Chapter 224: Transforming Community Experience (Thirty-three)
——Because it is different from other monsters, the illusion monster launches indiscriminate group attacks right from the start.
In an instant, the illusion enveloped everyone. Everyone's deep-seated fears and weaknesses were exposed by the ghost's extraordinary power.
And while they see themselves, they can also see others.
Bai Zhi paused briefly, his eyes growing solemn. He then spoke frankly, "If I hadn't been rescued by you, this secret would have been meaningless even if it had been carried to hell. To be honest, before being dragged into this survival game, I was trapped in a terrifying nightmare for a long time. And the dangers in those nightmares more or less foreshadowed the outline of this game."
In the realm of the illusionary monster, Bai Zhi naturally saw the scenes from his nightmare. But at the same time, he noticed that the scene before Awan was also a nightmare!
The three of them exchanged glances. They had already guessed Awan's identity, and even Tang Xinjue wasn't surprised that Bai Zhi was a nightmare survivor.
In fact, Tang Xin Jue has discovered that no matter whether it is Wu Shi, A Wan, Bai Zhi or her, every candidate who has experienced a nightmare will retain some characteristics to a greater or lesser extent - their skin is whiter than ordinary people, their temperament is more gloomy, their strength is stronger... Even in the copy, the level of danger they are exposed to will be higher.
But this information alone cannot constitute a reason for Awan's abnormal behavior.
Sure enough, after roughly describing the contents of the ghostly nightmare, Bai Zhi's tone suddenly became more serious: "But this nightmare is only the first half of her hallucination."
Although the illusion lasted only a few moments, he still caught a glimpse of the scene that flashed before Awan: countless ghosts condensed into a thick black fog, and another "Awan" with a younger appearance appeared on the opposite side, kneeling and kowtowing towards the black fog with a look of despair, and then was swallowed up by it.
But the next second, "Awan"'s figure rose from the black fog again, wisps of black energy filling her entire vision. At the same moment, the black fog churned, and countless figures drifted up and down! "Awan" turned her head from side to side, her lips moving, as if she was talking to someone, planning something...
Bai Zhi's strong intuition told him that this was extremely important information that he had to clarify. But when he tried to approach, Awan's face turned pale and she broke free from her illusion, just in time to meet the onlookers from Dormitory 303.
Awan: “…”
Dormitory 303: "..."
The murderous look in his eyes cannot be hidden.
Bai Zhi knew something was wrong and immediately maximized his healing ability. However, within seconds, all of this was meaningless—the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a dark wellhead. They were dragged into the building by the ghost.
Bai Zhi didn't need to elaborate on what happened next. As everyone knew, all candidates who came here would lose their special abilities. And a candidate without special abilities facing a well-prepared ghost was basically no different from a newbie giving away their heads.
"...To avoid pursuit, we dispersed. They left their ID tags with me. Even if they managed to escape once, they would come back and take the ID tags."
However, from the time he was abducted by the illusion until now, there is still no news of his roommate, and the ending is self-evident.
"What if they're still alive?" Zheng Wanqing said, puzzled. "The illusion is so strange now. The people controlled by it should have been released like you. Even if they're missing an arm or a leg, there's still a chance they're still alive."
Bai Zhi raised his head and gestured to Awan on the ground: "Because she is here."
Whatever the deal she had with the ghosts, after successfully trapping them, Awan could have easily escaped. Yet, she chose to follow them. When she encountered Tang Xinjue and his group, she set out with a clear goal of finding her "savior," Bai Zhi.
She undoubtedly has only one purpose, which is to eradicate the problem completely.
Bai Zhi's mouth was filled with a hint of coldness: "Even if my roommate didn't die at the hands of the ghost, she would have found and killed him."
Tang Xin Jue nodded: "Indeed. When she met us, she had a clear goal of finding you to repay her gratitude."
This shows that Awan was certain that the other three people in 303 were dead.
The reason why the other party was willing to increase the risk and come down to silence the witness was simply because he saw the scene in the illusion... What information did that scene contain?
Tang Xinjue looked at Bai Zhi: "You guessed part of it, right?"
Bai Zhi: "I've tried my best, but differences in perspective, cognition, and information will affect the results of my speculation. But I think, at least on one point, I should be right."
Guo Guo said bewilderedly: "...I don't know what you two have guessed, but I don't know anything at the moment. There are still two minutes left. If there is still time, would you mind revealing it?"
Bai Zhi: "You are also a nightmare experiencer."
Tang Xin Jue: "Yes."
For those who have also come out of a nightmare, the scenes in Awan's dream are actually not difficult to understand.
She surrendered.
Survival in a nightmare often depends on a sense of strength. Once this strength is lost, the will to live will also disappear.
However, unlike what they imagined, "surrendering" to the nightmare did not seem to lead to physical death, but to another strange development:
Not only is Awan still alive, she can also enter the dungeon exam normally, pass the level and level up... everything seems to be the same as usual.
If Bai Zhi and the others had not discovered her special connection with the ghosts, it is very likely that no one would have discovered this until the end of the copy, not to mention that the secret scenes in the second half of the other party's illusion revealed that there were probably many more people like Awan.
Thinking of this, the four of them almost simultaneously thought. As they exchanged glances, Tang Xin Jue asked, "Do you remember the 'Snitch' from the dormitory friendship league?"
The same special identity hidden in the crowd, the same number of people, and the same special connection with ghosts. Isn't it a bit too similar?
"At the time, we thought it was just a setting in the dungeon," Bai Zhi fell into deep thought. "Now that I think about it, maybe it was a hint given by the game a long time ago."
The existence of people like Awan may be a huge and dangerous variable for countless ordinary candidates.
As for what she had experienced, there was no time to study it in detail now - the time was up, and the four of them fell silent at the same time. Not long after, they heard heavy footsteps in the corridor.
That's the sound of the human body splicing monster.
As planned, they held their breath and waited. They heard footsteps approaching, pausing briefly at a corner before turning into a corridor.
The bet was right!
Counting the heavy footsteps gradually fading away, at a certain moment, Tang Xinjue suddenly said, "Let's go."
“Hiss…”
As the glass door entrance they came from gradually came into view, the ghosts in the distance seemed to sense something was wrong, and their footsteps quickly turned around and approached the four people.
"run!"
The four of them knew very well that once they were caught and started fighting, all kinds of other ghosts and monsters would come following the sound.
They sprinted without hesitation. Zheng Wanqing and Bai Zhi were both unable to carry the unconscious Awan, so they threw her forward one by one as they ran until she was finally in Tang Xinjue's hands. She pushed open the glass door.
The moment it comes into contact with the outside air, all its supernatural powers return.
Following this, Awan's tightly closed eyelids suddenly jumped and were about to open!
However, before Awan could jump up, another pair of slender hands grabbed her forehead and pushed her back down.
Tang Xin Jue: "Don't be in such a hurry to wake up, it's not your turn yet."
Awan: “…”
[Spiritual Blade: In fact, interfering with the minds of others is like a sharp blade without a handle - that is, no matter which end you use, the other party will not even think of trying.]
The irresistible command fell directly from her mind, and Awan cast a last, unwilling glance inside the door. In the last scene before she lost consciousness again, Zheng Wanqing and Guo Guo had already rushed out of the building, Bai Zhi was only one step behind them, and the human body monster was also closing in on them.
"Victory" was in sight, but no one relaxed, because they knew that even leaving the building would not be the same as escaping death.
Not only can they come out, but ghosts can too!
"Holy Light— Eternal ."
The next second after stepping out of the door, Bai Zhi suddenly turned around and used the skill he had just recovered on the ghost that was nearby.
In an instant, the pure white light that belonged only to healers enveloped the monster's huge body, injecting countless vitality into it.
Wan Qing, who had just pulled out her fist to finish off the opponent, responded: "?"
Before she could ask the other party why he was treating the ghost, she saw the splicing monster in the center of the light twitching wildly, and a pair of arms quickly grew out next to the two arms belonging to Bai Zhi!
Then came the third pair, the fourth pair... The monster's legs also began to deform and split, as if countless limbs were drilling out of the body at the same time, forcibly tearing the monster into pieces!
Bai Zhi said quietly, "This healing skill can help a person grow back lost limbs. However, the number of limbs the target previously possessed is not considered by this skill."
Since it likes to take other people's limbs so much, it will take as much as it wants this time.
After rapidly expanding like a soaked fungus, the mutated human body monster blocked the door tightly by itself, even saving the four people the time to deal with other pursuers, and easily climbed up the shaft.
"Huh, I can finally see Sister You!" Guo Guo climbed up hopefully: "Next we can leave the food court, then leave the entertainment venue, and then..."
"Food Street?"
Bai Zhi suddenly spoke up, and his movements paused for a moment. He seemed to realize something and asked again: "When you came down, was there a place called Food Street outside?"
Guo Guo was confused: "Yeah, didn't we all come from the same place?"
"...No, wait." Her expression suddenly changed, and she thought: "You can't be?"
Bai Zhi let out a deep breath: "When I fell down, there was a narrow street of used clothing outside."
Guo Guo: “???”
At the top, Tang Xinjue closed his eyes and opened them again, and he already knew the scene outside the manhole cover.
She shook her head. "It seems we've overlooked one thing: there are no fixed coordinates in the casino."
Here, no matter where you fall, it is really difficult to climb back up from the same place. Even if it is the same sewer, they may be in two completely different positions when entering and exiting.
Zheng Wanqing immediately asked, "Is our spiritual connection still there? Can we contact Zhang You?"
"We've made contact," Tang Xinjue said calmly. "Zhang You said she's still squatting in the food street area. The exit has been moving in a circle around her for half an hour."
It was obvious that the food vendors in the food court had kept their distance from the four members of 606, and were very reluctant to let Zhang You recruit the other three.
Zhang You quickly understood the situation: "Should I go out now?"
Tang Xin Jue: "No, you negotiate terms with them first."
Zhang You suddenly understood: "Talk about conditions? Then [they] mean..."
Tang Xin Jue: "Whoever wants you to leave immediately, negotiate with them. Let them make a direct route to us, without any detours or dangers. Otherwise, you will wait here until the three of us come back to find you."
"—After all, the desire of three people is always greater than that of one person."
Tang Xinjue's voice could be heard throughout the food court on the phone that was played at full volume.
Foods: "..."
