Chapter 141 – The Shadow Of The Ambulance

Time was the second challenge.

After playing the game for three days, Ren Suo realized that the total number of hats increased from 13 to 16, while Ren Suo had only converted 5 hats.

While going through the automated plot sequence was necessary to acquire resources, the time required for that for each hat was about 3 to 4 hours. As a night “cat”, Ren Suo could adjust his body clock, and wake up whenever the time was up to collect the resources and continue the trials.

However, the story behind each hat was different. Even though most of them revolved around the childhood and teenage memories of boys, the worries they had were diverse. Some of them had to confess to pass the trial, while others hoped for their younger self to treasure their teenage years.

Resources were wasted each time Ren Suo failed the trial. Sometimes, Ren Suo made a wrong choice only to realize that it would ultimately reach a dead end, and that he was wasting both his time and resources on a trial he could no longer pass, unless he managed to find a way to live through the dire crisis.

[The Seeker was unable to complete her homework by morning. When Father awoke and saw the Seeker, he scolded her and locked her in the bedroom, not allowing her to go to school, and not giving her any food.]

[After 1 day, the Seeker will lose 2 Courage and 1 Warmth due to hunger.]

At that juncture, two options appeared: [Shout and beg for forgiveness (3 Courage required)], and [Remain silent and bear with it].

Ren Suo swallowed the piece of teriyaki chicken in his mouth as he thought about what to do. He equipped the Seeker with “Unlimited Fried Chicken Set.”

[The Seeker summoned a fried chicken set and survived the first day.]

[The Seeker summoned a fried chicken set and survived the second day.]

[On the third day, “Father” appeared. He looked at the Seeker without saying a word and brought the Seeker to the living room to eat a bowl of porridge. After she finished, he said, “Not bad, you have the tenacity I used to have when I was your age.”]

[Li Ming’s hat has been transformed successfully.]

A total of six hats had now been transformed successfully.

It was also at that point when Ren Suo began to understand how he should conquer the game. Rather than thinking of which was the right option to choose in the journey of the Seeker during the trial of the hats, it was more plausible to think of ways for the Seeker to remain in the game for as long as possible.

Life is full of ups and downs, and things do not always go according to plan – although the owners of the hats had many regrets in their memories due to their lack of courage or warmth, such regrets were, in reality, a part and parcel of life.

As long as one had the will to live, and as long as one encountered an opportunity, no matter how small, be it a kind stranger, a military recruitment advertisement, or a compliment which sounded like an apology, hopes of the future would come naturally. Only then would the knots in one’s mind be undone, and the courage to continue on the path of life would follow.

“Have you been treating Xiaoyu the past few days?” asked Dong Chengling, out of a sudden.

“Mmm?” Ren Suo put away his mobile phone and finished the last few mouthfuls of rice. He said, “Yeah, but she didn’t come today. She must have completed her Awakening.”

Nonetheless, Ren Suo had already gotten an opportunity two days ago when he managed to convince Lin Xianyu to sleep in the treatment room for a while. He had successfully obtained her key, so he no longer cared that she was fully Awakened. At most, he lost the opportunity to touch the arms of a high school girl every morning.

“That’s great,” said Dong Chengling as she picked up her plate and stood up. She added, “The stronger the Awakened Ability, the more side effects there will be during the Awakening process. But there’s more to gain than that which is lost.”

Ren Suo picked up his plate and followed after her. He asked, “Do you want to be Awakened too?”

“Of course,” said Dong Chengling, naturally. She continued, “This is a gift of fate that signifies that I’m different from the rest and is a force that I would never betray…”

After returning her plates, Dong Chengling suddenly turned around and said to Ren Suo, “I am very grateful towards you.”

“Why are you so serious out of a sudden? Are you going to say, ‘You’re a good person’ next?” replied Ren Suo casually.

Dong Chengling said, “You are a good person, and, if it were before, I may not be unwilling to start a relationship with you. But from the moment I began my journey on the Practitioner path to cultivation, I made up my mind to persevere all the way to the end. To see the things that ordinary people cannot see, that is my dream. ”

“I am not willing to be slowed down in this journey by feelings, and neither am I willing to spend the time I could be Practicing dating, being in a relationship, and spending energy meaninglessly to find my other half. As long as an opportunity presents itself, the Heavenly Institution of Lian will merely be a stepping stone towards a better place. I will definitely continue to learn and continue to Practice.”

Ren Suo took it a little more seriously and said, “You can do it.”

Dong Chengling smiled slightly and said, “Thank you. But I must also admit that you did make me waver… You don’t bother me at other times, and only talked about interesting things with me during our meals. My other colleagues and the students all think that I am difficult to communicate because I am very solitary and serious, and only you were willing to embrace that.”

Ren Suo said, “I think you’re doing fine, it’s alright to be more straightforward as long as your words mean no harm. Moreover, it saves time when communicating… At the least, I now know that the gift that you want most is time for Practice.”

Dong Chengling nodded and said, “This feels like two lone ships floating on different sides of the same lake. They are close to each other but not intimately, with space left for each other. Indeed, this is my preferred way of communication in the past.”

Ren Suo blinked and lowered his hat slightly, “Uh… uh… Actually, I knew that you were such a person the moment I saw you.”

In fact, it was only during mealtimes when Ren Suo thought about Dong Chengling… and her future key.

Dong Chengling heaved a sigh of relief and said, “I am relieved that everything has been clarified. I would not mind if you do not want to contact me again, but if you still want to be friends, I will not refuse – it is after all more interesting to eat with someone. ”

Ren Suo laughed and said, “I’m fine with being friends. It’s more than worth it to be able to make friends with someone like you who will be powerful in the future, just by buying you a meal.”

Even if she did not have a key, Ren Suo was willing to form a good relationship with Dong Chengling. Apart from the fact that her looks were appealing to Ren Suo, more importantly, she would inevitably become a strong Practitioner who could use space-type abilities.

It would not be possible for Ren Suo to be in a relationship with her after he obtained the key from her, even if he wanted to. How could someone like her who would acquire a space-type Awakened Ability remain in the Heavenly Institution of Lian?

————————

The ambulance came to a stop on the highway, and the paramedics quickly wheeled the stretcher down the ambulance. Li Ran, the doctor on-board instructed, “Xiao Qiang, Da Ming, make sure you remember the steps, slowly pull the driver out from the car —”

Li Ran stopped midway through his sentence when they realized that the driver was already lying next to the overturned truck. It saved them a lot of effort, although the driver was still in a coma.

Li Ran squatted down to check the driver’s heartbeat, then asked the others to carry the driver into the ambulance. He looked at the ground: there was a wallet and a fourth edition 100 yuan note which had been blown to the side by the wind.

“Did someone come by to drag the driver out, then casually stole his money and ran away?” Li Ran immediately thought of such a possibility, so he quickly contacted the police officers who were following behind the ambulance and handed the scene over to them.

But when he turned his head, he saw what seemed to be a dark shadow dart swiftly past the rear door of the ambulance.

“Huh? Is that a wild cat?” Li Ran quickly walked over to see what that was. He was concerned as wild cats and dogs brought a lot of bacteria on them, which would very likely cause infections if they came into contact with the patient.

However, he saw that the floor of the ambulance was empty and there were no wild cats or dogs.

“I must have been mistaken…”