Chapter 291: Rejoicing Fate 12

Chapter 291: Rejoicing Fate 12

Qin Fei's consciousness dispersed in an instant.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself standing at the entrance of the Red Mountain Ancient Building.

All around was barren land, with thick fog shrouding the distance, and the red door before him was tightly shut.

Including Qin Fei himself, a team of fifteen players gathered together, frowning at the building before them.

It looked like the scene before the horror story began, when the players had not yet entered Tulou.

Qin Fei was momentarily stunned.

His current state was somewhat strange; he clearly knew he was in a dream but could not wake up.

Although Qin Fei was standing in front of Tulou, his perspective was more like that of a third-party observer.

He could not control his body and could only watch as time passed, like watching a movie.

The other fourteen people were close to Qin Fei, but their faces were obscured by something, no matter how he tried, he could not see their faces clearly.

Someone's mouth was moving, as if speaking, but Qin Fei could not hear clearly either.

Until one moment, Qin Fei turned around and happened to meet the gaze of the person beside him.

As if a clean piece of cotton cloth wiped away the mist on the glass, Qin Fei's vision suddenly became clear, and his gaze instantly became clearer.

He began to see the faces of the people beside him and could hear what they were saying.

Each face, though unfamiliar, brought an intense sense of familiarity.

Qin Fei's breath hitched slightly as he raised his head to look at the person before him.

Black hair, black eyes, dressed in neat attire, he smiled gently at Qin Fei when he noticed him looking.

"Let's wait a bit longer; the instance should open soon." He reached out and gently placed his hand on Qin Fei's shoulder.

This person had a face identical to the source of pollution.

As he spoke, the door of the Tulou opened, and everyone exchanged glances.

After a moment, a young man with a buzz cut stepped forward and said to Qin Fei, "President, we'll lead the way; you and Vice President Wen will bring up the rear."

Qin Fei's body nodded automatically.

Behind him came excited voices.

"It's finally starting!"

"If we can clear this instance, can we really escape from the rule world?"

"I really... want to return to the real world alive."

Then, the scene changed, and Qin Fei found himself already on the second floor of Tulou, at the door of Room 014.

Qin Fei did not feel panicked.

Since this was a dream, it was normal for scenes to change illogically.

There were footsteps coming and going behind him, and it seemed others were choosing rooms. Qin Fei wanted to turn around and look, but still could not control his body freely, so he gave up.

He pushed open the room door and entered.

Everything in Room 014 was just as he had seen during the horror story.

The only difference was that this time, during the first round of checking the room, Qin Fei found the bride's bright red wedding gown under the silk quilt on the bed.

The system prompt sounded in his ear.

"Congratulations, Player Q, for triggering the plot identity: Tulou Bride! Please enjoy the storyline in the instance!"

Q.

The name on the leaderboard that had turned gray.

The former president of Black Feather Guild.

Although he had anticipated this outcome, when the truth presented itself again, a strong sense of absurdity surged in his heart.

It turned out that he had been entangled with the rule world and the Black Feather Guild years ago.

What exactly happened three years ago?

The Tulou before him should be the last instance he experienced in the rule world.

All the secrets were hidden in this ancient and eerie building.

Qin Fei took a deep breath.

The scenes kept changing without any pattern, almost fragmented.

One moment he was in the hallway, the next in the courtyard, and then back in the room.

The scenes had no connection to each other.

To Qin Fei's frustration, all the scenes he saw so far were stages he had already experienced in Tulou.

None of the events that might happen on the second or third day appeared.

Horror tales really don't allow players to exploit any loopholes.

The chaotic scene transitions continued for a long time.

Until Qin Fei arrived in the dining hall and saw the ancient painting.

...

Qin Fei entered the ancient painting once again. This time, he was still the bride.

He stood on the second floor of Tulou, leaning over to look down at the silent banquet in the courtyard below.

Everything was exactly the same as what he had experienced during the day.

But... it wasn't entirely the same.

The source of contamination did not appear.

This was only natural.

At this point in time, the source of contamination was still a living player, currently downstairs attending the banquet, so it was impossible for it to manifest in a spiritual form beside Qin Fei.

Instead, accompanying Qin Fei was an extremely cold aura.

This aura permeated every pore, entwining and enveloping the player, as if millions of steel needles were simultaneously piercing his bones.

Qin Fei controlled himself to open the attribute panel but could not see his own physical state. However, he could sense that his health bar was slowly decreasing.

So, if there is no source of contamination, would the player playing the role of the bride be in such a situation for the entire afternoon?

Could they only watch helplessly as their life ebbed away, continuously enduring pain without being able to do anything?

Actually, upon careful thought, this is a reasonable setting.

The players downstairs, playing the roles of guests and servants, have been in danger since entering the ancient painting.

There's no reason why the bride, such an important character, should remain unscathed.

Qin Fei pursed his lips and silently looked towards the courtyard downstairs.

What happened afterward was far bloodier than what he experienced this afternoon.

In the afternoon, because the players had the porcelain vase from Train No. 444 as protection, two players died during the banquet.

Including Ge Yanghui, who died due to breaking the rules at the beginning, a total of three players perished.

Less than a one-third mortality rate.

In the dream, the players entering the ancient painting were also ten in number, but in the end, only three survived.

From the moment the first person turned into a paper figure, a series of chain reactions occurred in a very short time.

The rules of the wedding feast in the dream were the same as today's; after the banquet officially began, players could not move around randomly.

Unfortunately, these players in the dream did not have the commemorative porcelain vase.

Everyone was using weapons to resist, but with no way to dodge, how could two hands possibly fend off attacks from all directions?

Even Qin Fei, as the bride, was in a miserable state.

Without the ghost groom by his side to protect him, the paper figures showed no leniency when facing the bride. Fortunately, compared to the guests beside the tables, Qin Fei's movements were relatively free, which allowed him to hold on until the end.

He quickly toasted at each table, trying to finish the entire plot as soon as possible and leave the ancient painting.

But when everything ended, the courtyard was already a mess.

The final scene in the dream was Qin Fei standing opposite the source of contamination.

The young man's light amber eyes were filled with worry as he looked into the eyes of the person before him.

"Wen Yian," Qin Fei heard himself say, "Can we really leave here alive?"

His consciousness once again fell into chaos.

In the last second before his thoughts completely vanished, Qin Fei realized that he finally knew the name of the source of contamination.

...

Beneath him was a hard bed. Before opening his eyes, Qin Fei reached back to feel.

His hand touched the cold sheets, and the air still retained the lingering contamination.

Qin Fei released the ghost infant and whispered, "Go check the situation outside."

The ghost infant moved quickly and soon sent back information.

It was still dark outside, probably just past midnight. Qin Fei was alone in the room, lying on the bed.

Qin Fei: "..."

There was no need to report in such detail; he knew he was on the bed.

Qin Fei clearly remembered that after entering the room, he hadn't had time to light the candles before falling asleep.

But now, the wedding candles and incense were burning on the altar, and the air was filled with the scent of sandalwood.

It seemed He had come again while Qin Fei was asleep.

A surge of indescribable melancholy welled up in the young man's heart. In fact, after having such a dream, he really wanted to say something to the source of contamination.

Fine.

Even if the current source of pollution were here, it would be unable to respond to Qin Fei's topic of conversation.

In the empty room, only the young man on the bed frowned slightly, as if pondering something.

Outside was silent, occasionally interrupted by the sound of wind.

After about ten minutes, Qin Fei suddenly heard a series of abrupt footsteps approaching his door and then gradually fading away.

Qin Fei's eyelids twitched lightly.

The servant NPCs in the ghost stories wore soft-soled cloth shoes, moving silently. The ghosts that appeared at night certainly wouldn't make such noise.

Whoever just passed by must have been a player.

From the sound, there were more than one or two people outside.

Their hurried but rhythmic steps indicated they weren't in any awkward situation like being chased by ghosts.

They must have gone out voluntarily.

At this hour, why would players go outside? The wind is strong at night, and the lights could be extinguished at any moment, turning them into paper figures. Without a significant lure, no one would willingly take such risks.

There must be players who know something.

Supporting himself with one hand on the bed, Qin Fei slowly sat up.

Although Rule 014 stated "do not open your eyes at night," it didn't say anything about not moving around inside the room or not stepping out at night.

Qin Fei felt his way to the bedside, put on his shoes with the help of the ghost infant, and picked up the lit lantern. Step by step, he moved towards the guest room door.

Then, he reached out and pushed the door open without hesitation.

In the dark night, a light suddenly appeared in the corridor on the second floor, drawing attention.

After closing the door, Qin Fei opened his eyes. He saw two figures holding lanterns coming towards him from the other end of the corridor.