Looking at the corpse with its head restored, Lan Yan's face darkened. "The rese is too deep. Ordinary ghost creatures 't kill it."

  "Anyway, we've got the puzzle piece. Who cares how deep it is? Just run."

  Qin Nuo turned and dashed towards the door, but the corpse suddenly leaped up, blog their way.

  With its head restored, the man spat out his tongue, gring at the three with a face full of rese, his terrifying visage covered in writhing veins.

  Qin Nuo and Lan Yan took a step back, simultaneously pointing at the blond man. "He's the one who messed with you!"

  The blond man's face turned as sour as if he'd swallowed a fly, wishing he could shoot both of them.

  Despite his thoughts, the blond man raised his gun and fired two more shots at the man.

  The ghost caregiver raised his hand to catch the bullets, but his palm exploded, sending flesh flying.

  Yet soon, the hand repaired itself at a speed visible to the naked eye.

  "Woman... damned woman... damn it!!" the ghost caregiver howled.

  "What does a woman cutting off your thing have to do with us?" Qin Nuo said, pulling out a bone-crushing hammer and human bone nails.

  "Because..."

  The ghost caregiver opened his mouth, but before he could finish, two human bone nails shot like bullets, pierg into his head.

  The enhanced entment effect made the ghost caregiver scream miserably, his head instantly melting into a pool of blood.

  But before the three could reach the door, the pool of blood reformed, grinning eerily. "My rese lingers in this room. As long as it remains, you 't kill me."

  The ghost caregiver's mouth twisted into a sinister smile. "I'll tear off your things too, so you taste what it's like!"

  "Damn, what grudge is this?" Lan Yan and the others took several steps back.

  Resentful ghosts are iroublesome. If the rese isn't dispelled, they haunt you endlessly.

  The ghost caregiver advaep by step, but just then, the door behind them suddenly opened.

  A child walked in with a game sole, excitedly looking at Qin Nuo. "Brother, look, I cleared another level. Isn't that amazing?"

  His eyebrows danced as he spoke, eager for praise.

  Qin Nuo and the others: "..."

  The child scratched his head. "Why do you all have that expression?"

  The ghost caregiver stared at the child, a furious roar of rese esg his mouth. "Where did this brat e from, ag like I do?"

  As he spoke, his withered arm reached for the child.

  But before it could touch the child, an invisible force shattered the arm instantly.

  "Huh? Who are you calling a brat?" The child was displeased, gring at the ghost caregiver.

  The ghost caregiver looked at his shattered arm, surprised, but soon his surprise turo terror as he realized it couldn't repair itself!

  "Are you deaf? I'm talking to you."

  The child leaped up, spping the ghost caregiver across the face.

  The entire corpse embedded itself into the wall.

  The ghost caregiver's expression was one of shock, clearly not prehending what had happened. When his gaze fell on the child again, it turned into deep dread.

  "I misspoke, sorry, please let me go."

  The child's raised hand paused, and after a moment's thought, he said, "Alright, seeing how pitiful you are."

  The ghost caregiver secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

  But the child tilted his head, mischievously smiling. "Just kidding!"

  The ghost caregiver's pupils shrank, and he bolted for the door.

  But he was too te. A small hand grabbed him, and like a rice ball, his body was bizarrely rolled up.

  The child tossed him into the air, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the ghost caregiver whole.

  "Burp..."

  The child let out a satisfied burp, pouting. "This thing really tastes awful."

  The blond man and Lan Yaoo stuo speak.

  This little brat was unbelievably fierce!

  Qin Nuo hadn't expected the child to swallow the ghost caregiver whole. Amidst his shock, he felt a surge of joy.

  With this little brat, they could walk through the night unchallenged.

  "Brother, you haven't answered my question!" The child waved the game sole.

  Qin Nuo picked up the sole, g it perfunctorily, and praised, "Great progress, keep it up. Here's your reward."

  He handed a handful of Rainbow dy to the child.

  The child was tent, part of his happiness from the dy, part from the praise.

  That cheerful expression—who would have thought that just two minutes ago, he had viciously devoured a ghost?

  Suddenly, Qin Nuo remembered something. "You came in, where's Meng?"

  "She's outside," the child's words made Qin Nuo uneasy. He rushed to the door, relieved to find Meng standing in the er, looking at the bck blood on the ground and her little feet, her face full of indecision.

  Qin Nuo breathed a sigh of relief.

  Behind him, the blond man obtained his fourth puzzle piece.

  Lan Yan said, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the eighth puzzle piece, right?"

  The blond man didn't speak, merging the newly acquired piece with the other three.

  At the moment of fusion, a game annou echoed in their minds.

  "gratutions to pyers Phantom, Emperor, and Lan Yan for pleting 70% of the mai progress. You've received the mai clue auxiliary reward—Fallen Angel's Holy Water ×3!"

  "Fallen Angel's Holy Water: This is the holy water to punish demons, also the water of hope, possessing the power to obliterate evil!"

  "his is the pyer's only on to defeat the mastermind. Use it wisely; each bottle has a single-use effect. If used on any instanPC, it will lose its effect."

  When the voice faded, each of them held a teardrop-shaped gss bottle.

  "The appearance of the mai reward indicates that this instance is entering its final stage."

  "Getting the mai reward isirely good news. The game's difficulty will increase signifitly. It's likely that the mastermind will make a move."

  "Or rather, it already has!"

  Lan Yan and the blond man, having experiehis game process before, showed no shock or joy, only heighteension.

  Ier stages of the game, pyers would truly battle the mai NPCs!

  If pyers win, the instands early, earning the highest score!

  If they lose, all pyers involved in the mai progress will be wiped out by the mai NPC!

  "The potion only be used once. We have three bottles, meaning three ces."

  The blond man adjusted his gsses. "At this stage, there's o hide anything. Besides the puzzle, you must have other clues obtained from the instaasks."

  "Now we're all in the same boat. Share the clues, a's pinpoint the most suspicious one."

  "This is our best ce."

  The blond man looked at Qin Nuo and Lan Yan, waiting for answers.

  Lan Yan didn't hesitate, sharing the clues he had obtained.

  There were only two, both pointing to the night!

  Qin Nuo g the little girl, thought for a moment, and only shared the clue about Room 606, which was ected to Lan Yan's clue.

  The little girl's clue wasn't fully iigated yet. Sharing it might disrupt the other clues.

  "All pointing to the night?"

  The blond man squinted.

  What's in the night?

  What's the most mysterious?

  Only ohing.

  Qin Nuo looked up, notig the other two were also looking at him.

  "Seems we all thought of the same thing, the White Shadow!"

  "Its identity is the most mysterious, its power the most terrifying. Besides it, I 't think of another suspect."

  "If it's the White Shadow, we don't o us identity. We just o use the holy water on it."

  "If we're right, game over!" Lan Yan said.

  Qin Nuo rubbed his . "Good idea, but it won't just stand there a you pour holy water on it, will it?"

  Lan Yan ughed. "NPCs are just NPot as quick-witted as humans."

  "In an instant, we pyers e up with tless strategies, but the game's NPly act acc to the game's rules. That's their fatal weakness!"

  Qin Nuo didn't speak, but he pletely disagreed with Lan Yan's words.

  If Lan Yan had experiehe Bloodstained Apartment instance, he would never say that.

  "What do we do?" Qin Nuo asked directly.

  "Use sound to lure it i a trap, and wait for it to fall into it. It's that simple!" Lan Yan answered straightforwardly.

  Qin Nuo and the blond man exged a gnce, having no objes.

  Though simple, it was ihe most practical approach at the moment.

  "I'll use my holy water first," the blond man said.

  If the blond man used his holy water to kill the mastermind, he'd undoubtedly be the MVP, sg higher than Qin Nuo and Lan Yan.

  Qin Nuo wasn't too ed about the best score reward, so he agreed.

  Lan Yan opened his mouth, scratched his head, and waved his hand. "Suit yourself."

  At this point, disagreements wouldn't be anyone.

  "Who's going to lure the White Shadow?" Qin Nuo asked.

  The blond man adjusted his gsses. "I got the eighth piece."

  Lan Yan shrugged. "I'm on my st life. If I die again, the holy water is gone. You wouldn't want that, right?"

  Both of their gazes fell on Qin Nuo.

  "Don't you have your buddy? He protect you. You're the best choice!" Lan Yan patted Qin Nuo's shoulder with a smile.

  Qin Nuo knew he couldn't escape, so he agreed.

  "Are you going to talk all night, or are we leaving?" The child came over and asked.

  Qin Nuo stood up, patting the child with a smile. "We're pnning the most exg event of the night."

  "And we're the main characters!"

  "What kind of event?" The child was skeptical.

  "Secret for now, but it's about to start."

  Qin Nuo spoke with enough mystery to make the child excited. He stopped pying his game, riding on Qin Nuo's shoulders, asking questions nonstop.

  ...

  A few mier, the three found a retively spacious room.

  There were enough hidden ers, and the hallway at the entrance was a dead end, easy to block off.

  It was the most suitable location.

  The three quickly agreed and began preparations.

  To be safe, Qin Nuo had Meng hide in a secret partment in the room, instrug her not to e out no matter what she heard.

  Meng was scared by this, but she nodded obediently.

  Ten mier.

  In the room, Qin Nuo pulled up a chair in the open hall and sat down.

  The child sat beside him, curiously looking around.

  Lan Yan and the blond man hid in the darkness oher side of the door.

  Opening a gss bottle, the blond man expressionlessly poured the holy water onto the bde of a naginata. With the holy water's blessing, the bde gleamed coldly, appearing even sharper.

  Then, the blond man o Lan Yan and Qin Nuo before disappearing into the darkness.

  The two didn't notice that the blond man's gss bottle still tained some holy water...

  Lan Yan made an OK gesture to Qin Nuo, took out a metal ball, and also melted into the darkness.

  Everything was ready.

  Qin Nuo took the gun Lan Yan handed him and fired a shot at the ceiling.

  Bang!

  The gunshot shattered the silen every er of the asylum.

  In the darkness, many things were stirred.

  Then, they rushed towards the source of the sound...

  "Brother, what's going on?" The child watched Qin Nuo toss the gun aside and asked.

  "The person who hit me is ing soo's see if you help me get revenge."

  Qin Nuo spoke while taking out the Grave Ghost Stone, instrug the Blood-Eyed Ghost to be ready to act at any moment.

  The White Shadow was terrifying.

  He had to be fully prepared!

  "Oh, no problem. Whoever es, I'll help you beat them up!" The child seemed rexed, patting his chest.

  Then he added, "Eating them is fioo."

  Qin Nuo was silent because he felt the air rapidly turning cold.

  Moreover, the air currents grew more intense, windows being blown open one by one.

  Qin Nuo wiped the sweat from his forehead, l his crossed leg, and stared ily at the darkness at the end of the hallway.

  In the darkness, many things appeared.

  But fearing the oil mp, they quickly dispersed.

  Finally, a white shadow slowly emerged from the darkness.

  It was here!

  Qin Nuo held his breath, his voice low and emerging from his throat. "Buddy, it's here."

  The child also saw the shadow, putting away his game sole.

  The White Shadow's gaze was sharp, fixated on Qin Nuo with intense killing i.

  Then, it charged forward swiftly!

  At the same time, the child jumped off Qin Nuo and walked towards the White Shadow. "Those who bully my brother won't have a good ending."

  However, when the child reached the door, he suddenly stopped.

  Qin Nuo uzzled.

  Lan Yan and the blond man hiding in the darkness were also puzzled.

  The child turned his head, his pale face covered in beads of sweat.

  He smiled at Qin Nuo. "Brother, I'm sleepy. Going back to sleep. If anything happens, you know what to do!"

  With that, the child passed through a wall and vanished...

  Qin Nuo was full of questions, not even having time to react.

  Just like that, he ran away?

  JOSOLUNA