After entering the haunted house, Shen Wanwan and Qi Luozhou had remained remarkably calm the whole time.
But when the two of them turned their heads at the same time and saw Shao Yuye’s face—lit by the lamp and pale as a ghost—they were both startled.
Qi Luozhou’s first instinct was to step sideways to shield Shen Wanwan, while Shen Wanwan raised the ‘Ghost-Slaying Knife’ in her hand.
[Hahahaha! Brother Ye : Do you maybe want to take a closer look at who I am?!]
[Even slashing your former partner, are you trying to get yourself killed?!]
[I swear I’m going to laugh myself to death here, hahahahaha!]
By the time Shen Wanwan realized that the ‘ghost’ in front of her wasn’t an NPC staff member, but her own biological brother holding a lantern, the ‘Ghost-Slaying Knife’ had already stabbed straight and cleanly into his chest.
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence followed.
Shao Yuye lowered his gaze, stunned for a moment, clearly not understanding what had just happened.
But that didn’t stop him from instantly feeling overwhelmingly aggrieved as he asked in disbelief:
“You stabbed me?”
Shen Wanwan: “……No.”
[Hahahahaha! Brother Ye: I was thinking about meeting up with you the whole time, and this is the big gift you give me?!]
[Mainly because Shen Wanwan’s reaction was way too fast!]
Since his sister said it didn’t happen, Shao Yuye easily let the matter go.
Besides, it was just a toy knife, there wasn’t the slightest bit of pain anyway.
The lantern in his hand was currently the only light source, casting sharp shadows over all three of their faces.
Shen Wanwan asked, “Why are you here?”
It would’ve been better if she hadn’t asked. Once she did, Shao Yuye remembered the main issue.
“I was just about to ask what’s going on with you two.”
He pointed at the wooden shackles around Shen Wanwan’s and Qi Luozhou’s wrists.
“A debuff that came with opening a treasure chest,” Shen Wanwan replied lightly.
Shao Yuye brought the lantern closer to take a look, only then realizing that the two of them weren’t holding hands at all.
They were simply bound together by the shackles. It just looked like they were holding hands.
At this moment, the countdown on the panel above had already turned into 00:00:00.
“Isn’t the time already up? Take them off.”
Shao Yuye shot Qi Luozhou a wary glance and held out his hand. “Where’s the key? I’ll help you unlock it.”
From the beginning until now, Qi Luozhou hadn’t said a single word.
He stood there quietly, almost blending into the pitch-black wall behind him, ghost-like.
Shao Yuye lifted the lantern higher, and the bright light instantly illuminated Qi Luozhou’s refined face. His brows and eyes held a calm composure, utterly unruffled.
“Can’t take them off.”
Qi Luozhou looked at him. “I lost the key.”
After saying that, he lowered his lashes again and apologized softly to Shen Wanwan.
Shen Wanwan shook her head. “It’s fine.”
They’d already kissed before. This really wasn’t a big deal to her.
But beside them, Shao Yuye narrowed his eyes dangerously.
“Lost it?”
Qi Luozhou was usually meticulous, how could he be this careless?
A man’s intuition told Shao Yuye something felt off.
But then he quickly reconsidered. This was a haunted house.
Even someone as bold as himself had nearly ended up like a lamb waiting for slaughter inside.
With Qi Luozhou’s skinny build, he was probably just forcing himself to stay calm.
“Alright then.”
Shao Yuye finally relaxed.
[Hahaha, so Brother Ye rushed over because he saw Wanwan and God Zhou?]
[This damn possessiveness is getting ridiculous, ahhh!]
[ Speaking of which, who still remembers the classic ‘ChengYe CP’ moment from back then?! That day Brother Ye just bought strawberries and Yu Cheng gave them to Liang Jing first, then Brother Ye sulked for an entire afternoon. Because those strawberries were something Cheng had said he wanted, so Brother Ye bought them especially for him. But Cheng casually shared them with everyone, didn’t even leave one for Brother Ye. It took three days to coax Brother Ye, and in the end he bought Brother Ye a whole truckload of strawberries—everyone on the team ate until they were sick, hahaha!]
[Cheng: So between me and Shen Wanwan, who’s more important in your heart?!]
[Yu Cheng: The house has collapsed. Right now.]
At this point, Jiang Yuan finally caught up with them.
He usually looked gentle and mild, but now he was thoroughly frightened by the ‘ghosts,’ trembling as he came over to greet them. “Should we share information?”
That reminder instantly pulled Shen Wanwan and Qi Luozhou back to twenty minutes earlier—
The plot hint had been far too obvious, so Shen Wanwan and Qi Luozhou stepped forward together to question it.
The little boy’s eyes were hollow and empty.
“My uncle didn’t make it into a shelter during the riot. He was ‘killed’ by the Shadow Ones.
“This is already the fourth family member I’ve lost…”
People nearby gradually gathered around as well.
“That’s right. Those hateful Shadow Ones, those terrifying Shadow Ones—they ‘killed’ my mother, ‘killed’ my sister… Who will help us?!”
“I haven’t seen the light in so long.”
“Ever since this place was taken over by them, we’ve never seen light again…”
“I need light!”
“We need light!”
“Adventurer, are you willing to help us?”
From that moment on, the hidden quest’s main storyline was officially unlocked.
Once they collected all five fragments, they would combine them into an Eternal Lamp and place it on the highest platform inside the house. Lighting up the haunted house that way meant clearing the level.
When there was no ‘riot,’ those ‘Shadow Ones’—the ‘ghosts’ they were seeing now—did not possess any ‘killing’ attributes.
But once a ‘riot’ began, they would reveal their bloodthirsty nature. Any ‘person’ who failed to reach the circle of light in time would be cut down by them.
Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment. “So the real difficulty of the task is this: if a riot breaks out while we’re retrieving the fragments, how do we avoid those ‘Shadow Ones’?”
Shen Wanwan nodded. “That’s exactly it.”
“Then we need to hurry.” Both Jiang Yuan and Shao Yuye were wearing watches on their wrists. The timers showed that only the last ninety minutes remained.
“This is our debuff. We have to clear it within ninety minutes, or we’ll be wiped out!”
With time running short, Shao Yuye didn’t have the luxury to say much more to Shen Wanwan and the others.
Before leaving, he handed her the lantern he was holding.
“Take it.”
[Brother Ye is scared to death himself, yet he’s actually giving the lamp to Shen Wanwan?!]
[What’s going on? Brother Ye’s whole vibe suddenly turned manly!]
[Ahhh Brother Ye is a real man!!]
Shen Wanwan didn’t take it. She gestured toward the ‘Ghost-Slaying Knife’ in her hand.
“I’ve already got this.”
One of her hands was tied to Qi Luozhou’s, so she couldn’t use it. The other hand had to hold the knife. There really wasn’t a free hand left to carry a lantern.
She motioned for Qi Luozhou to pass the map the little boy had given them to Shao Yuye.
“The fragment locations are marked on here.”
[What the hell? She just handed over the map?!]
[Then what about them?!]
[This is mutual trust, folks! Once again moved by this ‘Petty Revenge Duo’ pairing!]
Shao Yuye was about to say something else when the ground suddenly began to shake again.
Amid the violent trembling, he saw a black shadow suddenly appear behind Shen Wanwan. His pupils shrank sharply as he tried to rush forward to block this fatal blow for his sister.
“Watch out!”
But Shen Wanwan was even faster.
She almost instantly turned her head, then cleanly drove her blade into the ‘ghost’’s chest.
Not off by even a fraction, right in the heart.
The ‘ghost’ immediately widened its eyes, staring at her in disbelief. Then it slowly lowered its gaze to the ‘Ghost-Slaying Knife,’ tilted its head, and died on the spot.
Shen Wanwan withdrew the knife and called out with praise, “Nice acting.”
*Gulp*—the sound of Shao Yuye swallowing hard.
He stood there, dumbfounded, his mind blank, until Jiang Yuan tugged him and reminded him, “Hurry, get to the shelter point!”
Only then did he turn and sprint toward another refuge.
[Hahahahaha! Brother Ye: Suddenly I feel like I’m the one who needs protecting!]
[Imagined Shen Wanwan: weak, helpless. Real Shen Wanwan: ferocious—blade up, blade down.]
In the chaos, the two teams ran in opposite directions and were instantly scattered by this wave of ‘riot’.
The shelter where Shen Wanwan and Qi Luozhou hid was even narrower than the previous one.
It was more than enough for one person, but once two squeezed in, it became extremely cramped.
The light and shadows around them were dim. Their breaths mingled. He held her hand with one hand, and with the other supported the back of her head. There was an uneven crack there; Shen Wanwan’s head rested against his palm, and she didn’t feel the slightest bump.
Because of this scene, the barrage exploded again.
[They’re dating, right? They HAVE to be dating!]
[So jealous of Shen Wanwan. Both God Zhou and Brother Ye want to protect her TAT]
[But Shen Wanwan doesn’t even need protection. She’s strong on her own.]
[First time noticing how gentlemanly and gentle God Zhou is. Such a small detail! Most guys wouldn’t even notice the cracked wall. I’ll always be moved by details like this—ahhh!]