Chapter Forty-Eight: The Calamity of the Seventh Night (Part Four)

Luo Hanya licked his lips, suppressing the inexplicable excitement that welled up inside him, and once again turned the room upside down. The results were extremely disappointing—he had gained almost nothing.

Just as Luo Hanya was about to leave and try his luck elsewhere, he suddenly discovered a drop of black blood beneath the cabinet, exuding a sinister aura. Clearly, this was not his own blood. Luo Hanya recalled how the man in the blue robe seemed to have licked the black blood from the face of the woman in red; this belonged to her, confirming that the events that had transpired were indeed real.

A side quest has been triggered: Collect Ghost Talismans. Current count: 13.

The system notification interrupted Luo Hanya's thoughts. He looked around, finding nothing related to these so-called Ghost Talismans. It was obvious that the quest to collect them had been triggered by someone else.

Immediately, the faces of the other participants flashed through Luo Hanya's mind. That clownish, melodramatic Ye Liangchen was unlikely to find such things, and the timid Qingming and Hetu certainly wouldn't either. The most likely candidate was Menghen Lige.

“So where exactly were these Ghost Talismans discovered?” Luo Hanya mused inwardly. “Menghen Lige acted coldly toward us, and she decisively left the main hall. A person like her must have recognized the layout of the mansion. From the perspective of the main quest, Menghen Lige should be at…”

“The Flower Gate!” Luo Hanya confidently announced to himself.

The Flower Gate was the second entrance of the three-part courtyard, dividing the inner and outer residences. To leave the mansion, one had to pass through the Flower Gate.

From the beginning until now, more than half an hour had passed. Under normal circumstances, it would take barely ten minutes to get from the main hall to the front gate. If Menghen Lige had already reached the front gate, it would mean there had been very few obstacles along the way, making the answer to the puzzle likely to be concentrated at the gate. Yet only one Ghost Talisman had been found, which seemed unreasonable.

In typical scripts, side quests are usually triggered along the path to the completion of the main quest, while hidden quests are often found in places unrelated to the main storyline. Thus, Luo Hanya boldly guessed that Menghen Lige was still at the Flower Gate, and likely had encountered trouble there.

Outside the Flower Gate, Menghen Lige held a sword in one hand and a handkerchief in the other, wiping stains from her clothes—blood and bits of flesh, it seemed.

She stared with disgust at the four revolting zombies before her. Behind her lay more than a dozen zombie corpses, most decapitated with a sharp weapon, some with severed limbs, cleaved cleanly in two.

Clearly, the person who had slain these zombies possessed exceptional swordsmanship, striking vital points with precise, decisive blows.

Yet, despite being such a formidable swordswoman, Menghen Lige had run into trouble. The four zombies before her were not particularly strong, but they were exceedingly troublesome—if anything, more revolting than dangerous, enough to make one nauseous.

“Roar!” The four zombies let out a guttural howl, charging at Menghen Lige once more. Her gaze was icy, and she raised her sword, rushing to meet them head-on.

A flash of cold light appeared, and in that instant, the world seemed still.

Menghen Lige’s sword moved at a speed beyond comprehension; to the naked eye, it was merely a streak of cold brilliance. The rampaging zombies were halted with a single slash across their necks.

With a rattling sound, the four decayed, sinister heads fell to the ground, rolling several steps away.

“Hmph!” Menghen Lige snorted softly; the battle was not yet over. She struck again, her sword moving like a dragon, slicing the headless zombies into several pieces.

She finished and sheathed her sword with elegance and fluidity, resembling a heroic maiden.

Only now did Menghen Lige seem to relax, pulling out her handkerchief once more to cover her nose, looking at the mangled bodies with revulsion.

Gurgling sounds rose from the remains on the ground, which began to dissolve into pools of liquid, then started to merge together.

The scene was terrifying: a heap of corpses transformed into minced flesh, then into viscous liquid—how utterly disgusting.

Even Menghen Lige, our heroic swordswoman, was nauseated by this abomination. She frowned, feeling her stomach churn.

“This isn’t a juicer! Can’t this game company stop making things so revolting?” Even our aloof heroine felt a chill in her heart, expressing deep dissatisfaction with the developers' penchant for the grotesque.

But this was only the beginning.

Gurgling, bubbling—the strange liquid on the ground began to coalesce, slowly taking shape again.

With writhing movements, the liquid reconstructed itself into four zombies.

Staring at the writhing, disgusting creatures before her, Menghen Lige lost her composure. She pulled out a gemstone from her hand, which shimmered with blue light.

“Ice Crystal Shockwave!” A chill-laden stream of energy enveloped the yet-unformed zombies, swiftly freezing them into blue sculptures of ice.

“Shatter!” Menghen Lige commanded crisply.

With a cracking sound, the four ice sculptures broke into shards, leaving only fragments scattered on the ground—no more of the writhing abominations.

Menghen Lige used her handkerchief to tidy her clothes, raised her chin, and pursed her lips—like a proud, petulant young lady, seemingly celebrating her victory.

Meanwhile, Ye Liangchen had made his way to the third courtyard, the area reserved for the mansion's womenfolk.

He had seen Luo Hanya and Menghen Lige heading toward the main hall and disdainfully decided not to follow that path, choosing instead to walk beside the hall into the rear courtyard.

The rear courtyard contained several residences for the women, as well as a small garden.

There, clusters of blood-red flowers bloomed—bright and seductive, exuding an intoxicating fragrance.

Ye Liangchen inhaled deeply, marveling at the exotic scent, and instinctively picked two blossoms, tucking them into his pocket.

Within the rear courtyard, everything seemed tinged with red: vermilion houses, crimson flowers, scarlet curtains.

Ye Liangchen strolled leisurely with his hands behind his back, circling the garden and admiring the flowerbeds.

He found it odd that there was a large red curtain separating some of the flowerbeds, seemingly dividing them.

After wandering a few times, Ye Liangchen frowned. While he didn't mind enjoying the scenery, the monotonous red soon became visually tiring. What mattered more was how to clear the game—he wanted to find the monster quickly, have a satisfying fight, and save everyone; simple as that.

He was unwilling to waste much time in this scenario, constantly reminding himself, “I am a man destined to save the world—can’t linger here too long. There are other beauties waiting for me to rescue them!”