Although the second challenge ended unexpectedly, when the trainers once again entered the white fog, they weren’t as confused as when they first arrived. They already knew what they needed to do.
They had to prevent the accidental deaths of the Lin family siblings!
Because the sequential incidents happened so suddenly, Cheng Yun and the others had no time to ask Su Zimo why he rushed away so quickly, nor could they ask why Su Zimo, who had been silent, could speak well to the brother and sister so suddenly.
“I have an idea.” Cheng Yun said before the white fog had a chance to dissipate. “We’ll figure out the timing later, and xiao didi will rush out and say the same thing as before. Xiao didi, can you do it?”
Perhaps to reassure the child, Cheng Yun squatted down, looked at Su Zimo, and spoke in a gentle voice. “Your name is A-Yu? You’ll do it just like before, right?”
As Cheng Yun spoke, the white fog around them gradually began to disperse.
Apart from nodding, Su Zimo had no reaction.
“Then the next thing is left for us.” After he stopped speaking, Cheng Yun pinched Su Zimo’s full cheeks, making the ghost umbrella hiding behind him go crazy.
[It must be the legendary strange uncle! <sup>1</sup> ] Ghost Umbrella complained without mercy.
Su Zimo: “……”
After the white fog dissipated, the undamaged street appeared before them again.
In order to create the random encounter again, Su Zimo waited two or three minutes, then before the truck came and before the old woman selling vegetables greeted them, he walked to the right place and stopped the siblings next door.
“Boom!”
The truck crashed into the hardware store for the third time. Everything went exactly the same as last time, even Lin Hao and Lin Ren’s actions to pick up Su Zimo and hide in the alley.
“Little devil, what are you running around for! You could die!” Lin-jiejie seemed to be on a TV program, saying the same lines. “What about you, sir. If we saved you, don’t we get any money for saving your life!”
“Sorry, sorry!” At that moment, Cheng Yun rushed alone from the other side of the road to Su Zimo. He had already instructed the other six trainers to follow from a little further away.
If there were seven or eight people around Lin Hao and Lin Ren, how could that not look deliberate?
“Sorry! This kid is my younger brother.” Cheng Yun greeted the Lin siblings nervously after running over. “I was shopping in the store over there and this little guy disappeared when I turned around!”
“Taking this kind of child out and not watching, what are you doing as an older brother!” The brother’s opening indicated that the task had changed to a new plot and they had unlocked new dialogue.
“I’m sorry.” After Cheng Yun appeared, Su Zimo walked up to him and grasped the corner of his clothes. His actions proved that the honest man who seemed very paternal was really his brother, not some strange uncle who wanted to abduct children.
“Do you realize that if we weren’t protecting this kid just now, he might have gotten into trouble!” Lin-jiejie raised her eyebrows and kicked her leg. She looked just like a street gangster. “I think you should…”
Feeling the mixed aura from his sister, her younger brother Lin Ren wanted to stop her just like the last time.
But before Lin Ren stopped her, Cheng Yun said to them, “Yes, ah. The reason my didi escaped safely this time is because two good people helped out. I must repay this kindness!”
“……” When the two siblings who habitually wanted to blackmail others heard him say that, they didn’t know what to say next.
“Well, I think for two such good people, money would be a bit superficial. Why don’t we take them out for a good meal!” Cheng Yun looked up at the gloomy sky, but couldn’t figure out whether it was closer to lunch or dinner.
“You…” The two desperate siblings looked at them, eyes wide, and wanted to blurt out to the fool in front of them that he could insult them with superficial money.
The two siblings who were holding in their words naturally didn’t see Cheng Yun’s gesture to Bai Man and the others behind his back. Bai MAn left the team alone and walked into a small gold shop nearby with a small bag.
Although they said that they would act together, there were a few reasons for this. One was that the nature of this task was special, two was that there was a gold shop not too far away, and three was that Bai Man believed she had the skills to protect herself.
After experiencing many nightmare worlds, Cheng Yun and the others always carried a few things like gold or silverware with them. After all, the new places they went to may not recognize new banknotes.
Even if they didn’t need to exchange currency, they may be able to drive away evil spirits or trade for things.
With the funds provided by the ‘Vice Leader,’ Cheng Yun looked gently at Lin Hao and Lin Ren’s expressions. “My didi and I just arrived here. Do you know which restaurant is the best?”
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but not long after Cheng Yun finished speaking, Lin Hao and Lin Ren’ stomachs growled softly.
“I knew we should have finished lunch before…” Lin Ren was halfway finished speaking before he was elbowed forcefully by his sister beside him. After the two exchanged glances, Lin Ren coughed slightly and said, “There’s a nice restaurant near our house. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s pretty good.”
“Then we’ll go there.” Cheng Yun wholeheartedly believed in Bai Man’s ability to do things. What he wanted to do right now was keep the two siblings with Su Zimo. Inviting them to a meal was just the first step. After they finished their exceptionally long lunch, Cheng Yun was certainly going to invite them along to continue their journey until the bell rang at midnight.
In Cheng Yun’s mind, as long as they continued to accompany them so closely, even if the Lin family siblings met a ghost, they could handle it. If it was just for the fatal accidents, then they needed personal protection.
After the two parties reached an agreement, the Lin siblings took Cheng Yu and Su Zimo, who were holding hands, and walked forward past the scene of the car accident.
The Lin siblings were attacked before because they went in the direction toward the car accident. This time they went in a different direction, so even though they heard the commotion behind them, they didn’t care too much.
But Bai Man and Dr. Jin, immediately to subdue the casually violent thief from the side and behind, and handed the thief to the police officers who had come for the car accident with a round of applause. Afterwards, Bai Man and the other trainers once again hid amongst the crowd and continued to follow not too far behind Su Zimo.
Although the surrounding shops on the street felt old, there was a lot of pedestrian traffic. Also, a large truck had just had an accident. The crowd was mixed with ambulances and police cars. It was impossible for anyone to discover Bai Man and the other trainers following them.
No one discovered that the Treasure Hunting Doll was missing again.
Lin Hao and Lin Ren took Su Zimo and the others through the streets, then stood at a crossroad with a wider view, pointing to an apartment complex on the left side of the road that was older than the other side and said, “Our home is in there.”
As they spoke, the two siblings pointed to the modern and bustling scene on the right side: “The delicious restaurant is over there.”
Su Zimo felt strange about that. If the two siblings’ home was so far away from this old street, why did they come out of that residential building just now?
Visiting friends?
Although he was puzzled, after walking with Cheng Yun and the two siblings for a while, Su ZImo and the others also saw the nice restaurant Lin Hao and Lin Ren mentioned. It was a western restaurant that seemed fancy and luxurious and had a famous three-star restaurant evaluation.
When the waiter for the restaurant saw the smoky eyeshadow, bleached hair, and fur coats of the Lin siblings, his face instantly turned green.
Cheng Yun didn’t mind eating there. He had already looked through the reflection in the restaurant window and saw Bai Man give him an OK gesture, so he walked into the western restaurant without guilt.
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Expensive things have expensive benefits. In Cheng Yun’s view, inside such an elegant and quiet western restaurant, it was impossible for such chaotic things like what happened on that old street to happen again, right?
Cheng Yun specifically chose a deep and secluded corner that would never be affected even if a truck crashed in, thinking about what to do with the Lin siblings after eating in peace.
But in the end, Cheng Yun underestimated the nightmare world.
Lin Ren picked up a fork and devoured a plate of appetizers that had just been served. He suddenly clenched his throat with a pained expression.
“A-Ren, what’s the matter with you? Don’t scare me, ah!” Lin Hao immediately noticed something wrong with her little brother.
“Eh– eh– eh–” At that moment, Lin Ren clutched his neck while desperately trying to throw up, but his eyes became more and more bloodshot, and his bare face reddened, as if something was blocking his throat.
He… seemed to be choking.
“Is there a doctor!”
“I need to send my brother to the hospital!”
“I saw on TV that punching the stomach was useful, is it true!”
Lin Hao and Cheng Yun panicked for a while, then finally put Lin Ren on his back while contacting an ambulance and rushing to the nearest hospital.
As a result, before reaching an ambulance, Cheng Yun and Su Zimo’s surroundings were once again enveloped in white fog.
Food was stuck in his trachea for too long. Lin-didi died of lack of oxygen… from choking.
“I…” Inside the white space, even the simple and honest Cheng Yun couldn’t help being angry. Coupled with his panicked running just now, Cheng Yun’s face was almost as red as Lin-didi’s. “So it’s not just both of their lives. Losing either one of them will make our mission fail?”
Cheng Yun had really tried his best to save Lin Ren just now. He had even seen the heartbroken appearance of Lin Hao crying, her eyeshadow smudging into lumps.
“At least we still have a chance to try again.” Dr. Jin comforted him. “Even the gold jewelry Bai Man sold has returned to its original form, and there will always be another chance to try again slowly.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” The young man on the side suddenly paled. “Are we going to cycle through this nightmare world forever?”
Footnotes
<ol>Strange Uncle (aka Uncle Wei) is an internet thing referring to strange middle-aged men (uncles) that are attracted to childlike or teenage appearances or children themselves. Perverted and nasty guys.</ol>