Chapter 49


Chapter 049 You Came Back to Life?

Ling Mo’s consciousness was already a bit hazy.

He had broken three ribs—possibly even more due to the impact from Xia Xinyan landing on him; one of the ribs had even pierced an organ. This was already a serious injury, so when he saw a long list of negative statuses on his status bar, he was prepared to give up.

He just wanted to wait until Xia Xinyan left the area before giving himself an escape—consider it his final vigil.

However, Xia Xinyan never chose to leave, which did move him quite a bit.

Even the pain from his injuries seemed to fade a bit.

This was clearly just a game, yet at this moment it felt as real as life itself, and it truly made Ling Mo feel a sense of regret for a life being lost.

—As the one being sent away.

Well… it warmed his heart quite a bit.

He had never experienced the feeling of true death but guessed it must have been similar to what a game might simulate. Once, during a fit of artistic nostalgia, he had pondered whether anyone would cry for him when he was on the brink of death—the conclusion was no.

At that time, he felt quite melancholic, wondering what one would ultimately have left after living a lifetime?

—This seemed to touch on philosophical territory, so he stopped thinking further.

But now, he felt like he was experiencing that feeling he had always wanted to feel.

Of course, Xia Xinyan wasn’t crying; she simply sat silently on him, but this wordless vigil gave Ling Mo a kind of usefulness—at least in that moment, he could be certain that he mattered to Xia Xinyan.

That was enough.

—Until she suddenly kissed him.

The trash and seeping sewage beneath him had already caused him to lose a significant amount of body heat, and his gradually numbing body was suddenly revitalized by this kiss, as if the clouds parted to reveal a starry sky.

The shock it brought far exceeded the first gentle flutter of a dragonfly’s touch.

Perhaps, this would become a scene he would never forget.

The kiss lasted for a long time.

No… maybe it couldn’t even be called a kiss; neither of them had any experience in this area. Xia Xinyan merely threw caution to the wind in order to heal Ling Mo, while he simply fell into a freeze state, dazedly following her movements and even ignoring his own changes.

His injuries were healing rapidly.

Whether it was blood loss or body temperature, even the broken ribs were healing at a pace that completely defied scientific logic. In just a moment, he regained the ability to move.

Sensing his recovery, Xia Xinyan suddenly got up off him, awkwardly standing to the side: “You should be… better now, right?”

Ling Mo paused, finally realizing—his injuries seemed to have healed.

Even the negative statuses he had accumulated had vanished, leaving only a single status of 【Weak】.

The only negative effect now was a slight reduction in movement speed and power limits, which was nothing significant for him at this moment.

Could it be… Xia Xinyan?

That kiss… was it healing him?

“You…” he tried to climb up from the ground, looking at Xia Xinyan with a somewhat strange expression, “was that just now…”

“Ahem,” Xia Xinyan picked up the handgun that had fallen beside her and turned to walk ahead, “Let’s catch up with Murong Yue and the others; they’ve probably gone far…”

The only light source in the sewer was a lamp every ten or so meters, making the area quite dim. He could barely see the surroundings, yet even so, Ling Mo still caught a hint of redness on Xia Xinyan’s face just before she turned away.

She… was shy?

After pausing for two seconds, he couldn’t help but start grinning.

How she healed herself wasn’t the main point anymore; everyone has their little secrets—even between couples. Although Ling Mo was possessive, he wouldn’t pry into it. Xia Xinyan would tell him when she was ready; he could wait for that.

Besides, no matter how you slice it, he was the one who got the advantage just now.

What really caught Ling Mo’s attention was… how shy she became.

She was even so shy that she wouldn’t meet his gaze for even a second and hurried off to catch up with the other two, revealing quite a bit more than before.

Xia Xinyan had always shown a strong desire to dominate, hinting at various things; he couldn’t have been completely oblivious to it, but the realization made him feel a bit stifled. He thought her actions were somewhat over the top given their current relationship, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it left him unsure how to respond.

How to say it… could be described as feeling flattered.

But now it seemed… Xia Xinyan was quite different from the persona she projected.

If she really had that kind of strong urge he felt before, eager to get to the bedding, then that previous action probably wouldn’t have made her shy to this extent.

So he wasn’t so clueless; he could understand what it all indicated—she was putting on an act.

Why was she acting? He didn’t know.

Was it because she liked teasing him?

Considering this possibility, Ling Mo fell silent for a few seconds before stepping forward to follow her.

Whatever the case, who doesn’t like a girl who seems openly expressive yet is actually pure at heart?

Especially when it’s his girlfriend.

And it seemed like she only opened up to him.

He couldn’t help but smile again.

The fatty and Murong Yue hadn’t gone far; they had intentionally slowed their pace to wait for Xia Xinyan and the others to catch up. However, when they saw Ling Mo catch up too, the fatty was momentarily surprised: “You came back to life?”

Ling Mo smiled: “Surprised, were you?”

“Surprise is surprise…” The fatty sized him up for a few seconds, frowning, “How did you recover?”

He had taken quite a nasty fall, and the fatty and Murong Yue had seen it happen, so even if they couldn’t gauge the extent of his injuries, it was likely he’d need to lie in a critical state for one to two months. Therefore, they were curious how he regained his ability to move so quickly.

Did he find some kind of miracle medicine?

Upon hearing that, Ling Mo glanced at the side where Xia Xinyan was.

She was currently fiddling with her phone’s navigation, appearing completely disinterested.

Ling Mo couldn’t help but smirk, casually saying, “It’s a secret.”

The fatty paused, shrugged: “Alright, I won’t ask further, but we should probably speed up; we have about two hours left, and we might not even reach our destination in time.”

“It’s fine; even if we miss the rescue, the game will provide other ways to clear it,” Xia Xinyan quietly interjected, “We just need to leave the city before the five-hour limit runs out.”

The game’s previous prompt about the army clearing action must be the deadline for this dungeon; it would continuously provide players with ways to clear it before the deadline, but if they hadn’t escaped by then, they could basically just wait to die.

The fatty agreed: “Anyway, might as well clear it early; the longer we delay, the more likely we are to run into trouble.”

Ling Mo suddenly stopped and looked at the fatty: “Wait, what did you just say?”

“Hmm? I said to clear it early…” The fatty repeated instinctively before pausing in realization.

The atmosphere suddenly fell into an awkward silence.

Crack—!

Until a sound broke the silence, Murong Yue raised her well-loaded handgun, stepping back a few paces to distance herself from the fatty. Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo also distanced themselves from the fatty, their gazes turning wary.

The fatty: “…”

Damn.