Chapter 549 Punishment for Breaking Rules

Chapter 549: The Punishment for Breaking the Rules

"Bzzzt—"

A long, electrical buzz tore through the corridor's dead silence, like a sharp sonic wave tearing through the air.

As the sound faded, the corridor lights suddenly brightened, snapping back to normal. Everything that had been immersed in the flickering light instantly became clear and visible.

Yet, everyone still held their breath at that moment, so tense they hardly dared to move. They simply stared quietly at the thick, withered branches piercing through the walls and the nurses connected to them like "fruit."

Under the restored lighting, the nurses, who had been moving slowly, seemed to suddenly lose their vitality and come to an abrupt halt. Their movements completely stopped, as if the power controlling them had been cut off. The smiles on their faces remained like the gentlest of invitations, yet appeared extraordinarily eerie and terrifying.

After about a minute, with a faint shudder, the thick, withered branches within the walls began to slowly retract, as if they were alive themselves, gradually disappearing back into the depths of the walls. The nurses connected by the branches also began to step back to their original positions, soon standing motionless once more, heads bowed and hands hanging, once again becoming "sculptures" leaning against the wall.

Everything had returned to its original state, but this time, something *had* happened.

"Feiyu!" Xu Rui's voice rang out in the air, filled with anxiety and concern. He hurriedly pushed the wheelchair over to Xiang Feiyu's side. The faint scraping sound of the wheelchair broke the corridor's silence.

"Sorry." Xiang Feiyu slowly straightened his upper body, his expression a complex mix of helplessness and confusion. He looked down at his hands. "I didn't have time to react just now. It seems... it seems I've already broken the... rule..."

"Hmm?" Su Bai, standing nearby, slightly furrowed his brow. He noticed a subtle change in Xiang Feiyu's voice. Although the difference was slight, the clearer tone and younger-sounding timbre compared to before gave Su Bai a sense of unease.

"Feiyu, you..." Xu Rui's voice stammered slightly. His gaze fixed on Xiang Feiyu, his tone carrying disbelief. "You... what happened to you?"

"Oh my god!" Tian Yue suddenly let out an exclamation, her voice filled with shock and incredulity. "You... what's going on with you?"

"What's going on?" Sensing the change in the atmosphere around him, Su Bai couldn't help but squeeze Le Shiya's small hand, feeling the slight trembling in her fingertips. "What happened?"

"Brother, Brother Feiyu seems... to have gotten younger." Le Shiya's voice carried obvious surprise and confusion. "Although, although Brother Feiyu was already young, he looks even younger now. His hair has become a crew cut, his whole body has gotten much thinner, and even pimples have appeared on his face out of nowhere."

"I feel a bit off." Xiang Feiyu only now noticed the changes in his body, his gaze growing more bewildered. His tone was somewhat urgent. "Xu Rui... Xu Rui, what happened to me?"

"You... you look now..." Xu Rui was so shocked he seemed at a loss for words, hesitating as if weighing his words. "You look like you've gone back to when we were still in university? It feels like... at least five or six years younger?"

"Is this the punishment for breaking the rules that the administrator mentioned?" Although Jie Ying couldn't hear the sounds, she also sensed the unusual change in Xiang Feiyu and suddenly spoke up.

"You're saying this is the punishment for breaking the rules?" Tian Yue clearly found this explanation hard to accept, blurting out, "Rejuvenation? What kind of good fortune is that?"

"Good fortune?" Hearing Tian Yue's words, Su Bai couldn't help but show a somewhat helpless expression, his tone revealing a trace of deep concern. "Being five years younger might be good fortune. But what about ten years, twenty years, or even twenty-five years younger?"

"If this truly is the punishment for breaking the rules," Su Bai's eyes were gray and cloudy, yet one could feel the seriousness in them, "then these rules will, bit by bit during the game, strip away our age... Until finally, the person standing here becomes a helpless child, even an infant, unable to struggle or survive any longer."

Su Bai's words left everyone in silence. This silence was like the water of an abyss, pressing down on everyone's chests, making them feel suffocated.

He suddenly felt Le Shiya tightly gripping his hand. The girl's palm was somewhat cold, her fingertips trembling slightly, as if fear had made her body tense and uneasy.

Even though Su Bai couldn't see, he could imagine Le Shiya's pale face at this moment and the look in her eyes filled with helplessness and worry.

Yes, for others, perhaps being five or ten years younger might be a "blessing" of rejuvenation, a miracle of reversing time. But for Le Shiya... her margin for error was too slim. If this truly was the punishment for breaking the rules, then this game would be exceptionally dangerous for the young Le Shiya.