Night Inspection by the Strange Entity, Xie Tu's Assistance

Shen Yu gently patted Xie Tu's back, but for some reason, Xie Tu was startled by his own heartbeat.

But kneeling and hugging each other on a bed covered in blood was a bit terrifying, so Shen Yu tried to soothe Xie Tu's emotions, keeping his voice low: “Mister Xie, shall we go wash up first?”

It sounded like he was coaxing him.

Xie Tu loosened his grip, and they finally looked at each other face-to-face. Unlike his expression just now, Xie Tu had managed to control his emotions, but the sorrow in his eyes still couldn't be hidden. He merely let his hands fall silently to his sides and softly muttered, “I lost my composure.”

In Xie Tu's heart, he was thinking of someone. That person perhaps had a deep connection to him, either in appearance or personality.

This was the only thing Shen Yu could think of.

Shen Yu frowned. The beauty's hair was still half-dry, and his own clothes and hands were covered in Xie Tu's blood. Thinking of this, Shen Yu remembered he wanted to ask Xie Tu about it: “Why did you have a nosebleed? Are you feeling unwell?”

Shen Yu threw all the confusing thoughts to the back of his mind.

As soon as Shen Yu asked, Xie Tu froze for a moment, then avoided Shen Yu's gaze, clearly not knowing how to explain the reason.

“Perhaps it's because the director drew your blood yesterday, which weakened your body.” Seeing Xie Tu remain silent, Shen Yu made his own guess, then climbed down from the bed and pulled Xie Tu's hand: “Come on, let's go wash up. The lights are about to be turned off.”

Xie Tu obediently followed Shen Yu into the bathroom.

Afterward, Shen Yu changed his clothes. While Xie Tu was bathing, he changed Xie Tu's bedsheets, then went to check the windows and some of his belongings.

He didn't know if something would come knocking on the door tonight, but with another great Buddha (Xie Tu) in the ward now, those two things probably wouldn't fight tonight, right? Shen Yu thought it wasn't impossible.

But if he kept thinking about these things while trying to sleep, when would he ever get to sleep?

So Shen Yu decided not to think too much about it.

Once Xie Tu came out, he helped him dry his hair, then watched him get into bed and tuck himself in before going to sleep himself.

He felt that Xie Tu was a bit strange tonight. Shen Yu lay on his caregiver's bed and thought about it, then figured it out. Xie Tu was unusually obedient tonight, and hadn't even touched him.

Then again, Xie Tu's personality was already eccentric to begin with.

Thinking this, Shen Yu felt much more at ease.

He curled up, pulled the blanket over his head, closed his eyes, and soon fell into a sweet dream.

But Xie Tu, who was nearby, did not sleep. One reason was that he didn't need to sleep, and another was the thing that wanted to search the room tonight.

It was probably around two in the morning. The moonlight was so bright that even the curtains couldn't block it out. But at this moment, an incredibly bizarrely shaped entity crawled up outside the curtains. It lingered outside the window for a long time, eventually turning into a puddle of soft mud and squeezing through the gap in the window.

Once inside, it turned back into that bizarrely shaped monster. Finding that Xie Tu was not asleep, it was startled for a moment, then bowed to Xie Tu before starting to search the room.

It turned into a puddle of soft mud, crawling into every corner of the room until it crawled up the leg of Shen Yu's bed. A burst of black mist, like a cold, sharp sword, shot toward its limbs with lightning speed. If it hadn't retreated quickly, it would have been chopped into a puddle of mush.

This time, it took on a human shape. Although its facial features were indistinct, it looked at least two meters tall, with a massive build. It crouched in an offensive stance, looking as if it would rush forward to tear Xie Tu apart in the next second. It didn't seem to understand Xie Tu's actions, but when it looked at Xie Tu, it saw over a dozen tentacles growing from Xie Tu's back, each exuding killing intent.

It didn't dare to provoke him. After all, this was Fang Kuai's lifelong creation.

It shrank back slightly, only able to let out a low growl. Xie Tu spoke in a slow, unhurried manner: “I will search him. You can leave.”

They both worked for headquarters, but Xie Tu was the most undisciplined one. However, it couldn't afford to provoke him. In the next second, it turned back into a puddle of soft mud and left the way it came.

Seeing that it had truly gone, Xie Tu got out of bed and walked to the edge of Shen Yu's bed. Shen Yu slept very peacefully. To put it bluntly, he had been too tired during the day, and was now fast asleep.

Xie Tu stared at Shen Yu for a long time. When Shen Yu rolled over, leaving enough space for him, Xie Tu slowly climbed onto Shen Yu's bed and held him as he slept. The coldness radiating from him spread to Shen Yu. Shen Yu frowned and mumbled sleepily, “Xie Tu... cold...”

Xie Tu smiled. He wanted to hold him tighter, but feared waking him, so the tentacles outside the bed waved wildly.

However, he didn't notice that a trace of mud still remained by the window, not yet fully dissipated. It stared outside the window for a long time before leaving this place alone.

.

In the morning, when Shen Yu opened his eyes, he saw Xie Tu's broad chest.

The corner of Shen Yu's mouth twitched slightly. He had wasted his time thinking before sleep that Xie Tu hadn't touched him. He took those words back now; it seemed Xie Tu had crawled into his bed after he fell asleep.

Shen Yu struggled to free one hand and pushed Xie Tu's shoulder: “Mister Xie, wake up.”

Just as he spoke, before Xie Tu could wake up, a commotion was heard from the hallway outside. Shen Yu tilted his ear to listen to the noise outside, but it wasn't very loud. He couldn't make out what they were saying until the sound faded away.

He looked up, intending to call Xie Tu again, only to meet Xie Tu's gaze. Xie Tu had woken up at some point, and had clearly heard the noise outside as well.

“You're awake.” Shen Yu freed himself from his embrace and sat up.

Xie Tu also sat up: “Mmh.” He stared at Shen Yu without blinking, making Shen Yu feel so hot that he panicked. Shen Yu coughed twice.

Shen Yu changed the subject: “Did you hear the sound outside?”

Xie Tu nodded: “Mmh, I heard it.”

So it wasn't an illusion. Thinking that something might have happened outside, Shen Yu threw off the blanket, got out of bed, walked over to the coat hanger, and threw Xie Tu's clothes to him: “Put your clothes on first. It's getting late.”

Xie Tu caught the clothes Shen Yu threw over, his eyes still fixed on Shen Yu as he dressed.

“Shen Yu, leave this place quickly,” Xie Tu suddenly said.

Shen Yu's hand buttoning his shirt paused for a moment, then he turned to smile at Xie Tu: “Aren't I trying to find a way to leave? I told you I wanted you to open a back door for me.”

“Okay. I will take you away.” This time, Xie Tu answered without any hesitation.

Shen Yu had thought Xie Tu would refuse again. He was about to tease him when the words got stuck in his throat: “Wait, what... what did you say?”

“Open a back door for you. I will take you away from here,” Xie Tu emphasized once more, his gaze firm and unwavering.

This time, it was Shen Yu's turn to fall silent. He frowned, clearly not knowing the reason for Xie Tu's sudden change of heart.

“Shen Yu, why are you hesitating?” Xie Tu got out of bed. Last night's nosebleed had stained his clothes, and since Shen Yu couldn't find many pants, Xie Tu had slept in only his boxers. Sleeping together in the morning, Shen Yu hadn't felt anything, but now looking at him so directly and openly, Shen Yu felt a bit self-conscious.

His bare feet approached Shen Yu step by step. The muscles on his thighs were well-proportioned, firm, and powerful, sending a jolt through Shen Yu's heart.

Because he wanted to uncover the secrets of this world and Xie Tu's identity, Shen Yu thought to himself, but didn't say it aloud.

“Shen Yu?” Xie Tu came very close. Shen Yu looked up into Xie Tu's indifferent yet captivating eyes and asked, “Then Mister Xie, why did you decide to help me?”

“Is it because of who I am? Or because I resemble someone? Xie Tu, what secret are you hiding in your heart?” A silent, bitter tension arose between them. Although he was smiling, the usual laziness was absent from Shen Yu's eyes.

Xie Tu was tongue-tied, wanting to speak several times but unable to utter a word. Shen Yu didn't want to make things difficult for him. He lowered his eyes, adjusted his cuffs, and said softly, “Go change your clothes. Wash up early so we can go eat.”

Shen Yu gave them both an imperfect way out.

“Shen Yu...” Xie Tu panicked slightly. He reached out to grab Shen Yu's hand, but Shen Yu silently avoided it. The dispute didn't seem to have ended; it was just that the person involved didn't want to argue.

Shen Yu went into the bathroom to wash his face.

.

Throughout the entire morning, the two of them didn't say another word, lacking even the most basic responses. Xie Tu felt a pang of heartache, thinking he had said something wrong that made Shen Yu misunderstand his intentions. But if a secret was revealed to the person involved, it would no longer be a secret, let alone a secret that was born solely because of Shen Yu.

During breakfast, Xie Tu just stared at Shen Yu like a helpless puppy. Shen Yu noticed this. Having lived a quiet life for so many years, he had long since trained his mind to be extremely gentle. He had already thrown the morning's unpleasantness to the back of his mind, but seeing Xie Tu's expression, a sense of guilt actually welled up inside him.

Shen Yu sighed. Just as he was about to take the initiative to speak to Xie Tu, the others came over. Shen Yu could only temporarily shelve his conflict with Xie Tu.

“Do you remember the newcomer in room 204 I told you about yesterday?” Zhuang Jie sat down on the chair next to Shen Yu and asked in a lowered voice.

Shen Yu remembered. Zhuang Jie had told him about that person, the patient who had to undergo surgery.

Could it be that...

Zhuang Jie saw what Shen Yu wanted to say. She looked into his eyes and nodded: “Mmh, if you heard a sound outside this morning, it was the sound of the nurses and cleaners clearing away the corpse. The foreigner Paolo in room 202 next door witnessed it with his own eyes.”

That foreigner saw it...

Shen Yu frowned. As expected, it wasn't that simple...

“Shen Yu, what do you think?” Zhuang Jie asked for Shen Yu's opinion on the matter.

Shen Yu raised his eyelids, his gaze lazy: “That is to say, when a patient undergoes surgery, they dispose of the caregiver. He uses those who recovered on their own as test subjects, so naturally, he won't leave a single survivor. This dungeon never intended to let any player walk out alive from the very beginning.”

His analysis was like a small blade cutting into their hearts, painful, yet highly convincing.

Wang Jiaxin's eyes immediately turned red again: “Then, then is there really no way?”

“It's not that there's no way...” Shen Yu murmured softly. The others quickly held their breath, wanting to hear his thoughts.

However, Shen Yu didn't state his plan first. Instead, he looked up and asked Wang Jiaxin, “Did you guys go back and ask about the list from yesterday?”