It was obvious.
The mascot costume was clearly not playing fair anymore.
Their clumsy plan had been seen through.
Now it was directly blocking the path of the three.
Even if he could suppress his aura, Su Qi could still sense the energy fluctuations of a seventh-tier cultivator emanating from him.
A practitioner, and one skilled in area-of-effect attacks at that.
Clearly… another disposable pawn.
But even so, Su Qi and Yun Huang working together would have a hard time subduing him in one move.
If a fight broke out here, the consequences would be disastrous.
Who knew how many people would die in the aftermath?
And it seemed the enemy was banking on exactly that—he didn’t even care about his own life.
Luring them into a trap by offering himself as bait.
Come to think of it, had there been too many of these blatant schemes lately?
Su Qi really hated this feeling of being "morally blackmailed."
Well, the only solution was to kill the one doing the blackmailing.
Su Qi muttered under his breath, "What a shame…"
Yun Huang echoed, "Truly a shame."
Su Qi sighed deeply. "A shame we couldn’t revoke that woman’s driver’s license."
Yun Huang: ???
Seriously, dude?
Even she was baffled by Su Qi’s bizarre train of thought.
Was this really about a driver’s license?
Of course, Su Qi wasn’t exactly trying to lighten the mood.
The reason he could act so casually was simple.
Let’s not forget—Su Qi’s special ability wasn’t crafting cards. He just used it for that because procuring materials saved him a lot of points.
"All that is asked shall be granted."
He had already asked earlier.
"How much danger are we in?"
[???]
[Isn’t this just taking your little sister to play at an amusement facility?]
Su Qi: ???
What kind of pocket dimension is this?
So full of itself?
With that, Su Qi sheathed his blade, his gaze turning indifferent.
...
Following the crude map on the flyer, the three of them headed to Zone C on the basement level.
The deeper they went, the sparser the crowd became.
The lighting also seemed to dim gradually—or perhaps it was deliberately darkened.
Posters of various styles began appearing on the walls, mostly themed around movies or games.
After walking for about two and a half minutes, a building with a distinctly anachronistic design appeared at the end of the path.
Dark-toned walls, an entrance designed like a twisted tunnel with a half-open door, and a sign hanging above it.
Written in retro font were the bold words: "No One Gets Out Alive."
Standing at the entrance was a bald staff member in a black uniform and white gloves.
Spotting Su Qi’s group, he gave them a stiff smile.
"Care to play, you three?"
Su Qi was at a loss for words…
Seriously…
Is this how cultists set up their traps?
What’s the difference between this and some punk walking up to a pretty girl and bluntly asking, "Wanna hook up?"
Thankfully, Liu Yuan couldn’t hear Su Qi’s inner monologue.
Otherwise, she’d definitely shout, "What did blondes ever do to you?"
Even Liu Yuan felt something was off…
Where was the checkout counter?
Holding the flyer, she hesitated. "Is this really the place?"
It’s just…
Too out of the way…
Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a chilling draft rushed at them.
Flickering candlelight cast eerie shadows on the mottled walls.
Well, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all?
For a real escape room, atmosphere was everything.
Shoddy set designs would only break immersion. Only meticulous scene-building, tight narrative logic, and just the right amount of horror elements could fully draw people in, letting them enjoy the thrill of unraveling mysteries.
But…
Didn’t they skip a step?
Liu Yuan remembered reading online that supernaturals participating in these activities usually had to sign a safety waiver.
The main rule? No beating up the staff.
Think about it—if a martial artist got startled by a staff member jumping out from behind, they might instinctively spin around and kick the poor guy halfway across the room, embedding him in the wall so deep you’d need a crowbar to pry him out.
What then?
Standing in front of the theme display board, Liu Yuan eagerly scanned the options, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Yun Huang-jie, which theme should we pick?"
[Small-Town Strife]
[Blood Sacrament]
[Whispers of the Old Gods]
[Elegy of the Sinner]
...
The moment Su Qi stepped into the room.
They were already standing on the altar.
Dozens of summoners slit their own chests open.
Thick blood dripped from their blades onto the center of an inverted pentagram.
Hoarse voices mingled with inhuman tremors.
"In this filthy world, we, your humble servants, struggle and sink in the mire of sin."
"Bound by the shackles of mundanity, deceived by the lies of righteousness, our souls writhe in agony, yearning for your salvation!"
"With rusted crowns as our offering,"
"With the spines of hypocrites as our stairway,"
"O Devourer of Sins from the Age of the Dark Moon!"
"Drink deep of these tainted lies!"
"Let the false justice bear witness—"
"To your majesty!"
Their faces twisted with manic fervor.
The future of Great Xia was already set in stone…
They needed to find another path for themselves…
And a sinner who spun the lie of the Pathseekers…
Was the perfect "pledge of allegiance."
As for the other two unlucky souls… well, they could only blame their own bad luck.
The Supreme Lord of Sin would surely be most pleased with Yun Huang as an offering.
"Offer these sacrifices to the Supreme Lord of Sin."
All the summoners prostrated themselves in worship.
"Offer these sacrifices to the Supreme Lord of Sin."
...
Its form spanned the void.
Every inch of it oozed with the laws of sin and punishment.
When this entity, beyond mortal comprehension, descended upon the altar, the very fabric of space groaned under the strain.
Every living being that sensed its presence—
Felt an instinctive tremor from the depths of their marrow,
Their souls’ filthiest corners blooming with flowers of repentance.
No proclamation was needed, no proof required.
Words like "light" or "heat" were laughably inadequate…
The instinct of life itself had already carved the truth into them.
This was a god.
It gazed down at the groveling humans.
To be honest, it was quite satisfied with this batch of offerings—so much so that a fragment of its true self descended upon this insignificant speck of land…
Just as it was examining its "sacrifices"…
Its form suddenly shuddered violently, nearly destabilizing the manifestation entirely.
"The hell is this?"
It spoke in slightly broken human tongue.
Wait…
Let me take another look?
It seemed quite experienced at peeping.
Its gaze remained fixed on Su Qi, never wavering.
Hovering in a state of eerie detachment.
Then, abruptly, its speech became flawless.
With a disdainful sneer, it issued an order—though to whom was unclear: "Keep these three under surveillance."
Its tone brooked no argument: "If any follower dares utter my name in their presence…"
...
It snorted coldly. "Kill them."
"Fake believers!"
"Definitely all fake believers!"
...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
