Chapter 719
"There were no wax figures in the lounge when we came out." Bai Wenxian said.
Xu Huo gestured for Xie Ling to continue.
"After I entered the Wax Museum, the door behind me was closed, and someone was knocking on it from outside. The sound came from the lower half of the door. I was scared of whatever pushed me in, so I wanted to get out first, or at least regroup with Xu Ruosi and Long Aotian."
"Not far in, I felt someone following me. When I turned around, it was a middle-aged wax figure, exactly like the ghost story Xu Ruosi told!"
"Wait," Bai Wenxian interrupted, "What do you mean exactly the same? How do you know it matched Xu Ruosi's story?"
"The middle-aged male ghost following the young man, isn't that the same?" Xie Ling raised her voice slightly.
Bai Wenxian found it hard to explain and simply stopped talking.
Xie Ling continued. When the wax figure first appeared, she was scared, but reaching D-rank wasn't pure luck. She reacted quickly, destroying the wax figure on the spot. After realizing the wax figure had no attack power, her fear subsided considerably. Just then, she heard footsteps ahead—Xu Ruosi's genuine footsteps.
"I can distinguish a person's footsteps. I confirmed it was Xu Ruosi and hurried over, but when I reached the room ahead, I found her unconscious. Just as I was about to approach, someone tapped my shoulder from behind... then I passed out. When I woke up, I saw you." She turned to Xu Huo. "Mr. Yu, thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome." Xu Huo analyzed the information in her story. Xie Ling's experience was the same as theirs—the urban legend came true, and it adapted to her timid personality with operations like pushing and knocking, very flexible.
She claimed she could distinguish footsteps, but that sound might not have been Xu Ruosi's. After all, with only a wall between them, it would be strange if Xu Ruosi didn't react while Xie Ling was fighting next door.
As for whether the fallen figure was a wax statue disguised as Xu Ruosi or Xu Ruosi herself, the difference wasn't significant.
The Wax Museum wasn't large. The time spent telling the story was enough for Xu Ruosi and Long Aotian to make two round trips. Unlike Bai Wenxian, they hadn't returned, making an accident highly likely.
"Footsteps aren't necessarily reliable." Bai Wenxian said at this point. "It's very possible they were luring you in."
Xie Ling bit her lip. "Since urban legends can come true, I'm not sure if I was hallucinating."
"Then where did Xu Ruosi and Long Aotian go?" Bai Wenxian asked. "I didn't see them ahead. Did they go out?"
"Let's search. A ready-made mystery of disappearance." Xu Huo said.
Bai Wenxian's eyes lit up, but he glanced at his watch. "It's almost time for our appointment."
"We've encountered unexpected situations here. The others probably have too." Xie Ling said.
The three briefly discussed and decided to move forward.
Bai Wenxian and Xie Ling also tried to destroy the walls on both sides, but like the front door, it was wall after wall. Xu Huo took out the "Same-Type Detector" to search, but unexpectedly, the prop malfunctioned.
The "Same-Type Detector" had a range of two hundred meters, but in the Wax Museum, it only showed "1".
Xu Huo was carrying quite a few props, so even if he couldn't find the missing Xu and Long, this situation shouldn't have occurred.
A thought flashed through his mind. He called to the two ahead, "Let's check the Urban Legend Room."
He walked off immediately. Bai Wenxian and Xie Ling thought he had found some clue and followed without asking.
The three quickly reached the lounge. Without a word, Xu Huo drew his sword and sliced through the outer wall of the Urban Legend Room. He placed the detector inside, but surprisingly, the Wax Museum still showed "1", while the Urban Legend Room now displayed a new prop count.
Although the detector claimed it could find props anywhere, even underground, he had used it once before in the Urban Legend Room to check if Xu Ruosi and the other two had left any props. At that time, it hadn't shown any props outside the Urban Legend Room, so this "underground" claim was somewhat questionable.
But that wasn't the main issue. Another flaw of the detector was revealed: prop displays could be overwritten.
Whether inside or outside the Wax Museum, the detector only showed one prop. If it wasn't because the prop's rank was too high, overwriting others, then it was related to the prop's form or type.
Xu Huo didn't try using a Super prop, but he was wearing the A-rank prop "Life Core", and the display didn't change.
"What's wrong?" Xie Ling came over to ask.
"Someone's above." He put away the detector and cut through the ceiling of the Urban Legend Room. Sure enough, two wax figures fell down one after another. Like Xie Ling, they were real people sealed in wax shells. When they hit the floor, the shells shattered, revealing their true faces.
"These two... I've never seen them before." Xie Ling recognized their faces. They weren't Xu Ruosi or Long Aotian.
"They died not long ago." But the props on these two bodies hadn't been detected earlier, likely moved here later.
"These two were probably players in this instance too." Bai Wenxian said. "I didn't expect them to die here. I think Xu Ruosi and Long Aotian are in grave danger."
Xu Huo quickly removed the accessories they were wearing and looked up at the ceiling again.
Above the Urban Legend Room was a cavity, also wrapped in metal, about the height of a person squatting.
He thrust his sword into it, but at that moment, the Urban Legend Room began to sink!
Xie Ling took out a "work"-shaped long prop and propped it at the boundary between the two rooms, instantly stopping the descending Urban Legend Room. Xu Huo flipped onto the ceiling, cut through the metal plate leading to the exit, and crawled out.
Bai Wenxian and Xie Ling exchanged glances and climbed up after him. To their surprise, outside was another lounge!
"What's going on?" Xie Ling was astonished. "Does the Wax Museum have two floors?"
Bai Wenxian reacted quickly. "Not two floors. What we see now is the only Wax Museum and lounge. We were just underground earlier."
Xie Ling wanted to go back down to check, but after they came out, the Urban Legend Room also rose up. Going back in would only show an empty room.
"So when we climbed up, the Wax Museum automatically rose?" She came back again. "Why was there no sound at all?"
"There might be some silencing props." Xu Huo surveyed the unchanged lounge and began to suspect that the entire Wax Museum might be a prop.
"No wonder the walls on all sides couldn't be broken. It was because we were underground!" Xie Ling breathed a sigh of relief. "We should be able to get out now."
"Hee hee hee!" A child's laughter, with an ethereal quality, came from ahead.
Xie Ling's face changed instantly. "Even back on the ground, it's still not working?"
Xu Huo checked the time. "It's already five o'clock. It'll probably get dark soon outside. We need to hurry out. I'm worried there might be changes at night."
(Chapter End)