Chapter 146 – Ming Yue Pavilion (IX)

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The men outside the door and those hanging upside down from the ceiling did not fight very well.

 

Both Xiao Lan and Hua Yan handled it with ease, even Long Shiren, probably because he was already dead, was still alive and well even after being stepped on.

 

But one can't help that the numbers are really high.

 

These guys were rushing towards the hut like they were going to a supermarket to grab a limited number of freebies.

 

Even if the ones in front of them fall, the ones after them will continue their attack by stepping on their bodies without mercy, and there is no telling how many are hiding in the snow.

 

As the battle progressed, the space in the hut became tighter and tighter, making it difficult for the players to move around.

 

To make matters worse, the humble Little Mu house is not of the highest quality in terms of construction and is already looking a little shaky after all this jostling.

 

Xiao Lan takes care of the humanoid ghosts that pounce on him while keeping an eye on the interior of the Little Mu house.

 

It all changed when they entered this cabin.

 

This should be the key to this room.

 

But where exactly is the key to breaking the ice?

 

Long Shiren says the way out is through the secret passage below.

 

The ghosts around them also accelerated their attack after he had said such words, as if they were trying to stop them from leaving through the secret passage.

 

Although Long Shiren seems to be very much in love with Hua Yan and chooses the player's side between the ghosts and the players for her, resulting in an attack by the ghosts.

 

But are the words of such beings as ghosts really credible?

 

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Did Long Shiren really give them a way out, or was he playing along with the ghosts and ghouls?

 

Xiao Lan doesn't expect too much from a guy who has already switched sides.

 

Xiao Lan knew from his experience in the red room that it would be possible to find items to increase progress in this room as well.

 

He had more in mind than just getting out of this room.

 

This is something that neither Long Shiren nor Hua Yan may be aware of yet.

 

Xiao Lan swept away the salty hand that was grabbing at him with a stick, and added a kick to cool him off.

 

This room had been checked by both him and Hua Yan, and they had even tacitly exchanged places with each other after checking their chosen areas, and neither found anything amiss.

 

Long Shiren trudged through the ghostly siege and said to Hua Yan, “Go ……
to the dark tunnel ……
Sister Hua Yan…
…run.”

 

Xiao Lan's eyes sweep over the entrance to the dark passage obscured by the ghosts.

 

It seems to be the only one that hasn't been checked in here.

 

Is it really in there?

 

No, wait.

 

There seems to be one other place he did not check.

 

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Or even just ignored there for some reason –

 

Fireplace.

 

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The first moment he entered the chalet, Long Shiren ran off to burn the fireplace.

 

And for the rest of the time afterwards, he remained by the fireplace, doing little more than adding wood to the fire.

 

This series of actions makes the fireplace appear to be performing nothing more than a heating function.

 

Xiao Lan and Hua Yan, who do not need heating, are not particularly concerned about where.

 

But when you think about it, this is the senior field.

 

Those who enter under normal circumstances are, of course, advanced players.

 

And advanced players are not going to be so cold that they have to burn a fireplace to keep warm at the first opportunity.

 

So what will they do?

 

Inspection of the chalet is a definite and will be done together with the fireplace.

 

What happened was that the two senior players were so distracted by the addition of the odd Long Shiren that most of their attention was focused on the Long Shiren to the point of ignoring the fireplace.

 

Perhaps this is where the ghosts play a role – to attract attention.

 

Xiao Lan guessed that even without Long Shiren, there might be other ghosts who would come out to stir up trouble.

 

But since Long Shiren happens to be a player in the same game as them and has crossed paths with both of the others, even if he's just a warped junior player, he'll be better at obfuscating than a stranger.

 

With this in mind, Xiao Lan immediately moved towards the fireplace.

 

As the door was opened, the whistling cold wind broke straight into the room.

 

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The firewood in the fireplace was already weak in this wind.

 

Depending on the situation, it doesn't take much longer for the fireplace to go out completely if no firewood is added.

 

Xiao Lan flicks the fire slightly with a stick.

 

At this moment, the Bone of Dalet has no dignity as a rare item and has been reduced to a burning stick.

 

The firewood is turned and the faint light of the fire is once again bright.

 

But without a follow-up supply of firewood, this little fire is not destined to last long.

 

It is in this almost extinguished flame that Xiao Lan discovers a pattern that is familiar and a little unfamiliar.

 

It was a pattern like the one on the door or on the cover of the book, made of flames, but the difference was that the pattern was reversed.

 

At the moment it is slowly rotating at the base of the fireplace.

 

The pattern is at the base of the fireplace, very far in, less than the size of a palm, and hidden by the wood burning above it, so that it would not have been visible if it had not been very close.

 

Xiao Lan recalls the actions of Long Shiren earlier.

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Long Shiren had been huddled next to the fireplace as if it was cold and kept desperately adding wood to the fireplace.

 

Xiao Lan originally thought this was due to junior players not being as hardy as senior players.

 

But this guy was clearly dead, and could a ghost be afraid of the cold? Obviously the flames were the only thing that made him feel worse.

 

Why, then, did he prefer to endure the pain caused by the flames rather than guard the fireplace?

 

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Xiao Lan glanced at the spot next to where the firewood had been stacked.

 

The place is now empty.

 

Long Shiren was guarding the fireplace to prevent Xiao Lan and Hua Yan from discovering the pattern in the fireplace.

 

As the temperature drops, it is not uncommon for players to think about burning the fireplace.

 

And it would be strange to propose throwing away firewood, so he has been pretending to be afraid of the cold to keep accelerating the consumption of firewood.

 

When the firewood runs out, the flames naturally don't burn.

 

In this way, Xiao Lan would have lost their chance to discover the pattern forever.

 

That's what he's really after!

 

Whether it was his own oddities, the shards of mirror in the room, the ghosts and ghouls inside and outside the house, or this dark passage that one would suspect one would not dare to enter so easily, all these were really just means to stall for time.

 

What Long Shiren wants is to burn all the firewood so they can't spot the pattern and then get lost in the room, never to leave again!

 

Xiao Lan felt a chill run down his back.

 

They had underestimated this guy before!

 

In the brief encounter Xiao Lan had had with Long Shiren, he was seen as a smooth-talking, opportunistic guy who was more of a mouthpiece than a real person and not much of a player in his own right.

 

So even though Xiao Lan and Hua Yan both noticed Long Shiren's oddity, neither thought he could do much damage to them.

 

But they ignored it, or Long Shiren deliberately made them ignore it, if Long Shiren was the ghost in this room.

 

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So ……
is now manipulating him –

 

Raven.

 

He is no longer just a junior player who can only speculate.

 

Long Shiren, now a pawn of the Crow, is a pawn of the Crow.

 

A tool manipulated by the ravens to play games with the other two people in the room.

 

Only the last bit of firewood was left in the fireplace and the fire was growing faint.

 

The pattern in the flames is also dulled to the point of fading.

 

Just a little bit short.

 

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Just a little bit short of a raven to make it.

 

Xiao Lan seems to have discovered the secret of the fireplace and is intent on doing something about it.

 

Long Shiren shouted in a panic: “No! You can't touch the fireplace, if the flames go out the dark tunnel will disappear! Sister Hua Yan! Stop him!”

 

Hua Yan's figure appeared in front of Xiao Lan in an instant like a black smoke.

 

She lifted the cigarette in her hand, the smoke lingering around her body as if she were ready to go.

 

Xiao Lan furrowed his brow and looked over at her.

 

Do you want to fight Hua Yan?

 

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With Hua Yan and Xiao Lan out of the way, the ghosts began to pound their way into the house.

 

A number of these cold, withered hands reached for Xiao Lan's back.

 

Others who rushed towards Hua Yan were desperately blocked by Long Shiren.

 

His blocking was clumsy, just pulling with his hands, kicking with his feet, blocking with his body, doing everything he could to stop them from getting close to Hua Yan.

 

A piece of skin had been ripped off Long Shiren's face and his arms had been twisted in odd directions, making his whole body look like a tattered mannequin.
A hand had passed menacingly through his chest, causing his body to stagger.

 

Long Shiren looked at Hua Yan with blood in her eyes, “Trust me, Sister Hua Yan!”

 

Xiao Lan would have been fooled by this performance if he hadn't guessed what he was up to.

 

But there is not enough time for Xiao Lan to convince Hua Yan of the truth he has guessed.

 

Hua Yan's eyes hovered between Xiao Lan and Long Shiren, the smoke around her body flowing like waves of water.

 

Time seemed to freeze.

 

It is clearly a fleeting moment, but it seems very long.

 

At last Hua Yan raised her hand in the direction of – Xiao Lan.

 

An imperceptible smile crossed Long Shiren's bespectacled face.

 

Success!

 

In the next instant, however, the smile that he had not yet had time to unfold froze.

 

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Hua Yan attacked in Xiao Lan's direction, but her attack passed over Xiao Lan's shoulder and was aimed at the group of ghosts behind Xiao Lan.

 

Almost in sync with Hua Yan, Xiao Lan swung his [Bone of Dalet] with all his might, aiming at the flame pattern in the fireplace.

 

“Ka-ching-“

 

As if the crunching sound of smashed glass appeared, the pattern shattered.

 

“No–“

 

With Long Shiren's shrill, inhuman cry, the ghosts that had been pouring into the cabin disappeared, the wind and snow stopped, and the cabin vanished as if it had been wiped out of existence.

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Immediately before the two men appeared a room in shades of white.

 

White pile carpet, white walls and ceilings, white curtains, white furniture.

 

At first glance it looks as if they are still in a world of ice and snow.

 

Yet this room is warm and dry, and there is even sunlight streaming in through the windows.

 

On one side of the room there is a huge fish tank, large enough to fit several people without much problem.

 

Now, there is indeed a person inside –

 

Long Shiren .

 

At this point, however, he is lying at the bottom of the fish tank with his face ashen and his limbs spread out helplessly.

 

This reminded Xiao Lan of something that appeared in the book.

 

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[Return of the Lost Sheep]

 

[Away from the worldly hustle and bustle]

 

[He was given eternal silence under the water]

 

It seems that Long Shiren was already dead by then.

 

The junior players who have made the mistake of entering the senior scene fit the words “lost sheep”.

 

Unfortunately, he died in the senior field after all.

 

Xiao Lan switches [The Emperor's New Clothes Version 2.0] back to the previous T-shirt and starts looking at the room.

 

Although the décor is completely different, the place is structurally similar to the previous chalet.

 

The fish tank occupies the exact position in the room where Long Shiren opened the concealed passage.

 

If only they had chosen to follow Long Shiren's advice and go down the dark passage.

 

I'm afraid it will end up in the same place as the other side.

 

Hua Yan walked over to the fish tank where Long Shiren's body was soaking.

 

She took a light puff of her cigarette, a woman who even when she smoked had a languor and seduction that came from her bones, who simply stood there but seemed to attract everyone's attention.

 

Hua Yan looked at Long Shiren's ashen face, her red lips slightly curled into a smile, “How could I believe in a man's bullshit?”

 

This is the verve of a sea king, never stopping for any small fish in his waters.

 

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Before Xiao Lan could get emotional, Hua Yan's flirtatious eyes turned to him, a little smirk in her smoky voice: “You're bent, aren't you? Straight men never look at me the same way they look at a telephone pole.”

 

Xiao Lan, who was forced to come out of the closet: “……”

 

You have a good eye, sister.

 

Wah's secret recipe, wise to the base, across the board, in a nutshell.