Chapter 26: Soul's Chill
After the announcement from the Void Tree appeared, the expressions of everyone present varied. Su Xiao didn't care much about this announcement; he had entered many worlds and had never joined a good/lawful faction.
Joining a good faction came with various constraints on one's actions, and more importantly, factions of this type simply didn't want Su Xiao.
No, it wasn't just that they didn't want him; in most cases, such factions regarded him as a mortal enemy.
As for those two 'good teammates,' being assigned to the same faction as them was normal. Judging by the Void Tree's announcement, this allocation was based on cooperation within the nightmare world.
Molei, Luoxi, and the others had cooperated before, so they were grouped together. Tianyu's situation was a bit awkward.
Molei, Lilim, and the others had a unified attitude toward Tianyu: 'A scumbag might also be an old schemer, so no thanks.'
Tianyu was both frustrated and speechless. After being rejected by Molei and the others, he tried to join Su Xiao, Wood, and Zuiyasi's faction.
Tianyu did just that, but not long after, he was hung upside down, and one of his eyes was eaten. Even now, recalling this incident made Tianyu's heart race. Fortunately, it was only the eye of his nightmare body that was eaten.
"I was actually classified into the evil faction. I must have been dragged down by you two. My demon clan has always been neutral."
Wood looked at Tianyu, his meaning clear: 'Little bro, want to switch factions with me?'
Tianyu averted his gaze, pretending nothing had happened.
"You're slandering me. Regardless, I am a clergyman."
Zuiyasi, dressed in a white clerical robe, smiled gently. When he didn't want to kill, he actually had a bit of a clerical aura.
"This grouping is problematic. They have five people—that's unfair."
Baha spoke up. As the diplomat of Su Xiao's team, it was naturally time to step forward.
Hearing Baha's words, Molei and the others said nothing. They didn't want to talk; their hearts were bitter.
Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the young lady in the corner of the reception hall. From the moment they entered the main painting world until now, the young lady had been sitting on a high stool, painting on a canvas.
"The canvas and ink are precious, unique. I will surely be able to paint the ideal picture skillfully. It will be a cold, peaceful world that warms people's hearts."
The young lady's voice was indifferent, yet within this indifference was a unique tenderness. Sometimes, she would silently stare at you. Though she was even frailer than an ordinary person, her gaze could make people uneasy.
The young lady's canvas was two meters square, its colors dim, with faint red marks visible.
Su Xiao took out four [Scroll Fragments] from his exclusive room. As soon as he produced them, Molei stepped forward a few paces, lowering her head to look at the [Scroll Fragments] in his hand.
"..."
"Nothing else, I just haven't seen these before. I wanted to see what they look like."
Molei laughed boisterously, seemingly casual, but in truth, she was observing the differences between each [Scroll Fragment].
"Don't stare. We'll have some soon too. No need to envy."
Yueshitu pulled Molei aside. Before long, the two huddled together, murmuring softly, occasionally punctuated by increasingly unrestrained laughter.
Ignoring them, Su Xiao handed the four [Scroll Fragments] to the young lady. She set down her brush and accepted them with both hands, as if afraid of damaging them.
"Are you thirsty?"
The young lady met Su Xiao's gaze. Her drooping white hair made her cheeks appear especially pale. Her pupils were a bright red, like the most vivid pigment.
[Tip: Young lady's friendliness +20 points.]
[You have obtained the Painter's Protection (lasting until you leave this world).]
[You may enter the second floor of the ancient castle.]
...
Upon receiving these prompts, Su Xiao didn't attempt to continue conversing with the young lady. He speculated that only when his friendliness with her reached 80 points or more would it be possible to negotiate with her.
Each time a [Scroll Fragment] was submitted to the young lady, her friendliness increased by 5 points. He wondered what would happen when friendliness reached 100 points. The young lady's attitude likely wouldn't change; it was probably a gift or key information.
If it was key information, that was fine. But if it was a gift, he would need to seize the opportunity early, or there would be nothing left.
After staring at the young lady for a moment, Su Xiao determined that physical negotiation wouldn't work. He walked toward the corridor at the back of the reception hall.
"Boss, what did the young lady just say?"
"Hmm?"
Su Xiao looked at Baha in confusion, then realized that the young lady's question, 'Are you thirsty?' could only be heard by him. Neither Baha nor Bubu Wang could hear it, let alone the others.
This information was valuable. Su Xiao guessed it was likely related to the next inner painting world.
The next inner painting world was the 'Sand Painting': desert, sun, heat, thirst.
A series of keywords appeared in Su Xiao's mind. He knew this was the advantage gained from submitting four [Scroll Fragments].
Of course, Su Xiao didn't only have four [Scroll Fragments]. When he left the nightmare world, he had a total of thirteen. After submitting four, he still had nine left.
These nine [Scroll Fragments] needed to be kept for now. Don't forget, there were still two good teammates around. Having them figure out his situation would be disastrous.
Su Xiao estimated that Wood had eight to ten [Scroll Fragments], while Zuiyasi had seven to nine.
The way to win this competition was simple: in the end, whoever submitted the most scroll fragments to the young lady would be the victor.
All the scroll fragments obtained by others would belong to that person. In the end, the young lady would piece these [Scroll Fragments] together into a canvas, which was the core of the painting world, equivalent to a World Core.
To become the final victor, finding more [Scroll Fragments] was key. Additionally, one had to guard against other participants in the later stages.
The rule of this competition was that the killer inherited all the scroll fragments the victim had submitted. With this rule, anyone could become the victor until the very last moment.
It was easy to imagine that in the later stages, everyone would team up to take down the person with the most [Scroll Fragments]. Therefore, Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry to submit too many. Submitting four to enter the second floor of the castle was enough. He couldn't let Wood and Zuiyasi figure out his situation.
Walking through the somewhat dim corridor, many paintings hung on the walls on both sides, all of unfamiliar faces. As he moved forward, one painting caught Su Xiao's eye—a portrait of the Nightmare King.
In this painting, the headless Nightmare King knelt on the ground. Opposite it was a dense mass of blood energy, within which seemed to be a blood beast grinning ferociously, baring its fangs.
Su Xiao tried touching the paint on the painting with his hand. The paint was still wet. Had the young lady painted this? Or had the corridor generated the painting on its own?
Glancing at a few empty frames on the wall, Su Xiao leaned toward the latter.
He continued down the corridor. After walking several dozen meters, he came to a staircase of about a dozen steps leading upward. At the top was a double wooden door with glass windows in the upper half. The glass was filled with wooden grids, inside which yellowed paper was sandwiched, obscuring the view. Su Xiao tried pushing the door.
Creak~
After a harsh sound of friction, cold mist surged out through the gradually widening door gap.
At first, Su Xiao didn't pay much attention to the cold mist rushing toward him. But after two seconds, he felt a bit cold. After three seconds, the cold penetrated to his bones. After five seconds, he took out a cold-resistant coat and put it on, only to find it completely useless.
Because Su Xiao had opened the door to the second floor of the castle, the cold mist spread down the stairs. Within moments, it reached the corridor, and judging by its momentum, it would flow into the reception hall along the floor within a minute or two.
This cold mist was peculiar. It wasn't the kind of cold that was lethal, but rather one that made the body feel gradually chilled to the core.
"Ah-choo!"
Amu sneezed from the cold, a string of snot forming a graceful arc before sticking to his chin. Amu, who had ice-based abilities, began shivering.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump~
Bubu Wang's right hind leg trembled like a tiny electric motor. He was also very cold, which felt strange to him. In his dog life, this was only the second time he had felt cold. The first time was on the icefield of the Witch World.
Su Xiao discovered a second characteristic of the cold mist: it was a 'cold' targeting the soul. Otherwise, his cold resistance couldn't possibly be higher than Bubu Wang's or Amu's.
Meanwhile, in the reception hall on the first floor, the cold mist drifted in. The first to be affected was the young lady painting in the corner. Her expression remained normal; she even took off her loose outer coat.
"Why is it a bit cold?"
Molei tightened her collar, exhaling white mist.
"It really is a bit cold."
Lilim took out a heart that seemed to be filled with lava. Demon power representing magma and heat surged out from it, but Lilim quickly found that this method of keeping warm was completely useless.
"It's getting colder and colder. Does this castle have some kind of super air conditioner? Who turned it to the lowest setting? So inconsiderate!"
"Molei, your imagination is really wild."
"That's not the point, okay? It's getting colder and colder. Look, I'm even dripping clear snot (sniff~)."
Not only Molei and the others felt cold, but Zuiyasi and Wood were also freezing all over. The two quickly walked toward the corridor. They had also each submitted four [Scroll Fragments] to the young lady.
A few minutes later, Molei, Yueshitu, Lilim, and Luoxi huddled together, their faces pale from the cold. It was simply too cold; their thoughts were starting to slow. Yueshitu, who wasn't particularly sharp to begin with, seemed on the verge of babbling nonsense.
"Young lady, someone is causing trouble. Aren't you going to do something?"
"There must be some way, right?"
Hearing Molei and the others' words, the young lady seemed a bit reluctant. Essentially, she belonged to the neutral/good faction, but she had seen too much and had become indifferent to life and death—whether it was others' deaths or her own.
Seeing the young lady's expression, Molei, Yueshitu, and the others felt encouraged.
"In two fen ke, the soul mist will dissipate. Don't be afraid. The damage caused by the soul mist can be healed by time."
The young lady said something encouraging. Molei and the others whispered among themselves and guessed that the cold mist would dissipate in two minutes and wouldn't cause permanent damage, only something that would recover over time.
In reality, the two fen ke the young lady mentioned wasn't equal to two minutes, but to five hours and forty-seven minutes.
"Not good. Yueshitu has started biting her nails. Pull yourself together, Yueshitu."
Molei grabbed Yueshitu's shoulders and shook her. Yueshitu's dazed eyes were filled with the light of 'wisdom.'