Li Li’s expression was rigid, filled with a confusion he couldn’t quite name.

He looked at the woman before him—shoulders heaving, one sob after another—his mind a blank. On instinct he tried to comfort her: “This…this isn’t your fault either. After all, once you enter a game, life and death are unpredictable—it’s not like you did it on purpose…”

Zhu Shu’s sobbing stopped.

Abruptly. Jarringly.

She stared at Li Li in a daze. Then, after a brief pause, the grief in her eyes deepened, fermenting into anguish and fury. She shrieked at him through her tears:

“How can you not blame me?! How can you?! Don’t you understand yet—I got Su Man killed!

She died because of me!

She’s dead!!

Do you understand?!

Just because it wasn’t intentional, you can so easily forgive someone? Even though the person who died had been by your side for more than ten years! Don’t you care?! Aren’t you angry?! Don’t you want revenge for her?!

Li Li! Su Man was killed because of me!”

Zhu Shu grabbed his collar and clutched it tight, tears streaming from her eyes without stopping.

“Hit me! Why won’t you hit me? Why won’t you even curse at me? You bastard! Bastard!!”

“Zhu Shu…” Li Li looked at her, unable to express his feelings. The rims of his eyes reddened as well.

Zhu Shu was sobbing beyond all control.

She resented Li Li’s indifference, yet she also knew she had no standing to resent him. Still, her emotions were out of control—the moment she thought of the scene of Su Man being dragged into the torture chamber, her heart felt like it was dying.

Chu Huaijin stepped between them to prevent Zhu Shu from doing anything else in her unhinged state.

Li Li’s neck had been scratched red.

He stared blankly at the weeping Zhu Shu. A vague feeling crept over him that he had done something wrong—yet he didn’t know… what, exactly, he had done wrong.

Scattered footsteps approached from behind. Then a familiar female voice rang out—

“Zhu Shu.”

Li Li turned around in astonishment and saw Yan Qingwen and Lu Ang leading Su Man over.

“Su Man?” Li Li was even more confused. “Weren’t you already…”

Before he could finish, a figure hurtled forward!

Zhu Shu threw her arms around Su Man, overwhelmed with mingled grief and joy: “You’re all right?!”

“How are you all right? We all thought you had already…!” Yu Yaqing was equally shocked and overjoyed. She couldn’t help herself—she reached out and thumped Su Man on the shoulder. “Never mind! The point is, you got out safely—that’s wonderful!”

Su Man rubbed the shoulder she’d been thumped, looking a little abashed, and explained:

“I can’t exactly say I’m completely fine… I have quite a few injuries. I blacked out the moment I exited the game. Fortunately Yan-ge and Lu Ang were there—they spent the entire night running around looking for medicine for me.”

Li Li heard this and turned to ask Yan Qingwen: “Su Man came out early? Why didn’t you notify us?”

Before Yan Qingwen could answer, Lu Ang’s booming voice cut in: “Notify you where? After headquarters relocated, neither Old Yan nor I knew the new address. Besides, Su Man came out in the dead of night—the whole city looked like a ghost town! Not a soul in sight! Just tracking down medicine for her nearly ran our legs off. Old Yan and I had barely lain down for two hours when Tan Xiao came and banged on the door to wake us up!”

Yu Yaqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She asked Su Man, “What actually happened? How did you get out?”

Su Man looked toward Bai Youwei and said, “…She gave me a jigsaw piece.”

Zhu Shu and Yu Yaqing both went still.

Zhu Shu asked in her tear-roughened voice, “When did she give it to you? We didn’t know a thing.”

“Right at the moment I was dragged into the torture chamber…” Su Man drew a gray jigsaw piece from her pocket, running her fingertips gently over it. “At the time I thought I was done for, and I didn’t want to waste any more items. I thought—if one of the four of us has to die, then let it be me. But Bai Youwei said…”

Su Man looked at Bai Youwei. The sharp, haughty gaze from years past had gone soft and gentle. She walked up to Bai Youwei and placed the jigsaw piece lightly into her hand.

“She said: Su Man, you have to hold on.”