Chapter 304: Joyful Union 25

Chapter 304: Joyful Union 25

If they could foresee the subsequent plot developments, it would be immensely helpful even though the ghost story had already undergone many changes.

Moreover, Qin Fei desperately wanted to know why he had lost his memory and why the source of contamination had transformed into its current state.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall anything.

The young man felt a tightness in his chest.

In the corner of the room, the figure identical to himself was gradually becoming transparent until it vanished completely.

The room returned to silence, and it was only then that Qin Fei regained control of his body. The player emerged from the void, taking a few steps forward on solid ground.

The audience in the live stream also saw his figure.

"The streamer finally appeared!"

"What happened just now? Did the video freeze?"

"Maybe the signal was disconnected..."

At the same time, Qin Fei heard the prompt for the side quest.

【Joyful Union | Dressing: Find the item "comb" within the limited time and complete the dressing action.】

A familiar countdown timer appeared in the air, with a large "3min" floating in the center of the room.

Three minutes is a very tight deadline for any task.

The location where the comb was hidden was quite concealed. For an ordinary player, finding the comb's location within three minutes without any hints would almost be impossible.

But Qin Fei had just experienced a glitch.

He saw the scenes he had once experienced and remembered all the details.

With a calm expression, he walked towards the dressing table.

The audience in the live chat was excitedly discussing where the comb might be hidden and whether the player could complete this seemingly impossible task.

Qin Fei had already reached the dressing table.

In the next second, he sat down straight.

The round stool in front of the dressing table wobbled slightly under the sudden force. The young man sat upright, his hands reaching under the table, meticulously searching every inch without missing a spot.

The system provided a close-up shot, clearly showing the side profile of the "bride" on the live stream screen.

The slightly pale skin was flawless, like a piece of fine jade.

However, the audience had no time to admire it.

"What's going on? Why did the streamer suddenly sit down??"

"There are still 2 minutes and 34 seconds left."

"Damn, the streamer should move! I'm so anxious!!"

"At this rate, it'll take forever to find it."

The time given for the task was too short. All the viewers instinctively believed that the comb wouldn't be too difficult to find.

It was likely hidden somewhere out of sight but easily discoverable with a quick search.

From the audience's perspective, Qin Fei should be working vigorously, flipping over all the furniture in the room as quickly as possible, rather than searching slowly like he was doing now.

How long would this take? By the time he found it, the body would be cold.

The viewers were anxious behind the camera, but the streamer remained composed.

Three years ago, when completing this side quest, Qin Fei managed to succeed with the help of Wen Yian from the inner world.

At that time, there were clues pointing to the hiding place of the comb, but these clues were in Room 014 of the inner world.

The challenge of the task lay in the need for players from both worlds to work closely together to solve the puzzle.

This time, there was no inner world room, and the source of contamination didn't appear.

But the memories left by It could still help him again.

Qin Fei's hands continued to search under the table. His index finger brushed against a depression and gently pressed upward.

Click.

The sound of the mechanism loosening was amplified by the live stream's audio system and clearly audible in the live stream hall.

The audience was stunned.

A small box, barely the size of a palm, popped out from under the table. Qin Fei reached in and took something out.

Opening his palm, revealed in the live stream was a bright red wooden comb, intricately crafted with fine teeth and complex patterns etched at both ends.

The audience burst into exclamations.

"Holy shit! The streamer actually found it??"

"How did he figure it out?"

"His wife must have gotten a hint beforehand. When did she get it? How did I not notice?"

"Only one and a half minutes remain, the streamer is quite fast."

...

The audience's attention was entirely drawn to the comb, completely oblivious to the subtle changes in the room.

However, Qin Fei, who was inside the room, could clearly sense someone entering.

Neither the windows nor the doors moved, yet there was indeed an additional person in the room.

It was the groom.

The young man's grip on the red wooden comb tightened inexplicably, with faint blue veins appearing on his skin.

In the next second, a cold hand covered his hand.

The countdown above their heads continued ticking.

The task required completing the "dressing up" action within the specified time. Qin Fei had originally thought he could complete this task alone, but unexpectedly, the source of contamination had arrived.

A force from nowhere guided Qin Fei's hand, slowly sinking the comb's teeth into the hair, bringing a slight tingling sensation.

The player's breath hitched slightly as he tried to break free from the restraint.

Unsurprisingly, he failed.

The person behind seemed dissatisfied with his struggle and increased the force of their actions.

Initially, they only held Qin Fei's right hand, but now they pressed closer, enveloping him in their embrace.

Gala: "..."

Still, he was somewhat accustomed to it by now.

The player gave up struggling and started to go along with it, allowing the person behind to manipulate his body at will.

The source of contamination was not behaving well. As Qin Fei quieted down, it grew even more audacious, one hand covering his comb-holding hand while the other alternated between pinching his cheeks and touching his nose, seemingly enjoying itself.

Unfortunately, this joy didn't last long, for the three minutes quickly came to an end.

At the moment the countdown reached zero, the large fluorescent timer shattered like broken glass, fading into fragments.

Everything in Room 014 was rapidly disappearing, along with the presence of the contamination source, as murky fog rose.

Just before all the scenes vanished, Qin Fei heard a very light and faint laugh, so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

He said, "It's almost over. Wait for me."

...

The candles and incense in the room were still burning, leaving a lingering scent of sandalwood in the air.

The red silk in the room was gone. Qin Fei stood in front of the painting, staring intently at it.

The task was completed.

In his hand appeared a red comb.

Qin Fei put the comb into his personal space and sent a message to reassure the other players.

"Xiao Qin": Got the bride's lucky item.

Everyone should be searching various parts of Tulou for clues to the final lucky item, but as soon as Qin Fei sent his message, he received a series of replies.

Qin Fei understood that everyone's search wasn't going smoothly.

"Xie Jingtian": Great!!

"Mengchang": Confetti/jpg

"Lu Cheng": Only the last lucky item remains. We haven't found any clues here, how about you?

"Mengchang": No clues here either.

"Mengchang": I've checked every room on the west side, and found nothing.

"Lu Cheng": Well, on the bright side, no other players have found anything either.

While searching, Lu Cheng kept an eye on others and could confirm that all players in Tulou this afternoon were like headless chickens, with no one making any progress.

"Gala": Don't worry too much. It's only the second day; the sixth ancient painting might appear tomorrow.

Qin Fei stared at these words, his eyes flickering.

Indeed, three years ago, the last ancient painting also appeared on the third day.

From what his past self said in the dressing-up painting, until the afternoon of the third day, just before the wedding began, they had no leads whatsoever.

"Xie Jingtian": But there's still one problem: how do we get the dagger from Butterfly?

As the groom, Butterfly likely received a conflicting mission compared to the other players, a conclusion everyone had reached.

Six lucky items were needed for the wedding to proceed smoothly. If Butterfly refused to cooperate, it would be very troublesome.

"Mengchang": Right, and he's the groom, so the wedding itself needs his cooperation!

This task is so frustrating, clearly designed to make things difficult for the bride's side.

"Mi Yang": Butterfly's teammates are all gone, he's alone, and it's hard for one person to accomplish much.

Altogether, there were nearly 15 people on Heiyu's side, and in addition, the other players within the instance should also be standing with the bride.

Mi Yang felt that Butterfly's situation was dire and wouldn't amount to much.

If it really came down to it, even if they had to suppress him violently, the entire group of players in the instance couldn't possibly lose to just one person. That guy's combat power wasn't formidable to such an extent.

"Qin Fei": We'll see then.

The sixth dagger in Butterfly's possession was indeed a problem.

As for the groom himself...

Qin Fei had a bold conjecture, unsure if it could be implemented.

Qin Fei glanced at the painting on the wall again; that cold embrace seemed to linger by his side.

He turned around, pushed the door open, and left the room.

Outside, the sky was gloomy, without a trace of sunlight.

Qin Fei hadn't stayed in the ancient painting for too long, but the flow of time seemed different inside and outside the painting. When he emerged, it was already past 4 PM. Even so, the sky shouldn't have been this dark.

Wind carried the fallen leaves of the locust tree, swirling them around the courtyard.

Players occasionally passed through the corridors, all in a hurry, suggesting something ominous was about to happen. The experienced players had noticed it.

In the courtyard on the first floor, Vice President Gala sat under the locust tree.

He hadn't joined the other players in searching for clues related to the sixth Fu ancient painting, choosing instead to stay alone in the courtyard.

It didn't seem like he was monitoring other players either. His brows furrowed, he appeared preoccupied.

Cen San Ya approached from the side.

The two exchanged a few words in low voices. Qin Fei couldn't hear clearly, but he saw Cen San Ya shake his head, as if disapproving of what Gala said.

Seemingly sensing someone watching him, Gala looked up.

Across half the courtyard, their eyes met.