Chapter 276: Municipal Third Porcelain Factory 15

Chapter 276: Municipal Third Porcelain Factory 15

The Third hid behind the fence, his expression dark and inscrutable.

There was no doubt that there was a ghost in the guardhouse.

However, with his and Baiqiu's current strength, they were not strong enough to confront it.

Since the strange tale began, the members of the Butterfly Guild had encountered more than one or two ghosts. The Third had a good understanding of the strength of ordinary ghosts in these tales.

Therefore, he could be certain that the ghost in the guardhouse was not ordinary.

The concentration of pollution in the guardhouse was surprisingly high, causing The Third's sanity points to plummet as soon as he entered.

If he and Baiqiu hadn't entered together, sharing some of the danger, they would likely have become two corpses by now.

The Third's plan was simple.

They dared not easily enter the guardhouse again, but they could lure others inside.

Given the strength of the ghost in the guardhouse, whoever entered would not come out unscathed.

Then, they could hide outside and observe the situation within.

By throwing in a few more test stones, he believed he could get what he wanted.

Baiqiu looked at The Third, hesitating to speak.

He thought that The Third's idea of finding someone to act as a test stone wasn't wrong in itself.

But why did it have to be someone from Black Feather?

Lu Cheng and Xiao Qin were closely related. If Lu Cheng heard the news, he would bring Xiao Qin along.

When Black Feather solved the ghost problem in the guardhouse, they, as the waiting birds, might not even get a chance to touch the mantis.

They had been driven away in disarray by the ghost in the guardhouse and would be scolded by Zhou Yong.

But wouldn't they also be held accountable for luring Black Feather into the guardhouse?

Baiqiu's face turned various shades of green, red, and purple, but he didn't dare say anything.

After all, this was a live broadcast, and many pairs of eyes belonging to the Lord Butterfly were watching through the camera.

If they handled things poorly, they might still be able to muddle through. But if they made their intentions clear, it would be harder to resolve.

While Baiqiu was lost in thought, The Third pulled him aside and whispered, "They're here."

At the end of the road, a group of people was quietly approaching.

...

Mi Yang frowned as he looked ahead.

Dense gray fog filled the field of vision, becoming thicker as they approached the factory gate. Just dozens of meters away, it was pitch black.

Many players had explored this area before, and yesterday, it wasn't like this.

"Tell me," Xie Jingtian said, finally understanding, "how could those two from Butterfly be so careless, talking outside where others could hear them?"

Lu Cheng had mentioned that he overheard them from quite a distance.

If they were discussing something secret, they wouldn't have spoken so loudly.

"Could they have done it on purpose, setting up a trap to lure us there?" Xie Jingtian worriedly asked.

Qin Fei's gaze remained calm: "Yes, I think so too."

Xie Jingtian: "Right... huh???"

He widened his eyes: "You think so too?"

If Xiao Qin also thought so, then it was most likely true.

"Then why are we still going there?"

"It's fine." Qin Fei half-closed his eyes, looking towards the guardhouse.

He was already certain that this was the place they were looking for.

The gray concrete building was shrouded in heavy yin energy, and the long line of ghosts following the players showed obvious signs of agitation.

Most importantly, the black crystal ring on Qin Fei's finger had recently emitted a faint warmth.

Qin Fei felt it.

The presence of a pollution source.

Although very faint and hard to detect.

The young man gently rubbed the ring on his hand and casually said, "A place that is dangerous for them may not be dangerous for us."

In the scenario, the more dangerous places usually hold greater rewards.

Mi Yang agreed: "The Butterfly Guild has only a few members. Given the current unclear situation in the strange tale, they can't directly do anything to us."

They probably encountered an unsolvable situation and wanted to lure them there to die.

But the heads of Black Feather weren't so easy to take.

As they spoke, the group had already arrived at the gatehouse entrance.

The gatehouse was quiet, with tightly closed doors and windows. Brown paper covered the windows, making it impossible to see inside clearly.

Lu Cheng manipulated the vines to knock on the door.

The rusty hinges creaked shrilly, and after a moment, the door opened slightly.

A gaunt, aged face appeared in the crack of the door.

"Anything you need?"

The NPC wore the uniform of the porcelain factory, as wrinkled as his face, with a line of text floating above his head.

"City Third Porcelain Factory - Gatekeeper Lao Zhang: Affinity ???"

The question marks for affinity indicated that this was indeed no ordinary NPC.

Those cloudy eyes scanned the group in front of the door. When they landed on Qin Fei, there seemed to be an instant of sharpness, only to return to normal in the next moment.

Qin Fei smiled and said, "Our family sent a package over, and we want to look for it inside."

To their surprise, the process of entering went smoothly. As soon as Qin Fei spoke, the NPC did not ask any further questions and let them into the room.

Outside, the sky was nearly pitch black, and the gatehouse was unlit, relying only on faint light. Qin Fei could see the interior furnishings clearly.

Near the door was a pitted old desk, and along the three walls stood cabinets piled high with various items and letters.

Apart from these, there were no other pieces of furniture in the room.

The ghostly aura and polluted air that had been sensed from a distance vanished completely once the players entered the room.

This seemed to be just an ordinary room.

Qin Fei subtly frowned.

"You can search for what you need yourselves," Lao Zhang said, lighting a cigarette and stepping outside the gatehouse.

As the NPC left, he closed the door behind him. Lu Cheng sent out a vine to monitor the outside, and everyone started searching frantically.

Not just the players, but also the water ghost, blood ghost, and hanged ghost were enlisted by Qin Fei to help with the laborious task.

Though small, the gatehouse had many items stacked on the shelves. Personal items sent to workers and samples sent to the factory filled the three large cabinets.

The October packages had long been opened.

Even if the painting could return to its original place like those ghostly porcelain bottles, logically, it should not have remained completely unopened.

Therefore, when they first started searching, their main focus was on unpackaged items that looked like paper goods.

However, it didn't take long for everyone to realize that what they were looking for wasn't among these items.

"Could the painting have disguised itself?" Mi Yang suggested.

Perhaps it had changed its appearance or hidden inside another package.

Lu Cheng was checking the gaps behind the shelves when he heard this and asked, "Should we open all the other packages and check?"

But doing so would leave obvious traces. If they found something, it would be fine, but if they didn't, it might anger the NPC outside.

After he spoke, however, no one responded for a while.

Lu Cheng felt a sudden unease and slowly straightened up to look around.

Sure enough, in the cramped gatehouse, he was now alone.

...

Qin Fei sat in the only chair in the gatehouse, his eyelashes lowered as if deep in thought.

The other players were gone, and the ghosts that had come with him had disappeared too, leaving only the ghost infant crawling around the room.

The light in the gatehouse dimmed even further, so dark that one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, and the outlines of the furniture were barely discernible.

So, was this an illusion?

No, not entirely.

More accurately, he was now in the inner world version of the gatehouse.

The painting that once sealed a hundred ghosts indeed had powers stronger than individual ghosts.

Light footsteps sounded outside the door, indicating someone approaching.

After a moment, the door opened.

It was the gatekeeper, Lao Zhang.

He had somehow obtained a coat and draped it over himself, his head lowered as he squeezed into the room.

Qin Fei glanced through the open door, but outside was pitch black, with nothing visible except the sound of wind cutting like knives.

In just a few short minutes, Lao Zhang seemed to have transformed. His already pale face was now blue-black, and his lips devoid of color.

He stared at Qin Fei for a few seconds before suddenly grinning, revealing a twisted smile.

"Who... are you?"

A rough voice emerged from Lao Zhang's throat, accompanied by two streams of murky blood tears.

Qin Fei: "…"

Not afraid at all, even a bit speechless.

Can't they come up with something new?

Qin Fei realized that his understanding seemed to be incorrect.

He originally thought that the ghost in the painting was formidable, and perhaps the players were about to face a tough battle.

But now…

Qin Fei was a bit shaken. Why do the ghosts in this urban legend only know how to cause mental pollution?

Upon careful reflection, Qin Fei felt that everything was very off.

Before leaving Train No. 444, he and the source of the pollution had basically confirmed that the last fragment of the source's soul was hidden within this urban legend.

But two days had passed, and Qin Fei not only hadn't found the fragment but also lost track of the source of the pollution.

However, those issues would have to be considered later.

The most important thing right now was the NPC, Lao Zhang, in front of him.

Blood tears continuously welled up in Lao Zhang's eye sockets, streaming down his weathered face, dripping from his chin onto the ground, splattering into blood flowers one after another.

Qin Fei didn't move, and neither did Lao Zhang, his figure swaying slightly like a bobblehead nailed to the ground.

The room fell silent, one minute, two minutes, the NPC remained silent.

Qin Fei's lips twitched; this situation didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

He needed to try talking to Lao Zhang.

What Qin Fei wanted to ask most was about the painting, but directly addressing it might backfire.

Perhaps he should first establish some rapport with Lao Zhang.

After hesitating for a moment, looking at the striking red on Lao Zhang's face, Qin Fei said, "…I know someone who also likes to shed blood tears like you."

Lao Zhang showed no reaction, but Qin Fei could sense a slight moment of surprise on his face.

Qin Fei sincerely suggested, "Would you like me to introduce you two? This condition seems quite serious; you two could be fellow patients. How about finding some time to go to the hospital together?"

In the narrow room, only the young man's gentle and pleasant voice could be heard, chattering nonstop.