Chapter 141: The Bubbling River and the Screaming Bridge

Three minutes had already passed, yet those three minutes felt like an eternity of torment and suffering to the remaining seven people.

This haunted house was no different from ordinary ones, filled with the usual jump-scare mechanisms that would suddenly pop out. However, Xiyan noticed that whenever a scare involved severed limbs and remains, they did not seem to be made of cold, lifeless machinery, but rather appeared to be genuine flesh and bone. The woman's scream earlier had also been triggered by catching sight of these severed body parts.

Yet, Xiyan found himself somewhat puzzled. Everyone who came here was a survivor from the Land of Survival; how could they possibly be frightened just by seeing a few severed limbs?

"Xiyan, look at this... does it look a little familiar to you...?" Qingyan stammered, nudging him and pointing at the wall in front of them, which was entirely covered in hands.

Xiyan looked toward the wall. Every single hand on it was modeled after a human hand, though most of them appeared to be fake, with only a few looking entirely real.

"What's wrong with this? Is there anything strange about it?" Xiyan asked.

Qingyan swallowed hard, glanced around their surroundings, and then turned her gaze back to Xiyan, answering, "I saw this bracelet just now... Player Number 30 was wearing it..."

Number 30? Xiyan immediately looked around at the surviving participants who had entered together, only to discover with a jolt that their group had somehow lost another person.

The one who left just now was Number 31; the ones who vanished initially were Number 37 and Number 40; and now Number 30 was missing as well.

Their group was now down to just six people!

Yet Number 30's disappearance was utterly bizarre. Even if Xiyan failed to notice, Qingyan, whose abilities were exceptionally strong, should not have missed it! Furthermore, Qingyan claimed that the hand wearing the bracelet on this wall appeared to belong to Number 30.

Could it be that the missing survivors had all had their hands and feet severed and then mounted inside this haunted house?

That didn't seem right either. If that were truly the case, there would have been no reason for the haunted house to let Number 31 go free. If Number 30 and the other two missing individuals had genuinely encountered something, they could have completely abandoned this haunted house and chosen to leave.

"Xiyan... I... are you scared? Don't be afraid, I'm holding onto you, you can rest assured," Qingyan said, her words coming out in stammers.

Xiyan smiled helplessly. Who was the one actually scared here? It was clearly Qingyan. Even so, he didn't expose her bluff, instead gripping her hand tightly. Feeling the warmth radiating from his hand, Qingyan's heart settled quite a bit.

"Five minutes have passed already. Let's wait a bit longer and see," Xiyan said.

The atmosphere between Xiyan and Qingyan was still relatively calm. Although this haunted house had a slightly eerie vibe, it still seemed to adhere to the conventions of a traditional haunted house. Xiyan had already witnessed far too many corpses and lost species in the Land of Survival, so despite initially feeling quite wary of haunted houses, he was no longer all that afraid.

"I can't take this anymore! I want to leave this place! System, I want to quit!"

At that moment, a man near them suddenly shouted out. Because of the man's sudden outburst, Qingyan instinctively grabbed onto Xiyan's hand even tighter. Xiyan patted Qingyan's hand in a reassuring gesture, then turned to the man and said, "If you want to leave, then leave. Do you have to scream at the top of your lungs?"

"I'll do as I damn well please! What's it to you?" the man retorted aggressively.

A flash of anger crossed Xiyan's eyes, and his hand balled into a fist, itching to strike the man in front of him. But right then, the system's voice abruptly echoed.

[Player Number 35 has violated the rules and will now face punishment.]

"What rule violation? Where the hell did I violate any rules? What are you going to punish me for? I want to quit, I want to quit! Didn't you say before that we could quit?!" The man's voice grew increasingly frantic.

Yet the system paid no heed whatsoever to what the man was shouting. Hearing the system's voice, Xiyan immediately pulled Qingyan and stepped a few paces away in another direction. A strong intuition told him that the punishment this man was about to receive might spill over and affect those nearby.

Although Qingyan didn't understand why Xiyan had suddenly dragged her away—moving around in this place could easily separate them from the group and lead them into danger—she still chose to trust him.

[Punishment is about to begin. All surrounding players are advised to disperse immediately.]

[3...]

[2...]

[1...]

The system's countdown was extremely rapid, but the few people nearby still managed to react in time, scrambling away from the man's side.

In the next instant, a "thing" draped in a black cloak descended suddenly from the ceiling of the haunted house. This "thing" enveloped the man who had wanted to quit entirely beneath its cloak. Immediately afterward, a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream echoed from the man, and then the "thing" retreated along the exact same path it had come.

The ground no longer bore any trace of the man who had wanted to leave, as if he had never existed in the first place. There were no bloodstains on the ground, nor any signs of a struggle.

[Punishment complete. All players are requested to abide by the game rules and not attempt to violate them.]

The system added this final sentence before vanishing entirely.

Having lived through what just transpired, the terror in Qingyan's heart deepened significantly.

Six minutes had passed.

There were indicators on the ground pointing the way for everyone to follow. Because of the incident with the man just moments ago, the remaining five people were terrified that failing to walk forward according to the instructions might constitute another rule violation. Consequently, they were all taking every step strictly in accordance with those directions.

With their numbers reduced, Xiyan and Qingyan were no longer in the middle of the group; they were now leading the way at the very front.

The markings appearing on the ground consisted of arrows and text, though mostly arrows. Some of the arrows emitted a faint green glow, while others cast a weak red light. The remaining five followed this dim illumination as they walked onward.

As they walked, the five of them arrived before a very small stream, spanned by a tiny bridge. It closely resembled a camouflage cave, with numerous tree branches drooping from the ceiling overhead.

[Cross the bridge ahead.]

The system's prompt materialized right before their feet. Xiyan and Qingyan exchanged a glance, then walked toward the bridge.

The moment their feet stepped onto the edge of the bridge, bone-chilling cries suddenly erupted from all around them. Qingyan pressed close to Xiyan in terror, while the people behind them swallowed hard, shaking with fear.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. Let's cross together," Xiyan comforted them, though even his own heart harbored a trace of dread.

The horror here did not stem from mere jump-scares or various severed body parts, but rather from the abrupt sounds and the fear of the unknown.

Encouraged by Xiyan's words, the other three suddenly mustered a sliver of strength and followed Xiyan and Qingyan onto the bridge.

As the group stepped onto the bridge, the water in the river below suddenly began to churn and bubble violently, sounding just like water coming to a sudden boil. Furthermore, those waters emitted wave after wave of weeping and wailing, appearing incomparably terrifying within the pitch-black space.