Chapter 21: Can I Save Someone Without Climbing?
I furrowed my brows. They had already surrounded me. I reached out and touched their faces. “Next time, I’ll bring some makeup and make you all look even better.”
They looked at each other and started jumping around excitedly. I asked them, “Have you seen this guy? I’m looking for him.” I took out my phone and showed them a picture of Feng Lingcan.
They glanced at it, but their faces wrinkled up, and they retreated slightly.
I could tell they were troubled. “Is it inconvenient to take me to him?”
They all looked at the one I had drawn the best, the one I first encountered. That one looked at me with difficulty, and with the mouth I had drawn, it began to speak. “Master has trapped him.”
Master… the Black-clothed Boss!
I thought for a moment and said, “How about you secretly take me there, and then you can leave? You don’t need to worry about what happens afterward.”
They exchanged glances again, pushing each other forward. Finally, the one on the outermost edge was kicked far away by a faceless creature.
Faceless creatures… I decided to give them names, otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. I named the first one Xiao Bao, the one that looked like a character from *Rage Comics*. Xiao Bao nodded to me, then hoisted me onto its back and started running.
Its skin was smooth, and I couldn’t worry about whether it was poisonous or not. Since I had come here and nothing in this world had harmed me, I figured I must be immune to the faceless creatures.
The faceless creatures clustered around me, running forward. They avoided other demon tribes, leapt over roads, and passed by ash-covered trucks. We ran through what seemed like a shopping district and jumped over a railing, sprinting down a broad avenue. But… parked on this road were massive cruise ships!
Wait a minute… why does this place look so familiar? I looked across the river, and there it was—wasn’t that building that looked like fish balls on skewers the **Oriental Pearl Tower**?!
Holy crap!
So, we’re running across the **Huangpu River**!
I looked around again. Sure enough! The scenery was almost exactly the same, except the tall buildings here looked like they had been through an apocalypse—dilapidated and ruined. But there was no mistaking the **Oriental Pearl Tower**. I remembered it clearly because of its resemblance to food!
Suddenly, the creatures leapt into the air. I knew it—we were jumping to the other side of the river. Then, they stopped abruptly, looked around, and set me down at the entrance of a subway station. Xiao Bao pointed to the **Pearl Tower**. “Up there.”
Up… up there!
I stiffly looked at the **Oriental Pearl Tower**. Sure enough, there was a strange light flickering where the giant fish ball was. Does that mean I have to climb all the way up there?
No way~~~~ Feng-senpai, why did you climb so high? Are you sightseeing and enjoying the view of the apocalypse from up there?
Ugh! So annoying!
I hate climbing towers!
Let’s see if the elevator still works.
I pulled out my gun. Seeing no other demons around, I dashed into the **Demonic Realm’s Oriental Pearl Tower** and found out… the elevator didn’t work!
Why would it work? Am I an idiot? This is the Demonic Realm, a place that imprisons all sorts of monsters. Were you really expecting them to provide you with electricity?
Fine, I’ll climb. Luckily, it’s just the **Pearl Tower’s big ball**. If it were the **Shanghai Tower**, I’d be sorry, Feng-senpai—you’d have to wait a bit longer while I went to find someone who could fly to rescue you.
At this moment, I realized how important it is to have the ability to fly when carrying out missions in the Six Realms. Hmm, I’ll have to see if there’s any flying equipment available when I get back… or maybe I can trick Xiao Bai into coming along?
I entered the stairwell. The dim stairs were covered in dust, but it was still much better than the world outside. The cold air swirled through the stairwell, and faintly, I could hear the agonizing cries of demonic creatures. “Whoosh, whoosh”—something kept darting past me, leaving an eerie feeling that made my skin crawl.
I didn’t dare look around, nor did I want to listen to the creepy sounds. I kept my head down and climbed upward.
“Shh-shh-shh.” Something dark scurried up the wall beside me.
“Tap-tap-tap.” Something weird fell from above.
“Hiss-hiss-hiss.” Was there a gas leak somewhere?
I looked back and saw a worm-like demon creature opening its mouth toward me.
“Ah——” My adrenaline shot up. Before my brain could process it, I raised my gun and fired at the demon in front of me. A red beam shot out from the gun and into the demon’s mouth. The demon froze. My heart raced as I watched it… it began to swell, and swell!
Oh no! Is it going to explode?
I turned and ran!
“Boom!”
“Plop, plop, plop.” Black sticky goo splattered all around me, like tar, hot and steaming. The entire stairwell was filled with the stench of crushed worms.
“Ugh!” I covered my mouth and carefully tiptoed through the disgusting mess. Without looking back, I kept running upward!
I ran, I ran, but… I had run too far. I had to turn back.
“Huff, huff, huff.” I stopped at the entrance of the big fish ball. Behind the dusty glass windows, a white light flickered.
Panting like a dog, I pushed the door open with a loud bang. In my dizzy vision, I saw a girl dressed in white. She turned when she heard the noise. Her face was hidden behind a mask, just like the Black-clothed Boss, except hers was white.
“Hmph! Finally, you’re here.” She spoke in a chaotic voice. I weakly raised my hand. “Wait a minute…”
“What, are you waiting for backup?” She became alert. Behind her, floating in mid-air, was a glowing orb. Inside the orb was the unconscious Feng-senpai.
I kept gasping for air. “Huff, huff, not really… let me catch my breath first. I’m exhausted… huff, huff.”
She was stunned—stunned for a long time. You could say she was completely frozen, staring at me with that ridiculously dumb mask. Also, I have to say, that mask is ugly! Nowhere near as cool as the Black-clothed Boss’s.
Strange? Is she the only one here? Was this a trap to lure us in?
Once I had caught my breath, I straightened up and looked at her. “You guessed right. I’m indeed waiting for backup. They’re already on their way!”
“Stalling for time!” Furious, the girl flung out a white sword. “You’re courting death!” She swung the sword toward me. I immediately flipped her off, and a protective light instantly enveloped me, blocking the sword’s strike.
“Eternal Guardian!” She threw out my ring. I smiled. “So, do you want to waste time here, waiting for my backup to surround you, or would you rather make a run for it?” I pointed to the sky behind her, “They’re almost here~~” I could stall forever with this **Eternal Guardian**. No one could hurt me while I was inside it.
She gripped her sword tightly, turned around, and ran toward an arched window with no glass. Before jumping out, she gave me a cold glance.
Phew. Flying is nice—no need to climb like me.
I needed to hurry. If she realized I had tricked her, she’d definitely come back to beat me up. Fortunately, I could teleport at any time, so I just needed to buy myself a few more minutes.
I rushed to the glowing orb. Light beams connected the orb to two strange tiger heads.
I raised my gun. Don’t worry about whether I’ve used a gun before. I was standing just five meters away, directly under one of the tiger heads. If I couldn’t hit something that big at this distance, I might as well die.
I aimed at the tiger head and pulled the trigger. The beam instantly shattered one of the heads, and the connecting light beam snapped. The entire orb began to fade, and Feng-senpai started to fall from the air.
Instinctively, I reached out to catch him. I can do this. I can definitely catch him. How heavy can a spirit body be?
Thud! He landed heavily on me, and my back slammed into the ground, sending dust flying everywhere.
“Cough!” I couldn’t even cough. Someone explain to me why a spirit body is as heavy as a physical one!
Feng-senpai slowly propped himself up from on top of me, shaking his head groggily. His hazy eyes opened and looked at me. “Xiao Lan?”
“Senpai…” His entire body was almost crushing me. “Could you… move a bit? You’re really heavy…”
It seemed like he hadn’t fully woken up yet. He was still pressing down on me, one hand propping himself beside my face, the other rubbing his forehead. Just then, I saw the white-robed demon girl return!
She was furious when she saw me. “You tricked me!” She immediately flung out her white sword, aiming it straight at me. “You two can die together!”
“Feng-senpai!” I wrapped my arms around Feng-senpai and rolled over, feeling a sharp pain in my shoulder. Feng-senpai, still dazed, looked up at me. “Xiao Lan… why are you here…?”
I smiled softly, enduring the pain in my shoulder. “I came to take you home…”
His eyes gradually widened, reflecting the white-robed demon girl swinging her sword at my neck. Just as the sword was about to strike, I shut my eyes tightly. “Go back!”
My body was instantly pulled away, followed by a crash against the ground. Pain exploded in my shoulder, as if a hole had been punched through it. “Ah! Ah! Ah——”
“Shh! Shh! Xiao Lan! Stay calm!” Someone grabbed my shoulder tightly. Through the pain, I opened my eyes to see Jiang Yan’s angry face. “We need to leave quickly! No one can know you can traverse the Demonic Realm!” He helped me up and tugged at my arm, making the pain flare even more. When I looked down, I was dumbfounded. Blood! Blood! It’s blood! Ahhhh——
I shakily touched my shoulder and found my hand covered in blood.
“Don’t worry, I’ve stopped the bleeding!” Jiang Yan quickly slipped his arm under mine and hoisted me up by the legs, cradling me in his arms. He looked down at me, furious. “You tricked me! You said you had it under control!”
“I…” I stared at him blankly. My shoulder didn’t hurt as much after he stopped the bleeding. “Is Feng-senpai coming back?”
A trace of blood flashed in his teal eyes. “He’s fine.” With that, he turned around while holding me. Feng-senpai was still lying peacefully in front of the portal, breathing steadily, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were about to wake up. The stone platform was covered in my blood!
“Collect!” Jiang Yan commanded. Suddenly, a small bottle flew out from his collar, zooming around to absorb all the blood. In an instant, the ground was spotless, as if the blood had never been there at all!
