It's Yu Chen?

They quickly lifted the shelf as Qi Jingguo pulled out his flashlight, pointing it directly into the darkness. They were startled. Xie Ai screamed once again the moment he saw the scene.

Inside a decayed dead body, completely burned to the bones, he lay, staring at them darkly with his hollow eyes. Worms rolled in and out of those two holes, making them cringe.

Xie Ai sucked in a sharp breath as he froze on the spot. Even though he was an IT expert and had created several horrific monsters for games and other virtual aspects for everyone, that didn't mean he was okay with seeing them.

His heart jumped in his chest like a frightened rabbit as he trembled upon seeing the dead body. He finally opened his mouth and asked, "W-what's this...?"

"A dead body." Qi Jingguo clicked his tongue. "Xie Ai, I thought you were smarter than that."

Xie Ai finally lifted his head and glared at the other Then without bothering to reply, he took a deep breath, trying to suppress the trace of deep fear in his heart.

He knew that his friends had helped him a lot, but he couldn't always be dependent on them, right? In another instance, he might end up being all alone. Who will help him?

So he hypnotized himself: There's nothing wrong with seeing a decayed dead body; this was one of the games he had created, and he was just here to test this game.

After repeatedly speaking those words in his heart, he opened his eyes. Now, he was completely calm as he glanced around.

By this time, they had already brought the body out, showing off the rest of it. It turns out that the dead body's skin was burned by at least 70%. They could still see the unburnt, decayed black and purple skin and vessels lying there. The worms worked their way through and ate the skin.

Yu Weimin frowned and said, "The death must have happened recently, a few weeks ago."

Xie Ai nodded stiffly as he tried to make himself look like he wasn't affected by the scene. Just then, a hand was placed on his shoulder, making him jump in fright.

Qi Jingguo, who had just made an effort to scare his friend away, clicked his tongue once again and said, "Really, don't try your best. Try working smartly. You don't have to stare at the body with us if you're uncomfortable."

Xie Ai averted his eyes and shook his head. "I have to try and become independent. What will happen to me once I enter an instance all alone?"

"Don't worry, not every instance is horror," said Yu Weimin as he bent over and checked the body as he frowned. "This body is a male... Who do you think he is?"

Throughout the time they spent here in this instance, they never saw a trace of Yu Chen's father. So they could directly jump to the conclusion that it was probably Yu Chen's body.

Even though no one said a word, they understood this fact in their hearts.

Xie Ai averted his eyes as he felt something complicated in his heart. He looked at the worms wandering about as he felt a trace of anger in his heart all of a sudden.

He suddenly had an intense desire to destroy this instance all together!

"Let's get out of this place first. It's close to night." Yu Weimin spoke as he stood up, heading toward the door.

The three of them made their way downstairs while glancing over at the other side. The guards weren't there, as dawn seemed to be closer.

Xie Ai asked, "How do you break a curse, then?"

"There are many ways," explained Yu Weimin. "First, find the curser and kill him. Second, you can offer your heart in exchange for lifting the curse. A word of caution: you can't offer someone else's heart because it backfires."

Xie Ai: "....."

"Isn't there an easy way?"

"There is." Qi Jingguo glanced back and shrugged. "Just destroy the instance, and you'll be done. The curse breaks, and the soul gets freed."

Xie Ai's steps paused as he looked at them. A trace of an idea formed in his eyes as Qi Jingguo noticed it. He was about to open his mouth to say it was impossible for a newbie to break the instance before he felt his lover nudging him on his side.

He looked over and saw Yu Weimin shaking his head as the latter mouthed, "Let him believe he can do it. The more we refuse, the more he will think it's a good idea."

Xie Ai finally asked, "Then... What's the condition to destroy the instance?"

Qi Jingguo sighed and explained, "Every instance has a condition that traps the players and keeps them away from the window, and in this world, they are the guards. But this situation leaves us very limited time to go and jump off the window because everything will be collapsing."

Xie Ai's face paled as he thought about it carefully. He opened his mouth finally, asking, "Those guards... They are dead, right?"

At this time, Yu Weimin, who was walking ahead, also stopped walking and turned swiftly, as if understanding what the young man behind him was going to say. "You don't mean cremating their dead bodies, do you?"

Xie Ai nodded as he pursed his lips, averting his eyes. "Yes. That's the best solution I can think of at the moment…. At least we should try, no? We are already trapped."

The three of them were in deep thought as Yu Weimin finally made a decision. "We will try. Let's go back first."

They made their way back through the open ground and finally managed to return to their prison building. Just then, they noticed the guards standing there in the shadows, hidden deep inside the corridor.

The head guard raised his head and grinned. "I knew you would come back."

Xie Ai's face changed as he heard Yu Weimin saying, "Run!"

No one said anything after that as they all rushed toward the stairs. They knew that it would be a dead end, but they didn't have any choice.

But there was something that Xie Ai didn't know. "You guys," he gasped while running, "you can fight, don't you? Why don't we try killing them now?"

Yu Weimin shook his head, but he didn't bother explaining. It was his lover who opened his mouth as he said, "It's impossible to kill a ghost. Once you start fighting them, they will continue fighting on and on for hours and even days. They don't get tired, but we do. Best to stay away from ghosts and monsters."

Xie Ai nodded as they heard the head guard's voice from down there as the latter chuckled. "Let's see where you go! That broken shrine? Do you really think it can save you guys?"