Chapter 38

Feng Bujue continued to walk down the tunnel, the terrifying scene he had just witnessed not affecting him in the slightest. He moved forward without any pressure.

Before long, he reached the end of the tunnel, entering a narrow and damp cellar.

There was an iron door in the cellar, which was not surprising. In ancient times, such cellars under large houses were often used as prisons for evil purposes, and now they had become places to store coffins. The floor and walls were meticulously covered with copper sheets, and the heavy iron door, once pushed open, would emit an unusually shrill creak. In the center of the cell, a coffin was placed. From a few steps away, the light of his flashlight revealed that the coffin lid was not nailed down, and it was not even properly closed...

Feng Bujue boldly pushed open the iron door and walked in. However, he did not rush to lift the coffin lid. Instead, he used his flashlight to search the walls around him. Sure enough, he found another segment of the "Ghost Palace" on one of the walls, this time written in blood:

【But the fiend, clad in a robe of sorrow,

Slew the noble king;

(Ah! Let us mourn, for dawn shall never rise upon him, so tragic!)

The glory that once enveloped his abode,

Once bloomed like flowers,

Is now a dim memory,

To be buried by time.】

"Hmm... Is this the fifth segment?" Feng Bujue muttered after reading it.

The system prompt then sounded: 【Side Quest Progress Updated】

The information in the quest log also changed to: 【Find all six segments of the "Ghost Palace," Current Progress: 3/6】

Feng Bujue walked over to the coffin, holding his flashlight in one hand and making a fist with the other, as if knocking on a door, he tapped the coffin lid three times: "Hey, Miss Madeleine, are you still there?" It was unclear how he knew this name.

...

As time passed, the shock value of the Invincible Hero gradually increased to around 15% and stabilized at this number. His panic was not due to encountering any substantial monsters, but because after searching for a while, he could no longer find a way to leave the second floor...

Every corridor, every room, and the paintings, wall lamps, and decorations on the walls seemed unfamiliar yet familiar.

The building exhibited clear spatial anomalies; its interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside. The length of the corridors seemed to change constantly, and counting the doors on either side would yield different numbers each time. So far, the Invincible Hero had not successfully reached the end of any corridor. Whenever he reached the end of a section, he would see a new corner or a T-junction.

The consumption of stamina from normal walking was minimal, and only prolonged walking would cause a noticeable decrease. This was similar to real life. If a person walks continuously for more than twenty minutes, they will start to feel slightly tired; after forty minutes, their legs will feel sore; and after an hour, they will definitely need to stop and rest. Of course, this example is for ordinary people, not professional athletes.

This fatigue accumulated gradually and became more noticeable over time. Under the influence of fear, the Invincible Hero's reaction was accelerated. When he saw his stamina decreasing at a visible rate, he did not calmly choose to rest but instead decided to speed up his pace...

He was no longer exploring but fleeing.

He received a strong psychological suggestion that if he did not do something soon, he would not just be trapped. When his stamina dropped to a certain level, something in the darkness would likely find him...

"Ha... ha..." The Invincible Hero's breathing became heavy. He checked the game menu and saw that he still had about 1000 stamina points left, and he was not running, just walking quickly. This should not be happening.

He stopped, hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath, swallowing hard. At this moment, he suddenly felt an odd sensation in his abdomen, but he could not pinpoint what it was.

"What's going on..." The Invincible Hero muttered, speaking to himself to reduce the fear and help him focus.

Suddenly, his gaze caught something. He turned his head and saw a mirror, a rectangular mirror about two meters high, embedded in the wall with a wooden frame, the carvings simple yet elegant.

"Strange... Was this here before?" He asked, his face showing confusion.

At this point, the Invincible Hero was already numbly moving forward, his eyes fixed on the distant end of the corridor, no longer paying attention to the doors on either side or the decorations like paintings, wall lamps, and sculptures. But the corridor was not particularly wide, and a mirror of this size should have been noticeable. He had no reason to miss it.

When he noticed the mirror, he was side-on to it, bent over with his hands on his knees. As he shifted his attention to the mirror, he instinctively straightened up and turned to face it. This turn nearly made him faint.

The image in the mirror looked no different from him, but the mirror version of him had his entire abdomen exposed. There was no clothing or skin on his abdomen, and he could see a mass of intestines.

The Invincible Hero gasped sharply, his face turning pale. He took several steps back, his back pressing against the opposite wall. His eyes widened, and his breathing stopped for nearly ten seconds.

"Illusion... This is an illusion..." He regained some composure and walked up to the mirror with a determined look, "Trying to scare me... Just seeing my insides, that's all."

Despite his words, the shock value did not lie; he was still very afraid. When people are extremely scared, they can have various reactions, and anger and defiance are among them.

The Invincible Hero's gaze involuntarily fell on his abdomen in the mirror. He could see that the intestines inside seemed to be moving. Looking closer, he noticed some bizarre details...

The cross-section of the intestines looked increasingly strange... It looked like... like a corridor!

He felt a chill run down his spine, his neck stiff and unable to turn. Two seconds later, he roared and kicked the mirror, shattering it, and then turned to leave.

However, as soon as he turned, he saw many more mirrors on both sides of the corridor. The original doors were gone, and mirrors were almost everywhere.

"Ah!!!" The Invincible Hero shouted, charging forward without looking back. He did not know if this was an illusion or a real change in the house, but he felt fear and danger and did not want to stay in these corridors for a second longer.

With a loud crash, a figure smashed through a glass window and fell from the second floor of the house.

As he fell, the Invincible Hero was unprepared. One second, he was running down the corridor, and the next, the pain from the glass cutting his skin and the impact of the collision came abruptly. He seemed to have hit something, and his body lost balance and began to fall.

In the brief moment before his death, he saw the scene outside the house.

Mold-covered stone walls, withered trees surrounding, and a twisted, massive black reflection in the stagnant water of the pond. A sinister and terrifying aura seeped from the pond, the walls, and the depths of the house, enveloping both the physical and mental worlds.

In the silent stillness, the Invincible Hero fell into the pond outside the house, the ghostly waters swallowing him. Not a sound escaped his throat, and the massive house loomed over him like a cold, indifferent shadow, watching another life fade away.

The last thing the professional player saw was a blood-red moon sinking in the sky.

...

【Team Member: Invincible Hero, Dead, One Plot Item Transferred】

The system prompt sounded, startling Wang Tanzhi and Long Ao Ming.

"Are you serious! A level 15 professional player is dead!" Wang Tanzhi exclaimed, checking the team menu to confirm. Indeed, the player's name had turned gray, and the word "Alive" had changed to "Dead."

"If we were also separated and acting alone, the dangers we encountered could have been fatal," Long Ao Ming replied, then added, "I wonder if Brother Feng is also in danger acting alone."

"Brother Jue... don't worry about him. If he suggested splitting up, he must have considered the risks," Wang Tanzhi said. "By the way, I read some game instructions while waiting to log in. If a player with a plot item dies, the item will randomly appear near one of their teammates."

Long Ao Ming, who had more experience with team scripts, responded, "I know, let's look for it now."

The two immediately started searching. However, they found another segment of the "Ghost Palace" under a pile of debris on the floor, instead of the letter:

【The traveler in the joyful valley,

Through two bright windows can see:

Fairies dancing to music,

To the sound of the harp,

Around the king's throne,

"Reason" the sovereign,

Dignified and noble,

Ruler of the land, majestic.】

【Side Quest Progress Updated】

【Find all six segments of the "Ghost Palace," Current Progress: 4/6】

{Piaotian Literature}