The passageway narrowed progressively until it was almost impossible to pass through. The three of them stopped and began to backtrack.
“This feels weird,” Xia Qirong said. “Is this a dead end? What was the point of digging this tunnel?”
“It’s getting more and more foul-smelling in here,” Shen Su said quietly. “Maybe we should go back the way we came. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Maybe there’s some mechanism we haven’t found,” Xia Qirong shook his head.
Sun Le was already examining the nearby walls, knocking on them. The sound was dull and each segment felt solid.
“I don’t know why, but this feels like being in a tomb,” Xia Qirong added, tapping the walls himself. “Do you think we’ll run into any zombies? I’ve never seen one of those.”
“Would you stop talking,” Sun Le frowned. He leaned in close to the wall and sniffed. “The smell is coming from inside the wall.”
“Did they seal corpses in the walls?” Xia Qirong quickly reacted.
He took a step back, but given the narrow passage, he bumped into Shen Su.
“Sorry,” he said instinctively, steadying himself by grabbing Shen Su’s arm. He noticed how cold Shen Su’s body felt.
The temperature was low, but Xia Qirong didn’t think much of it.
“It’s okay,” Shen Su shook his head, urging them on. “We should get out of here. If there are any ghosts here, they won’t be friendly.”
“Shen Su is right,” Sun Le said, his expression serious. “Let’s run!”
The years of teamwork showed as Xia Qirong started running without question. Shen Su, despite his lack of training, managed to keep up with them.
“Don’t look back,” Sun Le shouted as they ran.
The sound of bubbles bursting in boiling chemical liquid echoed behind them, and the stench became almost unbearable.
Xia Qirong covered his nose, running as fast as he could, unable to resist making a sarcastic comment. “Are the ghosts boiling sewage in the walls?”
As soon as he spoke, a sharp, angry scream like a wild beast’s roar came from behind.
Xia Qirong picked up the pace.
Sun Le was exasperated but kept running. They soon reached the exit but remembered the door was closed.
“Find the mechanism,” Sun Le said, stopping abruptly and throwing out some talismans. They burned fiercely in mid-air, accompanied by agonized wails behind them.
Xia Qirong began tapping the walls, suddenly rolling to avoid a sticky arm reaching out from the wall.
“Put the talismans on the walls!” he shouted.
Sun Le quickly slapped a few talismans onto the walls, which began to sizzle and smoke. Faces emerged from the walls, glaring at them with venomous eyes. The entire passage seemed to be alive and moving.
Xia Qirong pulled out an object from his pocket and stuck it to the door, then pressed Shen Su down. “Get down!”
A loud explosion filled the air, and they burst through the smoke and debris.
“Stay together,” Sun Le said urgently.
Their instrument was vibrating, indicating the proximity of a demon king.
They burst out of the room full of sculptures and found themselves facing a young man. They quickly turned and ran the other way.
The hallway stretched endlessly, and the footsteps of the demon lord grew louder behind them.
“Is this one the human or the ghost?” Xia Qirong asked, panting.
“I don’t know,” Sun Le replied.
Shen Su, despite being dragged along, managed to keep pace, although his breathing was heavy. “We should split up. At least one of us might escape.”
Splitting up meant it would be nearly impossible to reunite, and there was no guarantee they would find their teammates again.
The other two didn’t reply. Sun Le glanced back, seeing the demon king smiling at them, seemingly in no rush to attack.
He nudged Xia Qirong and made a series of hand signals only they understood, then ran towards the hall.
Xia Qirong pulled Shen Su in a different direction, heading to the starting point of the game. They found Duan Zhen there.
“Is this for real?” Xia Qirong panted.
Duan Zhen made a few hand signals, then fired at the demon king behind them. At the same time, Xia Qirong threw another device, which exploded into smoke and bright light. Shen Su’s vision went white, and he could only follow the tug on his arm.
When his sight returned, they were hiding in a room.
“Shh,” Sun Le listened carefully, mouthing silently, “We’ve lost them for now.”
But their expressions remained tense.
It was clear the demon king was toying with them, like a cat playing with mice. This feeling was terrible, not only because of the humiliation but also the life-threatening danger.
“This game has no rules,” Xia Qirong whispered. “It’s all up to the demon lords.”
“At least it’s better than Clemens’ side,” Shen Su added.
“Only one person survived his game,” Xia Qirong held up a finger. “Who knows what our fate will be. But it doesn’t matter, we just need to ensure—”
He wanted to say they needed to ensure Duan Zhen and Dan Zuo survived, but remembering Shen Su didn’t know that dying here meant returning to the real world, he changed his words. “—we do our best without regrets.”
Shen Su gave him a strange look.
Sun Le waved them to be quiet. “Duan Zhen wants us to keep looking for secret rooms. He must have found a clue.”
“Looking for Senafel?” Xia Qirong was quick to agree. “No problem.”
“And,” Sun Le added, “we need to get caught by Moduna.”
They needed to ensure the next “tagger” was human to maximize their chances of safety.
“I’ll do it,” Xia Qirong didn’t mind. “How do we tell the demon king’s identity?”
Moduna and Herst looked almost identical, and if they chose wrong, they’d be out of the game, or worse, have their souls taken.
Sun Le was silent.
Shen Su suddenly spoke. “That Duan Zhen might be fake. His instructions could be a trap.”
“Maybe,” Xia Qirong shrugged. “But our plan was the same. Let’s find the secret rooms and hope they aren’t filled with those creatures.”
If they had moved slower, they might have ended up as part of those creatures.
Meanwhile, Duan Zhen fired another shot, leaping back and firing at the railing, causing sparks to fly.
Explosions echoed as he rolled away, signaling Dan Zuo to run.
At the center of the blast, the two demon kings faced each other, identical smiles on their faces.
Li Xi had finished a bag of candy and felt the sweetness dull. He stretched out, peering out from his hideout, watching the ruins of the castle.
“When will Duan Zhen find the lift and come for me?” He sighed, bored, munching on a bag of chips. “Their games are so boring.”
The “they” referred to the twins.
Eager to end this world, Li Xi looked at his dwindling supply of snacks and an idea formed.
Maybe, he thought, he could find a way to hint to Duan Zhen.
Lol everyone fighting for their lives and our dear Li Xi is simply snacking… be more worried for your boyfriend you knuckle head :p
Thank you for reading