Chapter 2988: Lost
Wang Chengren shrank back, as if finally realizing his situation—he was still alive purely because Wang Xiaohui was kind-hearted, and this time she was trapped in the instance, while he had blocked Wei Mang and the others from rescuing her outside. Once she got out, she would surely settle accounts with him!
Xu Huo paid him no further attention, instead pondering the instance's situation.
The instance had appeared at the Wang family estate, which had some connection to the Wang family, but what truly facilitated its formation was likely the estate's past history. The so-called ghosts and monsters, in gaming terms, were closer to some kind of energy entity. There were so many reflective objects in the estate, yet no shadows other than those of the trapped individuals seemed to appear. Otherwise, this place would have long been overrun with shadows.
Could it be related to the duration of looking into mirrors?
That didn't seem right either. From the moment one entered this estate, reflective objects could be seen everywhere. People could almost constantly find their own shadows on different objects, and the duration was the same for everyone.
But if it were entirely based on mental strength, Wang Chengren wouldn't have made it alive to stand before him.
"Pop!" The Painting Woman tossed a small snack toward the fish tank outside. The fish swimming in the water scrambled to catch it. They could judge the direction the food came from, so they gathered near the Painting Woman's side, reluctant to leave.
The Painting Woman ate the remaining snack in one bite, then her gaze swept over a painting hanging on the wall. She walked over, knocked on it, then took it down and flipped it over—there was a mirror on the back!
As if she had discovered something interesting, she began flipping everything she could—decorative paintings, furniture, and even the floor tiles and ceiling, trying to turn them over.
Seeing that she was about to dismantle the entire house, Wang Chengren quickly said, "This house cost a fortune to decorate!"
"Crack!" The Painting Woman had already violently pried up a piece of the floor. It was just ordinary flooring. She was a bit disappointed, but when she turned around, she saw a figure flash by in the mirror of the painting frame leaning against the wall, its back facing her!
"There's someone inside!" she immediately told Xu Huo.
Xu Huo approached to observe. The mirror reflected part of the lounge. The Painting Woman's seat was near the adjacent passage, right at the edge of the mirror's corner. If one didn't look carefully, it was easy to overlook this spot. Of course, there was nothing to see now.
"Let's check the dining room." Although it was nearly morning, if the players encountered each other, they would likely prefer to stay together. The dining room was a good choice.
They had already circled the dining room once before, and there was nothing special about it. Placing the painting frame brought from the lounge here only reflected ordinary rooms, tables, and chairs.
But soon, Xu Huo looked up. Directly above the dining table hung a giant crystal chandelier. The teardrop-shaped crystals, covered in diamond-shaped facets, reflected everything in the room. In one crystal at an unknown corner, he caught a glimpse of Wei Mang.
The figure flashed by, but judging by the direction, he seemed to be heading outside.
Xu Huo pushed open the dining room window. Outside, near a corner by the lake, the trees were dense, obscuring the water's surface. Only reflected specks of light kept hitting the tree shadows... There was an abnormal sound of flowing water beneath the trees.
He picked up a cup and threw it over. The water sound disappeared.
"What is it?" Wang Chengren was both worried and curious.
"A clump of waterweed." Xu Huo closed the window, turned to the Painting Woman, and said, "Let's split up."
The Painting Woman nodded, didn't pick a specific time, grabbed her backpack, and set off.
Xu Huo went in another direction.
"Why split up? Isn't it safer to stay together at a time like this?" Wang Chengren hesitated for a moment, unsure who to follow.
But touching his swollen face, he still chose Xu Huo. Fortunately, although Xu Huo said they should split up, he didn't drive him away.
In just over ten minutes, Wang Chengren relapsed into his old ways, nervously staring at the shadows around him. "I feel like my shadow is following me."
Xu Huo glanced at him. "You could try covering your face. That way, the shadow won't recognize you."
"That makes sense!" Wang Chengren was delighted and immediately wrapped his head in his coat, leaving only his eyes exposed. Of course, the shadow he cast also had its head wrapped in clothes.
The initial delight quickly turned into another kind of anxiety as his bizarre appearance was reflected everywhere around him. Wang Chengren began to worry that something inhuman might suddenly pop out from under the clothes. His talking frequency increased, and he no longer cared whether Xu Huo responded.
But as time passed, he finally exhausted all topics and gradually fell silent, simply following closely behind.
When Xu Huo had walked halfway around the lake and was about to head toward the bridge, Wang Chengren, who had been walking steadily, suddenly stumbled and fell toward the lake again.
Xu Huo grabbed him with a quick hand, only to find that his hand had already dipped into the water. The water seemed to have a strange attraction, pulling with such force that it dragged Xu Huo in as well!
The lake wasn't deep, but when they emerged from the water, their positions had changed. The estate was still the same, but they had moved from the left side of the bridge to the right, as if the entire estate had been rotated.
Wang Chengren had disappeared.
They had fallen into the water together, but when they came out, the other person had slipped away like a fish, vanishing in an instant.
Standing alone in the lake, Xu Huo looked at the waterweed floating toward him like a human head. He lifted his leg and stepped on it. "Squelch!" The waterweed burst underwater. The clump of roots, twisted together like a distorted face, spread out, and the bubbles it automatically released churned the water, producing a dense series of sounds.
Before Xu Huo could step out of the lake, a hand suddenly grabbed his ankle. His gaze darkened, and he thrust his arm straight into the water, grabbing that hand and yanking it upward!
With a "splash," another clump of waterweed emerged, its roots writhing and making a rustling sound.
Xu Huo frowned slightly. He had clearly felt a human hand—smaller than his own, so it couldn't have been his shadow. But when he released his spiritual realm to scan underwater, aside from some waterweed and fish, there was nothing else.
Neither the previous estate nor the current one had any people.
He hadn't found anyone else, and the Painting Woman and Wang Chengren had gotten lost. Clearly, the estate had more than two spaces, and it wasn't just a simple opposition between the real world and the shadow world.
Crushing the drifting waterweed underfoot as he went, Xu Huo had just stepped ashore when a person suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor ahead. Judging by the attire, it seemed to be someone hired by the Wang family, but not one of the current staff.
"Time to prepare the meal. The master and mistress won't be happy if you're too late," the person said expressionlessly.
Xu Huo immediately followed, but just as he was about to touch the person, they vanished from before him, only to reappear more than ten meters away in front of a glass window. They turned back to look at him, their gaze dark. "This is no place for fooling around."