Baiyu and Duan Yiren almost simultaneously turned around.
In the left corridor, a shadow swiftly rushed towards them, the wind from its movement causing the candle flames on the walls to flicker.
It was a suit of jet-black armor.
The reason it was considered armor.
Because neither Baiyu nor Duan Yiren felt any Blood Qi emanating from this iron figure.
Before Baiyu could act, Duan Yiren had already rushed forward.
A short blade sprang from her sleeve, blocking upwards.
Sparks erupted in the darkness.
The longsword in the iron armor's hand clashed with the blade.
Duan Yiren twisted her body like an eel, leapt up, and locked her legs around the iron armor's neck, her body rotating with inertia, twisting it 180 degrees.
The head of the iron armor was twisted right off.
The shiny black helmet rolled to the ground.
But Duan Yiren remained vigilant.
As they expected, there was nothing inside the armor, only thick black smoke pouring out.
After the helmet hit the ground, the headless armor kept retreating until it hit a wall, only then did it stop and start groping the ground with its hands.
"This thing seems impossible to kill..."
Seeing the armor groping around, Duan Yiren furrowed her brows.
"Even if it can't be killed, it still needs time to recover. But the keys we need, we've obtained them now."
Baiyu walked over and took a bunch of keys hanging from the waist of the iron armor.
The lock cylinder turned.
The dust-covered door clearly hadn't been opened for a long time.
As they pushed it open, an old musty smell wafted out from inside.
The room was pitch dark.
Baiyu forcibly pulled an oil lamp from the outer wall to provide a source of light.
The room wasn't large.
Inside was a bed and a desk, with nothing else.
In front of the desk.
A little girl quietly sat there, engrossed in flipping through a book.
Baiyu and Duan Yiren immediately became alert.
According to the paper, this little girl might be the one referred to as A'ai, and she was locked here because she could harm others.
This indicated that the girl posed a significant danger.
"I'll go check first."
Duan Yiren gripped the longsword, about to advance, but Baiyu stopped her.
"Your identity card is Witch, and your antidote can revive a player who dies at night, so let me handle this.
If you die, you can't save yourself."
Baiyu was well aware of the power of the 'Witch' card.
He took a step forward and then took several scouting robots from the Mechanical Realm, sending them towards the desk.
There were no traps along the way.
The scouting robots rolled onto the desk, but they passed through the girl's body and fell onto the chair with a clatter.
Baiyu and Duan Yiren exchanged looks and saw mutual confusion in each other's eyes.
If this was a virtual image, it was too realistic.
The girl showed no reaction, still flipping through the book in her hand.
The distance between them was less than ten centimeters.
Baiyu reached out his hand.
His fingers passed through the girl's body and landed on the wooden table.
It was indeed a virtual image.
They both breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.
Just as Baiyu and Duan Yiren were examining their surroundings, looking for signs of an exit, the girl suddenly lifted her head, staring at them sharply.
Baiyu jumped back a step.
The scene was truly frightening.
Even Duan Yiren's well-maintained Pollution Level rose slightly at that moment.
"Is this ancient castle playing out a horror movie script, damn it."
His hand grasped empty air.
The girl was indeed a virtual image, or perhaps she had no physical form.
"I suspect she might be an Extraordinary with special abilities, or maybe an aberrant creature," Duan Yiren speculated.
Baiyu moved the chair aside.
But the girl remained motionless, still in a seated posture...
It seemed she really was a virtual image.
"What do you think this Spirit Realm tide really is?"
Baiyu stared at the girl.
Duan Yiren shook her head: "The Spirit Realm tide is essentially the turbulent surge of Spiritual Qi, returning shells on the beach to the sea during high tide.
If the Spirit Realm is likened to the ocean, we are the shells on the beach, and the Spirit Realm tide is the rising tide.
We can use the tide to reach the ocean and seek treasures we can't ordinarily attain.
The power of the Shelter protects us, preventing us from being torn apart by the raging Spiritual Qi. When the tide recedes, we return to the beach.
If you get lost in the ocean, you'll never make it back to shore."
This was the most fitting explanation Baiyu had heard about the Spirit Realm tide.
Duan Yiren was right.
Where they had arrived through the Spirit Realm tide wasn't hostile towards outsiders, although it was possible that the owner of this ancient castle simply didn't care about them.
"Let's search the room, we don't have much time, we don't know when casualties might occur," Duan Yiren suggested.
They both belonged to the good camp.
Their goal was to find clues to escape the ancient castle and win the game.
finding clues on how to leave was paramount.
As for the entire background of this ancient castle...
Duan Yiren wasn't concerned.
Once she confirmed there was no danger in the room, she began her search, but the room was small and simply decorated.
She could only hope there was a hidden compartment.
Otherwise, this would be a complete waste of time.
Baiyu focused on the virtual image of the little girl. He pulled the chair back and sat down, overlapping with the virtual image of the girl.
Light and shadows flickered around him.
A bright hospital room appeared before him, with doctors in white coats moving about, a little girl asleep on a bed.
A middle-aged man with glasses sat beside her.
"Doctor, isn't there really anything we can do?"
The man asked, full of hope.
"I'm sorry. Her condition is extraordinarily bizarre, and we've convened the finest team of experts. Even the Governor sent over two High Tier Extraordinary Physicians, but they've been helpless. Unless a miracle occurs..."
"Doctor, you're our Federation's best..."
"I'm sorry, her situation is truly beyond us. Unless we have someone of Ultimate Grandmaster or Demigod caliber to unravel her condition, I can't see a way..."
"How could I possibly reach such beings?"
"There's another way, though it's not much of a way: the Spirit Realm tide. There are endless possibilities within the Spirit Realm. If you can penetrate its depths, you might just find that glimmer of hope."
"The Spirit Realm...the Spirit Realm..."
The man gazed at his daughter on the bed, clutching his face in agony.