Chapter 147
Chapter 147
By the light of Jiang Chen’s oil lamp, they could see that the room was spotless and tidy. The brand-new sheets, the boldly contrasting blanket and bed canopy, everything was identical to the rooms assigned to the other players.
It looked perfectly normal.
But lightning had struck this room only moments ago and ignited a massive fire. Even if it had not burned to the ground, it should at least have shown some sign of the blaze.
Instead, the room looked brand-new, as if no one had ever stayed in it.
Then where were Ge Hui and He Xin, who had been living here?
They had vanished along with the room engulfed in flames.
Cheng Miao looked toward the oil painting. Its savage red canvas seemed to foreshadow the earlier fire, while the strange woman in the picture split her mouth into a chilling grin.
Everything in the room was exactly as it had been before, including the oil painting and the dolls scattered in every corner.
Cheng Miao and the others touched nothing. They withdrew from the room and closed the door behind them.
The moment they came out, Peng Sheng asked impatiently, “Well? What did you see in there?”
“Go in and see for yourself.” Qi Jiajia had been in a foul mood ever since changing rooms and was snapping at everyone now.
“Hey, you little…” Peng Sheng glared and was about to say more when Cheng Miao and Qin Musong glanced coolly in his direction. He immediately fell silent.
Anyone could see that the strongest players in this instance had gathered around this small group. He had only sounded so harsh because he was anxious.
Gu Jian sidled up to Peng Sheng with a grin. “Young man, did you know Miss Cheng is the only player who might share clues and ideas with the rest of you? If you offend her, you’ll truly be on your own.”
Peng Sheng’s face turned bright red. He wanted to say something, but his pride would not let him. Cheng Miao could not be bothered to hold a grudge against someone like him and briefly described the room.
“So they’re gone, and we still don’t know what killed them.” Xiao Qing sounded dejected. Xiao Wen tugged at her hand, signaling for her to be patient.
Sure enough, after a brief pause Cheng Miao continued, “The oil painting was still hanging on the wall, but before the fire, Ge Hui and He Xin probably covered it just as we’d agreed. Their room should not have been set up much differently from ours.”
Deep in thought, Lin Zhu picked up where Cheng Miao left off. “That means they probably violated a taboo outside the room. They were both timid and stayed with the group the whole time, so they shouldn’t have had a chance to act alone.”
Yun Su turned the prayer beads around her wrist and said serenely, “If I remember correctly, they were the only ones who touched that painting.”
The players’ pupils contracted. It was the middle of the night. They had been jolted awake, the corridor was dimly lit by candles, and beside them stood an inexplicable room where two people had just died. Yet they were discussing all this right there.
Cheng Miao saw Gu Fan rub her arms, a trace of fear showing on her face.
“Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility that they did something in the room and violated a taboo. But the likeliest cause is that they touched the painting.” Cheng Miao swept her gaze across the group and asked evenly, “Did anyone else touch it?”
No one spoke. After a moment, Xiao Yan raised his hand shakily. “Does touching the frame count?”
Cheng Miao shook her head. “Everyone touched it to some extent while covering the painting. That probably doesn’t count.”
Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and some color returned to his face. He shook his head to indicate that he had no more questions.
Cheng Miao checked the time. Dawn was still several hours away, and they could not simply stand in the corridor until then.
“Let’s go back to our rooms and rest. This instance lasts five days. If we don’t sleep, we won’t have the stamina to keep going.” With that, Cheng Miao returned to her room with Qiudong.
In the end, only Xiao Wen and Xiao Qing remained. Their room was right beside Ge Hui’s, and neither of them wanted to return. But standing alone in the eerie corridor was no better, so they had no choice but to go inside and huddle beneath the same blanket until dawn.
Cheng Miao had already mastered the art of dozing off no matter how dangerous an instance was. Half asleep, she heard footsteps overhead and snapped awake, springing out of bed.
Still drowsy in the other bed, Qiudong watched her shoot out the door at lightning speed. …?
As soon as Cheng Miao stepped outside, she saw Kojima at the third-floor landing, walking downstairs. When he spotted her, he smiled and nodded in greeting.
Cheng Miao greeted him without betraying anything, then approached and probed casually, “We needed to speak with you last night, but no one opened the door. Were you not in your room?”
Kojima looked surprised. “Yuko and I were in our room all night, but we didn’t hear you knock. We may have been sleeping too deeply.”
Kojima bowed slightly in apology.
Cheng Miao narrowed her eyes at the gaunt man. If he was not lying, then this had to be part of the mechanism. At night, or whenever an accident occurred, the castle’s owners could not provide help.
“By the way, honored guest, what did you need us for?”
Meeting Kojima’s slightly protruding eyes, made more prominent by how thin he was, Cheng Miao let her voice turn grave. “Lightning struck our companions’ room last night and burned them to death inside.”
Kojima stared at Cheng Miao in disbelief, then followed the direction of her finger. A moment later, he let out a faint chuckle. “Guest, you shouldn’t joke about something like that. No one was staying in that room.”
Cheng Miao frowned. “There were eighteen guests. We occupied all nine rooms on the second floor. How could no one have been staying there?”
Kojima gave her an equally puzzled look. “Guest, only sixteen of you arrived at the castle yesterday.”
Seeing her dark expression, Kojima gave her a reassuring look. “Perhaps you aren’t used to the room and had a nightmare? I’ll brew some calming tea for our guests later.”
Kojima took a pocket watch from his coat, checked the time, and said to Cheng Miao, “It’s still early. You should get some more rest.”
Cheng Miao watched him go downstairs. With a series of creaks, a whole row of doors opened.
So everyone had been awake. They simply had not come out.
They had all heard Kojima, and their expressions were grim.
Cheng Miao returned to her room to wash up, reminding the players not to touch the painting while searching the castle.
The mood at breakfast was heavy. Two people had died inexplicably the night before, yet the NPC claimed he had never even seen them.
That was more frightening than an NPC turning a blind eye or treating their deaths as routine.
Perhaps because everyone looked so dispirited, Kojima offered them an appealing distraction. “I had planned to show everyone Yuko’s studio, but she still isn’t feeling well today. Instead, why don’t I show you my workshop?”
Delight flickered across their faces. There truly were not many clues in the castle, and wandering around like headless flies would only waste their chance to survive.
After breakfast, everyone followed Kojima up to the third floor.
Kojima drew a brass key from inside his clothes. Cheng Miao glanced at it. There was the key to the front gate.
But before Yuko’s birthday had passed, they probably would not dare leave even if they opened the gate.
The door swung open, and Kojima stepped inside. The players exchanged looks at the threshold, none willing to be the first one through.
Ignoring the silent struggle behind her, Cheng Miao led her team into the room.