For a moment, everyone followed her line of sight to Ye Chang.
On the floor lit by ordinary candles, there was indeed no shadow of Ye Chang.
"Where's your shadow? Are you human?!" Wu Ying asked.
As we all know, in the nightmare world, only ghosts and indescribable monsters have no shadows.
"What the hell did you get in here?!"
All of a sudden, everyone looked at Ye Chang with suspicious and terrifying eyes, and quietly spread out and backed away, except Chi Nan.
Even when he was questioned by his companions, Ye Chang didn't seem flustered at all. He even looked at Chi Nan innocently: "Could it be that my shadow alienated and ran away because I was lit by candlelight last night?"
Wu Ying obviously didn't believe it. In order to confirm, she even glanced at the floor: "Don't try to fool people!"
She pointed to Chi Nan's clear shadow on the ground and said coldly, "You live in a dormitory. He is illuminated by candles just like you, but isn't the shadow good? How do you explain this?"
Ye Chang was stunned for a moment, and then asked Chi Nan in a helpless joking tone: "Brother Nan, am I unable to wash myself after jumping off the Yellow River?"
Chi Nan lowered his eyes, looked at the bright ground under Ye Chang's feet, and said thoughtfully, "Last night, you put out the candle."
"Well, so what?"
Chi Nan frowned slightly: "Perhaps the human candle has a dangerous trigger point. If anyone extinguishes the human candle, his shadow will be taken away."
"There is also a possibility that our shadows have begun to mutate since stepping into Candleman Town. The voices Rui Rui heard before and the people I sensed in the bathroom may be the shadows, but they can't do anything for the time being. It's just out of the control of the ontology." Chi Nan added.
Everyone was stunned, Chi Nan's words made some sense at first glance.
Makes sense, but unfortunately there is no evidence.
Wu Ying continued to doubt: "According to what you said, we may all have our shadows taken away, but why was Ye Chang taken away first?"
Chi Nan thought for a while: "So I feel that the first possibility is more likely, and..."
"Because I fouled in the last instance, the system forcibly increased the mortality rate by 90%, so if something bad happens, it will definitely fall on me first." Ye Chang explained for Chi Nan.
Then he smiled slightly bitterly: "If you doubt me, I can handle it with you, but..."
He paused and changed a serious tone, "Don't embarrass Brother Nan."
Lao Yu bit his cigarette and looked at Ye Chang for a while, then came over and patted him on the shoulder: "Chi Nan's inference is quite reasonable, it is very important to us, I will trust you for the time being."
"Thank you." Ye Chang said sincerely.
"But that doesn't mean we won't guard against you," Dysonson added.
Ye Chang nodded: "Of course, I can understand."
Lao Yu had a troubled look on his face: "It's just... If it's really like the first situation that Chi Nan deduced, the act of destroying the candle will lead to the capture of the shadow, then this copy is too difficult, and it is not inextinguishable, nor is it. What are we going to do..."
Xia Wei was shocked and added: "The second kind is also very scary, it's impossible to prevent..."
Chi Nan was still standing beside Ye Chang, and he didn't show any fear from beginning to end. He thought about it and said, "When the work is over, go to the ghost wall to confirm, maybe Ye Chang's shadow is there, and it's still there. You can confirm whether Rui Rui is... safe now."
The implication is that if there are more shadows on the ghost wall, either Ye Chang lost it, or Ruirui was waxed by the shadow last night...
Everyone understood, looked at the crying mother almost at the same time, and nodded silently.
At 4:20 p.m., Wu Ying and Dysonson sent the trance-like young mother back to the dormitory, and they joined the crowd and rushed to the town square.
They confirmed it three times, and the shadows on the ghost wall did not increase, and the number of candlesticks in the exhibition hall did not change.
Lao Yu bit the cigarette butt and breathed a sigh of relief: "It should be considered good news that no additional figures were found."
This at least shows that Ruirui still has a great possibility of surviving, but after a little reassurance, it becomes more and more confusing. In addition to the death rules of human candle shadow alienation, there is another set of potential disappearance rules waiting for them...
"But since there is no Ye Chang's shadow on the wall, what happened to his shadow?"
Everyone had new questions, and looked at Ye Chang with uneasy expressions, and even Chi Nan, who was standing beside him, felt the unfriendlyness around him.
"I always feel unsafe to let a person without a shadow stay in the team." Wu Ying has a direct personality and always expresses her doubts and dissatisfaction without shyness.
Ye Chang pursed his lips and nodded slightly: "I didn't take care of my shadow and caused trouble to everyone, I'm very sorry."
Wu Ying's expression froze at his calm attitude: "What is your attitude?"
Ye Chang: "..."
Chi Nan: "Then what attitude should he have?"
His original intention was to be curious about the emotions and reactions of normal human beings, hoping to get answers from this aggressive lady, but because of his unwavering tone, the other party thought he was provocative.
Wu Ying sneered: "What do you mean? Shouldn't he try to prove his innocence to us?"
Ye Chang suddenly smiled, very apologetic: "I'm sorry, I'm not innocent."
When he said this, everyone was stunned, including Chi Nan.
"I can't guarantee that my shadow won't do bad things, and I can't prove its innocence." Ye Chang deliberately used "it" to refer to the shadow.
Lao Yu saw that the atmosphere was stalemate, and pressed the cigarette butt against the ghost wall: "Okay, let's not fight infighting, don't forget that if classmate Ye didn't come out in the past two days, that unlucky box will randomly be in the hands of any of us."
After hearing this, even if everyone doubts Ye Chang again, it's not easy to beep.
Indeed, if Ye Chang hadn't taken the initiative to be a human candle yesterday and got the box that symbolized death, he probably wouldn't have lost his shadow.
Today is also when he once again stood in front of everyone and once again won the terrifying title of "Excellent Volunteer".
Just when everyone fell silent, Lao Yu gave Chi Nan a wink: "Chi Nan, come here, I'll have a few words with you alone."
Then he smiled at Ye Chang, "I borrow your roommate to say something, don't mind."
Ye Chang's eyes narrowed for a moment, and then he narrowed his eyelids lightly. His expression was hidden in the dim candlelight, making it difficult to see, and his tone was still as relaxed as usual: "Brother Nan is not alone."
"Yeah, it's fine if you don't mind." Lao Yu responded half-jokingly.
"What's wrong?" Chi Nan asked, seeing Lao Yu's uncharacteristically serious expression.
Lao Yu frowned and seemed to be mulling over his words: "That classmate Ye, did he really follow you as soon as he entered the nightmare world?"
Chi Nan: "Well, our last dungeon happened to be assigned as roommates."
Lao Yu nodded: "So, he was brought out by you."
Chi Nan: "...No, I won't bring anyone."
Lao Yu smiled briefly, then fell silent again, and said in a low voice, "Even so, you should be careful."
Chi Nan rarely frowned: "What do you mean?"
Lao Yu looked at him secretly: "I always feel that he doesn't look like a newcomer when he handles problems and makes judgments."
Chi Nan didn't answer, and Lao Yu said again, "I don't look like an ordinary person either."
Chi Nan thought for a while: "But the old sleepwalker who pretends to be a newcomer should deliberately hide his edge, like Nanlu?"
Lao Yu was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "It's true that you said that, Ye Chang is too pushy like this."
"Anyway, it's always right to be careful." Lao Yu warned again, he believed that intimacy would lower IQ.
Chi Nan pursed his lips and said, "Uncle Yu, in "You Yu's Dream", you also think I'm not an ordinary person, right? "
Lao Yuding looked at him for a moment and smiled: "I don't think you are an ordinary person now."
Chi Nan: "...Oh."
"But you're not the same, how do you say it..." Lao Yu scratched his neck, "You don't feel any danger, he... I can't tell."
Then he shook his head again, "Anyway, although I didn't think you were right at the time, I didn't say this to the little anchor."
Chi Nan nodded and grasped the point: "So, do you think Ye Chang is dangerous?"
Old Yu glanced at Ye Chang who was not far away from harmless people and animals: "I don't have any definite evidence, I just rely on people's feelings. You can believe it or not, it's up to you, I'm not necessarily right."
"Or, I am wrong a lot of times." Lao Yu adheres to the golden mean.
"I see." Chi Nan lowered his eyes, for some reason suddenly flashed across his mind at the last dance party on the "Dusk Cruise" that day, and the dream maker hurriedly picked up the object he knocked off his arms.
He couldn't help but imagine that object as a pocket watch that Ye Chang always carried with him. Maybe there was some similarity between the two.
Those who are old and know how to behave, don't say anything more at this moment: "Let's go, go back."
Just when Lao Yu and Chi Nan were talking, Xia Wei walked up to Ye Chang: "I believe in you, and thank you for protecting us these two days."
Saying that, he blinked towards Ye Chang without hesitation, implying obvious meaning.
Ye Chang, like a good student, seems a little embarrassed to smile: "Thank you."
Xia Weizhen thought he was shy: "Don't think I'm shameless, the whereabouts of my friends are unknown and I'm thinking of looking for my little brother. To be honest, the nightmare world is precarious, and it's still a problem whether I can get out alive, so I don't play the reserved game I will clearly want to fight for it, I really like your type, give me a chance if possible, you will not lose."
Ye Chang just wanted to say no, but Xia Wei gave him a shush gesture: "Don't answer me in a hurry, please, give me some face."
Ye Chang politely smiled and shook his head: "I'm really sorry, I have someone I'm interested in."
As he said that, he raised his eyes, and his eyes fell on Chi Nan and Lao Yu who were walking in his direction. At that moment, the corners of his lips raised an imperceptible smile.
"Let's look for Ruirui in the town before it's completely dark?" Wu Ying suggested, "The town is not big, so if you look for it, there may be clues."
Although everyone felt that there was little hope in their hearts, they all nodded in agreement, and the group quickly divided into three groups according to the dormitory to find the little girl in the town.
Chi Nan and Ye Chang are in charge of the southern part of the town. Candleman Town is eerily quiet at night. Those NPCs seem to be off work, hiding in candle-lit homes and not going out.
Chi Nan even thought that if a shot is fired on the street, no NPC will stick out his head from the house to find out.
Ye Chang just happened to think similar to him: "I found out that there are no police stations, prisons, etc. in Candleman Town."
Chi Nan knew that he had seen Ye Chang tortured to extract a confession: "If you really want to use force, it's very convenient."
Ye Chang smiled, and the two remained silent after that. Only the sound of footsteps echoed in the faint candlelight. Walking in the narrow alley, it was easy to give people a sense of loneliness and loneliness that they were heading to the underworld.
Chi Nan's shadow was cast on the wall by the candlelight, and it was long and faint. He looked at the white painted wall from the corner of his eye, and only his own figure was reflected on it. The shadow of Ye Chang running away from home Haven't come back yet.
Maybe it never intends to come back... Chi Nan thought.
"What's wrong?" Ye Chang asked beside Chi Nan, his tone was as gentle and calm as usual.
Chi Nan shook his head: "Think of something."
Ye Chang nodded, but didn't say anything, and didn't ask Lao Yu to talk to him alone, the two just walked very close quietly.
The sky is getting darker, and the candle light from the thousands of households is more and more dazzling.
He has been paying attention to Chi Nan's pupils shrinking suddenly. Just now, there seemed to be a black object sticking to his shadow. The blank space on the wall seemed to be in poor contact. The moment he concentrated, there was a flash, and there was no sound. Akira.
But in the blink of an eye, the picture is still, and there is really only his lonely shadow on the wall.
It was as if his eyes were dazzled just now.
"Did you see it?" Chi Nan turned around and asked Ye Chang.
Ye Chang: "What?"
"It seemed like... something flashed across the wall just now."
Ye Chang frowned, then shook his head: "Maybe someone's candle shook?"
Chi Nan regretfully said, "I thought it came back."
"It" naturally refers to Ye Chang's shadow.
Ye Chang smiled bitterly: "It's not necessarily a good thing to come back. After all, it has been alienated. It's not so much my shadow as a monster parasitized by shadow."
"Brother Nan, are you really not afraid of me?" Ye often asked in a relaxed tone.
Chi Nan blinked in confusion: "Why are you afraid of you?"
Ye Chang seemed a little surprised, and paused: "Just kidding."
He subconsciously put his hand in his pocket and tapped the pocket watch lightly. The surroundings were too quiet, and the sound of knuckles touching the metal case of the pocket watch was clear and diffused.
Chi Nan suddenly said: "At the end of the "Dusk Cruise", I met a dream maker on the bottom of the sea. "
Ye Chang paused slightly: "Do you know me?"
Chi Nan shook his head: "I don't know you, I just met once..."
After a pause, Chi Nan corrected it again, "Twice."
Counting the prom and dancing together.
Ye Chang smiled: "Is it the one you listen to music in the living room of his house?"
Chi Nan was stunned for a moment. Indeed, he told Ye Chang about this, so he said, "Well, alone, but I don't know what his name is."
"He seems to have a pocket watch similar to yours." Chi Nan lied. In fact, at the dance, he didn't know whether the object dropped by the Dream Maker was a pocket watch, but he didn't know why he wanted to say that, and then observed Ye What is often the answer to this.
Ye Chang raised the corners of his lips calmly: "Really? Suddenly I was looking forward to seeing that dream maker."
Chi Nan glanced at him: "a pocket watch...is it something very important to you?"