The woman appeared suddenly in the back seat.
The woman appeared suddenly in the back seat, wearing a classical evening gown and holding a white lace-trimmed umbrella in such a cramped space, shielding the upper half of her face.
The exposed skin was an unhealthy pale, forming a sharp contrast with those smiling, blood-red lips.
Most importantly, such a large red name tag on the map was practically right in his face.
Mu Li glanced through the rearview mirror at the health bar above her head. Well, it was not that long; she could be killed. He clicked on the entry tag, and there were just those few words:
[Female Fiend, Level 20.]
Right at that moment, she twisted the handle of the umbrella, and blade edges emitting a silver light suddenly thrust out between the umbrella ribs, aiming straight at the heart of Assistant Teacher Pei, who was driving obliviously.
Mu Li reached backward with a talisman.
The blade stabbed right into the center of the thin talisman, but it felt as if it had struck reinforced steel, unable to come any closer by even a single centimeter.
The Female Fiend had not expected anything to be able to block her. She withdrew the blade and tilted her body toward the player.
Although Mu Li could not see her full face, he knew she was looking at him.
The tip of his nose was suddenly surrounded by a chilling aura. In the blink of an eye, a deathly pale face was within touching distance.
What the hell!
He quickly slapped the talisman backward onto the back of the Female Fiend’s head.
Good grief, this lousy game actually uses jump scares?
Before the Female Fiend could react, she let out a sharp, piercing scream. The spot where the talisman was stuck on the back of her head hissed and sizzled, and even a wisp of white smoke rose up.
Her health bar plummeted rapidly. The Female Fiend’s figure flickered a few times and then vanished.
Mu Li waited for a moment, but he did not hear the prompt sound indicating the monster had been killed.
The moment he turned his head, he bumped into Assistant Teacher Pei’s calm and unruffled eyes.
He did not know how long he had been watching him.
Pei Kanyan spoke: “We have arrived. Get out of the car.”
The player uttered an oh.
This was an upscale serviced apartment, featuring an Italian garden in the front and a sweeping lake view in the back.
He raised his head and trotted obediently behind Assistant Teacher Pei, entering the apartment building, and was immediately caught by the crystal chandelier in the lobby.
Do NPCs live this well these days?
Mu Li shed tears of poverty.
Before he could finish self-pitying, he suddenly saw the ominous smile of the umbrella-holding woman outside the glass doors reflected in the chandelier’s mirror surface.
Mu Li paused for a fraction of a second, then silently took out a carving pen from his cross-body bag.
Pei Kanyan entered the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. Mu Li followed closely, turned around to face the elevator doors directly, and blocked Assistant Teacher Pei behind him.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close, an emaciated, pale hand thrust forcefully inside.
Mu Li prepared to enter combat mode.
However, when the elevator doors slowly opened, there was no trace of the Female Fiend outside the doors.
Pei Kanyan watched all of this quietly from behind, making no move and uttering no sound, looking just like an outsider.
Seeing that the elevator doors were about to close again, Mu Li suddenly cancelled the fourth-floor button and instead pressed the top ninth floor.
Then, grabbing Assistant Teacher Pei’s hand, he rushed out of the elevator ahead of time.
The elevator numbers ticked upward floor by floor, as if carrying something along with them to the top floor.
Mu Li attempted to open the glass doors of the apartment lobby to escape outside, but they were already tightly locked.
He turned his head to look around, picked up a nearby fire hammer, and began to smash the glass, just raising it to swing down.
Pei Kanyan grasped the teenager’s wrist and asked: “What are you doing?” He stared into the teenager’s eyes, clearly feeling that what he was enclosing in his hand was an exceptionally slender wrist, as if a little force would snap it in two.
Mu Li replied: “Saving you.” A momentary daze appeared in the player’s eyes, not understanding why Assistant Teacher Pei wanted to stop him.
Pei Kanyan easily pried open the teenager’s hand, snatched the fire hammer, and a faint, ambiguous smile flashed across the corner of his mouth as he said:
“Aren’t you coming home with me? My home is on the fourth floor.”
Mu Li nodded. It seemed that before the player solved that Female Fiend, he could not leave this apartment building.
He followed Assistant Teacher Pei up the stairs, lowering his head in deep thought.
A single talisman was originally more than enough to deal with a minor monster, but the Female Fiend’s health bar would automatically regenerate, which was a hassle.
However, the game would not design a dead end, and Assistant Teacher Pei insisted on taking him home.
Could the item that restrained the Female Fiend be inside this NPC’s home?
Thinking this, the player felt it made a lot of sense.
Therefore, when Pei Kanyan unlocked the door with his fingerprint scanner, all he saw was a figure shooting inside with a swift rush.
New map unlocked: Assistant Teacher Pei’s super luxury apartment!
Opening the door revealed a large expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows, a spiral staircase extending to the second floor, with luxury evident everywhere.
The player’s eyes lit up, the player was raring to go, and the player began to explore!
Is it on the coffee table? No.
Is it in the drawer? No.
Is it in the refrigerator? No.
Pei Kanyan watched as the teenager suddenly bounced around like a monkey, charging back and forth wildly.
The coffee table was flipped completely upside down, fruit from the refrigerator was scattered all over the floor, and the clothes neatly arranged in the cloakroom were thrown into a chaotic mess.
His expression went blank for a second, and his hand holding the door froze in place.
The teenager had no regard for him at all, actually ransacking the place right in front of the apartment owner, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake like the aftermath of a typhoon.
He watched with his own eyes as his originally spotless room was turned into a dog kennel after the teenager’s fierce, tiger-like operations.
It had become an absolute mess.
Pei Kanyan’s temples throbbed violently.
He stepped forward in one stride and hauled out the teenager who was still trying to wedge his head under the sofa.
When the teenager was pulled out, he still wore a blaming expression that seemed to say you are interrupting me, as if stopping him was entirely wrong.
Pei Kanyan put on a fake smile and stated: “If I remember correctly, this is my home.”
Mu Li tilted his head, suddenly striking his left palm with his right hand with a look of sudden realization: “So you must have the key to the master bedroom.”
The apartment was so large, and the Female Fiend might find them at any moment, so the player had to find the method to clear the level at the earliest opportunity.
His very first action upon entering the apartment was to open the doors to every room, only to find that only the master bedroom on the first floor was locked.
As everyone knows, in games, locked rooms are definitely very important, holding either clues or items.
Pei Kanyan said with a displeased tone:
“I do not!”
He was starting to regret bringing this uncontrollable teenager home.
“Oh, well, nothing can be done then.”
Hearing this, Pei Kanyan thought the teenager would finally quiet down and was about to go tidy up the house.
Who would have thought the teenager suddenly picked up a chair and raised it to smash right into the door lock.
Pei Kanyan stared in disbelief.
Pei Kanyan was almost laughed to anger.
The moment the chair was about to come down, he grabbed the teenager’s wrist fiercely, with a force so great it felt as if it would crush the hand bones, his words filled with threat:
“Try making another move and see what happens.”
Mu Li wanted to smash it down, but Assistant Teacher Pei’s strength was greater, and no matter what he did, he could not bring it down.
The player curled his lips and had no choice but to give up.
Sigh, he knew he could not use such a violent method to clear the level.
Right at that moment, the apartment door was suddenly knocked upon.
Thump, thump, thump.
This knocking was extremely rhythmic, with even the time intervals being identical, continuing relentlessly when no one answered.
The two of them looked toward the door simultaneously.
Mu Li tossed the chair aside and spoke first: “Is the thing knocking on the door human or a ghost?”
Pei Kanyan replied: “There is a peephole on the door. Why do you not go look for yourself?”
Mu Li answered: “That makes sense.”
So the player trotted over happily, closed one eye, and pressed right against the peephole.
However, just as he caught sight of a patch of white, he was stopped by the fate-seizing back of his neck as Assistant Teacher Pei leaned down and whispered playfully in the player’s ear:
“Take a guess. When you press your face up against it, will the blade on that woman’s umbrella shoot right through the peephole?”
Put that way, Mu Li thought it was very likely. With such a huge red-named monster outside the door, the player had no defense and might well end up getting his eyes poked out.
This NPC even warns the player of danger; he is not a bad guy after all.
Therefore, the player decided:
“Strike first to gain the advantage.”
Mu Li took out his carving pen and stabbed it straight into the peephole without hesitation.
“Ah!”
A tragic, piercing scream rang out from behind the door.
However, Pei Kanyan only cared about the peephole that had shattered into four pieces, asking: “Were you doing that on purpose?”
Mu Li withdrew the carving pen, blinking his round eyes, and asked:
“What?”
Pei Kanyan let out a sarcastic laugh: “Hoh.”
“There is no sound anymore.”
Mu Li crouched by the entrance, pressing one ear against the door to listen.
Outside the door, there was no sound left, but inside the door, a familiar melody suddenly began to play.
The player turned his head to look.
A music box had materialized out of thin air, playing crisp and delightful music, with the dancing figurine continuing to spin incessantly.
The two of them exchanged a glance, seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.
Mu Li leaned back in surprise: “Did you not throw that away just now?”
Pei Kanyan remained silent, following the sound as he walked over.
He inspected it carefully. There was no wind-up key, and it was indeed the previous one. The only difference was that a crack had split across the figurine’s left eye.
“It is following us.”
Mu Li nodded internally, though to be precise, it was following Assistant Teacher Pei.
Pei Kanyan picked up the fire hammer he had brought up earlier and struck the music box directly.
Mu Li stretched out his neck to watch. The music box did not have a single scratch. Despite being made of wood, it seemed harder than steel.
Thus, Assistant Teacher Pei went over to the study, opened the toolbox to retrieve a hammer, and returned.
Hand raised, hammer falling, he struck it blow after blow.
Yet the music box remained completely undamaged.
Pei Kanyan stopped his futile effort, his eyes narrowing slightly as if contemplating something.
“Let me try.”
Mu Li took out the carving pen and jabbed it forcefully into the music box.
Well, indeed, not a single trace was left.
The player looked left and right, suddenly feeling itchy-handed, and used the carving pen to gouge at the figurine’s eyes.
Pei Kanyan grabbed Mu Li’s hand to stop him, warning:
“How do you know that if you carve eyes onto it, the thing outside will not turn into something even more terrifying?”
Mu Li helplessly lowered his hand.
The player had guessed it, but the player was just curious. What would actually happen if eyes were carved onto the figurine?
Suddenly, another flurry of urgent knocking came.
Bang, bang, bang!
The monster outside seemed to have been provoked; no longer maintaining its previous calm demeanor, it began hammering frantically on the door.
Seeing that it still would not open, it even began slamming into the door, shaking the walls so violently that dust and debris fell in a rustle.
At the same time, the melody of the music box changed its tune, becoming piercingly shrill and harsh, while the figurine spun at extreme speed.
Pei Kanyan’s expression seemed somewhat annoyed. He walked up to the door, opened it, and kicked out directly at the unknown entity outside, shouting:
“Get lost!”
Mu Li also rushed to the door.
He saw that the Female Fiend was struck by a powerful force. Before her figure could even be seen clearly, she crashed straight into the opposite wall, breaking her neck and creating a deep crater in the wall.
Wow, Assistant Teacher Pei is mighty.
Even the Female Fiend had not expected someone inside the door to dare hurt her, and she was so angry that the hand holding the umbrella was trembling.
With a twist of her neck, she turned her head back, exposing a pair of eyes to the two of them that lacked pupils and were filled entirely with whites.
Mu Li watched as the monster’s health bar plummeted in a flash, only to shoot back up rapidly shortly after, until it was nearly full.
The only unhealed part was the split wound across the left eye, which was the wound inflicted earlier by the carving pen.
Come to think of it, the dancing figurine on the music box also had an injury on its left eye.
The Female Fiend levitated into the air without any point of leverage, her red lips parting into an exaggerated arc as she chanted continuously: “Give me your eyes. Give me your eyes.”
All the umbrella rib blades splayed open and she lunged rapidly toward Pei Kanyan.
Mu Li stepped forward to move in front of Assistant Teacher Pei, raising his arm to block the blades. Countless cuts instantly appeared on his arm, but he did not care.
Taking the opportunity, the player thrust his carving pen straight into the Female Fiend’s neck.
The Female Fiend shrieked in pain, swinging her umbrella horizontally to knock Mu Li flying three meters away.
The player slammed hard into the wall, his health bar dropping with a sharp snap.
Just when Mu Li thought he had drawn the monster’s aggro and was about to be targeted, who would have thought she did not attack him at all.
The Female Fiend yanked the carving pen out of her neck, tossed it casually onto the ground, and charged toward Assistant Teacher Pei once more, screaming:
“Give me your eyes!”
This monster was quite persistent.
Pei Kanyan pressed his lips into a thin line.
A woman without eyes. A woman who stayed lively even with her throat pierced.
Faced with such a bizarre scene, he did not panic out of his wits like an ordinary person.
Instead, he casually rotated his wrists, a hint of impatience flashing across his dual pupils.
The moment the Female Fiend rushed right up to him, he decisively seized the monster’s neck and pinned her flat to the floor with a burst of force.
He snapped the Female Fiend’s arm and disarmed her of her umbrella.
Mu Li blinked, and upon reacting, picked up the carving pen from the hallway and stabbed it straight into the Female Fiend’s heart.
The Female Fiend shrieked and roared, but was pinned to the ground by the carving pen, unable to rise.
One restraining, one attacking, the two of them showed an uncanny coordination.
Having temporarily immobilized the monster’s movements without a way to completely kill her, Mu Li left the carving pen planted in the Female Fiend’s heart and said to Assistant Teacher Pei:
“Let us hurry and find the key. There must be something in the master bedroom that restrains this monster.”
Pei Kanyan also stood up, a hint of coldness growing in the gaze he cast at the teenager as he stepped closer, lowering his head to lock eyes with him, and asked:
“Tell me, why did she not attack you?”