Chapter 20: The Approaching Danger

The four of them exchanged glances. They wanted to discuss the murals, but considering the Scarlet Blood Moon was in effect, communication was inconvenient, so they chose to continue walking to the right.

At the very least, they had to finish seeing all the murals.

Qian Cangyi arrived at the eighth mural. This one no longer had a grassy background; it was set on an island.

Corpses were piled into a high tower. At the pinnacle of the tower, the Red Moon God held the body of the White Moon God, and behind the Red Moon God shone a bright, clear moon.

At that moment, a drop of blood was falling from the center of the moon, as if responding to the Red Moon God’s desperate hope.

*Can we ever go back to how it was in the beginning?*

This thought suddenly surfaced in Qian Cangyi’s mind.

Just then, Zhiduoxing continued walking to the right, but before long, he came running back. "This is the last one. There’s nothing more after this."

"Do you think the last mural depicts the Moon God Altar?" Qian Cangyi shone his flashlight on the corpses at the feet of the Moon God.

"Hmm..." Zhiduoxing rested his chin on his right hand, his brow furrowed. "It’s possible."

"Could the Moon God Altar be inside?" Ning Jing pointed toward the deeper parts of the palace.

"I have a question. The head from earlier said we already made wishes to the Moon God. What did we wish for? Are the wishes the same for everyone?" Xiao Tian voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Indeed. The problem is that the rules for making wishes aren't clear. It’s a pity about Yan Ruoxuan..." Qian Cangyi sighed.

"For now, we can only take it one step at a time. Perhaps we will find something else along the way." Zhiduoxing looked toward the depths of the palace.

"Do you think it’s possible we might encounter the White Moon God? Could it help us?" Xiao Tian asked.

"Uh... unlikely." Zhiduoxing thought for two seconds, then shook his head.

"Let’s keep going and find the Moon God Altar." Ning Jing aimed her flashlight toward the depths of the palace.

"Right." Qian Cangyi nodded.

The four of them continued deeper into the palace.

About two minutes later, a narrow entrance appeared before them.

Qian Cangyi shone his flashlight inside and discovered a spiraling staircase leading downward. The steps were made of an unknown black stone brick, and the walls on both sides were made of the same material.

The entrance was quite narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. If an accident were to occur midway, even turning around to flee would be a problem.

"Strange, why does it go down? Shouldn't it go up?" Zhiduoxing muttered.

Qian Cangyi shone his light toward the top of the spiral staircase; it was pitch black, and he could see nothing. The light from his flashlight seemed to be cut off midway.

"Perhaps it’s the opposite of what we thought. In reality, the altar might be inside the island, rather than at the top of Hefang Island," Ning Jing offered her conjecture.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out. I’ll take the lead; you follow behind me." Zhiduoxing took a deep breath, braced his hand against the door frame, and ducked inside.

As Zhiduoxing stepped onto the spiral staircase, he seemed to melt into the darkness, and the light from his flashlight appeared to be shrouded in a layer of shadow.

There was definitely something wrong with this spiral staircase.

Qian Cangyi thought to himself, but for now, he had no choice but to push forward.

This was the fate of a Hell Movie actor.

Ning Jing followed Qian Cangyi onto the spiral staircase, with Xiao Tian bringing up the rear.

Up ahead, Zhiduoxing waited for the three of them to catch up. Only after Qian Cangyi was close enough did he continue downward.

Inside the spiral staircase, only the sound of footsteps and ragged breathing echoed. The oppressive, semi-enclosed space made their heart rates steadily increase. Combined with the limited visibility ahead and behind, and the potential for anything to happen at any corner, everyone’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point.

"Come to think of it, the sightseeing boat comes in five days, right?" Zhiduoxing suddenly said.

"Ah!" Ning Jing shouted, then patted her chest with her left hand. "Zhang Sibo, you scared me!"

Qian Cangyi gasped for air; he had been so startled by the sudden remark that his hand shook, and he nearly dropped his flashlight. "Yes. To make it easier to calculate, if we count the day we arrived on the island as Sunday, today is Tuesday. That leaves five days, not counting today."

"Why did we stop?" Xiao Tian asked from behind.

Zhiduoxing looked back and said, "Nothing. I just suddenly thought of something."

"I was thinking that the seven-day rule is actually a time limit for failing to break the Moon Shadow Curse. If we successfully break the curse, the seven-day rule should no longer apply, and we will certainly be able to leave Hefang Island."

As he spoke, he looked down at his own shadow, which was visible because of the flashlight beam behind him.

At that moment, the crack between the head and neck of his shadow had widened slightly.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Qian Cangyi suddenly heard an unusual sound coming from behind. He focused his attention on his ears, listening intently.

"Let’s go." Zhiduoxing continued forward.

"Wait, did you hear a sound behind us?" Qian Cangyi glanced back.

"A sound?" Ning Jing also looked back.

Seeing Ning Jing’s gaze, Xiao Tian also looked behind him.

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

Qian Cangyi pressed his ear against the outer wall of the spiral staircase, and the sound became much clearer.

"Something is coming!" His tone was extremely serious.

At his words, everyone’s expression grew tense.

A few seconds later, even without listening closely, they could clearly hear the strange noise.

Xiao Tian turned around, his hands held in front of him.

"Let’s just run!" Ning Jing kept moving downward, now standing on the same step as Qian Cangyi.

"We can't outrun it," Zhiduoxing shook his head.

Suddenly, the sound vanished, yet the invisible pressure did not.

Qian Cangyi shone his flashlight toward the steps above. The next second, a thick, large hand appeared. It was a human hand, just a size larger than an ordinary person's. Then, this left hand gripped the curved wall on the right and dragged a body out.

The two-meter-tall frame made Qian Cangyi feel the pressure intensify, but the scene that followed left him utterly shocked.

The hulking man before them had no head. The stump of his neck was covered in blood, the wound jagged and uneven, as if the head had been ripped straight off.

"Run!" Zhiduoxing shouted, his voice echoing through the spiral staircase.

Ning Jing, who had been prepared, was the first to bolt, followed by Zhiduoxing, then Qian Cangyi. Xiao Tian, who had been at the very back, was now closest to the headless giant.

The headless giant sensed the four of them fleeing. It bent its knees and then lunged forward in one bound, crashing straight into the outer wall. After a loud thud, the headless giant charged again, like a frenzied beast.

"Hurry, it’s catching up!" Xiao Tian urged.

"Drop everything!" Zhiduoxing shouted as he tossed his backpack aside, keeping only his flashlight.

Qian Cangyi followed suit. After discarding his backpack, his speed increased significantly. At this moment, he was extremely grateful that he hadn't been lazy during the intervals between movies.

If he still had the physical stamina he had during his first movie, the current situation would be dire.

A few minutes later, Qian Cangyi was overtaken by Xiao Tian, and soon, Ning Jing was about to be overtaken as well.

"Grab onto me." Xiao Tian extended his right hand toward Ning Jing.

"Thank you." Ning Jing smiled.