Quadruple split.

Chapter 2778 Helping a Brother Out

A secluded labyrinth, a path of sorrow and guilt, leading to its end.
"Mo-chan..."

Finally reaching the end of the maze, Gu Xiaole, supporting herself with the Samurai Spirit, let out a soft cry and stumbled into the cage covered with white velvet.

At the same time, the deafening whispers that had been ringing out all around, almost shattering Gu Xiaole and the spirit of the servant, suddenly stopped.

Then--

"Sister Xiao Le! Samurai Shodown!"

Mo rushed to Gu Xiaole and exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you here?!"

"First... let's not talk about me, Mo-chan, what's wrong with you!"

Gu Xiaole stared blankly at Mo, who was bound by more than twenty white chains, including but not limited to his hands and legs. These chains extended from all sides of the 'cage' and finally 'gathered' on Mo's body. Even his neck was tightly bound by a heavy iron chain, which was suffocating to look at.

"don’t worry."

Noticing the worry in the girl's eyes, Mo immediately realized what she was worried about, and quickly gave her a reassuring smile, raising his hands and saying, "You see, as long as I want, these 'insurances' can be removed at any time."

The next instant, as if to confirm Mo's words, the white iron chains that seemed to be binding him tightly all slid to the ground with a clang, leaving the 'prisoner's' body without any hesitation.

"I'm glad you're okay, I'm glad you're okay!"

Gu Xiaole looked at Mo, who was wearing a white tracksuit and seemed to have not suffered much and whose complexion looked relatively healthy, and immediately reached out and grabbed the latter's wrist: "Come with me! We'll go now... eh?"

Suddenly noticing that although the other person allowed her to take their hand, they did not cooperate with her 'pulling', but instead stood firmly in place, Gu Xiaole curiously exclaimed 'Eh!'

"Walk for what?"

Mo remained firmly in place, looking at Gu Xiaole, who was full of anxiety, with great curiosity, and asked, "Where are you going?"

"This cage looks terrible."

With a gloomy expression, Samurai looked around at the three of them and said in a deep voice, "No matter what, let's get out of here first, and then we'll figure out a way to wake you up."

"Yeah!"

Gu Xiaole nodded vigorously in agreement, then looked at Mo with hopeful eyes: "So let's go quickly!"

"I'm not leaving."

Mo smiled slightly at the two of them, gently pulled away from Gu Xiaole's hand, and shook his head, saying, "You two go back."

Gu Xiaole immediately panicked and rushed forward, placing her hands on Mo's shoulders: "Mo-chan, do you even know what's going on right now?!"

"I don't really know."

Mo gave Gu Xiaole a gentle smile and said in a calm tone, "My mind isn't very clear right now, and my memories and thoughts are a bit fragmented, but there's one thing I'm sure of."

Samurai Spirit clenched his fists, his face ashen: "...What is it?"

"I can't leave here."

Mo turned to Samurai and smiled, "Because even if I leave here, I won't be able to 'get out.' Not only that, I'll even drag you two down with me and make you 'lost.'"

Gu Xiaole's gaze sharpened, and she said angrily, "Don't talk nonsense. When I said I would rescue you, I meant it. Since we were able to find you all this way, we can take you back!"

"Go back to where?"

Mo sighed softly and explained calmly, "The path you came from has never been my destination, and the path that will truly allow you to leave seems to have no meaning to me."

Gu Xiaole was furious: "How will you know if you don't try!"

"Because it's meaningless, because I'm afraid I'll lead you both astray."

Mo smiled and then sat cross-legged on the ground, letting the slow-moving chains bind him firmly to the spot again. He said softly to the two of them, "You should leave. It's dangerous here. As for how to escape... I'll think of another way."

"you will not."

Samurai stared intently at Mo and said coldly, "The fact that you can communicate with us normally right now is already your limit. After we leave, you will immediately be swallowed up by negative emotions again and become the kind of... pathetic person we just heard about."

"..."

After a long silence, Mo closed his eyes and said in a still gentle but aloof tone, "Go back."

"but--"

"If we can't do it, why waste each other's time?"

"Mo-chan!"

"Sorry, the Mo-chan you're talking about can't do anything."

"At least let me stay with you..."

"It's great to see you, Sister Xiao Le, and of course Samurai Shodown. Thanks to you all, I feel like I can keep going for a long time."

"Don't--"

"Don't come again."

However, Mo did not give Gu Xiaole and Shi Hun a chance. Just as they realized something was wrong and tried to stabilize their presence, the young man who had absolute dominion over the cage had already turned around and waved his hand lightly.

Om-!
With an irresistible sense of detachment, Gu Xiaole was suddenly thrown to the ground. When she tried to get up, she found herself back in the "Strange and Unusual" world.

And it seems she wasn't the only one who returned...

"Hi hi hi hi!"

Xueyin, who had been resting her chin on her hand and looking at Gu Xiaole for some time now, waved happily and said, "You came out of the dead too?"

"die?"

Gu Xiaole frowned and shook her head vigorously, saying, "I'm not dead, I was just... wait, Xueyin, you wouldn't have..."

"Yeah, Xueyin just froze to death."

The girl grinned and blinked, saying, "But it's also possible that I left that place just before I was about to freeze to death. After all, the 'protection' that the two shopkeeper brothers helped with was very effective, so it shouldn't have made me really die, right? Hmm, but if that's the case, Tan really did stab me to death in the [Innocent Realm], just to make me write songs."

"Frozen to death...what does that mean?"

While struggling against the persistent dizziness in her head, Gu Xiaole turned to the woman who had handed her a half-full cup of hot water and asked, "How about you help me explain?"

"can."

The girl, who had just spoken with the Rice brothers to learn about the situation from Xueyin, nodded and said without hesitation, "As far as I know, Xueyin seems to have been greatly disturbed by a dolphin-like sound that caused her to take a shortcut. At the end of the shortcut, she met Motan."

"It's sandalwood."

Xueyin corrected him, saying seriously, "Then Xueyin greeted and tried to talk to Tan, but he ignored me. Then Xueyin froze to death."

Gu Xiaole: "..."

Seeing the beautiful Onmyoji's speechless expression, Cha Nu had no choice but to add: "It is said that the place where Xue Yin found that Tan was a huge cage. From the moment she stepped into that cage, the surrounding environment became extremely cold. Although Xue Yin tried her best to hold on for a few minutes, she eventually lost consciousness from the cold."

"What about you?"

Before Gu Xiaole could get to the bottom of things, Xueyin asked with great interest, "How did you die and get out?"

"I'm not dead..."

Gu Xiaole shook her head, covered her head and said, "I was sent out by Mo Jiang. Although he didn't ignore me, he didn't want to leave with us. In his words, even if he left that cage, he still couldn't leave that place, and he would even lose his way with me."

"I see."

Xueyin nodded slightly and asked, "So now, that Miss Samurai is our last hope?"

"What do you mean? Samurai Shodown wasn't with me... Huh?!"

"With you what?"

"Where's Samurai Shodown!?"

……

A secluded labyrinth, a path of sorrow and guilt, leading to its end.
"You're still here..." After the glaring dark blue in his left eye gradually faded, Mo looked up at the servant spirit that was gradually solidifying in front of him, its expression complex and silent, and said with a bitter smile, "Why bother?"

"You yourself are not happy."

The servant spirit slowly stepped forward, gently embraced Mo, who was bound by dozens of chains, leaned on the latter's shoulder, and whispered in his ear: "I'm with you, you're not lonely, I'm happy."

"..."

"not happy?"

"No, it's just... this feeling of knowing you should be doing something, but being so lazy that you don't even want to open your eyes, and desperately wanting to just keep sleeping, is a bit infuriating."

"I'll accompany you."

"..."

"If you don't want to open your eyes, then don't. I'll hold you."

"..."

"Ah."

"What are you laughing at?"

"So warm."

"..."

"It's much warmer than that big kettle."

……

"Samurai Shodown is gone! Samurai Shodown is gone! She was definitely banished with me!"

Like an ant on a hot pan, Gu Xiaole paced nervously around the store, muttering rapidly to herself, until finally she ran up to the Rice brothers, who were whispering to each other by the window, and shouted, "Where's my Samurai Shodown?!"

"Uh... Ah... Oh!"

Ferry took a moment to realize what was happening, then exclaimed, "You mean your natal ghost? She's still inside Brother Mo Tan's consciousness. Do I need to bring her out?"

"no need."

Although he was quite dissatisfied with Samurai Spirit's 'cunning', Gu Xiaole still shook his head and said dryly, "Since I couldn't bring Mo-chan out, it's good to let Samurai Spirit keep him company."

Ferry nodded and asked Gu Xiaole, who seemed hesitant to speak, "Is there anything else you'd like to ask, Miss Gu?"

"...As you can see, neither I nor Xueyin succeeded."

Gu Xiaole sighed and asked with a wistful expression, "In that case, won't it be difficult for Mo-chan to wake up? After all, according to what you two said before, because he didn't tell you about his mental state, you can't infiltrate his mental world like Xueyin and I did and bring him out."

Qiao shrugged and said helplessly, "In fact, Miss Gu, even if we have a way to infiltrate his mental world, it will be difficult to bring him out. After all, without harming him, we, who are only in our spiritual form, may not be a match for Brother Mo Tan."

"..."

Although she had expected it, Gu Xiaole still lowered her shoulders upon hearing this and gritted her teeth, saying, "Then please take good care of Mo-chan during this time. I have to find a way to cover for him. After that, I will definitely find a way..."

"As for a solution, Ferry and I just came up with one."

Qiao crossed his arms and said seriously, "After Xueyin 'returned' almost frozen to death, we realized that we seemed to have taken things too lightly. We also realized that although you and Xueyin were able to enter Mo Tan's consciousness world, it did not mean that you had the ability to bring him out."

Gu Xiaole: "I just—"

"but!"

Ferry interrupted Gu Xiaole's feeble excuses and said seriously, "Based on what you said before, we noticed that Brother Mo Tan seems to have a very good relationship with someone 'named' Dongzi, so good that they can unconditionally trust each other, is that right?"

Gu Xiaole was taken aback at first, then nodded vigorously and said, "That's how it is."

"I see."

Qiao nodded slightly and asked, "In that case, you should also be able to assure that Dongzi is not only trustworthy, but also willing to take any risks for Brother Motan, right?"

Gu Xiaole nodded firmly again: "I'm sure."

"very good."

Ferry smiled, then pulled a Nokia phone from his pocket and tossed it to Gu Xiaole: "Call Dongzi."

"what?"

"Call Dongzi and ask him to come to our shop."

"Then what……"

"Call him over to help out your brother."

……

ten minutes later
Yi Dong's room at the Yi Family Villa in Dexin District, City B.
"Who is it?! How annoying!"

Because he hadn't been able to contact Mo Tan since morning, Yi Dong, feeling increasingly agitated, impatiently swiped his phone and answered a number belonging to some unknown, dubious sales company or insurance company. He said curtly, "I'm warning you, if you bother me again..."

"Fuyuko."

The next moment, Gu Xiaole's somewhat tired voice rang out from close range, startling Yi Dong.

"Sis?! What's wrong? Whose number is this? Where's your phone? What do you want? You haven't been kidnapped, have you? How much is the ransom? If it's over five million, I might not be able to come up with it right away..."

"Stop talking nonsense, I'll give you an address in a bit, come over as soon as possible."

"No, I'm busy."

"Something happened to Mo-chan."

"...?"

"Dongzi?"

"You mean something happened to Mo Tan?"

"Um……"

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

"The reason why Mo-chan had this accident is largely due to his mental state. You should know this better than I do, right?"

"address."

……

fifteen minutes later

The moment he stepped into the [Strange and Unusual] entrance, the Rice brothers forcibly pulled him into the 'gap' above Edinburgh. Yi Dong asked Gu Xiaole and the others expressionlessly, "What's going on?"

"I can explain it to you simply..."

"Don't explain yet, tell me how to save them."

"Grab Mo Tan's arm, relax, then go find him and bring him back."

"How to do it?"

"do not know."

"Okay, let's hurry."

"Let me make it clear beforehand, this matter is extremely risky..."

"hurry up."

"Okay, three...two...one!"

Chapter 2769: The End