Chapter 37

Several paintings hung on the wall in the living room on the first floor. Most of them looked like the works of a madman, filled with chaotic and obscure imagery. But one stood out, not so abstract.

The painting depicted the interior of a long, rectangular tunnel. The walls were low, smooth, and white, with no interruptions or decorations. The path ahead seemed to slope downward. It was a bit like... no, it was very much like a tomb. The fine details showed that the cave was buried deep underground, with no visible exit in the painting and no artificial lighting. The artist had somehow managed to create an eerie, unnatural light that did not fit the environment.

Feng Bujue stared at the painting for about five seconds, his gaze seemingly frozen. An unknown force prevented him from speaking or moving. The next moment, darkness enveloped his vision, and he could see nothing. After a short while, when he regained his ability to move, he took out a flashlight from his backpack and turned it on, only to find himself inside the tunnel depicted in the painting.

He didn't understand the principle of the teleportation and didn't know if Xiao Tan and Long Ge had seen him leave. But whether they had or not, he would have to rely on his own strength to get out of this place.

Behind him was a stone wall that didn't budge when he pushed it. The ceiling was low, and there was clearly no way out above. Feng Bujue sighed, took out the "Eye of Enmity" from his backpack, put it on, and began to walk down the sloping tunnel, holding the flashlight in one hand and a pipe wrench in the other.

With the "Dance of Jazz" equipped on his feet, Feng Bujue wasn't worried about losing stamina from exploring. He could walk as far as he wanted. With 1100 stamina and the special effect of the equipment reducing the cost of walking and running, he could glide down the tunnel in a moonwalk. Even if this place was as large as the Castle of Dracula, he was confident he could map it all out.

After walking down the tunnel for about ten minutes, Feng Bujue's flashlight flickered a few times. He shook it and tapped the body, thinking: Low battery? That's impossible... I didn't use it for long in the last scenario. Bad contact? Even less likely, it says "MADE IN CHINA" on it, so the quality is solid...

Suddenly, a strange whisper came from ahead: "Let me out..."

The voice came from about ten meters in front of him. He shifted his gaze from the flashlight and looked in that direction, but the light went out completely at that moment, plunging him into darkness.

Then, the flashlight flickered briefly, just enough to reveal a solitary white figure standing ahead. It was a woman, covered in wounds and emaciated, with bloodstains on her white dress. The brief glimpse, combined with the poor lighting and distance, prevented Feng Bujue from seeing her face clearly.

The light vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving Feng Bujue in complete darkness, with the terrifying image burned into his retina. He then heard another mournful cry.

"Let me out!" In the darkness, the sound of a body hitting wood followed, along with the creaking of hinges. Another distant voice seemed to be faintly heard, as if someone was wailing in the depths of the underground corridor.

After about thirty seconds, the flashlight returned to normal, no longer flickering, and continued to emit a steady beam of light.

Feng Bujue, who had just experienced the scene, remained unperturbed and sighed in relief, "So the flashlight wasn't broken, it was just flickering due to the plot..."

At that moment, a system notification sounded: [Side Quest Progress Updated]

Feng Bujue checked and saw that the progress of the quest [Find All Six Segments of "Ghost Palace"] had updated to 2/6. Someone else must have found another segment, but the specific content was not visible in the quest log.

Meanwhile, Wang Tan and Long Ao Ming, who were still on the first floor, were crouched by the fireplace in the kitchen, looking at the second segment of "Ghost Palace" written on the brick wall in a black, ash-like substance.

[The golden flag of the king,

Flutters and waves on the palace roof.

All of this is past,

A time of gentle breezes,

Beautiful and peaceful days.

Along the white palace walls,

A dark fragrance wafts and fades away.]

"Ah... I don't understand at all!" After reading it, Wang Tan almost forgot what he had just read. He came to the fireplace, looked up, and stuck his head inside to check the chimney.

After getting his face covered in soot, he said, "Ah... It's too narrow, we definitely can't climb out."

At first, Long Ao Ming didn't seem to respond, and Wang Tan didn't pay much attention. But a few seconds later, Wang Tan turned around and noticed that Long Ao Ming's expression was very strange. His eyes were wide open, and his mouth was moving as if he were shouting, but Wang Tan couldn't hear a word.

This eerie scene made Wang Tan's hair stand on end. He then realized that his own voice wasn't coming out either.

The following scene would be terrifying for the participants but might seem hilarious to an outside observer.

The two men, who knew nothing about sign language, were flailing their arms and making exaggerated facial expressions and lip movements, trying to communicate, but neither understood what the other was saying.

The most fitting dialogue for this scene would be: "Are you crazy?" "Do you have medicine?" "How much do you have?" "How much do you take?" "Take as much as you have!" "You have as much as you take!" "Are you crazy?"

But in reality, their actual words were:

Wang Tan: "What's going on? What are you saying? What does this gesture mean?"

Long Ao Ming: "It's the black stuff on your face causing the problem!"

From Long Ao Ming's perspective, the black soot on Wang Tan's face was like a "living" mask, currently forming a bizarre smile. The expression of this "black face" was unrelated to Wang Tan's own facial expressions, as if it were a painting floating on his face.

Finally, Long Ao Ming came up with a solution. He found a rag in the messy kitchen, placed it in front of his face, and made a clockwise wiping motion at a distance. He then pointed to the rag and then to Wang Tan's face.

Wang Tan seemed to understand and took the rag, wiping his face vigorously. When he removed the rag, both of them regained their ability to speak normally.

"Wow! What kind of monster is this?" Wang Tan looked at the rag in his hand. The "black face" was imprinted on the rag, maintaining its complete human face shape, having transferred from Wang Tan's face to the rag. Wang Tan's face was now clean, with no trace of soot.

"Although I don't know what the system's purpose is with this thing..." Long Ao Ming realized that this black face, which had no real lethal power and wasn't particularly scary, seemed to have no reason to be there other than to prank the players.

"But I think it's safer to burn it." Long Ao Ming took the mask and found two flintstones by the stove...