chapter 28
Luo Jia Bai couldn’t help but take a step back. “There aren’t still Mutilated Corpses under the sand, are there?”
“If we fall down, we’re dead for sure!” Jian Yingying shuddered as she recalled the horror of the Mutilated Corpses beneath the sand in the previous round.
“The ground is cracking too fast. At this rate, we can only check one more Slide. The other two are completely out of reach.” Luo Jia Bai’s expression was serious. He exchanged for a new Wooden Stick and quickly got to work inspecting the Dolls.
“Let me help.” Jian Yingying looked tentatively at Lu Li. “Now the ground has separated the Players. The three of us have no choice but to form a group. You only checked one facility earlier. Let’s check the rest together-it’ll be more efficient.”
To prove she was truly useful, she quickly came up with an idea.
“I’ve been through a lot of Instances, and I’m pretty familiar with the Shop. There’s an Item that allows teleportation within ten meters, and it only costs 800 Points. I’m willing to spend my Points. Once we’ve checked the Slide, we can teleport to the other two Items.”
The four pieces of ground were suspended and shrinking, and the speed was increasing.
Luo Jia Bai, holding the Wooden Stick, lost his footing for a moment. His body lurched dangerously, almost falling off, but Jian Yingying immediately reached out and pulled him back.
Luo Jia Bai instinctively thanked her. “Tha…thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I really don’t have any other intentions.” Jian Yingying gave a bitter smile, her downcast eyes flickering. “This Instance is too difficult. I just want to survive.”
Luo Jia Bai glanced at Lu Li, who was still lost in thought, then looked at Jian Yingying’s expression. After a moment’s struggle, he sighed. “Pick up two Wooden Sticks and help me check the Dolls. Pay close attention to whether their eyes are different.”
Jian Yingying looked up in surprise and quickly agreed. “Okay!”
Luo Jia Bai had finally relented. With that, Lu Li accepting her was only a matter of time.
The center of the Slide was a small space blocked on all sides, seemingly safe enough if you hid inside.
Because of this, the center was packed with rotting Dolls.
Pushing aside the layers of Dolls, it took a lot of effort just to see every face.
Jian Yingying had just used the Wooden Stick to move two Dolls when her gaze was drawn to a Doll in the corner wearing blue clothes.
The blue was so vivid, so pure, like a vortex that dazzled her, making her dizzy and unable to resist reaching out to touch it.
Everything around her faded away. She heard a tiny, seductive voice whisper:
[Come closer, just a little closer.]
Luo Jia Bai had just finished checking a corner. When he turned around, he saw Jian Yingying leaning forward as if possessed, crossing the safety line, just one step away from touching the Doll’s face.
“What are you doing!” He slapped Jian Yingying’s arm hard and warned in a low voice, “Do you realize you almost touched the Doll? Didn’t you see what happened to Zhu Yue just now? Touch it and you’ll die!”
If a Doll bites a living person and tastes blood, it becomes even more active.
“If you die, that’s one thing. Don’t drag us down with you!”
Jian Yingying snapped back to her senses and apologized guiltily. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
She whispered in defense, “I saw a Doll in a blue dress. Its color was brighter than the others. It looked different.”
“Blue?” Luo Jia Bai frowned. “I didn’t see it. Where is it?”
“It’s right…” Jian Yingying was about to point it out, but suddenly withdrew her hand.
She met Luo Jia Bai’s puzzled gaze and stiffly curled her fingers. “It’s gone. I must’ve been seeing things.”
Jian Yingying watched Luo Jia Bai and Lu Li’s expressions and movements, realizing neither of them had noticed the blue Doll. She couldn’t help but feel excited.
This Doll was truly unique.
She must have already found the special Doll that could clear the Instance!
Looking down at her own blue dress, Jian Yingying rubbed the blue dress she’d spent Points on in the game, her heart soaring: Even the color of the dress is so similar. It seems fate has destined her to clear the Third Floor.
At the center of the shrinking ground are four facilities. Lu Li finished observing and spoke up suddenly, his gaze always fixed on the ground and the sand below. “When the ground can no longer support people, you have to stand on the facilities to avoid falling.”
“But standing on the facilities doesn’t let you clear the level.”
Previously, players who reached this stage had no choice but to stand on the nearest facility after the ground completely disappeared.
“If you stand on a facility, you’ll end up like the Dolls.”
You have to find that special entity to clear the level.
Lu Li tapped his wristband and brought up his previous items again. He repeatedly examined the five diaries, replaying in his mind what Nuo Nuo had said when announcing the game rules:
[There is another pair of eyes here.]
[Something that doesn’t belong to the Park has mixed in.]
The swing, slide, seesaw, and carousel are all facilities in the Park.
So what is it that didn’t originally belong to the Park?
Lu Li’s eyes darkened. He pulled one note from the five papers, a faint smile curving his lips.
He might have figured out the answer.
From the intermittent music of the carousel opposite came the sound of an argument.
“The carousel already takes up a lot of space. Now the ground is shrinking, and we can’t ride it, so the open area can’t even fit three people!” Qiao Ren looked down his nose at Zhu Yue. “And you don’t need to keep sticking to me and Brother Qi. There are two other facilities with no one on them. Isn’t that enough space for you?”
“Give me back my Points!” Zhu Yue’s chest heaved violently as she panted, blood still streaming from the top of her head. “I don’t want your half-price Life-Saving Item anymore. Give me back my Points!”
“If you want to give, give. If you want to take, take. What am I to you? Even banks charge interest!” Qi Mingda retorted unreasonably. Seeing Zhu Yue raise her hand, he shoved her shoulder hard before she could make a move.
“You’re missing an arm and covered in injuries. What use are you? Instead of struggling on, you might as well just die.”
Zhu Yue staggered back a couple of steps, missed her footing, and fell straight into the Sand Pit.
“You’re lying to me!! Qi Mingda, you’ve been lying to me from the very start-ahhh!”
The gushing blood was quickly swallowed by the sand. Her body convulsed violently, blood spraying from her face, her shrill screams echoing through the whole room.
Jian Yingying was shocked by Zhu Yue’s agony, her eyes widening. “There really is something in the sand! She looks like she’s in so much pain.”
Gripped by intense fear, she clenched her hands tightly, glancing back again and again at the special blue Doll on top of the slide.
That patch of blue became even more vivid and striking.
Jian Yingying instinctively took a step toward the Doll, and heard the voice continue:
[To survive, you must use any means necessary.]
[If you don’t harm others, others will kill you.]
Zhu Yue lay on her back in the sand, her blood-red eyes fixed on Qi Mingda. “I haven’t used my Evil Spirit Ability yet, Qi Mingda, you-”
Bang-
A gunshot made everyone’s chest tremble.
“How stupid. At a time like this, you still think you can threaten me? Haven’t you heard villains die for talking too much?” Qi Mingda wiped the still-smoking muzzle, looking at Zhu Yue now completely buried by sand. He sneered, “Died without ever using her Evil Spirit Ability. What a pity.”
“Still watching the show?” Qi Mingda wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at Lu Li. “There are three of you standing there. Isn’t it crowded?”
“The ground is getting smaller and smaller. Who are you going to push down?”
Qi Mingda looked behind Lu Li, a look of realization dawning on his face. “Looks like you’ve already made your decision.”
Right in front of Lu Li, just a step away, was the edge of the floor, where debris kept falling.
Behind him stood Luo Jia Bai and Jian Yingying.
As soon as Qi Mingda finished speaking, a huge force suddenly shoved Lu Li outward.