The entire mall had now sunk into a suffocating darkness, just moments the place had been glowing,
with dazzling lights and crowded noise but now it felt like a cursed graveyard abandoned by life itself.
Thick shadows swallowed every corner, while uneasiness silently spread through the air.
No one could understand what had suddenly happened to the lights.
Zavian, Sheyaan, Younshu, Alisha, and Fangxi—all of them instinctively scanned the darkness, trying to find even the slightest sense of direction.
Then suddenly—
Alisha's trembling voice shattered the terrifying silence.
"Wha...What happened to the lights…?! I...l'm really scared…!"
Fear had completely taken over her body. Her eyes were wide with panic as she helplessly looked around, as if the darkness itself would swallow her whole at any moment.
Sensing the growing fear among everyone, Fangxi took a deep breath and spoke in a calm yet firm voice,
"There's no need to panic. The mall staff probably went to the Electrical control.. room already. The power might've been cut off while they were... trying to open the entrance doors."
His sharp gaze swept across the darkness.
"We can't waste..any more time. We need to find those..bombs quickly."
Hearing Fangxi's steady and dependable voice, everyone finally felt a slight sense of relief. Carefully, they began stepping deeper into the darkness—
But at that exact moment…
An eerie and horrifying sound suddenly echoed throughout the entire mall…!
Suddenly a soft and adorable little voice echoed through the suffocating darkness.
"No...no! I want to go to dad! I don't like it...here anymore!"
The frightened voice belonged to a little girl around ten years old. Terrified beyond reason, she was running recklessly through the
darkness. Tears filled her eyes while her trembling lips quivered nonstop.
Behind her, her mother desperately chased after her. Fear had completely drained the color from her face.
"Stop, sweetheart! Don't run like that… you might get hurt... in the dark!"
But the terrified child was no longer in a state to listen. Fear had completely consumed her senses.
She kept running blindly through the endless blackness without caring where she was going.
THEN—
"Aaaaaaaahhh!!"
A horrifying scream suddenly echoed violently throughout the entire mall!
The moment her mother heard that painful scream, her heart nearly stopped. She froze in terror for a split second, her breathing turning unstable.
Then, like a madwoman, she rushed deeper into the darkness and screamed at the top of her lungs,
"Shinu!! What happened?! Baby…!!"
Stretching both her hands forward, the mother desperately searched for her daughter in the thick darkness like someone who had completely lost her mind.
The moment the frightened screams of the mother and daughter echoed through,
the pitch--black darkness, the remaining people hiding in different corners of the mall felt there breaths freeze in fear.
The atmosphere became even heavier with panic and uneasiness.
No one could understand what had happened to the innocent little girl that made her scream so painfully.
On the other side, Younshu, Alisha, Fangxi, Sheyaan, and Zavian were also shaken after hearing the horrifying scream.
Younshu widened his eyes in panic and stammered nervously,
"Tha...That was the scream.. of a little girl! What could've happened to.. her?!"
Hearing him, even Sheyaan's heart sank. He quickly said,
"Ye...Yeah! We should go check...immediately!"
The group instantly rushed forward without wasting another second.
However, in the thick darkness, they could barely see anything ahead of them. They simply ran blindly toward the direction of the scream.
SHUUUU~
Then suddenly, without any warning, the lights of the entire mall flickered back on in an instant!
Within seconds, the whole mall was once again flooded with bright light.
The moment the lights returned, Fangxi immediately scanned his surroundings—and the next second, his eyes landed directly on the little girl.
The innocent child had fallen face-first onto the floor. Soft cries of pain escaped her lips as tears streamed down her cheeks.
While running in panic, one of her legs had gotten badly stuck between the legs of a nearby chair!
The moment everyone saw that scene. Without wasting a single second, Fangxi rushed a toward the little girl
As soon as he reached her, he gently held her arm and carefully helped her up from the floor.
Tears streamed down the innocent child's cheeks while soft sobs continuously escaped her trembling lips.
At that exact moment, her frightened mother also came running toward them in panic.
Fangxi slowly crouched down in front of the little girl. A trace of concern flashed through his eyes as he asked in a soft and gentle voice
"yo...you're okay, right,.. sweetheart? You're not hurt anywhere… are.. you?"
The warmth and sincerity in his voice slowly eased the fear in the little girl's heart.
Then, without even a moment of hesitation—
The little girl suddenly stepped forward and tightly hugged Fangxi!
Caught off guard by the sudden embrace, Fangxi froze for a brief moment.
Even he hadn't expected the terrified child to trust him so much in the middle of such darkness and fear.
But soon, a faint and gentle smile appeared on his lips.
Slowly, he raised his hand and softly patted the little girl's head, trying to comfort her.
Then, while crying and struggling through hiccups, the little girl spoke in a trembling voice,
"Unc...Uncle… I don't want to stay...here anymore…! I want to go to my.. dad… and… and I'm really.. hungry too…"
The moment those words left her mouth, the little girl completely broke down.
Still clinging tightly to Fangxi, she burst into loud tears.
Hearing the innocent little girl's emotional words, everyone standing there felt there hearts grow heavy
Fangxi, the girl's mother, Younshu, Alisha, Zavian, and Sheyaan—all of them were deeply moved.
There was a painful helplessness hidden within the little girl's voice that no one could possibly ignore.
A moment later, Fangxi gently pulled the little girl slightly away from his chest. Crouching in front of her,
he looked at her innocent face covered in tears before softly wiping her cheeks with his hands.
His gaze met hers gently.
"We'll get out..of here soon… so don't cry anymore,..sweetheart."
There was a strange warmth and reassurance in his voice.
"Because children who cry... are called weak… are you weak, hmm?"
Hearing Fangxi's words, the little girl immediately stopped crying. She quickly wiped her tears with her tiny.
hands before looking at him with pure innocence in her eyes.
"No… I'm not.. weak!"
After a brief pause, she added innocently,
"And my dad says the... same thing too… that I'm not..weak!"
The child's adorable response instantly brought faint smiles to everyone's faces.
Even Fangxi couldn't help but smile softly.
He gently placed a hand on her head and asked in a quiet voice,
"You're hungry.., aren't you?"
The little girl slowly nodded her head.
"Mhm…"
Fangxi then comforted her gently,
"Just wait a little longer… then we'll all go home and..eat lots of delicious food.. together, okay?"
Fangxi was still comforting the little girl when suddenly.
Standing behind him, Sheyaan slowly stepped closer and lightly tugged at Zavian's hand.
Sheyaan slowly leaned closer to Zavian, lowering her face near his ear before whispering softly,
"Zayan… don't you feel even a little...pity for that innocent..little girl…?"
The moment Zavian felt her warm whisper so close to his ear, he immediately turned his head toward her.
His cold, sharp gaze locked onto Sheyaan's face.
"Am I supposed to..feel pity?"
His response was direct, emotionless, and completely indifferent.
Hearing his cold answer, Sheyaan instantly became irritated. Narrowing her eyes angrily, she glared at him and said,
"You're seriously awful…! A little girl is suffering from hunger, and you... can't even think about giving her... something to eat?!"
Sheyaan's taunting words made Zavian's expression grow even colder. He stared at her silently for a moment before replying in a flat, icy tone,
"Did I open a...restaurant here… so I can serve..her food?"
Hearing such a heartless response, Sheyaan puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
Clearly irritated, she clicked her tongue and. Still annoyed, Sheyaan continued,
"You have magic, don't you? Then why aren't you.. doing something…?! We've all been trapped here since.. morning..."
"If I can feel this hungry, then this little girl must be... suffering even more!"
She glanced at the innocent child, her voice growing more emotional.
"She's still so young… she must be starving…"
Hearing Sheyaan's emotional words, Zavian looked at her once again with deep, unreadable eyes.
For a brief moment, he remained silent.
Then, without saying anything, he slowly slipped his hand inside the pocket of his black coat.
And the very next second—
The moment he pulled his hand back out, Sheyaan's eyes widened in shock!
His palm was filled with dozens of premium chocolates.
Without changing his expression, Zavian casually extended the chocolates toward her and said in a flat tone,
"Here… this should at least help with.. her hunger. Will this work?"
Just a second ago, Sheyaan had been completely irritated with him.
But the moment she saw the chocolates, all her anger instantly disappeared.
A bright smile spread across her face as she quickly grabbed them from his hand.
"This won't just work… it'll work.. perfectly!"
Without wasting another moment, Sheyaan hurried toward the little girl. Crouching down beside her, she gently offered some chocolates with a warm smile.
"Here, sweetheart… eat these. You like chocolates, right?"
The moment the crying little girl saw the chocolates shining in Sheyaan's hands, her tearful face instantly brightened up.
She quickly grabbed them and replied excitedly,
"Yes…! I really love... chocolates!"
The little girl happily took all the chocolates from Sheyaan's hands, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Looking at the child's innocent face, Sheyaan gently comforted her in a soft voice,
"Now go and sit somewhere...safely while eating them, okay?"
Hearing Sheyaan's warm words, the little girl quickly nodded her head happily.
"Okay! Thank you for the...chocolates, cute Sister!"
Her adorable and cheerful response brought faint smiles to everyone standing nearby.
At that moment, her mother—who had finally calmed down—stepped forward and said with relief,
"Come on, sweetheart… let's go.. now."
Hearing her mother's voice, the little girl immediately grabbed her hand, and the two of them returned to the same store where the frightened people had been hiding earlier.
As soon as the mother and daughter safely returned, Sheyaan—who had still been crouching—straightened herself up in one quick motion.
Nearby, Fangxi also let out a deep breath before slowly standing up.
The fear in the atmosphere had finally eased a little. Then Alisha looked at everyone seriously and said,
"We should stop wasting time..and focus on our.. task now."
The moment her words ended, Zavian immediately stepped forward. A cold and heavy silence lingered on his face.
"You all..stay here."
His deep voice echoed firmly through the mall.
"Only Fangxi is coming..with me."
Then he glanced at everyone sharply and added in an icy tone,
"And I don't want any... arguments about this… understood?"
There was such overwhelming authority in his voice that no one dared to oppose him.
After saying that, Zavian immediately walked ahead without stopping, while Fangxi quickly followed behind him.
Meanwhile, Sheyaan, Alisha, and Younshu could only stare at the two figures leaving in shock.
Walking quickly behind Zavian, Fangxi hesitated for a moment before asking worriedly,
"D-Do you actually know how to defuse bombs…?"
Even after hearing the question, Zavian never slowed his steps.
Without turning back ,he simply replied in a cold,emotionless, voice.
"We'll find out when we get there..."