Chapter 2695

(To be modified later) A shadow soon appeared in the corridor, with faint spots of light sweeping past the door, and also past Xu Huo’s face. Realizing it was the reflection off the water, he abruptly pulled Qi Cong back while slamming the door shut!

Meanwhile, Yan Jiayu threw her body towards the door as soon as action began. However, neither she nor Xu Huo managed to close it successfully. A flood-like wave surged up out of thin air, crashing from the corridor into the room. It not only forced the door open but also swept all three of them in the wave, pushing them towards the balcony!

At this moment, the outside of the balcony was no longer the soft castle lawn but a deep, bottomless black abyss!

It’s unclear what lurks in this black abyss, but falling into it is something that must be avoided at all costs!

With immense suction pressure, the Mental Portal was difficult to open, and even if opened, it might be damaged halfway through. Caught by the Materialized Item, Xu Huo grabbed onto the balcony railing, preventing himself from completely falling off. Below him hung Yan Jiayu, and below Yan Jiayu was Qi Cong, both sliding down due to the suction.

"Climb up!" Xu Huo deployed several Materialized Items on the two of them to help resist the suction.

A dense scent of blood emitted again from Yan Jiayu. Within moments, she regained some strength, turned back to pull Qi Cong up, allowing him to cross onto her back. She then grabbed Xu Huo’s leg and started to climb up. Upon reaching the balcony edge, she first pushed Qi Cong inside and continued holding Xu Huo’s arm to prevent him from collapsing from exhaustion.

With two fewer burdens, Xu Huo smoothly returned to the balcony.

"What kind of place is this..." Qi Cong looked toward the outside of the balcony with lingering fear, but by now the black abyss had disappeared, reverting back to the previous grassy field.

The three then turned their eyes toward the room.

Once Xu Huo was back on the balcony, he manipulated the Materialized Items to close the door; the flood came only for a fleeting moment, washing the furniture and also bringing in a fish.

Yes, just a fish.

A fish like glazed glass, shimmering with subtle hues.

It swam in the air, yet it was surrounded by a sphere of water, and the noise Xu Huo and the others heard earlier was caused by its tail stirring the water.

It showed no interest in Xu Huo and his companions, swimming around the room before heading to the door, seemingly wanting to leave.

"Quite smart, not heading toward the balcony," Qi Cong jabbed with sarcasm.

It wanted out, and Xu Huo along with the others also needed to leave; none would choose the balcony.

After a brief silence, Xu Huo returned to the door to let it out.

With just a small gap, the fish hurriedly squeezed through, leisurely gliding along the corridor.

Active Props don’t necessarily possess the intelligence of the Girl in the painting or Mr. Dong; more often, they’re only guided by their original Characteristics, having some brain capacity but not much.

"With little brain, there’s little emotion; without emotion, there are no likes or dislikes," Yan Jiayu mused. "Why don’t we follow it?"

The trio guardedly stepped out of the door, silently trailing after the swimming fish.

The fish seemed to be looking for open rooms, approaching each door along the corridor.

Seeing this, an idea simultaneously surfaced in all three of their minds.

*

"Break through it, without lighting up the castle, at least to make our moves easier!"

Xu Huo had this exact thought—dragging on wouldn’t help, "Let’s just take the plunge!"

The two agreed, ignoring Qi Cong’s wails beside them. They first sent out some miniature drones to scout ahead, then tossed firework shells and glow sticks into the corridor as they passed intersections, not knowing if there were other Active Props around. Yet, as they advanced, they clearly heard the sounds of doors opening and closing.

Exchanging glances, they swiftly changed direction, detouring through the outer observation corridor, circling back to where the commotion was.

Xu Huo, clad in his Mechanical Suit Set, sealed the door with Materialized Item using Psychic Power before turning the knob to push the door open.

He and Yan Jiayu waited on either side of the door for several seconds, ensuring the room was still before peeking inside.

Despite no lights in this room, light seeped through the window, and the pair instantly focused on the long-haired woman seated with her back to the door on the sofa.

Her wave-like hair cascaded from the sofa back down to the floor, emanating an alluring sheen even in such lighting, drawing the eye. Just then, the woman suddenly turned her head, unleashing a sharp howl with her blood-drenched eye sockets facing them, finishing by lunging headlong toward the door!

Yan Jiayu swung her arm, intercepting the head with her crowbar, but to her surprise, the head bit onto the crowbar, gnawing it with several tooth marks. Without hesitation, she tossed the crowbar further into the room.

Prepared, Xu Huo swiftly shut the door, sealing the engaged head inside. As they heard the crashing sound and the constant rattling of the door handle, he turned to Yan Jiayu saying, "We chose wrong."

Yan Jiayu nodded, "It must be one of these doors, try another one."

As she spoke, she pulled out another crowbar from the side of her backpack.

The pair then moved toward the opposite door.

Given Xu Huo opened the last door, Yan Jiayu took the initiative this time.

"Wait a minute!" Wheezing, Qi Cong barely managed to glance before hastily interrupting her, "That’s a fake door!"

"A fake door?" Yan Jiayu looked at Xu Huo, who paused, "Next one then."

They moved towards yet another door.

Qi Cong followed nervously, "Aren’t you going to ask why?"

Xu Huo glanced at him sideways, "You’ve never uttered a single honest word."

"It’s not that I won’t speak, I’m trying to protect myself. As the saying goes, a man without a crime..." Qi Cong quickly explained, but his words were cut off by Yan Jiayu: "Shut your mouth, worried others won’t know you possess special evolution traits? Rather than fear being killed, aim for Rank-A sooner."

Qi Cong didn’t mind their attitude, rather he sighed in relief, patting his chest, "As long as you don’t kill me!"

Soon they tried opening the next door, revealing a regular bedroom with issues of nothing unusual, perfectly ordinary.

For safety, they planned not to enter it, but as they were about to close the door, the faint sound of water suddenly emerged nearby, reminiscent of fish stirring water, but coming from the direction they had just come from.

There was definitively no water scenery in that direction, suggesting another Active Prop.

Sharing yet another glance, Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu, one on each side, pulled in Qi Cong into the empty room.

The door wasn’t fully shut, and Xu Huo deliberately left a gap, nudging Qi Cong towards it, "Use your eyes to watch."

"Bro! Really! Bro! We don’t need to take this risk! My death benefits none of you!"

Xu Huo pressed him lower, also standing by the door, while watching the front corridor.