Chapter 467: Ruins 11

Luo Qi's hand landed on Liu Ziyi's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Liu Ziyi raised her eyes, her other hand's index finger pressed against her lips. Liu Ziyi went still, two pairs of dark eyes staring at each other in terror within the darkness.

Luo Qi suddenly squeezed Liu Ziyi hard again, as if he had abruptly made up his mind. The power of Magic surged from his body. Liu Ziyi was a high-energy Mage herself and had just been connected to his thoughts; at such close physical and mental proximity, the Magic Luo Qi output felt like static electricity brushing against her spirit, and she instinctively recoiled.

The fear of a Telepath was a collective instinct carved into the genes of Mages. Luo Qi looked into her eyes while using Magic, and that alone was enough to make her want to scream. However, the attack was not aimed at her, so she immediately calmed down. She knew her spirit needed to get used to Luo Qi's presence; perhaps after witnessing Luo Qi launch a few attacks, her spirit would overcome the stress response.

Luo Qi's eyes were wide open, but if Liu Ziyi had really looked closely, she would have discovered that his focus was not on her. He panted lightly, lowering one hand to brace himself on the ground while the other gripped Liu Ziyi. He wasn't using Liu Ziyi as a security blanket; it was just that in this kind of environment, he had a strong desire for control. Just as he used a bit of force to press Liu Ziyi against the window, the sound of slow, falling footsteps came from behind them. The stench in the room suddenly grew thick, signaling the arrival of the intruders more clearly than the sound.

Liu Ziyi shuddered violently, panicked and wanting to stand up and rush out; the instinct to attack gained the upper hand. Luo Qi was grateful that he had already grabbed her, pushing her back to her original position and firmly controlling her. "Don't move!" he whispered. "They are... our people."

Our... what? Liu Ziyi looked over Luo Qi's shoulder in astonishment, her gaze as if suddenly yanked away. Moonlight slanted in from the corner of the window; it was only a tiny bit of light, but it was enough for a Mage to see things. Liu Ziyi met the puppet's dull eyes, those turbid eyes carrying a crude, ferocious nature that was neither human nor beast; there was nothing more terrifying than a state caught between man and animal. There were wounds on his face, a festering gash tearing all the way to one corner of his mouth. As he looked down at them, Liu Ziyi trembled even more violently.

"Luo Qi, you bastard," Liu Ziyi said in a trembling, breathy voice. "Why don't you turn around and look yourself?"

"If you're scared, don't stare at them," Luo Qi said in a low voice.

"Do you know there are bugs on his face? I can't help but stare at him; what if the bugs fall on me?"

Luo Qi blinked, wondering if Liu Ziyi had been scared out of her mind, but then he thought that for a girl, maybe having bugs fall on her was truly harder to endure than facing a zombie head-on.

"Listen, I used a bit of Mind Magic to take over the two of them..." Luo Qi said.

"So?" Liu Ziyi didn't wait for him to finish, her eyes widening. "If they don't possess intelligence individually, what if they are a single entity when combined? You moved one, and it might be equivalent to moving one of the monster's hands."

"Then he'll get slapped by this hand, and we'll take the chance to run away. At least, get far away from their main force," Luo Qi said in a low voice.

"But I..." Liu Ziyi shook even harder. She wanted to refuse; instinct made her want to find a place to hide. "I'm never going to wander around outside the lab again!"

"It's okay," Luo Qi said as gently as he could. This was the first time he had to comfort someone else in a life-or-death situation; he was also a bit unaccustomed to it, but he had to take responsibility. "Give me your hand. I'll pull you up, and you follow me."

"No, the two of them are blocking the door. The door is too small, I don't... I don't want to squeeze past them!" she said, resisting, though she didn't know what exactly she was resisting.

Luo Qi yanked her arm, pulling her up. "Nonsense, you can overcome all problems. You are the child Pei Shu chose."

"Right, chose me to work in the lab!"

"Come on, you have no choice!" Luo Qi said irritably, dragging her toward the door. The girl who could always overcome gravity now felt like she had swallowed a heavy weight, her legs feeling incredibly weak; he had to use a lot of effort to pull her.

The female Mage who could leave the entire Qionglin Mages helpless by herself was, at this moment, just like an ordinary girl, absolutely refusing to get close to those two terrifying half-dead things. Just then, an ominous sound came from the stairs downstairs, like a human body being pushed off the stairs—perhaps falling from the section where the railing had broken.

Both of them froze in that instant, staring at each other in terror. Liu Ziyi didn't want to delay any longer; her adrenaline surged, and her legs were no longer weak. She couldn't afford to hesitate and was about to rush out from between the two puppets. However, the moment she was about to sprint, the two puppets also moved, mechanically turning and walking step by step into the corridor.

"Run!" Luo Qi grabbed Liu Ziyi's arm. "They've started blocking the other puppets."

The two ran into the corridor, sprinting wildly along the hallway away from the stairs. In this silent place, the sound of their frantic footsteps was like a thunderclap.

"Liu Ziyi, cast a flame! We need Light Magic; if we run blindly in this darkness, we might break our legs," Luo Qi shouted. It didn't matter if they exposed their position now; those things had already discovered them. They would find them sooner or later.

Liu Ziyi had also thought of this problem. Without wasting words, she opened her hands and swung them violently to both sides. The flames darted like pythons toward the two edges of the corridor ceiling, illuminating the entire hallway like two rows of electric lights.

"Can I really set the building on fire?" Liu Ziyi asked.

"Burn it," Luo Qi said through gritted teeth. He didn't care about anything anymore.

Behind them came the sound of crashing and beast-like roars. They both heard the tooth-aching sound of limbs breaking, but neither of them stopped for a second, heading straight for the end of the corridor. There was a long enough corridor here, but no second staircase. Luo Qi was the first to rush to the window at the end of the corridor.

Liu Ziyi cast a Fireball downward; there weren't many shadows of puppets below.

"The fourth floor is a bit high," Luo Qi said. Previously, he had only wanted to keep a safe distance from the puppets while observing.

"Jump!" Liu Ziyi shouted loudly.

Luo Qi was stunned for a moment, then the girl jumped down beside him. He hesitated for only a second before following her down. After falling for two meters, he felt the momentum of gravity weaken, as if water were supporting him; his downward momentum slowed.