Chapter 027 – Escape
Li Yuan’s mouth was bone-dry, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Though his blood surged and flushed his face, it did nothing to warm him. His hands and feet felt ice-cold, and his brain seemed frozen, leaving only fear behind.
That eerie estate, so still it felt like a corpse, and the faint yet horrifying sound of a door opening kept replaying in his mind, driving out all other thoughts...
A strong sense of unease swelled within him, an uncanny chill that slid along his spine, like a dead hand dragging across his back.
“Ah!” Li Yuan let out a guttural shout and sprinted forward, quickly overtaking Calico. But in the next moment, the world spun. His body gave out, and his foot caught on a thick aerial root, sending him sprawling forward.
THUD! THUD! THUD! He rolled a few times across the ground and, ignoring the pain, scrambled back onto his feet to keep running. It felt as if something heavy were clinging to his back. He didn’t dare look around, only lashing wildly behind him with his arms but striking nothing but air.
He glanced at Calico. The tiger was also laboring to run, a disturbingly human look of panic on its face, though nothing rested on its back.
What’s happening? What’s happening?! We were still so far away from that estate! Li Yuan screamed inside his head, panting as his face turned pale. Another wave of dizziness hit. It was as if his soul left his body, and he flew forward with no control.
Time seemed to slow, and everything went silent...
Crash! He landed hard, forehead slamming against a rock. Blood gushed from the cut. The pain didn’t jolt him back to reality; instead, his body felt lighter, and his awareness kept fading.
A whirl of countless snowflake-like fragments fluttered in his mind, scattering his thoughts. His consciousness was slipping away at breakneck speed.
“Allocate stats... Allocate stats!”
Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, Li Yuan pinned his last hope on his status window.