Changsheng Building
Chapter 652: Haven’t seen you for a long time
“The President hasn’t returned yet?”
A full day had passed since the end of the last instance, but there was still no news of Wen Jianyan. Although he had experienced similar situations before, he had never been out of contact for longer than this.
Throughout this day, no matter how repeatedly they checked, Wen Jianyan’s avatar on the points ranking board remained gray, showing no sign of lighting up.
“No.” Chen Mo slowly shook his head.
Deep dark circles lay beneath his eyes, his brow clouded with worry, his whole being emanating the depressive hostility of sleep deprivation.
The atmosphere in the entire guild headquarters was similarly heavy.
“Chen Cheng hasn’t received any news either.” Wen Ya took a deep breath and put down her phone. “Eternal Day seems to be in a mess too.”
Eternal Day’s president, Dan Zhu, also hadn’t returned from the instance and hadn’t left a single word.
So much so that the entire upper-middle tier anchor community began whispering, secretly speculating whether they would witness the fall of one of Nightmare’s top three.
“What about Oracle?” Chen Mo asked.
“Quiet,” Ji Guan rested his regained legs on the table and chimed in. After returning to the anchor space, his body had been healed by Nightmare, but beneath his collar, the ferocious cyan tattoos appeared even more vivid and deep, as if they could burst out of his body the next second. “Gentleman and the others’ names lit up not long after the Lucky Cruise instance ended, but there hasn’t been any movement—although they didn’t often make big moves before, this time it’s a bit too quiet.”
Su Cheng’s name also never lit up again—something they all tacitly avoided mentioning.
Oracle gave absolutely no indication about this.
It seemed the disappearance of a newly appointed vice president was just a trivial matter not worth mentioning to them.
After the Lucky Cruise instance ended, the frequency of Oracle anchors entering instances was higher than before. If previously only some anchors took outside commissions, this time it was almost a full mobilization. However, due to their mysticism and secrecy, no matter how Chen Mo tried to pry for more news, it was hard to find any useful clues from that stagnant pool.
In fact, since Lucky Cruise ended, the entire anchor space had fallen into chaos.
Signals from all live streams went offline simultaneously. The Nightmare Live Room fell into a rare, prolonged stagnation and standby state.
It wasn’t until yesterday, as the live stream system finally came online, that order gradually returned.
Even though on the surface it looked the same as before, keen people had already smelled the scent of the coming storm.
—Something even bigger was coming.
“Dark Fire is running relatively smoothly,” Chen Mo tapped his fingertips on the table, speaking slowly, “but their president still hasn’t shown his face… don’t know what exactly they’re planning.”
Although out of the instance, he and Qi Qian were still in contact. Though belonging to different guilds and having reservations when mentioning their own situations, they were mutually aware of the general circumstances.
“What about our side?” Wen Ya asked.
Chen Mo answered very concisely: “Still under control.”
Although Lucky Cruise mutating into a instance exceeded their expectations, fortunately, before boarding the ship, Chen Mo had already conducted a massive purge within the guild with thunderous means. So even though they lost contact for a period, the guild didn’t suffer much chaos. Moreover, the newcomers Chen Mo brought out from the instance this time, Ma Qi and Kong Wei, filled the management vacancies just right—of course, this was also thanks to Wen Jianyan himself being a hands-off boss who didn’t manage things, so his disappearance strictly speaking didn’t have much impact on the guild’s operation.
It could be said that all this relied on Chen Mo’s own iron-fisted management to prevent the guild from falling into chaos like Eternal Day.
“Are you okay?” Wen Ya looked worriedly at the weary-looking Chen Mo and asked, “How long has it been since you rested?”
Chen Mo shook his head: “…I’m fine, not long.”
But the dark circles under his eyes and the deep furrow in his brow clearly indicated the opposite fact.
Wen Ya shook her head helplessly and forcefully reached out to pull him up: “Alright, go rest for a bit. I’ll take over here.”
Chen Mo: “But…”
“No buts.” Wen Ya gave him a push. “You’ve done enough. We’ll handle the remaining guild affairs. If there’s news of the president, I’ll tell you immediately.”
Seeing Wen Ya’s resolute and unshakable attitude, Chen Mo could only sigh and stand up:
“Alright.”
Leaving the guild, Chen Mo returned to his apartment.
Because his body was exhausted to the extreme, he didn’t even have time to wash up before falling asleep directly on the bed.
He fell into a dark dream.
Surroundings were full of shadows he couldn’t step into. From the depths of the shadows emanated a terrifying aura, which, under his gaze, actually slowly condensed into a tall figure.
When he saw the figure’s face clearly, Chen Mo froze.
Wait, this is…
While he was stunned, the other party had already walked slowly forward. That face, handsome to the point of being almost demonic, approached. Chen Mo was startled and abruptly stepped back, but before he could retreat a few steps, the other’s voice stopped him.
“I’m here to deliver some messages for your president.”
This information came so suddenly that Chen Mo’s head buzzed:
“…What?”
The other didn’t continue the conversation, seeming unprepared to chat with him: “The Changsheng Building instance is about to reopen. He needs you to get Oracle’s Gentleman to enter it.”
After dropping this sentence, the person turned directly, unwilling to stay a second longer.
Chen Mo reacted almost immediately; he hurriedly shouted:
“Wait!”
The other paused and turned his head to look over.
In the surging endless darkness, those golden eyes looked coldly from afar, making one’s heart palpitate—this non-human “ally” of their president seemed to only show some humanity when with him, with more emotions in his eyes. Once without Wen Jianyan, that bit of humanity on him would vanish completely. Even that overly superior appearance could only deepen that uncomfortable non-human feeling—under the other’s scrutinizing gaze, Chen Mo steadied himself and voiced his question:
“President—is the President okay now?”
This was what everyone in the guild desperately wanted to know.
“Is he safe?”
At the mention of Wen Jianyan’s name, the other finally seemed less… alien.
“Mm.”
The man answered indifferently, as if it were a matter of course.
“He is with me. So, of course.”
“…”
Chen Mo froze, feeling there was some ambiguity in this sentence, but before he could realize exactly where the ambiguity was, he saw the surrounding darkness surge like a tide, swallowing everything before his eyes.
“—!” Chen Mo abruptly opened his eyes.
He sat on the messy bed, forehead covered in cold sweat, surroundings dim.
Even though he had woken up, everything that happened in the dream just now was so clear, showing absolutely no sign of dissipating, so much so that he couldn’t treat it as a simple dream at all.
Without even time to think too much, Chen Mo crawled out of bed and immediately rushed to the guild.
Before even entering the door upon arriving at the guild, he ran into a solemn-looking Wen Ya.
Seeing her expression, Chen Mo’s heart thumped: “What’s wrong? Did something happen in the guild?”
Wen Ya: “I just took a nap, then had a dream…”
Chen Mo: “Wait, you too?”
Wen Ya was also stunned: “Huh? What do you mean? You had one too?”
“Mm.” Chen Mo nodded. “Let’s go up and talk in detail.”
Sure enough, after careful comparison, they confirmed the dream content was identical. Although they didn’t know how Wen Jianyan’s non-human “ally” did it, he seemed indeed capable of traversing dreams and using this to deliver messages for Wen Jianyan.
“Is what he said true?” Wen Ya’s expression was rarely solemn. “Changsheng Building instance reopening?”
A platinum-cleared instance opening again?
This was the first time they heard of such a thing.
“More importantly, how do we get Gentleman to enter a instance he knows is already closed?” Wen Ya asked.
Chen Mo looked solemn and shook his head.
Oracle’s movements were already mysterious, recently reaching the point of staying behind closed doors. And Gentleman was one of Nightmare’s top ten; as long as he wanted, he could go half a year without entering a instance.
Wanting him to not only start entering instances again but also enter a specific one—the difficulty could be imagined.
Their president really knew how to give them difficult problems.
In this situation, they might need some outside help.
Twenty minutes later, the office door was kicked open. Chen Cheng’s slacker voice came from outside, carrying a bit of excitement:
“Hey hey hey, your president sent you a dream? What’s going on?”
“You guy…” Behind him, a voice cold with irritation sounded. “Always this noisy? Can you be quiet.”
It was Qi Qian.
“Is this your territory? Can you control it?” Chen Cheng sneered.
Before even entering the door, the two were already bickering back and forth.
“Are you two done yet?” From behind, a little girl’s voice sounded. Though smiling, the tone clearly revealed impatience. “If you want to quarrel, go inside. Don’t block my way.”
Orange Candy had also arrived.
And behind her, followed the ghost-like Bai Xue step by step.
Chen Mo: “…”
He turned to look at Wen Ya: “You called all of them?”
Wen Ya: “…No.”
So why did so many people come following the scent!
Chen Mo sighed, stood up helplessly, and used all his skills to finally welcome the few outside in peacefully.
Orange Candy smilingly jumped onto the highest chair and sat down:
“Knowing you encountered a problem, I called everyone you could use. How about it, touched?”
Chen Mo: “…”
Wen Ya: “…”
Touched, too touched.
To prevent this group from causing any side issues, Chen Mo cleared his throat and quickly recounted the previous “dream” in the most concise language.
“My dream content was about the same,” Wen Ya said. “We’ve already cross-checked just now.”
“And…”
Chen Mo’s expression paused. “The messenger this time was, uh, our president’s ally, so… the source is at least trustworthy regardless.”
When saying this sentence, his tone held a subtlety even he found hard to control.
“As someone from Dark Fire, I shouldn’t interfere in this matter,” Qi Qian narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms. “But I’ve always been very interested in anything that can damage Oracle.”
“Guild? I don’t care,”
Chen Cheng put his feet on the table, looking completely indifferent,
“Eternal Day is a mess. Even if it collapses tomorrow, it has nothing to do with me—ouch, what are you doing?”
It was Wen Ya who, seeing him spout arrogant words, suddenly kicked his stool.
“Anyway…” Looking at the messy office, Chen Mo only felt a headache. He took a deep breath, trying to pull the topic back on track. “So the problem now is, how to get Gentleman into Changsheng Building?”
“This, Bai Xue can do.”
Orange Candy shrugged.
After all, they relied on Bai Xue’s talent to accurately enter the supposedly closed Sweet Dream Orphanage instance back then.
“But the premise is he’s willing to enter a instance actively.” Bai Xue, who had been playing cards since entering, looked up and added a faint sentence.
He indeed could make someone randomly enter a specific instance, but the premise was the other party really intended to enter a instance.
And now, with the silent strategy Oracle displayed and Gentleman’s own ranking, making him actively enter a instance recently was almost an impossible task.
Suddenly, the air fell into deathly silence again.
“This, I can actually do.” Qi Qian pondered for a while and said slowly.
Everyone froze and turned to look.
“It concerns some private matters between Oracle and Dark Fire. I won’t explain the details,” Qi Qian said. “But anyway, I do have a way to make Oracle enter a instance again.”
There weren’t many people inside Oracle Guild who could take commissions now. With Dark Fire’s face, getting Gentleman to act wasn’t difficult.
“Won’t your president have an opinion on this?” Orange Candy raised an eyebrow.
Once Gentleman didn’t die in that instance, Dark Fire and Oracle would definitely tear their faces and turn into enemies—although the two families were already discordant, they had at least maintained superficial peace for many years.
“…Most likely not.” Qi Qian paused but didn’t prepare to explain further.
He raised his eyes: “Moreover, judging from your president’s past record, he is worth my trust.”
Soon, after discussing everything, this brief meeting was finally about to adjourn.
Qi Qian turned to walk out, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped, hesitated, and turned to look at Chen Mo and the others.
“Um… there’s one last thing.”
“?” Chen Mo stopped his actions and looked up.
“Although I know this is none of my business, I really can’t control asking one sentence…” Qi Qian’s expression was complex. “What exactly is the relationship between your president and his… uh, dream-sending friend?”
As soon as these words came out, the others who were preparing to walk out suddenly all stopped immediately, even Bai Xue. Several people turned back simultaneously, obviously very interested in the answer to this question.
“Right right, I wanted to ask before,” Orange Candy, like Qi Qian, only learned of Wu Zhu’s existence in the Orphanage instance—so a series of questions fired out like a machine gun, “So what exactly is the situation with that guy? Since he’s not human, then what is he? You say he and your president are allies, what kind of alliance did they make? How was it made?”
Wen Ya: “Uh…”
“Wait, allies? Are allies like that?” Chen Cheng crossed his arms, seeming to recall some very specific scenes, his expression gradually becoming suspicious. “I feel this matter is open to discussion, right?”
Chen Mo: “Uh……”
“Speaking of which, so is your president’s orientation male or female?”
“Wait, is there an orientation for non-humans?”
“Don’t know, probably? I heard…”
“Hey!” Orange Candy was exasperated. “You two watch it, Bai Xue is still here!”
Not far away, Bai Xue opened a pair of pure black eyes, listening silently.
Wen Ya and Chen Mo: “…”
President, if you don’t come back quickly, you’re afraid you’ll be outed without knowing.
Even being outed is a small matter; if you get labeled with some strange fetish, that would be a big deal!
Wen Jianyan knew nothing about the rampant “rumors” inside his guild.
He was currently lowering his eyes, calculating something unknown.
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan seemed to sense something. His eyelashes lifted, gaze looking forward.
Wu Zhu returned.
“Finished?” Wen Jianyan asked. “Told them everything?”
“Mm.” Wu Zhu walked forward, responding without changing expression.
“Good, then we should start too.” Wen Jianyan moved his shoulders and neck, chuckling lightly.
The “customers” who came on the same train with them had successfully proceeded to the last floor. Before the new batch of customers arrived was the best time for their action.
“Let’s go, first floor first.”
Wen Jianyan said.
Like when they first arrived, the first floor was dimly lit and eerie, with only weak candlelight shining inside the shops.
Wen Jianyan scanned and pointed: “This one, this one, and those few, leave the paper figures inside, take all the others.”
Changsheng Building’s area was too large, and there were too many shops. Dispersing anchor actions here wasn’t entirely beneficial to his operation.
The wick of the oil lamp flickered, extinguished with a “hiss.”
Second floor, third floor, were also the same.
The handsome young man walked slowly in the corridor, his gaze sweeping over the shops at hand, lightly issuing orders. Behind him, lights dimmed one by one. Substance-like darkness followed his footsteps, swallowing the light wantonly like a vicious beast.
And that vicious beast obeyed him completely.
Finally, the two arrived at the fourth floor of Changsheng Building.
Generally speaking, unless red lamp oil was lit, the hidden fifth floor wouldn’t appear.
But this time was obviously an exception.
Wu Zhu extended his hand to Wen Jianyan: “Give me your hand.”
Wen Jianyan paused, placed his hand on Wu Zhu’s palm, interlacing fingers with him.
“Close your eyes.” Wu Zhu said.
In the darkness, Wen Jianyan was led forward step by step by the hand tightly holding his. Suffocating oppressive shadows squeezed from all sides but were firmly blocked outside by an invisible barrier. Soon, the ground underfoot changed texture.
“Okay now.” Wu Zhu said.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
Appearing before him was a winding muddy path. Not far ahead of the path was an old courtyard house.
At the courtyard entrance hung two lanterns, one red and one white, emitting ominous cold dim light.
Seeing such a familiar scene, related terrifying memories flooded into his mind. The pursuit battle that happened on this road previously appeared vividly before his eyes again.
“I remember this place.” Wu Zhu suddenly spoke.
Wen Jianyan was awakened from his memories by him: “…Hm?”
“You taught me how to kiss you.” Wu Zhu said.
Wen Jianyan: “…”
…Damn, there was this too.
“Haha,” he gave two dry laughs, trying to gloss it over. “Really.”
“Mm.” Wu Zhu looked down at him, golden eyes sparkling in the darkness.
“You said, next time you’d teach me something else,” he repeated word for word what Wen Jianyan had said, “you promised next time would be more fun.”
Wen Jianyan’s head buzzed.
Accompanied by Wu Zhu’s narration, more vivid images flooded into his mind, each scene equally shameful, even greatly overshadowing those terrifying memories of being chased by ghosts just now.
O-okay now.
He moved his fingers, trying to break free from the other’s grip, but was held even tighter.
Wu Zhu took a slow step forward.
“Then you used this as an excuse to stab me at the end of the instance.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
He pulled Wen Jianyan’s hand to his chest. Under the clothes were uneven scars.
“Here.”
Wen Jianyan: “……”
“First, you deserved that stab,” he gritted his teeth. “Do it again and I’d still stab you.”
“Second, don’t pretend with me. Wasn’t it you who got hard after being stabbed?”
“Yes.”
Wu Zhu answered frankly and calmly, without hesitation.
Now, Wen Jianyan was choked up.
“After all, in that situation, it was hard for me to hold back,” Wu Zhu looked down at him, eyes burning with a bit of the fierce fire Wen Jianyan had seen when the two were bathed in blood back then, an aggressiveness as if wanting to tear him apart and chew him up. “The pain at that time was interesting, very…”
“Stop stop stop, enough!” Although he knew early on Wu Zhu had no human sense of shame, Wen Jianyan was not prepared at all to face such shocking remarks directly.
So he spoke hurriedly, interrupting him:
“Since you don’t care about that stab, why mention it?”
“Of course because you didn’t fulfill your promise.”
Wu Zhu pressed his finger against Wen Jianyan’s face, forcing the other to turn and look straight at him—even though he was stabbed in the chest, he cared more that Wen Jianyan hadn’t fulfilled the excuse he made when killing him.
“You said you’d teach me.”
When saying this, Wu Zhu’s tone actually carried a bit of…
Grievance?
This association was too strange; Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but be dazed.
But he was quickly pulled back to reality by the other’s movement.
Wu Zhu had somehow approached right in front of him, shortening the distance between them to almost nothing.
He pressed his fingertip into the youth’s warm skin, stroking gently and slowly, his gaze dark and focused, carrying a danger inconsistent with his movement:
“So, when do you plan to fulfill it?”
Even the tamest beast has the possibility of biting its master.
Even if willing to put a chain on its neck long ago, it always coveted the owner holding the other end of the chain. Once finding an opportunity and tasting sweetness, it would unscrupulously display its original greedy and ferocious side.
Especially involving the debt part that was promised but never fulfilled.
“W-wait… this… I really have nothing left to teach you.”
Nose tip against nose tip, chaotic breaths intermingling.
Wen Jianyan’s voice was tight,
“You’ve graduated, really.”
Have to say, Wu Zhu was indeed a good student who surpassed his master… Wen Jianyan didn’t even want to recall those parts the other “learned without a teacher.”
“I don’t believe it.” Wu Zhu answered crisply.
In fact, he couldn’t be blamed for not believing. After all, Wen Jianyan indeed had too many prior convictions in this regard.
Wen Jianyan: “……”
Then what else? What did he want? Really teach Wu Zhu step by step how to top him?! He only had rich theoretical knowledge!
More importantly, given the weight Wen Jianyan felt on the train, he was really worried he would be stabbed to death in another way the first time.
Wait, no.
Wen Jianyan shuddered.
Why was he really considering this?
“Fine, it’s my fault for going back on my word, but we have things to do next,” Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, calmed down, and bargained. “How about this, I’ll kiss you once as compensation, okay?”
“Ten times.” Wu Zhu said.
Wen Jianyan: “Two times.”
Wu Zhu: “Five times.”
“Three times!” Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth. “Final condition, agree or get lost!”
“Alright,” Wu Zhu compromised.
“But not the cheek.”
That was exactly where Wen Jianyan had pecked before sending him to deliver the message.
Wu Zhu’s finger landed on his lips, gaze burning:
“Here.”
He pressed his hand on the back of Wen Jianyan’s neck, pulling him close, voice very low: “And, deeper.”
The vicious dog faithfully fulfilled all the master’s orders; now it was time to ask for a reward.
When finally stepping into the courtyard, Wen Jianyan’s steps were shaky.
His expression was incredibly gloomy, but his lips were hot and swollen.
Wu Zhu, deliberately ignored, followed leisurely behind, looking quite happy.
Inside the courtyard house, the oppressive, low rooms emitting gloomy ghostly energy all around were no different from memory.
The rooms originally filled with paper figures were empty—if Wen Jianyan guessed correctly, they were now all inside Changsheng Building’s shops, existing as “clerks.”
In the center of the north room was a heavy coffin, behind which was a long table with candlesticks and offerings.
The coffin was painted scarlet, like undried thick blood.
And sleeping inside the coffin was precisely that red-clothed female corpse maintaining the entire instance’s operation.
Wen Jianyan took out the bronze mirror, placed it on the table behind, took a deep breath, then nodded to Wu Zhu: “Open the coffin.”
“Creak—”
The heavy coffin lid, which originally required the combined strength of two people to barely push open, seemed weightless in Wu Zhu’s hands, easily moved aside.
Inside the coffin was pitch black; a chilling aura spread out.
An extremely cold female corpse lay straight inside the coffin. She wore a wedding dress bright red as blood, covered with a bridal veil of the same color, lying motionless at the bottom of the coffin.
A pair of pale hands covered with corpse spots were folded on her abdomen, nails scarlet as if dripping blood.
Wu Zhu looked up at Wen Jianyan, recalling something unknown, and suddenly said: “You looked good wearing this outfit too.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Wu Zhu: “Next time—”
“Shut up you.”
Wen Jianyan’s face was dark. He raised his hand and tossed that brass knife to Wu Zhu.
“Hurry up, make it quick.”
The moment the female corpse disappeared from the coffin, changes immediately appeared inside Changsheng Building.
The power that had always maintained its operation was withdrawn. The ruthlessly operating gears clattered and engaged, falling into stagnation after a brief struggle. Endless darkness surged from all directions, swallowing the entire building in the blink of an eye.
Before the coffin, an unprecedented chill pressed down from overhead.
Wen Jianyan shuddered and slowly looked up.
This was his first time personally experiencing the oppression brought by Nightmare taking over a instance.
That malicious rotting power filled the air, whispering, taking over and eroding every corner of the space bit by bit.
Wen Jianyan could even feel that invisible power reaching towards him, puppet strings falling on his body, trying to regain control of its puppet—but the moment it touched him, that power was blocked back by some invisible barrier.
Wen Jianyan froze and looked down.
On his chest, Wu Zhu’s golden heart emitted a fluorescent glow.
At this moment, Wen Jianyan finally understood why he hadn’t returned to the anchor space like others after the Lucky Orphanage instance ended, but was excluded from the Nightmare Live Room system.
Because Nightmare didn’t find him.
It granted him authority equal to Wu Zhu—the ability to exist outside instances.
Meanwhile, in the Hall of Achievements within the Nightmare Live Room, the platinum trophy belonging to the ‘Changsheng Building’ vanished into thin air without warning.
No one noticed this.
Except for Ji Guan, who had been staring at this place for a long time.
He took out his phone and immediately called Chen Mo who was holding down the fort in the guild:
“Time’s up.”
“We can start.”
Gentleman didn’t plan to enter any instance at this time.
Lucky Cruise was a disastrous defeat for him.
When the pass to the deepest level was obtained by Su Cheng, and Nightmare prevented him from snatching it back, Gentleman was confused and angry.
He didn’t understand. He was clearly the most loyal, most efficient servant, but the one chosen in the end was that guy Su Cheng… that unbeliever and traitor, not him!
Even so, Gentleman finally gritted his teeth and swallowed all emotions, executing the order without objection.
He and his team members got off the ship early.
But what happened next far exceeded his imagination.
The Nightmare Live Room went offline briefly.
Although instances could still be entered and exited normally, the live room remained offline. And no matter how hard Gentleman tried to reestablish contact with Nightmare, only silence awaited him in his mind.
This was the first time Gentleman felt panic.
Oracle was abandoned by God.
Under his orders, the prophets began taking on tasks in large numbers, entering instances to gain more and higher points—fanatics who lost their god began recklessly proving their faith.
However, the problem didn’t improve.
Although the live room signal recovered and Nightmare came online again, Oracle received no more oracles.
Just then, Dark Fire’s commission came.
Although the Gentleman was upset and didn’t want to enter a instance again so soon, the alliance concluded with Dark Fire wasn’t something he could ignore just because he wanted to. And Nightmare’s neglect made him anxious about gain and loss, even less willing to have conflict with Dark Fire at such a juncture, to avoid proving his incompetence again.
Moreover… he held some secret expectations in his heart.
If he performed well, maybe he could regain Nightmare’s favor?
Thus, Gentleman agreed to Dark Fire’s task and entered the instance.
The bright red countdown reached zero.
A familiar high-pitched female voice echoed in his ears.
【Welcome to the Nightmare Live Room, the next live broadcast starts immediately!】
【Our motto is—Entertainment to Death!】
When opening his eyes again, Gentleman was already standing in a huge open space.
Overhead was a pitch-black sky. A gray-black building stood not far away, emitting a gloomy cold aura. On the metal sign on the wall were four large characters:
【Changsheng Building】.
…Changsheng Building?
Don’t know why, this instance’s name felt somewhat familiar to him.
The Gentleman froze. Something seemed to flash quickly through his mind, but before he could catch it, it slipped away from his fingertips.
Whispering sounds came from behind, pulling him back from his thoughts.
“…Hey, look, is that one behind…”
“Damn, seems it really is…”
“Why would a anchor of this level come to this instance?”
“Then wouldn’t this instance’s difficulty be…”
As one of Nightmare’s top ten, Gentleman was long accustomed to such discussions. He habitually wore an elegant smile on his face. He turned his head but didn’t meet any gaze.
The Gentleman couldn’t help but freeze.
He raised his eyes, looking into the distance following the gaze of others around him.
A tall man stood not far away. He wearily lowered his eyes, holding a cigarette between his fingertips, expression lazy and cold. Even though just standing there doing nothing, he gave off a strange oppressive feeling, making people dare not approach.
…Hugo?
Gentleman froze, rarely showing a surprised look.
He indeed didn’t expect Hugo would also participate in this instance.
He stepped forward, preparing for some skilled socializing, but before he could take a few steps, his shoulder was grabbed.
“Long time no see, brother Gentleman.” That voice was gloomy and sticky, the tone seeming to carry a bit of eerie static, sounding very uncomfortable.
The Gentleman frowned and turned to look.
A not-tall man stood behind him. His already extremely thin body now became as thin as paper. His skin was damp and white, large protruding eyes rolling around. His appearance, already somewhat mantis-like, was doubly alienated now, looking like a huge insect wearing human skin.
Anise.
Former Nightmare number eight. Should have died after losing the position swap battle with Pinocchio in the Xingwang Hotel instance, but unexpectedly survived because he left a portrait inside the gallery in advance.
However, after that, Anise almost never appeared in public again.
Even Gentleman didn’t know where he went during this time.
The Gentleman hid his surprise extremely well.
“Mr. Anise, really didn’t expect this.”
That handsome, upright face showed a habitual polite smile. No one could see through that flawless mask to what exactly he was thinking.
“We indeed haven’t seen each other for a long time.”
