The next day, Feng Yongrui had nothing to do, so he told Big Brother that he would "stay in his room" and sleep some more. Of course, in reality, he wasn't inside his room at all.
Feng Yongrui flew away from Xu Chao's mansion and landed in front of the lake. Last time, he had simply followed He Yi inside the whirlpool, so he hadn't taken a proper look at the lake.
Now, since he was visiting this place in the daytime, Feng Yongrui was able to look at the lake clearly. The water was a dark, bluish color and the whirlpool at the center of the lake looked less menacing under the light.
Feng Yongrui gulped nervously and jumped inside the whirlpool. When he landed on the ground, he followed Stan's previous instructions and entered the room where Stan was kept. Of course, when he was doing all of this, Feng Yongrui was in his "Invisible" mode.
Feng Yongrui pushed open the door and entered Stan's room. Just like before, Stan was sitting inside an opened seashell, his hands bound by "electric rings". Stan did not sense Feng Yongrui's presence, but he saw the door opening and closing, and his eyes lit up.
"Is it you?" Stan asked eagerly.
Feng Yongrui couldn't help smiling. Was this kid waiting for him?
"I'm here," Feng Yongrui spoke.
"Is Lilith here?" he asked.
"No, she hasn't come here for several days, I think she's busy with something," Stan replied.
A rare look of excitement could be seen on his face, and his eyes were shining.
"Are you here to set me free?" he asked.
"Well... I haven't actually figured out a way to free you yet," Feng Yongrui admitted apologetically.
"It's fine, it's fine. I've already gotten a rough idea on how to do it. I'll explain everything. So, you know that this binds here are made of magical prowess, right?" Stan said, pointing at the electric binds that tied his wrists.
Feng Yongrui nodded, and then, remembering that Stan couldn't see him, gave a hum in reply.
"Well... ahem," Stan suddenly paused and looked at the air in front of him sheepishly.
"You're going to help me, right? So, I'll just tell you everything," he said slowly, biting his lips in hesitation.
"...As I've mentioned last time, I've been trapped here my entire life. I don't remember not being in this place," Stan explained slowly.
Feng Yongrui shook his head disapprovingly. Lilith was too much, wasn't she? Why would she lock up a child like this?
"...It's rather hard to explain, but the point is, I'm somehow connected to Lilith," Stan said. "When she trapped me here, she used her magical prowess to bind me... but if you just break these binds, you won't 'free' me. Because Lilith is connected to me, she'll always know where I am and whether I'm still trapped here or not..."
"So it's like she has a GPS tracking device on this kid?" Feng Yongrui muttered inside his heart.
"How difficult. This means that using my magical prowess to break your binds isn't enough, is it?" Feng Yongrui asked.
The last time Feng Yongrui went here, he had tried to use his magical prowess to free this child, but once his magical prowess came in contact with Lilith's magic, he got hurt instead...
"Last time, I thought you were very strong, stronger than Lilith, so you would be able to break these binds," Stan said, pointing to the binds on his wrists.
"But, even if I managed to help you break the binds, wouldn't Lilith find out about it?" Feng Yongrui asked, confused. "If you knew that you and Lilith were connected, at that time why did you still ask me to free you? You didn't explain anything to me..."
"Hahaha..." Stan looked sideways as he pursed his lips. "I just wanted you to help me get out of here quickly, I didn't really think about the consequences..." he admitted.
"I mean, I've been here for so long that I don't even know how old I am supposed to be. No one has been able to come here and get out alive without Lilith noticing their presence, so when I found you, I simply thought you were strong. Even if Lilith found out that you saved me, I thought that since you were strong, you would be able to get us out of here..."
Feng Yongrui didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So this kid had overestimated his (Feng Yongrui's) abilities?
"I have two other questions. If you know I'm strong, how do you know that I would listen to you and come to help you?" Feng Yongrui asked directly.
"I was just betting and hoping that you would come," Stan replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"After all, I'm just a cute, helpless, and innocent child~ How can you not have the heart to save me?" he added.
Feng Yongrui: "..."
"Alright, here's my second question. Lilith locked you up here, right? But as far as I can see, you magical prowess is pretty strong, and yet you can't get out of here? Why is that? Ah, and also, how are you able to see the things outside of this room when you're trapped in here?" he asked.
The child rolled his eyes. "That's more than one question," he said, "Someone here doesn't know how to count."
Feng Yongrui gritted his teeth. If this child didn't have a body, he would've thought that this child was the System's child!
"Hahaha~ Host, I like this one," the System's voice suddenly appeared.
"Let's just help him, Host," it added.
Feng Yongrui felt his eye twitching and ignored the System.
"So? You haven't answered me yet?" Feng Yongrui said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm able to see the outside world to a certain extent because I can move my magical prowess and extend it around the area... think of it like using your hands to feel for things in the dark, you know," Stan explained.
"That's how I'm able to 'see' everything outside of this room. Ah, I'm also able to use a little bit of magical prowess if I really concentrate."
"...I see." Feng Yongrui nodded.
"Is that all? Now, enough with the questions, and let's get to work. So I'll need you to use your magical prowess and try to break these binds on my wrists," Stan said.
Feng Yongrui: ???
"...That's all? Then, what's the difference with what you told me to do last time?" Feng Yongrui asked, baffled.
Stan rolled his eyes. "I'll help you with my magical prowess as well," he said.
"The technicality is rather difficult to explain, but the point is, I'll use my magical prowess to envelope your magic," Stan said.
"As I've said, Lilith and I are connected. And, since these binds were made by Lilith, if someone with low magical prowess tries to forcefully break these binds, Lilith's magical prowess will hurt them."
"I've tried to use my magical prowess to break these binds myself, but my magical prowess is not strong enough..." Stan trailed off.
"So Lilith's magical prowess hurt you?" Feng Yongrui asked.
"Nope," Stan said, smiling. "That's where the difference is. Because I'm connected to her, instead of hurting me, her magical prowess will simply absorb mine."
"Wait, wait. Let me process what you just said," Feng Yongrui quickly said.
So... if Feng Yongrui used his powers on the binds, he would get hurt. But, if Stan used his powers on the binds, his powers would be sucked by the binds?
After waiting for a few seconds, Stan continued talking.
"I've thought about it, and we'll both use our magical prowess. You'll be in charge of breaking the seal and I will envelope your magical prowess with mine so that Lilith's magic can't hurt you. Do you get what I'm saying?" Stan asked.
Feng Yongrui nodded slowly.
"I think I get it. Alright, wait a minute, I need to prepare myself for a while," Feng Yongrui said.
Stan furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the empty space in front of him.
"Prepare yourself? What for?? Preparing yourself mentally?" Stan asked, confused.
Feng Yongrui ignored Stan and focused on his "preparations"... And what else could he be doing? He was looking at the System Mall!
"I don't really trust this kid," Feng Yongrui muttered to the System.
"Eh? Why not? It can't be just because he bullied you a bit, right?" the System asked.
"No... I don't know, when he was explaining everything to me just now, I feel like he was hiding something. Is breaking the seal really that simple? What if Lilith finds out about my presence?" Feng Yongrui muttered.
"Anyway, I can't believe everything he says and take his words as face value. I'll need something... Is there anything in the System Mall that lets you see the true state of things or something?" Feng Yongrui asked.
"'The true state of things'? Errr..." the System did not know what to say.
"Yeah, something that will let me know how Stan is connected to Lilith. Or, if you don't have something like that, is there a manual or skill that will help me free Stan?" Feng Yongrui asked.
***
You find a kid trapped inside a room. The first thing you do would be...
a) Save him/her.
b) Ask him/her why he/she is here.
c) Introduce yourself.
Comment below~~