Escape the Infinite Chambers-Chapter 161 - The Corridor of Time (XVII)
Chapter 161 - The Corridor of Time (XVII)
Thank you so much ChrysAmans for the kofis–Bonus Chapter (3/3)
Editors: Kitty & Humu
After having a fight with some fellows he did not know, Luo Jian pretended to be defeated and broke away from them before exiting the secret chamber.
Of course, Luo Jian did not realize that his appearance had in fact scared the players who were unlucky enough to be used by him as practice targets.
But Luo Jian could not be bothered to care so much. Following that, he recalled Duan Li’s space-time coordinates. After leaping through it, he returned to Duan Li’s side. He appeared in the small sundry room where Duan Li was sleeping.
There was some error in his timeline when he came back to this world. He came back a little later, and now it was about 3:00 a.m. in the middle of the night. It was the darkest before dawn, so it was very dark outside the house.
However, this did not affect Luo Jian. He checked Duan Li, who was still asleep, to make sure that he was back in the right world line. After that, Luo Jian sat in the corner and took a nap to wait for dawn.
But after daybreak, while Luo Jian was waiting, an unexpected guest arrived.
Little Ah Lan entered the small sundry room, carrying his school bag on his back. Maybe he wanted to come over and take a look at Duan Li before class started in the morning and bring him breakfast. So as soon as the sky started to brighten up, Ah Lan left home early and went to find Duan Li.
“Big brother?” Ah Lan pushed the door open carefully, but who he saw first was not Duan Li but Luo Jian in the corner. This obviously scared Ah Lan. He looked at Luo Jian hesitantly.
Luo Jian had been in a half-asleep and half-awake state. When he felt safe, he would allow himself to sleep a little. In fact, Luo Jian had not really had a good sleep for a long time.
He was not used to it because in the Crimson Asura Realm, he didn’t need to sleep. If anyone died on the main battlefield, that person would revive in almost five minutes. When the person was revived, the person would recover all their physical strength, state, and mental strength. Sleep did not belong in that kind of life that they led.
Therefore, when Luo Jian left the Asura Realm, he felt so uncomfortable that he actually needed sleep. Although he felt that this was a waste of time, his body urgently needed this dormancy mechanism. Therefore, Luo Jian chose to take a nap when he was sure that his surroundings were safe.
Luo Jian could still maintain his low sense of existence ability while he was asleep. However, it would consume a huge amount of strength if Luo Jian kept his skills up all this time. Now Luo Jian could no longer consume his life and strength like how he did in Asura Realm. This would not be advisable for someone for a warrior who was heading towards the battlefield.
However, in the shallow sleeping state, Luo Jian still kept his vigilance. He soon realized that someone had opened the door to the sundry room, but before he acted upon it, he noticed that it was Ah Lan who opened the door. Then he slightly pressed down the handle of the umbrella he had lifted up and continued to shrink in the corner without saying a word.
Ah Lan, who was standing by the door, was obviously scared by him. With a small hand on the edge of the door, he had an appearance that revealed he wanted to step in but was afraid to do so. At this time, the patient who was lying on the bed woke up. He reluctantly got up and said to Ah Lan, “Ah Lan, come to my side.”
Ah Lan hesitantly looked at Luo Jian, who was in the corner. Luo Jian noticed his line of sight was on him and raised his head to look at the younger Feng YuLan. This child was very cute and tender. He wore thick clothes because his body was weak. It was not known if the wind in the morning was too cold because his small face was red due to the cold.
The current Ah Lan was obviously afraid of strangers. He looked at Luo Jian timidly and walked through the door after hesitating for a very long time. He pulled the door to block the cool wind outside and moved to Duan Li’s side.
“Big brother…” Ah Lan, after seeing Duan Li, was obviously relieved and unconsciously laid on Duan Li’s body.
“Why did you come?” Duan Li rubbed the child’s head.
Ah Lan timidly said: “Mother made breakfast. I kept some and brought it for Big Brother.”
Ah Lan was holding a plastic bag with breakfast in a small lunch box. This action made Luo Jian’s eyes narrow slightly. He remembered that Ah Lan was always such a person. He would be very good to the people he cared about. When Luo Jian and Ah Lan grew up together as children, they had a very good relationship, and when they ate, they even had to eat using the same pot.
But come to think about it now, it seemed that it happened a long time ago.
Have I been forgotten by the world?
Ah Lan did not stay in the sundry room for long because he still had morning self-study, so after he sent breakfast to Duan Li, he went out. Duan Li also did not mean to say goodbye to him. He just said to Ah Lan, “I am leaving for a while, just like before, so don’t come to look for me after school today.”
It was obvious that Duan Li disappeared often before as he would do now, but he would eventually return, so Ah Lan was not suspicious. He nodded cleverly: “When will Big Brother come back?”
Duan Li rubbed the child’s face and dropped a kiss on his forehead: “Soon. I will contact you when I come back; wait for me.”
“En, I’ll wait for my Big Brother.” Ah Lan looked forward to seeing Duan Li.
This may be another promise that could not be fulfilled.
After that, Ah Lan left the sundry room in a hurry. Although he went to school not far from here, it was still ten minutes away. If he was late, he had to stand outside the classroom, which was not what Ah Lan wanted. He preferred to sit in the warm classroom and read books.
So he left, and he did not see Duan Li looking at his back with complicated eyes. He kept staring until Ah Lan disappeared from Duan Li’s sight.
Luo Jian also watched Ah Lan leave, then he said to Duan Li, “Is this fine?”
“He will forget; he is still very young. After waiting for some time, one day he will naturally forget me. Anyway, at the beginning I did not want to be too close to him. I have been trying to find a way to leave him.”
“Do you think you implicated the child?” Luo Jian said.
Duan Li nodded: “So it’s better not to continue maintaining our relationship.”
“That’s a mistake.” Luo Jian regrettably stated: “He will become a player of the secret chamber one day.”
Duan Li frowned, somewhat anxious, “Why? He should not have been chosen by the secret chamber… ”
Luo Jian was silent for a moment and replied, “It’s just your wishful thinking that he won’t be selected by the secret chamber. However, he has this kind of qualification…… Probably, this is fate.”
Soon after Ah Lan left the house, Duan Li and Luo Jian cleaned up and left. They walked on the cold street. Luo Jian easily let himself be ‘invisible’ while Duan Li, the patient, walked ahead, wrapped in a miserable coat in the early, frosty morning.
It was about six o’clock in the morning and there were very few people in the streets.
“What should I do?” Duan Li could not see Luo Jian, but he could feel that Luo Jian was nearby, so he began to ask for his opinions.
“Since you say that people attack you everywhere you go, you have to simply hang around here and wait for the attack.”
Duan Li painfully covered his already-injured abdomen, “That is to say, I have to be stabbed, right?”
“Don’t worry. I’m here, and I won’t let you get stabbed.”
The plan sounded simple indeed. Duan Li covered his abdomen in pain as he thought about it. He had been on the run for quite some time. No matter whether he was in reality or in the secret chamber, he tried to ask others for help. However, whenever he had such an idea, those who pursued him would start to attack more fiercely as if they had guessed his intention and were trying to stop his behavior.
Two people aimlessly shuttled in the streets, Duan Li walking slowly in front while Luo Jian stealthily and slowly followed behind. It was not known if it was a psychological effect, but Duan Li started to walk in the direction of the elementary school where Ah Lan was. He wanted to listen to the sound of children doing their morning readings, and that would calm his mind down.
But something unexpected happened again.
In an alley near that elementary school, Duan Li actually saw Ah Lan!
Yes, it was Feng YuLan. The child was standing in the alley with his school bag on his back. He did not go to his classroom to study earlier. He squatted in an empty alley, shrunk in the corner near the garbage can. As he was squatting, he grasped something on the ground with his hands.
“How could he be here?” Duan Li could not help but approach the child. Although Duan Li always said that he wanted to leave Ah Lan and didn’t like Ah Lan, in fact, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was very concerned about the child and cared about him very much.
Luo Jian, who was following Duan Li, was vaguely aware that something was wrong, but he did not take action. Luo Jian knew that he needed to wait, wait for that moment to arrive
“Ah Lan…? Why are you here?” Duan Li finally came to Ah Lan’s side. The child’s body was very thin. He squatted in the corner and curled into a small lump. Duan Li recognized the clothes on Ah Lan and his back; Duan Li couldn’t help but stretch out his hand, wanting to pull the child up.
But in the moment when Duan Li reached out, he felt a trace of killing intent.
It was a strong sense of malice. Duan Li’s intuition was quite excellent. He had intuition that was as sharp as a beast’s. He relied on this intuition to avoid danger. Therefore, Duan Li could escape from the palm of death countless times.
Ah Lan, squatting on the ground, suddenly stood up, quickly turned around, and stabbed Duan Li with a simple pencil sharpener.
And Duan Li drew his knife at that moment. Duan Li’s weapons emphasized a lot on the word ‘fast,’ but young Ah Lan was obviously not someone who was skilled in handling a knife, so Duan Li chopped the poor pencil sharpener in half att a speed as quick as lightning.
Fortunately, Duan Li was very restrained. He did not hurt Ah Lan at all. Ah Lan did not even lose a hair.
However, the child obviously refused to give up. He casually threw away the half of the pencil sharpener that was in his hand. Unexpectedly, he found a triangular ruler to use as a weapon. He bared his teeth and rushed up. Although his body was very thin, a trace of madness could be seen in his actions.
Duan Li easily restrained him. He could deal with a child, so Duan Li bound the child’s hands and held him in his arms. But this was an unwise move because Ah Lan stretched his neck and bit Duan Li’s shoulder.
Duan Li had to let go due to the pain he experienced. Ah Lan was as flexible as a wild monkey. He jumped to the ground with one foot on Duan Li’s stomach. Then he picked up the pencil sharpener which was cut in half by Duan Li’s knife on the ground and held the blade of the pencil sharpener.
The child seemed to be not afraid of pain and held the blade deeply in his palm, and suddenly his blood flowed.
Duan Li was distressed. He yelled in a low voice: “Stop it! Let him go!”
“You—” Ah Lan held the blade and looked up at Duan Li.
Luo Jian, who had been watching the battle at the side, noticed the expression of little Ah Lan. His face was very stiff, his eyes were dazed, and he had no self-consciousness. Well, since the secret chamber could control these ordinary people wantonly in order to build the city of lawlessness, Ah Lan, who still belonged to the category of ordinary people, could also be someone controlled by it.
“You can’t…” Over there, little Ah Lan was still speaking sluggishly, “be here…”
“I know!” Duan Li just wanted to rid Ah Lan of this thing that was controlling him as soon as possible. He was a little flustered. He tried to calm his breathing and heartbeat. He said, “I really can’t be here, so where do you want me to go?”
