Swear to the Death, No Retreat

The crowd turned their heads one after another to look.

A vermilion sedan chair adorned with two pairs of white streamers suddenly appeared in the plaza, carried by four maidservants in pink gowns. Their movements were stiff, and their pale faces were painted with red rouge as they approached with quick, light steps, like dragonflies skimming the water.

The singing emanated directly from the four maidservants.

The gathered crowd quickly scattered to clear a path.

"Move back, quick!"

"Right, brother, let's get out of the way."

The man in the gorilla mask who had sold the manual to Wu Heng dodged aside and beckoned the others to follow suit.

Seeing this, Wu Heng joined the crowd and retreated to the side.

His expression was strange; wasn't this the "Ghost Bride" song from the movie Mr. Vampire?

"What are you afraid of? The plaza is a safe zone. They've just cleared a few more instances than us, that's all. We're all the same. If you retreat now, you'll retreat a thousand times over, and you'll lose your spirit!"

Duanmu Ruixiong saw the people around him scattering because of the distant sedan chair. He let out a cold snort, his aura of fearlessness surging, and he remained standing in place, calmly flipping through his manual.

'It is the female ghost seeking a lover!'

'See, see, seeing her makes my heart flutter!'

The sedan chair slowly approached, accompanied by the singing.

With vision far exceeding that of an ordinary person, Wu Heng could see the details of the sedan:

The joints of the sedan were tied with U-shaped strips, the surfaces were as smooth as paste, and the carrying poles were neither wood nor iron.

The four maidservants carrying the chair had clothes with sharp, rigid edges that didn't sway even as they walked, and their faces looked like they had been painted on with a brush.

These were clearly four paper figures and a paper sedan. Wu Heng retreated again, hiding far behind the man in the gorilla mask.

Duanmu Ruixiong stood calmly in place, his back to the sedan. His left arm was wrapped around his right chest, his right hand held the manual in the air, and he stood straight as a ramrod. His brows furrowed and smoothed by turns, as if he were gaining some profound insight from his reading.

The sedan reached Duanmu Ruixiong and paused for a moment, as if its owner hadn't expected anyone to stand their ground.

"Interesting!"

A feminine, high-pitched male voice drifted from inside the sedan.

A flash of joy crossed Duanmu Ruixiong's eyes before vanishing instantly. He continued to read his manual calmly, turning a deaf ear to the background music beside him.

A visible gust of cold, ghostly wind whipped up. Through the slightly swaying curtain, Wu Heng saw a man sitting inside with a pale face, wearing a white headscarf, a paper flower pinned to his right chest, and traditional ancient wedding attire.

The sedan seemed to dim for a moment, as if a movie's resolution had suddenly shifted from Blu-ray to high-definition. Then, the sedan continued forward, passing right through Duanmu Ruixiong's body.

Duanmu Ruixiong's face turned pale and rigid in an instant. His expression went blank, and he walked straight ahead, heading outside the illumination range of the Lighthouse. In the darkness, a chaotic sound of footsteps and shrill cries erupted.

The vermilion paper sedan drifted along the faint path of light extended by the Lighthouse, heading toward the distant cluster of sub-towers that looked like candles.

"Idiot! Haha!"

Within the crowd, a giant crow's head cackled.

It was perched on the left shoulder of a cold-faced, muscular man with a fierce build who stood with his arms crossed, staring straight ahead.

"Young people don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."

"He probably thought the manual's 'safe zone' included the Tower Master."

"The manual certainly wouldn't cover the Tower Master, though the Tower Master will have to pay a few survival points for this little stunt."

The crowd murmured among themselves.

"Brother, who is that big shot in the sedan?"

Wu Heng walked forward a dozen steps and asked the man in the gorilla mask.

"That's the Paper Person Tower Master who was newly promoted last month. Though, only a new Tower Master would still bother coming to the main plaza."

Seeing it was his customer, the gorilla-masked man explained casually.

"As expected of the Paper Person Tower Master. So domineering, so terrifying—he truly has the bearing of the strongest!"

Wu Heng sighed, then thought for a moment and asked the man again: "Brother, do you have any information on the Tower Masters?"

"Don't talk nonsense, I don't."

The gorilla-masked man looked around warily and spoke in a low voice.

He then quickly moved away from Wu Heng.

Seeing his cautious demeanor, Wu Heng didn't press the matter and decided to go back and check the Lighthouse information.

"Return to reality."

With a thought, Wu Heng returned to his room.

He glanced out the window and compared the two manuals regarding the Lighthouse.

The information recorded here only covered the first two tiers. The so-called "one thousand rules" were mostly filler—there was even a rule about not spitting on the ground.

Only a few were truly useful. One of them stated that one could communicate with the Lighthouse and spend 500 survival points to apply for a private room.

The private room came with a strength Testing Room, appraisal functions, and more. As long as one's tested strength reached the first tier, they could know the name of the next instance in advance and spend survival points to refresh the instance world.

The first refresh costs 500 survival points, the second 1,000, and it continues to double thereafter: 2,000, 4,000, and so on.

Wu Heng flipped through the gifted intelligence reports again, then set them down with a sigh:

"Brother Duanmu, your death was not unjust!"

The two reports read as follows:

In the Old Corpse of the Mountain Village scenario, there is a lake near the protagonist; consuming its water allows one to resist possession by ghosts.

In The First Commandment, grabbing the possessed person by the throat can imprison the ghost.

In 1408, one can escape ghosts by climbing out the window to room 1407.

The first report contained two tips, and the second contained one.

However, anyone who believed this intelligence and followed these instructions upon entering those worlds would likely die without ever understanding how.

Wu Heng could not fathom why the Tower Masters who compiled these Lighthouse manuals would deliberately release such obviously lethal misinformation. These manuals made absolutely no mention of the Tower Masters themselves.

But one thing was certain: the memories he held regarding those scenario worlds truly could not be spoken of recklessly, or he would likely be targeted by these Tower Masters.

Wu Heng entered the Lighthouse once more and triggered his Lighthouse Mark with a thought:

"Unlock Personal Space."

[Spend 500 survival points to unlock Personal Space?]

"Yes."

[Survival points deducted successfully. Personal Lighthouse Space unlocked.]

'Remaining survival points: 7,697.'

A grave rose from the ground before Wu Heng, its mouth opening to reveal a hole that shimmered like water, obscuring whatever lay within.

He stepped through the opening into a room with nothing but four plain walls. With a thought, Wu Heng reshaped the room's style to resemble Dean's villa.

He sat down on the familiar sofa and triggered the Lighthouse Mark.

"Enter Testing Room."

The surrounding environment shifted in an instant, transforming into a desolate, boundless plain of yellow earth. It was deathly silent, possessing a strange, bleak quality.

[Entered Testing Room. 100 survival points deducted per minute.]

Wu Heng brushed the dirt off his backside and stood up; the space changed without the slightest warning.

He already knew from the manual how to conduct tests. Whether it was healing, combat prowess, firearms, recovery, digestion, mental strength, or even one-time destructive means like nuclear weapons, the Lighthouse could provide a comprehensive assessment of one's strength rank.

However, a falsified strength rank would not only be useless but could also backfire, though the manual did not specify why.

Would you be willing to trade your collections and recommendation votes for two stainless steel basins?