Chapter 723: Underground Wax Layer
Bai Wenxian's corpse was quickly swallowed by the wax. After it disappeared from sight, the kite string began to move.
The wax on the walls wasn't melting very quickly, but the air in the room was starting to change. A wave of heat came from all directions. Xu Huo and Xie Ling both put on their protective suits.
The kite string wasn't very practical, because the corpse quickly passed through the first room. Xu Huo opened a hole in the wall, and as time went on, the string in his hand grew shorter and shorter.
"Is this Wax Museum really that big on the outside?" Xie Ling asked in surprise. "We measured the thickness difference between the inner and outer walls when we came in. It shouldn't be this deep."
The Wax Museum was inside the Museum City. A single Instance shouldn't have two venues, so this Wax Museum was most likely a large-scale prop. That's why the "Similar Item Detector" couldn't identify any other props.
So the question was, how were they supposed to get out when they were trapped inside a prop?
Xu Huo walked while using "Escape from Death's Door" to check the odds. The Wax Museum had the same low probability as everywhere else, including the Horror Story Room.
The kite string finally got stuck in the floor of the funeral hall. After Xie Ling also confirmed that the prop was underground, Xu Huo used the Crimson Sword to cut open the floor and dig deep down below.
As expected, beneath the floor and the path of the string, there was not only dirt but also a thick layer of wax. Xu Huo poured the combustion agent he had just refilled onto it and set it on fire.
The temperature in the room kept rising. Xie Ling simply took out a tool and started shoveling the melted wax out. "Waiting for it to burn dry will take forever. It's so hot in here, I'm guessing the vents are already blocked. I don't want to suffocate to death."
Xu Huo glanced at her. "Don't worry. Before that happens, you'll most likely have already been turned into a wax figure..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he swung his sword behind him. "Using that trick again!"
The wax figure that had appeared silently behind him had the appearance of a middle-aged man. Xu Huo chopped its head off with one swing, and its body flew away as well. However, it didn't lose its ability to move. After the wax on its neck melted a little, it actually picked up its own head and reattached it!
"Damn! It's getting stronger now that it's nighttime!" Xie Ling shoveled even faster.
"Watch your back." Xu Huo fired a shot at her, blowing a hole in the head of a wax figure that was cautiously approaching her.
"Die!" Xie Ling turned around and saw that behind her were actually two small wax figures stacked on top of each other. She flew into a rage, grabbed her shovel, and started beating them to death. "How dare you scare me!"
The two wax figures were smashed and melted, but the melted wax stuck to Xie Ling's shoes. Just as she was trying to pull her foot out, several wax figures suddenly sat up from the coffin and lunged at her!
Xu Huo's situation was similar. More and more wax figures were appearing. If they broke, they would reattach themselves. If they shattered, they would melt into liquid wax.
After burning off one wax figure's head, he sneered. "Still trying to maintain a human form? Isn't this wax product of yours too fixated on appearances?"
Just then, the wax layer on the floor melted into a large hole, revealing several wax-sealed human heads. Bai Wenxian's face was now fully visible, with wax dripping out of his ears and nose. The others weren't any prettier to look at. Several of their skulls had been crushed, mixed in with fragments of metal and glass.
It was clear that these players had tried their best to protect themselves before being sealed in wax. Unfortunately, they hadn't expected the Wax Museum to be so determined to create reasonably shaped wax figures that it had crushed their heads.
Sensing a wax figure moving beside him, Xu Huo struck it at the shoulder. The figure peeled away from the wax layer, and then the wax shell on its head cracked open. Long Aotian jumped out of a deformed cylindrical prop, threw his head back, and laughed. "I knew it! I wasn't going to die that easily!"
Xie Ling rolled her eyes. "First, take a look at our situation!"
Long Aotian barely dodged a wax figure that was trying to "hug" him, looked around, and said, "How did we end up in this mess!"
Xu Huo retrieved the kite string. "Head to the Horror Story Room."
"Wait! Xu Ruosi is right next to me!" Long Aotian jumped into the underground wax layer where the fire had already gone out and knocked on the spot where he had emerged. "Xu Ruosi! If you're still alive, give me a sign, and I'll dig you out!"
"Thump!" A faint knocking sound came from a certain spot. Long Aotian grinned, conjured a dagger, and sliced from top to bottom. After peeling away the outer wax shell, there was indeed a layer of glass inside.
Once the glass disappeared, Xu Ruosi stumbled out, gasping for air.
"Any later, and you would have suffocated, I bet." Long Aotian laughed. "Don't thank me. Thank those two."
"Stop dawdling! Let's go!" Xie Ling shouted.
The wax on the floor of this room was already three inches thick!
Xu Ruosi glanced at Bai Wenxian's corpse beside her, took out a saw-toothed prop, and slashed. The wax layer, along with the entire floor of the room, was cut open with a gap. From the edge of the crack, they could see that the space beneath this room was completely filled with corpses. Some were rotting, while others were still remarkably well-preserved.
The wax on the walls of the room was melting faster. After seeing what was inside the wax layer, the group quickly passed through the funeral parlor and headed to the front lounge.
The area in front of the Horror Story Room had the least wax. Xu Huo and Xie Ling charged in without hesitation. Xu Ruosi hesitated for a moment behind them. "The Horror Story Room will sink. If we go in, we might get buried!"
"There's an exit above!" Xie Ling shouted, already following Xu Huo through an opening in the ceiling of the room and into the crawl space.
After Xu and Long entered, the entire Wax Museum began to rise. Exiting through the crawl space, they found themselves back in the lounge.
"How are we still here!" Long Aotian exclaimed.
"The melting speed of the wax has slowed down." Xie Ling said to Xu Huo. "Your guess was right."
Since Xu Ruosi and Long Aotian had been eliminated early on, they didn't know the situation. Xie Ling quickly and simply explained it to them.
"You all encountered something from the horror stories? I thought I was the only unlucky one." Long Aotian shrugged, but his focus quickly shifted. "Why is it that only my story didn't yield any clues or become real?"
No one paid him any attention. Xu Ruosi took out the clue she had obtained. "Mine is similar to Xie Ling's. It's also related to the story I told."
"The person calling you from behind." Long Aotian leaned in to look. "What does that mean?"
"I don't understand either," Xu Ruosi said. "At first, I thought it was literal. But you saw what happened."
Xu Huo turned to Long Aotian. "How did you end up sealed in wax?"
"Don't even mention it," Long Aotian scratched his head. "I saw someone in the coffin who looked a lot like Xu Ruosi. I was just about to lean in for a closer look when I got knocked out from behind. If I hadn't reacted quickly, I'd probably be buried underground forever, serving as a stepping stone."
"But come to think of it, now that we've found the bodies, we've solved the mystery of the disappearances, right?"
(Chapter End)