Chapter 125

When night fell, Li Zhi and Qi Yongyi discovered bloodstains splattered in the corner of a remote storage courtyard.

The obvious traces had all been cleaned up, but the corner had probably been blocked by a broken wooden rack, causing the murderer to overlook it. After the two of them worked together to move the rack away, they saw blackened blood that had long since dried in the cracks of the wall.

The storage room was piled with discarded junk. Dust covered every corner, except for a small bed placed against the wall by the window that had not yet accumulated dust. Clearly, someone had lain on it not long ago.

A cramped, filthy, and isolated storage room.

It was the perfect place to punish a disobedient daughter.

"The murder weapon has probably already been disposed of. The only thing left is the steel rod that was never pulled out of Pan Qiping's body." After searching around, Qi Yongyi stood up and dusted off his hands. "There are quite a few sharp objects in this room. Everything's piled together in a mess. It would've been far too easy for an accident to happen during a struggle."

Although they hadn't found any definitive evidence, based on all the clues they had gathered so far, they had basically confirmed Li Zhi's deduction about the truth.

Li Zhi glanced at the sky.

"Let's go back to the Latrine Garden."

It was time to leave this story-within-a-story.

The two returned to the front hall, had the servants prepare a carriage, and once again went back to the Latrine Garden.

By this time, all the red lanterns pasted with the Double Happiness character throughout the garden had been lit. The entire Latrine Garden was shrouded in a hazy crimson glow, radiating a gorgeous yet eerie atmosphere.

The wedding banquet had ended, and both host and guests had enjoyed themselves. The guests gradually departed while offering their congratulations.

A drunken Ou Wendong hugged one of the pillars beneath the eaves, crying and making a scene. The maids and servants beside him kept calling him "Young Master Husband," but no matter what they did, Ou Wendong refused to let go, looking exactly like someone throwing a drunken tantrum.

Just as the servants were at a loss, the old nanny walked over with a stern expression and coldly instructed one of the maids,

"Go fetch a basin of cold water and splash him awake."

Ou Wendong: "............"

You vicious old hag!!!

Fortunately, Li Zhi walked over and stopped the old nanny.

"If he gets soaked, it'll delay the bridal chamber. Don't keep Green Green waiting too long."

De! Lay! The! Bridal! Chamber!

Listen to that!

Is that something a human being would say?

Ou Wendong couldn't help turning to glare resentfully at Li Zhi.

Li Zhi acted as though she hadn't noticed and simply said to the old nanny,

"Take everyone and start cleaning up. Tomorrow is the funeral. All these red silk decorations throughout the garden should be replaced with white mourning banners. Use the cover of night to switch them out."

The old nanny acknowledged the order before leading everyone away.

Only the three of them remained beneath the corridor.

Only then did Ou Wendong stop pretending to be drunk and throwing a tantrum. Wearing a miserable expression, he cried,

"Boss, you can't do this to me! I really can't consummate the marriage! I'm still a virgin!!!"

Qi Yongyi couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. The barrage was likewise filled with nothing but laughter.

Li Zhi couldn't suppress a smile either.

"Don't worry. No one's forcing you to consummate the marriage."

Hearing the boss personally guarantee it, Ou Wendong immediately scrambled to his feet.

"Really??"

He indignantly complained,

"That bastard Han Wenlin even came to persuade me to consummate the marriage this afternoon! I knew he was deliberately trying to disgust me!"

Li Zhi asked,

"Where are the others?"

Ou Wendong replied,

"They went to look for the exit, but they should be back soon. We agreed to meet before all the guests leave."

Sure enough, after waiting only a short while, the other three soon walked over from the opposite direction.

Seeing Li Zhi and Qi Yongyi, Chi Yi jogged over and asked expectantly,

"Did you find out the truth about Pan Qiping's death? We searched the Latrine Garden all over again, but we still couldn't find the exit."

Li Zhi looked around.

"We'll talk while we walk."

Everyone followed after her.

After walking for a while, they realized the direction they were heading was the bridal chamber.

Ou Wendong knew this path better than anyone and immediately started panicking again.

"Boss, didn't you say there wouldn't be any bridal chamber?!"

She wasn't planning to trick him into going there, was she?!

Once they had left the front hall and there was no one around, Li Zhi beckoned everyone closer. After they gathered around her, she quietly told them everything she and Qi Yongyi had discovered during their investigation.

After hearing her explanation, everyone looked shocked.

You Jingmeng said,

"So she was killed by her own older brother? Then the people she hates most are Boss Zhi and Brother Qi?"

Chi Yi whimpered,

"And me. I'm the betrayer."

Han Wenlin guiltily raised a hand.

"I... I might have been involved too."

Everyone looked at him, and only then did Han Wenlin explain the clue he had gathered from the other servants that afternoon.

"They said that on the night Miss tried to escape, I was the one who discovered her hiding beneath the carriage. I dragged her out and reported it to the eldest young master to earn credit."

At that time, Pan Qiping had almost escaped the Pan Residence.

She had hidden herself beneath the carriage used to transport the night soil.

The servant Han Wenlin was playing happened to trip and fall. As he fell to the ground, he just happened to see a piece of her skirt hanging down beneath the carriage.

A precious young lady raised in luxury.

She was even willing to climb beneath a carriage carrying human waste, hiding underneath it amid the overpowering stench, with night soil even dripping down around her.

How resolute her determination must have been.

Yet in the end, she was toyed with by fate.

You Jingmeng said weakly, "Then I'm not exactly a good person either. I was the ghost matchmaker who arranged her ghost marriage so she wouldn't become a vicious ghost."

Chi Yi gasped and pointed at herself and everyone else.

"So we're an entire team of villains?"

"M-Me! I'm innocent!" Ou Wendong hurriedly raised both hands in surrender. "I didn't do anything! I only came here for the money!"

Li Zhi looked at him with a smile.

"So your role looks the most dangerous, but it's actually the safest. You're not the unlucky one. We are."

Ou Wendong's face immediately lit up with overwhelming joy.

The audience suddenly realized it as well.

【Holy crap! It's actually true!!! The roles of the bride's mother and older brother look the safest, but they're actually the most dangerous. Once Pan Qiping breaks free of the seal, Li Zhi and Little Qi will be the first ones she goes after.】

【Complete reversal!!!】

【Can I transfer the sympathy votes I gave Ou Wendong earlier to Li Zhi and Little Qi???】

【Looking at it this way, Chi Yi has it the worst. She went through something terrifying, and Pan Qiping hates her a lot too.】

【Ou Wendong isn't cursed by bad luck! He's blessed with incredible luck!!!】

【This design is brilliant! So the role that bows in the wedding ceremony and consummates the marriage with the Ghost Bride is actually the safest one.】

【So where exactly is the exit?! Just tell us already!!!】

...

The audience outside the screen was anxious, and so were the players inside the instance.

"So how are we supposed to get out?" one of them asked. "According to the story, Pan Qiping is going to be buried tomorrow. If she's going to go berserk, it should be tonight, right?"

Within the Latrine Garden, the old nanny was leading the servants in taking down the festive red silk decorations and replacing them with bleak white mourning banners.

Under the night sky, only the newlywed courtyard where Pan Qiping was staying still glowed with a hazy red light. Amidst the sea of mournful white, that crimson glow looked deathly and sinister.

Li Zhi spoke slowly.

"Pull the steel frame out of her body, and the exit will appear."

"What???"

"Huh???"

Han Wenlin blurted out,

"Wouldn't that just be asking to die?!"

Li Zhi smiled.

"Isn't that how the system has always been? The path to survival it gives us is always hidden within certain death."

"The theme of this haunted house is 'The Red Wedding Dress.' Its protagonist is Pan Qiping. What we're looking for isn't our own exit."

"It's Pan Qiping's exit."

But Pan Qiping was trapped.

Whether in life or after death, she had been imprisoned inside a cage she could never escape.

"I guessed wrong earlier. If we don't pull the steel frame out of Pan Qiping's body ourselves, she probably has no way to break free of her restraints and go on a killing spree. Once tonight passes, she'll be buried. The exit will never appear. We'll be trapped in this haunted house forever, and we'll never get out."

Li Zhi looked at her teammates' pale faces.

"Only by pulling the steel frame out of her body and releasing her from her restraints will the exit appear. Only then will we have even the slightest chance of surviving."

If they pulled it out, they might die.

If they didn't pull it out, they would definitely die.

The system had always enjoyed tricking players.

It perfectly matched its usual malicious sense of humor.

Earlier that day, Chi Yi had been bewitched by Pan Qiping into trying to pull out the steel frame, but Li Zhi had stopped her.

From that, they had deduced that the steel frame was what sealed Pan Qiping.

Under those circumstances, no player would voluntarily touch that steel frame again.

The moment they fell into that player's misconception, they would completely fall into this round's trap.

They would never wait for Pan Qiping to go berserk.

Instead, they would wait for dawn.

They would wait for a funeral that buried every truth and every grudge.

Then they would remain trapped inside this haunted house forever, until they broke down, went insane, committed suicide, or died.

Realizing just how sinister this round truly was, everyone else sucked in a sharp breath.

Ou Wendong looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I knew clinging to the boss's thigh would keep me alive!"

Even if he had a hundred brains, he never would have solved a mystery like this!

Li Zhi continued,

"So now the question is: how do we survive after Pan Qiping's seal is removed?"

Chi Yi frowned.

"It'd be great if we had some kind of immobilization item. Even if it could only freeze her for ten seconds, that would be enough time for us to escape through the exit."

But the five of them had already shared information about all of their items beforehand, so that if danger arose, they wouldn't miss a chance to save someone because they didn't know what items each person had.

None of the five possessed an immobilization-type item.

Did that mean they could only fight her head-on?

Beside them, Han Wenlin's face suddenly filled with delight.

"I do!"

Proudly, he pulled an Immobilization Talisman out of his item inventory.

"Not just ten seconds—it can immobilize someone for thirty seconds! Good thing I teamed up with you guys. This time I'm finally the big hero! Once we get out of here, remember to treat me to a meal!"

Just as joy appeared on Ou Wendong's face, it immediately became unnatural when he heard Han Wenlin's last sentence. Even his happiness was overshadowed.

Chi Yi and You Jingmeng also unconsciously pressed their lips together, forcing down the feelings of helplessness and guilt welling up inside them.

Han Wenlin keenly sensed that something about the atmosphere was off.

"What's wrong with all of you?"

"With that last move of yours, you'll definitely steal their popularity." Li Zhi let out a laugh and naturally took the Immobilization Talisman from his hand. "You've made the greatest contribution this time. Once we're out, we'll definitely treat you to a meal."

After receiving praise from the boss, all the doubts in Han Wenlin's heart immediately vanished. Beaming with delight, he said,

"Deal!"

Li Zhi turned to Ou Wendong.

"Only you can pull out that steel frame."

Ou Wendong didn't even have time to feel sorry for Han Wenlin before panicking.

"Me??? I can't do it!"

"It has to be you."

Li Zhi's expression remained calm, her voice gentle.

As Ou Wendong looked into those eyes, his hurried breathing, brought on by nervousness, gradually steadied without him realizing it.

He heard her say,

"Among the six of us, only you have no grudge with Pan Qiping. The instant her seal is broken, only you have a chance to act before she does."

If it were any of the rest of them, Pan Qiping's hatred would instantly reach its peak.

The moment she regained her power, she would kill that person first.

A Ghost Bride consumed by overwhelming hatred, her resentment reaching the heavens, was even more terrifying than an ordinary vicious ghost.

Among the six of them, only Li Zhi and Qi Yongyi possessed decent combat ability.

But those two happened to be the people Pan Qiping hated the most.

If they showed up, they would practically be giving the Ghost Bride a buff.

Ou Wendong was their only chance.