Chapter 282: Joyful Fate 03

Chapter 282: Joyful Fate 03

In Room 014, two figures, one tall and one short, stood close together, both looking up.

Qin Fei asked the ghost infant, "Did you see this painting earlier?"

The ghost infant shook its head; it didn't remember.

Neither did Qin Fei.

Previously, when he was searching for rules in the room, although he didn't dig three feet into the ground, he had thoroughly searched every corner. But now, recalling it, there was no memory of this part at all.

This painting is not ordinary.

The NPC in charge had mentioned to the players that "the painting is dangerous, please handle with care," but under this rule was another hint, almost explicitly telling the players that important information was hidden in Tulou's ancient paintings.

Qin Fei hesitated for a moment.

Should he touch this painting?

If he were to touch it, how should he do it?

In the live stream, the audience was divided into two camps.

Half urged Qin Fei to act quickly and not miss any clues.

The other half hoped the broadcaster would be cautious to avoid any adverse consequences.

However, before the audience and Qin Fei could reach a conclusion, the red ribbon binding the painting suddenly broke into three pieces on its own.

The ribbon floated gently to the ground, and the painting unfolded with a rustle, revealing its contents clearly in front of the live stream camera.

Qin Fei took a subtle step back but didn't take his eyes off the painting.

.

Judging from its appearance, this was far from an aesthetically pleasing painting. On a light blue backing paper, a pure black background framed a dark red silhouette.

It was a silhouette, but not realistic.

With a pointed face, distinct body outline, and hollowed-out features, it seemed like a figure cut out of red paper.

The red paper figure sat at a table, seemingly unbraiding her hair. Behind her was a bed, and in front of her on the table stood two candles.

All the details in the painting were as rough as the paper figure, except for the flames on those two candles, which were richly layered and lifelike, as if they would sway in the wind.

At the lower left corner of the painting, where the artist or collector usually signed and stamped, there were two sentences written neatly in official script:

"Do not open your eyes while sleeping."

"Light candles at night."

If we exclude the vague warnings found by the ghost infant under the chair, these were the only words related to "rules" in Room 014.

Qin Fei's gaze swept over the words on the painting, then he walked towards the altar beside him, taking out a lighter from his space and lighting the two red candles on the table.

After lighting the candles, there were still four incense sticks beside them.

Although the painting didn't specify whether incense should be lit, the rules in other rooms mentioned that both incense and candles should be lit simultaneously.

Qin Fei hesitated for a moment and picked up only three of the incense sticks.

Seeing Qin Fei's actions, a wave of questions appeared in the live stream chat:

"Why did the broadcaster only light three incense sticks?"

As soon as the question appeared, other viewers began to show off:

"Don't you understand... How can you not know this?? Aren't you ashamed to be in this A-level hall? You've been watching live streams for years, and you still don't get it?"

Derision seeped through the text: "Three for gods, four for ghosts, have you never heard of it?"

Three for gods, four for ghosts.

In the Chinese horror scenarios of the rule world, this has almost become an established principle.

In the normal world, "three for gods, four for ghosts" primarily refers to the number of bows during worship.

But in the rule world, it has evolved into various aspects. Once players enter a horror scenario, they typically avoid anything related to "four" at all costs. Lighting four incense sticks or knocking four times on a door could bring misfortune, and experienced players would never do such things.

After lighting the incense and candles, nothing happened, and the room remained quiet.

Footsteps could already be heard outside in the corridor.

The new batch of players who had chosen their rooms came out again, and players from Black Feather and Dark Fire also secretly mingled among them.

When the two groups met, a subtle tension filled the corridor.

Qin Fei waited by the door for a moment, then pushed it open when no one was nearby and headed towards Lu Cheng's room.

To Qin Fei's surprise, Lu Cheng wasn't in the room.

He opened the attribute panel and saw the message.

...

"Lu Cheng": Bros, I'm going to ask the manager for a lantern. Anyone want to join?

"Xie Jingtian": I'll come too! I'll find you.

"Lu Cheng": OK, OK, let's go find Xiao Qin first and take his lantern with us.

They were supposed to find Qin Fei for a lantern, but the two of them hadn't even knocked on Qin Fei's door. Before they reached his room, Xie Jingtian spotted the NPC steward in the courtyard downstairs.

There was light on the second floor, and lanterns hung under the eaves of the houses on the first floor. The only dark area was the staircase. To save effort, Xie Jingtian simply jumped down from the second-floor corridor.

A height of more than two meters wasn't much for skilled players.

Xie Jingtian jumped down, followed by Lu Cheng. It seemed some players were watching from inside their rooms, as several others soon joined them.

Some wore Black Feather uniforms, while others belonged to different guilds. They all leaped down like dumplings into a pot.

The steward downstairs was speechless, his wrinkled face turning completely black.

Fortunately, players had thick skins and pretended not to notice the steward's expression. They approached him with smiles, asking for items.

Following the procedure, the steward should have hesitated, rambled a bit, and warned everyone about the dangers at night, advising them not to wander around with just a lantern.

However, perhaps because he was still stunned by the mass jump earlier, the steward didn't say a word. He led the players to a storage room on the west side of the first floor, giving each one a lantern and a candle.

Players started venturing out more. In just over ten minutes, the courtyard and both floors were filled with players carrying lanterns. Some even approached the NPC servants near the stairs to inquire about the third floor.

Gala cautioned everyone in the guild channel:

"Don't go too far. Those who have lanterns can explore outside a bit, but return to your rooms before it gets too late."

For tonight's specific arrangements, Gala had already synchronized the plan in the channel. Lu Cheng and another player named Mengchang from Black Feather were responsible for monitoring the strange occurrences outside, while the other players stayed in their guest rooms on standby.

Qin Fei returned to Room 014 after seeing the continuous messages in the guild channel.

Compared to exploring the unknown areas of Tulou, he was more interested in the current guest room.

Qin Fei locked the door and placed the two porcelain bottles he got from Xiaoman on either side of the entrance. He then turned to look at the room behind him.

The room was empty, with the candlelight on the altar flickering, casting a huge shadow, making it eerie and frightening.

This scene looked intimidating, but it couldn't scare Qin Fei. As he walked toward the altar, his gaze suddenly froze when he glanced at the painting on the wall.

The red paper figure in the painting seemed to have slightly changed its pose during the time he hadn't noticed.

Qin Fei remembered that her hand hadn't touched her head before.

But now, her fingertips were touching the topknot on her head.

The old painting hung quietly in the corner, as if mocking the person in the room:

Look, even if you know there's something wrong with me, you don't know what to do about it.

"Guest."

Voices came from the corridor, clearly penetrating through the door and interrupting Qin Fei's thoughts.

The voice was familiar; Qin Fei recognized it as the NPC named Xiaoman.

Recalling how Xiaoman had stared at him and smiled earlier, Qin Fei subtly frowned.

At the time, he hadn't felt anything, but now, recalling it, he always felt that Xiaoman's gaze towards him was full of meaning, as if...

He had known him for a long time.

The conversation continued outside the corridor. It was Xiaoman and Lu Cheng talking.

Xiaoman said, "Guest, it's getting late. Please return to your room to rest."

Lu Cheng replied, "I understand. Can't we go out in Tulou at night?"

Xiaoman: "Yes, guests, servants will patrol regularly at night. It's just that the wind is strong at night, which might extinguish the candles."

Lu Cheng acknowledged and left with his lantern. His special ability meant he wouldn't leave the second floor, but he would extend vines to monitor the upper and lower floors.

Another player named Mengchang had a similar task. He didn't need to take risks himself but would stay at the stairwell on the second floor, monitoring the movements of other players.

With the situation unclear tonight, most players wouldn't make big moves, but keeping an eye on each other was inevitable.

As Qin Fei heard the voices outside fade away, his gaze remained fixed on the painting in the room.

He stared at the painting for a while, but its contents remained unchanged.

Qin Fei furrowed his brow.

He couldn't sense any special aura from the painting, no signs of pollution or ghostly presence.

The trigger for the change in the painting could be time or something else; he needed to observe further.

Sitting on the bed, Qin Fei intended to keep an eye on the painting, but gradually, he leaned against the headboard, slid onto the bed, and fell asleep.

...

Qin Fei had a dream.

In the dream, there was a person with an indistinct face wearing bright red wedding attire, tossing and turning on the bed.

The person on the bed seemed to be crying, with her sobs echoing in the air.

Despite her constant movement, Qin Fei couldn't see her face clearly.

This dream lasted a long time. When Qin Fei woke up, he felt dizzy.

His mind, however, was clear.

Qin Fei didn't open his eyes, remembering the words on the painting clearly: "Do not open your eyes when sleeping."

Although he was unsure how "sleep time" was defined, he had made his decision the moment he saw those two sentences:

From the moment he lay down on the bed until dawn, he did not intend to open his eyes.

Even though he couldn't open his eyes, he could still move his body.

Qin Fei gently tapped on the bed frame; this was the secret signal he had agreed upon with the ghost child.

Qin Fei wanted the ghost child to check if it was daylight outside.

The ghost child did not respond, and the room was very quiet, but Qin Fei's body suddenly stiffened.

Firstly, because he realized that the sensation beneath him was not quite right.

The bed in Room 014 was hard, covered with a thin sheet, and had a thin blanket on top, which felt uncomfortable against his bones. But now, beneath him, it was soft.

Secondly, because a cold breath brushed lightly against the skin behind his ear.

Someone was lying next to Qin Fei.

Moreover.

Even though Qin Fei couldn’t see the person’s face,

he could clearly sense who it was.