WTNL Chapter 240

(2/4)

Changsheng Building
Chapter 240: Everyone is happy

In the pitch-black mourning hall.

The scarlet coffin lid was tightly shut, sitting alone in the center of the hall. The bride’s corpse that had been standing stiffly beside the coffin was nowhere to be seen.

The vast mourning hall was empty and desolate, with the crimson of the wedding and the bleakness of the funeral creating an extremely eerie space.

The air was deathly silent, like a tomb where no one had survived.

Suddenly…

“Creak—”

The sharp sound of wood scraping against wood broke the silence in the hall.

In the darkness, the scarlet, icy coffin lid began to move slowly, being pushed open bit by bit from the inside.

Finally, the heavy wooden board fell to the ground with a “bang,” kicking up a cloud of dust.

Wen Jianyan, with a pale face, stumbled and crawled out of the coffin, his legs still weak, relying on his arms to support himself to avoid collapsing to the ground as he emerged.

“Ugh—”

He supported himself on the coffin lid with trembling hands, bent over, and retched painfully.

In Wen Jianyan’s hand, gripping the edge of the coffin, was a red veil.

His fingers were spasming and white from the force, with fresh blood dripping from the crumpled edge of the veil, forming a small puddle on the ground.

A hair’s breadth.

This was the only term Wen Jianyan could think of to describe it.

If he hadn’t used the steelyard to lift the veil from the corpse at the last moment, he had no doubt he would have died, becoming a trapped soul in the coffin, forever accompanied by this corpse.

It was terrifying.

Even just thinking about it sent chills through Wen Jianyan, making his hair stand on end.

Even now, the stench of decay and blood from the sealed coffin seemed to linger in his nose, and the sight of the slightly swaying red veil flashed before his eyes.

“……”

Thinking of this, Wen Jianyan, who had just started to feel a bit better, felt his stomach churn again.

With a pale face, he forcibly suppressed the urge and slowly straightened up.

After a brief, tense silence, the live stream titled “Integrity First” finally became active again:

[Damn it…]

[Oh my, I can finally breathe…]

[I didn’t even dare to take a breath just now. I forgot to send any messages; I felt like the streamer was going to die any second.]

[Yeah, I felt the same. That’s why there were no messages for a whole minute. Without you guys here, I was really scared!]

[That was so close! If the anchor hadn’t grabbed the steelyard, he really would have ended up as a ghostly companion to that corpse in the coffin.]

[Exactly!!]

[Oh, it feels so good to breathe normally again. I was so scared that my heart stopped. Too thrilling. As an old man, I can’t take this much excitement.]

Wen Jianyan looked up instinctively at the coffin in front of him.

Inside the coffin, now missing its lid, lay a lifeless corpse in a wedding dress, motionless, with its pale, blotchy hands crossed over its abdomen and the bright red nail polish on its nails glaringly conspicuous.

The bride’s corpse’s red veil had disappeared, revealing a blank face with no features.

Even though it was still the same person, without the red veil, the corpse fell into a complete stillness, like a real dead body, significantly reducing the level of terror it induced.

It seemed as though the veil had imbued the corpse with a more terrifying quality, creating a strong sense of oppression. Once the prop was removed, it naturally returned to its original state, matching the difficulty level of the painting.

This was completely different from the extremely terrifying corpse released from the mirror world in the building. Instead, it was more similar to the male corpse on the first floor and the child corpse in the second painting.

Wen Jianyan took a breath and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

In any case, the curse in this painting had been resolved.

Even though he had borrowed some safety from the curse in the painting, which prevented an attack in the early stages, Wen Jianyan could barely break through. He couldn’t imagine how dangerous it would be if a team of normal anxhors entered here.

It would likely be a total wipeout.

Wen Jianyan looked down at the child’s corpse in his arms.

With the suppression from the bride’s corpse’s curse gone, the child’s curse began to regain its strength. Accompanied by the gradually strengthening wails, the cold sensation started to spread from where it touched, and corpse spots began to appear and spread.

No matter what, he had indeed relied on some luck.

If the curse in the painting hadn’t been there, he would have been swallowed by the darkness during this process.

But this did not mean the crisis was over.

Wen Jianyan dared not linger any longer, quickening his pace towards the room on the west side.

However, just as he stepped over the threshold of the north room—

In the next second, his arms suddenly felt lighter.

His heart sank as he quickly looked down at his arms. The crying infant corpse had vanished without warning, and a deathly silence fell over his ears.

Without the cries to shield him, the surrounding darkness immediately closed in, countless cold whispers invading his senses, as if they had instantly become aware of this “human” presence.

Wen Jianyan: “…”

So whatever you fear just happens, right?!!!

*

Meanwhile, in the shop.

What should have been the most dangerous place in the entire building now appeared especially quiet and peaceful.

Since the cursed Wen Jianyan entered the painting, the deadly cries that kept the streamers confined to the counter had disappeared, allowing those left in the shop to dodge danger by tracking the blood droplets’ fall.

Although Wen Jianyan’s departure gave them a significant respite, as time passed, the blood began to fall faster and more densely, rapidly reducing the safe areas in the shop.

The blood puddles on the ground gradually connected, revealing the faint, still figures in red within. As the danger level increased, their room for movement became more restricted, making evasion increasingly difficult.

Just as the people were about to reach their limit…

Without warning, the blood on the shop’s ceiling suddenly stopped flowing, and the puddles on the ground vanished as if waking from a dream, leaving only a heavy smell of blood.

“…!”

Everyone left in the shop was stunned, not expecting this to happen. They exchanged glances, seeing the same shocked expressions in each other’s eyes.

The disappearance of the blood meant that the curse in the painting had stopped spreading.

…Success?!

The crazy move to carry the curse from the first painting into the second to obtain the source of the curse had actually succeeded?

Wu Ya and Wei Cheng stared blankly at the spot where the figure had disappeared, their expressions half-dazed and half-incredulous.

It felt like everything that had just happened was completely beyond their imagination, but on closer reflection… it seemed entirely within reason.

Mu Sen, in a daze, subconsciously lowered his head and looked into his palm.

The wooden plaque was already covered with dense, spiderweb-like cracks and, under his gaze, let out a light “crack.”

The next second…

The wooden plaque shattered into powder, drifting lightly from between his fingers.

The deathtrap was broken.

Again.

Wei Cheng took a deep breath, steadied himself, and turned to Wu Ya: “Hey, you sent a message to the captain earlier, right?”

Wu Ya nodded: “Of course.”

Just as Wen Jianyan had entered the painting, Wu Ya quickly reacted and sent a message to Orange Candy, who was inside another painting, telling her not to retrieve the curse’s source, or else everyone would be doomed. Although he wasn’t sure if Orange Candy could still read team messages inside the painting, it was worth a try.

Mu Sen looked up at the spot where Wen Jianyan had disappeared, slowly narrowing his eyes.

The events unfolding now made him realize that his previous escape from a deathtrap was definitely related to that person.

Although Mu Sen had placed an insect egg on the other person, theoretically allowing him to kill him at any time, he still felt a sense of unease.

After all, someone who could defy fate and repeatedly break deathtraps… whether as an opponent or as prey, was too terrifying.

At this point, Mu Sen couldn’t confidently say that he could definitely kill the other person.

So, rather than facing him head-on after he left the painting, it would be better to…

Eliminate the threat in its infancy.

Mu Sen put his hand behind his back and quietly lit up his phone screen.

Everyone turned their eyes to the depths of the shop, focusing on the seemingly empty but actually connected blood-red furniture, holding their breath.

In the life-and-death crisis within the painting, did Orange Candy have a chance to read the team messages? If so… how many messages did she see?

Who would come?

If it were the prophet who had ventured alone into the most dangerous area, it would mean that after accomplishing such an unbelievable feat, he had miraculously survived. But on the contrary, if the ones appearing in the shop were their captain and teammates…

The curse’s disappearance before they left the painting would mean that without its protection, everyone would die in the darkness.

Though everyone had their own thoughts, they couldn’t help but grow nervous.

In the dim shop, the oil lamp burned steadily, emitting a faint light, as time passed second by second.

Suddenly, a new figure appeared deep within the shop!

Two people, one tall and one short, abruptly appeared in front of the low bed—it was Orange Candy, bringing her teammate back from the painting.

It seemed…

The gambler had ultimately lost to time and luck. Although he had resolved the curse within the painting, he had also perished there.

Could this really be the ending?

Wei Cheng and Wu Ya’s faces showed a trace of astonishment.

Even though their interaction was brief and they barely exchanged a few words, just the short time they spent together in the building under the crisis gave them a glimpse of the strength and incredible depth hidden beneath the seemingly frail exterior of the other person.

No matter his understanding of the instance rules, his decisive and tough approach to crises, his terrifyingly sharp intuition, or his almost insane bravery, none of these traits seemed typical.

To the extent that…

Even realizing that the other person had perished, they couldn’t help but be stunned, as if their subconscious minds believed such a thing was impossible.

Meanwhile, Mu Sen let out a long breath, slowly putting his phone back into his pocket.

Thank goodness.

Fortunately, he was dead.

The guy had broken the curse in the painting but ultimately remained there, not only lifting their crisis but also saving him the trouble of taking action himself.

In any case, with the crisis averted and the person dead, he could now complete his task without any hindrance, seeking out the true prophet.

It wasn’t just a win; it was a double win.

In the darkness, Orange Candy and her team approached.

Orange Candy surveyed the room, noticing the varied expressions of everyone, and frowned slightly:

“What happened? Why do you all look like that?”

She noticed the missing person and frowned even deeper: “Where is she?”

Wei Cheng snapped out of his daze and began recounting what had just happened in the shop. However, before he could finish, Orange Candy impatiently interrupted him:

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

Wei Cheng was stunned: “What?”

Orange Candy said irritably, “I obviously know what happened. Didn’t you send me a message earlier?”

“Huh?” This time, Wu Ya was also stunned. “Wait, didn’t you solve the crisis within the painting directly?”

“Of course not.”

Orange Candy sneered and tilted her head, “I saw the message. Didn’t I just wait for you to say the danger was over before I went to get the key item?”

Wei Cheng and Wu Ya were dumbfounded. They looked at each other, seeing the same shock in each other’s eyes.

What?

None of them had—

The next second, they seemed to realize something; their pupils contracted sharply, and they turned to look at Mu Sen:

“Wait, it was you—”

“Yes, it was me.”

Under everyone’s gaze, Mu Sen admitted it without hesitation.

The gaunt-faced man stood not far away, his already terrible complexion looking even more ghastly under the oil lamp. There was a hint of coldness in his gray eyes:

“You haven’t forgotten, right? That person is an enemy. By doing this, we saved a lot of effort, didn’t we?”

“Isn’t this outcome good?”

Mu Sen showed a hidden and pleasant smile: “Everyone is happy.”

“Ring ring ring!”

The familiar telephone ringing sounded.

Once they answered, the path to the fourth floor would appear.

“…”

Orange Candy stared at Mu Sen for a moment, then slowly approached him. This time, she didn’t make any harsh remarks or show any signs of hostility. She even appeared unusually calm.

“Captain, you must understand,” Mu Sen said, “I am also carrying out our team’s task…”

Orange Candy stood in front of Mu Sen.

She looked up, staring at him expressionlessly, the faint light of the oil lamp reflected in her pitch-black eyes.

But strangely, the small figure exuded a terrifying sense of pressure.

“Wa-wait a moment…” Cold sweat broke out on Mu Sen’s forehead, “You must remember, no matter what, I am also one of the Oracle’s people. Our cooperation—”

“Cooperation is over.”

Orange Candy said it lightly.

“Wha—?”

Mu Sen’s pupils contracted.

“Don’t worry. Since we signed the contract, I won’t go back on my word. I won’t lay a hand on you.”

Orange Candy shrugged and said.

But before Mu Sen could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard the other person’s cold voice continue:

“But I really hate people who stab others in the back.”

“I hope you’re lucky enough not to encounter me in future instances.”

The childlike figure tilted her head with a playful smile and said in a seemingly joking tone:

“Next time we meet, I will kill you.”

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