Chapter 41
The claw moved slowly. The Si Chen doll in the white dress was hanging above the pick-up chute, looking at Si Chen face to face through a layer of glass.
After a moment, the claw released.
Si Chen knelt down, trying to take the new doll, but there was nothing.
If it weren’t for the points on his player information page rising to 105 points, Si Chen would have even suspected that that previous encounter was a hallucination.
In the game machine, the voice of Pixel Bear sounded, “Congratulations to player Si Chen for scoring 100 points! You have officially unlocked the event rewards!”
On the door of the center head’s office, the glass lit up and a string of pixel emoticons floated past, accompanied by the sound effect of a Super Mario game clear.
The door could now be opened.
Si Chen was about to take the dolls to settle accounts with Doctor when suddenly there was a “pop” sound from the corridor leading to the operating room.
Something had fallen.
Si Chen’s heart trembled. He stared fixedly in the direction of the operating room.
There was a blast of cold air from the entrance of the corridor, as if the door to a cold storage had been opened in summer.
So very cold. Unlike the gloomy and cold encounters he’d had with ghosts before, this cold could freeze your very soul.
The Eternal Life Abyss roared anxiously in Si Chen’s body, full of hostility towards the outside world.
Si Chen couldn’t even think but he still instinctively raised his gun and aimed it at the corridor.
This is the fighting instinct of the body.
From the dark mouth of the corridor, a palm-sized cotton doll came out.
White Dress’ voice was soft. “What are you afraid of? It’s just me.”
It was the voice of a child.
It looked to be more delicately made than the other dolls. Its stitched eyes could even blink.
White Dress was wearing a white nightgown; white roses made of snowy white gauze were stitched at the top.
Si Chen slowly put down the gun. He wasn’t prone to sweating but now, even the palms of his hands were wet and clammy.
White Dress walked up to Si Chen on his short doll legs.
It looked up and stared at Xiao Zhou sitting on Si Chen’s shoulder.
The little merman was hiding amongst the hair down the back of Si Chen’s neck, shivering, trying to minimize his sense of existence. “I, I will go.”
White Dress retracted its gaze and raised its arms towards Si Chen. “Carry me!”
Out of consideration for Xiao Zhou’s safety, Si Chen put the merman doll on the ground and then picked up the White Dress doll.
It was like holding an ice cube in winter.
Although White Dress was already being very restrained, Si Chen’s hands still became frostbitten.
Si Chen’s knuckles became abnormally swollen, turning blue-purple from freezing.
White Dress noticed this too.
It broke away from Si Chen’s hand, jumped onto his wrist, opened the invisible slit on the back of his hand and pulled out one of the Eternal Life Abyss’ small black tentacles.
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.
Qtlaf Ggfrr rja jabq atf Safgcji Olof Cysrr’ tfjv, offilcu nfgs tjqqs. “Cigluta, atlr klii vb.”
Ktf Safgcji Olof Cysrr gbjgfv jcuglis, “Vdefjx! Vdefjx!”
Vl Jtfc mbeiv tfjg atf ogeragjalbc jcv uglfnjcmf ogbw lar abcf.
“Yt, atja’r gluta.” Qtlaf Ggfrr iloafv atf tfw bo lar clutaubkc jcv qeiifv bea j ilutafg. Pa atfc tjcvfv la ab Vl Jtfc, “P jiwbra obguba. Lfgf’r atf ilutafg.”
This was the game clearance reward given by the House of the Mind.
The lighter was very small. Flick open the top cover and a purple fire automatically emerges.
White Dress: “You can take this lighter out with you and you’ll still be able to use it. It contains darkfire, which has a restraining effect on many High-Dimensional Creatures.”
Si Chen looked at the cotton doll sitting on the back of his hand. He made to speak but stopped.
“You look like you have something to say to me?” White Dress tilted its head at him.
Si Chen said slowly, “Aren’t you my hallucination?”
Si Chen had gaps in his memory.
He could clearly remember what books he’d read when he was two or three years old but couldn’t remember who he’d met or what had happened.
In his memory, the first time he’d encountered White Dress was when the High-Dimensional Invasion occurred in the orphanage. However, judging from the Doctor’s phone call, this was clearly not the case.
These past many years, apart from during the Eyeworm’s dream, he’d also dreamt of White Dress a few times.
The one that had left the deepest impression was of White Dress in the depths of a vast empty maze, his thin wrists connected with an iron chain. Head lowered, he was casually playing with a jigsaw puzzle.
Knowing it was a dream, Si Chen hadn’t even wondered why he was in chains.
He was seated on the grass, helping White Dress complete the jigsaw puzzle.
It was a big, big puzzle. Even until Si Chen woke up, he still hadn’t finished his part.
White Dress replied with a smile, “I am just your hallucination.”
Si Chen: “…”
Is that so? Then why does it feel like I’m being fooled?
It stretched out its hand. “Give me the remaining two tokens.”
Si Chen put two game coins in its palm.
In arcades, if you want to win bigger prizes, you always need more game tokens.
Here was no exception.
White Dress put the two game tokens into the 100-points game machine, a smile firmly on its face.
The broad-headed snake suddenly looked extremely frightened and ran around inside its glass case.
But its resistance was futile. The claw grabbed onto its weak spot and pulled it forcibly out of the case.
The roar of a wild beast came from the corridor.
A golden python squeezed out its humongous head from the less than one meter wide mouth of the corridor.
It had a third eye between its eyebrows and the scales covering its body were tough and sharp.
The giant snake’s body was simply too large and it got stuck inside the corridor, unable to get out.
It opened its mouth wide and foul-smelling breath spewed out from its mouth. “Roar!”
A jet of cyan flames rushed forward, sweeping away everything in an instant. The high temperature turned half the third floor hall into a smoldering mess.
The Eternal Life Abyss was trembling with fright. But it also roared back, not to be outdone, “Chi-chirp, chiiiiiirp!!”
White Dress looked around. It snatched the trident from Xiao Zhou’s hand and threw it like a javelin.
The little fork hit the Feathered Serpent God between the eyes.
The trident was only as big as an ordinary dessert fork. It was Xiao Zhou’s birth weapon and Xiao Zhou himself was only at the Second Step. Although the trident was a spiritual item, it wasn’t anything powerful.
However, this unremarkable trident, only as big as a toothpick compared to the giant snake, was the weapon that took its life.
The giant snake’s eyes rolled to the back of its head and it fell to the ground with a thud.
Now dead, its body kept shrinking until it finally turned into a sausage stuck to the ground with a fork.
White Dress jumped from Si Chen’s hand.
Wherever it walked, the flames were extinguished and everything returned to silence.
White Dress brought the fork back. “Here you are.”
The House of the Mind hadn’t actually captured an actual Feathered Serpent God. If this were a true Feathered Serpent God, it wouldn’t only be 100 points.
The broad-headed snake was a High-Dimensional Creature with the blood of a Feathered Serpent God. After it sheds its skin nine times, it could become a true Feathered Serpent God. By the time it died, it was already at the Fifth Step.
The Eternal Life Abyss’ mouth was watering. “Mom! This, smells so good…”
It was so hungry. But it didn’t know whether to accept it or not; because it doesn’t like White Dress!
It doesn’t like Ji Chuyao either!
If it were only strong enough, these two things would belong to its “edible” range.
It only likes Si Chen.
Si Chen took the fork without hesitation.
What the Eternal Life Abyss said was right. This broad-headed snake really did smell good. It was even cooked. Si Chen grew hungry the moment he smelled it.
Now he understood what Yu Lian must have felt when he smelled that braised pork rice.
Si Chen ate the golden sausage. It tasted like a cheese sausage wrapped in a crispy batter.
The skin was crispy and delicious. With one bite, the salty melty cheese burst in his mouth. The meat was juicy, plump and tender. It was tasty enough that he licked his fingers to catch every last bit.
As expected of a broad-headed snake worth 100 points. Sure enough, something that plump was truly delicious. It was just a tab bit too oily.
Si Chen was feeling a little full. Meat juices covered his chin.
White Dress took out a napkin from under its skirt.
The Eternal Life Abyss, having accepted the bribe of a grilled sausage, grudgingly lifted it up.
White Dress stood up on tiptoe and wiped off the stains from Si Chen’s chin with the napkin. It said in a gentle voice, as if taking care of a child, “Now, don’t move. Let me wipe your mouth.”
Si Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.
He could refuse, but he didn’t want to.
White Dress crumpled up the used tissue and threw it into the flames.
It said, “I’m leaving now. Take care of yourself. It’s almost dawn, so you better get going.”
**
Si Chen gripped the lighter tightly and opened the door to the center head’s office.
On a chair before the desk, sat a brown teddy bear nearly two meters high. It was still holding the phone receiver in its hand.
Doctor didn’t move. In fact, it couldn’t move.
It was stuck in this chair.
A thin, almost invisible ghostly shadow hugged the teddy bear tightly with both hands.
In just a few more days, this ghostly shadow will dissipate completely.
The fugitive, of course, wasn’t actually named John Doe. After a hundred years, Dr. Xiong no longer remembered his name. He only remembered him as a desperate father, who when he was still alive, hunted and killed him night after night.
The dolls who’d followed Si Chen rushed forward, crazed.
Xiao Zhou was no exception. He opened his mouth wide and revealed long fangs inside his cotton doll mouth.
They threw themselves onto Doctor’s body, tearing off pieces of cotton wool that came away wet with blood.
Doctor’s expression changed little but his tone went up and down. “And now, we’ve met face to face, my esteemed patient. Would you like have a chat?”
Doctor purposely spoke slowly.
It has noticed that, at most, a minute more and the Space Fold will be over.
Although his loses had been costly during the Space Fold, so long as he lived, there was hope. The dolls could also be remade.
Next time, he will pick a more suitable location.
Si Chen smiled and flicked the lighter. The purple flame jumped up. “What is the House of the Mind?”
Dr. Xiong refused, sounding righteous, “I signed a non-disclosure agreement and I will not betray the organization!”
Si Chen brought the lighter closer to the brown teddy bear.
Xiong Chuan: “Fine, High-Dimensional Invasions don’t just happen in your world, nor did it only start in the last two hundred years. The House of the Mind is an organization composed of High-Dimensional creatures…For as long as human beings could think and remember, the House of the Mind has always existed.”
Si Chen: “Oh.”
He took out the diary of the ghost who jumped from the building, tore off a page and lit it with the lighter. He then threw it at Dr. Xiong.
The flames instantly jumped to a height of two meters, burning all over Xiong Chuan’s body.
In the flames, the shadow of the suicide ghost appeared. She and her father embraced and their shadows gradually disappeared.
When the blast of heat hit, Si Chen’s fair face was flushed red by the light of the fire.
In the midst of the flames, Dr. Xiong wailed hysterically, “I gave you your answer! How can you not believe what I said!”
Si Chen lowered his eyes and replied, “I didn’t promise not to burn you.”
He turned his head and looked out of the window, the first rays of the dawn streaked across the blue and white sky.
It was daybreak.
The author has something to say:
Dr. Xiong: Fuck, a human duped me!
White Dress is like a parent helping their kid cheat… but it’s acceptable, after all, in the Space Fold, everyone is trying to screw over each other.
And Xiao Zhou is still cute. May he reincarnate happily!
Thank you for the chapter.
Oh, dinner
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Wonder if white dress and JX will meet. Is white dress gonna approve his courting or get protective?
Snake sausage, yum! Hahahahaha. Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
really getting more and more curious about white dress….
White Dress appears! At first, I thought it would be a second male lead but now they seem like a protective guardian. Is White Dress the parasite from the dimensional invasion he went into as a kid? or will it be something he gained for a different reason? (Rhetorical questions. Don’t want spoilers lol)
Thanks for the chapter!!
Sweet little family has an auntie White Dress! Feeding the cute children
It’s killing me that im so curious about allll of this!!
Everytime they open the opening on his arm, my mind imagines the opening of a car trunk. I dont know why, but the image is stuck there
I’m just glad there wasn’t a lot of nonsense.
TY!