Alice's Hell (40) - After the Thorns

Zeng Lai finally recovered from the lingering fear and pain, and put away the scissors.

The six points of luck, while not enough to prevent him from reaching his death point—an anomaly stemming from the rules of the deduction itself, beyond his control—successfully allowed him to encounter Yu Xing before being buried, thus regaining consciousness.

With this unexpected event as a prelude, his sensitivity to time was now even greater than that of Yu Xing, who was numb with pain in the cold. At this moment, he felt he was alright again, so he gently tugged at Yu Xing's arm. "Hey, I'm better now, shall we continue? Judging from the current situation, it's best if we leave as soon as possible."

After asking, Zeng Lai, without Yu Xing's reply, suddenly remembered something. "Wait, I don't know where to go either. You still haven't told me what happened... What's wrong with you?"

Under his hand, Yu Xing's arm was trembling slightly.

To the naked eye, Yu Xing, with his strong endurance, could not reveal any flaws. However, Zeng Lai started to attack, Yu Xing's condition could no longer be concealed.

"I'm fine, just a little... a side effect of using the sacrifice," Yu Xing said calmly. Apart from her slightly off complexion, her expression was natural, making people unconsciously choose to believe her.

Zeng Lai responded with an "Oh".

The person in front of him had just saved him, so he couldn't possibly act like a senior. Coincidentally, Yu Xing didn't look much younger than him, and the gambler, being quite magnanimous, thought he could treat Xing as an equal from now on.

He coughed twice, didn't ask any further questions, and quietly let go of her hand. "Where are we going now?"

"Let's go back." Yu Xing answered quickly this time.

Zeng Lai: "Oh... what?"

What did he hear?

He had an idea. "You know how to get up there?"

"We're not going up." Yu Xing half-pushed and half-led Zeng Lai back the way they came, explaining the current situation to Zeng Lai in detail along the way.

By the time they returned to where they had fallen, the explanation had come to an end.

Zeng Lai was even more puzzled. Forgive him for not being able to concentrate too much right now; his mind had just relaxed, and it was difficult for him to get back into a thinking rhythm for a while, "Since the original pot of roses you're looking for is in the Rose Tunnel, why not keep going in? Alice wouldn't hide something so important so shallowly."

"... I hope the gambler senior can regain his IQ soon. Hmm, there wasn't any permanent damage, was there?" Yu Xing really wanted to be in a wheelchair and have someone push him forward, but he could only stand there, so he wasn't in a good mood. Therefore, when he heard Zeng Lai ask a stupid question that was out of his experience, Yu Xing couldn't suppress his sarcastic spirit for a moment.

Zeng Lai: "..." Okay, I understand, I've been rejected. (Fastest updates on mobile::)

Yu Xing, despite her sarcasm, Yu Xing kindly offered a hint: "What's the point of hiding roses so deeply?"

Zeng Lai asked, "To prevent being discovered?"

Yu Xing: "How far did you go? You have offerings, did the others have any? Could they have gone so far as to reach the place we just arrived at?"

Zeng Lai only needed to answer the last question, so he said, "... No."

After he finished speaking, he understood.

He walked a little slower because he was cautious, but this slowness was relative to himself. In reality, no one else standing there could have walked faster than him, and theoretically, no one else should have been able to reach the place he arrived at in fifty minutes.

If Alice was trying to prevent intruders, she should have placed the initial rose where Zeng Lai had reached, because placing it any deeper... would have been pointless.

Everyone who could theoretically find a rose would become nourishment before that happens.

However, Zeng Lai found nothing, indicating that this guess was wrong.

"You mean..." He suddenly realized, looking at Yu Xing, "The pot of roses we're looking for is actually not far from the entrance?"

Yu Xing nodded lazily and looked straight ahead.

Zeng Lai followed his gaze and fell silent for a moment.

It was a wall of thorns, so thick that anyone coming down from it would instinctively think that there was a dead end behind it.

Dead ends and tunnels leading to unknown destinations are located on either side, and anyone would know which to choose. That's why... if a rose is hidden behind thorns, it would be an excellent hiding place.

Yu Xing stepped forward and gently touched the surface of the thorns. The touch was so light that the thorns did not leave a wound on his fingers.

He said, "Alice created this place to protect her flowers, that's true, but conversely, every time she wants to take that pot of flowers, she has to walk through these incredibly boring places."

The gambler veteran, who nearly died from sheer boredom in this place. "..."

Zeng Lai realized that Xing's good temper was only temporary; he could always infuriate others unintentionally and without any psychological burden in the smallest details.

"The challenges are created to annoy others, and as for the creators themselves, of course they'll try every means to leave themselves enough privileges." Yu Xing glanced at Zeng Lai, probably guessing what Zeng Lai was thinking, and gave a gentle smile that no longer held much credibility. "Is there anything more satisfying than watching others head into the tunnels and die one after another, while you can simply turn around and get what you want?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he brought the lighter in his hand to the edge of the thorns. The eerie flame tentatively approached, and the moment it touched the plant's surface, the flame burst open with a roar, like a grassland ignited by a tiny spark.

It spread rapidly from nearby areas to all sides until the entire wall of thorns turned a swaying orange, burning fiercely.

The thorns were burned, Alice was on her way.

The system notification indicated that he was engulfed in flames, but Yu Xing merely raised an eyebrow and didn't take it seriously.

He already knew this would happen.

The intense heat hit her face, and Yu Xing took a few steps back, watching the scene licked by the flames and feeling the warmth of the heat. She felt much more comfortable. The lighter in her hand, which had been burning for a long time, finally ran out of oil and struggled to go out.

The thorns twisted together, then cried out to separate, groaning under their unbearable burden. A few wisps of bark and sparks fell from above, landing on the ground and quickly cooling into white ash, somewhat similar to the transition during the simulation.

For the first time, the dark Rose Tunnel was truly lit, and the crimson roses all around looked somewhat fragile in the firelight.

No, perhaps this is the second time it's been this bright.

In short, both the first and second times were accompanied by the crackling sound of burning, which echoed far and wide, like an irreversible inheritance.

"A perfect match," Zeng Lai remarked, observing the scene.

Yu Xing had a cryptic smile on her lips, "The butler said that Alice really hates fire. There are so few things in the castle that can start a fire, and the only one we found was an inconspicuous tinderbox hidden among the many artifacts. I even borrowed the lighter from the butler. This shows that Alice is really afraid of fire."

On his way back, he explained everything to Zeng Lai in detail, including the information the butler had revealed to him.

So now, with their information aligned, they can communicate comfortably. Yu Xing said, "I think that Shen chose to set the fire because he learned of this fact through some means and then chose to exploit this weakness. That person must be quite interesting."

"Maybe. Judging from appearance and name alone, I've never heard of such a person before, at least not a famous one." Zeng Lai thought for a moment and was quite certain.

If someone like Yu Xing, who doesn't know much about celebrity predictors, is unsure, that's understandable. But even Zeng Lai, a celebrity predictor who is a semi-academic predictor who frequently writes data analyses and strategies, says she's never heard of Shen. So it's probably really hard to find such a person.

Yu Xing shrugged noncommittally. Just then, a large section of the thorns was burned off, finally revealing what was behind it.

Through the flames, the two looked inside at the same time.

Sure enough, behind the thorns was a small, secret room. In the center stood a heavy display stand, and under a glass cover, the pot of blooming roses that the nun had once carefully held was now quietly sitting there.

The glass reflected the orange-red flames and a tall, imposing figure. The figure stood behind the flames, its dark pupils seemingly tinged with the burning light. The slightly upturned corners of its eyes appeared to be smiling, yet a hint of coldness could be discerned.

This is what Yu Xing saw: her reflection in the glass.

They seem a bit unapproachable.

The next moment, he concealed the sharpness in his eyes and said to Zeng Lai, who was standing some distance away, "There is one thing we should thank Shen for."

"What?" Seeing that the rose had been found, Zeng Lai was happy but also became wary.

Although he hadn't received a system notification, he knew from Yu Xing that Alice could sense Rose's state, so she should be coming down now. The longer they took, the easier it would be for Alice to catch them red-handed.

This is a head-on confrontation with the boss! Even if the locust and the Huang Bai above can stall for time, they can't stall for long.

Therefore, when Zeng Lai heard Yu Xing still mentioning Shen, her reaction was somewhat perfunctory.

More thorns had fallen to the ground, broken in various places, piling up in large chunks and revealing several large holes.

Only when the hole became large enough for one person to pass through did Yu Xing continue, "Shen Fang burned down the entire tunnel, even affecting the fifth floor, but he didn't burn down this most important rose. This already proves one thing..."

"The flower the Great Wizard gave to Alice is not afraid of fire."

Zeng Lai could even raise his hand to stop him, he shielded his eyes from the blinding flames and, braving the surrounding fire, stepped into the hole revealed in the wall of fire.

"Aren't you afraid of getting burned?" Zeng Lai muttered, then bent down and crawled inside, not to be outdone.

The flames licked at the wound on his skin, causing him to wince in pain. When he looked up, he saw Yu Xing discard the useless lighter, open the glass cover, and pull out the tinderbox that had left a deep impression on him from his pocket.

After a quick flick, the tinder stubbornly lit up, and Yu Xing, without hesitation, pressed the flame against the rose.

No luck.

This rose was completely non-flammable; it didn't budge when it came into contact with the flame, a stark contrast to the still-screaming thorn wall.

Yu Xing handed the tinder to Zeng Lai and tried to destroy it by hand. However, just like a prop box that cannot be opened by brute force, each petal of the flower felt very soft to the touch and could not actually be destroyed.

Even Yu Xing's attempt to stick her hand into the soil of the flowerpot and dig out the roots was stopped by the system.

You sensed a special curse emanating from this pot of roses, but unfortunately, you cannot change its condition.

A curse is a state of being.

Yu Xing seemed to be deep in thought, and his pensive expression was mistaken by Zeng Lai as him feeling pressured.

Zeng Lai said, "Don't worry, there must be a way. How about we try using the sacrificial offerings?"

Yu Xing nodded, drew the Sheqing Dreamscape from his waist. The dagger, imbued with ghostly energy, was sharp and cold; at first glance, it seemed capable of easily slicing off a small rose.

The gleaming dagger almost blended into the blinding firelight, trembling slightly, before swiftly piercing the rose.

And it left a lonely mark on the rose.

"... No." Looking at the unharmed Rose, Yu Xing sheathed her dagger and chuckled. "But I have a way."

He raised the watering can he had been holding. "If a curse is a state, then it means that state can be broken. This flower grows by absorbing human sins and life, so it must be quite picky about its food."

Zeng Lai: "A picky eater?"

"Yes, such a noble flower must be unable to bear being treated poorly. It's like a pampered young master who is used to eating the desserts made by the chef at home, suddenly reduced to stealing other people's leftovers. Can this young master really survive?" Yu Xing's analogy made Zeng Lai feel a little awkward, but it was very effective.

Zeng Lai put himself in his shoes and thought about it. If such a young master's family had really fallen on hard times, he would be too proud and delicate to endure any hardship. He would probably die very quickly.

He immediately understood Yu Xing's plan. "You're going to water it?"

"Um."

This watering can, by all accounts, was obtained from a nun. Normally, it would take a lot of effort for the diviner to get it.

The nun used it to water the roses in the castle with her blood, but Yu Xing smelled it when she got it; it wasn't human blood, but rather the blood of some kind of animal.

It seems that all the roses in the castle, under the influence of this pot of "Origin," need to be watered with blood to bloom. However, the number of tourists visiting the castle each time is limited, and not everyone will die. Therefore, with blood scarce, Alice had no choice but to settle for second best and let the nun use animal blood to water the other roses.

True evil and human blood can only be absorbed by this most precious rose.

All of this is a prerequisite for its "cursed state." What if... it absorbed animal blood?

Not wanting to waste time, Yu Xing tilted her wrist as she responded, pouring the liquid from the watering can onto the rose bushes.

The system indicated that the person would arrive quickly.

Rose felt uncomfortable and resistant.

To your surprise, the rose seems to be wilting, but if it's only wilting a little, it will recover soon.

Please hold for 30 seconds, and do not stop watering the rose during this time.

Yu Xing shook the kettle in her hand, silently straightened her wrist, and reduced the water flow.

The system needs 30 seconds, not the amount of water poured.

The next moment, a loud bang came from behind the two of them.

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