Fu Liu's body swayed, as if losing all support, and collapsed straight onto the dusty floor, blood still slowly oozing from the mangled flesh on his face.
An incredibly weak, almost inaudible whisper, as if using up the very last of his strength, said haltingly, “It's... burning up...”
Bai Ci looked down at the corpse on the ground, her mind a tangle of complex emotions. There was no overwhelming sadness, only a sense of dazed emptiness now that the dust had settled.
She subconsciously rubbed the ring on her left middle finger. Its temperature and texture helped her gradually regain her inner peace.
A crackling sound echoed from outside the window. Accompanied by a wave of scorching air, a faint orange-red light filtered through the gaps in the heavy curtains.
Bai Ci turned and walked quickly to the door. She swept the nails aside with the sole of her shoe, removed the wooden stick bracing the door, and opened it.
Outside, the fire had spread completely. The once dim corridor was now illuminated by the flames as bright as day.
The walls were charred black and peeling, and the wooden support beams of the corridor crackled as they burned, sending sparks flying in all directions. Billowing black smoke rushed in, making Bai Ci cough uncontrollably.
Boom!
A massive explosion shook the entire room, sending dust cascading down from the ceiling.
Bai Ci instinctively covered her ears and looked up in the direction of the noise.
The explosion had come from the third floor. Along with the blast, flames shot into the sky, and unidentified burning debris rained down from above.
Through the thick smoke, a familiar figure leaped from a third-floor window, gripping a black glider.
It was Fu Yan.
His clothes were singed and torn by sparks, his hair was messy, and his face was covered in soot. He had clearly run into considerable trouble on the third floor.
The glider deployed, carrying him slowly down on the air currents as he tried to avoid the burning flames and falling debris below.
But before he could glide very far, several dark figures leaped out of the third-floor window right after him.
These were the remaining Executioners, minus Fu Liu.
They still wore their white clown masks, but now, pairs of bloody, fleshy wings had torn through their backs. They relentlessly pursued Fu Yan, rapidly closing the distance.
Fu Yan gripped the glider's control bar tightly, struggling to adjust his direction and shake them off.
But the glider's speed was no match for the winged Executioners. Its wings had already been torn in several places by their claws, leaving it teetering on the verge of collapse.
Bai Ci didn't watch any longer. Partly because she couldn't bear to, and partly because she needed to get moving. Sparks had already drifted into the prop room, and it wouldn't take long for the whole place to go up in flames.
As Bai Ci covered her nose and mouth, navigating through the first floor, a sharp static screech rang out. Immediately after, Cheng Xi's familiar voice blared through the megaphone:
“Head this way, quick!”
Bai Ci pinpointed the direction of the sound, veered off, and ran toward it.
The fire in the corridor grew fiercer by the second. The floorboards beneath her feet were burning hot, and the thick smoke made her head spin. The scorching air stung the raw wounds on her face, but she didn't dare slow her pace.
Finally, she spotted Cheng Xi.
Cheng Xi stood at a corner at the end of the corridor, holding the blue-and-white megaphone in one hand and gripping her camera tightly in the other. She looked a bit disheveled but bore no obvious signs of injury.
Beside her was an inconspicuous iron door, shrouded in shadows. If one didn't look closely, it was completely unnoticeable.
“Sister Cheng Xi!” Bai Ci called out, quickening her pace as she rushed over.
Seeing Bai Ci, Cheng Xi's face lit up with relief, but her eyes quickly fell upon Bai Ci's bleeding face, her tone filling with concern.
“How did you end up like this? Hurry, get over here! The door is behind me. Sun Hao is already inside. We're waiting for Fu Yan.”
Bai Ci raised a hand to touch her face. The moment her fingertips brushed the wound, a sharp pain flared up, making her gasp. “I ran into Fu Liu. I stabbed him with the poison, so he's no longer a threat.”
She didn't go into detail. There was no need for everyone to know everything.
Sun Hao poked his head out from behind the door and couldn't help but complain, “What a scumbag, actually disfiguring his own girlfriend. Glad you're okay.”
“Whoa! This is bad, Fu Yan is in trouble. I don't have any suitable items left in my inventory. Cheng Xi, do you have any items left? Let me send them to him.”
Noticing the situation further back, Sun Hao's attention shifted instantly. Taking his own interpretation of the situation for granted, he didn't press Bai Ci for details and instead asked Cheng Xi anxiously.
Bai Ci looked back. In mid-air, Fu Yan's glider had been completely shredded by the Executioners.
With its wings snapped, Fu Yan lost all support and plummeted from the air, crashing heavily onto the scorching floor with a dull thud.
He struggled to stand, but he was clearly severely injured. His movements were sluggish, and blood kept seeping from his wounds. The Executioners flapped their black wings, slowly descending to surround him.
In this critical moment, Cheng Xi pulled out a familiar jade pendant and handed it to Sun Hao. When they had entered the second floor of the theater, the defensive item she had given Bai Ci for protection had automatically returned to her inventory.
The pendant vanished from Sun Hao's hand and, in the blink of an eye, materialized in Fu Yan's. A protective barrier flared up just in time, blocking a near-fatal blow from an Executioner.
“Fu Yan! Look over here! Strike a peace sign!” Cheng Xi yelled at Fu Yan. At the same time, she raised her camera, aiming the lens at the Executioners closing in on him, her finger pressing down on the shutter.
Click—
A crisp shutter sound echoed.
Bai Ci watched as the Executioners, who had been closing in step by step, suddenly froze, as if someone had hit a pause button.
She hadn't expected Cheng Xi's camera to have such an effect.
Cheng Xi's finger continued to rapidly press the shutter. Click, click, click—
As the shutter clicked repeatedly, the Executioners' movements stuttered like a choppy slideshow. Meanwhile, Fu Yan, who was holding up a peace sign, was able to move normally—albeit slowly—as he gradually made his way toward their position.
“Can I go out and help him up?” Unsure of how Cheng Xi's skill mechanism worked, Sun Hao didn't act rashly and asked first.
“No, this is a solo shot,” Cheng Xi refused.
“Alright then. I guess we'll just have to watch. Feels a bit awkward, to be honest,” Sun Hao said, obediently stepping back behind the door. “Still, if Fu Yan hadn't caused such a ruckus on the third floor to distract all those ghosts, setting this fire wouldn't have been nearly as easy.”
“Hurry up! I'm running out of film!” Cheng Xi shouted at Fu Yan while keeping her finger busy on the shutter.
Fine beads of sweat beaded on her forehead. Clearly, using the camera's special function continuously was taking a toll on her, but more than that, the item was reaching its limit.
Rate on N.U.
