Chapter 311: Joyful Fate 32

Chapter 311: Joyful Fate 32

In an instant, the fire engulfed the second-floor circular corridor, and the other players, except for Heiyu, were stunned, cries of alarm erupting everywhere.

Someone tried to leap over the corridor railing into the courtyard below, but the first floor was already swarming with paper people, leaving no room to land safely.

Countless paper people were quickly reduced to black ashes by the flames, yet the danger had not abated.

The Tulou was built entirely from flammable materials, and the fire spread without wind, growing more intense by the second.

In the brief moment of hesitation, the flames had already spread from the second floor down to the first.

The entire Tulou became a raging torch, illuminating the night sky.

Thick smoke billowed upward, obscuring the players' vision.

The players who had been gathered together were now separated by the flames.

Some jumped onto the beams of the corridor ceiling, while others kicked at the guest room doors, attempting to break through by force, but all efforts were largely futile.

Several players in Heiyu were injured, and their companions rushed toward them with all their might.

The players had nothing to extinguish the fire with, so they could only take out large pieces of clothing from their personal spaces and beat at the flames around them.

"Damn it!" someone cursed amidst the scorching heat, "Who the hell started this fire!"

Now, they might die even faster than if they were surrounded by paper people.

Amidst the chaos, a shout suddenly came from the top of the stairs.

"Quick, go up! The air wall on the third floor is gone!"

All the players were instantly invigorated!

Everyone on the corridor sprinted toward the stairs, ignoring the risk of burns. If they moved too slowly, the fire would grow larger, and their chances of escape would dwindle.

The narrow stairway soon filled up as everyone scrambled to reach the third floor.

Compared to the previous two days, the third floor had transformed, adorned with red decorations for the wedding ceremony.

There were no paper people on the third floor, and there was no fire yet either, as the flames had not reached this level.

The second-floor corridor was open-sided, and the third floor remained relatively safe until the fire burned through the walls and floors.

Though the enclosed space was filled with smoke, the players' physical attributes allowed them to endure for a while longer.

Since they were already upstairs, they naturally continued to search for clues.

Everyone was moving in different directions, but the members of Heiyu turned back down instead.

"Where's Xiao Qin? Xiao Qin hasn't come up yet!" Lu Cheng stood at the staircase, his vines swinging in the air, searching for Qin Fei.

Lu Cheng was worried that Qin Fei might be trapped by the fire on the second floor.

Mengchang used his innate skill to try to locate Qin Fei but then paused, "Xiao Qin... seems to be no longer in the Tulou."

There were no players left on the second floor.

Nor on the first.

He added, "The butterfly is also missing."

Everyone looked at each other, falling silent.

...

One minute ago.

Qin Fei got separated from his teammates in the fire.

Unbeknownst to him, he had retreated to a viewing platform at the edge of the corridor.

The tongues of flame formed a wall, isolating him from everything outside.

Amidst the choking smoke, a spot on the wooden wall beside him suddenly caught Qin Fei's attention.

The last ancient painting.

The blood coffin.

It appeared!

As if deliberately timed, the system released the ancient painting just when all escape routes were cut off.

Without hesitation, Qin Fei took out the Suihui Mirror and vanished into the painting.

...

At the other end of the distant corridor.

The butterfly, crossing the fire and the open courtyard, gazed in the direction where Qin Fei had been.

The flickering flames and thick smoke interfered with the view, but the butterfly was the only player who witnessed Qin Fei entering the painting.

With a dark expression, the butterfly meticulously planned a route in his mind, contemplating how to navigate through the layers of fire to reach the painting and investigate further.

Just as he was thinking, he caught a glimpse of something unusual out of the corner of his eye.

A moment ago, the wall beside him had been empty, but now, inexplicably, there was an additional painting.

All the problems were solved.

Butterfly stared intently at the painting.

The painting in front of him was different from the ones he had seen before; it appeared almost crimson red and was dripping with blood.

The blood droplets rolled onto the scorching floor, making faint sizzling sounds.

The pattern on the painting was obscured by the blood, making it impossible to discern its content.

Butterfly took out the Suihui Mirror.

Just as he was about to aim the mirror at the painting, gazing at the smeared image in front of him, a sudden intense sense of crisis welled up within him.

He seemed to hear a voice screaming in his ear:

"Stay away from here, further away!"

Butterfly frowned and dismissed the strange feeling.

This ancient painting was something he couldn't miss.

Earlier, he clearly saw that only Xiao Qin entered the painting alone.

Considering the sudden appearance of the ancient painting in front of him, Butterfly guessed that this was probably an exclusive side plot for the roles of the bride and groom in the strange tale.

Only the two of them, without any disturbance from others.

Butterfly had followed Black Feather all morning and couldn't find any opportunity to make a move against Qin Fei. Now, the painting appeared at such a perfect moment.

If he missed this chance, he would have to wait until the ceremony to find another opportunity.

But that would be too risky. The fire wouldn't kill all the players, and everyone would gather around then.

The flames dyed the black robes of the players red, blending with the blood color on the painting, making it hard to distinguish one from the other from afar.

In the next second, the figure in front of the painting disappeared.

Only a scroll hung lonely on the wall, quickly devoured by the flames.

...

Qin Fei's body swayed, and when he steadied himself and looked up, he saw the same long corridor illuminated by the fire.

The player was momentarily stunned.

But he soon understood.

Three years ago, when he entered the sixth painting, Qin Fei saw a complete Tulou, identical to the outside world.

It was the same this time.

The Tulou outside was burning, so the fire also spread into the world within the painting.

Perhaps because the world within the painting was illusory, the flames here were different from those outside. Although the fiery light looked particularly intimidating, they actually had no heat, just shadows.

Qin Fei reached his hand into the fire and felt no warmth.

Since he had entered the painting, shouldn't Butterfly appear as well?

Qin Fei searched the corridor.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, he saw Butterfly materialize out of nowhere.

The other seemed somewhat bewildered, looking around.

Upon seeing Qin Fei, he immediately rushed over without hesitation.

No longer hiding his intentions.

Qin Fei turned and ran!

The location where players appeared after entering the painting remained consistent with their position before entering. There was half a Tulou between Butterfly and Qin Fei, but due to Butterfly's speed, the distance visibly shortened.

The audience in Qin Fei's live stream became anxious.

"Streamer! Run faster, did you not eat?"

"How can you still look back when your life is at stake?"

"My goodness, what's wrong with my wife? If this continues, she'll really be caught..."

Some even opened a new betting pool, wagering on who would ultimately win between Butterfly and Qin Fei.

Butterfly's combat strength wasn't weak, but few viewers had seen him fight alone without puppets.

Xiao Qin, on the other hand, was more of an intellectual player, with above-average physical skills. However, his ability to escape was always exceptional, though today, for some reason, he seemed off his game.

The live stream hall was filled with cheers and exclamations, while the atmosphere in the strange tale world was extremely tense.

Butterfly relentlessly pursued Qin Fei.

Although Butterfly had been closely watching Qin Fei for months, he didn't know much about "the maximum speed Xiao Qin could reach when running at full capacity."

Otherwise, he should have realized that the other wasn't using his full strength.

Sometimes, it even seemed like he was deliberately pausing for a second or two.

Getting closer!

The butterfly reached out, her fingertips burning hot, as if she could touch the hem of Qin Fei's robe at any moment.

Qin Fei turned around once again, his brows furrowed with unprecedented anxiety.

If this continued, he would definitely be caught soon.

The young man gritted his teeth and made a decision that seemed irrational to the butterfly—he turned and plunged into one of the guest rooms nearby.

In the world of the painting, not all the doors of the guest rooms on the second floor were closed. Qin Fei rushed into one of them, and upon seeing this, the butterfly felt an uncontrollable surge of joy in her heart.

This was practically walking into a trap!

In the live stream, the spirit audience began to sigh in regret!

"Too foolish, truly too foolish!"

"This move... sigh, is this really an A-level player?"

"What's wrong with Xiao Qin this time? This isn't like him at all..."

Unaware of these criticisms, the player who had just rushed into a dead end knew nothing of it.

All the viewers assumed he had chosen a room randomly in desperation.

But that wasn't the case.

During these three days, Qin Fei had entered many players' guest rooms in Heiyu, and all the rooms in Tulou had the same structure. The only difference between the guest rooms was the placement of furniture inside.

Qin Fei chose one of the more special rooms.

Most of the beds in Tulou were placed against the walls.

But this room was different.

The bed was placed in the center of the room, dividing it into two spaces, front and back, with a wide canopy bed.

After entering the room, it was very difficult for the player to get to the other side of the bed; they could only squeeze through the narrow passages at the head and foot of the bed.

The butterfly, who was already close to catching up with Qin Fei, followed him into the room.

Seeing Qin Fei jump onto the bed and land behind it, she also rushed over.

The moment the butterfly jumped onto the bed, a clear system prompt sounded in Qin Fei's ears.

[The current scene meets the conditions for obtaining the item "Lover's Ash Vase." Do you wish to obtain the item now?]

Qin Fei's expression became peculiar.

This item acquisition prompt existed during the last entry into the painting three years ago.

But it wasn't for the bride.

Three years ago, Qin Fei and Wen Yian searched the entire Tulou before finally finding the exact method to obtain the item:

Trading life for life.

After finding the method, Wen Yian walked into a guest room in the inner world, cut his palm, and pressed his bloody hand onto the bed.

Only the groom could trigger the item acquisition prompt this way.

And once the groom chose "yes," he faced inevitable death.

Qin Fei's original plan was to lure the butterfly into the guest room, engage in combat, injure her, and then lead her towards the bed.

There were no tasks or item prompts related to the "blood coffin" in this ghost story, so the butterfly would certainly be unaware of this plot.

Once the item acquisition prompt appeared, an unsuspecting player would almost certainly choose "yes."

As long as the butterfly chose "yes," everything would be set.

Actually, this plan was somewhat risky because Qin Fei wasn't entirely sure he could injure the butterfly, especially since she possessed a weapon capable of restraining him.

However, this was the only solution available, and he had to take the risk.

Now, the ghost story had simplified the process of obtaining the item even further, even giving the choice to the bride.

It seemed the system was really worried about the groom not dying.

As for the purpose of the system's actions, Qin Fei could guess a bit.

The task assigned to the butterfly was to kill the bride. Once the bride died, the wedding ceremony task would become impossible, so the butterfly's clearance conditions must be different from those of other players.

Qin Fei had already guessed that the butterfly didn't need to complete the wedding ceremony; he just needed to kill the bride to clear the instance.

But did the system really want to see a player clear this instance?

Once the instance was cleared, the soul fragment belonging to the source of corruption within the instance would reappear.

That was the result the system least wanted to see.

From the beginning, the system never intended to let any player leave the instance alive.

This instance must remain sealed forever.

The butterfly had been deceived.

The system seemed to have inadvertently helped Qin Fei, and Qin Fei naturally had to seize this opportunity.

"I choose 'yes,'" the young man said resolutely.

At that moment, Butterfly was about to jump off the edge of the canopy bed.

Suddenly, he was shocked to find that he could not move.

He was restrained by a force, and his vision changed abruptly.

His limbs were fixed to the bed, and he lay down on his back.

What was going on?

Butterfly was filled with shock and suspicion.

Perhaps Xiao Qin had used some kind of item?

Butterfly struggled.

Soon, something even worse happened—the room suddenly caught fire.

More accurately, it was the canopy bed he was on that suddenly burst into flames.

It wasn't the kind of illusion from the scroll world but real fire.

Scorching, searing hot, capable of killing a person.

What was happening?!

Butterfly turned his head.

Through the raging flames, he saw Qin Fei's faint face.

The handsome young man spoke, saying something that Butterfly couldn't hear clearly, only barely making out his lip movements.

Xiao Qin seemed to say...

"Sorry about this."