Chapter 311: Anbo Is Waiting for You

Yu Siyi climbed onto a large tree beside Flower Huayuanjie, hiding her body within the canopy as she silently watched the monster nearby.

She observed the monster's strength and movement patterns while hesitating whether to strike.

The orange thread that led her to this crumbling city of Sigef was tied to the person trapped inside the house—her way out should lie with that person.

To leave this place, all she needed to do was kill the monster and rescue the one inside.

But the problem was, she couldn't beat it.

The "Cursed dungeon" suppressed players' attributes by 90%, drastically narrowing the gap between players.

This allowed newcomers like Yu Siyi, who had only completed two dungeons and was under level ten, from being left too far behind by max-level players.

Even due to world rule corrections, players' attributes were capped at a minimum of five, which ironically benefited Yu Siyi—whose stats focused entirely on Energy, with zero points in other attributes.

Her Strength, Agility, and Endurance were all only at levels three and four, yet the dimensional rules boosted them all to five.

Of all players entering the "Cursed dungeon," she was the only one who gained an advantage from the world's rules.

But even so, she was still far too weak to face the monster before her.

Before entering the dungeon, Hou Jingchuan assigned a specialized instructor to train her, emphasizing the dungeon monsters.

The dungeon monsters' attributes vastly exceeded those of players; even a top-hundred player from the Wasteland Realm would struggle to win in a one-on-one fight.

The instructor told her never to entertain any idea of fighting a dungeon monster just because she had the Source Power—if she saw one, don't hesitate, just run!

Her heart belonged only to Lu Langfeng, but that didn't mean she was stupid—she took this advice seriously.

Logically, she should have run by now.

But where could she run to in this world?

As she hesitated, the monster crouched on the roof tore through the attic floor with a triumphant roar.

In the roar, she heard a little girl's scream from inside the house; then, through the window, she saw the girl sprint down from the attic and dash into the master bedroom on the second floor.

The master bedroom's window faced the street, giving Yu Siyi a clear view of the scene inside.

The little girl was very young, no more than six or seven years old.

The master bedroom held a double bed; from the room's décor, it was clearly the girl's parents' room—but they were not here now.

The girl sat curled up on the double bed, clasping her hands tightly against her chest, whispering a quiet prayer.

Perhaps she was praying for a god to appear—or for her parents to come back.

The orange thread guiding her here had its other end anchored inside the little girl.

In a daze, Yu Siyi saw herself—her childhood self, alone at home while her parents worked late, trembling during thunderstorms, hoping desperately for them to return.

She remembered once, her mother had finished work early and came home just as she was most terrified.

She had been happier then than on her birthday.

If someone came to help the girl inside, perhaps she'd feel the same joy Yu Siyi had felt back then.

What am I, nuts? I'm not her mother—why should I care?

Yu Siyi jumped down from the tree, walked toward No. 26 Flower Huayuanjie, and slapped herself—chuckling bitterly.

She brought her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle, drawing the monster's attention.

It was a trick she'd learned hanging out with her girl friends at bars—never imagined she'd use it to draw a monster's aggro.

"Black Dog, over here!"

The wolf-like monster, seemingly angered by the name "Black Dog," leapt from the roof and landed five meters in front of Yu Siyi.

Yu Siyi's expression stiffened—watching from afar and facing the monster up close were worlds apart in pressure.

The monster was even larger than she'd thought; even standing still, its shoulder height exceeded two meters, capable of swallowing her whole.

Most disturbingly, she felt no emotion from it—her Source Power and Title abilities had no effect on it whatsoever.

In short, her legs were going weak.

It was too late to regret now—she could only hope the orange thread connected to the girl was strong enough to lend her sufficient power.

Roar!

The monster unleashed a battle cry, meant to terrify the girl, now slamming into Yu Siyi's will.

Yu Siyi's mind wavered for an instant, then shook off the mental assault.

Her Source Talent had awakened while she was under Lu Langfeng's influence—making her irrevocably obsessed with him, desperate to possess him.

This extreme love-struck mind meant she could hold no one else in her heart; the downside was she might lose control upon seeing Lu Langfeng again, but the upside was that thinking of him made her will unbending.

When she was under Lu Langfeng's control, this unwavering focus had let her commit any crime without hesitation—for his sake.

Now freed from his control, this same focus had become her weapon.

Most mental control abilities could not affect her extreme love-struck mind—so long as she had a goal to chase, she feared nothing.

The instant she broke free from the mental attack, Yu Siyi moved.

She swept her hand through the air, seized the orange thread guiding her, hooked it onto a metal needle, and drove it into the ground.

Then she lunged forward in a diving roll, dodging the monster's charge, yanked the thread, wrapped it around a second needle, and stabbed it into the earth.

The little girl inside noticed someone else had appeared; she crept to the window and peered out cautiously.

Yu Siyi shouted to her: "I'll bring your family back—but before that, lend me your emotions!"

No sooner had she spoken than the monster, having missed its strike, changed direction mid-air and charged straight at her.

With only five points of Agility, she couldn't dodge—it slammed into her and sent her flying.

The gap really is still too great.

That hit alone would break dozens of bones.

Yu Siyi's body crashed into the house, cracking the reinforced concrete exterior wall with fine fissures.

Normally, such a blow—even with her superhuman will—would have left her unable to move, yet strangely, as she slid down the wall to the ground, she felt no injury at all.

She looked at the orange thread still clutched in her hand—her Source Talent, combined with the "Weaver of Cocoons" Title, allowed her to draw power from the target at the other end of the emotional thread.

The little girl in the room understood her meaning, winding a short segment of orange thread around her wrist, allowing her to borrow the power within the orange thread.

It was this borrowed power that had enabled her to withstand the monster's earlier impact.

But at her current level, she should only be able to borrow 20% of the target's attributes from the other end.

Fifteen percent was enough for her to fend off the monster's attacks—what kind of beings were the little girl's parents?

The giant wolf monster wouldn't stand there dazed like her; seeing her rise again, it charged toward her faster.

This time, she clearly saw the giant wolf's movements and easily dodged past them.

Sss.

Yu Siyi sucked in a sharp breath, once again summoning a metal needle, wrapping the orange thread around it, and planting it at various points across the lawn.

Within minutes, a net woven from orange threads appeared across the lawn.

"Bind!"

As she gave the command, the surrounding orange threads tightened, binding the monster firmly and rendering it motionless.

This was a skill she had specifically designed for Lu Langfeng—Emotional Binding—intending to use the threads of love within her own body to bind Lu Langfeng tightly the next time they met, keeping him forever by her side.

She never expected that the first time she used it in battle, the target would be a monster.

What surprised her even more was that the orange thread's power was stronger than she'd thought; originally meant as a binding and control technique, the orange thread was so potent that the tighter it pulled, the more it cut—until it finally shredded the monster into pieces scattered across the ground. Yu Siyi stared at the carnage on the ground, unsure what to say.

The little girl's parents could pull out just one thread of familial bond and it was this strong—how dare you target their child? Are monsters in this dungeon dimension all this fearless?

Then again, without the support of the orange thread's power, she would have been killed by the monster dozens of times by now.

Next time something like this happens, I can't act so impulsively.

She exhaled slowly, then waved toward the window of the second-floor bedroom and said:

"The monster's been dealt with!"

Tap-tap-tap.

After a series of light running footsteps, the front door opened a crack; the little girl peered through the gap, timidly saying:

"Thank you, big sister."

The little girl was still trapped in fear of the monster and hadn't recovered yet, but Yu Siyi could tell the girl had shown her goodwill.

Big sister? She had never been called that before.

Yu Siyi crouched down, meeting the girl's gaze, and asked: "Are you waiting for your parents?"

!

The little girl nodded and said: "They vanished in an instant—I can't find them."

Yu Siyi said: "Where are they? I can help you look for them."

The little girl's face showed confusion; after a brief silence, she said: "They seem to be gone."

In another context, Yu Siyi would have assumed the girl's parents had died—but she understood the girl's meaning and asked:

"Are they in the surface world?"

The little girl: "It seems so."

As she spoke, Yu Siyi noticed the orange thread, which had previously pointed toward the presidential statue, had now shifted direction, pointing elsewhere.

There, perhaps, lay information about the little girl's parents—and also the way out of this collapsing world.

She pointed in that direction and asked: "Do you want to go there?"

The little girl's expression showed reluctance, yet she still said: "I have no choice but to go there."

Yu Siyi extended her hand to the little girl: "Then I'll take you there."

The two walked through the silent city, chatting as they went.

Yu Siyi learned the little girl's name was An Bai, an orphan currently adopted by a young couple, who had suddenly become separated for reasons unknown.

According to An Bai, this place was Sigef City, and she hadn't noticed any difference between it and the surface world.

Yu Siyi guessed An Bai's adoptive parents were in the surface world's Sigef City, but when she asked for details about them, An Bai said she couldn't remember.

After repeatedly asking several times, she vaguely realized An Bai had lost a large portion of her memory—including the time spent with her adoptive parents.

Now, she couldn't even remember who she was, merely waiting aimlessly for someone to arrive.

Yu Siyi was curious and asked An Bai: "You don't even know who you're waiting for—why are you sure they'll find you?"

At this question, An Bai unconsciously smiled, saying she remembered someone making a promise with her: whenever danger came, they would come to her side and eliminate it.

Watching An Bai's smile, Yu Siyi felt a pang of envy and blurted: "But he didn't come."

The moment she spoke, she regretted it—but An Bai wasn't shaken by her words; instead, she said:

"I believe in him. He always shows up—just maybe a little late."

Realizing her mistake, Yu Siyi quickly added: "Don't worry—even if he doesn't come, I'll bring him to you."

The path to the destination was long, but the borrowed power from the orange thread made Yu Siyi's journey far less tiring.

As they walked and talked, time flew by, and before they knew it, they arrived at the place the orange thread had pointed to.

Sigef City Orphanage.

Although An Bai had lost many memories, she vaguely remembered being adopted many times.

The adoptions never went smoothly; she rarely suffered abuse, but each adoption lasted only a short while before she was alone again.

Each time, she returned here—to Sigef City Orphanage.

She had spent more than half her life here; compared to No. 26 Flower Garden Road, this was truly the origin of her life.

Now, she was returning to her origin once more.

At the orphanage gate, An Bai released her grip on Yu Siyi's hand and walked alone to the orphanage's front door.

An Bai said: "Every time I came back before, someone would hug me and say it's okay—this is still my home."

Yu Siyi heard the unspoken half of An Bai's sentence: the person who used to hug her was gone—not like the adoptive parents, who remained in the real Sigef City, but vanished completely.

She comforted him, "The person you've been waiting for will return the hug they owe you when they see you."

An Bai nodded and pushed open the orphanage's main doors with both hands.

The orphanage, like Sig City outside, was filled with fine cracks within, as if it could collapse at any moment.

Yu Siyi saw the orange line sink into the inner side of the orphanage building's door; the connection point carried a faint Origin aura, the same as the presidential statue she had seen before entering.

She knew that touching that spot would let her leave this world on the verge of collapse.

An Bai seemed to sense something. She turned her head and hugged Yu Siyi of her own accord, saying, "I'm going inside to wait for him. You should leave too."

"Big sister, I believe you'll also wait for the person you've been waiting for all along."

Watching An Bai walk into the orphanage, Yu Siyi called out:

"Wait, where should I go to find the person you're waiting for?"

An Bai, however, acted as if she hadn't heard her voice and disappeared into the orphanage on her own.

Yu Siyi shook her head. "Honestly, you trust him way too much."

She reached out to touch the orange line on the door. Just like before, when she came back to herself, she had already returned to the real Sig City.

The place she appeared was precisely the Sig City orphanage.

Where should she go to find An Bai's adoptive parents? She'd go to the orphanage first to see if she could find any records on An Bai, then go find Henderson and have him help her look into 26 Huayuanjie.

Just as Yu Siyi was thinking, she suddenly noticed the segment of orange line tied to her wrist unfurl, pointing straight toward the orphanage director's office.

She followed the orange line all the way in and saw a young man talking with the orphanage director about something.

The man listened very intently, but a sense of anxiety could be felt in his eyes.

Seeing a stranger burst in, Wu Chang and Director Susan stopped their conversation and turned to look at the intruder.

Susan was in a fairly calm state; she simply spoke up to remind her, "Sorry, we're still in a meeting. If you need me for something, please wait in the reception area outside."

Unlike Susan, Wu Chang strained to keep his expression in check, which was the only thing that kept his surprise from showing.

Although Yu Siyi's appearance was vastly different from how she had looked in Wanghai City, the intense emotion of love radiating from her was even more conspicuous than her usual outfits.

What surprised Wu Chang was that that intense love had now, just like Fang Hui's, become an awakened Origin power.

How did she get in here, and why was she here?

Before he could speak, Yu Siyi walked straight up to him and asked first:

"Is your home at 26 Huayuanjie?"

Wu Chang narrowed his eyes, assuming a guarded posture, and replied, "How do you know that?"

Yu Siyi didn't answer and pressed on: "Do you have an adopted daughter named An Bai?"

The moment this question was asked, both Wu Chang and Director Susan were stunned. Wu Chang looked at Susan, and Susan shook her head, denying:

"I've never met this young lady, nor have I disclosed any information about An Bai to anyone else."

Hearing Susan's words, Yu Siyi already knew the answer.

She grabbed Wu Chang's wrist and said:

"It's you, good. Come with me. An Bai is waiting for you."

(End of this chapter)