2: Chapter 2 Ghostly Encounters

Qin Ruoxue lay in Chen Ye's arms, her small face pale as paper as she looked through the small window in the stairwell.

Chen Ye looked down at the soft beauty in his arms, a roguish smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth: "Now, do you know who you should be following?"

The pale green Toxic Mist was like a miasma from the underworld, and endless panic permeated the streets.

There were people standing in place screaming their lungs out, others crawling on the ground, and some already lying still, having lost their breath.

Meanwhile, a few wisps of mist had already snaked in through the gaps in the window.

So, the man before her had really been saving her just now.

"But how on earth did he know that the outside was about to turn into such a purgatory?"

The roars of the Mutated Beast in the hospital were clearly audible, and it seemed much more dangerous to stay in the hospital.

Yet he acted as if he had foreseen everything, intercepting her with precision.

[Ding! Qin Ruoxue's mindset has changed!]

[Trust + 10 → Current 25]

[Obedience + 1 → Current 7]

[Symbiosis Value + 11 → Current 32]

[Host passive attribute updated: Basic Strength + 11 → Current 32]

At that moment, an immense power surged into his limbs and bones once again, and Chen Ye's taut muscles were filled with explosive force.

Chen Ye was secretly excited, "After the apocalypse, the shortage of medicine will only get worse. A healing Superpower is already incredibly overpowered!"

"It can even increase Basic Strength! Those 10 points from just now were already enough to insta-kill a low-level Mutated Beast, so wouldn't I just take off in the future?!"

At this moment, Chen Ye's phone rang. It was a call from Su Ya. Chen Ye thought to himself that this woman had actually survived again.

He immediately answered the phone, and it was extremely noisy on the other end.

There were many people screaming in pain: "Chen Ye, Toxic Mist has appeared outside! We are hiding in the mall, and my arm has been corroded! It hurts so much!"

"If you're not dead, find a way to save me! Didn't you say you would protect me for the rest of your life?"

Chen Ye wished he could go over and stab her again; after all, in his previous life, it was she who had personally locked him outside that very mall.

"What does your life or death have to do with me? Go find your rich second-generation heir!" Chen Ye hung up the phone directly, feeling the joy of having taken revenge.

But before Chen Ye could be happy for too long, the heavy, low roar of a Mutated Beast reached him.

Chen Ye pressed against the corner and peeked out to check. The Mutated Beast white rat that had just been knocked to the ground by Chen Ye had already climbed up the escalator.

And this time, there were three of them, all with mouths wide open, filled with fangs, their six crimson eyes scouting around.

At this moment, Chen Ye's heart rate accelerated, as if the air itself was about to freeze.

Even more bizarrely, the sound of a child crying drifted over from the distance from time to time, echoing in the stairwell.

That sound was clearly not that of a human child; it was extremely rhythmic and uniform in tone, making one's scalp tingle.

Before he could speak, the silence was broken by Qin Ruoxue: "Have they caught up?"

"Shh! Don't talk!" Chen Ye retorted sharply, "If you don't want to die, be quiet!"

Watching the Toxic Mist seeping in through the window, Chen Ye's brain raced. "Damn it, there are wolves in front and tigers behind!"

Chen Ye asked in a low voice: "Where are the gas masks in the hospital? If we let more green mist seep in, we'll either be bitten to death by the Mutated Beast or corroded to death."

"It's... it's in the supply storage room on the basement level." Qin Ruoxue, now like a frightened kitten, answered in a small voice, "All of the hospital's protective supplies are concentrated there."

Chen Ye's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but mutter: "We just climbed up from the first floor, and now we have to run back down to the basement level?"

"The first floor is full of Mutated Beasts; this is purely torture."

Complaining was one thing, but he still held Qin Ruoxue securely as he walked toward the stairwell next to the elevator.

The young girl's soft body pressed against him, her chest firm against Chen Ye's body, the soft sensation giving Chen Ye a surge of motivation.

"Put me down, you stink!" Qin Ruoxue lightly tapped his arm, struggling to get down.

Chen Ye instantly became irritated. What time did she think it was, still acting like a spoiled young lady? Let's see how long you can last!

"Do you think I want to hold you? You're as heavy as a pig!" Chen Ye said indifferently.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ruoxue immediately bristled, "You're the pig! I'm only just over 100 jin, okay! You are so vulgar!"

Her skirt slid up slightly from her struggling, revealing a section of her fair, slender thigh, with smooth, delicate lines that cast a soft glow in the dim light.

Chen Ye knew this was not the time for arguing, so he immediately put her down.

The hospital was terrifyingly quiet now, and Chen Ye felt a bit puzzled, "How did the chaotic human screams from just a moment ago suddenly stop?"

Qin Ruoxue looked up, her cheeks flushed with a faint redness from activating her Superpower, her chest rising and falling slightly with her rapid breathing, her cold, clear eyes full of confusion.

"How would I know that!" Her slender fingers tugged lightly at Chen Ye's sleeve.

Her voice was soft and sweet, tinged with lingering fear: "What exactly is outside? How... how did you know it would be dangerous to go out?"

Chen Ye looked down, his gaze scanning unreservedly over her flushed cheeks, slender neck, and slightly rising curves, his Adam's apple bobbing unconsciously.

He deliberately lowered his voice, his tone mysterious and roguish, putting on an appearance of someone who knew more than he let on:

"Nobody else knows that the blood of that hundred-meter Mutated Beast is poisonous."

"I also know many other things. If you want to know, then give me a kiss!" Chen Ye instantly looked at her with a lecherous gaze.

"You, you really are a pervert!" Qin Ruoxue turned her head away angrily. She hadn't expected Chen Ye to still want to tease her at a time like this.

Chen Ye wasn't angry; at this moment, he had a sense of calm, as if everything was within his grasp.

The two of them walked cautiously through the cold stairwell. The entire hospital had become unusually quiet, with only their footsteps echoing

The walls were mottled and peeling, the railings were rusty, and the air was mixed with the faint, fishy stench of Mutated Beasts.

Qin Ruoxue, like a frightened little kitten, followed closely behind Chen Ye, terrified of losing him.

The two walked down the stairs, turning corner after corner, the dim steps seemingly endless.

Time passed little by little, and in the stairwell, there were only the sounds of their footsteps, dull and eerie.

Chen Ye's footsteps suddenly stopped, his brows furrowed tightly, and a strong sense of incongruity rose in his heart.

"Qin Ruoxue." He turned back to look at the girl behind him, his voice lowered to the extreme, "We are walking from the second floor to the basement level; at most, it should only be two flights of stairs."

"You count—how many flights have we walked?"

Qin Ruoxue stopped, holding her forehead, her cold, clear eyes full of confusion and trance.

She tried hard to recall the journey just now, her voice trembling slightly: "I... we have turned six corners and walked at least three flights of stairs..."

"By all rights, we should have reached the basement level long ago..."

The moment her voice fell, both of them froze stiff at the same time!

A bone-chilling cold rushed from the soles of their feet straight to their heads!

"Three flights? From the second floor to the basement level, it should only take two flights!" Yet they had been walking for so long; let alone the basement level, they hadn't even seen a shadow of the first floor!

In the dim stairwell, only the sound of their rapid breathing remained.

Qin Ruoxue was scared pale as paper, no longer caring about being reserved, subconsciously rushing to Chen Ye's side and gripping his arm tightly.

Chen Ye asked with a somewhat flippant tone: "What's wrong? Finally learned to rely on a man?"

Qin Ruoxue felt somewhat embarrassed by Chen Ye's words, and the last shred of her pride made her subconsciously let go of the hand gripping Chen Ye's arm.

Her slender body trembled slightly, her cold, clear voice tinged with a sob: "What's going on... why can't we reach the end?"

"Is... is this the legendary Ghost Wall?"