Chapter 153
Chapter 153
The corner of Cheng Miao’s eye twitched sharply. For once, there had been no fire, and the death had not occurred at night. Yet Kojima still could not see anything?
For a moment, Cheng Miao felt defeated. They had yet to identify the rule behind this cycle, and she could not even determine whether the castle’s owners were dangerous.
The taboos were strange, and she could not even find a consistent pattern in what happened after someone died.
An overwhelming sense of dejection surged through her, almost making her lose control.
Qiudong reached out and gently kneaded an acupoint at the back of her neck. Cheng Miao abruptly came to her senses and shook off the dangerous thoughts.
Her eyes regained their usual clarity. She smiled at Kojima. “Is that so? Then I must have imagined it.”
Kojima asked no further questions. He nodded and left, abandoning a roomful of silent players.
Cheng Miao lowered her head, lost in thought. Lin Zhu had yet to recover from almost touching the painting, while Qi Jiajia and Qin Musong relied on unconventional approaches to clear instances and could offer little help. Qiudong said nothing, merely watching Cheng Miao in silence.
Jiang Chen’s eyes flashed behind his lenses. He walked over to Cheng Miao, looked down at the corpse, and asked her in the same tone he usually used to discuss ice cream flavors, “What do you think caused this death?”
Cheng Miao looked up at the smiling Jiang Chen beside her and rallied herself. “Touching the painting causes death. I’m sure that part is correct.”
Jiang Chen nodded. “What did the players who violated the rule before the first two fires have in common?”
Cheng Miao thought back carefully, sounding uncertain. “They experienced hallucinations first, then touched a painting.”
Jiang Chen continued patiently guiding her thoughts. “What was different this time?”
Cheng Miao found her rhythm and followed his question deeper. “There was no fire after the death.”
Jiang Chen smiled at her. “What else?”
Cheng Miao looked around the washroom. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she pointed at a painting beside the wall. “Why didn’t you cover this painting with a bedsheet?”
It contrasted starkly with the other paintings in the washroom, all of which were covered. But because everyone already knew the deadly taboo involved the paintings, and because this one was so uncomfortable to look at, no one had examined it closely enough to notice the obvious discrepancy.
Suppressing his revulsion, Peng Sheng walked around Xiang Ping’s corpse. His eyes widened in terror. “We didn’t miss it! That painting wasn’t here before!”
Cheng Miao’s gaze sharpened as she stared at Peng Sheng. “Are you sure?”
Peng Sheng nodded. “I covered the paintings in the washroom myself. That one definitely wasn’t there.”
Once a crack opened in Cheng Miao’s thinking, ideas poured through it. “So this time, Xiang Ping didn’t hallucinate and touch a painting that had already been covered. A new painting suddenly appeared and caused his death.”
“Xiang Ping wasn’t under the influence of a hallucination, and he didn’t touch the painting deliberately. That’s why no fire burned his corpse and the scene has remained intact.”
Peng Sheng fidgeted, eager to interject, but one icy look from Qiudong and one smiling look from Jiang Chen forced him to shrink to the side without making a sound.
Cheng Miao did not notice the silent exchange among the three men. She continued thinking aloud. “If someone touches a painting because of a hallucination, or chooses to touch one themselves, their death will trigger a fire. But as the instance gradually escalates, paintings will begin appearing without warning. If someone dies after accidentally touching one of those, there won’t be a fire.”
“But what good does knowing that do?” Xiao Qing had not noticed the threatening looks the two handsome men gave Peng Sheng. Listening to Cheng Miao, she voiced her doubt.
Xiao Wen tugged at her best friend’s hand. Only then did Xiao Qing realize what she had done, and she flushed, about to apologize.
Cheng Miao waved a hand to show she did not mind and answered Xiao Qing’s question. “It’s very important. We now know the instance has two situations that can lead to death. We not only need to watch out for hallucinations, but also for paintings that appear without warning. Whether a fire starts is the instance’s way of alerting the players that paintings can now appear suddenly.”
Seeing that Cheng Miao was not angry, Xiao Qing timidly asked another question. “Then why can the paintings suddenly appear now?”
Cheng Miao smiled at the two young women. “Because the instance has progressed to a certain point. Taboos that didn’t exist at first begin appearing. That’s how high-level instances work.”
Xiao Qing nodded without fully understanding. Cheng Miao stretched and summarized, “We still aren’t sure what causes the hallucinations, so keep as far away from those dolls as possible. Also, avoid broad movements in case you touch a painting that suddenly appears.”
Everyone nodded except Peng Sheng, whose expression was ugly. “Then what am I supposed to do? Do I really have to spend the next few nights with that corpse?”
Cheng Miao had no solution either. Seeing how awful Peng Sheng looked, she glanced outside and suggested an option. “Ask Kojima whether you can change rooms. If he allows it, squeeze in with someone else.”
Peng Sheng was afraid to deal with an NPC, but this was his problem, and he had no teammates who could help him.
He shuffled down to the first floor and spent a long time gathering his courage before finally asking.
Kojima’s response sounded perfectly genuine. “You are a guest. Naturally, I have no objection if you wish to change rooms. But won’t three people in one room feel rather cramped?”
Peng Sheng thanked him profusely, then entered the living room and studied the other players. Of course, the person he most wanted to room with was Cheng Miao.
Cheng Miao was smart and kind.
The other players were either even weaker than he was or the kind who would not lift a finger if he died right in front of them.
But before Peng Sheng could ask, the tall, striking man beside her gave him a chilly glance. Peng Sheng froze.
That gaze made him feel as though some savage beast from hell, buried beneath mountains of corpses and seas of blood, had locked onto him. For those two seconds, Peng Sheng thought his heart had stopped beating.
Once Qiudong looked away as though nothing had happened, Peng Sheng gasped twice and turned tearfully toward Lin Zhu and Qin Musong.
It would be inconvenient to share with Xiao Wen and Xiao Qing, since they were young women. More importantly, they were even weaker than he was.
Yun Su and Qi Jiajia were not realistic options either. As for Jiang Chen and Gu Jian…
Forget it. A normal person’s instincts told him not to play with lunatics.
Qin Musong and Lin Zhu caught the plea for help in Peng Sheng’s eyes. Both of them looked toward Cheng Miao.
Cheng Miao hesitated.
Truthfully, Cheng Miao had never considered herself especially kind. She helped with many things simply because there was no reason not to.
If a few words from her could save someone’s life, she was willing to speak them.
But Qin Musong and Lin Zhu were important to her now. She could not gamble with their safety.
Especially after the apartment instance and the discovery that people like Su Yang existed, she was even less willing to take the risk.
They had yet to understand all the rules. One move could affect everything, and no one knew what another person might do when their life was on the line. She could not afford to let down her guard.
“I’m sorry. I can’t agree.” Cheng Miao looked seriously at Peng Sheng and apologized.
Peng Sheng grew frantic. “Why not?! Maybe I can’t stay with you, but I can’t stay with them either? I’m not a bad person. We all ended up in the same instance, so there must be some bond between us. How can you be so cold-blooded? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
Cheng Miao held back Qi Jiajia, who was about to explode. She stared steadily at Peng Sheng. “If that’s how you feel, Jiang Chen and Gu Jian should be safer. Why don’t you ask them?”