"I always see them... I don't even know when it started, maybe when I was very, very young. It's just that as I grew a bit older, I gradually understood that some of the 'things' I saw, others couldn't see.
I've told others before, but I had no evidence, and no one was willing to believe me.
Those 'things,' I can always see their presence, but... they never talk to me or communicate with me.
You can't even imagine what this kind of life is like.
I sit in the restaurant eating, and I see a ghost sitting at the table next to me. I stand by the roadside waiting for a bus, and I see wandering ghosts.
Sometimes, at night, when I wake up from my bed, I just turn my head and see a ghost floating in my room!
Standing in front of the mirror, sometimes I even see one standing behind me...
No one wants to believe me; everyone thinks I'm a child who likes to lie for attention.
My friends, my school teachers, no one wants to believe me!"
Will's words were filled with frustration.
Qiao Qiao, upon hearing this, looked at the pale-faced little boy and gently reached out to pat his hair, whispering, "What about your family?"
"Family?"
Will pursed his lips.
As if hesitating for a moment, he slowly said, "My family, you've just seen them."
"That chubby man, is he your father?" Qiao Qiao sighed and gently squeezed Will's shoulder. "Is he not treating you well?"
"He's not my father," Will raised his head, and in his eyes, there was a faint sense of gratitude towards Qiao Qiao, but then he shook his head. "He's my uncle, Rosen."
"Uncle? What about your parents?" Qiao Qiao frowned.
"...They're dead," Will shook his head, his tone becoming somber.
Qiao Qiao fell silent, and Chen Xiaolian glanced at her, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," Qiao Qiao's eyes showed clear pity.
"It's okay," Will sniffed forcefully, even though he looked like he wanted to cry, he sucked his tears back and wiped his eyes hard. He spoke softly, "When I was very young, my parents were no longer around. They told me that my parents had gone far away to work, but they died in a car accident.
I was adopted by my aunt when I was very young, and she treated me fairly well. Unfortunately, she passed away a few years ago.
I've been with Uncle Rosen all this time."
"Is he not treating you well?" Qiao Qiao frowned.
Will smiled wryly and looked at Qiao Qiao, "When you both came up the stairs just now, I thought you were here to collect debts. Uncle Rosen's house often has people coming to collect debts; he owes a lot of money outside, and many people are his creditors. He likes gambling. When my aunt was still alive, we had a small bakery, but after she passed away, Uncle Rosen quickly lost the bakery to gambling.
He also loves to drink. Every time someone comes to collect debts and leaves, he drinks a lot and then gets angry...,"
There was no need to continue after this point.
Chen Xiaolian sighed.
It seemed that Will had a very tragic background.
Qiao Qiao was clearly moved by sympathy, gently stroking Will's curly hair.
At this moment, Soo Soo suddenly jumped down from the stone platform and approached Will.
The little girl looked at Will, then took out a few pieces of candy from her small bag and held them out in her hand to offer to Will.
Will looked at the delicately made-up girl in front of him, and his pale face suddenly turned red, looking somewhat awkward.
"It's for you to eat," Soo Soo said softly, "Actually, I'm like you. My parents are no longer around. But... my sister and brother-in-law are very good to me."
Will was taken aback, glanced at Qiao Qiao, and his eyes welled up with emotion.
However, Soo Soo had already tugged at Chen Xiaolian's sleeve and whispered, "Oppa, he's really pitiful. Are we here to find him and take him back? Can we keep him? Let him be our team member, is that okay?"
Chen Xiaolian squatted down, looked at Soo Soo, and remained silent.
On the other hand, Will looked a bit puzzled, but when he saw Qiao Qiao looking at him with gentle eyes, the young boy's gaze held a hint of hope.
"Will, there are some things I need to tell you," Chen Xiaolian sighed. He picked Soo Soo up and placed her back on the stone platform, then walked over to Will.
He hesitated for a moment and then said slowly, "We... came from abroad."
"Well, are you Easterners?" Will was curious. "I heard about it in geography class."
"Yes, from a very distant East," Chen Xiaolian smiled, trying to keep his tone and expression gentle. "We've come to find you because we need you to be with us and help us with something. To put it simply, we may need some of your assistance."
"Help?" Will was taken aback. "What can I do for you? I... I'm only eight years old. If you need a guide, I can take you around nearby, but... you're not really ghosts, are you?"
"Of course not," Chen Xiaolian laughed. "You've touched my hand; I have a pulse."
"But... why does it seem like no one else can see you?" Will looked nervous. "Just now, two passersby walked past us... they looked at me strangely, as if... I was talking to myself here."
Chen Xiaolian was somewhat uncomfortable, scratched his head, and smiled wryly, "Well... it's because we have some kind of magical ability, you can think of it as... a type of spell? Magic?"
"Magic?" Will's eyes lit up instantly!
He suddenly jumped down from the stone platform, looking nervous and excited as he stared at Chen Xiaolian, "You mean... magic? Like in Harry Potter?"
Chen Xiaolian saw the blazing fire of hope in the boy's eyes.
Of course, he could understand such thoughts.
This boy named Will was practically a Harry Potter character replica.
Similarly young, both parents deceased, adopted by irresponsible relatives, and subjected to some mistreatment.
He also possessed some special abilities that ordinary people didn't have.
And then, he met some peculiar people who came to claim they knew magic...
At this moment, it wasn't hard to guess that this young boy was probably hoping for Chen Xiaolian to take him to some magical school.
To be honest, Chen Xiaolian didn't want to crush the hopes of this unfortunate boy.
"Will, for certain reasons that we don't fully understand yet, you are very special - you see, you can see things that others can't, like those ghosts. This alone proves it. I believe that you possess this special ability for a reason.
And we, it's because of this that we've come here and found you.
I can't explain too much to you right now, but I can say that we need you to come with us.
This journey might involve some risks, and there might be things that have never happened before, but we've come to find you for this purpose.
So, are you willing to come with us? I must emphasize that there might be some danger involved."
It was evident that Will was hesitating.
But Soo Soo was already smiling at him and said, "Don't worry, sister and oppa will definitely protect you. Sister and oppa are both very, very capable people!"
Faced with Soo Soo's smile and words, Will blushed again clearly.
He lowered his head, clenched his fists, and when he raised his head again, the young boy's eyes were filled with determination.
"I, I'm willing to go with you," Will said loudly. "Anyway, staying here, no one cares about me. I... I'm willing!"
"That's great!" Soo Soo looked very happy.
Will, however, secretly glanced at Soo Soo and then looked at Chen Xiaolian, "Sir, what can I do for you?"
Upon hearing this, Soo Soo immediately interjected before Chen Xiaolian could respond, "Oh, you should call him Guild Leader! Now you can consider yourself part of our team!"
Guild Leader?
In Will's eyes, excitement and enthusiasm increased even more.
Chen Xiaolian saw this but couldn't bring himself to correct them.
Clearly, Soo Soo had misunderstood, thinking that taking Will with them meant absorbing him into the team.
And Will seemed to have a similar misconception.
However, looking at the joy and excitement in Will's eyes, Chen Xiaolian just couldn't bring himself to explain.
Qiao Qiao had already held Chen Xiaolian's hand and silently shook her head at him.
Chen Xiaolian sighed and decided not to say more, "Let's go then. Let's regroup with the others. The other team should be heading towards us. Qiao Qiao, contact Lun Tai and find a meeting point."
The car was parked nearby, and Chen Xiaolian walked over, opened the car door, and Soo Soo had already hopped and skipped over to the car. She looked back at the apprehensive Will, then turned around and pulled him to get in the car.
The two kids climbed into the back seats, but before they could even sit properly, Soo Soo had already begun telling Will about the team, "There are many people in the team! Lun Tai Uncle is the most serious, but he has the softest heart. Roddy is always smiling, but he's actually a big troublemaker who loves pranks. Oh, and there's Xia Xiaolei; he's very easy to bully... and there's Sister Qimu Xi, even though she doesn't like to talk..."
Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao exchanged a wry smile, then got into the car as well.
Inside the car, Qiao Qiao used the team channel to contact the Lun Tai group.
Lun Tai's group said they were heading toward Alpha Street and estimated they would arrive in ten minutes.
Chen Xiaolian thought for a moment, "Let's find a meeting point in the middle. I feel a bit odd staying here where no one can see us."
Qiao Qiao nodded and added, "Roddy mentioned that there's a park between us and Lun Tai's group. We can meet there; it's a more open area."
"Alright, let's go with that plan," Chen Xiaolian started the car.
The first stage of the system's instance mission for finding people was set for sixty minutes.
So far, forty-eight minutes had passed.
Although the first stage of the mission had been completed smoothly, Chen Xiaolian still had a lingering sense of unease.
What would the second stage of the mission be after finding the girl?
In general, tasks involving finding people often led to more challenging and dangerous situations in the later stages.
For example, in the Japanese instance, finding the Japanese girl was followed by a series of adventures.
Chen Xiaolian had an instinctual feeling that it would be best to regroup with the other team members as soon as possible!
Furthermore, the fact that there was a skirmish in the first stage of the mission had put Chen Xiaolian on high alert.
Normally, the first stage of the mission should not have had any competitive elements, so why did the Awakened end up fighting each other?
As the car started and drove onto Alpha Street, entering the square, Will, who was sitting in the back, couldn't help but exclaim.
"Outside... outside... why are there no people on the streets? Where did everyone go?"
Chen Xiaolian remained focused on driving and didn't say anything, while Qiao Qiao turned back and smiled at Will, "Don't be afraid, kid, you're with us now!"
Upon hearing this, Will, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly felt a sense of closeness and subconsciously glanced at Qiao Qiao, "Yes, yes, I understand."
"You can call her Sister, that's how I call her. But for Oppa, you can only call him Guild Leader. I'm the only one who can call him Oppa," Soo Soo laughed from the side.
After crossing the square and driving on the empty streets, Chen Xiaolian decided to step on the gas pedal, racing down the road.
However, unexpectedly, there was a sudden loud "boom" in the distance on the road ahead!!
Then, a fiery explosion erupted behind a row of buildings!
Chen Xiaolian saw it, and so did the others in the car.
Chen Xiaolian's expression changed instantly!
The direction of the explosion... should be where the Lun Tai group was supposed to meet up!
Chen Xiaolian immediately slammed on the brakes and stopped the car, simultaneously shouting loudly on the team channel.
"Lun Tai! Lun Tai!!"
A few seconds later, they received a response from Lun Tai, "Damn it, we've run into trouble."
Chen Xiaolian angrily asked, "Were you attacked?"
"No..."
...
On one street, Lun Tai's car was blocked by a overturned bus lying across the road.
And just ahead, on both sides of the street, there were two groups of people in the buildings engaged in a firefight with firearms!
The continuous sound of gunfire echoed incessantly, and Lun Tai had quickly shifted into reverse gear, the car backing up all the way before directly entering an alley at the side of the road.
"...Not an attack, someone else is in a firefight, and we got caught up in it," Lun Tai gritted his teeth.
He looked out of the car window.
At one end of the street, the two sides were engaged in a firefight.
While at the other end of the street, a Thunderstorm Battle Tank suddenly appeared from the street corner! It then slowly moved into the street!
There were parked vehicles along the way, and amidst the crushing by the Thunderstorm Battle Tank, they left behind a pile of scrap metal!
"Get out of the car! Everyone, get out of the car!!" Lun Tai's face changed as soon as he saw the Thunderstorm Battle Tank!
The Thunderstorm Battle Tank was not a big deal; the Meteor Rock Guild had one of its own.
What truly made Lun Tai's face pale was the emblem on this Thunderstorm Battle Tank!
A bouquet of thorn flowers!!