This Damned Thirst for Survival
chapter-163-30041322

The LCD monitor in the lift shows Wen Renlian's death clearly in front of Jiang Luo's eyes.

Wen Renlian could have chosen to pass, but instead he chose to die. Jiang Luo's face changed from one face to the next, unable to tell what it was like.

The security camera inside the lift was pointed at him, as if watching with interest the sudden change in the dark-haired young man's face. Jiang Luo could not control his blush even though he knew that Chi You was probably watching his expression idly from the back.

The mind is irritated and extraordinarily complicated.

This is because Wen Renlian died in a different way from the three previous companions.

But again, this was the result of Wen Renlian's own choice, and Jiang Luo could not oppose or prevent it. Wen Renlian must have had his own reasons for doing what he did, and at least he died with a smile on his face.

But Jiang Luo couldn't help but be upset when he watched people die in front of his eyes.

Chi You is the evil spirit, who grew up in an environment full of malice, where all the darkness, the pain he once experienced, pulled him into the abyss and dipped him in the foul mud.

In the process he learns that the weak are stronger than the strong, and this dream embodies his crazy spiritual world to the fullest. The world floats in a sea of suffering and becomes ugly in its human struggle, all of which is most familiar to Chi You.

Jiang Luo is becoming increasingly aware of how dangerous the world is.

Especially for the good people.

Soon, a second companion, Kuang Zheng, appeared on the LCD monitor.

Jiang Luo quickly calmed down, perhaps because of Wen Renlian's death, and he watched Kuang Zheng's every move intently.

Like Wen Renlian, Kuang Zheng has also stepped into a dream within a dream.

But unlike Kuang Zheng's dream, the dream within a dream is warm and harmonious.

The small room is divided into several spaces by curtains. Jiang Luo knew that Kuang Zheng had a sister in the family, but for the first time he knew that Kuang Zheng's father was also disabled.

On the bed, the middle-aged, thin man has broken his left leg to the base of the leg and his right leg has atrophied muscles. He is struggling to get out of bed, and Kuang Zheng's sister is red in the face as she tries to help her father. A curtain away from the doorway, Kuang Zheng's mother is softly cooking a meal.

After returning from a sweaty trip to the toilet with his crutches, Father Kuang stood behind Mother Kuang for a moment, his face full of vicissitudes but his expression positive and relaxed as he smiled, "Where are the sweet pancakes being cooked this morning? Look at the smell, it smells so good."

Your daughter looked at the cake shop a few times yesterday and was drooling over it. I originally wanted to buy her a cake so she could taste it, but she refused. When I got back, I thought I'd make her a sweet cake. The taste is probably similar."

Father Kuang turned his head to look at his daughter beside him and gently stroked her head, "Far from wanting to eat a cake? Wait until the end of this month and have your brother take you to buy one."

My sister stared at the sweet cakes in the pan and swallowed, her voice childish but extraordinarily understanding, "Far from wanting to eat cake, Far from wanting to eat sweet cakes."

Quang's father and mother looked at each other and smiled.

The house was dilapidated and small, but the Kuang family had cleaned their home. The windows were opened and the morning light filtered into the room, where a few wildflowers in full bloom sat on the windowsill, with clear droplets of water remaining on them. Acting as curtains for the windows were strings of bells woven from wool made by my sister.

The wind blows and the pleasant sound of the ding-dong is heard.

Mother Kuang placed the meal on the table, which also had a vase with a vibrant bouquet of spring flowers in it.

The door was opened for air and the family inside smiled with a harmonious air, the pain of poverty and the decay of life seemed to be defeated by their respect and seriousness for life, without a single half-hearted gloom running down their faces.

Jiang Luo looks a little lost in thought.

With a family like that, it is no wonder that Kuang Zheng has such an honest personality.

Kuang Zheng was standing in the doorway, also smiling at such a scene. His eyes were soft, and his parents and sister inside the house saw him and were busy telling him to hurry in for dinner.

He walked in and sat beside his sister, eating in silence with his head bowed. Kuang Zheng was not talkative, but his hands silently handed the family what they needed.

Everything was warm and wonderful.

But Jiang Luo knew that this cosiness was bound to be broken.

Sure enough, a group of people soon barged into Kuang Zheng's house. They smashed the steaming meal on the table, pushed the panicked Kuang's parents to the ground and tried to snatch Kuang Zheng's sister, "Oh, this little girl is good looking and can be sold for a lot of money. If you don't have the money to pay your debts, don't blame us for snatching your daughter away!"

Father Kuang was cowering on the floor in pain, furious and angry at these words, "Our family never owes anyone money!"

The group with the kitchen knives and axes smiled and laughed, not caring at all about his words. They looked around the house and after seeing that there was nothing to grab, one of them grimaced.

"It's fucking bad luck, why is this family so poor, a trip for nothing!"

"Shit, there's nothing there, no wonder I dared to open the door for dinner."

"Brother Liu, let's move on to search the next house?"

Liu said impatiently, "Take the man with you and let's go."

His sister cried out and struggled desperately, while his mother clung to his thighs and shouted with all her strength, "Somebody! Somebody help! Someone's robbing a child!"

Liu kicked her in a fiery manner, "Old bitch, how dare you shout at someone?!"

Kuang Zheng was pinned hard to the ground by his two accomplices, who struggled with a gasp and made a strong effort to overturn the two men on top of him and snatch his sister from Liu's grasp.

Brother Liu smiled grimly, "Kid, are you going against me?"

Kuang Zheng picked his parents up and pushed his sister and them behind him, looking defensively at the strange visitors who had barged into the house, "I will not let you hurt my family."

Liu was holding a kitchen knife and he was clearly enraged. Kuang Zheng lunged at him preemptively, but after holding Liu's hands to snatch the chopper, he suddenly saw a line of writing appear on the ceiling.

[Close the door and leave, you will pass this level and reach the 18th floor]

Leaving?

Kuang Zheng's struggle ceased as he stared blankly at the line.

Is this asking him to stand by and watch his family being bullied and then turn a blind eye?

He was silent for a brief moment and continued the action in his hands.

Even if he knows it's fake, he can't do nothing to turn a blind eye ......

*

Jiang Luo closed his eyes, already able to guess how Kuang Zheng would end up.

A few moments later, he opened his eyes and saw the image of Kuang Zheng's death with a kitchen knife and axe sticking out of his body.

Like Kuang Zheng and Wen Renlian, they both chose death, but they both died with smiles of contentment.

Jiang Luo's heart is already at peace.

He waited patiently for Ye Xun to appear.

A little later, the contents of Ye Xun's step into the lift also appear on the monitor.

Ye Xun ends up like Wen Renlian and Kuang Zheng, Ye Xun refuses access to the 18th floor to protect his dying mother and dies in the illusion instead.

Jiang Luo doesn't know why Chi You is showing him the live stream, just as he doesn't know whether to be angry or relieved at his companions for preferring to die themselves rather than stick to their hearts.

Jiang Luo purses the corners of his lips and waits for the monitor to go down as he quietly waits for his own dream within a dream to begin.

From Wen Renlian to Ye Xun, what one sees in the lift is undoubtedly the most frightening fantasy in one's mind. Wen Renlian is the re-animation of the stepfather he killed, Kuang Zheng is the destruction of the family he cherished, and Ye Xun is the death of his mother.

To put it another way, this is the deepest desire of all three of them.

Wen Renlian wants to make sure his stepfather is dead, Kuang Zheng wants to protect his family, and Ye Xun wants to save his mother.

So each person sees something that is a picture of fear and desire intertwined?

Jiang Luo was thoughtful, prepared for the fact that he would see the trashy parents.

A few seconds later, the lift doors slowly opened.

Jiang Luo lifted his eyes to look absently, but his eyelids suddenly jumped when he saw what was outside the lift.

Instead of the trashy parents, Chi You appeared in front of him, leaning against the wall, dying.

Chi You is no more than two or three metres away from him, sitting against a wall, head hanging, life and death unknown.

His long, slender legs were about to take up most of the lift corridor, one pale hand resting on his abdomen while the other hung helplessly by his side, blood dripping down from his wrist and staining a large area of the floor.

Jiang Luo can only see Chi You's pale lower jaw and thin, bloodless lips as his normally neat suit is slightly dishevelled.

The blood seemed to be about to blossom in a vile flower beneath him. But even in this weakened state, there was something paradoxically and strangely attractive about the evil spirit sitting against the corner.

His posture is wretched, yet seemingly elegant and charming. At once dangerous and compelling.

It was as if one only had to get close enough to the evil spirit to realise that he was never unconscious, but had dark, eerie eyes open with a chilling, twisted smile, waiting for someone to throw themselves at him.

But it is also like losing consciousness and being able to let people run amok.

Like bullying him, taming him, killing him ......

Jiang Luo's throat twitched slightly, but he quickly snapped back to his senses.

After returning to his senses, his expression suddenly became strange.

If his previous deduction was correct, and each person sees visions of the things they fear most and their deepest desires, what does it mean that he sees Chi You?

His greatest fear is Chi You Death?

Is your deepest desire to do whatever you want to Chi You, or to be the saviour of Chi You?

Jiang Luo: "......"

He winced.

It can't be.

How is this possible.

At that moment, the blood beneath Chi You slowly formed a familiar line.

[Ignore him, close the door and leave, and you will pass this level and reach the 18th floor]

Jiang Luo didn't hesitate for a second, he immediately pressed the door closing button in the lift and pressed it four or five times in succession for fear that it would close too slowly.

The lift doors slowly closed and the lift carrying the dark-haired young man headed for the eighteenth floor.

And the evil spirit, sitting against the wall outside the lift door, slowly raised its head.

His tightly closed eyes opened and he looked at the rising lift, the corners of his mouth slowly curling up and his arm casually resting on his lap.

The blood beneath him was gradually sucked away from the floor, and the evil spirit slowly wiped the blood from his hands, the flicker in his eyes like a viper spitting out its snake's snake's letter, "What a way to go without a second's hesitation, huh?"