Chapter 169: Frenzied Melee (Part 3)
Everyone in the private room was startled, their hearts chilling as they recalled their recent hiding.
"I'm already pressed against the wall, I can't see anything now!"
The voice did sound a bit muffled, as if its mouth was covered and it was pressed against a wall, speaking softly.
"I'll count down from thirty, everyone hurry and hide!"
"Hehe, don't let me see you!" The playful tone of the last sentence gradually faded, becoming utterly chilling by the last word.
At this moment, the gaps in the carved door were filled with eyes, staring intently at the people in the private room.
But this time, everyone already knew that this was what it meant by "pressed against the wall."
Regardless of whether it was telling the truth, based on the previous round, this was the time to go out and hide.
However, where could they hide?
They felt utterly despairing, already wanting to give up.
The entire Autumn Moon Tower, inside and out, was filled with escaping weird objects. If Wen Weilan hadn't used her Yugui skills to distract several bizarre weird objects, they would have likely been wiped out already.
"Thirty!"
"Why don't we just give up...?" Yu Jinling said weakly.
"Twenty-nine!"
"Yeah, do we still need to struggle?" Lu Junan said with a mournful face, "How long has it been? Where are the people behind Xiao Xiang House? The Weaving Institute? The imperial court? Why haven't they appeared?"
"Twenty-eight!"
"With so many people trapped here, the imperial court can't possibly remain indifferent. If we don't give up, there's always a chance." Kuang Bowen didn't want to give up. Without his crutch, he could only lie there and try his luck, but he didn't want the others to give up.
"I don't want to give up either, but we truly have no chance of winning." Lu Junan's chest was filled with indignation. "We can't just let... Miss Wen... sacrifice herself for us again and again, can we?"
"Twenty-seven!"
"Miss Wen, wherever you want to hide, I'll follow you and help you distract the weird objects." Lu Junan looked deeply at Wen Weilan, his youthful face filled with both sorrow and resolve.
Wen Weilan smiled bitterly. She wasn't one to give up easily, but she didn't know what to do.
If Liu Sheng and Ling Xiaoshu hadn't been summoned just now, she would probably be gone already.
Now she was out of options. Was she to bring Liu Sheng into such a dangerous place again?
"Twenty-six!"
"Forget it, Miss Wen, you go quickly. We'll cover your retreat." Chen Shanyuan lowered his head and thought for a long time, finally making up his mind.
"Your wife." Wen Weilan shook her head, only saying four words.
"It's fine. You're the only one among us with a chance to get out. If you get out, you can help me deliver a message, and you can help me demand justice and compensation from Xiao Xiang House."
"That's right, the proceeds from the auction, even though the weird objects all ran away, we have to find a way to get that money." Yu Jinling smiled with relief at this thought. "I don't have parents. You can either spend that silver yourself, or help me donate a Karma bridge in my hometown. Remember, my hometown is Zhugen Village."
"Twenty-five!"
Kuang Bowen then said, "I can't help, but consider that money my apprenticeship gift... My master spends a lot of money. Tell her I'm sorry, I didn't have time to finish the orders."
Liu Sheng's judgment was truly excellent. Even at the brink of death, Bowen was still thinking about those hundreds of work orders; he was truly a qualified worker.
"My money, just give it to my parents... They live in Xinghua Village. You just ask for the Lu family living by the stone well, and you'll find them." Lu Junan also said with a bitter smile.
"Twenty-four!"
"What are you all talking about?" Wen Weilan was helpless. "Do you think Xiao Xiang House will definitely compensate us?"
"They won't?"
"They will, right?"
"Such a large Xiao Xiang House wouldn't treat us like this, would they?" Chen Shanyuan looked doubtful.
"Twenty-three! Hey! Aren't you going to hide yet!" The counting voice was a little exasperated. "Then I'm speeding up!"
Everyone ignored it.
"They don't save people, and they don't compensate either." Yu Jinling said angrily, "When Miss Wen gets out, you just pull up a banner at the entrance and throw a tantrum! Let's see if Xiao Xiang House dares to treat us, the dead, like this."
"Twenty-two!"
Time was running out, but no one struggled anymore.
No one had even considered whether Wen Weilan could truly survive.
It was just that by speaking this way, everyone's fear and despair seemed to dissipate a lot, perhaps making death a little happier.
"Don't worry, Xiao Xiang House won't treat you like that. Please don't go pull up banners."
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came from somewhere, with a hint of hoarseness, making its gender indistinguishable.
"Besides, you're not dead yet."
As soon as the words fell, the entire Autumn Moon Tower trembled, as if Xuan paper was being torn apart. Countless ragged cracks, still containing paper pulp fibers, appeared, and ink-colored light emerged from the cracks, forming ink-balls that floated out.
The people in the private room couldn't stand, falling to the ground in disarray.
At this moment, Kuang Bowen was very grateful that he had lost a leg, as he was already lying on the ground.
"Twenty...two! Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing!"
"No, no, no!"
However, its protest was ineffective.
The structure of the Autumn Moon Tower, as if being mercilessly torn by an unseen pair of giant hands, began to disintegrate amidst sharp screams. Ceilings, walls, doors, windows, and floors were directly torn into countless paper fragments that flew scattered in the air, forming a destructive vortex of paper fragments, ink light, and countless mysterious existences.
All the people trapped in the building were swept into the air along with the fragments of the Autumn Moon Tower.
At that moment, everyone's faces were filled with fear and helplessness.
In the vortex, everything was extremely chaotic.
Wen Weilan saw countless flying paper fragments adorned with eyeballs, slyly rolling around, she didn't know what they were planning.
She also saw a long, humanoid weird object, covered in blood and without skin, entangled with a person whose life or death was unknown, both being twisted into thin strips by the vortex; a colorful pony in the vortex, with its belly up, feebly kicking its four limbs, and a large string of bloody intestines tied to the long, iridescent five-colored horn on its head, the owner of the intestines was nowhere to be seen; the black box that had originally housed the black-haired, white-clothed female weird object also rapidly ascended in the vortex, its small red box and the handle connected to it were already gone.
Outside this vortex, one could also see the night sky, lightly swept with pale ink, and the hazy moon veiled in clouds, appearing and disappearing beneath the covering paper fragments.
All of this flashed quickly before Wen Weilan's eyes, leaving fleeting images.
She suddenly felt Guai Qi assaulting her from one side, instinctively drew her sword and stabbed sideways, accurately piercing something soft and flabby, but before she could check, another threat appeared from the other side.
As the building disintegrated, without the temporary protection of the private room, everyone thought they would be entangled to death by weird objects in the vortex, or fall heavily from the sky, their hearts filled with panic.
However, a strange and powerful force suddenly appeared, forming translucent shields that enveloped each person.
Immediately after, tough, translucent threads appeared from nowhere, piercing through the paper vortex, precisely fishing out people one by one.
Taking advantage of the shield, Wen Weilan swiftly dealt with another weird object—entirely white, without facial features or limbs, only a torso and a smooth head—with a single sword strike. Suddenly, she felt something hook her nape, pulling her out of the vortex, giving her a gentle swing, and then she, along with the others, was thrown onto a giant ink-colored pleasure boat.
Looking around, a rough count revealed over a dozen people still on the deck, though they all looked extremely disheveled, covered in blood, with missing arms and legs.
But at least they were alive. Those who had already been entangled by weird objects were probably beyond saving.