CH 75

While carefully searching for clues, Duan Zhen felt something hit him. He looked up but found nothing.

He lowered his head and saw a round candy on the ground.

More candies rolled down, as if it were raining candy. But in this dangerous castle, how could such a romantic thing happen?

Duan Zhen looked up, carefully tracing the direction each candy fell from.

“These seem to be the brand of candy that Li Xi likes,” said Dan Zuo, picking one up and examining it.

“That’s right,” Duan Zhen nodded. “Maybe he’s using this to give us a hint.”

He glanced at Dan Zuo again, with a meaningful look in his eyes.

Dan Zuo sighed, “He was always eating them when we met, so I took notice.”

Duan Zhen retracted his gaze and said indifferently, “I didn’t realize you paid attention to that.”

Dan Zuo, who had known him for years, gave a fake smile.

It’s true what they say, love makes you foolish.

“Li Xi should be trapped up there,” Duan Zhen continued. He picked up the candies on the ground, making sure no more were falling, then pondered, “It must be a place with a clear view where he can see us and hear what we say.”

“Is there a hidden room up there?” Dan Zuo frowned. “I wonder if there’s a way to get up.”

Normally, there would be a way, but this is the final level of the demon lord’s game, so who knows if they’ll follow the usual rules.

“There must be a way up,” Duan Zhen said confidently.

Since Li Xi gave them a hint, he must be trapped somewhere, and they have the ability to help him.

“If we want to get to the top, there must be a lift or stairs,” Dan Zuo agreed, quickly brainstorming.

“Come this way,” Duan Zhen said, glancing back cautiously and pulling him along. “Xia Qirong and the others should have received the signal and are searching for the hidden room. Maybe they’ll accidentally find a way up.”

“But they might be held back by the ghosts or get caught by the demon kings,” Dan Zuo pointed out sharply. “The situation is very unfavorable for us. We must find Li Xi quickly, or the impatient demon king will take us down one by one.”

Duan Zhen frowned but said nothing.

He knew that in times like these, panic would lead to failure. He tried to recall the details of the rooms, which seemed like mass-produced model homes with identical furniture arrangements.

Logically, such luxurious castles shouldn’t have such rooms, but in reality, they hadn’t seen a single different room along the way.

“The difference in these rooms might be the original habitants,” Duan Zhen’s eyes flickered. “Maybe we can find clues from them.”

This was clearly a dangerous task. Not to mention these ghosts trying to kill them, the noise they make while searching for clues could also attract the demon king.

“It has to be done,” Duan Zhen said quietly. “Li Xi is definitely trapped somewhere, and I’m going to save him.”

Li Xi lay on the wall, his magic allowing him to hear Duan Zhen’s words. Although they were just common guesses, his heart felt warm.

Sure enough, Duan understood him best and recognized his favorite candy wrappers.

He selectively ignored the fact that Dan Zuo also recognized them.

Hest and the others were slacking off, but they found it amusing and were tireless in their antics, not really catching them, just occasionally popping up to scare them.

After many instances, they suspected the twins were just messing with them for fun.

However, no one let their guard down. The nature of the game revealed the twins’ malicious personalities, and the power disparity between them was vast. Getting caught would mean game over, and no one dared to gamble on the demon king’s mercy.

Xia Qirong and his team had good luck and found another hidden room. This time, they didn’t rush in recklessly but prepared thoroughly before exploring.

“I wonder what the background of this place is,” Shen Su whispered. “A castle with so many undead and ghosts is even more exaggerated than last time.”

“Maybe there’s no background, just added difficulty,” Xia Qirong whispered back.

That’s possible, too. The more games they experienced, the more they realized some worlds existed just to toy with them, lacking any logic.

“Maybe this time we’ll get lucky and find Senafel right away,” Xia Qirong encouraged himself, then added in a peculiar tone, “I never thought I’d feel lucky to find the demon king.”

“Let’s go,” Sun Le pushed him from behind. “This time, keep your mouth shut.”

He didn’t want to be chased by angry local ghosts again.

Xia Qirong made a zipping motion across his mouth.

The passage was dark but less smelly than before. They walked cautiously, encountering no abnormalities.

“Wait,” Sun Le suddenly said. “I hear footsteps.”

Xia Qirong’s hand went to his pocket as he looked back warily.

“They’re in front,” Sun Le said.

They stopped. In the dark, empty passage, the footsteps were particularly clear.

Three figures gradually emerged, looking exactly like them—mirror images.

“Don’t separate!” Sun Le immediately warned.

But the next moment, he felt a push on his back. He turned to see Xia Qirong.

The usually cheerful youth’s eyes were cold and sinister, but when their eyes met, he smiled as usual.

That wasn’t Xia Qirong; it was a mirror image!

Sun Le stumbled, feeling a chill. He didn’t know when the switch had happened.

But this also meant the real Xia Qirong was ahead.

Just as he was about to look, the mirror image lunged at him, rolling with him on the ground. They exchanged a few moves, mirroring each other’s techniques.

When they finally separated, no one could tell who was the real one.

“Split up,” the two Sun Le said in unison, then glanced at each other, their expressions almost identical.

They had no choice but to separate, unsure who was the real ally.

Was the mirror image premeditated, or did they coincidentally enter a hidden room? The goal seemed to be to divide them. If the mirror Xia Qirong had attacked with a knife instead of pushing, Sun Le doubted he could have dodged completely.

This also suggested the twins didn’t plan to kill them outright but intended to slowly drive them to despair.

Looking at the dispersed group, Sun Le felt a flash of worry. He wondered if Duan Zhen was facing a similar situation.

If Dan Zuo and Duan Zhen were separated, or if Dan Zuo was killed by the demon king, their efforts would be meaningless.

In case anyone is a bit confused because the terms are a bit similar:

The ghosts/monsters/original habitants/locals: are basically the “workers” or spirits that initially live in the world to scare/kill the players. They’re weaker than the demon lords and can’t leave the instance.

The tagger: Is the one who’s trying to catch the players, there are 2 taggers, one that is “human” and one that is “non-human/a ghost”. The second is more dangerous and different than the “lower” ghosts/locals of the world!

At this point I have no idea if Shen Su is human (since Xia Qirong felt how cold he was in the previous chapter) or if the one that was with them was a copy or if both of them are under the control of the twins… so many questions lol!

Thank you for reading