"Not necessarily," Xu Huo said, "at least I’m a good person."
Jiang Jiang suddenly started laughing, at first a muffled chuckle, and then she burst into loud laughter, eventually rocking back and forth with mirth. After a while, she wiped away her tears and said, "Thank you, that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all year."
For some reason, Xu Huo also laughed. He said, "In my youth, I was treated in a psychiatric hospital, and there should have been a doctor treating me."
"The reason I say ’should’ is because I don’t have any normal memories of this doctor. I only discovered this after being stimulated by taking medication."
"I’ve lost part of my memories, which isn’t necessarily a big problem. One doesn’t need to remember everything or figure out every problem in life, but within those lost memories is the death of my older brother. To this day, I have no idea why or how he died. My original memories have also become somewhat blurry because of the appearance of that doctor, but I’m certain of one thing—he died because of me."
"So I must get to the bottom of my brother’s death."
"Shang Shuming, or perhaps the person pretending to be Shang Shuming, might not necessarily be that doctor, but it’s my only clue," Xu Huo said, holding the "Eye of the Deceased" with a cold gaze. "You’re a decent person, and I hope you can tell me the truth."
Jiang Jiang looked at the two players behind her who were spinning in place, looking dazed, and Song Xu, who had gone after Ghost Shadow, hadn’t returned yet. She said, "It seems you’ve already taken control of the others. Whatever I explain, you won’t believe, right?"
With a nod of his chin towards the paintbrush in her hand, Xu Huo said, "What do you think?"
"Since we’re trapped here, it seems we won’t be getting out anytime soon," Jiang Jiang said. "It’s a pity I’m physically weak, definitely not your match, but I can find other things to replace me to play with you..."
Before she had finished speaking, Xu Huo had already abruptly launched his attack. However, Jiang Jiang was also quick. She floated back as lightly as paper while drawing her paintbrush through the air.
In a blink, the haunted house’s setup vanished, replaced by long, winding galleries as if the folded space had unfolded. The paintings hanging on the walls opened at any moment, and one by one, evolved beasts leapt out, furiously attacking any living thing they saw!
The two players lagging behind hadn’t managed to regain their senses in time and were clawed into serious injuries. Perhaps the pain was too intense, or maybe Xu Huo’s psychic influence had weakened, but they quickly came to their senses. At the sight of Xu Huo, sword in hand, attacking Jiang Jiang, a wave of anger suddenly overcame all other sensations—they grabbed their props and attacked Xu Huo!
Xu Huo spared a moment to deal with the two of them, but when he turned back, Jiang Jiang had already disappeared. In her place stood a monster so dense with fur that its head and limbs were completely concealed. The creature made a feint at him before twisting its head and fleeing.
An Air Barrier stood in the air, blocking several attacks from behind. He glanced at the deep, long galleries on either side and lifted his foot to pursue the long-haired creature.
Meanwhile, even more evolved beasts burst out from the frames of the paintings. Their massive sizes made the narrow galleries appear even more cramped and effortlessly blocked the two players who were chasing after them from behind!
The already injured pair had no chance to escape amid the relentless attacks. As they saw Xu Huo cut a path through the monsters and leave, they cried out anxiously, "Jiang Jiang, don’t be scared! We’ll save you right away!"
Yet, accompanied by the sound of flesh being torn, their voices gradually faded.
Until death, they had not escaped, and the beasts were not tearing them to feed. After mauling them to death, the creatures quickly shifted their target.
Xu Huo knew that the two were dead; without looking, he knew their deaths were not pretty. He raised his voice and said, "I thought you would at least have some pity for those who devoted themselves to your protection, but it seems I was wrong."
"Didn’t you guess what kind of person I was the moment you saw me?" Jiang Jiang’s voice echoed in the gallery, "Otherwise, you wouldn’t have repeatedly turned down my offer to paint you. You’re really smart for neither accepting nor refusing. Even a single refusal would have been better."
Xu Huo judged her position, "It’s not that I guessed, but you gave me a hint. Concerned that I wouldn’t take the bait, you used a special perfume before knocking on my room, hinting so obviously I couldn’t ignore it without appearing oblivious to the situation."
Jiang Jiang laughed, "The first time I saw you, I felt you were different from the rest."
Xu Huo kicked away a savage beast that pounced at him and incidentally decapitated it, "When you say different, you’re not suggesting birds of a feather flock together, are you?"
More savage beasts emerged from the frames, seemingly ready to flood the entire gallery space.
Xu Huo chose a spot to stop, opened a door on the wall by hand, but stepping out still kept him within the gallery. At least, this space was much larger than the range of his Psychic Power.
After opening several more doors in succession, he passed through each corridor and finally found that long-haired monster.
With a blink, he appeared beside the creature and swung his Sword without hesitation, "Since you’re different from the rest, the place you’d choose to hide must also be unique."
The monster screeched to a halt and ducked abruptly, dodging the slash, though much of its fur was cut off, revealing a patchwork face reminiscent of Van Gogh’s style—looking more like an artwork than a living creature.
But Xu Huo indeed heard a heartbeat different from that of humans... As the thought flashed through his mind, he forcefully slammed Shelter 101 into the hallway, blocking the monster’s retreat, and activated "Extreme Fatigue" and "Important Call," while simultaneously throwing out the kite string!
The four-legged creature, attempting to sprint away, suddenly pressed one foot against its own head. With its speed reduced, the kite string successfully nailed it in place, but with a tug from the creature, its entire skin was torn off, and Jiang Jiang pounced from the front, looking back at Xu Huo as she leaped into the air—and in that instant, Xu Huo forced his way to confront her, thrusting the "Eye of the Deceased" towards her chest.
Jiang Jiang was first shocked, then smiled, and as she was pierced, her body dissolved like ink in water. Xu Huo’s gaze darkened, he quickly opened a door beside him, and after opening three more, he intercepted the one who tried a body double trick in another corridor.
"It’s unlikely you’ll be able to wear me down to death within the artifact space," he said, grabbing her arm with Diamond Gloves.
Jiang Jiang was not panicked; on the contrary, she said, "I never intended to kill you. You are different from the others; their deaths don’t matter, but you can’t die."
Xu Huo was not in the mood to ponder the deeper meaning of her words and simply replied, "Then tell me what you know!"
Jiang Jiang smiled faintly, her arm starting to dissolve in his grasp, and as she disappeared along with it, the gallery also began to disintegrate, the outside noise of people search for her faintly audible—the number of players was not small.
Xu Huo had no intention of just walking away, but as he was about to use the Open Air Window System, he first felt a sharp pain in his palm, followed by numbness and stiffness on his left arm and the left half of his body. He heard Jiang Jiang say, "A memento for you, you must come back and find me."