rows of even white teeth.
"Nuannuan? How come you’re here alone? Where’s the captain and the others?"
He set down the armguard and walked toward her, his tone familiar and concerned.
Jiang Nuan did not lower her gun.
Her back pressed firmly against the cold wall, the muzzle steady as could be, her gaze darting across the three of them.
Something was wrong.
In this old base twisted into a nest by SS-level restricted zone energy, a rest room with not even a speck of dust—and these three people, whose clothes weren’t even dirty—were the biggest red flags of all.
“You guys…” Jiang Nuan swallowed hard, forcing the tremor out of her voice. “Didn’t you run into any monsters?”
“Monsters?”
Qinian caught the falling coin, closed his fingers around it, and walked over to her.
He wore a black combat suit, tall and lean, his face identical to Qi Sui’s, yet carrying that familiar, careless, mischievous smirk she remembered.
He stopped right in front of Jiang Nuan, looking down at her.
“What monster could ever hurt us?” Qinian let out a scoff, his tone arrogant. “You’re still such a coward. Who are you pointing that crappy gun at?”
He reached out, grabbed the barrel of her gun directly, and pushed it down.
Jiang Nuan’s fingers tensed, almost pulling the trigger. But the force on the barrel was immense—she couldn’t resist—and she had no choice but to lower the muzzle.
Qinian took another step forward, and with his free hand, he wrapped it around her waist, pulling her into the room and sitting her down on the sofa.
“Since you’re here, stay and keep me company for a while.” Qinian lowered his head, his lips almost brushing her ear, his voice thick with aggression. “This place is painfully boring.”
His burning body heat came through her clothes, mixed with a faint scent of gunpowder and raw masculinity.
Half carried, half guided, Jiang Nuan ended up sitting on the sofa.
She was stiff all over, but her mind raced.
Shen Wu’s “True Sight” could see through any illusion or lie. If this place was forged by the restricted zone, why hadn’t Shen Wu reacted?
But if they were real, why didn’t they have a single sign of fighting?
Why hadn’t they contacted Lu Shiyan?
That was the most fatal flaw of all.
Outside, Qi Sui had said Qinian’s mental link was disrupted—that he was bad-tempered, irritable, and weak.
But the Qinian in front of her was full of energy, still in the mood to tease her.
Jiang Nuan lowered her eyes, hiding the coldness within.
She didn’t push Qinian away. Instead, she tried to relax, letting herself sink back into the sofa, allowing his arm to stay around her waist.
“Have you been staying here the whole time?” Jiang Nuan asked softly, her voice sounding a bit timid.
“Yeah.” Jiang Ce sat back in his spot, looking at her. “We’ve been stuck in this room since we got here—door won’t open. But it’s fine, kind of like a vacation.”
Shen Wu didn’t even lift her head. “So noisy. Just sit still and behave.”
Perfect. Their tone, demeanor, movements—flawless.
If Jiang Nuan hadn’t known the secret about the twins sharing senses, she might have really been fooled.
The hand around her waist started to wander. Long fingers slowly crept upward, past the fabric.
“Nuannuan.” Qinian leaned into her neck, taking a deep breath. “Why do you smell so good?”
His lips brushed lightly against her skin, sending a shiver through her.
Jiang Nuan held back, forcing herself not to flinch.
She turned her head slightly, meeting Qinian’s eyes—those narrow, upturned ones so close to her.
“Qinian,” she said suddenly.
“Your brother got hurt outside. His left hand was pierced by a bone spur.”
Qinian’s hand paused for a moment.
He lifted his head, met her gaze, and smirked carelessly.
“Oh, really? Then he’s useless.”
Qinian pinched her chin.
“No matter. If he dies, you’ll be all mine.”
That hope lingering in the back of Jiang Nuan’s heart sank completely.
They shared senses. If Qi Sui’s hand had been pierced, Qinian should have at least wondered why he felt nothing.
And the real Qinian, when told that Qi Sui was injured, would never just brush it off like that.
There was a strange, deep bond between the two that no outsider could break into.
No way would he still be in the mood for this.
This one in front of her… was a fake.
All of them were fakes!
“What are you thinking about?” The fake Qinian seemed unhappy with her silence.
Jiang Nuan didn’t answer him.
Her fingers trembled slightly—a purely instinctive fear, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, the cold still crept up.
Two little voices screamed in her head: one told her to run, while the other calmly pointed out every flaw.
Jiang Nuan held her breath, slowly raised her hand, and, with the hand crusted with Ye Que’s dried blood, gently touched the face of the fake Qinian.
The fake Qinian was stunned. He hadn’t expected such a bold move from her.
Jiang Nuan’s fingertips traced his brows and eyes. “You’re really good at pretending… but unfortunately—”
She yanked her hand back, stepping away in one swift motion, creating distance. Her gun steadied, aiming right between his eyes.
“—you’re not him.”
The moment those words left her lips, she pulled the trigger.
