Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor- Koneko, Proofreader- Spring Flower
Wei Fuyuan: “!!!!!”
It was no exaggeration to say that the moment the head poking into the alleyway was seen, Wei Fuyuan, who considered himself very brave, truly experienced what it was like to be scared out of his wits.
At the same time, Bei Quan suddenly stretched out his hands, one covering Wei Fuyuan’s mouth and nose tightly, with the other sliding across to grip his hand.
Wei Fuyuan’s body shivered all over, feeling both adrenaline and numbness.
In an instant, he actually understood Bei Quan’s meaning.
——Don’t make a sound, don’t breathe!
Wei Fuyuan silently tightened his grip on Bei Quan’s hand.
In the dim narrow alley, under a broken basket and a ragged quilt, Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan were pressed together, so close that there was no gap.
And above them both was a head with a long neck –
The head slowly turned a circle in the alley – its long neck was very flexible, elegantly swaying through every nook and cranny.
Wei Fuyuan curled up motionless under the basket with Bei Quan’s hand tightly covering his mouth and nose, his palm as cold as ice.
Wei Fuyuan could even feel a faint and barely perceptible tremble. It was this almost imperceptible tremble that made Wei Fuyuan realize that Bei Quan was nervous.
Bei Quan, who used to remain calm and confident even when injured or unwell as if he had no weaknesses, was now so nervous that his hands were physically trembling.
Wei Fuyuan didn’t know how powerful these ghost guards patrolling the city were, but he knew they must be powerful enough to even make Bei Quan tremble.
But at that moment, he truly felt heartache.
He wished he could be stronger, at least strong enough to be Bei Quan’s support or even be relied on in times of need; just like this.
One second…
Two seconds…
Three seconds….
The movements of the head were slow and meticulous.
Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan held their breath.
This type of extreme tension could make people lose their sense of time.
They didn’t know how long they had been holding their breath, or even when the last time they had blinked was.
Finally, the long neck slowly retracted, taking its head with it and left the alley.
Bei Quan still had his hand covering Wei Fuyuan’s mouth and nose.
“Ring-ring-ding-ling”
“Dong-dong”
The sounds continued with the ghost guards moving forward.
The ghost guard with the long neck turned around, merged with its companions and disappeared into the dim and narrow alley.
Wei Fuyuan blinked,only then realizing that the soul-stirring bell and drum sounds, which had been so effective, had lost their power over him.
When he saw the ghost guards with the long neck leave, he exhaled a small sigh of relief, and the fingers that were folded on top of Bei Quan’s hand moved slightly.
Feeling the slight touch on his hand, Bei Quan immediately tightened his hands.
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.
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Bei Quan let go of his hand.
Wei Fuyuan didn’t dare to make too much noise and only took two shallow breaths.
Bei Quan held Wei Fuyuan’s face with his cold hands and bit his lower lip hard.
“Listen, we don’t have much time left!”
When Wei Fuyuan was stunned by this sudden kiss, Bei Quan said:
“So, you have to keep up with me and run as fast as you can later!”
Bei Quan’s voice was light, his speech was fast, but his pronunciation was very clear:
“No matter what happens, we absolutely cannot stop, let alone look back!”
Wei Fuyuan nodded.
“Okay!”
The next second, Bei Quan lifted the basket, kicked away the blanket, grabbed Wei Fuyuan’s arm and started to run, with all his might.
Wei Fuyuan didn’t know how much time was left, didn’t recognize the way in the Paper city, and didn’t know how far they were from the exit.
He only knew that he believed in Bei Quan and would entrust him with more than his life.
The two arrived on the main street.
Everywhere they passed, pedestrians, livestock, vehicles… everything they saw was motionless.
Only the two of them were running abruptly, shining brightly to indicate their difference in this unusual Paper City.
They were intruders, the anomalies who didn’t belong to the underworld.
“Ring-ring-ding-ling-ling.”
“Dong-dong.”
Suddenly, Wei Fuyuan heard the familiar sound of bells and wooden drums.
But this time, the originally slow and long rhythmic sounds became much faster, one sound tighter than the other, bringing out the murderous aura of the golden iron horse.
What was even more deadly was that the sound was clearly getting closer and closer to them, with the approaching speed being faster than their running speed.
Wei Fuyuan didn’t need to look back at all, he could imagine the scene behind him just by listening.
Two outsiders running wildly in the city of the dead can’t possibly escape the eyes of the city patrol ghosts.
Presumably, they had already been exposed while leaving the alley.
So now, there must be a group of ghosts chasing after them from behind, approaching them at a faster speed than they are running at!
“Run!”
Bei Quan only said one word.
Wei Fuyuan gritted his teeth and ran for his life.
If they got caught, they could very well lose their lives!
The ringing and drumming sounds became increasingly urgent and loud, which also meant that the pursuers were getting closer.
The intense drumming was deafening. In the midst of fear, tension and chaos, the two even had an illusion that the source of the sound was already behind them, as if they would be overwhelmed by hundreds of ghosts in just a mere second.
At this moment, Bei Quan suddenly grabbed Wei Fuyuan’s arm and shouted in a stern voice:
“Now, jump!”
Wei Fuyuan reflexively followed Bei Quan’s instructions, pushed into his legs hard, and jumped into the air.
Something brushed against his heel – it was a pale hand!
It was only half a second away before the hand would grab Wei Fuyuan’s ankle.
Bei Quan grabbed Wei Fuyuan and jumped three meters towards the ‘exit’.
It was at a certain critical point, that everything suddenly went dark before their eyes.
The dark orange sky of the Paper City suddenly disappeared, and what appeared in front of the two was the winding and narrow Huangquan Road, which seemed endless.
”Only five minutes left!”
Bei Quan quickly took out a talisman paper and lit it up with a handful of blue flames, while commanding,
”Keep running!”
————————
Jiang Nan’an was so anxious in the living room on the first floor of the “Sāntúchuān” broadcasting company that he was just like an ant on a hot pan; almost spinning around the incense table.
A piece of ash from the incense fell silently.
The second incense stick flickered and burned to the end, then went out.
As a result, two of the three incense sticks had diminished, and the remaining stick was less than half a centimeter long, and could only last for another two minutes at most.
Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan were sitting upright on the cushions in front of the incense table, with no sign of waking up.
Jiang Nan’an was sweating profusely, staring at the remaining incense. He just wished that he could go down and drag his two companions back himself.
At this moment, Tian Jiaxin, who was watching, suddenly said, ”This scene looks really familiar, doesn’t it?”
Jiang Nan’an asked, What!?”
Tian Jiaxin gave him a faint glance.
”It’s true. Last time, Bei Quan didn’t return on time.”
He was talking about what Bei Quan did in Xuanmen Village.
At that time, Bei Quan went to empathize with a student trapped in the fragmented space and almost got trapped himself.
Jiang Nan’an’s lips trembled, ”What, what happened next?”
”Bei Quan almost ‘died’.”
Tian Jiaxin clasped his arms, his expression heavy:
”It’s true. At that time, his heart and breathing had stopped. If it weren’t for Wei Fuyuan giving him artificial respiration and transferring the merit power into his body, he might have really died.”
Jiang Nan’an: ‘!!!!’
He turned his head suddenly, staring in horror at the fire that was about to burn out.
This time Bei Quan went ‘down’ with Wei Fuyuan.
Even the one who could give him artificial respiration is gone, what else can be done?!
However, with an E-rank Luck, bad things always happen.
The last section of the incense ash fell, and the residual fragrance of the fire flickered and quickly went out.
‘Fuck!!’
Jiang Nan’an was about to go crazy.
——I should have strongly opposed Bei Quan’s descent to the Yin!
—— And he shouldn’t have taken Xiao Wei with him!!
While regret and remorse filled his mind, Comrade Xiao Jiang rushed forward.
However, before his fingers could touch Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan, the two suddenly went limp, one falling forward and the other backward, as they both fell to the ground with a ‘thud.’
At the same time, the third incense stick was completely extinguished.
Not only Jiang Nan’an, but also Zhu Ling and Tian Jiaxin immediately gathered around the two.
Jiang Nan’an grabbed Wei Fuyuan’s shoulder with pressure.
‘Cough! Cough cough!’
Wei Fuyuan suddenly flipped over and began to cough violently.
“Cough cough cough!”
Jiang Nan’an was overjoyed: ”Xiao Wei!”
Wei Fuyuan ignored Jiang Nan’an, pushed him away, and rushed to Bei Quan’s side.
He pushed aside Zhuling and Tian Jiaxin, picking up Bei Quan, anxiously calling his name:
”Bei Quan!”
Wei Fuyuan clearly remembered that they had traveled against the flow on the Huangquan Road, attracting countless ghosts along the way because of the ghostly fire in their hands.
The scene was as thrilling as an off-road obstacle race.
The talisman in Bei Quan’s hand burned out, and the two saw a faint red light at the end of the road.
That was the fire of the incense that was about to be extinguished.
”We’re here!”
At that moment, Wei Fuyuan heard Bei Quan’s shout and felt a strong push from behind.
He lost control and rushed towards the light.
The next moment, he felt the familiar dizziness and disorientation. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself back in ‘Sāntúchuān’.
——He came back, but what about Bei Quan?!
Wei Fuyuan was both extremely anxious and angry.
He hugged Bei Quan’s motionless body tightly and called his name repeatedly.
Bei Quan’s fingers trembled slightly, and then he opened his eyes.
Wei Fuyuan’s body went limp, and he almost fell to the ground: “Bei Quan!!!”
“Don’t worry.”
Bei Quan smiled at Wei Fuyuan and said,
“With you here, how could I not come back?”
That was so tense! Glad they both came back!
Aiya, that’s smooth Bei Quan, smooth.