The countdown almost exploded in his brain, and Wen Shi's forehead was covered with sweat. He had misjudged one thing. If he continued to be cunning, the person who would execute the task would most likely be the player himself.
There were only ten seconds left in the countdown. Wen Shi gritted his teeth, took the syringe from the bearded man, and tried his best to control his hands and feet from shaking.
The veins on the castle owner's arms were very prominent, and the direction of each blood vessel was clear.
[5s, 4s…]
The moment the needle pierced the blood vessel, the owner of the castle did not resist. He sat motionless, his voice low and hoarse: "What are you injecting?"
The medicine was pushed in little by little, and Wen Shi forced a smile and said, "Our dean has prepared a special medicine."
The word "Dean" is pronounced very heavily.
The bearded man at the side raised the iron hook in his right hand, but held back.
The owner of the castle sneered: "Really?"
After Wen Shi pulled out the needle, he slowly stood up.
"Hint: Your medicine has angered the castle owner."
"Tip: The drug's effectiveness is less than one percent."
"Reminder: The castle owner's favorability towards you is decreasing rapidly."
"Reminder: Please try to survive for fifty minutes."
What do you mean my medicine? It's obviously the dean's?!
Wen Shi didn't care about all these things. He just threw away the syringe and didn't try to find any decent excuse to make up for it. He just rushed out because he had to go to the bathroom.
He didn't run around like a headless fly, but ran straight downstairs.
When he ran to the hall, he felt a strong sense of crisis. Wen Shi raised his head and saw the owner of the castle standing on the fourth floor, leaning on the railing and staring at him expressionlessly.
Cold, cruel, without a trace of humanity in his eyes.
The owner of the castle did not chase after him directly, as if he was watching a dying white mouse.
Wen Shi had no choice. On the left was a large flat area, and behind him was the servants' quarters. The only way to delay time was the maze.
Gritting his teeth, he continued to rush out and then plunged into the maze.
[You are about to enter the manservant's beloved garden maze]
[Unauthorized intruders, beware of the butler]
It was a sunny day today, except for a dark cloud floating above the maze area. The maze shrouded in shadow looked dangerous and mysterious.
From a distance, this is a standard plant maze. In essence, it is still a cold wall, covered with lush climbing branches and leaves, creating the illusion of a plant maze.
The actual green wall is nearly 2.5 meters high and airtight. Walking alone in such a quiet environment, Wen Shi can clearly hear his own heartbeat and breathing.
The maze was very dark due to the dark clouds and walls.
Looking at the all-green color for too long would make the eyes uncomfortable. He didn't know if it was Wen Shi's illusion, but he felt the wall shaking.
Swish, swish.
This time he was sure that it was not an illusion. There was indeed something in the wall shaded by green plants. Wen Shi wanted to ignore it, but as the noise grew louder and louder, his uneasiness intensified, so he had to stop and observe carefully.
A green, squirming thing flashed before his eyes.
Just as Wen Shi was staring at the lighter green colors, a long strip of object suddenly jumped out and flew straight towards his face.
The speed was too fast, and it was too late to dodge. Wen Shi's body reacted first and he grabbed it subconsciously.
Alive and moving.
It's a snake.
Wen Shi almost blacked out.
He was fearless, but he was most afraid of animals with many legs or no legs. The maggots on his beard's wrists were already making him uncomfortable, and the snake in front of him was a complete minefield.
Fortunately, Wen Shi grabbed the snake near its head. The cone-shaped snake head opened its mouth, but was unable to bite him.
The long snake struggled and its body kept hitting Wen Shi.
It’s coming! It’s coming!
When Wen was thinking about throwing it out directly.
Given the height of the wall, the most likely scenario is that he threw the snake out, it hit the wall, and bounced back with a 'pia'.
When Wen Shi was thinking about where to throw this thing, the leaves moved without wind. It turned out that there were more snakes moving in the plants, growing and wriggling like hair.
Wen Shi's expression was quite unhappy now. He found that there were not only leaves piled on the ground, but also snake heads.
Some of them were already dried, while others were still fresh. They were all piled together, making one's scalp tingle. The butler trimmed the maze every day, could he be doing these things
A cool breeze blew around him, and Wen Shi's expression changed. His first reaction was that it was a snake, and he quickly tried to dodge it.
"It's me." Xie Tangyan appeared beside Wen Shi, pulled out the snake from Wen Shi's hand, twisted it into a knot and threw it aside.
Her face was a little pale, and she coughed a few times with her hands covering her lips.
Xie Tangyan was obviously not afraid of snakes, so there must be other reasons for her weakness. Wen Shi hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
"The assassination failed." Noticing the surprise in his expression, Xie Tangyan said, "It's not about killing people, it's about killing ghosts. Didn't you say that the owner of the castle is not human and kills people every day? It won't be a problem for me to kill him."
"!"
At this moment, Wen Shi suddenly understood why the door of the castle was locked and why the castle owner's clothes were torn.
"When did this happen?" Wen Shi rubbed his brows.
"Half an hour ago." Xie Tangyan said, "It is daytime now, the Yang energy is abundant, and the chances of killing him are the highest."
Wen Shi’s eyelids twitched.
Will it die if you try
"I didn't get close to him, I only used hidden weapons, he didn't know who did it." Xie Tangyan thought: "But the man's power structure is very strange, he was able to hurt me a little from a distance."
The count was furious and everything in the castle was instantly shattered into pieces, even Xie Tangyan's internal organs were shaken.
Wen Shi disagreed: "The game limits your power not to protect the players, but to prevent you from causing harm to the owner of the castle."
As an ordinary player, Xie Tangyan could fight ten of them alone. With his weakened strength, it was impossible for him to kill the owner of the castle. He was risking his life.
"I know." Xie Tangyan didn't look surprised after hearing that. She estimated that the chance of a direct fight was less than 50%, so she chose a long-range sneak attack: "My goal is not to kill him either."
Wen Shi frowned: "What is that for?"
"This man is killing people under the pretext of searching for a bride. I told you that if there is any injustice, I will settle it with my sword."
One sword to settle it
Wen Shi reacted for a moment, and thought of the rip on the castle owner's pants. He suddenly realized where the rip was, and his lower body suddenly felt cold.
"When you reach a certain level in martial arts, even flying flowers and plucked leaves can hurt people. Unfortunately, there are still some limitations to using flower petals as hidden weapons."
Xie Tangyan was conceited but not arrogant, and a long-range sneak attack was enough for her to escape unscathed.
After listening to this, Wen Shi frowned even more, and finally his expression became more serious than ever before: "You only have one life, it's not for testing."
That’s right, that’s how that person taught him at the beginning, and now Wen Shi is using the same method to educate others.
"The more dangerous the situation, the more stability is needed."
Xie Tangyan had never been lectured in this tone before. She was stunned for a moment, then touched his head and said, "Okay, I'll pay attention next time."
After a pause, she changed the subject: "By the way, what did you do in the maze, and why are you in such a mess?"
Wen Shi's T-shirt was soaked with sweat from running, the wound on his hand had not healed well, and his lips were cracked due to lack of moisture. In short, he looked worse.
"Chemical castration failed..." Wen Shi briefly explained the professional term: "It is to make people lose their sexual desire through injection. I was discovered by the owner of the castle during the injection and now I am running for my life."
Xie Tangyan withdrew her hand and looked at him deeply. Doesn’t this mean that they are both doing the same thing
Wen Shi immediately said: "We are different, I was forced."
Xie Tangyan: "He asked you to castrate him?"
“…”That’s not the case.
The snakes swimming between the plants became excited.
They were no longer content to crawl around the wall, and three or four of them flew out directly. At the same time, snakes also fell from the top of the high wall, and a snake rain began to fall from the sky.
Wen Shi: "They are afraid of things like scissors."
The tongue wounds on the ground that were almost dried were not neat cuts, but slightly flat at the bottom. They should be the scissors that the servants used to trim the maze every day.
Wen Shi came in on a whim and did not make much preparation. Although Xie Tangyan's sword was very sharp, it was not a pair of scissors after all, so it could not have a deterrent effect.
In just one or two seconds, the rain of snakes gave Wen Shi goose bumps.
On the bright side, these snakes are mostly non-venomous or not very venomous.
Xie Tangyan: "Close your eyes and cover your face."
"The power is sealed, but I can still kill a few snakes."
Blood splattered on his clothes. Wen Shi could clearly feel it at the moment of spraying. He closed his eyes to prevent the blood from splashing into his eyes.
Xie Tangyan's movements were clean and neat, as if she was not harvesting a snake's head, but just pulling out a weed by the roadside.
"You have a misunderstanding about strength." Xie Tangyan avoided the direction where the blood was shot from, and blood splashed a few feet with every step he took: "Walking and talking require strength to support. The power that is sealed in me is internal strength."
Wen Shi didn't relax much after hearing this. As a player, he was always the source of concentrated fire in the dungeon. Xie Tangyan couldn't use her original strength, and she was still injured. He was afraid that if the two of them got together, they would implicate each other.
I don't know how much time passed before Xie Tangyan said "it's okay", and Wen Shi opened his eyes in the disgusting smell of blood.
There was some blood on Wen Shi's cheek. He rubbed it with his sleeve, but the blood spread even wider. He realized later that he was covered in blood.
He looked at the time on the countdown interface: [39:39].
For the first time, Wen Shi realized how difficult time was to bear.
The structure of the maze is intricate, and the lines of each wall are very regular and of similar length. There is no other color embellishment except green plants. After walking for a long time, I still felt like I was going in circles, which is completely another meaning of a ghost wall.
They could use the vines to climb up the wall and look for a way out, but that would indirectly expose their location.
The two could only move forward based on their feelings.
The leaves of the plant are larger and darker than before.
Xie Tangyan's ears twitched: "There is a sound."
Wen Shi also heard it.
This was different from the noise made by the snake just now, and it was much rougher and heavier.
"Aaron."
An unexpected shout and a breathless curse echoed throughout the maze.
Wen Shi's expression changed: "It's Ao, the crazy director of the mental hospital."
"Aaron, you liar! The Count never asked me to treat him."
Wen Shi didn't know what happened after he ran away, but now he was at least sure that the lame lie had been exposed.
The owner of the castle saved his energy by using the snake first and then throwing Ao into the maze. He only had to wait for a good show of mutual slaughter. Whether it was the annoying snake, himself or the bearded man, they were all hated by the other party.
It doesn't matter who dies. It's the same no matter who dies.
"Aaron!" The cursing became more and more intense, but after a while, it turned into a 'hehe' laugh: "Found you."
The sound of running replaced the cursing.
Wen Shi shouted to Xie Tangyan to run quickly: "He is more than two meters tall, close to the height of the maze."
This meant that the bearded man could easily climb the high wall and discover their whereabouts. Aoko had no worries about being discovered and climbed the wall whenever he wanted.
To make matters worse, Wen Shi received a copy prompt:
"The butler noticed an intruder."
"The footman is looking for the intruder."
"There is one more pursuer." Wen Shi explained the situation: "Wen Xin suggests that you run away."
Xie Tangyan: "If you say something I don't like again, I'll recover my internal energy and pin you to the ground and beat you."
"… Split into two groups." Wen Shi changed his words and said, "I'll lead that lunatic to the east, and you go and lead the male servant over."
The bearded man was also an intruder, so he had to collide with the servant.
Xie Tangyan then nodded, saying that it would not be difficult to lead someone over.
Wen Shi ran for his life for three minutes.
While I was out of breath, I bought a small trumpet from the mall with five points.
[Small trumpet: disposable prop
There are no useful props]
In the game, the last thing you need is to make noise, and sales are very low. Wen Shi let out a long "howl" into the speaker, and those who didn't know would think it was a wolf's howl.
The purpose of doing this is to attract the bearded man and the male servant. There is no need to take risks with Xie Tangyan at the same time.
Today’s small goal of doing one good deed a day has been achieved!
There was an abnormal airflow sweeping over from behind, and Wen Shi bent down subconsciously. The terrifying iron hook flew directly over his head and pierced into the green wall next to him.
The bearded man was chasing him, and in order to kill him, he actually threw the iron hook in his right hand at him.
Almost having his head crushed by the iron hook, Wen Shi said coldly: "Kill him sooner or later."
Fortunately, he didn't encounter any dead ends along the way. Wen Shi's sense of smell was extremely sensitive and he could smell the faint scent of flowers in the air. He kept running following this strange fragrance.
Wen Shi had a hunch that this flower was not simple because of its fragrance that could not be suppressed even by the snake blood.
In front of us was not a single flower, but a large flower field, with paths crisscrossing the field and thousands of different kinds of flowers. The flowers were huge, and there were large spaces between them.
From behind, the bearded man caught up!
"Aaron!" He did not show any sign of fatigue after running. In the last hundred meters, the bearded man deliberately slowed down his pace and approached step by step. He seemed to enjoy the feeling of forcing his prey into a corner.
He was wearing a pair of rain boots that made a squeaking sound when he walked.
Wen Shi continued to use the loudspeaker: "Ah-"
Why hasn't the butler come yet
Outside the maze.
Luo Xiao and Peng Lu, who had just finished a side quest, were walking out of the servants' mansion at the back.
Luo Xiao was in a somewhat restless mood. The clues obtained from the side quest were too fragmentary, and it was too difficult to use them to find the whereabouts of the real bride.
She heard the maids talking about Dr. Aaron being chased by the dean and escaping into the maze.
"Pei Wenwei is back." Luo Xiao's mood improved.
She once told the newcomers that if a player died in the endgame, the dungeon would issue a side quest that was more closely related to the main storyline. In fact, this was a vague statement. Based on past experience, special side quests were more likely to be issued to the person who was most closely related to the cause of death of the eliminated player, that is, Pei Wenwei himself. E Xiu had calculated Pei Wenwei first, and his final death was also inseparable from the other party.
After the newcomer left, Luo Xiao had already learned about his identity in the dungeon: "According to the maid, Pei Wenwei was not killed directly by the rules, but was hunted down. There must be a turning point. There are two possibilities. One is that he persists for a certain period of time and the monster stops hunting him; the other is that the dungeon issues other tasks. We can try our luck and intercept the tasks."
Peng Lu was also very interested in this proposal: "How do you want me to cooperate?"
Pei Wenwei has a doctor's identity, which shows that the script is different. Try to get clues from his perspective, and you may get something.
"It's very simple. We stay outside the maze. The copy needs a trigger point to issue a task. If the trigger point is inside the maze, we can only give up. If it is outside, we can do it. For example, when Pei Wenwei was picked up yesterday, the driver appeared, or someone else wanted to enter the maze."
The maze is so big that it is impossible for the players to successfully reach the exit during the chase with their physical strength, so they just need to guard the entrance.
Peng Lu did not object. On the way to the maze, he said, "If everything goes well, we will have cut off his chance of survival."
Luo Xiao: "It's just his bad luck that he got into a dead end from the start."
If she were to change to a normal copy and meet a newcomer with potential, she would choose to maintain friendship with him.
In the maze, Wen Shi stopped howling.
The shout just now was so wild and sweet that the bearded man who was waiting to hear him beg for mercy was stunned for a few seconds.
At the critical moment, you still have to save yourself. Wen Shi used the delaying tactic: "Dean Ao, the money will be in the account tomorrow. As usual, my brother must stay crazy all the time."
He repeated exactly what was on the note.
The bearded man's expression changed, and murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Wen Shi: "I gave the evidence to someone I know. If I die, the evidence will be made public immediately."
The air froze for half a minute.
The narrow eye sockets of the bearded man were filled with malice: "I will kill you first, and then kill your friends one by one."
Crunch. Crunch.
The surface of the rain boots was reflecting light, and the bearded man dictated a string of names: "Edwin, Ann..."
Wen Shi reacted for a moment. Isn't this the role of other players in this scenario? O Xiu, who played Edwin, is dead, and there are two others left.
In the background of the story, these old friends had a dinner together half a month ago, but everyone gave up role-playing, and Wen Shi almost forgot about it.
The momentary shock was interpreted as fear.
The bearded man laughed wildly: "Aaron, the hospital has collected information on every medical staff member, so detailed that you can't even imagine. Your friends will go to hell soon, I swear."
(End of this chapter)