Nan Yue smiled and patted Zhu Xi Ning's head. "Congratulations!"
Back to the matter at hand, speaking of Zhu Xi Ning's illusion, strictly speaking, it wasn't particularly dangerous.
It was also a scare-type illusion. It seemed that while these illusions in the second livestream had begun to merge with reality, and vengeful spirits had appeared beside them, they were unable to attack proactively.
The woman clinging to Nan Yue, Jiang Siyan's human tower, and Zhu Xi Ning's eerie maid were all trying to terrify them into making incorrect judgments.
It seemed they needed the victims to be struck by panic and fear before they could launch an attack.
Nan Yue had watched a few other streams. Some people had no ability to face these supernatural events at all; they were so terrified they were screaming their heads off before their screens suddenly disconnected.
Most likely, those people had met a grim end.
However, the three of them had maintained considerable composure, so even though those things were already within arm's reach, they remained unable to harm them in the slightest.
"Why?"
The question Gu Xiang Kai asked was also what puzzled Nan Yue. One could say it was because of the rules, but that felt a bit forced.
Rules had to follow some kind of logic.
The ghosts in the mission would become more ferocious as time passed, and the restrictions on them would gradually lift.
So, what was it that had restricted the ghosts from attacking them before?
Nan Yue felt this must be related to whatever the Zhou family had actually done.
"Take a rest. Things might get even more troublesome later."
Nan Yue actually had another suspicion—that the subsequent missions wouldn't be this leisurely. She had a premonition that the format of the livestream would soon change.
It wasn't until near midnight that it was finally Gu Xiang Kai's turn to stream. Nan Yue's face darkened the moment she saw his stream content.
【Go down the well and take a look. I hope you can retrieve the hairpin from the bottom.】
Gu Xiang Kai patted Nan Yue, signaling her to relax. With the rules of the second round being what they were, he wouldn't be in too much danger.
If it was just a matter of being scared, Gu Xiang Kai was definitely the most stoic among them.
But Nan Yue wasn't worried about that. Being in the water was inherently dangerous; whether it was escaping or attacking, the water would drastically reduce his effectiveness.
Gu Xiang Kai took off his shirt, revealing a body with well-defined eight-pack abs. This alone earned him a wave of tips.
He didn't bring a streaming screen, a decision he made after careful consideration. While having it could provide hints or help him discover things he might miss, he was in the water after all, and he had to worry that the device would interfere with his reactions and judgment.
Zhu Xi Ning also gathered around the well with concern. She still remembered what Xu Yuan had said about seeing a woman clinging to the wall of the well.
"A-Nan, have you noticed? This mission has no protagonist."
Nan Yue kept her eyes on Gu Xiang Kai as he used rock-climbing techniques to descend the well wall. "Mhm. The only lead in this play is the Zhou family."
Up until now, too many vengeful spirits had appeared before them.
Xiang Niang, Su Niang, Jiang Qiao...
But none of them had their own story arcs. They only knew these women had died tragic deaths, but they didn't know what had actually happened to them.
Their existence, the existence of these vengeful spirits, seemed to be solely for revenge.
And the only lead in this entire play was the Zhou family.
Gu Xiang Kai had now reached the surface of the water.
The hearts of the viewers and those watching nearby tightened. Xu Yuan had also approached at some point, looking at Gu Xiang Kai with worry.
"Sister Nan, if Brother Gu goes down like this, that female ghost..."
Nan Yue turned her head and asked, "Can you still see that female ghost now?"
Xu Yuan shook his head. "She's gone. I came back to look for her later, but I didn't see her."
Nan Yue didn't relax upon hearing this; instead, she became even more vigilant.
Gu Xiang Kai stood at the bottom of the well. He was tall, but even at one hundred and ninety-three centimeters, he couldn't touch the bottom. It was indeed flowing water.
Gu Xiang Kai remembered the viewers' request, which said there was a hairpin at the bottom of the well for him to retrieve.
He glanced at Nan Yue and saw her nod slightly to him. He could see a very faint, almost invisible layer of black mist swirling around the well wall above him.
The people above couldn't see it because of the lighting, but this was the method Nan Yue used to protect Gu Xiang Kai.
No one could predict what might happen in the water, especially since a well was an extremely narrow space where it was difficult to move freely.
A few dead ants were still floating on the water's surface. Those were the ones Zhu Xi Ning had initially tried to use to scout the path for Gu Xiang Kai.
But even the ants from Antswamp Village were afraid of water; a whole swarm of them had died before they could even dive to the bottom.
Gu Xiang Kai had been adjusting his breathing since he started descending. Now, he took a deep breath and lunged into the water like a fish.
The well water was cold, incredibly cold—far colder than it should be in this temperature.
Gu Xiang Kai grew wary, but fortunately, the streaming equipment on his head wasn't affected, and the flashlight continued to provide him with light.
After diving two or three meters, he finally saw the bottom. It was covered in a thick layer of fine white sand.
There were no aquatic plants, nor were there any fish.
The water was very clean, devoid of any life.
Gu Xiang Kai dove to the bottom and reached out to touch the fine sand. It was very thick, and he couldn't tell how deep it actually went.
It was a bit strange. Usually, the bottom of a body of water would be silt, especially since this was inland and not the ocean.
But this was the first time Gu Xiang Kai had seen this kind of sand. He instinctively thought of Wen Xiang Yuan; if she were here, she might know what it was.
Gu Xiang Kai's academic performance had been very average, so he quite admired Wen Xiang Yuan, feeling as though she knew everything.
Gu Xiang Kai only let his mind wander for a second before focusing on the present.
The bottom of the well was large, and he couldn't see the boundaries within the flashlight's beam. Gu Xiang Kai didn't know where the bottom of this well led; he only had one breath of air, which wasn't enough for him to explore.
He needed to find the hairpin as quickly as possible. He felt around in the fine sand. This sand was fluid, shifting and covering things with the current. It would be a problem if the hairpin had fallen deeper.
Gu Xiang Kai could hold his breath for about three and a half minutes, provided he wasn't startled and didn't engage in strenuous activity.
Now, there were two and a half minutes left.
He searched meticulously, letting the fine white sand slide through his hands with great patience.
Suddenly, his movements paused. He had touched something soft and slippery...
In any case, it wasn't sand.
Gu Xiang Kai braced himself mentally and then reached out with his other hand. This thing felt like a piece of paper, very thin and smooth to the touch.
Gu Xiang Kai pulled it out.
He saw a woman's face that was already half-decomposed and waterlogged to a bleached white.
Gu Xiang Kai's heart rate involuntarily accelerated. He suppressed his physiological fear and repulsion, carefully examining the face in his hand.
It was a young woman. On the back, there were already bleached-white tendon tissues.
This was...
Gu Xiang Kai reached out and continued digging in the spot from before. Soon, a bloated corpse appeared before his eyes.
The corpse had been mostly decomposed by the water, with only a small portion of flesh still attached to the skeleton. The white muscle fibers swayed within the water.
Rate on N.U.
