“Safe house, my ass!”
Li Ran cursed aloud, then bolted toward a door in front of him.
Little Akatome followed closely behind, carrying the little demon baby.
“Lead the way!”
Li Ran grabbed the little demon baby and hurled it toward the door ahead.
“Yiya!”
With a poof, the little demon baby kicked its legs mid-air and shot forward like an arrow toward the door.
At the same time, the door behind them burst open.
Li Ran’s face went deathly pale as he looked back—what he saw was a long-limbed, grotesquely distorted creature dripping in black, tar-like liquid. It had a pair of horrifying blue eyes.
“Yiya!”
The little demon baby turned into a puff of black smoke and slipped through the door. Li Ran immediately followed.
He could feel the creature behind him giving chase, and it was incredibly fast—no, not running or flying—it was something else. It was flickering forward, like it was teleporting. Its whole body would blink in and out as it rapidly closed the distance.
Li Ran didn’t even have time to check his golden finger’s prompts; all he saw was that the monster’s eerie power value was all marked with
“???”
In front of that thing, Li Ran felt as small and helpless as an ant.
Run or die—there was no third option.
He barged into another room, then quickly turned into the next one, following the little demon baby.
The monster kept up its relentless pursuit. Its twisted limbs and disturbing blinking movement kept the pressure constantly on his back.
The golden finger was flashing which doors to take, but Li Ran had no time to look.
At this point, blindly following the little demon baby was the safest bet.
He had no idea how many doors they’d opened or how long they’d been running.
Not until the terrifying sound of pursuit and the chilling sensation of being watched finally disappeared did the little demon baby stop.
One man, one fox, one baby—all collapsed to the ground.
“We’re finally alive!” Li Ran panted heavily.
That sensation of being watched felt like being locked onto by a wild beast. It triggered a primal fear in him, like his life was no longer in his own hands.
Only when the gaze vanished did the feeling of being prey finally dissipate.
“That thing was terrifying. What the hell was it?” Li Ran still felt lingering fear.
After resting a while, Li Ran spotted something particularly eye-catching.
“What’s this?”
In the center of the room, he found two small red booklets.
Li Ran picked them up and smiled, then tucked them carefully into his coat.
Only then did he take a good look at the room they were in. It was pure white—white walls on all four sides, three doors, and a single window.
“A window? Seriously?”
Every room so far had looked like a copy-paste, just different in color, but this was the first room with a window on one wall.
Li Ran walked over and found that the window was welded shut. The glass was made of some unknown material. He tried to smash it with all his strength, but couldn’t even leave a mark.
With no other option, he looked out the window.
“This is…” Li Ran’s pupils contracted.
Through the glass, he saw rows and columns of identical rooms stacked in an orderly fashion, forming a towering wall. The wall stretched out to the horizon with no end in sight. As the perspective zoomed out, he saw the edge of the wall—then a second wall at a right angle, then a third slanted one—finally revealing a massive, mind-boggling cube.
It stood silently in a world of darkness, like a grand and ominous black fortress.
The window he was peering from was no more than a speck, a dust mote, invisible to the naked eye on the side of this colossal structure.
…
…
The Tenth Day
Morning.
Poof!
A burst of black mist exploded in the study, and a shadowy door of darkness appeared out of nowhere.
“Wait… I’ve been transported back?”
Li Ran stepped out of the dark door and looked around at the familiar study, his face filled with confusion.
Just moments ago, he’d been fleeing from a ghost-like monster, dashing through more than thirty rooms.
Just as it was about to catch him—he got teleported back.
“What the hell? I didn’t tell the little demon baby to activate the dark door…”
As he puzzled over it, sounds came from outside the room.
“Honey.”
“Daddy.”
Two figures rushed into Li Ran’s arms from outside the study.
A soft fragrance, a tender embrace.
If Li Ziyang weren’t present, Li Ran might not have been able to hold himself back.
Su Bingyao and Li Ziyang had spent the whole night worrying.
Now, seeing that Li Ran was safe and sound, Su Bingyao could finally let out a breath of relief.
It took some time for Li Ran to calm his wife and child.
After breakfast, Li Ran said, “Honey, you should get some rest. I’ll take our son to school.”
Ever since that parent-child event, he hadn’t taken Li Ziyang to school again.
Su Bingyao hadn’t slept all night—her flawless face looked a bit tired, and Li Ran couldn’t bear to see it.
“Okay,” Su Bingyao nodded softly.
Heading to the basement, he got into the Porsche SUV he hadn’t driven in a while and started off for the kindergarten.
“Son, keep this card on you,” Li Ran said, handing Li Ziyang a card.
“What is it?” Li Ziyang asked.
“This card is called In Father’s Footsteps,” said Li Ran.
“Daddy, what does that mean?”
“It means the son inherits the father’s legacy. You have to keep this card on you at all times. Don’t lose it,” Li Ran instructed.
Li Ziyang nodded obediently and put the card away safely.
Li Ran smiled faintly, thinking to himself, With this card, I’ve got another trump card up my sleeve.
Bond Card: In Father’s Footsteps
Once designated to a son, cannot be changed
Effect: When the father is in peril during battle or on the brink of death and unable to fight, this card can be activated. The son will inherit the father’s eerie power on top of his own strength. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 1 day.
This was a special reward card from completing the Stop the Wedding Escort mission for Lu Chaohui. Like Phoenix in Flight, it was a family bond card.
When paired with the Family Summon card, it meant that no matter which plane Li Ran was in, he could summon his wife and child. Under the bond card effects, they would both receive massive stat boosts.
The Family Summon card had no limit on how many times it could be used—but each summon only lasted an hour.
So, if Li Ran truly found himself in a hopeless situation, he could summon his wife and son to his side.
Activate Phoenix in Flight for a 50% boost to all stats. If that wasn’t enough and he was still on the brink of defeat, he could then activate In Father’s Footsteps. His son would inherit all his eerie power, with all enhancements, instantly skyrocketing his power to an overwhelming level—enough to flip any hopeless battle on its head!
With these trump card-level bond cards, Li Ran could pull victory from the jaws of death.
Even so, Li Ran still held onto the belief that he wouldn’t drag his wife and son into danger unless absolutely necessary.
And if the enemy was so strong that not even both cards could turn the tide—he definitely wouldn’t use them.
Still, just knowing he had those cards gave him more confidence. More spine.
After all—having a sword you don’t use, and not having one at all, are two very different things.
After dropping Li Ziyang off at kindergarten, Li Ran drove toward the backstreets.
In his mind appeared the image of a tall, seductive woman.
Back then, he had been far too weak, and had relied on golden finger prompts to dance with her and barely complete the mission.
He had thought that was the end of it. Who would’ve guessed She had been holding a grudge all this time?
She used the pet-faced cat to turn Song Linjia into porcelain, nearly causing him to be infected and transformed into a monster. If not for the little demon baby bringing a chance at survival, he would’ve already become a virus-ridden freak.
Li Ran’s eyes flickered with cold fury. “Yang Baobao… It’s time we settle this!”
(End of Chapter)