Chapter 274
Chapter 274
“We don’t know where the Prince is either,” Lin Junruo said timidly.
Mu Xin pointed at the surveillance camera by the door. “Isn’t he right there?”
Lin Junruo: “???”
So, the Prince had been watching them this entire time?
Jian Fan said nothing. He walked straight to the door and stopped beneath the camera.
“Your Highness, would you care to clear up our confusion?” Jian Fan raised his head and stared directly into the camera.
Everyone: “…”
No one was bolder than Jian Fan.
“You’re very clever.”
The Prince’s voice suddenly came through the ballroom speakers.
At the same moment, the ballroom doors slammed shut with a resounding bang.
Everyone turned toward the entrance.
This was… unsettling. Jian Fan being able to speak with the Prince wasn’t particularly surprising. They had more or less expected that. But the ballroom doors suddenly closing on them made the whole thing feel downright sinister.
“Is the Prince trying to trap us all in one place?” Jian Fan glanced at the doors, his expression calm.
The Prince chuckled. “Unfortunately, you figured it out too late.”
Jian Fan’s expression remained unchanged, but the others began exchanging uneasy looks.
What was going on?
“You intend to sacrifice our lives to the begonia blossoms?” Jian Fan continued.
The Prince wasn’t surprised that Jian Fan had guessed the truth.
“That’s right. Once the begonia blossoms wither, my power will naturally fade with them. If I want to preserve my authority forever, they will need an endless supply of fresh blood,” the Prince said.
Jian Fan nodded. “So you invited all those people to this ball because you planned to sacrifice every last one of them?”
“That’s right. Unfortunately, you ruined my plan. But your life forces are remarkably strong. The lives of all twelve of you will be enough to awaken the sleeping begonia blossoms. Afterward, I can continue searching for other sources of vitality for her.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire castle began to change.
To everyone’s shock, everything before their eyes faded away. In the blink of an eye, the magnificent castle transformed into a golden birdcage, with Qin Nan and the other eleven trapped inside. At the same time, branches and leaves sprang out from nowhere and rapidly wound themselves around the birdcage.
Everyone: “…”
It really was a birdcage.
But they quickly lost any interest in dwelling on that.
Because…
Qin Nan could clearly feel his vitality draining away.
He frowned and instinctively pressed a hand to his chest.
The loss of vitality left him in such agony that he could barely breathe.
Meanwhile, as their vitality continued to drain, the branches covering the birdcage rapidly burst into bloom, producing one lush, vibrant begonia blossom after another.
Qin Nan cursed viciously in his head.
The others weren’t faring any better.
Their vitality was draining far too quickly.
Lin Junruo was the first to give out, collapsing to the floor. Mu Xin, Yellow Hair, and the others soon followed, no longer able to bear the strain or remain on their feet.
Jian Fan’s face had also turned deathly pale.
Yet he remained standing.
“Do you really think you’ll succeed?” Jian Fan asked.
The Prince chuckled. “The victor rules, and the loser falls. The outcome is already right before your eyes. Are you still unwilling to accept it?”
“The timing is wrong,” Jian Fan said.
The Prince clearly hesitated.
“The ideal time for the sacrifice is twelve o’clock, when the ball ends. At that exact moment, you were supposed to sacrifice everyone’s lives and use them to awaken the begonia blossoms. But now, you don’t have nearly enough people, and even the timing is wrong. So why don’t we make a bet? Let’s see whether this sacrifice of yours will actually succeed.” Jian Fan’s breathing had already grown labored, but his expression remained calm as he continued confronting the Prince.
The Prince seemed to be getting annoyed.
“Whether you succeed or fail, you’re destined to die here,” the Prince said.
Jian Fan merely laughed. “Is that so? What a shame. I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you.”
By now, Qin Nan had collapsed to the ground, without even enough strength left to struggle. But Jian Fan’s words rekindled a spark of hope within him.
He wanted to speak, but he no longer had the strength to get more than a few words out.
All he could do was scream inwardly.
If you’ve got a plan, hurry up and use it!
“Do you really think you can bluff me?” After a moment of silence, the Prince spoke again.
Jian Fan smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
He sounded utterly confident, but the moment the words left his mouth, his legs gave out and he crumpled to the ground.
Jian Fan: “…”
Couldn’t his body have spared him at least a little dignity?
The Prince burst into merciless laughter, while Qin Nan and the others looked equally speechless.
Could the ever-reliable Jian Fan really be about to fail in this world?
But at that very moment, the Prince’s laughter abruptly stopped, replaced by a deafening sound.
“Bang!”
A chain of explosions reverberated throughout the birdcage.
Nothing around them appeared to change, yet the explosions sounded unmistakably real.
They went on for a long time. Qin Nan and the others exchanged bewildered looks, none of them knowing what was happening.
None except Jian Fan.
Struggling back to his feet, he walked over to the side of the birdcage. Without hesitation, he reached out, gave a hard yank, and tore down the blooming begonia blossom.
The moment he closed his hand around it, the life force that had been draining out of him gradually began to return.
As his life force recovered, the begonia blossom seemed to suddenly deflate. It withered at a visible speed, its vibrant petals turning shriveled and lifeless in the blink of an eye before finally crumbling into a single yellowed leaf.
And Qin Nan and the others?
They were still reeling from the sudden flood of life force pouring back into them.
Jian Fan was already moving on.
He walked to what had once been the ballroom entrance, now the exit of the birdcage.
He pushed outward with all his strength.
The birdcage opened.
Without the slightest hesitation, Jian Fan stepped through the opening.
The instant both his feet left the birdcage, that familiar white light spread across everyone’s vision.
Had they… succeeded?
No one could quite believe it.
They all felt as though they had missed some crucial step. How had they suddenly cleared the scenario?
How had Jian Fan figured all of this out?
Questions crowded everyone’s minds. Even Qin Weiyi was having trouble processing what had happened.
This time, he truly had no idea how Jian Fan had discovered what was wrong, or how he had managed to turn the tables in his confrontation with the Prince.
But that did not matter.
What mattered was that they had cleared another scenario. And this time, every single one of them had made it through!
It took Qin Nan a moment to realize this as well.
Wild joy surged through him.
But when he looked up to find Jian Fan, the white light had already faded. The birdcage was gone, and they had successfully returned to the Realm of Death.