Chapter 181
Chapter 181
The moment Shang Yan entered the maze, he strode through the only small doorway.
Unexpectedly, however, the scene beyond it was completely different from the one Qiao Yu and the others had encountered.
A lock of pitch-black hair suddenly drifted toward him, trying to coil around his neck.
Shang Yan flicked out his chain and tangled it around the hair. With a hard tug, the icy aura of the Soul-Hooking Chain instantly froze the hair solid.
With a crack, half of it shattered.
A cry of pain rang out from the dark passage, followed by a series of thuds.
A wooden doll stiffly walked up to Shang Yan. The hair on its head grew without end, closing in from every direction as it tried to ensnare him.
Shang Yan remembered this doll. It was the one Qiao Xiaowen always carried in her arms. Its name seemed to be… Okiku?
Whatever. Okiku, Daisy, it made no difference. He had no time to waste on little ghosts like this.
Qiao Xiaowen believed she was Qiao Yu’s weakness. Exciting as that idea was, Shang Yan had no desire to become Qiao Yu’s true vulnerability.
He despised anything that wanted to drag Qiao Yu back into hell!
The next second, Shang Yan summoned the Soul-Departing Fan and gave it a light sweep. The flying strands of hair veered off course, and Okiku the Doll was instantly blown away, disappearing to parts unknown.
Outside the maze, Qiao Xiaowen stood in the orphanage yard with her eyes closed. Her body suddenly swayed, and she collapsed.
Qiao Beibei frowned at her. “You failed?”
Qiao Xiaowen stared at the doll in her hands, now bald across half its head, and a trace of wariness flashed through her eyes. “That man isn’t a Red Name Streamer at all. He’s a Black-Name Streamer who controls the Live Stream Room-and he’s ranked very high…”
Qiao Beibei snorted. “Then we’ll try something else.”
The moment Okiku the Doll disappeared, the silent, dark passage began to crumble away piece by piece, revealing its true appearance.
[Welcome to the Night Maze-1001]
Shang Yan stood before the wall with lowered eyes for a moment. The next second, the number changed to “1002.”
He arched a brow in surprise. “Is this…”
The number of streamers buried in the maze?
Interesting.
Shang Yan turned and left, soon reaching the first fork without incident.
The paths on the left and right looked identical, but that was merely an illusion.
His uncanny pupils went hollow in the darkness. Like X-ray vision, they gave solid form to the dense malice hanging in the air.
Even after determining which path held danger, he did not leave right away.
In his opinion, the real question was which path Qiao Yu would have chosen.
“If you had two choices, which one would you pick?” Shang Yan considered it, then stepped onto the path on the right. “Your luck is pretty good. Choosing correctly shouldn’t be hard for you.”
Not long after he left, a figure arrived at the fork. After a moment’s hesitation, the person noticed nothing unusual in the passage and followed Shang Yan down the right-hand path.
Soon, Shang Yan reached another junction, this one with three paths.
The middle path was the safest, but…
Shang Yan fell silent as he stared at the glaring warning, displayed as though afraid someone might miss it.
Given Qiao Yu’s rebellious streak, he would never heed the advice. He must have defiantly chosen the path on the left!
Shang Yan yawned and glanced at Azim, who was following behind under the impression that he had concealed himself well. The corner of Shang Yan’s mouth curled upward.
He did not warn Azim and simply let the man follow him along the same route Qiao Yu had taken.
Unlike the spacious passages before it, this corridor was gloomier and more secluded. At least it was lively, though. The murmur of conversation even drifted from up ahead.
“Are you any good at this or not? You can’t even handle a little job like this, and you have the nerve to claim you’re from the demolition office?”
Words that vicious could only have come from Qiao Yu.
Whoever had fallen into his hands must have been terribly unlucky.
“I never said I worked for the demolition office!”
The Slit-Mouthed Woman was furious. When had she ever claimed she worked for the demolition office?
He could start a rumor as easily as breathing!
When Shang Yan walked over, he found Qiao Yu directing the Slit-Mouthed Woman as she… tore down a wall?
Yes. She was using a giant pair of scissors to demolish a wall!
“Qiao Yu, why are you tearing down the wall?”
The moment Qiao Yu saw Shang Yan, all the sharpness vanished from his face, replaced by delight.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman watched coldly from the side and hacked at the wall even harder!
Now that his boyfriend was here, Qiao Yu had no time for the Slit-Mouthed Woman. As naturally as breathing, he stepped forward, took Shang Yan by the wrist, and led him over to the wall before launching into a speech. “Lu Xun once said, ‘At first, there were no roads in the world. A road appeared once enough people walked the same way.’
“We don’t have a road right now. If we tear down the wall in front of us, won’t that give us one?”
Shang Yan thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Lu Xun really did say that. Well done-you got every word right.”
-That deserves praise? He blames every random quote on Lu Xun. He just happened to guess correctly this time.
-His beachcomber persona is dead. All hail the beautiful idiot.
-How dare you! His brain doesn’t even qualify him as a beautiful idiot. At least a beautiful idiot is beautiful.
-Isn’t the streamer beautiful? (Old Man Squinting at Phone.jpg)
-Please. With that mouth charging into battle ahead of him, no one can notice his extraordinary beauty.
-Besides, he has intelligence, but no wisdom.
-Sadako: Our gege has both beauty and talent. Haters, begone!
-Good heavens, their conditions really are made for each other.
“Of course!” Qiao Yu lifted his chin, displaying unprecedented shamelessness.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman could no longer stand listening. She raised her scissors and looked at Shang Yan, her tone aggrieved and chilling. “Am I pretty?”
Qiao Yu clicked his tongue and glared at her. “Who are you trying to hit on?”
The Slit-Mouthed Woman sighed, exhausted by it all.
Azim soon realized that Shang Yan had led him into a dead end. He instinctively turned to go back, but, as expected, the exit behind him sealed itself at terrifying speed, leaving him no time to retreat.
A thick concrete wall towered before him. The sight was enough to drive anyone to despair.
He slapped the wall anxiously and cursed under his breath.
The next second, a voice that raised goose bumps all over his body suddenly whispered beside his ear, “Am I… pretty?”
The Slit-Mouthed Woman and the Pen Spirit had one thing in common: they always picked the softest target and bullied the weakest person.
It was a difficult question, but Qiao Yu had already provided a model answer.
Azim copied him and nodded. “You’re pretty, but not as pretty as I am.”
The Slit-Mouthed Woman gave a disgusted “Ew.” “How can you say something like that with a straight face? If your eyes are useless, let me gouge them out for you!”
No-this wasn’t how it was supposed to go!
Why was someone else allowed to say it, while he got his eyes gouged out for doing the same?
Faced with the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s predatory stare, Azim shuddered and twisted aside, narrowly dodging her razor-sharp scissors. He craned his neck and shouted toward Qiao Yu and the others, “Save me!”
Qiao Yu shook his head. “No.”
His rejection was crisp, decisive, and admirably concise.
“If you don’t save me, I might choose you for the next game too. You may not fear these games, but that doesn’t mean your companions don’t. And don’t forget, the Review Card you gave them has already been used-”
“What a nag. Slit-Mouthed Woman, hurry up. We’re on a tight schedule with a lot of work to do. You have one minute. Don’t hold up our construction project.”
-It’s just wall demolition, and he calls it a construction project… I’m dying!
-The Slit-Mouthed Woman really is the ultimate sucker.
Qiao Yu’s urging proved effective. The Slit-Mouthed Woman did not toy with Azim this time. She grabbed his arm, then drove the scissors cleanly toward his eyeball.
At the critical moment, Azim hurriedly exchanged points for an Immobilization Talisman and slapped it onto the Slit-Mouthed Woman’s forehead.
The moment the Slit-Mouthed Woman froze, Azim breathed a sigh of relief. Staring at the scissors less than an inch from his eyeball, he felt cold sweat soak his back.