Chapter 4: This really isn’t a game anymore
Pushed out of the campus by Leng Qing Qiu, looking at the bustling street outside the school gate and the cars passing by from time to time, Lu Zhiyin once again realized that this really wasn’t a game anymore.
Squeezing her fingers, she remembered that in the game, there were no visuals when the protagonist went to different maps; only cold text described what happened in between.
“Did you hear? The brothel has new people.”
“Can we go watch a movie together tomorrow?”
“Hurry home, Mom has already cooked, waiting for you.”
“They say someone died in the east of the city again. You didn’t see him, he died horribly. They say his head was cut off. When he was found, wild dogs were gnawing on the corpse.”
All sorts of people walked past her, speaking in different tones and voices. They were all living people with their own lives.
Of course, while listening to the communication of passersby, Lu Zhiyin did not forget to observe her surroundings and memorize the way home.
Pushed by Leng Qing Qiu, they didn’t make many turns. After about half an hour, they arrived in front of a single-story building.
Well… if she remembered correctly, this city was divided into three zones: the affluent area, the apartment area, and the ordinary residential area with these bungalows.
The school should be at the junction of the three zones? Lu Zhiyin actually didn’t quite understand the specific location. Anyway, in the game, she didn’t have to run around herself; she could go wherever she wanted by just clicking buttons.
The wheelchair stopped at the door, followed by slowly receding footsteps.
Lu Zhiyin turned her head back in a daze. What caught her eye was Leng Qing Qiu walking towards the bungalows across the street.
“What are you looking at me for? Go home?”
Although her back was to Lu Zhiyin, Leng Qing Qiu turned around as if she had a spider-sense.
Her senses seemed very sharp, but after all, she was a murderer, so it was normal for her senses to be sharp.
Looking back at the door of her house, Lu Zhiyin tried to push the green iron gate, but it didn’t budge.
That’s right, you needed a key to open the door.
Thinking this, Lu Zhiyin touched her school uniform pocket. It was empty.
Let alone a key, she couldn’t even find a piece of tissue paper.
She looked around herself and naturally found nothing.
She remembered that her schoolbag was left at school. If nothing else, the key should be in her schoolbag?
Once again, she realized that this was no longer a game.
After all, the character she controlled in the game wouldn’t do stupid things like forgetting her keys, and the game developers wouldn’t design such meaningless details.
Maneuvering the wheelchair, she turned around with difficulty. Lu Zhiyin saw another closed door across the street. Leng Qing Qiu had already gone home.
“…I’m screwed…”
Muttering to herself, the girl in the wheelchair began to think about what she should do next.
Whether it was spending the night outside or returning to school alone to get the key, both were undoubtedly difficult for her.
She didn’t dare to gamble on whether some irresistible event would happen when she was alone, such as being followed and dragged into an alley to be raped.
This was absolutely unacceptable to Lu Zhiyin.
“So, I can only ask Leng Qing Qiu for help?”
She pursed her lips and looked at the door across the street, which was within reach. Lu Zhiyin hesitated and drove towards the door.
Propelling the wheelchair with her hands, Lu Zhiyin slowly crossed the street.
As she moved forward, she cautiously observed her surroundings, afraid that a bad person would suddenly appear and push her away.
Perhaps she was a little too timid?
Between the bungalows on both sides of the street were narrow alleys. They were dark, and she didn’t know what was inside.
Occasionally, a few cars would drive by on the street. To avoid colliding with them, Lu Zhiyin had to stop in advance and wait for the vehicles to pass before continuing.
By the time she arrived at Leng Qing Qiu’s house in this cautious manner, about twenty more minutes had passed.
Lu Zhiyin wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed, as her phone wasn’t with her, and she could only guess the time by feel.
“Gulp…”
Swallowing, Lu Zhiyin reached out and gently knocked on the green iron gate, which was the same as her own house.
It had to be said that this kind of door actually had its advantages: it made a loud knocking sound, so the people inside wouldn’t miss it.
After knocking on the door, Lu Zhiyin placed her hands on her legs, feeling a little anxious.
Soon, the door was opened. Leng Qing Qiu stood at the entrance, looking down at the girl in front of her.
Her grayish-white hair was draped behind her, a white bandage on her forehead, her hands placed properly in front of her, and her shoulders trembling, as if she were a little scared.
The girl’s red eyes were lowered slightly, resting on the wheelchair beneath her, making her look extremely fragile.
The girl in front of her brought a moment of daze to Leng Qing Qiu. She remembered how her childhood friend looked when she was young: lively and cute. Whenever something unpleasant happened, she would come to her to complain. When she was bullied, she would also ask for her help, although Leng Qing Qiu had hardly ever helped her vent her anger.
That situation only ended when the girl lost her legs and parents. Since then, her childhood friend seemed to have sealed her heart and become extremely indifferent.
Thinking of this, Leng Qing Qiu remembered the matter of the girl asking for her help to get her phone back at the infirmary today. It was really a long-lost request for help…
Blinking, Leng Qing Qiu came back to her senses and asked the girl her purpose.
“What’s wrong? Zhiyin?”
As she spoke, the girl in front of her became even more nervous, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her school uniform.
“Th-that, I forgot my keys…”
As if she were scared, the girl in front of her stammered a little. In fact, Leng Qing Qiu wasn’t quite used to the girl’s current way of speaking, but it sounded surprisingly good?
“So?”
“Can you accompany me back to school to get my keys?”
Lu Zhiyin asked softly, looking up at Leng Qing Qiu, who had a smile on her lips.
She wasn’t sure if the person in front of her would help her, so she could only pray in her heart for her to be merciful.
With a sidelong glance at the alley in the distance, a girl wearing the same black and white school uniform was holding the arm of a middle-aged man and walking into the alley.
What would happen next was self-evident.
Lu Zhiyin’s heart trembled, and her gaze towards Leng Qing Qiu became more earnest.
“…It’s getting late. Stay at my place tonight.”
Raising her head, Leng Qing Qiu looked at the sky, which was already getting dark, and shook her head.
Then, while Lu Zhiyin was still stunned, she carried Lu Zhiyin into her house, placed her on the sofa in the living room, and then carried Lu Zhiyin’s wheelchair inside.
“…”
Lu Zhiyin didn’t come back to her senses until Leng Qing Qiu brought the wheelchair into the house.
She hadn’t expected Leng Qing Qiu to do such a thing.
After all, in the game, the protagonist had to reach a full affection level with Leng Qing Qiu to have the option to enter her house.
Lu Zhiyin had thought that Leng Qing Qiu would be the type to resist others entering her house.
