Chapter 79

Hearing the boy's response, Shang Jianyao suddenly turned his head and looked at him.

Silently observing for two or three seconds, Shang Jianyao suddenly laughed and redirected his gaze to the LCD screen in front of him.

"So you're Xiao Chong, huh?" he asked with great interest. "Do you know an old lady who wears a dark knitted cap? She has a face full of wrinkles and wears a black woolen dress."

Xiao Chong, seriously operating the joystick and playing the game, answered casually:

"Yes, I do.

"She's a good person. When she was still alive, she would always guard the door for me, so no one would disturb me.

"Hehe, I told her that I like to play games quietly and read all kinds of books, and I don't want others to bother me, so she really did that."

Shang Jianyao, not quite understanding, looked at the game screen and asked:

"Could she understand what you said?"

"Can't you understand?" Xiao Chong thought the other person's question was very strange.

"True." Shang Jianyao nodded, agreeing with the boy. "After she died, no one guarded the door for you anymore?"

"There are... " Xiao Chong answered, then closed his mouth, focusing on the game in front of him.

Shang Jianyao noticed that the screen seemed to become more intense.

After the sudden "battle" ended, Xiao Chong continued:

"There are a few uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters who help me guard the door.

"They regularly clean and maintain the place, take me out for horseback riding, so I can breathe some fresh air. Ah, have you seen my cat? I found a stray cat and raised a pond of fish for it. Isn't that cool?"

"That's your cat?" Shang Jianyao slapped his thigh. "The one without fur?"

"Yes, yes, it's a special breed, you can't discriminate against it." Xiao Chong nodded repeatedly.

"But it always makes me fall asleep." Shang Jianyao complained.

"He just likes to play pranks." Xiao Chong's chubby face broke into a clear smile. "When he comes back, I'll tell him not to make you fall asleep."

"You can understand cat language?" Shang Jianyao was very curious.

"No, but he's very smart and can understand human language." Xiao Chong replied.

Shang Jianyao then adjusted his posture to make himself more comfortable.

"So what do you usually eat?" he asked.

Xiao Chong suddenly fell silent and turned his head to look at him.

His chubby face, under the flickering light of the LCD screen, was alternately bright and dark, with shadows floating.

Shang Jianyao met Xiao Chong's gaze without hesitation, very calmly.

Xiao Chong soon returned his attention to the game:

"I eat very little. Sometimes it's canned food, sometimes it's birds, mice, and insects they catch, frozen meat, and wild vegetables they bring back, and sometimes it's the fish I raise myself."

"You're so young, eating raw food isn't good for your stomach, right?" Shang Jianyao seriously discussed this academic issue.

Xiao Chong chuckled:

"I taught them how to cook and boil things.

"Isn't that cool?"

"Cool!" Shang Jianyao clapped his hands.

With this applause, Xiao Chong became a bit embarrassed:

"They actually knew how to use lighters, I just told them they could use fire to cook and boil things.

"Do you want to try some?"

Shang Jianyao didn't hesitate:

"What do you have?"

"I don't know, it depends on what they bring back. I'm not picky, really!" Xiao Chong emphasized.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment, wiped his mouth, and changed the subject:

"How long have you been here?"

"I don't know." Xiao Chong recalled. "I don't have a calendar, but it's been a very long time. The old lady who used to be an auntie has now become a grandma."

"Staying here for so long, doesn't it affect your growth?" Shang Jianyao asked with concern.

Xiao Chong frowned:

"You're so annoying, don't ask such questions."

Before Shang Jianyao could respond, he said happily:

"Actually, being a kid forever isn't bad, right? You don't have to worry about many things, no troubles, just play games and read books, and there are no parents to interrupt or control your playtime."

Shang Jianyao was silent for a moment:

"Don't you miss them?"

Xiao Chong pursed his lips for a few seconds:

"I do.

"But what's the point of missing them, they're long dead."

Shang Jianyao fell silent, not speaking for a while. Xiao Chong continued to play the game seriously, not caring about his unusual behavior.

After a long time, Shang Jianyao looked at the LCD screen in front of him:

"How is there electricity here?"

"They pulled a wire from the underground machine room, hehe, I directed them!" Xiao Chong was very proud.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment, looked at the colorful game screen, and picked up a joystick next to the black machine:

"How do you play this?"

Xiao Chong's eyes lit up:

"Come, I'll teach you.

"This button is for jumping, this one is for rolling, this one is for blocking, and after blocking, you can counterattack..."

...

In the corridor.

After waiting for a long time and finding no signs of a second attack, Jiang Baimian returned to her original position.

She carefully sensed the electrical signals and said loudly:

"Come out, the attackers have left."

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong left their hiding spots and cautiously walked to Jiang Baimian's side.

"This place is very strange, we need to leave as soon as possible." Bai Chen didn't hide her thoughts.

Long Yuehong looked around and asked:

"Where is Shang Jianyao?"

Jiang Baimian was also puzzled:

"There are electrical signals here...

"No, two almost overlapping electrical signals.

"Was Shang Jianyao forced to sleep?"

This was the most reasonable explanation she could think of based on the environment and previous encounters.

If he wasn't controlled, the currently living Shang Jianyao shouldn't have no response at all.

Long Yuehong, who knew Shang Jianyao better, said with some tension:

"Maybe he encountered 'danger' and is having a staring contest with it, whoever blinks first speaks, and whoever speaks first loses."

"Shang Jianyao might do that, but why would 'danger' indulge him?" Jiang Baimian said as she approached the wooden door with a human-shaped hole.

Getting closer, she saw light flickering inside.

"Maybe it's the ability of the 'Clown Detective'..." Bai Chen whispered.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"Whatever the situation, we need to save him first."

Wake him up if necessary, or interrupt the "staring contest."

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong immediately provided cover for the team leader as they had been trained.

Jiang Baimian raised her hand and shot through the hole in the door.

The sound of the shot echoed, and she rammed the lock, bouncing back and leaning against the side wall to avoid any attack.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen aimed from diagonal positions, ready to shoot if anything moved.

However, there was no reactive gunfire from inside the room, and no one other than Shang Jianyao appeared, only strange hitting sounds could be heard.

Seeing the flickering light leaking from the room, Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen became even more puzzled about Shang Jianyao's current situation.

Without wasting time, Jiang Baimian rolled into the room under the cover of her two teammates.

She immediately leaped behind a table and peeked through the gap to observe the situation away from the door.

The first thing she saw was Shang Jianyao with a focused expression and a seven or eight-year-old boy, then two joysticks, a black machine, a lit LCD screen, and the strange, changing images on the screen.

Jiang Baimian's gaze froze for a moment.

She had already imagined many bizarre scenarios, but the scene in front of her still exceeded her expectations.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Baimian didn't show herself and asked loudly.

"Playing games." Shang Jianyao said without turning his head.

Jiang Baimian's lips twitched, and she stood up with heightened alertness, but nothing changed in the room.

Seeing this, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen slowly approached and were simultaneously stunned by the scene.

"Is it fun?" Jiang Baimian deliberately chose a less sensitive question.

"Very fun!" Shang Jianyao answered without hesitation.

Jiang Baimian's expression was momentarily stunned, then she smiled:

"Who is this person next to you?"

"Him?" Shang Jianyao stared intently at the character in the game. "A new friend I just met."

Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen didn't relax their vigilance and remained in a position ready to dodge or attack.

What a joke, in such a city ruin, in the basement of such a building, even if an adult claiming to be a relic hunter appeared, it would be suspicious and must be guarded against, let alone a seven or eight-year-old boy.

How did he survive?

At this moment, Shang Jianyao continued to introduce:

"His name is Xiao Chong."

Xiao Chong... Long Yuehong was first stunned, then felt a chill rise from his spine, rushing to his head.

His body hair stood on end, and he seemed to hear the old lady's whisper again:

"You... disturbed... Xiao Chong..."

At this moment, Long Yuehong almost pulled the trigger.

Fortunately, the next second, Shang Jianyao said with a mix of sadness and anger:

"Ah, he's dead again.

"Xiao Chong, I have to go, see you if we meet again."

Xiao Chong turned his head, looking disappointed:

"Stay a little longer? No one has played games with me for a long time.

"They just can't learn."

Jiang Baimian was thinking if this was a shared dream or hallucination when she suddenly sensed several electrical signals approaching.

"Be careful!" she warned and raised her grenade launcher.

While Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were on guard, Shang Jianyao looked at Xiao Chong and said thoughtfully:

"Why don't you come with us, play games at our place?

"Get some fresh air."

Xiao Chong thought for a few seconds and smiled:

"Okay!"

As soon as he spoke, Jiang Baimian noticed that the approaching electrical signals first stopped, then moved away.

This... Jiang Baimian cautiously closed her mouth and said nothing.

Xiao Chong took out a red backpack from somewhere, packed the black machine, game joysticks, and other items inside.

Wearing a set of yellow clothes, he quickly put on the backpack and looked up at the standing Shang Jianyao:

"Let's go."

Shang Jianyao looked at him for a moment and suddenly smiled:

"You look like scrambled eggs with tomatoes."

"..." Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen were speechless.

They never expected Shang Jianyao to say such a thing to such a strange little boy in such a scene.

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