Chapter 13 The Tunnel

Several paintings hung on the walls of the first-floor living room. Most resembled the work of mental patients, filled with phantasms and obscure imagery. Only one stood out as being less abstract.

This painting depicted the interior of a narrow, rectangular tunnel. The walls were low, smooth, and white, unbroken and unadorned. The path ahead appeared to slope downwards. It was somewhat like… no, it was remarkably like a tomb. Subtle details suggested the tunnel was buried deep underground. There was no visible exit or artificial light source in the painting. The artist had somehow imbued the scene with an eerie, incongruous light.

Feng Bujue stared at the painting for about five seconds. His gaze seemed to freeze in place. An unknown force prevented him from speaking or moving. The next moment, darkness obscured his vision, and he could see nothing. Soon after, when he regained the ability to move, he took out a flashlight from his backpack, turned it on, and saw that he was in the tunnel depicted in the painting.

He didn't understand the principle behind this teleportation, nor did he know if Xiao Tan and Long Ge had seen him leave. But whether they had or not, he would likely have to rely on his own strength to get out of this place.

Behind him was a stone wall. He pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge. The ceiling was low, and there was obviously no escape route above. Feng Bujue sighed, took out the [Eye of Hatred] from his backpack and put it on. He held the flashlight in one hand and a pipe wrench in the other, and began to walk downhill along the tunnel.

With [Jazz Dance] on his feet, Feng Bujue wasn't worried about losing Stamina Points due to exploration. He didn't care how far he had to walk. With 1100 Stamina Points, plus the equipment's effects that reduced Stamina consumption while walking and running, he could moonwalk all the way. Even if there was a Devil's Castle down here, he was confident he could map it all out.

After walking along the tunnel for about ten minutes, Feng Bujue's flashlight suddenly flickered a few times. He shook it and tapped the barrel, thinking, "Low battery? Impossible... I barely used it in the last script. Bad contact? Even less likely. This thing says 'mAde_in_ChinA' on it, so the quality is definitely..."

Suddenly, a strange whisper came from ahead: "Let me out..."

The voice came from about ten meters in front of Feng Bujue. He shifted his gaze from the flashlight and looked in that direction. But at that moment, the light from the flashlight completely disappeared, plunging him into darkness.

Then, the flashlight flickered briefly, just enough to illuminate a solitary white figure standing ahead. Judging by the silhouette, it was a woman. She was covered in wounds, emaciated, and her white clothes were stained with blood. Because he only saw her for a short time, coupled with the poor lighting and distance, Feng Bujue couldn't make out her face at all.

The light vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Feng Bujue was once again plunged into darkness, leaving only the terrifying image imprinted on his retinas. Then he heard another mournful cry.

"Let me out!" Immediately afterward, he heard the sound of a body coming into contact with wood in the darkness, a scraping and banging sound, along with the creaking of hinges. Another extremely distant sound faintly carried through... as if someone was wailing in anguish deep within this underground copper corridor.

About thirty seconds passed, and the flashlight returned to normal, no longer flickering, emitting a steady beam of light.

After encountering the scene just now, Feng Bujue not only didn't change his expression but even let out a sigh of relief. "So, the flashlight isn't broken, it was just plot-induced flickering..."

At this moment, another system notification sounded: [Side Quest Progress Updated]

Feng Bujue checked, and the current progress of the quest [Find All Six Stanzas of 'Ghost Palace'] had become 2/6. Presumably, someone else had found another stanza, but the specific content couldn't be seen in the quest log.

Meanwhile, Wang Tanzhi and Long Aomin, who were on the first floor, were squatting by the fireplace in the kitchen, looking at the second stanza of "Ghost Palace" written on the brick wall with a coal-ash-like black substance.

[The King's banners shine golden,

Fluttering and waving atop the hall.

All of this is a past remembrance,

Of days when the breeze was light,

Beautiful and peaceful.

Along the white palace walls,

A dark fragrance flits away.]

"Ah... I don't understand any of it!" Wang Tanzhi had forgotten most of it after reading it. He went to the fireplace, looked up, and stuck his head inside, trying to see the condition of the chimney.

After getting his face covered in black, he came out and said, "Hey... it's too narrow, I definitely can't climb out."

At first, Long Aomin didn't seem to pay attention to him. Wang Tanzhi didn't care too much. But a few seconds later, Wang Tanzhi turned around and found Long Aomin's expression was very strange. His eyes were wide open, and his mouth was moving as if he was speaking loudly, but Xiao Tan didn't hear a single word.

This bizarre scene made Wang Tanzhi's hair stand on end. Then he realized something... at this moment, his own voice wasn't coming out of his throat either.

The following situation was terrifying to those involved, but anyone watching would definitely find it hilarious.

The two people who didn't know any sign language were gesticulating wildly, vividly expressing themselves with expressions and lip movements for a long time, but in the end, neither of them understood what the other was saying...

I think the most suitable lines for this scene would be: "Are you crazy?" "Do you have medicine?" "How much do you have?" "How much do you take?" "Take as much as you have!" "You take as much as there is!" "Are you crazy!"...

But in reality, the content of what they were saying was:

Wang Tanzhi: "What's going on? What are you saying? What do your gestures mean?"

Long Aomin: "It's that black stuff on your face that's causing this!"

From Long Aomin's perspective, it was clear that the black coal ash on Wang Tanzhi's face was like a "living" mask, now making a grotesque smile. This "black face" expression had nothing to do with what expression Xiao Tan himself was making, as if it were a painting floating on his face.

Finally, Long Aomin came up with an idea. He found a rag in the messy kitchen, held it in front of his face, and at a distance, made a clockwise wiping motion. Then, he pointed at the rag and then at Wang Tanzhi's face.

The latter seemed to understand, took the cloth, and without thinking, covered his face and wiped it for a while. When he took the cloth away, both of them simultaneously regained the ability to speak normally.

"Wow! What kind of monster is this?" Wang Tanzhi looked at the rag in his hand. The "black face" was like a print on the cloth, maintaining the complete human face shape, transferred from Xiao Tan's face to the rag. At this moment, Xiao Tan's face was clean, without any black ash.

"Although I don't know what the system's purpose is in setting this thing up..." Long Aomin then realized that this black face, which had no real killing power and wasn't particularly scary, seemed to have no reason to be here other than to express a kind of system malice toward the players.

"But I think it's safer to burn it." Long Aomin took the mask and found two flints near a stove...