Ten minutes later, Mu Ke jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He rushed to the door, opened it a crack, and looked outside. After confirming that no teachers were nearby, he ran to the neighboring handicrafts classroom and began pounding on the door.
"Bai Liu (6)!" Mu Ke's eyes were red with anxious tears. "Bai Liu (6)! I listened to you and waited ten minutes. It's been ten minutes! Come out! I don't want to run away alone!"
Miao Gaojiang hurried over and lifted Mu Ke, who was still hammering on the door. "The teacher will be here soon! Let's go first. Bai Liu (6) will catch up with us. You run even slower than he does!"
"No!" Mu Ke screamed through his sobs. "I won't leave him behind! I want to run together! He's never abandoned me!"
Miao Gaojiang froze for a moment. Mu Ke seized the chance to slip out of his grasp.
He swallowed his cries and wiped his tears with his sleeve. After glancing down the corridor to check for teachers, he began knocking frantically again. "Bai Liu (6)! Open the door! I'm begging you! Please!"
The door suddenly swung open.
Bai Liu (6) stood there intact, though his face was deathly pale. He looked at the tearful Mu Ke without expression. "Didn't I tell you to leave?"
Mu Ke shook his head, tears spilling over as he threw himself at Bai Liu (6) like an abandoned kitten. "You scared me to death! Sob… Why didn't you open the door?"
"Liu Jiayi didn't want to leave," Bai Liu (6) replied, gently but firmly pushing Mu Ke aside. His pale face trembled slightly, though he forced it back into calm. A thin line of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
He looked down at Mu Ke, who was clutching his hand and crying uncontrollably, and a trace of confusion flickered across his usually composed face.
He had never received tears like this before—so warm, so unguarded. He didn't know how to respond.
In the end, Bai Liu (6) patted Mu Ke on the shoulder and withdrew his hand. "She wanted to stay and have me draw a picture for her brother. I finished it. I was probably too focused and didn't hear you knocking. Anyway, I'm done. The teacher will be here soon. Let's go."
Ignoring the burning pain corroding his insides, Bai Liu (6) calmly followed behind Mu Ke. Before leaving, he glanced back.
Liu Jiayi was sitting on the windowsill.
She had tilted her head upward, eyes closed, basking in the rising sun. Her withered hair shimmered like strands of gold. The sunlight wrapped around her face like a sacred halo, painting her lashes in brilliant light.
In the hopeful glow of morning, she slowly opened her eyes and looked back at him.
Backlit by the sun, her eyes appeared pure and misty white. The frail girl looked almost angelic, holding the simple drawing Bai Liu (6) had made. In it, she sat curled on a hospital bed, hugging her knees like a frightened bird. She wore an oversized hospital gown and held a Bai Liu-style doll with its head twisted one hundred and eighty degrees.
[Why do you want to save me in the future?]
[I don't know.]
[Then why are you saving me now?]
[I don't know that either.]
[Then… what do I look like in your eyes?]
[Hmm… probably like this. Can you see it?]
[My vision item is on cooldown. I can't see it yet.]
[Then wait. Wait until you can see again. There will always be such a day, Liu Jiayi.]
The poisoner and the poisoned spoke peacefully. Doing bad things had always been in their blood.
They were born bad children. They had no strong awareness of wrongdoing. They were born in darkness, suffered in it, and grew numb to it.
Yet some people were willing to do good things for them without condition. Those people endured pain to give them sunlight they could not see, warmth they could not feel, rain they did not understand. Like buds, they would one day grow toward the light.
Bai Liu (6) turned and left.
As he followed Mu Ke, his gaze lowered. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, blood began to spill from the corners of his mouth, soaking into his clothes. He covered his mouth and frowned.
Even so, Mu Ke quickly noticed something was wrong.
"Bai Liu! Why are you coughing up blood?!"
[System Warning: Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line has received the Poisoned debuff. Health continues to drop. Current health: 27…]
Bai Liu (6) covered his mouth and fell to one knee, brows tightly furrowed.
"Miao Gaojiang, carry me," he ordered weakly but calmly. "Run to the church. Hide in the blind spot under the pew on the right. Children can't be killed inside the church. If Liu Jiayi catches up, we'll all die. Run."
The moment he finished speaking, he lost consciousness.
Miao Gaojiang hoisted him onto his back and ran toward the church. Bai Liu (6) leaned limply against him, his eyelids drooping, his limbs completely slack.
His breathing grew faint. Blood streamed continuously from his nose and mouth, dripping onto his hand and staining the grass. The blood choking his airway made him convulse. As he began to slide down, Mu Ke, running behind them, pushed him up with all his strength, barely keeping him in place.
Mu Ke's chest felt like it would burst. His heart had never hurt this much—from exhaustion and terror combined. He stared at Bai Liu (6)'s dying figure, tears flooding his eyes. "How did this happen…"
They finally reached the church. Miao Gaojiang collapsed inside and laid Bai Liu (6) gently on the floor.
With difficulty, Bai Liu (6) shifted to lean against the wall. His eyes had lost focus. His hands lay limply on the ground as if made of clay. He struggled to force air through his lungs to speak.
"Mu Ke…"
Mu Ke hurried forward, pressing his ear close to Bai Liu (6)'s lips. "I'm here. I'm here, Bai Liu (6)!"
"You're safe… in the church. No one will hurt you." His voice came in broken fragments. "Next… I have three things to tell you. I don't think… I can call him at six."
He trembled slightly from the poison. "First… bring an infusion bag. Drain my blood and store it. The game isn't over. You must… deliver my blood to my investor…"
He forced each word out through clenched teeth. "You must save yourself. Understand?"
Mu Ke nodded frantically through tears. "I understand!"
Now he finally understood why Bai Liu (6) had been covering his mouth earlier—to keep from wasting blood.
"Second…" His face grew even paler. His chest heaved violently. "There's a coin around my neck. It's precious… he gave it to me. Miao Gaojiang's soul banknote is inside it. It's important. Don't let it fall out after I die, or you'll be in danger."
He swallowed thickly, his breathing faltering for longer intervals. "I'll… hide it inside my body. Don't tell anyone where it is. Except my investor. Do you understand?"
Mu Ke nodded wildly, tears streaming down his face.
Seeing him like this, Bai Liu (6) let out a faint chuckle, coughing as he did. "There's one last thing. Tell my investor…"
He looked toward the sunrise beyond the church doors. Light reflected in his dimming eyes.
"He's a liar. He said my luck would improve after I changed my name. I called myself Bai Liu, but my luck still seems terrible. If you can… persuade him to change it to something else."
He coughed again, using Mu Ke's body to shield himself as he forced the coin down his throat. Mu Ke watched in horror before breaking into uncontrollable sobs. Bai Liu (6)'s expression, however, remained calm as blood continued to spill from his lips.
His breathing faded.
Bai Liu (6)—Bai Liu—slowly closed his eyes beneath the first rays of dawn at six o'clock.
His hand still held the child's phone. Unfortunately, he never had the chance to call his detestable future self, the investor who manipulated everything with his foresight.
That big liar. That bad man who never once told him the truth. The bastard who owed him countless points—when not a single point on the panel had ever truly been given to him.
And yet—
I was willing to do everything you asked for free.
Because you are the other me.
You lied to me about everything, but I know your choices were for our shared interests.
So I trusted you without condition. I chose every option that benefited you—my only friend in this short virtual life. The other Bai Liu.
His eyes closed completely. His hand fell to the ground.
[System Warning: Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line's health has dropped to 0.]
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line has died.]
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu's game manager will return to the main identity line.]
[System Notification: The deaths of Player Miao Feichi and Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line have been confirmed. Their transaction is void. Transaction funds are refunded. Player Miao Feichi's secondary identity line's soul banknote is invalidated. Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line is converted into a soul banknote as punishment and locked in the old wallet due to incomplete transaction terms.]
[System Notification: The transaction of Player Miao Gaojiang's secondary identity line has been temporarily stored and transferred to Player Bai Liu's main identity line for processing.]