The group walked towards the nearest point.
Nan Jiangzi and Ding Xiang led the way, with Miss Xihongshi in the middle, followed by the Wu Jue siblings. Zhuo Ying and Song Yan, the acknowledged "waste materials," were at the very back.
With no one watching them, Song Yan stealthily reached for Zhuo Ying's hand again. Zhuo Ying indulged him, their hands clasped and occasionally brushing against each other, sickeningly affectionate.
However, their sweet moment didn't last long. Ding Xiang stopped and turned around. "Zhuo Ying, Song Yan, why are you lagging behind? Catch up!"
Song Yan, who was in the middle of being affectionate, became displeased and glared at Ding Xiang.
Unfortunately, the corridor was quite dark, and Ding Xiang didn't catch his glare.
The two could only catch up.
"I still haven't asked where you two were before. Have you been together all this time?"
"Yes," Zhuo Ying nodded. "When the tremor happened, I held onto him. We fell down, but thankfully, we weren't injured."
Ding Xiang looked bewildered. "I remember you were between us when I fell asleep. Why were you holding him during the tremor?"
"I don't know. I just grabbed him in the chaos."
Ding Xiang was skeptical, while Nan Jiangzi's gaze became more probing.
"It's good that you're alright. Let's hurry, I wonder how the others are doing."
"Mm."
The group continued forward.
"I'm hungry. Do you guys want something to eat?"
Ding Xiang asked abruptly, and everyone instinctively stopped.
"I don't have anything to eat."
"I do." He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a few packs of compressed biscuits, offering them to those around him. "Everyone have some."
Nan Jiangzi took the biscuit but didn't eat it; he put it away.
Zhuo Ying directly refused, "I'm not hungry, thank you."
They were not in the real world, and this feeling of hunger was a bit too unreal.
Song Yan also declined, "I'm not hungry either. You guys eat yourselves."
In the end, only he, Miss Xihongshi, and the Wu Jue siblings ate.
The four of them crunched on compressed biscuits with a rustling sound, and silence fell upon the space once more.
"Did you encounter anything before?"
Nan Jiangzi spoke up again suddenly. Song Yan's sneaky attempt to hold hands was interrupted, and he exuded an aura of frustration.
Zhuo Ying pulled his hand back, interlocking their fingers. The previously frustrated person was instantly content.
This guy was so thoughtful!
He liked the warm and comfortable feeling she gave off.
As a "villain" in the game, he seemed to have forgotten that players who entered shouldn't have warmth.
"We encountered a ghost shadow. It chased us for a long distance, but eventually gave up and left on its own."
"Ha." Nan Jiangzi chuckled, saying with an ambiguous tone, "You guys have really good luck."
Ding Xiang mumbled through his food, "Yeah! That one before chased us all the way and we couldn't shake it. It was you guys arriving that made it leave."
"Then we are indeed lucky."
The topic died, and silence returned.
Even Ding Xiang, the best at livening up the atmosphere, remained quiet for a while after eating. He was a natural extrovert, but they hadn't known each other for even a day, and they didn't even know each other's names. He found it hard to find a topic.
Fortunately, to find the others, they needed to determine a route, and having choices led to disputes, which broke the quiet.
"Who should we look for first?"
Nan Jiangzi looked at his screen. "They are here, and he is here. We are going from here. The distances are all about the same. Why don't we split up? We can find the people and then regroup here."
When the others heard this, they hesitated a little.
But there were seven of them, so splitting up wouldn't leave anyone alone, and they all agreed.
Wu Jue and Wu Yu had to be separated, as only the two of them were located with the other three.
Finally, Nan Jiangzi decided: Wu Jue would take Ding Xiang and Miss Xihongshi to find the duo, while the other four would go find the remaining person.
They split into two groups.
The dark corridors were often so long that they couldn't see the end. Nan Jiangzi and Wu Yu were at the front, with Zhuo Ying and Song Yan behind them. No one spoke, and the air was so still it felt frozen.
Song Yan started to dislike the people in front of them.
He curved his lips into a sinister smile.
Nan Jiangzi felt a chill down his spine.
But having been here for so long, he wasn't scared by this.
From a room lit up ahead, a black shadow drifted out and flickered in front of them, quite frightening.
Wu Yu immediately became tense. "What is that?"
"I'll go take a look," Nan Jiangzi said, handing her the candlelight and chasing after the black shadow.
Song Yan smiled again.
Zhuo Ying noticed his actions and sighed helplessly in her heart.
This little troublemaker!
She pinched his palm as a warning.
Unexpectedly, he became even more brazen.
Another shadow flashed by. Wu Yu, already tense, turned to speak to them but saw an empty corridor behind them.
"Hey!"
Her voice trembled. "Where are you guys?"
No one answered her.
Holding the candlelight, she hesitated for a moment before running towards where Nan Jiangzi had gone.
The two behind them then emerged.
"What did you do?"