Chapter 283: Rejoicing Fate 04

Chapter 283: Rejoicing Fate 04

He couldn’t open his eyes, unable to see the surroundings.

Qin Fei hesitated for a moment, swallowing the three words that had risen to his throat, and gently turned over.

The person beside him sensed his movement and leaned forward, reaching out to pull him into an embrace.

Chin resting on the top of Qin Fei’s head, he lightly rubbed it, showing a great deal of intimacy.

Qin Fei's body stiffened slightly.

What was the situation now?

Since this wasn’t Room 014, where exactly was he now?

Qin Fei could confirm that the person holding him was the source of contamination, but he couldn’t figure out the current state of the other party.

Was the source of contamination conscious?

Or, like in previous instances within other scenarios, had their awareness been affected by the scenario, causing them to forget the existence of players and the system?

After embracing Qin Fei, the person behind him didn’t make any further moves or speak. Qin Fei tentatively lifted his head, and the breathing above paused for a moment. Immediately after, Qin Fei received a kiss.

Soft lips pressed against his forehead, cold and without a trace of warmth.

Qin Fei: "…"

At a time like this, not doing anything serious, yet still making physical advances.

His back molars felt a bit itchy.

Wave after wave of confusion washed over Qin Fei, and his consciousness gradually became hazy. He knew he was being affected by the urban legend.

Under normal circumstances, if he were lying in bed like this, he would never fall asleep easily.

Sleeping when the situation is unclear is undoubtedly extremely dangerous, but Qin Fei didn’t have such worries.

Wherever that person was, it should... probably not be too dangerous.

...

When he woke up again, Qin Fei felt a heavy weight on his chest, as if something was pressing down on him.

That thing crawled over him, back and forth, even jumping up a few times, landing on his stomach like a small weight.

Qin Fei almost cried out in surprise.

Realizing it was the ghost infant’s unique way of waking someone up, the player who had kept his eyes closed all night finally opened them.

In the room with no windows, it remained pitch black. The candle that had burned all night was now reduced to two short stubs.

Qin Fei glanced at the remaining candle stubs.

At this rate of burning, he would have to find a way to get some new candles and incense during the day.

The ghost infant woke Qin Fei up, indicating that it must already be daylight outside, and there were likely people moving around.

Qin Fei pushed himself up from the hard bed board, intending to get out of bed, but his hand, which accidentally touched the pillow, suddenly paused.

The pillow under his palm was not comfortable; like the sheets, it was only a thin layer, and the cotton inside seemed to have disappeared.

However, when Qin Fei pressed down, he could feel a distinct rebound.

The pillow had become thicker, and something was underneath. Qin Fei immediately realized this.

He flipped the pillow over, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

He saw a piece of clothing folded neatly into a square, bright red as if soaked in blood.

Flipping further, he found a skirt underneath.

The clothes and skirt were made with exquisite craftsmanship; the top was a right-lapped, large-collar robe, and the bottom was a horse-faced skirt.

With such color and style, any Chinese person would immediately think these were wedding clothes. However, upon closer inspection, these clothes differed from typical wedding attire.

Whether traditional dragon-phoenix robes or the more common Xiuhuo outfits seen in later times, they usually include other colors besides red, often gold, with intricate embroidery featuring auspicious patterns like dragons, phoenixes, flowers, and plants.

But the set of clothes laid on the bed was only a ghastly shade of red. Looking at them for too long did not evoke joy but rather an unsettling feeling.

It felt as though the clothes were... not quite clean.

Well, being a bride is not easy. He knew that from the moment he read the summary of the ghost story, didn't he?

Qin Fei's expression became subtle.

The live chat exploded with excitement when Qin Fei lifted the pillow, and it went even wilder when he pulled out the skirt underneath.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Wife is going to wear a skirt again!"

"Great, truly wonderful."

"The streamer really is a bride, so the one who climbed onto the streamer's bed last night must be the groom, right?"

Everything that happened in Room 014 last night, as part of the live broadcast, was relayed in real-time to the audience by the system.

Although Qin Fei, as the main character, had to rely solely on his senses due to the "no opening eyes" rule, the spirits watching through the screen saw everything clearly.

They clearly saw the changes that occurred in the room during that period.

At a certain moment in the dead of night, the dusty old room suddenly transformed. Although it was still illuminated by candlelight, bright red curtains were hung everywhere.

Naturally, the audience also saw the figure that appeared on Qin Fei's bed.

The person faced away from the camera, not revealing a clear face, but their interaction with the streamer was extremely intimate.

This was because Qin Fei had not opened his eyes at the time, so the audience did not know whether he was asleep or awake.

All the chat messages related to the plot were filtered out by the system, and what Qin Fei could see were only the ones he already knew about.

Qin Fei did not focus on the chat interface because after the appearance of the bright red wedding attire, he heard a new system announcement.

"Congratulations to player Xiao Qin for triggering the plot role: Tulou Bride! Please immerse yourself in the story and enjoy the plot!"

Well, he was officially stamped and defined by the system.

Qin Fei held the wedding attire, his gaze dark and unreadable.

Speaking of brides, Xiaoman also called him a bride when he went upstairs yesterday.

Why?

Was it because of the room he chose?

Room 014 was indeed relatively special in terms of its location, being right in the center of the left corridor.

If one were to compare it symmetrically, perhaps the room in the center of the right corridor might be the groom's guest room.

But Qin Fei still felt something was off.

When Xiaoman called him "bride" yesterday, he had just gone upstairs.

At that point, even Qin Fei himself did not know which room he would choose next, so how did Xiaoman know?

And there was that lingering sense of familiarity.

This ghost story seemed to hide many secrets.

The source of contamination has already appeared. The most direct and safest method now is to gather information from the source of contamination.

If It is conscious, that would be best.

If It only has memories related to the plot role, that wouldn't be too problematic either; It would still help him. Qin Fei was very sure of this, as it had been verified through more than one scenario.

The question was how to contact It.

Doing it like last night would definitely not work.

If the source of contamination can only appear when one is half-asleep and confused, that would be quite troublesome.

Qin Fei pondered this, extinguished the incense and candles, and pushed open the door.

Not far from Room 014, on the second-floor corridor, the players from Black Feather and Dark Fire had gathered on a small protruding platform.

Seeing Qin Fei's door open, Lu Cheng hurried over.

"Xiao Qin, didn't you rest well last night?"

Lu Cheng looked at the faint dark circles under Qin Fei's eyes and couldn't help but ask curiously.

Qin Fei's mind flashed back to the bright red wedding gown.

He did not answer the question and temporarily set aside the matter of his "bride" identity, instead taking back the initiative to ask: "Also?"

The word "also" implied many things, and Lu Cheng's face instantly turned into a bitter expression: "Oh, you don't know what I saw last night!"

It was too bizarre.

So bizarre that he couldn't close his eyes all night.

As they spoke, the two reached the center of the platform, and in front of everyone from Black Feather, Lu Cheng and Mengchang briefly explained the situation last night.

...

Last night.

Mengchang had been squatting at the stairway early, standing beside a row of servants holding lanterns. He also held a lantern, standing at the end of the group.

Players' clothes differed from NPCs, but their postures were identical, making him look like the leader of the servants at first glance.

Lu Cheng did not leave his room but had arranged the necessary vines for monitoring the outside world.

This was the first night after the ghost story began, and each guest room had its own rules, indicating that there was a plot within the rooms.

Therefore, the number of players choosing to go out was limited.

Most people wandered around the open rooms on the first floor and lingered in the courtyard until around 10 PM before returning to their rooms.

Apart from Mengchang, another player living in the room closest to the stairs on the right corridor, Room 028, was also paying attention outside.

Time passed without incident.

As midnight approached, Lu Cheng and Mengchang gradually relaxed.

It wasn't that they lacked vigilance; rather, players usually wouldn't choose such a specific time to explore the ghost story at night.

Unless they had received some kind of hint beforehand, no one would venture out at this hour.

But it was precisely at this moment that the unexpected occurred.

Xiaoman had warned Miyang earlier in the night, "When it gets dark and windy, the candles are easy to extinguish."

As an experienced player, Miyang had a certain level of sensitivity and naturally shared this warning with the others. However, after nightfall, everything remained calm; there wasn't even a slight breeze.

Until midnight.

The early part of the night passed, and the new night arrived.

In an instant, the temperature in the corridor dropped several degrees.

Mengchang sensed something amiss and his muscles tensed up immediately. The player living next to the stairs seemed to have noticed something as well, and once again cracked open the door slightly.

Then, the wind started blowing.

The silent night seemed to be torn open by a crack, and the howling wind sounded like the wails of evil spirits. The branches and leaves of the locust tree in the courtyard on the first floor rustled softly.

Mengchang contacted Lu Cheng, and both were initially worried about the possibility of a boss appearing. After more than ten minutes, however, the corridor remained peaceful.

Apart from the strong wind, nothing else seemed to happen.

But Mengchang didn't dare to relax any further.

Urban legends never act without purpose; this couldn't just be a simple animation. He hadn't even lost any sanity points, which meant something else must be waiting for him.

Mengchang cautiously extended one hand to protect the lantern he held, now his lifeline.

He still had another lantern in his inventory, which belonged to Lu Cheng.

But lighting a candle would take time, so it was best to protect the one he already had.

Unknown fears are more daunting than known ones, and cold sweat broke out on Mengchang's forehead as his eyes darted left and right involuntarily.

When he finally saw what was happening on his right, his heart sank.

Not far away, the NPC standing next to him had their lantern extinguished at some point.

A gust of wind blew out the lights on the second-floor eaves, plunging the position where the red-clothed servant stood into complete darkness.

Mengchang's breathing also became erratic at that moment.

He saw that the person who had been expressionless moments ago suddenly withered away.

The bright red clothes flattened, the prominent nose collapsed, and the facial features merged into crude lines reminiscent of a stick figure.

The entire person looked like a thin sheet of red paper floating in the corridor, devoid of any thickness.