chapter 117
Mirella took the pattern Lu Li had chosen, bit her fingertip, and used her blood to recreate it perfectly on the ground.
As she drew, she murmured under her breath. When the final stroke closed the outermost circle of the sigil with flawless precision…
the blood on the ground vanished in an instant.
The wound on her fingertip disappeared along with it.
A faint, almost illusory black aura seeped up from the floor.
The Black Mist spun in place a few times as if searching, then locked onto its targets-four Players covered in wounds and reeking of blood.
It slipped in through the backs of their shoes, snaked up their pant legs, crawled all the way up to their collars, then finally flowed into their ears and into their brains.
Mirella let out a slow breath.
It worked.
Seemed her talent for learning curses was excellent too.
Just moments earlier, Luo Jia Bai had received a sacred command from Mirella: help block the sightlines of the four on the other side.
So he did his best to puff out his chest and spread his shoulders, planting his feet wide so he could completely shield Mirella behind him.
Muttered whispers continued behind his back. Luo Jia Bai strained to tilt his head. “You calling me?”
“Not you. I was talking to myself.” Mirella rose to her feet in high spirits. “You said Lu Li has good luck-he really is something.”
Lu Li had picked a pattern at random, and it had turned out to be the right one.
–
Sun Hai and the other three were busy exchanging for Medicine. They only felt a brief wave of dizziness before quickly recovering.
“I’m a little light-headed. Must’ve burned too much stamina in that iron cage just now.” Jiang Changqing fumbled to exchange for a Strength Potion, then glugged down a whole bottle. He sighed in relief. “That’s much better.”
The Female Player in their party looked down at the low-grade Medicine in her own hand, then at the high-grade Medicine in Xia Le’s hand. She couldn’t hold back. “Xia Le, all your wounds are treated, right?”
Xia Le had been frowning at the scars still faintly visible on his Arm despite using Medicine. At her words, he immediately pasted on a smile. “Yeah, all treated. The corrosive slime in this stage is weird. Even with high-grade Medicine, it still aches a little.”
He tossed out a couple of casual questions. “You’re just using low-grade Medicine? You might end up with some nasty scars.”
The Female Player stared fixedly at the Medicine Xia Le was about to put away. “The Medicine you exchanged expires twenty-four hours after you open it, and you’ve still got so much left. Isn’t that a waste? If you really care about me, could you lend me a little?”
“What are you saying? If I don’t really care, would it be fake caring?” Xia Le bared his teeth in a smile and reluctantly handed the Medicine over. “Of course I’m happy to lend it to you.”
While the Players were enjoying their harmonious little scene, the ground began to tremble in the distance and the vibration drew nearer, like someone was running toward them from far away.
A moment later came the sound of a door opening.
A gust of wind blew from the depths of the Black Mist, blasting away the fog in front of everyone.
The Black Mist rolled aside to the left and right, revealing a wall.
Two tightly shut doors were set in the wall, each with a sign hanging from it.
A cat hung on the door to the left.
A dog hung on the door to the right.
The Evil Spirit Bracelet on each of their wrists heated up at the same time. The Players took out the two Test Reports left over from their previous choice in the last stage.
One was for a cat, one for a dog.
Now they had to choose which door to go through.
Sun Hai beckoned, calling his three teammates closer to discuss in low voices.
“There were a few sticks of Cat Treats on the bedside table in the room where we found the Test Reports… It should be the cat, right?”
“Last stage was the dog. In these Instances, repeat answers are extremely rare. No way we’d get that lucky. What do you think, Brother Hai?”
Sun Hai made the call. “We go through the cat door.”
He took out the Test Report for the cat from his Items.
The remaining Test Report burst into flames.
The door with the cat sign swung open into a gaping, pitch-black maw.
“It burned!” All four of their eyes lit up. “The other one burned up-our choice has to be right this time!”
Sun Hai took the lead and walked toward the doorway, even throwing a charitable look at Lu Li. “We already made the right choice ahead of time. You’d better hurry up and follow us! Consider it me paying you back a favor. When we first got to Exile Land, if you hadn’t found food and water, we’d have had to think of some other way to get off that wire fence.”
Lu Li said, “We’ll wait and see.”
Jiang Changqing let out a cold snort. “So wishy-washy. You do things the same way you look-no masculinity, no decisiveness at all!”
He grumbled as he followed after Sun Hai’s trio. The moment he stepped forward, that heavy, swamp-like sensation clung to him again.
“What the… it’s back again!” Cold sweat broke out across his back. The more anxious Jiang Changqing became, the slower he moved. He shouted toward the front, “Wait for me! You guys, wait up!”
But the three people ahead only kept their backs to him, chatting and laughing as if they couldn’t hear him at all. In the blink of an eye they slipped into the shadow beyond the door.
Leaving Jiang Changqing alone, struggling for what felt like ages-yet he only managed to take half a step.
Sun Hai had stopped inside, but only to check his Points balance. Without even thinking, he pointed at the Female Player in their party. “If the next segment still costs Points, we’ll deduct from your account first.”
“Why!?” The Female Player’s complaint turned into a shout, and she didn’t bother to respectfully call him “Big Brother” anymore. “Sun Hai! From the start of this Instance till now, you’ve been using my Points and Jiang Changqing’s Points to exchange for Items, haven’t you? We put up with it even though that last stage cost over two hundred thousand Points between us! And now you’re pushing it even further!
“You clearly have the most Points-shouldn’t you be the one footing more of the bill? And what about Xia Le, why doesn’t he pay up either? Every time he just stands there running his mouth, saying a bunch of pretty words that aren’t worth crap! I’ve never seen him contribute anything! Jiang Changqing, don’t stand there like a corpse. Didn’t you have a lot of complaints when you were talking to me? Now that you’re in front of Sun Hai you don’t dare say a word?”
She shoved hard at the “Jiang Changqing” standing in front of her-her hand passed straight through his “body.”
The instant they fully crossed the threshold of the door…
The heavy door behind them slammed shut.
–
Jiang Changqing lay on the ground, exhausted.
Three people surrounded him. He snapped upright at once, on full alert.
“How can you even walk like that-twisting and dithering-no masculinity, no decisiveness at all?” Luo Jia Bai bent down with his hands in his pockets, clicking his tongue. “This is my first time seeing someone manage to fall over while walking.”
Mirella pointed at the closed door and twisted the knife. “Your teammates abandoned you. You’re dispensable-something they can toss aside whenever they feel like it, aren’t you?”
Lu Li plucked out the Test Report that belonged to the dog.
The remaining Test Report spontaneously caught fire in his hand, burning with an eerie flame.
The outcome was the same as when Sun Hai had made his choice just now.
“H-how is that possible?” Jiang Changqing’s face went pale. “What the hell is going on?”
The door marked for the dog swung open with a sharp whoosh.
“What’s going on is: we’ve got another correct answer,” Lu Li said. “But this means you can only stay with us now.”
–
Jiang Changqing followed them with a dark expression, forced to tag along.
Gu Yu Chu, on the other hand, had joined them of his own accord.
The interior beyond the door had an odd layout.
There was only a single path down the center.
It was just wide enough for one person to walk comfortably; two side by side would be cramped.
On either side the floor sank down, forming recessed areas. In those lowered sections, rows of cradle-like little beds were neatly arranged along both sides. Bed after bed stretched into the distance, and on each one lay a dog-eared, human-bodied figure in a deep sleep.
Snores rose and fell in an overlapping chorus.
Their breeds, genders, colors, and builds were all different.
But each one had a blue ring fastened around their left wrist.
“The Nightmare Holder is probably among them,” Luo Jia Bai scanned the rows before them. “If we just find the right one and wake them up, can we clear this stage?”