Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 308 Research
Han Zhou didn't know whether the worldline had suddenly changed, creating entirely new world rules, or whether he had accidentally discovered a secret hidden by the world.

He knew only one thing—tonight's unusual behavior was definitely related to Xiao Xiaoxiao.

The reason I thought this way was because just ten minutes ago, a temporary task was suddenly posted in the status bar.

"A temporary mission has been initiated. Please explore the current area before the target, Xiao Xiaoxiao, awakens."

Without detailed instructions or mission rewards, Han Zhou didn't even know what to explore. He only knew that the mission had a time limit: "before Xiao Xiaoxiao wakes up."

If they still can't be sure that Xiao Xiaoxiao has a problem, then Han Zhou feels he might have to lose his mind and become Xiao Xiaoxiao's leg for the rest of his life.

He had originally planned to wake Xiao Xiaoxiao up, as he had a vague idea that their current situation might be related to her extreme drowsiness. But since the status bar had given him a hint, he was willing to give it a try and decided to follow the status bar's guidance to explore the area.

He had just returned to the fifth floor of the unfinished building. He had already checked the floors above and found nothing unusual.

The only thing worth noting is the eighth floor, which appears to have been disturbed by human activity, with some water stains on the ground.

When Han Zhou went upstairs earlier, he was mainly looking for Zhang Tao and the others. He was in a hurry and didn't spend much time paying attention to his surroundings. So now he spent more time patiently checking the fifth floor and even went to the other side of the stairwell to search carefully, but he didn't find any useful clues.

The same applies to the fourth floor.

Returning to the third floor, the place where Zhang Tao and the others disappeared, he had already carefully checked it before going upstairs, so he didn't waste too much time. He walked quickly, paying special attention to the spot where Zhang Tao and the others had been, trying to see if there were any footprints on the ground. Seeing that he found nothing, he had no choice but to go to the second floor.

Han Zhou was a little puzzled. Since the status bar gave a task prompt, it meant that he should be able to find some clues in the place. However, he had searched almost the entire building but still couldn't find any useful information.

If he finds nothing on the second and first floors, then he will have no choice but to wake Xiao Xiaoxiao up and see if anything changes.

Speaking of Xiao Xiaoxiao, she's been quite well-behaved ever since she came downstairs; I wonder if she's asleep.

Han Zhou seemed to be deep in thought, pondering whether he should wake Xiao Xiaoxiao up or let her fall asleep completely, while carefully exploring the second and first floors.

To his disappointment, however, he still found nothing after searching carefully.

So what exactly does the status bar want him to explore?
Han Zhou was completely baffled. He was practically turning the entire unfinished building upside down. Unless something useful was hidden underground, or that thing had legs, there was no way he could have found nothing.

Wait...long legs?
Han Zhou realized that he seemed to have overlooked something.

He turned to look at Xiao Xiaoxiao on his back. The girl's eyes were closed and her expression was serene. If it weren't for the occasional muttering to herself, everyone would have thought she was asleep.

But she wasn't asleep.

Han Zhou could feel that the other person's arms around his neck were very tight, as if they were afraid of falling off him.

"Xiaoxiao?" he called softly.

Although a little slow to respond, Xiao Xiaoxiao still managed to reply, her voice muffled: "What?"

Have you been here before?

"Where is this place?"

"Unfinished building".

"Oh... of course not, this is my first time here."

Have you seen any photos of this place before?

"I first learned about this place from your phone. Don't you know what kind of photos I saw on your phone?" Xiao Xiaoxiao said with a hint of resentment.

Han Zhou was silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "I understand."

"Know what?"

Han Zhou didn't answer. He found a clean spot and put Xiao Xiaoxiao down from behind, letting her sit against the load-bearing wall. Then he picked up a flashlight and looked down at the petite girl.

Seemingly stung by the bright light of the flashlight, Xiao Xiaoxiao frowned and asked, "What are you doing? Where did my legs go?"

"He's temporarily on strike."

Han Zhou answered casually, then thought for a moment and reminded her, "Xiao Xiao, you should understand that you have many problems."

Xiao Xiaoxiao nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice, looking drowsy: "Of course I know! Quickly call my leg over, so... so it won't go on strike..." "Can you stop grabbing my leg all the time..." Han Zhou's lips twitched, and he said helplessly, "I've been carrying you since just now."

Xiao Xiaoxiao remained silent, a snot bubble slowly emerging from her nostril, it was unclear whether she had heard anything or not.

Han Zhou: "..."

He said seriously, "Listen, Xiaoxiao, this is a rare opportunity. I suspect you may be hiding something crucial that makes you abnormal, so..."

He took a deep breath, his tone firm.

"I plan to study you carefully."

……

"I think I know why you've put those sunglasses back on."

The sky was overcast, and fine raindrops drifted in the wind, falling on the dark umbrella.

Rainwater slid down the eaves of the umbrella, breaking apart on the already damp ground and turning into tiny droplets.

The umbrella handle was held by a slender hand wearing a pale yellow glove. Following the hand, one could see long, jet-black hair, a white mask and baseball cap, and a pair of eyes that seemed to be smiling but not smiling beneath the brim.

Under the eaves directly opposite the girl stood a tall, thin boy who was still wearing sunglasses even on a rainy day. The sunglasses weren't too dark, and if you looked closely, you could see a bruise under his right eye.

Mo Yixia folded her umbrella and walked naturally under the eaves to stand next to Han Zhou. She said slowly, "Any girl who heard you say such things while she was half asleep would probably punch you in anger. It's already quite good that she didn't sue you for sexual harassment."

Han Zhou took the umbrella from Mo Yixia, shook off the water, and placed it in the corner. He then handed her a steaming cup of milk tea, ignoring the strange looks from passersby, and sighed, "You should know that's not what I meant."

"Of course, but she is not me."

Mo Yixia inserted the straw into the cup and stirred gently. "If it were me, I wouldn't have the heart to lay a hand on you. Instead, I would cooperate with your research... So, what are the research results?"

Han Zhou shook his head, the fine raindrops in front of him like his chaotic thoughts at this moment: "Just like he said on the phone, I don't remember anything, I can't remember anything after that, and when I woke up I was already in the hospital."

"Although I think you already know, I still have to remind you again that what you said is completely different from what I know. According to the live broadcast footage from that day, after you and Xiao Xiaoxiao disappeared briefly, you were eventually found at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor. The whole process took no more than three minutes, which is not enough time for you to go to the top floor and then back to the first floor."

“I know that everyone says the same thing as you.”

Han Zhou had a headache. "The doctor suspects that I fell down the first floor with Xiao Xiao, which is why I was briefly unconscious. That's also why I have a bruise on my right eye."

Today is Sunday, and the ghost-hunting livestream was a few days ago.

During the live stream that night, Zhang Tao and the others suddenly disappeared, leaving only Han Zhou and Xiao Xiaoxiao. Han Zhou guessed that the "exploration" mentioned in the task prompt in the status bar actually meant exploring Xiao Xiaoxiao herself. After all, many places where Xiao Xiaoxiao appeared had been "haunted," and the scenes kept changing, but the only thing that remained unchanged was her.

Therefore, either Xiao Xiaoxiao has a problem, or there is something wrong with one of her belongings.

Han Zhou was about to check Xiao Xiaoxiao's belongings when the guy suddenly "went berserk" and punched him in the face. Logically, the guy's strength shouldn't have been enough to knock him unconscious, but strangely, after that punch, Han Zhou completely lost his memory of what happened afterward. When he opened his eyes again, he and Xiao Xiaoxiao were already in the hospital.

Neither of them was seriously injured; they had only been unconscious for a few hours. However, apart from Xiao Xiaoxiao, everyone else's understanding was completely different from Han Zhou's, and they all said that it was they who had gone missing that night. Zhang Tao and the others searched for three minutes before finding the two of them.

It is said that during this process, they saw two sneaky figures upstairs, emitting a faint glow, which seemed to be ghosts lingering in the unfinished building.

Han Zhou asked Xiao Xiaoxiao, but unfortunately, like him, Xiao Xiaoxiao also didn't remember what happened after he threw the punch. She just cursed him as a hooligan and almost punched a black eye in his left eye.

The two discussed it for a long time afterward, but they still couldn't figure it out. They only knew that the problem must lie in the memory that had disappeared from their minds.

Han Zhou had wondered if there was something wrong with his and Xiao Xiaoxiao's perceptions, and that they might have just had the same dream, but he quickly dismissed that doubt.

Perhaps due to his different perception from the general public, he believed that many things in the world would have problems, but there was one thing that had a very low probability of having a problem.

That's the status bar.

Upon investigation, a noticeable change was observed in the status bar after that night.

The nearly two hundred points... have been reduced to just a little bit.

(End of this chapter)