Chapter 601 - 377: Restoring Power, White Snake

Chapter 601: Chapter 377: Restoring Power, White Snake

Liu Yiran: "My relative is an auxiliary police officer who was one of the first responders at the scene yesterday. He told me that when he saw Li Lu, she was naked and her bones were all twisted into unnatural positions. And on her lower abdomen, she had a tattoo that was an exact match for that pattern."

"I’m just wondering, can this really be a coincidence? She was the one who organized the murder mystery game, but she was the first to leave without saying a word. Plus, the scenario we were playing was a horror-mystery..."

Han Ning: "I think you’re overthinking it... Let’s not make wild guesses and wait for the official police report."

As he typed out those words, Han Ning began to mull it over.

’This is so damn creepy... This world is clearly not as peaceful as it seems.’

He recalled some of the scattered news stories his predecessor had come across online over the past few months.

For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.

Liu Yiran: "I hope I’m just overthinking it. The project’s been put on hold, so at least I get a few days off to relax. Li Lu was a really nice person. It’s just... she’s gone, just like that. Sigh..."

Han Ning: "Yeah..."

Liu Yiran didn’t reply after that.

Han Ning sat at his computer desk, quietly shoveling food into his mouth.

After all, humans aren’t made of stone.

Overtime was already brutal at the game company. They worked six days a week, for at least ten hours a day, all of it spent with the same colleagues.

Just as Liu Yiran had said, Li Lu was cheerful and never made bizarre demands like some of the other product managers. Plus, she was pretty and sweet. It was safe to say that at least eighty percent of the men on the project team, if not all of them, had a thing for her.

Now, her sudden and unexplained death cast a heavy pall over the entire team. It was only natural for everyone to feel down.

As his thoughts wandered, an icon in the bottom-right corner of his screen flashed again.

This time, however, it was QQ.

A parallel-world version of QQ.

Everyone knows corporate messengers are for work and QQ is for your social life...

’My parallel-world self was more impressive than me. Who has the energy for an online romance at a time like this?’

A strange look crept onto Han Ning’s face as he saw the flashing avatar of a cute little puppy.

PeanutPonders: "[sneaky_doggo.jpg]"

LessSugarNoSpice: "Done with class?"

He’d met this netizen, "PeanutPonders," two months ago. She had left her QQ number in the feedback section on the official website for another mobile game his predecessor had been in charge of maintaining, and he’d added her.

At first, she would just message his predecessor to complain about bugs in the game.

Gradually, their conversations expanded to cover more and more topics, until they became good online friends who could talk about anything.

Han Ning had learned that she was a junior at a local university. She was a sweet girl who was into Hanfu-inspired fashion.

PeanutPonders: "Silly, it’s Sunday!"

LessSugarNoSpice: "Ah! I’ve had so much going on lately, my brain’s all fried."

Han Ning imitated his predecessor’s flirting style, secretly feeling like he was learning a lot!

PeanutPonders: "What’s wrong? I saw on the local news today that an employee at your company died for no apparent reason. Is that what’s on your mind?"

LessSugarNoSpice: "You’re well-informed. To be honest, she was a colleague on my project. We got along pretty well. That, on top of all the overtime lately... I’m just mentally and physically exhausted. I’m about to go bald from the stress..."

PeanutPonders: "[Image: A meme of a gray-haired old man waving his arms, with the caption ’A 28-year-old programmer, full of vigor.’] Hugs~ Even if you go bald, I won’t mind~"

PeanutPonders: "You must be exhausted, huh? Let me sing a song for you~"

PeanutPonders: "[60s Voice Message] Yare yare, aren’t you coming yet, my lord..."

"..."

Listening to the quirky, girlish voice from the message, Han Ning was momentarily at a loss for words.

But the bizarre song did manage to soothe some of the complex emotions he’d been feeling ever since he’d transmigrated.

He took out the Piyao Jade Pendant from his shirt again, rubbing it gently in his palm as he made a decision.

’My current Spiritual Power... is being suppressed to around Tier Two by some unknown Power.’

Yu Yang frowned, sensing his Spiritual Power.

His Spiritual World was completely gone, but his Spiritual Power was still usable.

’This world is definitely haunted by some nasty things. I can’t contact Yin Yi or Egg Pancake right now. Tomorrow, I have to go to a pet market and find an animal to test the Beast Taming inheritance in this pendant. I need to recover some of my strength first, at least enough to protect myself...’ 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

...

BZZZT... BZZZT... BZZZT...

BZZZT... BZZZT... BZZZT...

In the morning, Han Ning was jolted awake by the urgent buzzing of his phone.

Still in a daze, he fumbled for his nightstand, pried his eyes open a crack, and swiped the answer button.

"Hello? Ah Ze, what’s going on this early?" Han Ning mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"Get down to the Hai Cang Police Station right now! It’s Yiran... something’s happened to him!"

The grave voice of his colleague, Zhao Zeyan, came from the other end of the line.

"Yeah. I understand."

Han Ning, whose eyes had been closed a second before, snapped them open and shot upright in bed.

Han Ning’s expression was grim as he walked out of the police station.

The colleague he’d been casually chatting with just last night was now, after a single night, a cold corpse.

According to the police, Liu Yiran had died by suicide.

At seven o’clock this morning, Liu Yiran’s girlfriend had gone to use the restroom and found him hanging in the living room.

’Li Lu... Yiran... The next victim... will probably be one of the others.’ He thought back to his own bizarre encounter the day before. If it weren’t for his Spiritual Power and the Piyao Jade Pendant saving him, he’d be the one lying dead this morning.