That skeletal hand, after carving the words "Ashen Village," withdrew into the cracked yellow earth as if relieved of a heavy burden.
Su Muxue held her breath, her muscles tensing involuntarily as she warily scanned her surroundings.
This incident had already far exceeded her expectations...
Had the forces of the Lord of Ashes intervened in this matter?
Highly likely...
On the surface, it seemed aimed at Yun Huang, but in reality, it was targeting the two of them...
What a terrifying scheme...
Weakening Jiangxia's active forces, laying the groundwork for the next move...
By then, Guardian Jiang would be stretched too thin, standing alone against the tide...
So... for the sake of Jiangxia's safety...
The two of them absolutely could not die here!
The middle-aged man also realized the gravity of the situation.
Silently, he lifted a corner of his briefcase, revealing a stack of talismans: "This is bad..."
Meanwhile, Liu Yuan, being the weakest among them, couldn’t sense the fluctuations of power emanating from the other two.
Coupled with Su Muxue’s youthful appearance and the middle-aged man’s unmistakable "office drone" vibe,
she didn’t even consider the possibility that they might be supernaturals.
Instead, she just thought they were a bit too "immersed in the act."
So, to keep them from breaking character, Liu Yuan lowered her voice and pressed closer to Su Qi: "Brother, this escape room’s scene transition is so cool~"
But how could such a whisper escape Su Muxue’s ears?
Su Muxue: ???
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
Dry, hoarse, like two pieces of rotting wood grinding against each other.
It seemed to rise from the depths of the earth, yet also permeated every corner of the village.
"Welcome to..."
The voice paused, as if weighing its words or adjusting its tone.
Su Muxue and the middle-aged man positioned themselves back-to-back, covering each other: "Uncle... can you pinpoint its location?"
The man didn’t respond, only raising his guard to the highest level.
The voice continued, laced with deliberate solemnity but betraying a faint... discordant sob: "Ashen Village?"
......
Elsewhere.
A struggling web novelist with the pen name "Autumn Heart in Painting" happily typed on his computer screen: "Happy April Fools’, taking the day off..."
Before he could hit send, a skeletal hand tore through space beside him, dragging him violently into the void.
When he opened his eyes again...
A scorched yellow earth...
A shattered village...
And a ghastly white skeletal hand, clutching a skull, hovering in the air.
The skull seemed to be adjusting its long-unused—or rather, nonexistent—vocal cords: "Write."
The poor man, still dazed, instinctively replied, "Write what?"
The skeletal hand pressed the skull right against the author’s face, its hollow eye sockets glaring at him: "Write an escape room script."
"The basic information about this place is already in your head."
Terrified out of his wits, survival instinct took over.
Trembling, he stammered, "Welcome to... Ashen Village?"
After speaking, he stole a glance at the skull, gauging its reaction...
The skull’s tone grew impatient: "If you don’t start making up a story, I’ll start making you scream."
......
The voice spoke again, smoother now but still tinged with that barely concealed sob.
"This place is a forgotten land, long since destroyed."
"Outsiders, you have stepped where you... should not have."
The voice rose slightly, as if finding its rhythm.
Now it carried an air of authority, of control.
"But even ashes retain warmth, and despair holds a sliver of hope..."
"I shall grant you a chance, a chance... to leave this place."
"A trial... to prove your worth."
As the words faded, the entire village seemed to awaken.
From the ruins of collapsed houses came creaking, groaning sounds.
Tilted walls were righted by unseen forces, broken doors and windows slammed shut with dull thuds.
From the cracks in the earth, green tendrils of vitality seeped out, spreading rapidly.
At the village entrance, behind the stone stele engraved with "Ashen Village," a barrier of bone and gray mist rose, sealing off any retreat.
"The rules are simple."
"Navigate this maze, reach the clocktower at the village center."
"Along the way, there will be clues... and minor obstacles."
"Arrive before the second toll of the bell, and you may live."
"Fail..."
The voice stretched out, laced with icy threat: "And you will become ash, joining this village in 'eternal undying.'"
With the final word, the hazy outline of a crumbling tower appeared in the distance, a rusted bell hanging at its peak.
"Dong—"
A deep, resonant chime echoed through the air.
The 'game' had begun.
......
Even Lian Yunhuang frowned, seeing little hope: "This is bad..."
Liu Yuan tilted her head up, observing the three with furrowed brows.
Everyone’s really getting into character, huh?
She decided to play along, feigning fear as she clung tighter to Su Qi: "Brother, this is bad..."
Su Muxue stood still, quickly organizing the information.
The enemy didn’t seem intent on killing them outright but had set up this "game" instead.
Why?
Was it due to some restrictive rule? Or simply to savor their desperate struggle...?
The way that skeletal hand had chiseled away the "Prison of the Condemned" earlier felt too deliberate, like an attempt to hide something.
And that voice, though feigning grandeur, had an odd undertone.
Su Muxue suppressed her chaotic thoughts.
Whatever the enemy’s goal, survival was the priority now...
After a brief analysis, she stepped forward with deliberate caution.
Of their five-member team, only she and her uncle had any real combat ability.
She would take point; he would guard the rear.
The others were useless in a fight.
The yellow earth beneath her feet was soft, like treading on thick ash, emitting faint puff sounds.
The air carried a rotting stench, unpleasant to breathe in.
A mere few dozen meters.
Yet it took her three minutes to cross.
Finally, she saw it—the ancient, gnarled tree standing at the village entrance.
And beneath it... an old man leaning against the trunk, smoking a long pipe.
The old man took a slow drag, then watched the shadow creeping toward him on the ground.
He lifted his head.
Just one glance...
Su Muxue’s expression darkened instantly, her muscles tensing imperceptibly.
Her life-nurtured spirit sword was... trembling in fear.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
