Chapter 58
Unlike before, the lights in the stairwell were brightly lit tonight. Just as she reached the corner, Jiang Liu saw a man sitting on the sofa in the small reception room.
The man was clearly facing away from her, but it was as if he had eyes on the back of his head, constantly sizing them up. As she was about to step onto the top step, a hoarse voice sounded in her ear, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had living people here.”
As he spoke, the person on the sofa slowly turned around. A completely disfigured face immediately made Zhang Xiaochen scream.
From his features, he was indeed the supervisor from the photo, but he looked much older. He was clearly in the prime of his life, but his head was already streaked with white hair, and his skin sagged like an old man’s, hanging loosely on his frame.
Where his eyes should have been were two empty sockets, from which one could even see the internal structure of his brain. A continuous stream of blood dripped from them, forming two bloody trails on his cheeks.
Not only that, but his arms were also completely missing their hands, and the blood had stained the light brown sofa, looking exceptionally horrifying.
The incandescent light above was on at full brightness. This person, in a strange posture, turned his head a full three hundred and sixty degrees. It was a good thing Xu Meng wasn’t here, otherwise she would have screamed again.
Staring at the man’s appearance, Jiang Liu felt a chill in her heart, and a thought suddenly popped into her head.
Could it be that what they had just fought so hard against were this person’s organs?
Jiang Liu’s eyelashes trembled slightly, which was noticed by Yang Caisi beside her, who subconsciously squeezed her hand.
The warm, soft touch made Jiang Liu smile. She shook their hands slightly to signal that she was fine, and in a few steps, she sat down on the sofa opposite him as if nothing was wrong. After carefully sizing up the old man for a couple of moments, she spoke, “Zhou Yuan?”
The old man nodded slowly, aiming his empty eye sockets at Jiang Liu, as if he could still see, and accurately fixed his gaze on her. After a long moment, he said, “It’s me. Thank you.”
He let out a long sigh, his tone inexplicably heavy, and pointed to a camera on the coffee table.
“This is the culprit. Smash it, and everything will be over,” Zhou Yuan said slowly, as if he had found a great release.
Jiang Liu and Yang Caisi didn’t speak. Zhao Ziming also stood there stunned, looking at the old man. Only Zhang Xiaochen was completely bewildered, looking at the others playing their cryptic game.
Hadn’t he only been trapped for two days? How did he miss so much of the plot?
The atmosphere fell into a strange silence. He looked at one, then the other, and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Wait, what exactly is going on?”
Wasn’t Zhou Yuan eighteen or nineteen? Wasn’t this old man his uncle?
Zhao Ziming looked at him as if he were an idiot and clicked his tongue in disgust. “The Zhou Yuan we met was his younger self. He was trapped inside.”
Zhang Xiaochen stood there stunned and quickly interrupted him, “Wait, wait, what’s this about inside and outside?”
Zhao Ziming was speechless.
Unlike Zhang Xiaochen, Jiang Liu had already guessed the cause and effect from Zhao Ziming’s words.
It was actually a very heavy story.
The person in front of them was the real supervisor of the photo studio. Although he was middle-aged, he was obsessed with photography, fascinated by capturing the vivid smiles of various people. But for some unknown reason, the photos he took ‘came to life’.
At first, Zhou Yuan was very scared, but he soon discovered that the more ‘alive’ the photos were, the more vivid the results. So he selected from among the many photos and hung his most satisfactory works on the second floor.
The ghosts trapped on the first floor were just discarded, defective products.
Things were peaceful until not long ago, when he discovered that the photos—were out of control.
“I didn’t know there were people’s souls trapped inside. I was terrified at the time and was about to pack up and ask a master to come and solve it, but who knew I couldn’t control him anymore. Someone trapped me inside too,” Zhou Yuan’s voice was still terrified, with a clear tremor.
He still remembered the situation clearly. He was just sitting at the counter trying to figure things out when he suddenly heard a young voice calling him. By the time he looked up, the flash had already gone off.
Someone had taken a candid photo of him and trapped him inside. Zhou Yuan was very sure of this.
Speaking of which, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but glance at Yang Caisi, thinking to herself—could this person be the Qiao Ke she had been wary of?
Noticing her gaze, Yang Caisi unconsciously lowered her eyes, as if determined to remain silent, and said nothing.
Zhou Yuan’s story continued.
He was not a bad person by nature. After getting in, he was still trying to solve the problem. He accidentally discovered that the space in the photos was chaotic, and by a strange twist of fate, a version of his past self appeared.
But at that time, his sanity had been almost completely devoured by the darkness. The young Zhou Yuan didn’t know what had happened and was only influenced by the will he projected, remembering only a few rules in his mind.
One: Stay away from the photo studio after midnight.
Two: Don’t take pictures of anyone.
His memory was chaotic, so he mistakenly thought he had an uncle and also hated everything in the photo studio, leaving early at five in the afternoon.
So The System said the supervisor disappeared seven days ago, while Zhou Yuan said it was last night.
Because he had only been created at that time.
As for the real him, he had already lost all reason, only knowing to constantly pull outsiders in. His body had even been transformed by the darkness into a monster that could be controlled separately, using his own limbs to lure people into the photos.
Until—he was discovered by Jiang Liu, and only then did he gradually recover.
After Zhou Yuan finished speaking, the entire second floor fell into silence.
Zhang Xiaochen listened for a long time, then suddenly scratched his head in frustration and kicked over a nearby low stool. “Who the hell could have guessed this.”
If it weren’t for Jiang Liu’s boldness, they would still be being played, completely unable to investigate any clues.
This statement immediately resonated with Zhao Ziming.
He also felt that this instance was not right and couldn’t help but look up at Yang Caisi.
She was sitting on the sofa with Jiang Liu. The slight smile on her lips had already drooped, and her eyes were lowered, hiding the thoughts within, making it impossible for anyone to detect anything.
Of course, the strangest point was that as a high-level NPC, Sister Yang had actually been reduced to the same state as a player. Could it really be, as Jiang Liu guessed, that it was that Qiao Ke who was behind it?
Zhao Ziming was at a complete loss.
As if sensing his scrutinizing gaze, Yang Caisi gave him a faint glance, emotionless and with a hint of warning, as if silently saying: Don’t pry.
This glance immediately sent a cold sweat down Zhao Ziming’s back. He quickly averted his gaze, feeling a sense of grievance in his heart.
If you don’t want me to guess, then don’t. Do you have to target me like this? Jiang Liu’s eyes are practically glued to you, and I haven’t seen you spare her a glare.
Jiang Liu didn’t notice the interaction between the two of them. Instead, she looked thoughtfully at Zhou Yuan, vaguely realizing something from his calm expression.
“If you smash the camera, what will happen to you?”
The somewhat sharp question made Zhou Yuan smile bitterly. He didn’t answer directly, but instead looked straight at Jiang Liu with his empty eye sockets, his tone tinged with some resentment. “Please help me investigate clearly who did this to me.”
He had already found a master to solve all this, but he still ended up in this state. Zhou Yuan couldn’t let it go.
Jiang Liu’s brow furrowed unconsciously. Before she could speak, someone had already spoken for her.
“Okay.”
The person who spoke was Yang Caisi. She winked at Jiang Liu, had already picked up the last camera on the table and held it high, then let go.
With a crisp sound of it hitting the ground, the Zhou Yuan in front of them suddenly became blurry, flickering like a bad signal. The whole world shook violently, as if it were collapsing and reassembling. At this moment, a series of clattering sounds came from the room on the right.
Jiang Liu reacted the fastest. She almost instantly got up from the sofa and rushed over, only to see the bedroom door open. The photos on the wall fell down with a clatter, turning into human figures sprawled on the ground, all in a deep sleep.
Xu Meng and the other players stood among them with surprised faces, clearly not knowing what had happened.
The familiar childlike voice sounded again.
[Congratulations, players, on completing the quest. Points will now be tallied.]
[Main Quest completed. Successfully found the suspended student, Xiao Ji. 15 points added.]
[Side Quest completed. Successfully investigated the mystery of the photo studio. 20 points added. The team will receive a one-time clue-based reward. Please select a representative to ask a question.]
[Number of survivors: Five. 25 points added.]
[Grade: A-Rank.]
This settlement seemed to be based on teams. Jiang Liu looked at Hou Yuqiang, whose face was full of relief after surviving a disaster, and thought to herself that the results their two teams heard were probably different.
As for the representative for the team reward—Zhao Ziming and the others all looked at Jiang Liu.
They all knew that Jiang Liu had actively requested to enter the Advanced Instance for this kind of reward opportunity.
Feeling everyone’s gaze, Jiang Liu’s lips curled up. She suddenly felt a warmth on her waist and turned to see Yang Caisi smiling at her, giving her a push forward.
With that step, the scene before her suddenly changed. Jiang Liu didn’t even have time to say anything, only able to discern from Yang Caisi’s slightly open mouth that she was saying, “Go ahead, ask what you want to ask.”
[Representative player detected: Jiang Liu]
[Usage statement: This reward can only be used to ask questions related to clues for the next two instances, or other personal questions. Please use it carefully.]
The childlike voice’s prompt instantly entered Jiang Liu’s mind. A layer of mist seemed to rise around her, and Yang Caisi and the others beside her were nowhere to be seen.
Jiang Liu took two steps forward. The surroundings were empty; it seemed she was the only one here.
She had come for the reward, and her mind was originally full of questions she was prepared to ask.
But after arriving here, a strange, indescribable force dominated her brain. Her relationship with Yang Caisi, Qiao Ke’s identity, and her connection to The System were all cast aside, and a question that was originally the least important rose to the top.
Jiang Liu closed her eyes slightly. When she opened them again, all hesitation had disappeared, replaced by clarity.
She had a hunch that the answer to this question would definitely allow her to connect all the dots.
Jiang Liu’s question was firm and resounding, “I want to know, who was the female NPC that Hou Yuqiang mentioned?”
As her voice fell, the white mist in front of her suddenly changed, like a giant projection screen. The mist on it gradually gathered color, a kaleidoscope of hues converging into a ball, and finally forming a vibrant, radiant face.
No one would be more familiar with this face than Jiang Liu—
It was clearly her own.