Weird, my gaming life

The piercing alarm shattered the tranquility of the lower town, and a bright, scarlet beam of light, like the eye of a god, swept ruthlessly back and forth among the intricate buildings.

Lin Yuan's heart contracted violently with each movement of the beam of light.

He held onto Su Xiaoxiao tightly, dragging her into a corner filled with rotting garbage. The two huddled in the shadows, their breathing almost stopped.

The beam of light swept across the alleyway a few meters above their heads, illuminating the stains on the walls in minute detail, before turning away.

"Waaah..." Su Xiaoxiao covered her mouth tightly, but tears still rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably, and her body trembled like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.

Lin Yuan did not offer any words of comfort.

His own situation was extremely bad.

The wound on his shoulder stopped bleeding, but that cold, eerie power, like a rooted vine, frantically drained the last bit of true energy that had just been restored from his body.

The continuous life force brought about by the opening of the Ren and Du meridians has now turned into a tug-of-war.

As soon as one part of true energy was generated, two parts were devoured by that force.

If things continue like this, he will be worn down before the enemy even finds him.

"Are they... looking for us?" Su Xiaoxiao asked in a breathy voice, her voice filled with undisguised fear.

Lin Yuan did not answer. His gaze pierced through the gaps in the garbage heap and stared at a miniature aircraft hovering in mid-air in the distance, flashing a red dot.

Seeing the world's advanced technology for the first time, Lin Yuan was still somewhat shocked.

Despite the existence of such technology in this world, he had never seen it in the six years he had lived in the lower city, which shows how severe the blockade imposed on the poor people of the lower city by the higher-ups of this world.

Turning his gaze away, Lin Yuan could easily guess what the aircraft was from its design; it was nothing more than a monitoring device.

Looking through the gaps between the trash, the mysterious surveillance drone could be seen covering almost the entire surrounding area.

Now he can say he has nowhere to run.

Unless... you go somewhere that the surveillance cameras can't reach.

Lin Yuan began to quickly recall the places he had just scanned with his mind. Soon, a place appeared in his mind: a sewer manhole cover they had just passed by.

When he was a child, he had unintentionally seen a television program explaining the history of Nancheng.

The entire southern city is built on the ruins of an old capital, and the underground sewage system and transportation pipelines are more like a maze than the alleyways above ground.

"Listen," Lin Yuan's voice was hoarse and urgent, "we can't stay on the ground."

He glanced at Su Xiaoxiao's pale face.

Are you afraid of the dark? Are you afraid of dirt?

Su Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, then shook her head frantically.

More than anything else, she was afraid of being caught.

"very good."

Lin Yuan stopped talking nonsense, leaned against the wall to stand up, and the intense weakness made his vision go black, almost causing him to fall again.

He forced himself to steady himself and, relying on his memory, pulled Su Xiaoxiao through the darkness.

They avoided any light, like two rats that couldn't stand the light, and crept towards the manhole cover they had just passed.

Along the way, Lin Yuan finally had the energy to observe his surroundings: the dirty and messy environment, the tightly closed doors and windows, and the numb, terrified, or gloating glances cast from behind the cracks in the doors.

No one will help them.

Here, meddling in other people's business is tantamount to courting death.

Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze, quickly turned several corners, and finally found a rusty, round iron cover at the end of a dead-end alley reeking of stench.

It is the inlet of the sewage pipe.

He used all his strength, summoning the last of his inner energy, and gripped the edge of the iron lid with both hands, forcefully lifting it upwards.

crunch--

The piercing scraping sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

Lin Yuan's heart was in his throat.

He quickly moved the iron lid away, and an even stronger stench hit her, making Su Xiaoxiao gag.

"Get down here!" Lin Yuan roared.

He didn't care about anything else and jumped down first. The knee-deep, cold, viscous liquid made his body tremble.

He looked up and said to Su Xiaoxiao, who was still hesitating, "Jump!"

Su Xiaoxiao looked down into the dark cave entrance, smelled the nauseating odor, and her eyes were full of resistance.

Just then, hurried footsteps and the crisp sound of metal clashing came from the alley entrance.

"There's a sound over here! Let's go check it out!"

The color drained from Su Xiaoxiao's face instantly. Without any further hesitation, she closed her eyes and jumped.

Lin Yuan caught her, but the impact of the landing made him stumble and almost slip.

He pulled the heavy iron cap back into place with his other hand.

With a sudden, muffled thud, the world was plunged into complete darkness and stench.

Footsteps approached from above, paused briefly on the iron cover as if checking it, and then gradually faded away.

Only when the sound completely disappeared did Lin Yuan relax his tense nerves, leaning against the slippery, cold tube wall and panting heavily.

In the darkness, he could clearly hear Su Xiaoxiao's suppressed sobs.

"Don't cry," Lin Yuan's voice was exhausted. "Crying won't help; it'll only waste your energy."

Su Xiaoxiao's crying stopped and turned into soft sobs.

"What...what do we do now?"

"Keep moving forward," Lin Yuan replied succinctly.

He must find an absolutely safe place to get rid of the "curse" on his shoulder before he is completely drained.

That thing is like a locator; as long as it's still there, they can never shake off the tracking.

He pulled Su Xiaoxiao along, wading through the thick, sticky sewage, one step at a time.

It was pitch black here; the only sounds were the flowing water and their own breathing.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Su Xiaoxiao's physical strength reached its limit.

"I...I can't walk anymore..." she gasped for breath, her voice filled with despair.

Lin Yuan stopped in his tracks. He could feel the girl behind him trembling, not from fear, but from the cold and exhaustion.

He was nearing his limit himself.

The wound on his shoulder felt like a bottomless pit, making him dizzy.

If this continues, both of them will die here.

We have to separate.

He was alone, so his target was smaller, and he could act faster.

"Hang in there a little longer." Lin Yuan's tone unconsciously softened.

"Listen, keep going straight from here, for about... about a few hundred steps, and there will be a ladder on your left going up."

"Climb up, and you'll be in the 'garbage dump' area outside. That's the most chaotic place in the downtown area, and your only chance to escape."

Su Xiaoxiao pursed her lips tightly, looking in the direction he was pointing with a puzzled expression. "And what about you?"

"I'll distract them." Lin Yuan's voice was eerily calm. "If the two of us are together, neither of us can escape."

"No! I don't want to!" Su Xiaoxiao's emotions surged instantly. She gripped Lin Yuan's arm tightly. "I'll die alone!"

"Follow me, and you'll die right now!"

Lin Yuan abruptly shook off her hand, his voice suddenly turning cold.

"If you want to live, do as I say! When you get to the garbage dump, there should be an orphanage not far away. When you get there, be good. The headmistress there is a good person, and she shouldn't refuse to take you in."

Lin Yuan softened his tone slightly. This was originally his backup plan, because the orphanage and garbage dump were not far from where he and his mother had lived. This was why he was desperately running this way.

However, his wounds cannot be healed in a short time. If he goes inside, he might easily be caught by the people chasing him. Not only would he not be able to survive, but he would also endanger the children who are already struggling to make ends meet.

As for why his mother went to such lengths to send him to this orphanage, that's a different story.

Lin Yuan knew without even thinking that the orphanage's name was the same as her adoptive mother's name. Perhaps she thought that this way the orphanage could take care of him in her place, and that it would lessen her guilt.

Lin Yuan knew exactly what his adoptive mother was thinking. The moment she lifted her buttocks, Lin Yuan knew what she wanted to do.

Su Xiaoxiao was stunned. Having experienced hardship since childhood, she quickly understood what Lin Yuan was doing: he was leaving her the only chance to live! At this moment, having rarely felt the warmth of the world, she was both moved and extremely reluctant to part with him.

"you……"

"Hurry up!"

Before she could speak, Lin Yuan shoved her hard.

Then, he turned around and rushed back in the direction he had come from without hesitation.

Su Xiaoxiao stood there, staring blankly at the figure moving against the current in the darkness, getting further and further away.

She clenched her small hands, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

This time, however, she didn't cry out loud.

She wiped her face, turned around, and with the last of her strength, staggered toward the deeper darkness that Lin Yuan had pointed to.

On the other side, Lin Yuan stopped trying to stop the wound from spreading. His internal energy quickly recovered, and once he had enough energy, he finally used his lightness skill to move through the sewers at an extremely fast speed.

He absolutely cannot stay in the lower city now, but he can try to sneak into the central city through the underground waterways. After all, the underground waterways of the entire southern city are interconnected, and there might still be a glimmer of hope for survival if he gets to the central city.

After all, compared to the chaos in the lower city, the middle city at least maintained a basic level of order, and the powerful and wealthy there did not dare to do whatever they wanted like in the lower city.

Every year, many civilians enter the central city through the sewers. As for why Lin Yuan knows these things, it's all thanks to the fact that when he was young and bored, he collected a lot of information about this world through various news reports.

However, just as Lin Yuan was rapidly navigating the sewers, several beams of light suddenly shone from the direction he had come from, locking onto him.

"Target spotted! In the B-7 sewage pipe! Requesting encirclement and capture!"

A cold, mechanical sound echoed through the pipes.

Lin Yuan grinned.

His vision grew darker and darker, and his body grew colder and colder.

Yet his heart was at peace like never before.

He leaned against the pipe wall and slowly slid into the cold sewage. His internal energy circulated wildly, forcibly suppressing the strange power once again.

Heavy footsteps were rapidly approaching.