Chapter 529 Reuniting with an Old Acquaintance

Chapter 529: Re-encountering an Old Acquaintance

Tian Yue and Feng Xuelan walked ahead by themselves, both growing even more silent than before, as if each was lost in unspeakable thoughts.

Le Shiya also reached out to hold Su Bai's hand. Su Bai didn't pull away, letting the girl lead him as he followed steadily behind the two players.

No one spoke along the way. In the corridor, only the sound of their four sets of footsteps echoed, trailing a string of echoes in the empty hallway.

After walking for about two or three minutes, Su Bai and the others encountered the corridor's first corner and began turning right. It was at this moment that Tian Yue and Feng Xuelan almost simultaneously stopped in their tracks, likely because they had seen something else after rounding the corner.

At the same time, Le Shiya's voice sounded again in Su Bai's mind, carrying her usual lively tone but mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible wariness.

"Brother, there are two players ahead, one male and one female. They look about twenty? Thirty? I can't really tell. Anyway, they appear young, but they give off a somewhat weathered feeling, which fits the characteristics of the powerful veteran players I've seen before."

Su Bai could understand Le Shiya's description. Among human players who enter the Nightmare Game, not only are children rare, but the elderly are also uncommon. Simply put, most of those selected for the Nightmare Game are in the prime of life.

He once thought this might be a shred of mercy from the "Administrator," but now it seemed that was probably not the case. More likely, the so-called "test subjects" were prioritized from groups with strong vitality. As for children like Le Shiya, who were physically frail and lacking in vitality, why they were also dragged into the Nightmare Game—the answer to that question probably lay hidden at a deeper level.

However, Le Shiya's intuition was sharp. Even though most players were relatively young, veteran players, having experienced more Nightmare Games and endured more life-and-death crises, naturally carried an aura and gaze with a certain weathered quality different from ordinary youths. This special feeling was the mark left by the accumulated weight of experience and suffering, and it was also the biggest distinction between them and ordinary young players.

"That man has a lot of white hair, even more than my grandfather, and really dark circles under his eyes. He looks even more worn out than the programmer brother living next door to me."

Le Shiya's description of the male player ahead felt somewhat familiar to Su Bai.

"That sister is quite pretty, though not as good-looking as you, brother. A white top, white pants, and white shoes—this sister really likes white."

At this point, Le Shiya's tone subtly changed. Earlier, when mentioning Feng Xuelan and Tian Yue, she casually referred to them as "those two women," but upon seeing this pretty player, she immediately changed her address to "sister."

Su Bai suddenly understood why Le Shiya had actively sought him out back then.

Clearly, the little one placed a high value on appearances.

"But they probably don't know each other; they're standing a bit far apart, and there's no eye contact. Especially that big sister in white—she's been staring blankly at the ceiling, as if lost in thought."

Just as Su Bai finished listening to Le Shiya's introduction, Tian Yue, walking ahead, had already spoken up to ask, "You're players too, right? Have you found the nurse's station the Administrator mentioned?"

A moment of silence followed from ahead before a male voice slowly responded, low-pitched yet utterly flat in tone. "You're walking behind us. If you haven't seen the nurse's station along the way, then you should just keep moving forward."

"We also just saw the floor plan on the wall," he continued. "This is a standard corridor that loops back on itself. Keep going forward, and you'll eventually see the nurse's station."

Listening to this voice, Su Bai's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

This sense of familiarity—

"Hmm?" The male player opposite seemed to sense something as well, his tone pausing slightly.

Quickly matching the voice and appearance from his memory, Su Bai subtly shook his head in the direction the voice came from.

"What's wrong?" Tian Yue asked.

"..." The male player paused, as if weighing something, then slowly said, "Nothing. It's just rare to see such a young child entering the Nightmare Game."

"Yeah, and with an older brother who is blind," Tian Yue's tone carried a note of pity, seeming to express sympathy or perhaps simply stating a fact.

"But they obviously aren't novices in the Nightmare Game either. They must have their ways of coping; we probably don't need to worry about them."

Her words sounded like a kind of 'praise,' but their meaning was unmistakably clear—if Su Bai and Le Shiya encountered any difficulties in the game, she and her companion had no intention of offering help.

A moment later, Tian Yue briefly introduced herself and the currently silent Feng Xuelan, while Le Shiya introduced herself and Su Bai.

"Chi Yan," the man opposite gave his name, then suddenly turned to look at Su Bai and asked, "Mr. Su, your eyes... you didn't lose your sight after entering the game, did you?"

Before Su Bai could answer, Tian Yue voiced her doubt, "How could he have just gone blind? It's not like his eyes were injured. By the looks of it, he's been blind for quite a long time, right?"

"So, you haven't realized it yet?" Chi Yan half-turned and raised a hand, pointing to the woman not far beside him, signaling Tian Yue and the others to look.

Following his gesture, everyone's gaze fell upon the woman almost entirely covered in white. Just as Le Shiya had described to Su Bai, Jie Ying wore a clean yet slightly thin white top, paired with sharply tailored white trousers, and her shoes and socks were also spotless white. The white clothing reflected a pale, cold hue under the beige corridor and lighting, giving her an almost unreal quality.

It was a pity Su Bai couldn't see this for himself now.

However, even more noticeable than the white attire was her demeanor—she stood motionless like a statue forgotten by time, her eyes vacant as she stared up at the ceiling, seemingly oblivious to everything around her. Even though the people around her had spoken quite a bit and the atmosphere had become tense at times, her expression remained unchanged, not even a flutter of her eyelashes.

Tian Yue frowned, her gaze shifting between Jie Ying and Chi Yan with a hint of confusion as she asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"This lady is Jie Ying. We've also just met," Chi Yan's tone was calm. "Not long ago, Miss Xie told me that shortly after entering the game, she lost her hearing."

When he said this, all the players except Su Bai felt a chill run through them.

"If Mr. Su's eyes also failed after entering No. 666 Hospital—" Chi Yan's voice paused slightly, his gaze resting on Su Bai's face, "then that's worth investigating."

For a moment, the corridor fell into a brief silence, as if even the air had frozen. The daylight-like lights cast upon the figures, elongating their shadows, as if some dark silhouettes in the corridor were watching these patients who had stepped into No. 666 Hospital.