Xiao Lan didn’t know how long he walked up the stairs; from its appearance, this staircase was just a monotonous repetitive cycle, making one wonder if it wanted people to die from exhaustion here.
While moving monotonously up these stairs that exhausted one mentally, Xiao Lan suddenly felt a faint wind scrape past his cheek. It was clearly just a breeze, but it brought something sharp and cutting, making him feel a faint stab of pain.
Warned by his keen sense for danger, Xiao Lan subconsciously dodged to the side.
Immediately, he saw the trace of a sharp blade that had slashed downward in the spot where he had been standing. It was a deep imprint in the ground, but there was clearly nothing in front of him.
Was something attacking Xiao Lan?
The next moment, a gust of black wind swept past Xiao Lan.
Originally standing quietly by Xiao Lan’s side, Luo suddenly leapt out in one of the rare times when he acted without Xiao Lan’s order. His fingertips glinted with pitch-black claws, as he attacked an area where nothing was visible.
After that, a piercing screech rang out in the air.
Xiao Lan was unable to describe what that sound was like; it wasn’t a sound that could be made by any living thing that Xiao Lan was familiar with.
Luo twisted in the air, and his subsequent attacks landed each time. In the air, some black mist could be seen being torn apart, as if there was an invisible monster in front of him.
After a number of exchanges, Luo retracted his claws and stopped attacking, and returned to Xiao Lan with elegant strides.
Xiao Lan was confused. “What just happened?”
Luo calmly tidied his sleeves. “For a split second just now, I felt the aura of one of my parts. He’s probably instinctively attacking everything around him, which is why he attacked you.”
Xiao Lan looked to the front, but all he could see was just the ordinary stairs; there didn’t seem to be anything unusual. However, something did indeed attack him from that direction.
Luo explained, “He should have gone into hiding now. The aura has become very weak. Unless there’s a reaction from the same source, like me, it’s very hard to find.”
Xiao Lan was a little curious. “It seems none of your other parts have a consciousness like you.”
Luo laughed lightly. “Just like how each human being only has one brain, naturally there can only be one part of me that possesses thought.”
Although he had nearly disappeared in the torment of endless darkness.
Xiao Lan: “Can we track him now?”
“I can’t sense him once he’s a little further away. This place is affecting my perception.” Luo shook his head. “Let’s continue forward, sir. Since he has already sensed my existence, he’ll definitely take the initiative to find me.”
He smiled a little murderously as he looked forward. “After all… We all have the same thirst to gobble each other up.”
Xiao Lan was a little worried. “If you have to swallow it up whenever you find a part of you, will that affect you?”
Luo’s beautiful eyes turned to Xiao Lan, and a layer of gold emerged from their pitch-black depths, as if wanting to read something from his face. “The more I swallow, the closer I will be to my original self. These parts all appear to be very strong attackers. If the original me is a crazy monster, would you feel fear or loathing, sir?”
Xiao Lan pondered this hypothesis for a moment. “I feel that given your pride, you won’t allow yourself to become a mindless monster.”
Though they hadn’t known each other for long, Xiao Lan could still sense the bone-deep pride in Luo. From when he had just been a black shadow in an envelope, that had never changed.
“Hehehehe…”
Luo quietly broke out laughing. In that deep voice of his, it made one’s ears tingle.
He looked at Xiao Lan seriously, then bowed slightly. “Sir, I appreciate your confidence. I will do my utmost to preserve my reason.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Unexpectedly, someone could be this confident in him about a matter that he himself had no confidence in. This feeling… was pretty nice. It seemed that he also had to work harder, as he didn’t want to disappoint his master.
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However, a few figures were silently standing at the end of the stairs, blocking their path.
The mother and daughter stood together hand in hand with their heads lowered as a little ball bounced on its own continuously beside them.
The pregnant woman was drenched and dripping from head to toe, with a pool of water that seemed alive at her feet.
The evil cult believer was using Meng Ze’s body to hold his own head, and he looked at Xiao Lan with a malicious smile.
The couple was soaking in a blood pool, their limbs creeping along the floor as the blood beneath them slowly snaked down the staircase.
The neighbours who had been separated from each other not long ago were reunited once more.
They waited silently, as if to welcome the arrival of the two people. This time, they looked like they were prepared to join hands to give the two fellows in front of them a fancy beating from members of society.
The blood under the couple’s bodies flowed towards Xiao Lan bit by bit. He stepped on it without the least trace of politeness, then flipped his hand over and took out 【This is a dagger coated in highly toxic poison】 from his storage space.
This dagger was mostly useless against these ex-neighbours who clearly weren’t human, and would at most only cut the clothes, hair, or body that they were controlling.
But the most important thing in a fight was an imposing manner!
This was what Xiao Lan, who had worked night shifts for many years and accumulated a rich experience of punching gangsters and kicking hoodlums, said.
As long as you went into a fight with the momentum of ‘laozi is number one in the world’, you would have already won half the battle.
The dagger in Xiao Lan’s hand spun in a beautiful arc in the air.
His face sank and he looked fiercely at the people in front of him. “Who’s first?”
At that moment, Luo also very cooperatively flashed his sharp claws, a dangerous smile on his lips. Together, they looked like the most feral cubs on the street.
The couple bearing the brunt: “…”
It was as if some bad memories had resurfaced. Even after death, it was still engraved into their bones and hadn’t faded at all. Sure enough, some things couldn’t be forgotten no matter what.
Looking at Xiao Lan and Luo who were getting closer, the man suddenly had a bright idea. He said to his girlfriend, “Xiao Ya, let’s break up ba. I think we’re not right for each other; I really can’t stand you.”
The female ghost in the pool of blood instantly flew into a rage. “Fucker, laoniang is called Xiao Li!!”
As she spoke, a blood-soaked palm went flying at the male ghost. The male ghost didn’t shrink back at all as he waved his arms and fended her off. The two ghosts immediately scuffled. The blood on their bodies splattered everywhere on the stairs and made for a rather spectacular sight.
As their ‘you come, I go’ fight went on, they gradually drew further and further away from the core of the battle.
What a good pretense of advancing in order to retreat. They had truly underestimated the intelligence of these two.
The remaining neighbours: “…”
Our dog teammates sold us out just like that, what we gon do?
The pregnant woman gave the single mother a look: Fight?
Single mother: If you can, you go.
Pregnant woman: I can’t deal with these two beasts ah!
Single mother: Do you think I can?!
Pregnant woman: It was your daughter that gave them that stinking can that they have!
Single mother: …
Little girl: I’m extremely wronged…
On the side, the evil cult believer had already covered his face with his hands and gone offline.
This scene perfectly showed how a team formed at the last minute was just this unreliable.
Seizing the moment when they were engrossed in communicating with their eyes, Xiao Lan gave Luo a look, and the latter instantly understood.
The next second, Xiao Lan used 【You can’t see me】 to eliminate his existence from the ghosts’ awareness of him. At the same time, Luo also turned into a shadow and disappeared on the spot.
It was a pity that Luo’s trick of hiding one’s aura could only be used when Xiao Lan kept still; as soon as he moved, he would be exposed.
When the new age good neighbours came back to themselves after communicating with their eyes, the demons in front of them had already disappeared.
Though they no longer had to breathe, they still let out quiet sighs of relief.
After leaving the stairs, Xiao Lan headed for the concealed location that was the fifth floor.
This so-called fifth floor looked very strange.
It was like a labyrinth formed by countless rooms. The rooms were all interconnected, and each room had at least two or three doors, and at most four or five. To enter the next room, they had to pass through the one before it.
Xiao Lan opened several doors in a row that led to uninhabited and silent rooms. When he was about to open the next door, he was grabbed by the wrist.
Luo’s lips curved. “Apologies, sir. Would you allow me to open this door?”
Xiao Lan instantly understood. This was definitely where Luo’s other part was hiding. He readily agreed and took a step back, then watched as Luo reached over to push open this door to reveal who knew what.
This time, Xiao Lan finally saw the black shadow clearly.
This black shadow was completely different from the one in Six Realms Hot Springs. He was like a spider web crisscrossed over the ceiling and didn’t have a concrete form; it was very difficult to distinguish head from tail.
When he saw Luo open the door and enter, he seemed to go berserk, and frantically brandished feeler-like shadows which went straight for Luo.
Luo welcomed the black shadow’s attack. Before he left, he found the time to tell Xiao Lan, “Sir, please wait a moment.”
Xiao Lan also understood that this was Luo’s fight. He wouldn’t recklessly help out.
The slender human figure and waving pitch-black tendrils battled each other. Both sides didn’t hold back as they did their best to tear each other apart, and black fragments were scattered unceasingly in the air.
Luo’s claws cut off countless tendrils that attacked him, causing the black shadow to let out a piercing shriek.
The next instant, even more tendrils attacked. Some were cut off, some were avoided, and some pierced his arms and body; what flowed from the wounds was blood that was as black as ink.
The colour of this blood vividly reminded the spectator that Luo wasn’t human.
Luo reached up and wiped away the blood on his cheek; he had the excited expression of a hunter, even as more and more blood gushed from his wounds in the wake of his movements, leaving black marks on the ground.
Luo looked at the pitch-black tendrils spreading everywhere and pulled his lips back, his teeth gleaming white. “Want to swallow me up?”
As if in response, the tendrils waved even more violently.
“Hehehe…” Luo’s lip curled, arrogance filling his eyes. “Just you on your own is impossible.”
Hearing this, the tendrils seemed enraged, and suddenly lunged towards Luo as if they would pulverise everything in the next second.
But when they were right in front of Luo, he vanished.
The next instant, there were countless sharp flashes, and every single one of the widespread black tendrils turned into black smoke.
The black shadow let out an extremely high-pitched scream, but was unable to stop Luo from reaching into his core. With an unresigned and infuriated roar, the black shadow was gobbled up bit by bit.
Luo tidied his clothes. After swallowing the black shadow, his injuries began to heal rapidly, and would probably vanish before long.
He smiled as he walked towards Xiao Lan, who was waiting on the side.
Suddenly, Luo was attacked by a stab of agonizing pain; it was as if his soul was being forcibly ripped apart, the acute and sharp pain tormenting every shred of his consciousness.
This was the most painful memory from the deepest part of his soul, which was being retrieved at that very moment.
The scene of when he had been torn to shreds back then appeared in his mind, and the pain from that moment swept him away again.
“Ngh —” Luo bit his lip hard, forcibly suppressing the pained cry that was on the verge of leaving his lips. He couldn’t remain standing, however, and dropped to one knee. Nevertheless, his back was still straight as he refused to fall.
Seeing that the situation wasn’t right, Xiao Lan hurriedly ran over to support Luo’s swaying body. “Luo! What’s wrong?!”
Luo raised his head, and only then did Xiao Lan realise that the situation was even worse than he had expected. Luo’s originally handsome face was covered in cracks, like broken delicate porcelain, the shattered parts revealing the blackness underneath.
Black blood flowed out from the cracks of his body; the situation looked very bad.
Leaning into Xiao Lan’s embrace, Luo stubbornly opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and broken. “Apologies… I may… be unable to maintain a human form… for the time being… Please, sir.”
Xiao Lan nodded at him. “I’ll bring you with me to clear the game.”
Luo forced himself to smile. “Thank you… sir.”
With that, he looked like he was about to lose consciousness.
Xiao Lan hurriedly added, “Hold on! What will you turn into?”
From his embrace came Luo’s faint, indiscernible voice: “Don’t… know…”
Xiao Lan was a little worried as he held the unconscious Luo. What if you turn into a puddle of black goo? Do I have to specifically find a bottle to put you in? Will something happen if I separate you into two bottles…
Baobao Notes
I worry for a few seconds and xiao lan comes barreling in with the stupidest thoughts.
As long as he doesn’t drink from the bottle lol
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
If he drank some of it I guess Luo will forever be a part of him…. they can be together forever in a sense sjfbdnmfmf
choke choked on my salad, which I had lost my appetite for after all the gore
And they said cannibalism wasn’t romantic /lh
+1
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^)♡
I love his incongruously practical thoughts. Thank you for translating! <3
BABY LUO BABY LUO!!
I had just commented how Luo hadn’t found any more of his part and boom, there it is.
I love Xiao Lan. ^-^
Thanks for the chapter <3
I Knooow i saw ur comment and i’m like yeah next chapter is the one (confidently nods)
Aww~ now I want to listen to the World of Goo OST :3
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
For some reason this looks like a Pokémon hunter finding shards to evolve his Pokémon~
Thanks for the chapter~
I… I thought almost the exact same thing as him. My mind always goes to “how could this become worse and more embarrasing to me.”
(chanting) cat cat cat cat
Omg… What if Luo turns into that flat head cat 😂
Thats a pretty resonable worry
Don’t use a dirty bottle. Like the coke bottle that held holy water. I’m really interested to know what happened to Lou? Who is he? What is he? Did these two know each other before?
Was so worried about Luo until Xiao Lan come with his practical thoughts that ruin the atmosphere.
cup his face!!#i was worried too but his silly thoughts lightened the mood slightly
but i am worried about if after having everything, he’ll turn crazy?
what if there’s a bit of him in him?
Valid concern 👋