Chapter 38 - The Crybaby's Endless Escape (19)
How do you break a proud person?
Shatter all her hopes, deny her perception of reality, and reduce her to a worthless wreck.
Si Yisi wasn’t adept at such methods of defeating an opponent, but Shen Chen, who had experienced a fate worse than death in endless darkness, understood it all too well.
Si Yisi didn’t kill Chen Mengxi outright. Instead, he released her, quietly standing above her, looking down at her kneeling figure with indifference and disdain in his eyes.
The less Si Yisi seemed to care, the more venomous Chen Mengxi’s gaze became.
Chen Mengxi, like a rat crawling out of a gutter, finally tore away the mask she had been hiding behind. Her arrogance, selfishness, and deep-seated hatred were laid bare.
“Impossible!” Chen Mengxi shook her head frantically, rebutting Si Yisi’s words with madness in her voice. “You’re just a useless piece of trash! Trash will always be trash!”
Blood gurgled from the wound on her abdomen, dripping down and pooling into a small puddle on the ground.
“Trash doesn’t deserve to live!!” Chen Mengxi screamed with a vicious expression. She suddenly lunged toward Si Yisi, as if trying to tear a piece of flesh from him with her teeth!
“You’re right.” Si Yisi looked down at her from above, easily evading her desperate attack. “Trash doesn’t deserve to live…”
He smirked and enunciated each word clearly, “You… are exactly that kind of trash.”
Chen Mengxi’s body, bound by ghostly restraints, froze.
Si Yisi tossed a mirror in front of Chen Mengxi. From within the reflection, strands of hair began to sprout densely from the pores on her face!
“Ahhhh!” Chen Mengxi shrieked in horror as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She clutched at her face in a frenzy, but the razor-sharp hairs sliced her hands open!
The Hair Ghost grinned obsequiously at Si Yisi and withdrew its hands.
“Shen Chen was useless, a piece of trash?” Si Yisi mocked. “And what are you, Chen Mengxi? Aren’t you just another piece of trash? Look at yourself; Without that face of yours, what else do you have?”
Chen Mengxi sat dazed on the ground. When Si Yisi uttered the words ‘what else do you have,’ she suddenly broke free of the ghostly circle surrounding her and charged toward the wall where Shen Yingqing’s face was embedded!
“I have him! I have him—my boyfriend!” Chen Mengxi reached out toward the wall, hoping for a response from Shen Yingqing’s embedded face.
Si Yisi tilted his head. “Your dog won’t listen to you anymore.”
At his command, several ghostly hands grabbed Chen Mengxi by her hair, dragging her back to Si Yisi’s feet. Yet even then, Chen Mengxi’s bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Shen Yingqing’s wall, her expression terrifying.
“Boss, let me handle this!” Mo Wuchang, eager to be useful, grabbed a stick and struck directly at Shen Yingqing!
A dull thud resounded as Shen Yingqing’s stiff, stone-like features embedded in the wall cracked under the blow! His face shattered into fragments, falling to the ground at Chen Mengxi’s feet, lifeless forevermore.
Si Yisi continued speaking, malice bursting forth from Shen Chen’s body in an instant. “It’s not over yet, Cousin.”
In that moment, a single tear rolled down from Si Yisi’s eye, landing on the ground with a soft splat. But paired with his demonic expression, the sight made the collapsed Chen Mengxi scream in terror.
Si Yisi pressed his hand against the wound on Chen Mengxi’s waist. A wave of malicious intent boiled within him, compelling him to tear the wound open further!
Chen Mengxi’s body writhed in agony as Si Yisi’s hand forced its way into her wound. The pain was unimaginable!
But then, she was plunged into a new wave of suffering.
Si Yisi withdrew his hand and frowned. During his contact with Chen Mengxi, he had accessed the system store and purchased a memory transfer device. He poured Shen Chen’s final memories into Chen Mengxi’s mind, leaving nothing out!
To repay her in kind, using her own methods against her; that was what the original Shen Chen had wished for, and Si Yisi helped him fulfill it.
Chen Mengxi’s brain felt as if it were being torn apart by excruciating pain from the forced influx of so many memories, but this was just the beginning. She fell into Shen Chen’s memories, replacing the Shen Chen who had been dragged away by the ghosts!
Countless ghostly hands tore at Chen Mengxi’s limbs. The inhuman strength tightly bound her, slowly, slowly dragging her outward… outward!
“Ahhh! Ahhh!” Chen Mengxi heard the sound of her bones cracking. Her limbs were in agony, and in the moments of consciousness, she experienced the boundless pain of being torn apart!
So much pain! So much pain, pain, pain—!
Countless words of pain violently pierced into Chen Mengxi’s brain. She opened her eyes, now stained with a layer of blood, and saw someone who looked exactly like her, gazing down at her from above!
What kind of smile did this person who looked just like her have? Mockery, resentment, and a touch of gloating, with her eyebrows lifting in joy.
Chen Mengxi saw it clearly!
This person, who looked just like her, was holding Shen Yingqing, laughing happily, while Chen Mengxi herself was being ripped apart by the ghosts, every shred of pain being transferred to her body!
“Ahhh—!”
Chen Mengxi gasped for air as she snapped back to consciousness from Shen Chen’s memories. She didn’t have time to look at Si Yisi or the nearby ghosts, instead quickly reaching out to check her own body!
Not torn apart, not torn apart… How fortunate.
Chen Mengxi smiled, as though having narrowly escaped death.
Si Yisi also timed his smile perfectly. He glanced at the trembling ghosts and said, “She’s shared a piece with each of you… each, one.”
He emphasized the last words, and the ghosts understood, letting go of Chen Mengxi’s hair.
They forcefully grabbed her body, and then— Once again, the rented room was filled with a strong ghostly aura, becoming the playground for these spirits.
The black mist spread throughout the room, and the ghosts who had been pulling on Chen Mengxi’s hair shed their pitiful appearance, revealing their grotesque faces!
The landlord’s exposed skin suddenly erupted with large patches of corpse marks, some decaying parts falling off piece by piece…
The ghosts, like the Air Condition Ghost and the Toilet Ghost, looked at Chen Mengxi with greed and ecstasy. The cold, lustful gleam in their eyes sent a chill down her spine.
Mo Wuchang couldn’t help but rub his hands together, then massaged his neck. He finally realized how lucky he was!
If it weren’t for Si Yisi clearing the way, he feared he would have been torn to pieces long ago!
“You want… you want…” Chen Mengxi’s voice was barely above a whisper, like that of a cat. She thought she had escaped the nightmare, but the nightmare had returned to reality!
“No! No!! Shen Chen, I beg you, no—!” Chen Mengxi screamed in despair, experiencing the nightmare once more. She felt her limbs being slowly ripped away from her body!
Si Yisi watched as the ghosts, with their grotesque faces, tore at Chen Mengxi’s body, piece by piece.
He stood quietly, almost like a statue, as a few tears fell. The hatred that had always lingered in Shen Chen’s body dissipated with the falling tears.
“Trash.” Si Yisi looked directly into Chen Mengxi’s eyes and uttered the last word she would ever hear in her life.
Chen Mengxi’s eyes widened as she collapsed to the ground. Her body was torn apart, and before the blood could hit the floor, the ghosts greedily devoured it. One after another, the sounds of chewing and sucking came from the ghosts, making people’s scalp tingle.
A shadow suddenly shot out from Chen Mengxi’s body, and a sharp-eyed ghost spotted it, immediately biting it to pieces.
In that moment, Si Yisi heard a sharp, world-shattering scream. A moment later, the sound fell into complete silence!
***
After the terrifying ghosts with blood-soaked lips finished tearing Chen Mengxi apart, they looked toward Si Yisi.
Mo Wuchang swallowed a mouthful of saliva, wondering if they were planning to rebel within the group.
Then he saw the ghosts immediately tidy up their appearance as they faced Si Yisi. They wiped the blood from the corners of their mouths and hid the corpse marks and decaying flesh. At first glance, they looked like a group of eerie extras from a ghost movie.
They respectfully bowed to Si Yisi, who simply said, “Let’s go.”
Only then did they quickly, quickly scurry away from the spot! Mo Wuchang was sure they were faster than light!
Mo Wuchang took a long breath, and then he heard a crackling sound, like an eggshell breaking—crack!
The world shattered! Mo Wuchang plunged into the world that had broken apart like a mirror.
“My God, my God, my God!” Mo Wuchang screamed loudly, his face covered in dust as he fell from mid-air, only to be caught by Si Yisi and placed on a platform.
Si Yisi disdainfully grabbed Mo Wuchang by the collar and threw him onto the platform.
Mo Wuchang had been causing a ruckus, but soon settled down. Si Yisi noticed a faint blue light appearing in his eyes, guessing it was likely the result of an escape game’s conclusion.
At that moment, a semi-transparent panel also appeared in front of Si Yisi. It was similar to a system mall, offering various skills, weapons, food, and clothing accessories to choose from.
Mo Wuchang, startled, shouted, “Boss! Did you see that semi-transparent panel? It’s still drawing!”
I see it. Si Yisi thought to himself. The semi-transparent panel in front of him flickered, making a buzzing sound, as if it were a malfunctioning machine.
He had killed Chen Mengxi, and with that, the small world had been severely damaged. It was no surprise that this was happening!
“Wow, there’s so many useful things in this panel! You can exchange them with points? I need to think carefully…” Mo Wuchang called to Si Yisi, “Boss, you should check it out and see if there’s anything you want to exchange!”
Si Yisi responded but didn’t look at the panel.
Shen Chen’s soul was awakening within Si Yisi’s body. Now that he had completed his task, he was supposed to return to the system space. Any skills chosen to survive in this escape game would be selected by the real Shen Chen.
As Si Yisi slowly detached, Mo Wuchang excitedly shared the panel with him.
“Boss, I’ve made up my mind. I want to pick this!”
The panel Mo Wuchang displayed showed, [Industrial Mermaid’s Tears [Skill]. When using this skill, the tears would turn into synthetic diamonds. Note: There will be some vision impairment as a side effect, use with caution.]
Si Yisi’s eyes twitched, and tears streamed down his face; He quietly left something behind for Shen Chen.
Then, at that moment, Si Yisi completely detached from Shen Chen’s body and entered the return passage.
Si Yisi saw the devastated small world before him, where filthy “bugs” were barely moving, trying to repair the broken world.
His eyes glowed brightly, and a fleeting moment of joy passed over him.
***
In the small world, Shen Chen returned to his body.
Mo Wuchang’s excited expression faded, and he looked at the leader, whose eyes had instantly changed, and asked, “Who are you?”
Shen Chen replied slowly but firmly, “I’m Shen Chen, but not the Shen Chen you know.”
As he spoke, tears unconsciously fell from his eyes, reflecting his current joy and sense of relief.
Shen Chen remembered the last words Si Yisi had left for him, “The protagonist, Chen Mengxi, is dead. This world may target you, and the difficulty of your escape game will likely increase.”
The protagonist, huh… Shen Chen chuckled softly. Only now did he realize that Chen Mengxi had been the chosen protagonist! But so what? She’s still dead!
Shen Chen adjusted his emotions and told Mo Wuchang, “The Shen Chen you knew… or rather, the system; left you with a little surprise.”
“Surprise?” Mo Wuchang examined Shen Chen’s expression, his excitement growing. “What is it?”
“He said you should discover it yourself.” Shen Chen thought; Isn’t this just a cliché answer?
Mo Wuchang, however, seemed as if he already knew what the surprise was. He said, “I’ll work hard for it!”
Si Yisi then turned his gaze back to the moment he had left.
Mo Wuchang, with the help of his Industrial Mermaid’s Tears, was sailing smoothly. Whenever he used the skill, artificial diamonds would fall, creating a huge pit with every drop!
Later on, things became even more excessive; Mo Wuchang’s skill had leveled up, and instead of the diamond ore, he started dropping small diamonds in the shape of swords and knives!
Si Yisi: “…”
He silently pressed his forehead. Why had I created such trouble by leaving Mo Wuchang with a host slot?
The host slot would come into play when Mo Wuchang was on the brink of death, automatically binding him as a host.
Si Yisi had originally valued Mo Wuchang’s potential, but at this moment, he inexplicably regretted it…
***
System platform,
System 2333, Chi Chun, waited there. When he saw Si Yisi emerge, he glanced at him and hurriedly said, “You didn’t mess up the small world, did you?!”
Chi Chun quickly coughed, trying to cover it up, and added a concerned inquiry, “Ah Si, are you okay?”
Si Yisi glanced at him.
I heard you the first time.