PTYS Chapter 29

Shen Qingqiu’s face darkened with anger. This game was meaningless; they couldn’t possibly compete against these supernatural beings.

She pulled out a card from her pocket. “Sword, come!”

In the next moment, a peachwood sword appeared in her hand, which she threw to Su Jin.

“Take it.”

Su Jin hesitated, “Isn’t this Wang Yushan’s…?”

“She found it on Zhang Qiang,” Xiao Muyu explained on Shen Qingqiu’s behalf, resigned. This woman was too fast; even while taking a bandage, she had grabbed the peachwood sword.

Su Jin quickly grasped the sword.

“Zuo Tiantian, how long until your red thread cools down?” Xiao Muyu shouted, knowing she must have used a tool to escape.

Zuo Tiantian checked her panel. “Ten more minutes!”

Ten minutes, with the path ahead unknown, survival was uncertain.

“Keep running!” This was a last resort but their only option now.

Humans couldn’t outrun ghosts indefinitely; Shen Qingqiu knew they’d be caught sooner or later.

Breathing heavily, she whispered to Xiao Muyu, “I’ll count to three, then we turn around and attack!”

Xiao Muyu glanced at her and quickly nodded.

“One!” The two slowed down, appearing exhausted.

“Two!” Xiao Muyu tightened her grip on the axe.

“Three!” Xiao Muyu spun around, her axe swinging down from above, targeting the leaping Lin Hai.

Simultaneously, Shen Qingqiu jumped, stepping on Xiao Muyu’s shoulder. The sudden weight made Xiao Muyu’s axe waver slightly, but she steadied herself, giving Shen Qingqiu the leverage she needed.

Shen Qingqiu leapt nearly as high as Lin Hai, her dagger slicing accurately into his commanding head. At the same time, Xiao Muyu’s axe cleaved into Lin Hai’s abdomen.

The lifeless head thudded to the ground, and Lin Hai’s body collapsed on top of Xiao Muyu.

As soon as she landed, Shen Qingqiu grabbed Lin Hai’s shoulder and shoved him aside, pulling Xiao Muyu up.

“Are you okay?”

Xiao Muyu shook her head, eyeing the severed head, which lay motionless with its eyes closed, seemingly lifeless without the body.

“Is he dead?” Xiao Muyu asked warily. This place defied common sense.

Shen Qingqiu stared at the decapitated head, calmly saying, “He should be.”

She then took Xiao Muyu’s hand and turned to leave. Xiao Muyu glanced at her but did not resist.

As they turned away, the closed eyes suddenly snapped open, a faint smile forming at the mouth, which quickly froze.

A dagger shot like an arrow, piercing through the grinning mouth.

Shen Qingqiu turned back, smiling as she walked over. “Poor thing, didn’t know to wait until the enemy left to enjoy the victory smile?”

Shen Qingqiu’s dagger, forged from refined iron, had a natural advantage over the ghosts in this dungeon. It easily penetrated the skull.

“Alright, let’s move on,” she said.

Xiao Muyu shook her head slightly. She was lecturing others, but wasn’t she just as smug?

Shen Qingqiu, disdainful, pulled open Lin Hai’s clothes. Her expression grew serious as she examined him and shook her head at Xiao Muyu and the others. “No numbers, but there’s this.”

Everyone crowded around respectfully, seeing that Lin Hai’s wrist was cut by nails, forming a blood-stained pattern.

“It’s a lantern,” Xiao Muyu said calmly. She checked Lin Hai’s other hand and found another lantern.

“So it’s still hinting that this round relates to the lantern sequence 142587?” Su Jin asked, confused. “Why remind us again in the sixth round when the previous rounds were about the lantern sequence?”

“Maybe they think we haven’t figured it out yet and are giving us a hint?” Chen Kaijie guessed.

“But a hint in the sixth round is pointless. If we hadn’t figured it out, we wouldn’t have survived the third round,” Su Jin reasoned.

“Now is not the time to discuss this. Let’s move quickly,” Xiao Muyu interrupted their conversation. The group glanced at Lin Hai’s corpse, sighed, and continued onward.

Human adaptability can be astonishing at times. Before entering this world, none of them could have accepted a comrade’s death so calmly. But now, they could step over his body and keep moving. This wasn’t growth; it was cruelty.

Xiao Muyu took one last look at the corridor behind her. They had buried four living people here. She didn’t feel sorrow or pity, only fatigue and the fickleness of life. Turning to the four people ahead, she wondered how many would make it out alive. She didn’t know.

Lost in thought, Shen Qingqiu slowed down and glanced back at her, probing, “Are you tired?”

Xiao Muyu, still somewhat dazed, didn’t respond.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t press further and walked alongside her.

The corridor was surprisingly long and winding, but fortunately, there were no new dangers.

Shen Qingqiu relaxed, and exhaustion spread through her bones. Initially, she had slowed down for Xiao Muyu, but eventually, Xiao Muyu was waiting for her.

Xiao Muyu had always wanted to avoid entanglements with Shen Qingqiu, but the experiences in these two short quests had made it impossible to ignore this peculiar woman.

At this moment, Shen Qingqiu’s weakness and pale fatigue caught her attention, making Xiao Muyu feel irritated.

Enduring all the way, she coldly asked Shen Qingqiu, “Are you okay?”

Shen Qingqiu was taken aback, then shook her head, “I’m fine.”

She smiled and blinked, “Muyu, are you worried about me?”

Xiao Muyu rolled her eyes, regretting speaking up. But she still couldn’t help but support Shen Qingqiu, saying coolly, “You’re the only one here who can fight. If you go down, we’re done for.”

Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but laugh softly, “You really learn quickly.”

Xiao Muyu pursed her lips. Previously, when she asked Shen Qingqiu why she protected her, she had given a similar excuse.

This corridor had no rooms, just cold, harsh, white-gray walls. The five of them grew more cautious as they walked.

“Something’s wrong here,” Xiao Muyu glanced around and whispered.

Shen Qingqiu, looking sluggish, raised her head and scanned the area. The corridor’s color had changed, with a faint boundary line between gray and pure white.

Standing up straight, her expression changed. Shortly after Xiao Muyu spoke, a cracking sound came from above, followed by a heavy steel plate slamming down behind them.

Shen Qingqiu quickly pulled Xiao Muyu forward, barely avoiding the steel plate that sealed off their retreat.

“What happened?” Chen Kaijie ran back and pushed the steel plate, but it didn’t budge.

“It seems we’re not meant to have a way out,” Xiao Muyu murmured, looking back at the corridor.

“What’s going on?” Zuo Tiantian’s voice was filled with despair as the corridor’s floor began collapsing, rapidly reaching them.

Before Zuo Tiantian could finish speaking, she disappeared with the collapsing floor. Shen Qingqiu stabbed her dagger into the wall with her right hand, ignoring her left shoulder’s injury to grab Xiao Muyu. It was an instinctive action, not a thought-out one.

Unfortunately, when the floor gave way, her dagger felt like it was in water, offering no support. As she gripped Xiao Muyu’s right hand, they both fell.

For a moment, consciousness faded, and her last thought was to tighten her left hand.

When Xiao Muyu regained consciousness, she found they had fallen into another space. In the center stood a huge pillar with a blazing fire on top, illuminating the space.

She looked around. The walls appeared like paper, translucent in the light. The space formed an eight-sided column with a sealed top.

All five of them were inside. Shen Qingqiu, also awake, was observing their surroundings with a furrowed brow. They had expected a hard fall but ended up in this place.

“What is this?” Chen Kaijie’s heart raced with a sense of foreboding. He mentally mapped their location, then looked at the central fire, his heart sinking. “It looks like a lantern.”

“A lantern carousel!” Su Jin exclaimed, recalling the pattern on Lin Hai’s arm.

As if in response, the giant lantern began rotating clockwise. The eight walls shimmered in the firelight, and as it turned, Zuo Tiantian’s voice trembled, “Look, there are pictures on it!”

With the rotation, the pictures became clearer, life-sized human figures emerging from the shadows. Even before the faces became distinct, they knew who they were.

“It’s us again,” Zuo Tiantian’s voice was filled with despair. Seeing their likenesses in this place was never a good sign.

“Eight people,” Xiao Muyu muttered. Shen Qingqiu provided the answer, “The five of us, plus Ni De, Zhang Qiang, and Wang Yushan.”

“No Lin Hai?” Xiao Muyu felt something was off. Why?

“The dead, those who are here, are up there. Maybe he’s not dead or not here.”

Shen Qingqiu’s calm statement caused a stir among the others.

“How could Lin Hai be alive? Is he trapped in another corridor? What do we do now?”

Chen Kaijie felt conflicted. He didn’t want any of them to suffer, even if Lin Hai wasn’t likable. No one deserved such a fate.

“Now you should think about what we’re going to do,” Shen Qingqiu said realistically, stating the obvious.

So far, they hadn’t even found the door, let alone a way out.

The revolving lantern kept spinning, but suddenly Zuo Tiantian screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu immediately turned to look, but no one had touched her.

Zuo Tiantian had fallen for no apparent reason, clutching her face.

The next moment, her hair seemed to be grabbed by an invisible force, pulling her head back. She looked pained and terrified, nearly in tears.

“Help!”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes turned cold. She swung her dagger through the air, but it didn’t hit anything, and Zuo Tiantian remained trapped.

Su Jin hesitated, having stowed away her peachwood sword when they fell. The sword could only be summoned three times, and using it again would destroy it.

As she hesitated, Xiao Muyu, pale, shook her head and told Shen Qingqiu, “That’s not the problem. Look at the painting.”

The eight portraits on the revolving lantern showed the group. Next to Zuo Tiantian was Ni De, a plump man with a smile, roughly grabbing the painted Zuo Tiantian’s hair and even slapping her.

In reality, Zuo Tiantian’s left cheek swelled up, and she cried helplessly.

They realized that not only Ni De, but all the portraits had started moving. Shen Qingqiu, without hesitation, stabbed Ni De’s portrait with her dagger.

The figure’s expression changed, releasing its grip and twisting its face in a snarl, screaming silently at her.

The dagger pierced through Ni De’s image, causing him to scream in pain but continue clawing. Shen Qingqiu felt dizzy for a moment.

Just as Shen Qingqiu was about to destroy the portrait, Chen Kaijie lunged at her from behind, trying to grab her knife.

The revolving lantern spun faster, and Shen Qingqiu frowned, flipping Chen Kaijie over her shoulder and onto the ground.

She turned to see that not only Chen Kaijie but Su Jin, Zuo Tiantian, and Xiao Muyu were all attacking her.

A quick glance revealed that the painted figures were all smiling, having left their positions to surround Shen Qingqiu’s image, now shrouded in a misty haze.

Shen Qingqiu was skilled in combat but couldn’t bring herself to fatally wound her companions. She sheathed her knife but fought decisively.

She kicked Chen Kaijie, swept Zuo Tiantian’s legs, and twisted Su Jin’s arms behind her back, pinning her down.

As for Xiao Muyu… She hesitated, and as Xiao Muyu shouted at her, Shen Qingqiu slipped behind her, grabbing her hands and holding her tightly. “Xiao Muyu, behave!” she whispered.

The struggling figure in her arms seemed to pause, then calmed down.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t release her, staying alert as she watched the other three.

Whether out of fear or something else, the three didn’t approach but instead yelled at her, causing her immense irritation, wishing she could treat them like enemies.

In reality, Chen Kaijie clutched his stomach, looking fearful, “She seems to be looking at us. Is she awake?”

“You’d better not act rashly. She doesn’t seem possessed, but I can tell she’s very annoyed by you.”

Xiao Muyu, tightly held by Shen Qingqiu, tried to reach for her talisman.

Shen Qingqiu, conscious enough to sheath her knife, seemed to be in a trance.

“It’s unfair. She treats us harshly but is so gentle with Miss Xiao,” Zuo Tiantian complained, still sore from the fall.

Su Jin noticed Xiao Muyu’s small movements but saw Shen Qingqiu’s tight grip preventing her from reaching her talisman. She gritted her teeth, took a step forward, and tried to distract Shen Qingqiu.

In Shen Qingqiu’s eyes, Su Jin was lunging again, so she elbowed her while holding onto Xiao Muyu.

Su Jin ducked and rolled aside, then Shen Qingqiu felt a burning pain in her hand. The fog lifted, and she saw Xiao Muyu pressing a triangular talisman to her left hand, looking serious.

Shen Qingqiu looked up at Su Jin and the others, who were also watching her nervously.

Author’s Note:

Shen Qingqiu: Muyu, behave.

Xiao Muyu: Who exactly should be behaving here?

Poor Shen had a tough time, haha.