Chapter 2694: Opening a Blind Box
Almost instantly, an irresistible force yanked Xu Huo upward, carrying along Yan Jiayu, who had lunged to hug him, and Qi Cong, who had tied himself to Yan Jiayu, all of them flying up together.
Yan Jiayu had no intention of letting go after being lifted, and Xu Huo couldn't stop her in time. In fact, they barely had any time to react. In less than a second, the group was pulled into another space.
The ceiling of the castle corridor seemed impossibly high, but they were actually dragged to another part of the castle. Upon landing, they touched something soft. As a sudden tightening around his neck brought suffocation and a sharp pain from his head being violently twisted to one side, Xu Huo caught sight of a small number "3" marked beneath a wall lamp a few meters away. Under that lamp lay a headless puppet.
It felt like a pair of large hands had grabbed his head. After failing to sever his throat, they attempted to snap his neck. His vision blurred for a moment, and Xu Huo immediately turned around, releasing his flying shuttle and materialized object, indiscriminately shredding the surrounding space.
The next second, the pressure on his head released. He quickly deployed the "Soaked Seaweed," expanding its defensive range while also detecting what exactly was lurking nearby... At least twice now, the entity had appeared without him sensing any physical form.
His gaze swept over the dimly lit wall lamp. He dashed over and chopped it down. The only light source went out, plunging the corridor back into darkness.
The second floor had also been dark earlier, but that didn't mean safety. After smashing the wall lamp, Xu Huo tossed a few glow sticks to one side of the corridor.
As the glow sticks lit up, the wooden stick that had flashed by earlier reappeared.
"My turn!" This time, Yan Jiayu saw it too. She grabbed Qi Cong with both hands and hurled him like a bowling ball!
Amidst his screams, Qi Cong crashed into the darkness, followed by a clang. Yan Jiayu seized the moment, grabbed the rope, turned around, and yanked Qi Cong back with force.
Qi Cong's face now bore a red mark. After Xu Huo caught him, he quickly said, "That living prop is on stilts! There's just a wooden stick underneath!"
"Heh heh!" Yan Jiayu grinned, reached into her massive backpack, and accurately pulled out a bottle of oil and a bag of glass beads. She poured the oil over the beads, stirred them casually, and the oil-coated beads became weapons, which she hurled handful after handful into the darkness.
It was unclear if they actually hit the living prop, but after the clattering sounds rang out, the "thump thump" of footsteps did move a bit farther away.
"Quick, let's go!" Yan Jiayu retreated while throwing beads.
The living props in the castle couldn't ignore player attacks. This was just to keep it busy, preventing it from casually taking heads.
Sensing the "thump thump" chasing after them, the group sped up, no longer worrying about whether there were more living props ahead.
"At this point, let's not hold back," Yan Jiayu said while running. "Instead of sneaking around in the dark and getting picked off one by one, we might as well light up the castle. At least it'll make it easier for us to move!"
Xu Huo agreed. Dragging things out wasn't a solution. "Let's just go for it!"
The two were on the same page. Ignoring Qi Cong's wailing beside them, they first sent out some micro-drones to scout ahead. Then, as they passed corridor intersections, they tossed in flare bombs and glow sticks. It was unclear if there were other living props in the corridors, but as they advanced, they distinctly heard doors opening and closing.
They exchanged a glance, quickly changed direction, turned from one side of the passage into the outer viewing gallery, circled back through the gallery, and returned to the spot where the noise had come from.
Xu Huo, wearing his mechanical suit and using his mental power to materialize a substance to seal the door panel, twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open.
He and Yan Jiayu waited on either side of the door for a few seconds, confirming there was no movement inside before peeking in.
The room was also unlit, but light seeped in through the window. Their eyes immediately fell on a long-haired woman sitting on a sofa with her back to the door.
Her wavy hair cascaded from the back of the sofa all the way to the floor, gleaming enticingly even in this dim light, drawing one's gaze involuntarily. Just then, the woman behind the sofa suddenly turned her head, revealing two bloody eye sockets, and let out a piercing roar. She then rose from the sofa, her entire head lunging toward the door!
Yan Jiayu swung her arm, and her crowbar met the head head-on. But unexpectedly, the head took the blow and bit directly into the crowbar. Seeing teeth marks being gnawed into it, she decisively tossed the crowbar into the room.
Xu Huo, who was ready, slammed the door shut, completely trapping the flying head inside. Hearing the thuds against the door and the constant rattling of the doorknob, he said to Yan Jiayu, "Wrong one."
Yan Jiayu nodded. "It should be one of these doors. Let's try another."
As she spoke, she pulled another crowbar from the side of her backpack.
They moved toward the door diagonally opposite.
Xu Huo had opened the last one, so this time Yan Jiayu stepped forward.
"Wait!" Qi Cong, panting heavily, only managed to glance before hurriedly interrupting her. "That's a fake door!"
"Fake door?" Yan Jiayu looked at Xu Huo. Xu Huo paused. "Switch again."
They moved to the next door.
Qi Cong followed them nervously. "Aren't you going to ask why?"
Xu Huo shot him a sidelong glance. "I knew you wouldn't tell the truth from the start."
"It's not that I don't want to say it. I'm doing this to protect myself. An innocent man has nothing to fear..." Qi Cong quickly explained, but was cut off by Yan Jiayu: "Shut up. You're practically begging for people to notice your special evolution. Instead of worrying about being killed, hurry up and reach A-rank."
Qi Cong didn't take their attitude badly. Instead, he sighed in relief, patting his chest. "As long as you don't kill me!"
Soon, they opened the next door. This time, there were no living props inside. It was just an ordinary, normal bedroom, clear at a glance.
To be safe, they decided not to enter. Just as they were about to close the door, a sound of water suddenly came from nearby—a faint splashing, like a fish stirring in water. It came from the direction they had just come from.
They were certain there was no water feature over there. This noise was probably another living prop.
Exchanging a look, Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu grabbed Qi Cong from either side and ducked into the empty room.
They didn't close the door completely. Xu Huo deliberately left a crack, pushing Qi Cong up to the gap. "Use your eyes."
"Bro! No, bro! Do we really have to take this risk? If I die, it won't do you any good either!"
Xu Huo pushed him down a bit and stood by the door himself, watching the corridor ahead.