A few people looked bewildered. "Who?"
Zhu Nian didn't ask further. "Let's go."
Nan Bei immediately led the others to follow.
Zhan Ying looked around. "Miss Jiang, where is the person who was with you earlier?"
"He ran off."
Hearing her unhappy tone, everyone exchanged glances.
However, that person was also strange. How could he want to run away when he was so comfortable beside this woman?
Nan Bei gathered his courage and asked, "Miss Jiang, didn't you say you came in to find Zhong Yan? Who was that person?"
"His projection."
With the person gone, she returned to her usual taciturn and imposing demeanor.
Unable to extract any more information, they could only remain silent.
"What kind of place is Blood Moon City?"
Another sudden question left them all confused.
Qin Lu hesitated. "Blood Moon City? I haven't heard of it. However, in the Blood Moon Night instance, the last tower is called Blood Moon City. It's said to house the most powerful boss. But for an SSS-grade game instance, the ultimate boss is something people only hear about; no one has ever managed to defeat it."
Zhu Nian understood.
They had come to the wrong place.
"Where do we go next?"
As Nan Bei was pondering the map, Zhu Nian said, "The top floor."
"But we haven't found a few more spots yet, have we?"
"No need to look anymore. They're all decoys."
The fact that the little fellow could move freely within this castle and control all the copies except her own proved that he was in control of this castle.
Including the deaths of others within the castle, all orchestrated by him.
She had underestimated him.
"Then let's go to the top floor." Nan Bei showed no intention of arguing. After so many events, he could naturally surmise some things.
With their objective clear, they headed straight for the top floor.
However, as soon as they started, they hit a snag.
"We've gone up four or five staircases now, from the fourth to the seventh floor. Is it this long?"
Zhu Nian, at the forefront, stopped.
She knew Jian Yan was causing trouble behind the scenes.
"Let's take a break first."
The cards continued to glow and emit light.
These were game items, and having experienced other games, they didn't find this unusual.
Zhan Ying unceremoniously plopped down on the stairs. "Are we caught in a loop?"
Shen Yu grudgingly sat beside her. "It looks like Miss Jiang's judgment was correct. Those previous spots we went to were traps, especially that broken mirror that produced such disgusting things. Now that he's preventing us from going upstairs, it's a clear sign he's hiding something."
The mirror.
Zhu Nian's eyes sharpened instantly. "Get up, let's go downstairs."
"Huh? We just came up, why are we going down?"
Zhu Nian didn't reply and quickly descended the stairs.
Without a word, Nan Bei hurried to follow.
Seeing this, the others could only follow suit.
They quickly returned to the first floor to find the secret passage they had used to go to the basement.
Nan Bei looked at the graffiti that had completely blended into the wall and turned back. "It's gone."
Of the three survivors from the other team, only Qin Lu was interacting with them. "What are you looking for?"
Nan Bei looked at her. "Where did you see the mirror before?"
"In a room with door number 004, in the basement. Are you looking for it? I'll take you there." Saying this, she turned to leave.
"Wait." Nan Bei called her back and told her about their previous descent. Qin Lu looked surprised.
Soon, they discovered that the secret passage they had used to descend was also gone.
At this point, they were completely at a standstill.
They retreated to the first floor. The light filtering in through the small window was still the same, dim and gloomy.
They were trapped in this dark ancient castle, caught between a rock and a hard place.
As they sat down to rest, Nan Bei asked Zhu Nian again, "Miss Jiang, why don't you tell us your plans? I've guessed some things, perhaps it will be useful."
Zhu Nian hesitated for a moment and then asked, "What have you guessed?"
Nan Bei tentatively said, "This castle is fake. What we're seeing is just a projection. You're looking for the mirror to create light and reveal its true form, right?"
"Close enough."
For the first time, Nan Bei's expression relaxed, and he smiled. "Actually, if we are real in reality, then what we are now is just our consciousness, which is fake. When someone with a stronger consciousness traps our consciousness, we will follow their script. I've done relevant experiments to test the strength of consciousness or mental power. There's a very direct determining factor: a person's IQ. That person, it's said, has an IQ exceeding 300."
He spoke so much in one go, a rarity for him. Everyone else listened quietly.
"So you were looking for a mirror? I have one!"
Qin Lu exclaimed with joy and took out a compact mirror from her bag. "When you need a mirror, you look for a woman, of course. Mirrors are a woman's essential."
Zhu Nian's eyes flickered again, and she extended her hand towards Qin Lu.
Qin Lu placed the mirror in her hand.
Golden light ignited in her palm. The light reflected off the mirror, instantly illuminating the entire room. To everyone's astonishment, the entire ancient castle slowly vanished like a mirage.
Only the rose garden outside remained.
Along with the fragrance.
"Let's go."