Jiang Yan had just wanted to ask what this thing was for and why it had appeared here, but a strange and inexplicable sense of dread pulled his gaze back to the sky that was still collapsing. He saw that as the players poured in their strength, the golden web grew far tougher, yet the collapse of the dungeon remained irreversible, and chunks of data glowing a ghostly blue continued to fall from the sky. As more and larger data blocks fell, the golden web holding up the sky gradually tightened. The threads, under extreme pressure, grew thinner and thinner, lighter and lighter in color. It was clear it was reaching its limit. “No…” Jiang Yan instinctively looked toward the [Divine System] on his personal system panel. It was a primal instinct embedded in his DNA, prompting him to draw on the players’ power of belief. At this moment, the players floating beneath the golden web were arguing in the flurry of falling rose petals about why Jiang Yan, who should have already become par...
Back at the camp, An Heyan and Xu Ke went to see their superior while Gu Zhan and Qin Yue waited outside.
After a while, An Heyan came out.
His expression was hard to read, making it difficult to discern whether it was good or bad.
Qin Yue, unable to contain his anxiety, asked, “How was it? Is everything okay?”
An Heyan said, “We didn’t get the wrong person. She is the spy… I also showed the documents to my superior.”
“Ah?” Qin Yue was confused.
After a pause, he said, “Then… did we complete the mission?? Isn’t that a good thing?”
Why did everyone look so strange?
An Heyan said, “Yes, we completed the mission and successfully identified the spy…”
Before he could finish his sentence, darkness engulfed them.
This was the completion of the side mission, and the book was about to send them out.
The mission had been completed too quickly; even a D-level to A-level instance shouldn’t be this simple.
From start to finish, everything felt out of place.
“Bang.”
The sound of the book hitting the table brought everyone back to their senses.
Qin Yue was ready for a big fight, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a minor annoyance.
He paused for a moment before bending down to pick up the book on the table.
Looking at it in disbelief, he said, “What exactly was written in this original work? We were only in there for a few hours? Is there only one plot point in this book??”
Not just Qin Yue, but everyone had similar questions in mind.
What was actually written in this book? Why was it so short and simplistic?
The Forest Spring could barely be called a love novel, but what about An Heyan and Xu Ke’s story? What about the one in Qin Yue's hands? It could hardly be considered a novel.
Gu Zhan carefully recalled the events they had just experienced.
Among the most suspicious points was whether that spy was actually a spy and what they had done.
There was also something else that raised suspicions: every story usually has a protagonist, even if it’s an author’s autobiography, but in the recent events, they couldn’t find anyone who could be called the protagonist.
Gu Zhan remembered "The Forest Spring" again, and deep down, he had a lingering question.
Did Jane really agree to be with Mike?
Mike said that Jane had feelings for him. Although Gu Zhan had followed their journey of acquaintance, he had never approached Jane to talk to her himself. He had only seen her happily chatting with Mike, but he didn’t know what they had discussed.
In the end, they ended up together, and the only one who came to tell Gu Zhan was Mike. What about Jane? Was she really sleeping in her room?
Countless questions piled up in Gu Zhan’s heart, unanswered.
He looked up and noticed that An Heyan had a similar expression to his own.
But unlike Gu Zhan, what he and Xu Ke were considering were the two books in their hands.
Gu Zhan fell silent. Exchanging information was useless; the discrepancies in the world of these books lay in the details. Without entering them personally, he wouldn’t be able to discover anything.
At that moment, An Heyan also gave up on his thoughts and quietly watched Gu Zhan.
As their eyes met, An Heyan smiled. He knew that he and Gu Zhan were thinking the same thing.
They wanted to exchange the books they had.
However, Gu Zhan only had one book that An Heyan hadn’t read.
An Heyan took the initiative and said, “Forget it. This book was originally yours anyway. I’ll give you the books that Xu Ke and I have, and you can give us your copy of ‘The Forest Spring.’ How about that?”
Qin Yue’s gaze flickered back and forth between Gu Zhan and An Heyan.
In his mind, An Heyan had previously harmed Gu Zhan, making him a rival; thus, offering compensation was appropriate.
Gu Zhan shouldn’t agree so easily.
But if he didn’t agree, it seemed like he would miss the opportunity to exchange books.
Qin Yue’s head wasn’t working right; on one hand, he felt Gu Zhan shouldn’t agree, but on the other, he thought he should.
He was caught in his own thoughts.
Gu Zhan, however, readily agreed, “Sure.”
“Friend.” An Heyan smiled, “You’re a smart person.”
Gu Zhan glanced at An Heyan but didn’t refute the term “friend.”
An Heyan cheerfully handed over the two books, and Gu Zhan gave him his copy of "The Forest Spring."
This way, Gu Zhan now had three books.
An Heyan stood up and said, “We need to go to the library tonight. See you at school.”
---
After An Heyan left, Qin Yue couldn’t help but ask, “Are we just going to let him go?”
Gu Zhan looked at him and replied calmly, “In the instance, personal grudges aren’t important.”
“That doesn’t mean…” You can’t just let it slide after being wronged!
Qin Yue said seriously, “This makes you seem weak.”
Gu Zhan was taken aback, not expecting such a description to be directed at him, then smiled, “But the instance isn’t over yet, is it? Let’s deal with the current dilemma first.”
Even if they stepped out of this door, they would still live in the pure white city, and they would have plenty of opportunities to meet again.
“Alright.” Qin Yue admitted that he still wasn’t quite used to this place. He stood up and asked, “Are we going to the library tonight?”
“No,” Gu Zhan said. “Take your books home. See you at school tomorrow.”
After getting home, Gu Zhan didn’t continue to read the two books.
He stayed up all night, having read two books in one day, and was already drained.
After dinner, he washed up and went to bed early.
The next day was Sunday.
His “parents” seemed to have something to do, so they were not home during the day.
Gu Zhan ate alone and then lay on his bed, opening one of the books.
Without a cover, he didn’t know which one he had entered. Once inside, he found himself transformed into a child.
He was standing in the corner, wearing a white long-sleeve shirt, staring blankly at a large tree in front of him.
What was going on? Why was this different from what An Heyan had said?
For a moment, Gu Zhan thought that An Heyan had deceived him, but soon he realized that wasn’t the case. Under the big tree, there was a little girl crying.
“What are you crying about?” Gu Zhan approached and asked softly.
Upon hearing his voice, the little girl opened her palm to reveal a small bird with a broken wing, lying quietly.
There was still some bloodstain near the base of its wing.
“It can’t fly anymore,” the little girl said, her voice still choked with sobs.
Gu Zhan paused and said, “Then… should we take it home to care for it?”
“No!” The little girl’s eyes widened in fear as she looked around. After confirming no one was nearby, she whispered to Gu Zhan, “Auntie won’t allow it… Don’t say that!”
It was then that Gu Zhan noticed that the clothes he was wearing were exactly the same as the little girl’s.
Although they were clearly different ages and genders, why were they dressed so similarly?
Moreover, the little girl’s attitude was strange.
Gu Zhan asked, “Why not? It’s just a little bird. It doesn’t take up much space. We can find a cage to put it in…”
“No, no!” The little girl immediately rejected him, looking at Gu Zhan curiously, “You’re older than me. Why would you say such things?”
Gu Zhan raised an eyebrow, not understanding the meaning behind her words.
At that moment, the distant bell chimed, and the little girl looked up. “It’s time for lunch.”
She glanced around and noticed a dense thicket by the flower bed next to the big tree. She cradled the little bird and placed it in the thicket.
Using some nearby dry branches, she quickly built a simple nest for it.
“Little bird, little bird, stay here quietly. I’ll come back to see you in the evening.”
As the little girl placed the bird inside, Gu Zhan heard a cat meowing nearby.
She seemed anxious and hurriedly left, but Gu Zhan hesitated by the flower bed.
"This is just a fledgling bird. If I leave it here, when the little girl returns, it will probably end up as cat food.
After thinking for a moment, he took the little bird out of the bushes again.
Nearby, there was a pile of clutter with all sorts of things. Gu Zhan rummaged through it for a while and found a bundle of rope and a small basket.
He climbed the tree and hung the basket on a branch at the top, then placed the bird inside. This way, at least the wild cats wouldn't be able to reach it.
Patting the basket, Gu Zhan said to the fledgling inside, “Stay put and behave. I’ll come back to check on you tonight.”
Having said that, he looked around and noticed that this place seemed to be a boarding school. Not far away, there was a church.
The side of the church had a bell tower; the bell he heard earlier must have come from there.
The child's body was not very easy to control, and climbing the tree took him a lot of time.
By this point, it had been a long time since the lunch bell rang, and there was no sound at all around, with not a single child in sight.
Were they all taking a nap?
Gu Zhan dusted off his hands and jumped down from the tree.
He had no idea where the cafeteria or classrooms were, so he could only wander aimlessly around the buildings.
When he reached an open area, a woman dressed in a black and white long skirt came out. Upon seeing Gu Zhan, her brow immediately furrowed, and she shouted, “What are you doing here? Come over here!”
Gu Zhan walked up to her, confused. The woman yanked him hard and said, “What are you doing outside at this hour? Disobedient children will be put in detention!”
Gu Zhan was dragged along by her towards a nearby building.
His small stature made it hard for him to keep up with her pace, and after just a few steps, he was dragged to the ground.
His knees scraped against the stones, causing sharp pain.
But the woman seemed oblivious, striding forward with big, urgent steps, ignoring Gu Zhan's struggles as she forcibly dragged him to the building's entrance.
“Bang!”
The woman kicked the door open and threw Gu Zhan inside.
The interior was filled with a musty smell, and it was dim, making it hard to see anything.
Only when Gu Zhan fell to the ground did a cloud of dust rise up.
“You just stay here and reflect on your actions!” she said, slamming the door shut with a clang, cutting off the last bit of sunlight.
Gu Zhan sat on the floor, still dazed.
What was going on? Wasn’t this a school?
He got up and walked toward the door, only to find it was a metal door. The gap between the door and the wall was so tight that not a single beam of light could penetrate.
He pushed against the door, but it didn’t budge; instead, he got some sticky substance on his hand from the door.
In the dark room, filled with a musty smell and his hand covered in unknown sticky goo, his mind began to conjure up unpleasant thoughts.
Gu Zhan stepped back from the door and began to examine the room.
After staying in the dark for a while, he could see a bit better now; there was nothing in the room.
Only in one corner was a lump of some kind of black substance emitting a foul smell.
This was really just a room for locking people up.
How could there be such a room in a school?
That sense of incongruity returned.
What was wrong with this place?
Gu Zhan decided to sit cross-legged by the door, pondering the various levels he had gone through.
Minutes passed, and he sat until his bottom was sore, with no sound coming from outside.
This was bad; how long was that woman going to keep him locked up?
His stomach began to feel hungry, and he used that hunger to gauge how much time had passed.
In the reality of the levels, it had to be two or three hours by now.
In the world of the book, it felt like at least two days...
Two days... and no one had come yet? Was he really going to be locked up here just because he didn’t go to lunch?
Gu Zhan couldn’t sit still any longer. He stood up and started pacing the room.
Suddenly, he caught a sound from outside.
Someone was passing by the door!
Gu Zhan hurried over and banged on the metal door.
“Is anyone there?!”
“Let me out!!”
“Help me!”
Keeping a child locked in a room for two days was already tantamount to murder.
Gu Zhan couldn’t just sit there and wait; he had to find a way to save himself.
Perhaps luck was on his side, as someone outside indeed heard his voice and came to ask, “Is that you? How did you end up in the detention room?”
From the voice, it seemed to be the girl who helped him rescue the bird earlier.
Gu Zhan replied, “A nun locked me in here.”
There was a moment of silence outside, and the girl quietly said, “Wait a moment.”
After a while, he heard banging on the iron door, as if the girl was trying to break the lock with something.
“Clang!”
“Bang!”
The door finally opened, and after nearly two days, Gu Zhan saw the light again.
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