There were roughly three ways to clear Haunted Town.
The first was to do nothing but defend against the doll's attacks and hold out until dawn.
The second was to find a way to destroy the doll. Once it was destroyed, there would be no more danger in the town.
They had already tried both methods, with poor results. The doll and its master's powers had grown stronger, making it difficult for them to win either way.
The third method was to take shelter in a refuge somewhere in the town.
Although the third method looked simpler, many people were unwilling to choose it because of the uncertainties involved.
After all, this was a welfare Instance that was easy to clear. Why look for trouble and increase their chances of dying?
But now they had no other choice. They could only take shelter there.
Jiang Yue said, "Are we really going there? I can't help feeling uneasy."
Cheng Xu said, "Let's put it to a vote. Who's for it, and who's against it?"
Their lives were at stake, so everyone had to vote. Even if they did encounter a danger they couldn't overcome, they couldn't blame anyone else.
Zhang Zhiqiang was the first to agree, and Zhao Yuqing eventually agreed as well. Seeing that all three of them had agreed, Jiang Yue said,
"Since you all think we should do it, I agree too."
Once all four had agreed, they set off for the town's refuge.
The so-called refuge was a courtyard on the edge of town, where the dolls and their masters had once lived.
Years ago, a fire had broken out in the town. The strange blaze had burned almost everything to ashes, but that courtyard alone showed no signs of fire damage.
It was a refuge. As long as they entered it, the dolls and their masters would not attack them.
They didn't want to stain the place where they had once lived with blood.
Even so, every player who entered this Instance was still unwilling to go into that courtyard.
That was because of a taboo: "When a door opens inward, never walk through it."
Many people had paid with their lives to learn that lesson, and it had left every player afraid of the doors in this Instance.
No matter which way a door opened, it was best to stay away.
But now there was clearly no better way to clear the Instance. They had only one choice left.
Before long, the four arrived at the courtyard gate. Looking at the tightly shut gate, they all felt tense.
When they had first entered the Instance, they had thought it was a welfare dungeon. But no one thought that anymore.
This Instance was not easy.
The gate before them was completely intact. The courtyard walls were tall, and their red bricks looked new.
The courtyard was practically the only intact structure in the entire town.
But with all the other buildings burned to ashes, its intact condition was abnormal instead.
Cheng Xu stepped forward and pushed the gate. It didn't budge, and a hint of joy appeared on his face.
"It won't open when pushed, so it should open outward. We can go in."
With that, he pulled the gate, and it slowly swung open. Everyone remained on guard, staring inside.
When the gate was fully open, they saw the courtyard beyond.
The courtyard was large, with flowers and plants growing in one area and a vegetable patch in another, where beans, cucumbers, Chinese chives, and other vegetables grew.
Clearly, no one had lived here for a long time, but there wasn't a weed on the ground. The courtyard remained clean and tidy, as though someone came to clean it regularly.
Zhao Yuqing asked, "There's no danger inside. Should we go in now?"
"Let's go in!" Cheng Xu thought for a moment before finally making up his mind and leading the way inside.
The others followed Cheng Xu, and all four entered the courtyard.
A cobblestone path ran down the middle of the courtyard, with the vegetable patch on the left and the flower garden on the right.
They followed the path straight to the house at the far end of the courtyard.
It was a beautiful two-story house, with blue tiles on the outside and plants like Virginia creeper growing on it.
There was an open space in front of the house, filled with tools that the dolls' masters presumably used to make the dolls.
They didn't dare rummage through them, for fear of angering the evil spirits lurking in the dark and those strange dolls.
Zhang Zhiqiang looked at the house's front door and said, "Should we go in?"
Cheng Xu said, "Let's go in. We should at least make sure there's really no danger inside."
They no longer dared to trust the dungeon guide completely. After all, this Instance had undergone some changes.
This time, Zhao Yuqing opened the door. She stepped forward and first pushed it. Only after making sure it wouldn't open did she pull it open.
Zhao Yuqing went in first, with the others following behind her.
The house was furnished with all kinds of furniture, including a solid-wood sofa and coffee table. The floor was white and very clean, and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere in the house.
They searched every room and, after making sure there was nothing dangerous, returned to the courtyard, relieved.
Cheng Xu said, "Now all we have to do is hold out until dawn."
"I hope everything goes smoothly," Zhao Yuqing said.
Zhang Zhiqiang glanced at her and said, "As long as your jinxed mouth doesn't do its work, everything will go smoothly."
"All right, will you two ever stop?" Cheng Xu said impatiently.
Those two argued whenever they had the chance, and it really gave him a headache. They weren't out of danger yet. The Instance wasn't over, and anything could still happen.
The four sat in the courtyard and waited quietly for dawn.
Sure enough, this was a refuge, just as the guide had said. They waited a long time, and the distant sky had already begun to pale. Dawn was nearly here, and the doll had not ambushed them again.
"Looks like we made the right bet!" A smile finally appeared on Cheng Xu's face.
Dawn was almost here, and there was little the doll and its master could do now. They could be said to have cleared the dungeon already.
"Yeah, it looks like there's no power left that can stop us now," Zhang Zhiqiang said.
Jiang Yue said, "Everyone should still be careful and stay alert. There are only a few minutes left. What if that doll ambushes us again..."
"Yes, we mustn't let our guard down until the very last moment," Cheng Xu said.
As they waited with anticipation and nervousness, dawn finally came.
The sun rose in the east, sweeping away all the gloom, and the joy they hadn't felt in so long appeared on their faces.
Now all they needed was for the system to announce that they had completed the mission, and they could return to the real world.
However, several minutes passed, and they still hadn't received a notification from the system. An ominous feeling gradually rose in their hearts.
"What on earth is going on?" Zhang Zhiqiang looked at the sun in the sky, feeling deeply uneasy.
"Didn't they say we'd complete the mission if we survived until dawn? Did that damn game system make a mistake?"
"No, impossible!" Jiang Yue said. "The game system can't be wrong."
"I think we're the ones who were wrong!" Zhao Yuqing's expression remained cold.
Cheng Xu's hands began to tremble involuntarily. If they were wrong, their mistake was definitely no small one, but a fatal error!
"Look!" Jiang Yue pointed at the courtyard gate. "That gate..."
At some unknown point, the courtyard gate had changed and was now open inward. Yet when they came in, it had clearly been pulled open.
Cheng Xu clenched his fists. What on earth was going on?
He already regretted coming in here. If they had stayed outside, they would still have had a chance of survival, but now...
It was said that if a door opened inward, anyone who walked through it would enter another world.
This was the most dangerous part of the Haunted Town Instance.
Once inside, there was no way out.
This place was connected to a hidden mission, but so far, no one had ever completed the hidden mission in this Instance, nor had any information about it circulated outside.
"Let's go out and take a look!" Zhao Yuqing said gravely.
That was all they could do, and none of the other three objected.
The four walked out through the courtyard gate and looked outside. Unlike last night, when the whole town had borne the marks of fire,
all the buildings in town were now completely intact, though not a single person was in sight.
"Congratulations, you have successfully entered the hidden map. Please continue exploring this place and resolve the crisis facing the town's residents. Upon completing the mission, you will receive a very generous reward."
Hearing the system notification, none of the four showed any joy. A sense of fear spread through their hearts.
This was the first time they had felt fear since entering the Instance!