Card Room

Wine and Sugar - Extra Two

Lu Jiuchuan didn’t want to recall his ten day experience at all.

He hid himself in the forest full of wild beasts, always vigilant. The moment he was too tired to hold on, he would climb a tree and take a nap.

One time, he was surrounded by wolves and fought a bloody battle with the wolves all night. He only managed to survive by killing dozens of wild wolves with the freezing skill of the ice sword.

There were many types of wild beasts in the forest and they were extremely ferocious. Lu Jiuchuan didn’t have anything to eat in his backpack so he could only rely on his experience in the wild to find some wild fruits to satisfy his hunger. He also ate wolf meat raw. It was sour and hard with the taste of blood. He really didn’t want to try it a second time in his life.

As time passed, the hunters still couldn’t find him. They later guessed that he had hidden in the most dangerous forest so they collectively entered the forest to pursue and intercept Lu Jiuchuan.

The number of hunters in the Nightmare Room was several times that of J of Clubs. Lu Jiuchuan relied on his rich experience in wilderness survival and smeared his body with mud, tied weeds around himself and hid in the dense forest… it was a difficult nine days.

In those days, he always thought of Tang Ci. He and Tang Ci were eliminated to the Nightmare Room together. He searched the forest but he couldn’t find Tang Ci or his other teammates. The Nightmare Room of J of Clubs was probably independent. They would be thrown into different parallel Nightmare Rooms separately and the teammates couldn’t meet each other.

In other words, Tang Ci would face all the dangers alone.

He thought about how Tang Ci would starve and freeze, be chased by wild beasts and be surrounded by hunters… Lu Jiuchuan was so distressed that he could barely breathe. He didn’t know if Tang Ci could cope with all of this and he was even more unsure if Tang Ci would survive.

Still, he at least wanted to live!

It was only by living that there could be hope and he could meet Tang Ci again.

On the 10th day, Lu Jiuchuan was found by the hunters. He suffered a lot of injuries and was about to run out of physical strength. He was about to be killed by the hunters when fortunately, a group of hungry wild wolves surrounded them. The hunters had to focus on dealing with the wolves and this gave Lu Jiuchuan a chance to escape.

Lu Jiuchuan gritted his teeth, dragged his tired body full of blood and limped into the depths of the forest.

At dawn, the floating box had the message: Congratulations on coming out of the Nightmare Room.

Lu Jiuchuan was about to faint from exhaustion.

He sighed with relief and asked the keepers to teleport him to the City of the Moon. He found the black car originally placed in the parking lot and drove it all the way to the underground factory in the City of the Moon.

This was Tang Ci’s residence and the temporary stronghold for their team.

Lu Jiuchuan passed the authentication at the door, scanned his pupils and smoothly walked into Tang Ci’s machinery factory.

The underground factory that was the size of a football field had ceased operations and various mechanical parts were quietly placed on the assembly line. Lu Jiuchuan quickly walked forward and once he arrived at the familiar control room, he saw a scene that he would never forget.

A man covered in blood was lying on the treatment bed. His face was pale and bloodless. The clothes on his upper body were tattered and blood was everywhere. Meanwhile, the lower body…

The area below the knees was actually cut off and flesh and blood blurred together!

Lu Jiuchuan’s eyes widened when he saw Tang Ci’s severed legs and he wanted to roar. However, there was a sourness from his nose, his vision became blurred and his throat seemed to be blocked by something. He couldn’t say a word!

He rushed over and knelt in front of the bed like a madman. He clutched Tang Ci’s hand tightly and his body trembled violently.

Tang Ci still had a trace of consciousness left. He noticed Lu Jiuchuan’s hand holding him tightly and he gently held it back. Due to excessive blood loss, he had no strength and his eyes were about to lose focus. Even so, he held on and said hoarsely, “Brother Jiu… I… survived… we… meet again…”

Lu Jiuchuan’s tears could no longer be contained and flowed down his face.

He didn’t know what Tang Ci had experienced in the Nightmare Room but he wanted to bear all the pain for Tang Ci!

Seeing the frowning appearance of the man on the hospital bed, Lu Jiuchuan realized for the first time what it was like to feel heartache to the point of convulsions. He held Tang Ci tightly and his voice was choked up, “Xiao Tang, don’t worry. I will definitely find a way to cure you…”

Just then, a calm voice came from behind him. “Give him anesthetic first.”

It was his teammate Gui Yuanzhang. He summoned Tang Ci’s healing robot and gave Tang Ci an injection of anesthesia.

Lu Jiuchuan saw that Tang Ci had passed out and turned back with red eyes, asking, “Old Gui, what is going on?”

Gui Yuanzhang replied solemnly, “I came to the underground factory and saw that Tang Ci was already like this. His legs look like they have been cut off by a sharp weapon. It is very like that he met the hunters in the Nightmare Room.”

Lu Jiuchuan’s heart ached. He looked at the man on the bed and asked softly, “He… can he get better?”

Gui Yuanzhang shook his head with a solemn expression. “It is very difficult. His legs were left in the Nightmare Room. Even with the medical technology of this world, it is impossible for his lost legs to grow back. In the future, it is very possible that he will… have to live in a wheelchair.”

Lu Jiuchuan clenched his fists hard and the blue veins on the back of his hand bulged. “Those hunters are really f*king ****!”

Just then, a woman covered in blood also walked into the underground factory. She saw the three people and took a deep breath. “You also came out of the Nightmare Room?” Then she saw Tang Ci on the treatment bed and was stunned. “Xiao Tang, he…”

Lu Jiuchuan couldn’t bear to tell the truth and Gui Yuanzhang had to explain, “His legs were cut off in the Nightmare Room. He might be disabled in the future and will have to rely on a wheelchair to survive. Still, the good thing is that he… survived.”

Chu Huaying didn’t speak.

The empty underground factory was suffocatingly quiet.

The treatment robot quickly treated Tang Ci’s wounds. Lu Jiuchuan walked over silently and found a new set of clothes for Tang Ci to wear. At this time, Chu Huaying also recovered and said calmly, “This robot can only treat trauma. Tang Ci must be sent to the hospital as soon as possible. In addition, we have to take care of the wounds on our body so we don’t get infected.”

Gui Yuanzhang said, “Let’s go and send Xiao Tang to the hospital.”

_______________________________________________________________

Tang Ci woke up and found himself in the hospital ward with Lu Jiuchuan sitting by his bed anxiously. Lu Jiuchuan saw he was awake and immediately held his hand, his voice particularly gentle. “Xiao Tang, you’re awake? Are you hungry? I’ll get you something to eat?”

Tang Ci lay on the bed and touched his knees.

He had been mentally prepared but he still couldn’t help freezing when he touched the empty trouser legs. Lu Jiuchuan saw his stiffness and immediately reached out to hug him tightly.

It was a type of hard hug as if giving him strength to rely on.

Lu Jiuchuan’s voice entered his ears. “If you are sad, cry. It is better to vent it out. Xiao Tang, don’t hold everything in your heart…”

Tang Ci didn’t cry. He just gently closed his eyes in Lu Jiuchuan’s arms and carefully reached out to hug the man in front of him, as if greedy for the temperature of the other person’s body.

Lu Jiuchuan was obviously aware that Tang Ci in his arms was trembling slightly.

The silent trembling made Lu Jiuchuan’s heart ache even more. He reached out and gently stroked Tang Ci’s back, his voice soft to the extreme. “It’s okay, I’ll stay by your side in the future.”

It wasn’t known how long it took for Tang Ci to finally adjust his mood.

He stopped trembling and gently pushed Lu Jiuchuan away. He stared calmly into Lu Jiuchuan’s eyes and said clearly, “Brother Jiu, we have already died once in reality and coming to the Card World is a second life for us. We are already lucky enough to get out of the J of Clubs’ Nightmare Room, aren’t we?”

Lucky? Lu Jiuchuan sometimes thought it was better to simply die. He didn’t want to see Tang Ci suffer from such things.

Yet at this time, Tang Ci’s gaze was so calm that it was shocking. “I lost my legs in the Nightmare Room. I might be disabled in the future but at least I am still alive. As long as we are alive, we have hope to get out of here.”

Lu Jiuchuan would rather Tang Ci not be so strong, he would rather Tang Ci throw a tantrum or cry a lot rather than calmly touching his empty legs and saying something like ‘there is hope’.

Hope? After they were almost all wiped out in J of Clubs, he really didn’t know if they still had hope to leave here alive.

However, Lu Jiuchuan saw Tang Ci’s serious eyes and couldn’t bear to pour cold water on him.

It would undoubtedly be a fatal blow to Tang Ci if even he gave up at this time!

Lu Jiuchuan took a deep breath and his eyes became extremely firm. He held Tang Ci’s hand tightly and said clearly, “Xiao Tang, I will never give up until I am truly wiped out! There are so many special cards in the Card World and your legs will definitely be healed. We should treat it as experiencing a nightmare and waking up. We will start all over again.”

Tang Ci nodded. “Yes.”

He might know that Brother Jiu’s words were only words of comfort but in a desperate situation, what was the point of continuing to live if there was no last hope?

His legs might be healed and he might be able to leave the Card World.

Even if the hope was very slim, it was still better than the darkness in front of him.

Tang Ci struggled to get up but Lu Jiuchuan gently picked him up and placed him on the wheelchair. This was his first time in a wheelchair. He was clumsy and almost fell when turning a corner. Fortunately, Lu Jiuchuan quickly supported him.

Tang Ci returned to the underground factory and started to transform his wheelchair, adding a lot of intelligent designs.

He solemnly told his teammates, “Don’t help me and let me adapt myself. I don’t want to be a burden on you when challenging the difficult secret rooms in the future.”

No one could adapt quickly when suddenly losing both legs. Tang Ci was a very proud person and refused to let his teammates see his embarrassments. For countless late nights, he practiced using the wheelchair alone, falling and being injured all over. Every time Lu Jiuchuan saw him moving slowly in the wheelchair, he was so heartbroken that he wanted to step forward and hug Tang Ci tightly…

However, Lu Jiuchuan knew that Tang Ci was stronger than everyone thought.

He had to master the skills of operating the wheelchair by himself as soon as possible. This way, he could continue to accompany his teammates to clear the secret rooms in the future. Otherwise, he would become the team’s burden.

Tang Ci would never allow himself to become the weakness of the team.

He trained day and night. After failing again and again, he learned from experience and transformed his wheelchair.

Gradually, the smart wheelchair became more comfortable and he even integrated with this wheelchair. Going up, down and turning—Tang Ci in the wheelchair was no different from a normal person. He navigated through all types of complicated paths like he was walking.

He could even control the wheelchair to catch up with the quickly running Chu Huaying.

The first time Xiao Lou saw Tang Ci in the underground factory, Tang Ci was already able to flexibly control the wheelchair. A thin blanket covered his empty trouser pants and he looked calm.

Later, the team members remembered Mr Tang as the high IQ scholar who was always calm, serious, never joked and rarely smiled.

No one knew what he went through during this darkest period.

Only Lu Jiuchuan had seen Tang Ci, who was battered and bruised, trembling and shrinking into a ball in the corner.

He could never forget it in this lifetime.