Clearing the Level

The candlelight flickered.

Perhaps because it wasn't a true flame, one couldn't feel the slightest bit of warmth from the candle; as the orange light drifted, it even gave one the chilling illusion of coldness.

Zhou You simply held the candlestick and walked toward the exit on the top floor of this haunted building.

When passing the fourth floor, the candle began to burn violently just as it had before, but he didn't quicken his pace like last time; instead, he maintained a steady stride, brushing past those faces and hands, reached the fifth floor, and unlocked the heavy bolt, then...

He grabbed the lock and tossed it casually toward the floor below.

"CLANG!!!!"

A deafening crash.

The entire building seemed to shudder along with it!

With such a massive disturbance, even if the Landlady were deaf, she would surely have been startled into coming over by now.

Not to mention that through several encounters, Zhou You already knew very well that this monster just had poor eyesight, but as for her ears...

They were sharp as a tack.

Walking into the room and pushing aside a few corpses, Zhou You found a spot on the pile of debris to sit down, tapping his arm while counting his breaths.

In the absence of a clock, the human body itself serves as a substitute for a timing unit; normally, calculating by pulse would be the most convenient, but unfortunately, due to his illness, Zhou You's heart rate had always been extremely unstable.

Marsh gas still permeated the surroundings, and the low-oxygen environment made every breath increasingly difficult, yet Zhou You didn't show a hint of discomfort; instead, the smile on his face grew even brighter.

Two minutes later, accompanied by a loud bang, the wooden door was smashed open with force.

And so, the Landlady's ugly face—covered in wrinkles, with half her nose rotted away, looking just like decaying tree bark—appeared before his eyes.

Seeing Zhou You still sitting there, the Landlady, who had rushed up in a frenzy, was momentarily stunned—she seemed just as surprised by this situation—but she immediately broke into a smile.

Only, unlike Zhou You's, this smile was full of cruelty and malice, feeling like a cat that had finally caught a mouse and was impatient to toy with its prey.

"I really didn't expect it. You've been here less than half a day, yet you managed to slip past the pets I keep and make it to the fifth floor. But how did you..."

The Landlady cast her gaze toward the candle in Zhou You's hand, squinting at it for a moment before suddenly sneering.

"Heh, so that's it. Turns out that brat left one of his concoctions behind. I didn't search that room carefully back then because I thought it was too filthy; looks like that was a mistake. But you've made the same mistake as him. What, realized this candle isn't enough and you can't escape at all? What a pity, I—"

However, the only answer she received was a soft sigh.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt."

"...What?"

"Allow me to interject, because I really don't have much time left." Zhou You held up the candle, which had already burned halfway down, and gave it a gentle shake. "So, may I ask you a few questions first?"

"...What are you talking about?"

The Landlady had already imagined how Zhou You would look—despairing, pained, panicked, kneeling and begging with tears streaming down his face—but she truly hadn't expected this reaction, leaving her feeling completely bewildered.

But Zhou You just smiled to himself.

"First question—and it's one I've been curious about for a long time—you're in such a state, so why are you still so obsessed with money?"

This sentence seemed to hit a nerve, and the Landlady shrieked like a rooster caught by the throat.

"That's because money is the only thing that matters in this world! I spent years swindling and cheating, doing everything I could to scrape together this fortune; how could I just hand it over to outsiders after I die! Besides, it's thanks to money that I was pulled out of the grave. Without money, how would I survive!"

It seemed like simple greed, but there appeared to be other information in those words—for instance, how was she resurrected using money?

Zhou You examined that shriveled face, sensing the other party wouldn't give him the answer, so he had to continue.

"Then, second question: what happened to my previous tenant?"

"...Why do you ask that?"

"Nothing much, I just relied on him to get this far." Zhou You shook the candle, which was nearly burned out. "So, if he's still alive, I was thinking of going back to pull him out—after all, I'm a very grateful person."

The Landlady suddenly bared her teeth, revealing a cruel smile.

"No need for that. He's dead; he's hanging right over there. But I didn't kill him on purpose; he was the one begging for death. After discovering he wanted to escape, I chopped off his remaining two legs, then plucked a few parts off him every day. In less than a week, he was crying and begging me to kill him, and I'm kind-hearted, so I agreed. But don't worry, you won't get off that easily. I'll use a much longer method to torture you, I guarantee you'll only draw your last breath at the very end—"

"Alright, third question."

The threat hadn't even finished before Zhou You interrupted her again.

Looking at the monster who nearly choked on her own words, Zhou You smiled and said.

"This is also the last question, I'll keep it simple—so, can you smell the strange odor in here?"

"What strange odor?"

Zhou You's smile grew even brighter.

"It seems that half-rotted nose of yours really is malfunctioning, otherwise you wouldn't have let this stuff accumulate for so long."

He shook his head, picked up the candlestick, and walked step by step toward the other side.

The old woman didn't stop him; she suddenly furrowed her brows, seemingly sensing something amiss.

Taking advantage of this gap, Zhou You walked smoothly to the wall, leaned against it casually, and continued speaking.

"But that's normal. Only three types of people come to this place: you, the corpses, and my poor predecessor. You and the corpses don't need to breathe, so this stuff naturally doesn't affect you. And my predecessor was so intent on escaping that the candle he used didn't have the properties of a real flame, so it wouldn't have triggered this either. After being driven mad by your torture, he certainly wouldn't have mentioned it. So, in the end, it was my gain..."

A strange sense of unease began to build in her heart, and the landlady could no longer concern herself with anything else, instead letting out a sharp, stern rebuke.

"What on earth are you talking about!"

However, Zhou You paid her no mind; he simply stared at the skylight, speaking to some presence that was nowhere to be seen.

"Come to think of it, I just remembered that I drew a talent at the very beginning. It's a pity that everything I've encountered so far has been an instant-death trap, leaving me no chance to use it—but I have a feeling I can use it now."

His tone shifted abruptly.

"Oh, right, this game only requires me to escape from Building 4, but it didn't specify how I had to escape, did it?"

Before him, the landlady finally sensed the danger; it lunged forward, mouth agape, attempting to unleash that same immobilization ability from before.

But Zhou You had already made his move before it could.

He pulled that box of matches from his jacket pocket, struck one lightly, and ignited it.

You have activated the skill, Wuwo Ruding.

You have entered a state of sensory deprivation. In this state, you will ignore all effects of fear and sanity loss, and you will not die from damage effects.

This skill lasts for 10...

Before the female voice could finish its prompt, the firelight flared before his eyes!

In the blink of an eye, the methane gas accumulated in the room was instantly ignited!

In an instant, a violent explosion swept through everything. The clutter, the corpses, and even the old woman were swallowed by the raging inferno. Accompanying this was a rapidly expanding shockwave—the dilapidated attic could not withstand such kinetic energy, and it shattered from the inside out in a heartbeat.

Zhou You, naturally, was not spared.

He felt as if he had been struck head-on by a truck; accompanied by the crumbling walls, his entire body was sent flying. Under the extreme, agonizing pain, his internal organs felt as though they were splitting apart, and even his brain felt as if it were being crushed alive.

This was damage far beyond what a human could endure. Zhou You knew that the moment the skill's countdown ended, he would die a miserable death.

Yet, he was still smiling—perhaps the most joyous smile he had worn since entering this dungeon.

It was only because, within his blurring vision, he could faintly see a touch of azure.

—That was the azure of the sky.

Congratulations on completing the novice dungeon: Escape from Building 4.

Landlady confirmed dead, "Shimen" confirmed dead.

You have exceeded the mission requirements; you will receive additional rewards...