In an instant, Xu Huo's entire body tensed. While activating "Moving Metal" and "Absolute Safety Distance," he launched himself toward a corner of the room. The "Straight-Line Distance" trait maximized his speed, and mid-flight, he swung his sword at his own position. Only after completing this series of actions did he use his vision to catch the "thing" that had tapped his shoulder.
After his Mental World evolved again, his spatial perception had improved. Under normal circumstances, he could sense two or three nearby spaces. For example, standing in the funeral parlor, he knew there was no one moving in the farewell room behind him, while Bai Wenxian was pacing in the room ahead. But the space on either side of the wall, which should have been the area outside the venue, had vanished entirely, replaced by solid walls...
Yet within the same room, he hadn't sensed someone coming up behind him. If this wasn't a problem with his perception, then the other party's ability far surpassed his!
His first suspicion fell on the fellow players. If Xu Ruosi and the other two had also made it to this floor, they should be visible. The Wax Figure Hall was only this big—if living people weren't visible, corpses should be. Besides, the room wasn't that soundproof; fighting sounds should be audible. If none of the three made any noise, they were either all dead or hiding.
Coming out to regroup would be fine, but if they were hiding, they were probably plotting something.
*Smack!*
With a cracking sound, the upper half of a wax figure toppled onto the ground and shattered, its hand still reaching forward.
Xu Huo slowly straightened up, his brow gradually furrowing.
Bai Wenxian, who had found nothing ahead, came back. Seeing the wax figure on the floor, he asked, "It moved again?"
The clues given and the sounds produced could only scare people, not cause any real harm.
"If it's an item's behavior, it might not have an immediate effect. Since we haven't seen anyone else and the other party doesn't mean to harm us, let's just ignore it for now," Bai Wenxian urged him to leave.
They had carefully inspected the Wax Figure Hall when they arrived and hadn't found the so-called clue dolls mentioned in the letter. Besides, it wasn't even certain whether the clue was real. Staying here searching was pointless.
"Let's just open the wall directly." Xu Huo raised his sword and slashed several times, cutting down the entire wall panel. He kicked the panel over, stepped into the funeral hall, walked a few steps to the opposite side, and repeated the process, cutting down the wall there.
"Wait!" Bai Wenxian hurriedly stopped him. "You might make things worse!"
Sure enough, the moment he finished speaking, the wax figures in the coffins sat up. Clumsily climbing out of their coffins, they stretched out their hands like zombies to grab at Xu Huo.
The sword in his hand had already been swapped for the "Eye of the Dead." With a horizontal sweep, the foremost wax figures were sliced in half at the waist!
The severed halves of the wax figures didn't completely lose their mobility. The upper bodies struggled to grab Xu Huo's legs, clutching and crawling upward.
Expressionlessly crushing one of their heads underfoot, Xu Huo pulled out his Lighter. With a *click*, the wax figure in front caught fire.
The wax figures themselves felt no pain. They crowded together, and soon the flames spread from one to two, connecting into a sheet.
The room was illuminated bright by the flames. Bai Wenxian frowned at the sight and, abandoning cooperation, went first into the room ahead, quickly disappearing around the corner.
After setting the fire, Xu Huo waited until half the wax figures had burned without seeing any new activity. He then looked up at the ceiling. Just as he was about to act, a woman's laughter suddenly rang out from ahead. He lowered his gaze and saw a red skirt drift past from the direction of the funeral parlor.
The red skirt was what the protagonist in Bai Wenxian's story wore.
Without hesitation, Xu Huo gave chase. Following the shadow, he returned to the farewell room behind. The room hadn't changed, so he circled back to the lounge, only to see two children's figures run from the left and right entrances into the horror room.
Trying to lure him back?
Xu Huo turned around at the doorway and walked back.
The horror room would sink more than ten meters underground. At that depth, if the room couldn't come back up and the lift shaft was blocked, escape would be difficult. Staying above was the safest option.
Even though this place wasn't the surface either.
When Xu Ruosi was the first to leave, he had noticed that the elevator's lift heights weren't equal. Although the lift time was the same, the speed had subtle changes. Simply put, when they came down from the surface, they rose back up but were slightly lower. So they hadn't returned to the Wax Figure Hall on the surface but were directly beneath it.
And this underground Wax Figure Hall was identical to the one they had passed through before. It was most likely that the entire venue used lift mechanisms.
If the Wax Figure Hall always operated like this, it would be too easy to make a few people disappear here.
But he didn't sense any secret rooms or hidden passages nearby. To get someone out, you'd at least need a place to hide...
Xu Huo thought briefly and quickly returned to the funeral parlor ahead. The cremation bed, just burned, was moving toward the cremation oven again. Xie Ling lay on the metal bed frame covered in wax oil.
His gaze swept over her, and with a slash from a distance, he cut the tracks beneath the cremation bed. With a throw and retract of the kite string, he pulled the person on the bed up!
Catching her, he gently tapped her wax-covered face. A thin wax shell cracked and peeled off, revealing real human skin beneath.
"Wake up." Xu Huo slapped Xie Ling's face.
Xie Ling, suffocated and unconscious, suddenly gasped for air and woke up. At that moment, Bai Wenxian rushed back from the front. Seeing them, he paused and said, "The Wax Figure Hall has a problem. The way ahead is blocked."
"What do you mean, blocked?" Xie Ling instantly sobered.
Xu Huo let her go so she could stand on her own, while Bai Wenxian explained, "The main gate of the Wax Figure Hall is sealed with a layer of metal. I used my items, but I couldn't completely break through the barrier."
It would be strange if he could break through. Even if the metal was removed, there would be nothing but stone or mud outside. They still couldn't get out.
Xu Huo wasn't in a hurry to leave now. He asked Xie Ling, "What happened to you?"
A trace of fear flashed in Xie Ling's eyes. "It seems the horror story I told came true."
"The twins?"
"Yes! Did you see them too?" Xie Ling said excitedly. "When I came out and got the clue, I was startled. The paper had a drawing of a pair of twins..."
"I saw it." Xu Huo took out the letter.
"This is it!" Xie Ling said. "When I came out, there were two wax figures outside. One of them was holding an envelope. I guessed it might be a clue, but when I opened it, it turned out to be the horror story I told. I was planning to wait for you all in the lounge, but suddenly a pair of hands pushed me into the Wax Figure Hall from behind!"
"You said when you came out, there were two wax figures? Did the other wax figure have anything with it?" Xu Huo asked.
Xie Ling, interrupted, took a moment to calm her thoughts before answering. "Just an ordinary wax figure, not carrying anything... The clue must have been taken by Xu Ruosi!"