WTNL Chapter 294

(16/20)

Xingwang Hotel
Chapter 294: Yes, I am satisfied.

Blond noticed that, after he handed over the painting, the deathly pale corpse clinging to him slowly released its grip, and the sinking sensation lessened.

Seizing the opportunity, Chen Mo and Yun Bilan clumsily pulled him up from the deep water.

“…”

Soaked and panting, Blond returned to solid ground.

Not far away, the pool of water grew still, as if the bottomless abyss and the terrifying corpse crawling from it had never appeared. The shallow water lay undisturbed in the depression of the stone-paved path, looking just as it had before.

Although Blond was temporarily pulled from the pond, the danger had not entirely disappeared.

Chen Mo and Yun Bilan, rushing to his aid, hadn’t paid attention to their shadows. In just a few seconds, they both felt an unmistakable weight pressing down on them, and in the faint reflections on the ground, they could see pallid limbs draped heavily over their bodies.

“Watch out for your shadows in the water!”

Wen Jianyan shouted sharply, “Keep running!”

The group broke into a sprint once more.

Wen Jianyan quickly realized he’d been “targeted.” Although he took great care to avoid stepping into any puddles, he could still catch, out of the corner of his eye, a pale, smiling face watching him intently from below the water’s surface, as if it was lying in wait.

The ripples distorted its face, creating a doubled image that left an eerie sense of inescapability.

The farther they ran, the harder the stone path became to navigate, and the more puddles there were.

Wen Jianyan slipped, his foot sinking down.

He looked down.

His foot was caught in a shallow puddle, and beneath the rippling surface, pale fingers and a hauntingly smiling face were pulling him downward.

From below the water, the bloated corpse reached up, and perhaps because it was so close this time, Wen Jianyan could make out faint white specters drifting behind the corpse, shifting left and right, shadowing its every movement like hovering spirits.

Wen Jianyan’s heart skipped a beat.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

He jerked his head up and shouted at Yun Bilan, who was running ahead:

“Hey! Catch!”

With that, he pulled a crumpled piece of canvas from his pocket and flung it forward.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcat room barrage:

[…]

[…]

[Damn, a relay race?]

[Checking into the hotel, now with complimentary air service.]

[Hahaha damn, guest: Thank you very much.]

While running, Yun Bilan deftly caught the canvas that Wen Jianyan tossed over. “Got it!”

The moment the canvas left his hand, Wen Jianyan felt the pull on his legs disappear.

He reacted quickly; his leg hadn’t sunk as deeply as Blond’s, so, even without any help, he managed to climb out of the pool himself.

“Chen Mo, hurry!”

Wen Jianyan shouted, “You’re up next!”

Chen Mo understood immediately and picked up his pace.

The stone path from the ruined building to the hotel’s entrance wasn’t long; for an adult in a full sprint, it would take less than a minute. Despite the heavy burden dragging down their steps, they were still steadily approaching their destination with caution.

Only a few steps remained.

At the doorway.

“…Captain, you make the call—should we do it?”

The group turned toward Zhong Shan, waiting for his decision.

Standing by the entrance, Zhong Shan clenched his jaw, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes as he hesitated to answer.

He watched as Wen Jianyan and the others drew closer—

Finally, he seemed to reach a decision and nodded slowly.

“All right.”

Very quickly, Wen Jianyan and his team arrived at the final stretch of the stone path.

Light rain drizzled down, soaking their clothes with damp, icy cold that penetrated to the bone.

He lifted his gaze toward the door up ahead that was left wide open.

Suddenly, Wen Jianyan’s eyes narrowed.

At some point, the positioning within the other team had shifted. The group that had been waiting at the entrance now subtly changed their stance, blocking their path.

“…”

Almost without needing to think, Wen Jianyan instantly understood the current situation.

He slowed his pace and came to a stop.

It looked like… the other side was no longer satisfied with the agreement they’d previously made and was planning to take it all.

In the nightmare realm, such betrayals were all too common.

Even though they both belonged to the Red faction, the human heart was a closed book. Here, if one wanted to survive better, they had to learn to seize and encroach on others’ survival space.

Zhong Shan took a step forward, extending his hand toward Wen Jianyan:

“The painting?”

He said nothing more; there was no need for any additional explanation.

Faced with this situation, no experienced anchor would naïvely ask “why,” as it was well-known that in the nightmare realm, rules were made by the strong, and the weak had no say.

At this moment, their team had far superior numbers, giving them an undeniable advantage.

Wen Jianyan raised a hand, wiping the rain from his face.

He glanced back over his shoulder.

The painting was with Chen Mo. At his current speed, he’d still need about two more minutes to get there.

There were less than ten minutes left until the door closed.

Wen Jianyan gauged the situation.

He looked back at Zhong Shan and his group blocking the doorway, then suddenly smiled, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender:

“All right, of course.”

The members of Zhong Shan’s team exchanged glances.

It seemed the other side was still quite sensible.

Zhong Shan extended his hand. “Toss the painting over.”

“First of all, the painting isn’t with me,” Wen Jianyan shrugged. “You probably noticed just now; the last person to handle the painting was my teammate, who should be here in a minute or two.”

“And… unfortunately, your credibility is just too low for me to take the risk,” Wen Jianyan sighed, speaking evenly.

He lifted his rain-drenched eyelashes, his light-colored eyes locked unwaveringly on the other side. “If I toss the painting to you, how can I be certain you’ll let us leave?”

“If, after receiving the painting, you turn and seal the hotel entrance behind you, wouldn’t we be completely out of options?”

It was entirely within reason and logical that someone who intended to betray at the last moment, seeking to take everything, might choose to eliminate them after getting what they wanted, leaving them no chance for revenge.

Growing impatient, Zhong Shan scowled, “So you plan to go head-to-head with us?”

He growled menacingly, “You better think twice—if a fight breaks out here, it’ll be you who dies—”

“No, no,” Wen Jianyan interrupted, shaking his head.

He ran a hand through his wet hair and said with a touch of elegance, “I’m not reckless; I fully understand the wisdom of knowing when to yield. I’m more than willing to trade the painting for our lives—I just need a little guarantee.”

“…”

Zhong Shan narrowed his eyes. “What kind of guarantee?”

“You, and those two over there…”

Wen Jianyan casually swept his gaze over the teammates behind Zhong Shan, then pointed at two of them, gesturing with a hand. “Come over.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s simple: we make the exchange fairly, hand-to-hand.”

Wen Jianyan looked intently at him. “Once my teammate arrives, I’ll personally hand over the painting to you. And since you’re the captain, having you near us is the only way we can believe you’ll let us return to the Xingwang Hotel.”

“There are three of you here; even if my teammate arrives—there would only be two of us… if we were to go back on our word, you’d still have the upper hand, wouldn’t you?”

“…”

Zhong Shan hesitated in silence.

“Or are you saying you’re not willing to take even that small risk?”

Wen Jianyan tilted his head:

“In that case, I’ll have to reassess whether you genuinely intend to let us go.”

He continued to smile, though he shook his head in mock regret. “If that’s the case… we might have no choice but to go down together.”

The young man’s voice was soft, but it carried an undeniable sense of danger.

Although their numbers were several times greater than the opposing side’s, and they held a definite advantage, if the other side decided to resist to the end, conflict might still be unavoidable. The deadly rain continued to fall, and there were less than ten minutes left until the lights in Xingwang Hotel came on. Any confrontation here was clearly perilous.

Of course, they would definitely win.

After all, there was only one door, and it was guarded by their people; it would be easy to trap the opposing team here permanently.

But it was clear the other team wasn’t made up of novices. Even if they managed to snatch the painting in the end, they’d likely lose a few people in the process.

The other side did seem quite perceptive.

A peaceful resolution would be best.

Zhong Shan lifted his eyes, glancing at the stone path behind Wen Jianyan.

It was true; only Chen Mo was the closest, while the others were still lagging behind, burdened by heavy equipment, and would need more time to catch up.

He let out a breath. “All right.”

Zhong Shan turned to his own team and gestured to the two Wen Jianyan had pointed out earlier. “You two, come with me.”

Though he didn’t know why Wen Jianyan had chosen these two, perhaps it was because they didn’t look particularly threatening.

Zhong Shan smirked inwardly.

Too bad for Wen Jianyan; his two teammates were not to be underestimated. If the other side underestimated them based on their appearance alone, they were in for a rude awakening.

The three left the doorway and walked into the rain, approaching Wen Jianyan.

Wen Jianyan stood motionless, subtly lowering his gaze, watching the three’s steps.

They avoided the puddles.

That was expected. After all, they’d just seen Blond dragged down by something lurking beneath the water. But none of them kept their shadows away from the water’s surface.

It seemed they hadn’t figured out the pattern of the attacks from observation alone.

…But that would be enough.

Soon, Chen Mo came stumbling over.

Wen Jianyan took the wrinkled canvas from his hands but did not hand it to Zhong Shan, instead giving it to one of Zhong Shan’s teammates behind him.

But that was no different from giving it to Zhong Shan himself.

“Satisfied?” Zhong Shan sneered.

Wen Jianyan did not reply.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing the canvas in hand, Zhong Shan relaxed and turned to his two teammates, commanding, “Let’s head back.”

They turned and walked toward the door of Xingwang Hotel at the end of the stone path.

Behind them, as Wen Jianyan handed over the canvas, Yun Bilan, Blond, and the others felt a sudden lightness on their backs—the weight of the corpses pressing down on them disappeared without warning.

Startled, they looked ahead.

Realizing what had just happened, they quickened their pace, running toward the end of the stone path.

Drip, drip.

The drizzle fell, hitting the uneven ground, splashing small droplets. Under the wavering water’s reflection were countless stacked, pale corpses.

Though they were less than five meters from the door, as long as the rain continued, the curses and attacks would not cease.

Suddenly, the teammate who’d just received the canvas stumbled.

“?!”

He looked down in shock.

There was a puddle beneath his feet.

Wait! He’d just carefully avoided all the possible water pools—how could this—

Before he could figure it out, something beneath the water gripped his body tightly.

Another teammate shouted, “Quick! Hand me the painting!”

They had just witnessed how Wen Jianyan and his team broke the curse; as long as they took the canvas, the curse would transfer—

“Catch!”

He was sinking fast; in a heartbeat, he was already waist-deep. Gritting his teeth, he threw the canvas toward his teammate.

But… something strange happened.

In the cold, ominous rain, the entity that should have released him still held his leg firmly, continuing to drag him down.

“What’s… what’s going on?!”

The man was terrified, his face showing panic for the first time.

“This isn’t right—”

“The painting’s with me; how could you…” His teammate was also panicked and quickly stepped forward, but his foot suddenly slipped into a gap.

Something icy beneath the water coiled around him, like an endless swamp, pulling him deeper and deeper.

Wait.

How was this possible!

His teammate hadn’t even escaped, and now he was suffering the same fate!

His mind spun in confusion. Trembling with fear, he struggled while looking down at the water.

This time, what appeared before him…

Was not his deceased teammate’s pale, smiling face, but a blurry, ghostly image.

The shadow in the water floated and sank, its features slowly becoming clearer, rising toward him.

The man’s pupils contracted as he stared in horror, gasping sharply, all his screams trapped in his throat, unable to utter a sound.

—It was his own face.

Pale, damp, swollen from being submerged, but unmistakably his own.

The only difference was that the reflection in the water was smiling, its mouth stretched into an unnaturally eerie grin.

In the barrage of the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[?]

[???]

[???? Wait? Why didn’t I get it!]

[Didn’t you guys notice? Wen Jianyan just pointed out those two teammates who were the last to enter the broken house from the other team! One entered at thirty-two seconds, the other at thirty-three seconds—they both exceeded the time Bai Xue gave!]

[In other words, since they were in the rain for over thirty seconds but didn’t exceed the immediate death threshold, their shadows were left behind under the water. If they became the target of an attack, they’d be replaced by their own shadows in the water.]

[Wait! I noticed before that there were faint white shadows behind the dead guy—I thought it was just the water blurring my view. But now, it seems… those shadows were actually the images those two left in the water?]

[Wow, this instance is brutal. I thought Bai Xue’s time limit was just an estimate… a little over wouldn’t matter. Who knew this twist was waiting?!]

In the distance, Bai Xue raised his dark, ghostly eyes and looked across through the misty rain.

He had already warned them.

Thirty seconds.

Everything had happened too quickly.

Zhong Shan hadn’t even processed it before his two teammates were both dragged into the water, vanishing in an instant without a ripple.

He stared, eyes wide in disbelief.

Impossible—this—how could this—

In the next second, a cold hand gripped his shoulder from behind.

The icy tip of a copper blade pressed against his neck.

“…”

Zhong Shan’s face went pale as he slowly turned his head.

The young man’s wet eyelashes hung low, his refined features sharpened by the rain, their contours standing out with a harsh intensity, like a poisonously vibrant flower.

Wen Jianyan wore the same gentle expression as before, his voice soft, smiling as he spoke:

“Yes, I’m satisfied.”

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