When Wen Di returned to the cabin, his face was still flushed and his heart racing.
Fu Zhen stood before him like a towering mountain, his tone cold and disdainful: “Look at you, so inexperienced. You’re covered in a woman’s scent. What, feeling pleased because someone took the initiative to flatter you?”
Wen Di was taken aback, raising his head angrily: “None of your business!”
Feeling his retort lacked force, he added: “At least someone is willing to get close to me. You walk around with that sour face every day—Yao Nana is too scared to even ask you for help. Don’t you think you’re pitiful?”
Fu Zhen gave him a cold look: “If having no one bother me is what you consider pitiful, then I suppose I am pitiful indeed.”
“……” Wen Di was speechless, unable to argue back. He pouted and left.
Twenty minutes later, Yao Nana still hadn’t appeared.
After waiting another ten minutes, there was still no sign of her.
“I’ll go check,” Wen Di said.
“Would you like me to accompany you?” Shen Wangqing stood up.
Before Wen Di could reply, Fu Zhen said coldly: “What, are you trying to take your former boss’s place? Is that why you’re so eager?”
His tone was icy yet dripping with sarcasm, unpleasant for anyone to hear.
Wen Di couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and went alone.
In the red room, the two men sat facing each other. Shen Wangqing calmly retorted: “Do you know what you remind me of right now?”
Without waiting for Fu Zhen to respond, Shen Wangqing continued: “A kindergarten child who, unable to get candy, insists the candy isn’t good. I originally wanted to say you’re like a primary school student, but even primary school students don’t act like this anymore.”
“Even primary school students would praise candy they like, even if it doesn’t end up in their mouth.”
“……”
Fu Zhen’s expression darkened instantly. He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the sofa, remained silent for a few seconds, then looked up at him and said: “Do you know what you remind me of?”
Shen Wangqing smiled: “Please, I’d love to hear it.”
Fu Zhen: “An idiot.”
Shen Wangqing’s face stiffened.
Fu Zhen stood up with a cold laugh, hands in his pockets: “Sorry, I’ve always been straightforward. For someone who casually jumps to conclusions about others, I only have these two words of evaluation. It’s not an insult, but sincere advice—I hope you take it to heart.”
“……”
Insulting him and then expecting him to accept it.
Truly a lawyer, so skilled at talking nonsense.
Shen Wangqing responded with a cold smile: “It’s fine. I’ve always been tolerant of people with foul mouths.”
“……”
Fu Zhen lowered his gaze, looking down at him: “Then I suppose we’re two of a kind.”
Shen Wangqing: “Two of a kind.”
The temperature in the red room suddenly dropped, as if both men were radiating cold air. Liu Yajun, standing nearby, felt as if he had entered an ice cellar.
He didn’t even understand what these two were arguing about.
Why were they suddenly fighting?
Since it wasn’t related to the Instance, what was there to argue about?
Is this how top players waste their time?
The test-of-courage room was tightly shut. Wen Di knocked on the door, but there was no response.
Frowning, he pushed the door open.
On the carpet in front of him, Yao Nana lay face down, motionless.
After checking, he found she had fainted from fright. Wen Di expended considerable effort to shake her awake.
As soon as Yao Nana woke up, she shrank back in fear upon seeing Wen Di. After recognizing the room around her, she threw herself into Wen Di’s arms: “Wahhhhhh.”
She began to sob loudly.
Wen Di was somewhat at a loss. After a moment’s thought, he gently pushed her away and comforted her in a low voice: “It’s over. Let’s go out first.”
Supporting the person whose legs had gone weak, the two returned to the red room.
Seeing Yao Nana crying like this, only Liu Yajun, who had not yet entered the room, looked bewildered and terrified: “Why are you crying so much? What did you see? Why did it take so long?”
He seemed heartbroken and wanted to comfort Yao Nana, but his grip on her arm was so tight it dug into her flesh: “Tell me?”
His eyes were nearly insane.
Yao Nana winced in pain and tried to pull away. Wen Di noticed and immediately stepped forward to pull Liu Yajun away, but when he met his eyes, he was startled.
Shen Wangqing walked over, grabbed Liu Yajun’s wrist, and exerted force, forcing him to let go.
Liu Yajun met Shen Wangqing’s light-colored pupils and cowardly retreated.
Fu Zhen idly twirled a small teacup in his hand, his gaze like an icy blade aimed at Liu Yajun, but he said nothing.
Yao Nana huddled in a chair, trembling and disoriented, clearly still trapped in her nightmare.
Seeing her like this, Liu Yajun grew even more frightened.
Yao Nana was an experienced Player who had survived five Instances, just like him. What could possibly scare her this much?
“Let’s go, it’s your turn now.”
Wen Di adjusted his cloak, which had been tugged askew by Yao Nana earlier, and looked at Liu Yajun.
Waiting from the first to the last, the prolonged state of tension and fear caused the thread of reason in Liu Yajun’s mind to snap—
A voice kept telling him: something would definitely happen tonight, and he couldn’t just let himself be manipulated!
As Wen Di turned away, Liu Yajun suddenly rushed forward, grabbed his neck, and pinned him against the table. His eyes were bloodshot as he pressed a small knife against Wen Di’s throat:
“Tell me quickly, what’s in that room? Those three aren’t human, so nothing happened to them, but Yao Nana and I have both survived five Instances, and she’s still this terrified. Will I die? Is there a taboo in that room? Tell me!”
At the sudden move, Shen Wangqing and Fu Zhen’s faces instantly darkened, terrifyingly sinister, as dark and oppressive as an approaching storm.
“You’re just an NPC. Killing you won’t matter. Are you afraid of dying? If you are, tell me now!”
Wen Di’s heart seemed to stop beating, his breath caught in his throat, his face pale with terror.
He tried to speak but found his throat unable to produce a sound.
The cold blade was pressed against his throat. With just a little more force from the madman before him, he would die.
Death—he had never experienced it before. But before entering the Instance, his teacher had said that “being killed” was the most common event they would face.
Wen Di’s eyelashes trembled violently, like the fluttering wings of a rain-soaked butterfly. With just a blink, tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes, tracing a path across his cheeks.
His lashes were adorned with dewdrops.
His delicate neck could not withstand the touch of the sharp blade. Even with Liu Yajun’s threatening pressure, blood seeped across the side of his neck, droplets falling onto his collarbone, a cruel and horrifying sight against his tender skin.
In his fear, Wen Di’s gaze shifted to Fu Zhen standing behind him. Fu Zhen’s eyes were icy cold.
“Save me.” Wen Di’s lips trembled, but no sound came out. More tears streamed down his face.
Fu Zhen took a deep breath.
“I’ll tell you this: if you kill him, you’ll be the one who dies tonight,” Fu Zhen suddenly spoke.
Liu Yajun indeed paused, turning to look at him: “What do you mean?”
Fu Zhen looked at him coldly. “Exactly what it means. Have you forgotten that during the first segment, Yao Nana was strangled by the curtains just for saying a few things about him? If you kill him, do you think his dead ghost husband will let you off?”
The curtains began to sway faintly once more. Liu Yajun’s hands went weak, and fear surfaced in his eyes.
His breathing grew rapid. Glancing at Yao Nana, who had curled up, he mustered his courage and asked, “Then tell me, what did you see in the room?”