Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Fusheng was not joking.
He truly expected Shengsheng to cry the door open.
The door was enormous. When he led her toward its center, Shengsheng discovered it was not completely closed.
Half the body of a woman in magnificent robes emerged from the narrow opening. A faint smile rested upon her fair and lovely face.
Her eyes, however, remained shut.
Only then did Shengsheng realize that the woman was not alive.
She was a sculpture carved directly into the door.
The figure looked so lifelike that she might open her eyes at any moment. A chill rose inexplicably through Shengsheng.
“Why are her eyes closed?”
After studying the statue for a long time, she turned toward Fusheng.
He gave it a careless glance.
“Because she cannot bear to look?”
Shengsheng stared at him.
What kind of answer was that?
Fusheng believed it was accurate.
This city had been saturated with decay and corruption a century ago. Its monstrous sins were enough to make even the gods avert their eyes.
The ancients treated the dead as they treated the living.
If the Gatekeeper Maiden opened her eyes, the dead would return to the mortal world.
If she kept them shut, their souls would remain imprisoned here, denied reincarnation for all eternity.
Looking across the city’s countless bones, Fusheng slowly revealed a cold smile.
How many invisible spirits wandered these streets?
“Do I truly have to cry?” Shengsheng asked uncertainly.
“Mm. Move her with your tears. If she becomes happy, perhaps the door will open.”
Fusheng put aside his dark mood and returned to his usual indolence.
He leaned beside the Gatekeeper Maiden, plainly ready to enjoy the performance.
Shengsheng did not understand the principle, but Fusheng had left her no other option.
“Please give this servant a moment.”
She inhaled deeply and began gathering her emotions.
Fusheng blinked once.
In the next instant, tears shimmered in the perfectly normal young woman’s eyes. Her red lips trembled, and profound sorrow covered her face.
As expected of him.
He had brought the right person.
For the next several minutes, Shengsheng displayed every fragment of acting skill accumulated over her lifetime.
She wept and wailed at the woman carved into the door as though mourning her own elder sister.
Only after she had cried her voice hoarse and exhausted every tear did the unresponsive door begin to tremble.
Shengsheng hurriedly hid behind Fusheng.
Who knew what waited beyond that door?
She had no intention of becoming the first bird shot from the flock.
The heavy stone doors slowly opened.
Before Shengsheng could see inside, Fusheng pulled her through with unmistakable impatience.
The red cord was long enough that they did not need to stand close together.
As Shengsheng hurried behind him under its tug, she lost her balance. One foot shifted aside and pressed something beneath the floor.
Click.
Her entire body went rigid.
Following the rules of stories like this, that sound could only mean–
A trap!
Shengsheng remained remarkably calm as the floor vanished beneath her.
After all, the special red cord still connected her to Fusheng. He would pull her back up.
It was as though Heaven–or the author–had heard that thought and decided to oppose her.
The instant it formed, the red cord joining her to the man above snapped under the strain.
Shengsheng stared at the broken end.
Had he not promised it would never break?
Fusheng flashed toward her the moment she fell.
He was still one step too late.
He watched Shengsheng disappear before his eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, he prepared to jump after her.
The floor sealed itself in front of him.
Fusheng stood with one foot extended and the hem of his robe trapped between the stone slabs.
He said nothing.
***
A bead of sweat rolled from Shengsheng’s smooth forehead, followed the line of her chin, and fell onto a sharp blade below.
Who in the hell had planted so many upward-pointing swords down there?
Anyone who fell would be skewered from one side to the other.
Staring at the dense forest of cold, gleaming blades, Shengsheng nearly wept.
*A-Pang, save me!*
A-Pang considered the problem.
*Shengsheng, what do you think we should redeem to escape this situation?*
Shengsheng had braced all four limbs against the surrounding walls like a frog. The blades waited ten yards below.
Simply holding herself in place consumed every scrap of concentration. How could she possibly think about System items?
*Choose for me! Hurry!*
*Magical Girl Laser Eyes redeemed for twenty-four hours. Host, please use them with caution.*
What?
*Shengsheng! Face downward and recite the incantation! “I am the inheritor of the mission! In the name of the contract, release your power!”*
She was so unbelievably done.
Facing the countless blades below, Shengsheng recited the words one by one.
Heat suddenly flooded her eyes.
Two beams of light shot out.
The blazing lasers struck the swords. Every sharp blade instantly melted into liquid, sending foul-smelling steam through the shaft.
Shengsheng jumped down, carefully choosing a clean place to land so she would not stain her dress.
*Did you not say I could not redeem modern weapons?*
A-Pang shrugged.
*This is magic.*
Shengsheng had no reply.
She truly loved magic.
The pit was not sealed. After looking around, Shengsheng found a passage barely wide enough for an adult to crawl through.
She hesitated for some time, then chose to explore.
She was no ordinary person now.
She was Magical Girl Shengsheng Zhou.
After walking through the cramped tunnel for an unknown length of time, she encountered a dead end.
Too lazy to retrace her path, she recited the spell. Her eyes flashed, and the lasers blasted a hole straight through the wall.
That felt wonderful.
She continued onward. Eventually, the narrow tunnel widened.
Light shone ahead, accompanied by the sound of water.
Shengsheng walked toward it without hesitation.
Then an enormous green face appeared without warning and nearly made her vomit.
Why was there a zombie in this place?
This was neither *The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles* nor *Ghost Blows Out the Light*.
Why was there a zombie?
Ordinarily, her laser eyes would have reduced the corpse to ash immediately.
Yet the damned thing was unexpectedly agile. Again and again, it dodged her shots.
How infuriating!
It was only a zombie!
After a long chase filled with pursuit and streaking laser fire, Shengsheng’s stamina finally lost to a corpse dead for unknown centuries.
Desperation inspired her.
She sprinted directly toward a wall. The zombie followed close behind.
Just before she collided with the stone, Shengsheng spun and dropped to the ground.
Unable to stop, the zombie lifted one foot to step directly on her.
Shengsheng’s eyes blazed.
The lasers struck the zombie squarely between the legs.
She studied the pile of ash with a complicated expression.
She had no idea whether the zombie had once been male or female.
After that particular shot, perhaps it would reincarnate as a girl in its next life.
While Shengsheng considered the question, the innermost wall of the chamber slowly opened.