Other than the paper that expanded on the background of the Xin clan, Feng Bujue did not find anything else of value in Arthur’s bedroom even though he had given the place a thorough search twice. Therefore, he could only leave the room and head to the bathroom. The bathroom on the second floor was twice as big as the one on the ground floor. There was a small cupboard above the sink and the white wooden cupboard that appeared so often in horror movies. It was placed slightly higher than one’s eye level. The door was fixed with a mirror, and everyday items like a razor, cup, and toothbrush were placed inside.
In various horror movies, the characters would be washing their hair or brushing their teeth before such cupboards. Then, the cupboard door would open and close before something scary showed up in the mirror. Combined with scary sound effects, it would scare every time, but there were no mirrors in this scenario.
Feng Bujue came to the sink, looked at the cupboard door, whose surface was sunk one centimeter, and sighed. “They removed the mirror… without even leaving a small piece behind.”
He opened the cupboard. The top shelf was empty. A key was sitting alone on the lowest shelf.
———
Name: White Key
Type: Plot Item
Quality: Normal
Function: Opens the white door permanently. Disappears after use.
Can be taken out of the scenario: No
Remark: Hidden at a white place.
———
“Now I have the red, blue, black, and white keys,” Feng Bujue said. “Only the yellow and gray keys are left…”
His eyes drifted to the toilet.
“Hmm… Let’s check the water box again.” He rushed to the flushing toilet. He glanced inside the toilet, but there was only water, nothing else. Then he lifted the lid of the water box, and there was really something inside.
———
Name: Soaked Blanket
Type: Plot Item
Quality: Normal
Function: Unknown
Can be taken out of the scenario: Yes
Remark: For some reason, it was stuffed in a weird place.
———
It was a small blanket, about the size of five towels sewn together. It had a mixed color and was rough to the touch. It felt strange soaked in water, and the surface was slippery.
“This is the fifth item that has an unknown meaning and can be taken out of the scenario.” Feng Bujue lifted the blanket out from the water box and tried to twist it dry before placing it in his inventory. “Other than the fake teeth that came with a hint, the soap, perfume, cap, and this blanket don’t seem to serve any purpose… Does this scenario just provide a lot of puzzle cards?”
Feng Bujue put the item away and turned to the bathtub on the other side. There was a curtain that hung around the tub. From Feng Bujue’s perspective, only a quarter of the tub was showing. The rest was hidden behind the curtain.
“Time to guess what is behind the curtain. A, a naked beauty; B, a naked key; C, a naked dead body,” Feng Bujue joked with himself. “It’ll be so boring if it’s empty or filled with trash.”
He pulled away the curtain and then saw something extremely scary and depressing.
“This is a Human-Swine[1] right…” Feng Bujue frowned. It should be a synthetic human inside the tub. It only had a body, and its limbs had been chopped off. Its ears were decayed and were oozing with puss. The eyes were sewn shut, the lips were half open, and there was no tongue. Considering its condition, it probably did not realize that someone was looking at it, so it was merely lying in the tub quietly, with no reaction other than the rise and fall of its chest, proving that it was still alive. Without much hesitation, Feng Bujue took out Persephone’s Vacuum and started to suck the monster’s Life Points.
This item was able to drain Life Points from monster and recover the same amount in the player. The draining ratio was 0.5 percent per second, and it was ineffective on enemies who were dead, had no corporeal form, and mechanical and boss creatures. The vacuum would not store Life Points, so the draining effect was instantaneous. If the player’s Life Points were full, there would be no recovery.
This weapon would not cause any direct damage but would decrease the monster’s Life Points at the predetermined rate. The Life Points that were lost would be added to the player. Once the monster’s Life Points dropped to zero, it would die. In many ways, Feng Bujue thought that this was a win-win situation. The monster would find release without pain, and he could recover some health. Three minutes later, the synthetic human died, and Feng Bujue’s Life Points returned to full.
He closed his hands together and mumbled, “Amitabha…”
Then with the wrench, he slit open the creature’s throat and started to search the body.
An atheist who would pray to Jesus sometimes and Buddha at other times was conducting an autopsy on a carcass that was not really human, just to confirm that there was nothing that he needed inside the body. If any other player was present during this moment, they would be scarred by Brother Jue.
“It’s really hidden here…” Finally, Feng Bujue managed to find the yellow key inside the carcass’ intestines like he wished. He used the wrench to fish out the key and walked to the sink to give it a good wash before putting it in the inventory. Then he placed it inside the inventory before taking it out again. Theoretically speaking, after all that he had done, there would be nothing left on the key anymore, but Feng Bujue was only willing to touch it through the protection of a glove.
———
Name: Yellow Key
Type: Plot Item
Quality: Normal
Function: Unlocks the yellow door permanently. Disappear after use.
Can be taken out of the scenario: No
Remark: It is indeed hidden in a sh*tty place.
———
Feng Bujue was too lazy to comment on the remark. It was no different from mocking. He was only missing the gray key to have the full set. So, he quickened his step. He cleaned the muck that had gotten onto his shirt and rushed to the last explorable room on the second floor.
This room was right above the empty room on the ground floor. Feng Bujue pushed open the door to be greeted by a large, blood-red alchemy circle in the room.
After just a glance, he lost control of his body. This time, he did not have a chance to use the iron rod to check for danger. He had not even stepped into the room. Just opening the door triggered the event cinematic.
[1] This is a term first used for an ancient Chinese consort. Her fate was as described in this paragraph. If you’re interested, you can read more about the consort here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consort_Qi.