Chapter 131
Chapter 131
The sudden knock at the door sounded especially frantic in the dead silence of the night.
“Brother Lei! Brother Lei, are you in there?!” Meiya’s voice rang out, thick with tears.
Xu You came forward holding the compass, then crouched down to look through the crack beneath the door. Once she was certain the person outside was not the Faceless Woman in disguise, she nodded to Wei Sen.
Seeing this, Wei Sen turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
“Brother Lei!” Meiya rushed forward in excitement, only to freeze abruptly. She stared at the people in the room in disbelief, and her gaze also landed on the Skeleton Monster tied up like a rice dumpling.
She had no time to care about anything else. She charged toward the Skeleton Monster and shielded it tightly.
“Please, don’t kill it!” Meiya looked at them with tears in her eyes.
“What is your relationship with this Skeleton Monster?” Xu You was the first to ask.
Meiya bit her lip and looked at the Skeleton Monster, not knowing how to answer.
Chen Lin said, “If you don’t answer honestly, we won’t let it go!”
Meiya’s shoulders trembled slightly. She gripped the Skeleton Monster’s hand tightly and said, “It… it’s the most important person in the world to me! Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you. Please, don’t hurt it anymore!”
From Meiya, the group heard the story from another perspective.
Back then, Li Shuhan and Gao Lei had come to the village to investigate the cause behind the Aurora. Because Meiya had just turned eighteen and was the village chief’s niece, the village chief arranged for her to assist the two of them, taking them around the mountains, telling them the old stories of Ping’an Village, and so on.
As time went on, Meiya grew closer to them, and both of them treated her like a younger sister.
But Meiya was at the age when feelings first began to bloom, and Gao Lei was handsome, knowledgeable, talented, and interesting to talk to.
Through their daily interactions, Meiya developed feelings for Gao Lei.
At first, she had never thought of coming between the two of them. But as the days passed, envy and jealousy took root in her heart, tormenting her unbearably.
To stop herself from suffering so much, she went to the village chief and asked him to assign someone else to assist Li Shuhan and Gao Lei.
It was precisely because of this that the village chief discovered Meiya’s feelings for Gao Lei.
Then, under the village chief’s instigation, Meiya set foot on a road of no return.
Everything that happened afterward was exactly the same as what everyone had pieced together from the clues.
From Meiya’s perspective, she had no idea what the village chief’s purpose was in doing all of this.
Even so, Xu You still tried asking, “If you can tell us the secret behind the Aurora, we’ll let it go immediately.”
Meiya looked helpless. “I know you’re trying to obtain the Divine Gift, but if I knew what the Divine Gift really was, I would have written it clearly in the clue I left you back then.”
Everyone recalled the key note He Xu and Zhou Jie had found in Meiya’s home. The note had said, “Go east of the forest to find a way out.”
“You left that note?” Wei Sen asked. Guo Lan had said she had seen the note, and the handwriting did not look like Meiya’s.
“Yes.” At this point, Meiya admitted it frankly. “I left it on purpose.”
Everyone was puzzled.
“Why?” Chen Lin asked, unable to understand.
“To lure people to the cave and make it easier for Gao Lei to hunt them,” Wei Sen said coldly.
The Meiya before them was not absolutely evil, but she was not absolutely good either.
She would tell the Order Keeper group the Check-in Rules at the inn, giving everyone a greater chance of surviving past the seventh day.
But she would also deliberately leave that kind of clue in her home, because she knew Gao Lei coming to the inn every night to hunt was extremely risky. If she tricked them into going to the cave instead, the danger to Gao Lei would be greatly reduced.
Meiya lowered her head, not daring to meet their eyes. “Yes… Brother Lei, he… he isn’t who he used to be anymore.”
She gave a self-mocking smile and continued, “The real him died twenty years ago. The him now… only knows how to hunt travelers, then peel off their skins and give them to the innkeeper. I can’t stop him. I can’t stop him…”
“So you helped a tyrant do evil!” Xu You snapped furiously.
“Yes… I know. All of this is my fault.” Tears welled in Meiya’s eyes as she looked at them. “This village was cursed long ago and turned into hell. You never should have come here. I know how to leave. In exchange, let Brother Lei go, and I’ll take you out!”
None of them looked as if they believed her.
Seeing their doubt, Meiya hurried on. “The Aurora will appear tonight! On an Aurora Night, a mysterious Red Door appears in the forest.”
Wei Sen said, “Then you should also know that when the Red Door appears, your manager will start hunting us.”
“I’ll stop her until all of you leave safely.”
“If you go back on your word, couldn’t you just use her to kill us all?” Chen Lin said.
“Please believe me!”
Lin Ze spoke calmly. “The wounds left by my Flame Blade will keep draining an Eerie Entity’s power until the Eerie Entity perishes. Unless I recall the Flame Blade myself.”
Meiya looked at the weakened Skeleton Monster, her heart aching even more. She quickly said, “The Aurora is about to appear. I swear I’ll get you out of here safely, as long as you’re willing to spare him!”
Xu You untied the rope.
The Skeleton Monster dragged its frail body in front of Meiya, as if worried the people before him might hurt her.
Tears slipped down Meiya’s face. Choking up, she said, “Brother Lei, go back first. I’ll be fine.”
The Skeleton Monster had long since lost all independent thought. Everything it did was based on a few remaining subconscious instincts and old habits.
But even knowing that, Meiya was still deeply moved.
Brother Lei was still the same as he had been back then. Whenever danger came, he would shield her behind him.
Meiya took the Skeleton Monster to the balcony and watched as it slowly climbed down. Only after its figure vanished into the snow did she let out a long breath. Then she looked at Lin Ze and said, “Please, you must keep your word.”
“Mm.”
Meiya glanced at the pitch-black sky. “Tonight is the fifteenth. On the fifteenth of every month, the Aurora always appears at midnight.”
Wei Sen glanced at her Watch. Only ten minutes remained.
Chen Lin said worriedly, “But we don’t know how many Red Doors will appear. What if… what if we get there and only one person can leave…”
“That won’t happen. On the night of the fifteenth, at least three doors appear. Exactly how many depends on your luck.” Meiya’s expression grew grave. “On Aurora Nights at any other time, only one door appears. So this is your best chance to leave this place alive. Think it over carefully.”
The group exchanged looks. Although this went against Wei Sen’s original plan, just as Meiya had said, this was an opportunity they absolutely could not miss if they wanted to clear the Instance.
Xu You and Chen Lin both looked at Wei Sen.
“Sister Sen, we can still follow the original plan if you want,” Xu You said.
Chen Lin nodded as well. “We’ll listen to you.”
Wei Sen thought it over. Their original plan for tonight had been to have Meiya confess the truth of what happened back then to the Faceless Woman, then ask the Faceless Woman about the secret of the Aurora.
But now, Meiya had offered to take them straight to clearance.
For the others, escape was right in front of them. Who cared about a Perfect Clearance?
After all, this was an S-Rank Instance. Achieving a Normal Clearance alive was already no easy feat. A Perfect Clearance could be abandoned.
Wei Sen’s tone turned solemn. “All right. At least three people should be able to leave safely. If anyone doesn’t make it out, there will still be another chance in four days.”
“Then I’ll message Xiaoxue and Huang Mao,” Xu You said.
“Let’s go find them directly.” Wei Sen looked at Chen Lin.
Right now, Chen Lin was a mobile Safe House. As long as they did not move too quickly, the safe space was large enough to accommodate the group.
Chen Lin thought of the same method and nodded. “Right. As long as we’re inside the green light, the Faceless Woman won’t be able to attack us!”
With that, the group quickly headed out. They went to rooms 205 and 201 in turn, bringing along Huang Xinze, Lao Wang, Lin Xiaoxue, and Guo Lan.