[Holy shit, that actually worked?!]
[I was wondering why the streamer hadn't hurried up and thrown the human-skin painting into another empty room when it nearly got him killed last night. Turns out he can actually use this thing to find clues?!]
[At this rate, is he going to get the true ending in this instance too?]
[He just might. Maybe he'll even break the Novice Zone record for true ending clears!]
[I remember the record being three instances?]
[How come I've never heard about this record? Who holds it?]
[The White Night Guild's leader and deputy leader. They were pretty much the fiercest rookies back then. One had the brains, the other had the fighting power. While other Novice Zone players were struggling just to survive, those two bulldozed through three instances.]
[Once they advanced to the Advanced Zone, guilds were fighting over them. Who would've thought they'd turn down every invitation and start their own guild? It kept growing until it became the White Night Guild we know today.]
[Two people that badass teamed up and only got three true endings?]
[You think true endings are that easy to get?! That's already an incredible achievement, considering the caliber of Novice Zone players and the quality of their items... Most of them probably haven't even seen an instance completion rate above 80.]
[When you put it that way, if the streamer breaks their record, wouldn't that prove he's stronger than the White Night Guild's leader and deputy leader combined?]
Seeing that comment, Cheng Xin clicked his tongue in annoyance and nudged the man beside him.
"Someone says this kid could take both of us on by himself."
Lin Shiming gave Cheng Xin a speechless glance, then turned his attention back to the livestream. Li Xian was standing in the middle of the first-floor hall, the human-skin portrait already trembling visibly in his hands. He paced back and forth in different directions, gradually narrowing down the exact location.
Finally, Li Xian stopped in front of the Mistress's full-length portrait.
The human-skin painting was shaking almost as violently as it had the night before. Li Xian immediately confirmed that the burned woman was hiding behind this painting.
He handed the human-skin portrait to Song Qingzhang and asked him to take it back to the room, then reached up and ran his hand over the frame on the wall.
Only then did he realize that the full-length portrait was roughly the size of a door.
Li Xian pushed against it, trying to open this hidden "door." But no matter which direction he applied force in, the portrait remained firmly fixed to the wall, refusing to budge.
His brows drew together slightly. He stopped, took two steps back, and began examining the painting carefully.
Including its frame, the portrait was about two meters tall and one meter wide. The bottom of the frame was roughly five centimeters off the floor, leaving it hanging awkwardly just above the ground.
Li Xian scanned the surface of the canvas but found nothing unusual.
So he reached up to the top of the frame and lightly ran his fingers along its edge in a clockwise direction.
When he reached the bottom edge, Li Xian crouched down. His fingers paused as he felt an unusual protrusion beneath their pads.
He lowered his head and found a neat row of buttons there, engraved with the ten digits from 0 to 9.
A combination lock?
Li Xian was a little surprised.
Since entering the instance, he didn't seem to have encountered anything related to a code.
His fingers moved back and forth over the buttons as he carefully considered the possible answers.
What would the Mistress use as her code? The number of portraits? Her birthday? The date the art exhibition opened?
Would it really be that simple?
Time ticked by. Li Xian drew a deep breath and, trusting his instincts, punched in a string of numbers as though gambling with his life.
"19980909"
As he pressed the last digit, a soft click came from inside the frame.
Li Xian stood up and tried pushing the frame again-
Whoosh.
The wooden frame slid smoothly to one side without any resistance, revealing a corridor before him.
He stepped inside without hesitation, then reached back and returned the portrait to its original position.
His surroundings plunged into darkness. Only the corner a short distance down the corridor gave off a faint light, and the air carried a strong smell of paint.
Li Xian walked forward and rounded the bend, where a mountain of portraits came into view.
The room wasn't particularly large. Its sparse furnishings and piles of clutter made it look more like a "storeroom" than a proper room. Stacks of portraits were piled in one corner, giving no indication that the Mistress treasured these paintings.
Li Xian moved closer, confirmed that they were no different from the portraits in the corridors and rooms, then turned his attention to the other objects.
For instance, there was something covered with a black cloth on the table.
Li Xian reached out and lifted the cloth, revealing a very familiar face-
That face burned beyond recognition.
She was inside the frame. The moment her black pupils, sunk deep within her flesh, caught sight of Li Xian, she let out a horrific scream!
The scream left Li Xian dazed, and his mental value plummeted by 20 points!
The woman's hands flailed inside the frame as though she were trying to cover her face. But when she realized that didn't help, she thrust a hand straight out of the canvas!
Before Li Xian could recover from his daze, the woman's palm clamped firmly over his face. Her long nails bore down on his eyeballs, as though she intended to gouge them out.
It was also at that moment that Li Xian confirmed her hand truly bore no trace of burns.
He tried to pry her hand off, but not only did he fail, her other hand was about to emerge from the canvas too!
"Aaaaargh!"
Roars burst from the canvas in waves. The woman's grip grew stronger and stronger as she muttered indistinctly:
"She isn't... me. I'm not... like this..."
Her sharp nails drove toward his eyeballs, but Li Xian didn't close his eyes. Instead, his gaze darted rapidly around.
The next second, he stretched out his arm and reached straight for something on the table-
He snatched up the brush on the tabletop and immediately slapped it against the arm in front of him.
Li Xian faintly heard a sizzling sound. Then a scream tore from the woman's throat, and she reflexively withdrew her hand.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Xian immediately picked up the black cloth and draped it over the frame.
Like an insulator, the black cloth made the portrait fall silent again.
"Hah..."
Li Xian let out a long breath, then raised a hand to touch his face, wiping off a palmful of blood.
Only then did pain register in his face. Beneath his eye was a cut the woman had left as she pulled her hand back.
Their brief struggle had also knocked a booklet onto the floor.
I can't stay here any longer. That noise might bring the Mistress over.
Li Xian picked up the booklet, tucked it inside his clothes, and quickly turned to leave.
Whoosh-
He had only just returned the full-length portrait to its original position when the sound of the Mistress's high heels rang out on the stairs.
Li Xian quickly turned his back to the staircase and made to leave.
"Wait."
The Mistress's voice rang out behind him.
Before you continue