Chapter 293: Mother's Love (4/10, October Subscription)

Without waiting for the other three to respond, Fang Yue charged ahead toward the light source at the exit.

But after running for a while, Fang Yue noticed something.

The light source at the exit was gradually shrinking.

It was as if…the more they ran, the further they got from the exit!

His heart gave a sudden lurch. He looked at the other three and saw them staring at the exit's light source with terrified faces, clearly having realized something too.

The four exchanged a glance and wordlessly stopped, while the light source representing the exit in the distance kept shrinking!

If that light source shrank completely out of sight, the consequences were self-evident.

"Ye Ge, what do we do?"

Seeing the three pairs of eyes converging on him, Fang Yue's expression darkened.

"…Turn on the lights, and charge out!"

This was an all-or-nothing gamble!

Taking the Fluorescent Bead back, Fang Yue once again activated the Blazing Heart Method.

Boom!!

Flames surged skyward, illuminating the room.

Almost the instant the flames flared up, the four began sprinting toward the exit.

As the four ran, the shadows beneath their feet were also undergoing violent changes—wriggling, biting, all faintly severing their connection with their main bodies.

Of the four, Fang Yue was the strongest and the fastest runner.

Just as the shadow beneath his feet was about to sever its connection with his body, Fang Yue had already burst out the door.

He also reached out a hand toward the second person about to rush out of the room—Weiba.

And just as Weiba's hand was about to touch Fang Yue's…

Crack.

Weiba's shadow severed its connection with her body.

In the brief moment Weiba froze, she had already been grabbed by the hand by Fang Yue and yanked out.

The next to come out was Hai Ming, his face deathly pale.

And the last one out was Liao Moran, sniveling and wiping her tears.

Her shadow had barely made it halfway before it already left her body.

And all these shadows that had detached from their bodies instantly shot off at high speed, vanishing beyond their line of sight.

"Boo hoo hoo! My shadow, the shadow that's followed me for sixteen years! Boo hoo hoo! Am I going to die soon? Captain Ye, I have one last wish before I die—I've never had a boyfriend, I don't even know what a kiss feels like, can you kiss me? Boo hoo hoo!"

Liao Moran cried while pouting her lips at Fang Yue, begging for a kiss, only to have Fang Yue, his face dark, cover her face with one hand.

"It's just your shadow that's gone, you're fine for now, don't worry so much."

Saying so, Fang Yue looked at the somewhat flustered Weiba: "Any discomfort after losing your shadow? Is this a curse or some other condition? Tell me."

Hearing Fang Yue's words, Weiba calmed down a little.

After all, in her mind, this was still a game.

Losing a shadow in a game was a bit scary, but it wasn't a life-or-death matter.

"No prompts at all, doesn't look like a curse. Otherwise, I don't feel anything for now."

Losing a shadow seemed to just mean losing a shadow, nothing more.

"That's good then. What about you two?"

Hai Ming shook his head, his face pale—clearly he had no issues either. Liao Moran pried away Fang Yue's big hand, glared at him, and said huffily, "I-I'm fine for now too! But without our shadows, are we still human? Am I going to turn into some kind of monster?"

Dream on!

If becoming a monster were that easy, why would anyone bother researching them!

Ignoring Liao Moran, Fang Yue glanced at his own shadow, sitting safely beneath his feet, and rubbed his chin.

"Where do you think the shadows will run off to? This is a sealed ruin. Even after detaching from their bodies, they can only flee around inside the ruin, right?"

Weiba nodded: "Mm, so we still have a chance to get our shadows back…"

Weiba had only just said that when her expression suddenly changed and her words cut off.

The next moment, she went "wah" and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, with a "-55" damage prompt popping up above her head.

"Weiba?!"

"Goddess Weiba?!"

"Hey! Y-you, don't scare me like that!"

Fang Yue and Hai Ming cried out almost simultaneously, while Liao Moran was so frightened she was trembling.

Weiba felt her vision blurring, her body went limp, and she nearly collapsed.

Luckily, Fang Yue caught her with one hand. Leaning against his shoulder, she weakly looked up: "Ye Ge…"

"Don't be afraid! I still have some healing potions, take them all, don't worry about the pill toxicity. Also, I'll go find your shadow right now, hold on!"

Fang Yue's face was grim as he fed Weiba the medicine while speaking anxiously.

Only out in the wild alone did Fang Yue truly realize the importance of medicine.

Without Night Breathing, any little incident meant popping pills like water! Don't pop them and you die, pop them and the pill toxicity eats away your lifespan—absolute torment.

Unlike Fang Yue, Weiba had neither the healing effect of Night Breathing, nor Fang Yue's cultivation realm and strength.

Having not yet entered Martial Dao, she had at most 100 HP!

The sudden injury had already knocked off half her health—one more hit and she'd be dead for sure.

And with extreme pill-popping, Weiba's pitiful lifespan couldn't withstand the pill toxicity either.

This put them in a dilemma.

Although Fang Yue had fed her a health-recovery potion, he didn't dare give her too much, and could only let her slowly recover on her own.

"You two watch her, I'll go find the shadow!"

Fang Yue turned to leave, but was grabbed by Tail.

"Ye Ge… don't go. Even if we find the shadow, we still don't know how to return it to the main body."

Tail felt her body growing weaker and weaker; experiencing this feeling in a game still made her very uncomfortable — it really felt like suffering through a game.

"If I don't go find it, all three of you will die!"

Liao Moran and Hai Ming, hearing this, visibly trembled.

Obviously, they also knew — if Tail was showing these symptoms without her shadow, then naturally they would be the same!

Hai Ming was just thinking about it when he suddenly felt his vision gradually darkening. His expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted.

"Captain Ye, Captain Ye, I can't see! I'm blind! I'm blind!"

But what rang in his ears was his old mother's sharp scolding.

"Blind my foot! How many times have I told you — get up and go night-running, get up and go night-running, and you just won't listen! Still playing games, still playing games — play one more time and I'll smash your Game Watch!"

Hai Ming:???!!!

His mind went blank for a moment before he realized — his mom had taken his Game Watch off!

He was now in his own room in reality!!

Oh my god!!

In the game, it was a critical life-or-death moment.

Hai Ming hurriedly hugged his mom's thigh: "Mom!! Let me play ten more minutes, just ten more minutes!!"

"No! You agreed to go night-running on time — what time is it now, and you're still in the game! The Game Watch is confiscated for one day. Now go night-running! Unless you come back with a long-distance running championship from this school competition, don't ever think about playing games again!"

"No!!"

Hai Ming's wails echoed through the room.

"How can there be such a thing — oh god, Mom, be reasonable, I'm dying!! I'm going crazy!!"

(End of this chapter)