Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 10: Lava [Complete]

1148: The Dramatic Encounter

By the time Lin Sanjiu had the opportunity to grasp her surroundings, the skinny girl had already navigated her and Ya Jiang through four separate black mists. Realizing that their long legs could potentially slip out of the darkness, the girl became exceedingly cautious. She resorted to dragging only one person at a time, ensuring she didn't lose control of both. As Mrs. Manas had noted, as long as even the smallest part of their body, such as a single strand of hair, remained engulfed in darkness, they couldn't even manage an independent blink.

Their intervals in the darkness were brief, lasting no more than two to three minutes each time. The skinny girl seemed wary of lingering in the dark too long. Upon entering each new shroud of darkness, she would occasionally glance at a colorful plastic digital watch on her wrist, timing their stay precisely. When the allotted time elapsed, she would part the darkness as if opening a door, revealing a new location each time: sometimes a street with a zebra crossing, other times a small grassy patch.

Despite spending several minutes in these dark interludes, their actual progress was minimal.

Lin Sanjiu observed meticulously, making mental notes of all she could discern with her rigid gaze. After about ten minutes of shuttling between darkness and reality, the skinny girl's breath grew labored, yet they had only traversed a mere two streets.

Then, unexpectedly, an incident occurred at the end of the second street.

As the black mist dissipated, the skinny girl emerged as usual, turned, bent down, and grabbed Lin Sanjiu's arm in one fluid motion, utterly unprepared for any sudden appearance of lava.

Just as Lin Sanjiu was being pulled toward the next black mist, following their usual routine, she heard the skinny girl step on something with a metallic clang. Amidst a startled "ah," the girl was suddenly jerked sideways, instinctively reaching for anything to steady herself. Lin Sanjiu's limp arms, however, offered no support. The skinny girl's grip slipped, leaving trails of blood on Lin Sanjiu's skin, and she fell heavily to the ground.

"Why is there a pit here?"

Lin Sanjiu could roughly guess what had transpired, thanks to the skinny girl's habit of talking to herself. She then heard the skinny girl gasp softly as she rolled up her trousers.

Great, she fell harder than she thought.

Lying askew on the ground, Lin Sanjiu's gaze landed on her lower leg. When she was pulled just a moment ago, her body had tilted, causing her lower leg and ankle to slip out of the darkness. The skinny girl, having checked her injuries immediately upon falling, was now inspecting her wounds with confidence — her toes were still partly shrouded in the darkness. Only a small portion of her toes remained in the dark. If she could just fully emerge from the darkness, Lin Sanjiu knew she could activate Higher Consciousness, or even [Planar World], among other abilities.

The sole exception was her ability [No Coincidence, No Story]. It had already taken effect: as the skinny girl was about to step out of the mist, Lin Sanjiu had turned, placing her right shoulder into the newly opened darkness. After that, there hadn't been a chance to maintain her balance, much less deactivate [No Coincidence, No Story].

But what kind of coincidence could possibly save both her and Ya Jiang?

It would be perfect if Hei Zeji heard her scream and came to their aid, but Lin Sanjiu knew such a coincidence was far-fetched, almost unrealistic. As she muttered to herself, her thoughts were unexpectedly interrupted. It was as if the universe had finally heard her plea. Just as she was pondering Hei Zeji's whereabouts, the sound of footsteps echoed from a nearby street corner, rapidly closing in from half a block away.