Divine Beast Creator
Chapter 761 - 762: Mist_1

Chapter 761: Chapter 762: Mist_1

"Did you take a wrong turn?!"

Upon seeing Dou Yanlan enter the little girl’s room, someone couldn’t help but cry out. After scanning the scattered remains of plush toys on the floor, Feng Yuan said thoughtfully,

"So that’s how it is. But isn’t this kind of thing a bit too dark?"

"As long as we don’t describe in detail what happened, there’s no problem."

Dou Yanlan said calmly, walking to the only neatly made bed in the messy room, and carefully placed the photo frame on the bed.

"Be careful!"

Meanwhile, the people outside the door couldn’t help exclaiming; they had no choice when the cloaked figure suddenly appeared behind Dou Yanlan. However, the figure did not attack; instead, he stretched out his withered hands, removed his cloak to reveal a pale face, smiled faintly at Dou Yanlan, and then dissipated into a wisp of smoke.

A series of clicking noises followed, and without looking, Feng Yuan could guess that the iron door had opened on its own. At this point, instead of hurrying to leave, the group crowded around Dou Yanlan, asking curiously,

"Why would you think it was the little girl? Everything here seems to show deep hatred for her."

"Exactly, we ruled her out right from the start."

"Did you guess blindly?"

"How could that be! You think it’s like you! Dou Yanlan is the smart one in our class!"

"Then how was it determined in the end?"

The group buzzed with heated discussion; after all, the answer was somewhat surprising. Whether it was the strewn remains of plush toys or the slashed through little western dress, everything indicated hatred towards the little girl. But why was the cloaked person actually that same little girl?

"Because the hatred was for her past self?"

Feng Yuan glanced at Dou Yanlan and asked; Dou Yanlan nodded and said,

"Actually, it’s quite simple. This is, after all, a ghost house adventure, not a great detective’s mystery. They wouldn’t make the puzzle too difficult."

"So if all the clues pointed towards the little girl and there was no clue indicating who else could hate her so much, it could only be herself."

"And also... those newspapers..."

The newspapers, spanning from the earliest to the latest dates, indicated a long passage of time, suggesting that the time of the photograph and the appearance of the cloaked figure in the corridor were not the same. One reason the group did not initially consider the little girl was the significant difference in size between children and adults, but they had forgotten that the little girl in the frame would grow up.

"It’s a pity there’s no backstory~"

Feng Yuan said with a slight smile, seemingly regretful. Glancing at Feng Yuan, Dou Yanlan said,

"You can guess for yourself, but I reckon there won’t be any result. Let’s go; we’ve delayed here for too long."

As expected, the sealed iron door was now wide open in front of the group. As they moved along the corridor, the signs of destruction gradually lessened until they disappeared.

Nothing unexpected happened along the way, and the group safely returned to the main hall. Looking back at the path behind them, Feng Yuan said with some confusion,

"There’s no seal this time?"

No sooner had the words fallen than the mansion shook, and the wooden planks on top of the corridor collapsed with their beams. Seeing everyone staring at him, Feng Yuan, grinning awkwardly, scratched his head and said,

"Coincidence, coincidence~ It really wasn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy~"

Heaving a sigh, Chen Xin said with some helplessness,

"Let it be; it’s something we all expected from the start. This should be the end once we go through this passage."

Although they had faced many scares along the way, the group had also experienced thrills and excitement like never before, feeling as if they were exploring ancient ruins. Realizing the adventure was nearing its end, many felt a reluctance to let go.

"Probably, and there are several other houses around to check out, right?"

Feng Yuan snatched the map from Qi Chen’s hands, scanned it, and nodded. Chen Xin said with a smile,

"Of course, are you guys ready to go back?"

"No!"

"How can we give up on such a fun thing so quickly~"

"Exactly, exactly~ It’s so interesting~"

Thanks to the mechanisms, everyone was excited at this time. Unlike plain scares, many areas of the mansion required thinking; otherwise, you’d end up trapped in places like the corridor beforehand, unable to find your way out. Solving those puzzles didn’t rely on Dou Yanlan, but on everyone pitching in and trying their hand.

Though occasionally they ended up conjuring something even more terrifying, it only served to heighten their interest. After all, following a predetermined route waiting to be scared by others was nowhere near as thrilling or fun as encountering various eerie oddities that popped up as you moved.

"Really, there’s nothing at all?"

The corridor was short, and although there were many old decorations along the way, they weren’t particularly creepy. At the moment, everyone was inspecting the room at the end of the corridor. It seemed to be a reception room of the former master of the house, surrounded by numerous exquisite ornaments. Feng Yuan picked up a crude trophy and said,

"This must be a replica. When they made these trophies back in the day, they used select Xinghua Wood, but this one now..."

"That’s normal. No tourist spot would put out a real one for you."

While checking for anything overlooked, Chen Xin spoke. The trophy in Feng Yuan’s hands was from a competition held by the predecessor of the Alliance before the defense war started.

Back then, the Alliance had yet to rise to prominence. To gain widespread public recognition and promote their ideals, they organized various Beast Tamer and Spirit Beast contests. Although many of these contests were later shown to be flawed in design, either lacking in influence or unable to ensure fairness, they nevertheless laid the foundation for later Beast Tamer contests.

The current Beast Tamer competition format is mostly derived from those early contests, refined and adjusted to perfection. Even without the unexpected rise during the defense war, the growth and strengthening of the Alliance were inevitable.

"What a pity. I was thinking I’d sneakily take it with me if it were real~"

With a joke, Feng Yuan carefully placed the trophy back in its original spot. Qi Chen glanced at Feng Yuan and said,

"If you really wanted one, couldn’t you just compete for it?"

"Stop kidding. Most of the winners from that era were famous historical figures. If I got mixed in there, I’d throw the whole history off track, right? If that were the case, I might as well ask the Alliance for a trophy to play with."

Feng Yuan pouted, dissatisfied. After checking the reception room again, they found nothing. After a moment of thought, Chen Xin said,

"Shall we go back and see if we missed anything?"

On the way back to the main entrance, they checked all the decorations in the corridor, but to no avail. There was no sign of hidden doors or mechanisms, not even a hint.

"Strange, what exactly is this final puzzle?"

Feng Yuan looked at Dou Yanlan in confusion. Shaking her head, Dou Yanlan said,

"I can’t figure it out for now."

"What about you, Big Cat?"

Feng Yuan turned to the Big Cat behind him. Shaking its head, the Big Cat seemed just as clueless about the specifics. Chen Xin looked around and said,

"Surely they don’t expect us to break down the door with force, do they?"

Big Cat suddenly let out a series of urgent cries. Feng Yuan, puzzled, looked at it and said,

"What’s the matter?"

"It says it hears a noise."

"A sound?!"

Upon hearing Agunas’s translation, everyone fell silent. A faint, indistinct mumbling sound reached their ears. After listening for a while, Feng Yuan scratched his head and muttered,

"This doesn’t seem to mean anything, it’s all muddled up, like an Illusory Sound Parrot..."

"It’s unclear what it specifically implies, perhaps..."

Dou Yanlan still wanted to say something when Big Cat unsteadily walked to the staircase and pointed with its wing at the corridor they’d first entered. The darkness that had swallowed the corridor was slowly creeping toward the hall, breaking through its confines.

"Is this... a time limit?"

Dou Yanlan said, somewhat surprised. Although there were no specific instructions, the situation made it clear to everyone: Just like the previous infinite corridor, if they were consumed by the darkness, they would likely have to start over.

"What is that...?"

Turning her head, Feng Yuan saw the cloaked figure suddenly appear and extinguish the flickering crimson bloom with a slash. Without alerting anyone else, the figure appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as quickly.

"How could that thing appear..."

With an inexplicable look, Feng Yuan surveyed the mansion, glanced at Big Cat and said,

"If you come across anything, just speak up. There are many places we haven’t been to yet. Wasting too much time here wouldn’t be good."