Xu Xingyuan stepped back a few paces, avoiding Chu Xiu’s gaze.
Chu Xiu stared at Xu Xingyuan for a full minute, his hand on the hilt of his blade the entire time, looking ready to draw it at any moment.
This scene was caught by the short-haired glasses lady, Xu Qing. She nudged the muscular man with her elbow, gloating:
“This newbie is really unlucky. Before being killed by ghosts, he’s going to be cut down by a big shot.”
Chu Xiu was a renowned Item Hunter on the Leaderboard.
Although she didn’t know why a big shot like him would come to a mere D-Rank dungeon, his presence meant this run was secure.
Xu Qing signaled her boyfriend, Lin Feng, with her eyes.
He understood immediately.
Their original plan was to take the traditional route, collecting clues bit by bit to complete the main mission.
The main mission of a D-Rank dungeon wasn’t particularly hard.
As veteran players of several dungeons, they knew that as long as they found the triggers for death conditions and gathered clues within the time limit, they could clear it smoothly.
They hadn’t expected to encounter a Leaderboard big shot here.
Now they could just slack off!
Xu Qing’s plan was to use the lives of the four newbies to explore the death conditions.
Shi Shu was actually a veteran player, but because he had a “silly sweet” face, he was automatically categorized as a newbie.
Including Xu Xingyuan and Shi Shu, the four newbies had already been discarded by Xu Qing.
Xu Xingyuan had no idea he had become a stepping stone in someone else’s eyes.
He had braced himself to fight desperately if Chu Xiu charged over.
But the other party just stared at him for another minute, then slowly looked away and actively put distance between them.
“Where the hell is this!”
The other college couple in the corner finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up.
The boy, dressed in designer brands and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, impatiently pushed away his still-weeping girlfriend and shouted:
“I don’t care what kind of trick you’re playing! Let me out right now, immediately!”
His name was Deng Ming, a rich second generation.
He had just taken his little girlfriend, Wang Zhen, up the mountain for a vacation yesterday. Who knew that upon opening his eyes, he would be here?
Deng Ming thought he and Wang Zhen had been kidnapped by these people.
“How much money do you want to let us go?”
Deng Ming pulled a thick stack of cash from his pocket and threw it into the center of the hall like trash.
Xu Qing was amused by this stupid scene. Pushing up her glasses, she mocked:
“Seems you haven’t figured out the situation yet. RMB is the most useless thing here.”
Presumably, in real life, no one dared to speak to Deng Ming with this attitude.
His expression changed. Just as he was about to explode—
The side door suddenly opened.
The participant count for this dungeon was 7. With the arrival of the last player, Chu Xiu, the dungeon officially began.
The newcomer was a fifty-year-old butler, well-dressed and elegant, with slightly graying hair and a monocle.
Wearing a kind smile, he greeted everyone proactively:
“Welcome, everyone, to be guests at Gloomy Torii Castle. In these seven days, I hope you have fun.”
A short sentence, but it revealed a key piece of information.
The time limit for this mission was seven days.
The main mission had to be completed within seven days.
The butler’s gaze swept inadvertently across the crowd, finally landing on Xu Xingyuan, where it paused abruptly.
Then, he looked away without a trace and continued to speak dutifully:
“This castle is full of memories of the Duke and the Rose Madam. So, guests, please do not touch the Madam’s relics while you play.”
Hearing this, Shi Shu quietly tugged Xu Xingyuan’s arm and whispered in his ear:
“That sentence revealed the first death condition: the Madam’s relics! We can’t touch anything related to the Madam!”
The dungeon name was Gloomy Torii Castle.
The main mission was “Who killed the Madam, and whom did the Madam kill?”
All signs pointed to the Madam. She was both the victim and the perpetrator.
However, the butler specifically warned not to touch any items related to the Madam, invisibly increasing the difficulty of the mission.
Shi Shu patted his chest and said to Xu Xingyuan with confidence, “Don’t worry, Bro will carry you this time!”
Xu Xingyuan, who was carrying at least four heaven-defying S-Rank items but looked weak and harmless to outsiders, hugged Cat-Nian tight and nodded obediently.
After the butler entered the main hall, the candles on the walls lit up automatically, emitting a faint halo.
The environment had been too dim before. With the light source, Xu Xingyuan could see the portraits hanging on the walls clearly.
There were about a dozen paintings, all depicting the same woman.
She was petite, with long blonde curly hair and emerald green eyes. Her dress was magnificent and expensive, but her eyes revealed deep sorrow.
Every painting had a different pose, yet they made Xu Xingyuan feel uncomfortable.
Not just because of the Madam’s melancholic and sad expression in the portraits, but also because of the feeling of being stared at.
People often say paintings have souls.
When an artist paints with love, the subjects in the painting carry an atmosphere of happiness and joy.
The butler noticed Xu Xingyuan’s gaze and volunteered:
“The portraits on the wall were all painted by the Duke himself for the Madam. No one in this world loved the Madam more than the Duke.”
“But ever since the Madam passed away, the Master’s health has deteriorated. He caught a serious illness and has been bedridden for a long time. Presumably, he misses the Madam too much and is sick from grief.”
Xu Xingyuan nodded but remained silent.
Shi Shu was touched. Pulling on Xu Xingyuan’s sleeve, he whispered, “What a divine, beautiful love story!”
Xu Xingyuan held back, but seeing Shi Shu’s “silly sweet” look, he finally whispered:
“Don’t you think these paintings are weird?”
“Huh? Weird how?”
“Like observing someone through surveillance… To put it plainly, the feeling of a human looking at a caged bird, looking at a collectible.”
After Xu Xingyuan said this, a chill ran down Shi Shu’s spine!
Putting himself in Xu Xingyuan’s perspective, he re-examined the portraits.
Then Shi Shu discovered that if he added a golden cage around the Madam, the style instantly became much more harmonious!
“I wasn’t kidnapped here by you people to listen to some bullshit love story!”
Rich kid Deng Ming, suppressing his anger, grabbed his still-scared girlfriend and dragged her towards the main entrance of the castle.
Deng Ming grabbed the door handle and pulled hard.
The door didn’t budge. There was no trace of light coming through.
Deng Ming’s face changed!
All of them were locked inside the castle.