Jiang Yan had just wanted to ask what this thing was for and why it had appeared here, but a strange and inexplicable sense of dread pulled his gaze back to the sky that was still collapsing. He saw that as the players poured in their strength, the golden web grew far tougher, yet the collapse of the dungeon remained irreversible, and chunks of data glowing a ghostly blue continued to fall from the sky. As more and larger data blocks fell, the golden web holding up the sky gradually tightened. The threads, under extreme pressure, grew thinner and thinner, lighter and lighter in color. It was clear it was reaching its limit. “No…” Jiang Yan instinctively looked toward the [Divine System] on his personal system panel. It was a primal instinct embedded in his DNA, prompting him to draw on the players’ power of belief. At this moment, the players floating beneath the golden web were arguing in the flurry of falling rose petals about why Jiang Yan, who should have already become par...
The two shook their heads.
Ma Xiaowen leaned against Wang Zhe and whispered, "Her room seems to be next door. I heard she’s very busy, always having guests over for tea and chats."
"Heh," Sang Yue recalled what had just happened and gave a cold laugh. "Is it really just tea?"
She didn’t like this place at all, not a single thing about it.
But then Ma Xiaowen said, "It really is just tea. Xiao Xiu holds a high status here. The boss wouldn’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to. From what I’ve seen, the guests all treat her with respect."
Sang Yue was taken aback for a moment.
At that moment, Gu Zhan spoke up, "Let’s go and have a look."
After all, Xiao Xiu was an important figure, and they needed to know more.
Sang Yue didn’t say anything further.
They made their way to Xiao Xiu’s room. The door was tightly shut, and it was silent inside, giving the impression that no one was there.
Should they go in?
Sang Yue glanced at Gu Zhan, seeking his opinion.
Before Gu Zhan could respond, a piercing scream suddenly erupted from inside, followed by the door being forcefully pushed open from within.
Their last teammate tumbled out, covered in blood, and landed on the hallway floor, still screaming uncontrollably.
"Ahhhh!"
Her condition seemed completely out of control as she rolled back and forth in the hallway, screaming for a long time until her voice became hoarse but never stopping. Sang Yue stood nearby, wanting to help, but not knowing how.
He Hui’s situation was dire. Anyone who approached her was met with her swinging fists, trying to strike them.
The other NPCs in the hallway had already been alerted. Gu Zhan noticed someone quickly glancing at them before rushing off in the opposite direction, likely to inform Ye Sheng Ge's boss.
Gu Zhan took a brief look inside Xiao Xiu’s room. There was still one person inside, lying in a pool of blood, with the room filled with the smell of something burnt.
They couldn't let her continue screaming.
Gu Zhan stepped forward, seized the right moment, and grabbed her arm, covering her mouth. He Hui’s screams abruptly stopped, leaving only muffled sobbing sounds.
The surroundings fell into silence. In this quiet, He Hui finally calmed down. Her eyes widened as she looked at the people around her, slowly regaining focus.
Sang Yue asked, "It's us. What happened inside?"
He Hui, with her mouth still covered, shook her head.
Gu Zhan had already released her and entered the room.
The person inside wasn’t Xiao Xiu but a burly man lying face-down on the ground, soaked in blood. But that wasn’t the main issue—the most alarming thing was that his face, neck, chest, and limbs had all been charred beyond recognition.
The air was thick with the stench of burning flesh, and there seemed to be an unnatural heat lingering in the room. The man’s features were now unrecognizable, but it was clear that he was one of the guards from Ye Sheng Ge.
Sang Yue followed Gu Zhan inside. Seeing the scene, she frowned and said, "Another one dead?"
Gu Zhan's gaze stayed on the disfigured man, and he said indifferently, "According to the script, many more will die tonight."
But Ye Sheng Ge's boss would not stop tonight's activities for the sake of Xiao Xiu's big night.
Sang Yue suddenly realized something, "We’re now part of this story too. No one knows when that sorcerer's rewind will end. Do you think we could be mistaken for characters in the story and killed by the ghost? If we die, will we… still wake up?"
Gu Zhan turned to look at her, replying calmly, "If someone dies in the instance, will they wake up when it’s over?"
Sang Yue: "..."
The room was enveloped in a deathly silence. Wang Zhe and Ma Xiaowen, who had just entered, both had grim expressions.
Even He Hui, standing at the back, showed a trace of fear in her eyes.
Sang Yue took a deep breath, trying to calm her thoughts. "There must be a pattern to these ghost killings. Otherwise, everyone would already be dead. Do these two victims have anything in common?"
She seemed to be asking the others, but she was actually talking to herself. Without waiting for a response, she muttered, "Both are men, both in the opera house… Lord Sun harassed the dancer before he died, and this man was in Xiao Xiu's room. How did he end up in Xiao Xiu's room? Could he have sneaked in?"
She asked many questions but found no answers.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from outside.
Everyone turned to look, and they saw Ye Sheng Ge's boss rushing over, followed by several guards.
At the door to Xiao Xiu's room, Ye Sheng Ge's boss had the others stay outside while he pushed past Wang Zhe and Ma Xiaowen to enter.
Upon seeing the corpse in the room, his expression turned grim as he fell silent for a moment. His first reaction was to turn around and say to the person behind him, “Change Xiao Xiu to another room. Don’t let her come over; we can’t affect her state.”
From this, it was clear that tonight’s performance would not be canceled.
There were still over six hours until the show ended.
Immediately, the owner of Ye Sheng Ge raised his head and looked at Gu Zhan and the others. He frowned and said, “How is it you again?”
Gu Zhan and Sang Yue had been nearby when that old man Sun died.
The owner of Ye Sheng Ge was very angry, seemingly blaming the two for the man's death: “Do you have nothing better to do? The theater pays you to wander around?”
Sang Yue couldn't help but retort, “Boss, someone has died. Aren’t you going to check how he died?”
A flicker of fear passed over the owner’s face, but it was quickly overshadowed by anger. He seemed furious at Sang Yue’s questioning and scolded, “Of course, I’ll investigate, but what does that have to do with you? Get back to work! If today’s performance is ruined, you all will suffer the consequences.”
Sang Yue fell silent and turned to leave.
“Wait a moment.” The owner of Ye Sheng Ge suddenly said, “Yesterday the wind was strong, and a lot of leaves fell into the lake in the back yard. You two, go clean it up.”
He pointed at Wang Zhe and Ma Xiaowen.
Then he looked at Sang Yue, who was already at the door, and the trembling He Hui outside: “You two, take this corpse to the back mountain.”
Wang Zhe whispered, “Why let the two girls do it…”
The owner shot him a furious glare: “Are you suggesting I do it instead? If you don’t want them to go, then you go yourself!”
Wang Zhe hurriedly waved his hands. “No, no, let them do it!”
He didn’t care whether those two could lift the body.
This was a corpse disposal job; he dared not touch it.
The owner of Ye Sheng Ge seemed to disregard any reasonable division of labor and turned to Gu Zhan: “You stay and clean Xiao Xiu’s room.”
After saying that, the boss left.
Once he disappeared down the hallway, Sang Yue said, “We’re supposed to do whatever tasks he assigns us.”
Gu Zhan replied, “I can handle the corpse; do you want to switch tasks?”
Sang Yue hesitated for a moment, glancing at the dead man on the floor. After a pause, she said, “Never mind, let He Hui and me handle the corpse. We can lift it.”
Cleaning the room was a single-person task, and Sang Yue wasn’t sure which task was more dangerous.
Moreover, this was an NPC-assigned task. Switching tasks at random could lead to unpredictable outcomes.
Seeing Sang Yue refuse, Gu Zhan didn’t press further.
Wang Zhe and Ma Xiaowen were eager to leave this place of trouble, linking arms as they departed.
Sang Yue borrowed a small cart, loaded the man’s body onto it, and then left.
Only Gu Zhan was left in the room.
It fell silent.
At the door were the cleaning supplies Sang Yue had brought: a metal basin, cloths, a broom, and a mop.
Gu Zhan didn’t move. He stood by the pool of blood, carefully observing the room.
Because the body had been moved, the bloodstains spread wider, creating several frightening marks on the floor.
Aside from that, the room looked like a young lady’s boudoir, featuring a wooden bed with intricate carvings along the railing.
In the corner stood a dressing mirror, surprisingly made of glass. Although it wasn’t as clear as mirrors from the future, it was much better than a copper mirror, indicating that the owner of Ye Sheng Ge cared about Xiao Xiu.
The jewelry box on the dressing table was open, half of a gold-plated cloisonné bracelet exposed, and a pearl necklace casually draped beside it, seemingly representing the owner's attitude towards these precious ornaments.
The entire room was clean, and it should have been filled with a special fragrance. But at that moment, a foul, burnt odor permeated, mingling with the original scent and the metallic smell of blood, becoming increasingly sickening.
After examining the entire room, Gu Zhan found nothing that could burn or had already been burned.
This room didn’t even have any sharp objects.
The cause of death here was indeed not human.
Unless it was the power of a ghost, such results couldn’t occur.
It was a foregone conclusion that there was a ghost present.
But where exactly was it?
Gu Zhan slowly returned to the door, crouching by the metal basin to soak the cloth. While the cloth was soaking, he pondered this question.
But he found no answers.
Gu Zhan stood up and began to clean up the mess on the floor.
“Clatter.”
Suddenly, a faint sound echoed behind him.
Gu Zhan paused; the sound resembled a glass bead falling to the ground.
Then came the echoes.
“Clatter… clatter…”
It was like glass beads bouncing on the floor and then rolling away…
His movements halted as he carefully discerned the direction of the sound.
The room fell silent again, with only his breathing and the slight rustling of his clothes audible.
Was it an illusion?
No, it was not an illusion.
Gu Zhan never doubted his senses; he indeed heard the sound of marbles.
He remained still, continuing to wait.
Sure enough, after a while, the sound of marbles appeared again. This time there were more, clearer, as if countless beads were dropping onto the floor.
Listening to the sound, he could almost visualize the beads bouncing on the floor.
However, the direction of the sound kept changing, sometimes beside him, sometimes overhead, and sometimes beneath his feet…
At that moment, the bloodstains on the floor seemed to come alive, flowing again. They carried a strong metallic scent, slowly creeping towards Gu Zhan…
When Gu Zhan’s gaze landed on the bloodstains, they suddenly stopped moving. They flowed very slowly, almost imperceptibly to the average person.
But Gu Zhan never doubted himself; if he felt the bloodstains were moving, then they were indeed moving.
Thus, the sounds of marbles and the bloodstains interacted. Whenever he heard the sound of the marbles, he would turn to look in the direction of the sound, and the bloodstains would shift slightly forward. When he glanced back at the bloodstains, the sound of the marbles would come from behind him or from one side.
Both the bloodstains and the sound of the marbles were gradually getting closer to him.
One step, two steps...
Suddenly, Gu Zhan felt a weight on his shoulder.
A clear voice belonging to a small boy rang out behind him, cheerfully saying, “Brother, do you want to play with me?”
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