Chapter 5 - The Escape of the Poacher (Part 4)

The knife was small, but fortunately sharp. Without a moment’s hesitation, Luo Yiran severed the five fingers on the man’s right hand as if he were chopping cabbage. He then frowned at the man who had passed out from the pain-so fragile, he might die from this.

The doll, who had no intention of killing, wiped the knife clean and put it away.

The magician, who had been standing behind him, spoke up: “I suggest it would be better to kill him.”

The doll looked up at the magician.

“Leaving someone who has a grudge against you is not a good idea,” the magician suggested in a friendly tone.

The doll was displeased: “I don’t kill people.”

The magician glanced at the tracksuit man’s miserable state and, after a brief moment, smiled and said, “But if you leave him on this tall tree, the beasts drawn by the scent of blood might not be able to reach him.”

Luo Yiran, whose thoughts had been exposed, grew even more displeased. His translucent red eyes fixed on the magician: “A puppet shouldn’t say things that would displease its master.”

With that, Luo Yiran quickly manipulated the magician to tear off another piece of cloth from his suit and use it to gag himself.

The magician let out a few broken syllables, clearly dissatisfied.

After doing all this, Luo Yiran thought with a stern face-this was thrilling.

He then manipulated the magician to lower the tracksuit man and hurried back to find Xia Lang.

Just as he arrived at the spot where Xia Lang had been, a mechanical voice echoed throughout the forest: [Safe time has begun.]

Luo Yiran paused, then looked up at the huge full moon in the sky. A flash of impatience crossed his red eyes, and he quickly lowered his head, calling out, “Xia Lang.”

In the shadows, Xia Lang was startled. He could barely move, so he could only struggle to extend one hand: “Ran-Ge…” His voice was heavy with tears, and he paused before speaking again, “I’m here.”

The outstretched hand was covered in blood. Luo Yiran manipulated the magician to quickly approach, and then he saw Xia Lang, half-crouched in a tree hollow, covered in blood.

Xia Lang’s eyes were red. He was startled when he saw the magician, but when his gaze shifted to Luo Yiran, he suppressed his fear: “Ran-Ge, is it over?”

Luo Yiran had the magician crouch down, and then he jumped off the magician’s body step by step. He walked up to Xia Lang: “Can you hold on for the next two hours?”

Xia Lang had never been in so much pain before. He even felt himself getting colder, which terrified him because he felt like he was dying. Tears uncontrollably streamed down his face, and Xia Lang exhaled softly, full of grievance: “I… I can’t hold on.”

Luo Yiran quickly assessed Xia Lang’s wounds-his legs and arms were pierced, and there were abrasions on his abdomen.

Xia Lang’s tears streamed down his face: “I… I only have a little bit of medicine to stop the bleeding. Medical items in the game are really precious… I used them all, but my thigh… it just won’t stop bleeding.” Xia Lang sniffled, but he didn’t cry out loudly, afraid of attracting the attention of other players.

“Don’t cry,” Luo Yiran comforted him. “I’ll go find other players to borrow medicine. If that doesn’t work, I’ll figure out a way to stop the game.”

Xia Lang was stunned, as if the pain in his body had momentarily paused: “What?”

Borrow medicine? From whom? In this instance, everyone was against them. And stopping the game didn’t seem right either, did it?

Luo Yiran didn’t explain further. He manipulated the magician to bandage Xia Lang’s wounds. The magician was displeased, but his mouth was bound too tightly, so he could only grunt a couple of times.

However, Xia Lang was startled by the sudden sound from the magician: “He… he…”

“He’s a puppet the game gave me. He’s alive,” Luo Yiran said calmly. “He can move on his own, but I can also control him. Don’t worry.”

Xia Lang: “…”

How could he not worry?! This bandaged man looked like a villainous boss!

“His name is the Magician,” Luo Yiran introduced him. “He doesn’t have a pleasant way of speaking.”

…So that’s why his mouth was tied up? That was Xia Lang’s last thought before he passed out from the pain.

“Be gentle,” Luo Yiran frowned as he saw Xia Lang lose consciousness.

“…”

The magician didn’t even grunt anymore. Luo Yiran didn’t soften, but then he thought, after all, this was his puppet, so he should value it a little. So he untied the cloth strip from the magician’s mouth: “Speak less.”

The magician curled his lips into a smile and said softly, “Someone’s nearby.”

Luo Yiran was startled, and the next second, he felt something tug at the back of his neck. Before he could react, his body was suddenly lifted into the air-

He was flying.

In that moment of flight, Luo Yiran thought of the scene a few days ago when he went fishing by the river and a fish was hooked and pulled out of the water.

His face darkened.

After tracing an arc through the air, Luo Yiran landed in a somewhat rough hand. The owner of the hand was facing away from him, and as soon as he grabbed the doll, he turned and ran gleefully, his voice full of triumph: “Hahaha! A moving doll must be a great item!”

Luo Yiran felt a bit dizzy from the shaking hand and couldn’t help but retort, “You’re the item!”

The hand’s owner paused, then climbed up a tree. He opened his hand and placed the dizzy doll upright, staring at it for a moment before exclaiming, “A talking doll item!”

Luo Yiran was still a bit disoriented from being shaken around. He sat there for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts, but before he could fully recover, his arm was grabbed and he was lifted into the air.

“…”

As he was hoisted up, Luo Yiran finally got a good look at the person who had grabbed him. It was a young man wearing a black-and-white short-sleeved shirt and shorts. His hair was dyed a silvery gray and styled in small, curly waves, which oddly complemented his round face.

The young man leaned in, his face full of suspicion: “You’re an item, right?”

Luo Yiran looked at the young man and suddenly smiled.

The young man tilted his head: “What are you smiling about…” Before he could finish his sentence, the curly-haired boy’s hair suddenly stood on end, and he flipped off the tree in a flash.

As he landed, the branch he had been standing on fell to the ground, its end cut cleanly.

The young man looked up, his face filled with fear, and saw the bandaged man above him, holding a branch in one hand and a knife in the other.

The magician’s long gray hair shimmered like silver under the moonlight. He let go of the branch and dropped from the tree, then twirled the knife in his hand as he walked toward the doll in the young man’s grasp.

The young man reacted quickly. He grabbed the doll tightly: “Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll destroy him. If I can’t have him, neither can you!”

The magician didn’t even pause.

Luo Yiran, who was being held tightly, didn’t feel uncomfortable. He turned his head 180 degrees to face the young man.

The doll stared directly into the wide-eyed young man’s face and grinned: “If you really want to know, that bandaged freak over there is the talking doll item.”

“Want him? Go ahead and try to take him.”

The young man: “…”

By now, the young man realized that the doll in his hand was most likely another player, just a special species.

“Damn it!” The young man hadn’t expected there to be a doll special species. He immediately took off running again, as agile as a monkey with a turbocharger.

The young man was confident in his speed. Since entering the game, no one except for the old man had ever caught him. But that confidence vanished the moment he glanced back.

The magician was effortlessly keeping pace with him. Seeing the young man turn his head in shock, the magician, though slightly annoyed, extended his hand.

The young man was stunned. He felt a sudden pain in his finger, and the next second, a black shadow flashed before his eyes. When his vision cleared, he saw the little doll now sitting comfortably in the magician’s arm.

The doll sat there steadily, legs crossed, and casually praised the magician: “Not bad.” Pretty slick.

The knife twirled in the magician’s hand as he replied with delight, “You flatter me, young master.”

The young man, still dazed, stopped and looked down at his hand. His index finger had a small cut-so small it might not even be the size of a fingernail. Only a drop or two of blood had formed.

But.

A tiny rose had been inserted into the cut.

Oh, a flower had grown on his hand. The young man was a bit stunned.

He could take a picture to show the old man… Just as he thought this, he looked up and saw a knife now resting against his neck. The eerie, bandaged magician exuded a dangerous aura, while the delicate little doll in his arms looked innocent but spoke coldly-

“Hand it over.”