Free Web NovelChapter 32: Chapter 32: Can You Hear Me Speaking?
When that voice first appeared in Jiang Che’s mind, he immediately wanted to ask what it was. Things like "skills" were completely outside his knowledge.
Before entering the Dungeon, none of the people from the asylum had ever explained any of this to them, so when he saw this thing, he was completely in the dark.
He could only more or less guess what it meant from the literal wording.
Still, even if he didn’t know what it was, he knew this was something Tuantuan gave him. Good or bad, he’d keep it—just like the gut-necklace he always wore around his neck.
Tuantuan stuck out a finger and pressed it to her lips, making a shushing gesture.
Those two dark, round eyes blinked twice. Jiang Che understood and nodded in silence.
Tuantuan pulled back her finger from Jiang Che’s forehead. Blinking her big eyes, she waited for Jiang Che to try using the skill.
Jiang Che frowned. He focused his thoughts, and a mechanical guiding voice popped up in his head,
[Please select a binding target.]
Without hesitation, Jiang Che picked Tuantuan. It didn’t even occur to him to bind with anyone else.
As soon as he formed the thought, a bound target appeared next to the skill in his mind.
[Skill acquired: Mind Reading]
[Bound target: Tuantuan. Until unbinding, cannot bind with anyone else. Able to sense the other’s location, consciousness, and thoughts.]
His mind displayed "binding successful," and for a split second, a new layer of perception opened in his brain.
In his mental space, there were two figures, one big and one small. He could now observe the world from both their perspectives.
This whole world became dark and illusory in his awareness; the surrounding structures and buildings began to appear, but distant scenery was blurry, all vague outlines.
But focusing on two-person perspectives, both sides were crystal clear.
What puzzled him was, supposedly they stood at the exact same spot and in the same space—yet from Tuantuan’s perspective, she saw way more than he did.
Was this an illusion?
Jiang Che didn’t know. He swapped the perspectives back and forth, a knot of confusion in his mind.
The sensation was too strange, almost like having a 360-degree field of vision without a single blind spot.
"Daddy!"
Jiang Che looked at Tuantuan, still confused. He saw her mouth hadn’t moved, yet a voice echoed directly in his head.
"Daddy, you just have to think and you can talk to Tuantuan! From now on, we can share secrets!"
Jiang Che stopped walking. Pressing his lips together, he thought silently, "Can you hear me talk?"
"Nope!" Tuantuan giggled.
Jiang Che couldn’t help but grin, realizing he could actually communicate with Tuantuan without speaking at all.
"So in this mind space, does that mean I’ll always be able to find you, no matter where you are?" Jiang Che asked, excitement bubbling as he felt both presences in his consciousness.
"That’s right! Even if Daddy leaves tomorrow, you can always talk to Tuantuan and know where she is." Tuantuan’s eyes fell with a touch of sadness; after all, it was hard enough to find a human she liked, and soon they’d be parted.
Three days later, the humans would have to leave, or else they’d fade away inside the Dungeon.
But she’d already decided—once the hunting grounds merged with reality, she would find Jiang Che herself.
Jiang Che nodded with lingering doubt, not hearing the subtext in her words; he just took it as a metaphor.
A metaphor for how, no matter how far apart they were, the father and daughter could always sense each other.
Jiang Che carried Tuantuan as he walked toward their destination—this time, picking up his pace a little.
Because at every corner, Tuantuan would direct him through their mind-link, telling him which way to go.
Ya followed closely behind, wanting to say something about the way, only to find she had no chance to speak at all.
Every direction Jiang Che took led straight toward their goal.
He didn’t even have to find high ground now and look for landmarks the way Ya usually did.
Tuantuan didn’t stop Ya from scouting out the way, though. After all, Tuantuan only knew which direction the humans’ exit was in—not where her mother was—so they still needed Ya to find people.
When Ya came down from a vantage point again, she had just raised her hand to speak when Jiang Che was already heading in the direction she hadn’t yet pointed out.
That’s when Ya finally realized something was off about Jiang Che—
He suddenly seemed to know the way himself!
The strangest thing of all was Jiang Che and Tuantuan hadn’t spoken once on the entire journey. Neither of them communicated at all.
Before this, Jiang Che kept talking nonstop while holding Tuantuan, and that evil spirit called him "Daddy" constantly—
But now,
From her perspective, all she saw was Jiang Che carrying Tuantuan, walking mechanically toward some target.
Ya recalled how, not long ago, Tuantuan poked Jiang Che’s forehead with her finger—
Could it be—!
Could it have been that, from then on, Jiang Che’s soul had dissolved already?!
Now Jiang Che was nothing but a puppet, a giant marionette for the evil spirit, carrying her and being controlled.
Ya stopped in her tracks, her mind spiraling into chaos.
Tuantuan lay draped over Jiang Che’s shoulder as he held her, his field of awareness now 360-degrees wide. In an instant, he noticed Ya behind him: pale-faced, stumbling, coming to a halt.
"What’s wrong?" Jiang Che continued walking up front, not even bothering to look back as he said this.
The little Tuantuan perched on his shoulder simply narrowed her eyes and smiled menacingly at Ya.
Fear shot straight up Ya’s spine—she was chilled to the bone.
There was definitely something wrong with Jiang Che! He didn’t even turn around, yet somehow he knew her footsteps had stopped!
Feeling Ya’s terror, Tuantuan grinned so widely it split her face, giggling nonstop. To her, humans were just too much fun!
"Tuantuan, are you happy?" In their secret mind-link, Jiang Che spoke quietly to her again.
"Yep!" Tuantuan answered, full of energy.
The three of them made their way forward—never seeing another soul, alive or dead. In the deserted ruins, a childish giggle echoed through the abandoned building, ringing and reverberating back in hollow waves.
Sweat beaded in thick lines on Ya’s forehead. She glared, wide-eyed, at Tuantuan—this damn demon!
At that moment, even the livestream viewers sensed something was off with Jiang Che,
[Oh my god, this is creepy as hell! I had no idea when Jiang Che started acting weird!]
[He really hasn’t said anything in a long time... he used to be a chatterbox.]
[If not for the survivor livestream camera, I’d totally believe he’s an evil spirit now.]
[So unsettling—he doesn’t even turn his head and somehow knows Ya is acting weird.]
[His camera hasn’t vanished like a dead person’s, so he must still be alive. But what’s up with his soul? Is he trapped inside, or has he lost all control and is just being manipulated?]
[See, getting chummy with evil spirits, whether make-believe or for drills, you’re just signing your death warrant. Might as well hide and try to survive!]
...
"I... I’m fine..." Ya gulped air, forcing herself to stay calm.
She knew this was not the time to run; if she made a break for it, death would follow in an instant.
