Entering the Door

Zhu Yan hid behind the table leg of a small stall, stealthily poking his head out to observe.

A faint tremor came from the ground.

He wanted to see more clearly through the gaps between the legs of the horror creatures, but a commotion immediately broke out.

Legs pressing against legs, feet stepping on feet, these things unexpectedly moved aside in unison, erupting into a low, panic-stricken clamor.

Zhu Yan pulled his head back and shifted further to the edge before he could once again see the scene at the crack of the door.

The door was now completely open.

Several sharp branches bent into arthropod-like limbs, supporting the "tree" above them—a withered trunk—as it crawled out the door.

Hidden beneath a tattered red robe, Zhu Yan could not even tell if the trunk's color was gray, brown, or red.

The color looked as if a swamp was seeping out from the inside, slowly dyed by poured blood.

Dirty, chaotic, and mottled. Zhu Yan actually had the morbid thought that it resembled a used palette of an art student.

Enduring the sudden discomfort in his eyes, he crept along the edge of the storefronts, inching toward the crack of the door while nothing was paying attention.

"Wait a moment!"

The deep voice suddenly commanded. The canopy, which nearly touched the ceiling of the corridor, drooped down, its foul-smelling dead branches sweeping across the glass storefronts on both sides.

A thick, foul stench washed over them, and all the horror creatures trembled in fear.

"I have a small request..."

The word "request" was spoken very lightly, but the scene was unusually quiet.

All the horror creatures knew perfectly well.

This was no request at all; it was clearly an order!

Zhu Yan held his breath and slightly adjusted his posture to ensure these branches could not "see" him.

"If anything—whether it is a player or a horror creature—tries to enter this door..."

A branch gently poked the half-open door, making two dull knock-knock sounds.

"I hope you will inform me immediately."

Oh, so it was setting up informants.

Zhu Yan sneered in his heart.

But it did not matter.

This door was supposed to be closed, but it was still open right now.

If he slipped in before the door closed, while everyone's attention was entirely on the tree spirit, it would be much easier than using a key to open it later.

Once inside, he would immediately lock the door from the inside.

That way, even if an accident occurred, even if he failed to get the key fragment and escape in time, this door could serve as a buffer against the frog and the tree spirit.

He just did not know how good its quality was...

Zhu Yan made up his mind.

While the horror creatures were trembling and giving sparse responses, he stealthily moved forward a bit more and saw Auntie Jin.

This cicada had completely lost its previous shiny and sleek appearance, pitifully crawling out from behind the tree roots.

Its hard back had been split open down the middle, and several spiky branches were haphazardly stabbed into it.

Dark green liquid dripped from the crack on its back, and Zhu Yan caught a nauseating, sour, and rotten smell.

"It is good that you all know."

The tree spirit seemed very satisfied with the submissive attitude of these lower beings.

It straightened its canopy again and softly commanded.

"Close the door!"

Zhu Yan did not hesitate.

Taking advantage of the tree spirit's inattention, he immediately darted out, crawling into the gap between Auntie Jin's abdomen and the ground.

"Yes, yes. I will close it right away."

Auntie Jin said tremblingly, but the tree spirit sharply paused.

Auntie Jin's insect legs froze in fear: "Do you have... any orders?"

The tree spirit did not speak, only turning its trunk to an angle.

A thick branch reached over, paused for a moment above Auntie Jin's head, and then slowly swept over the heads of the horror creatures, inspecting them one by one.

For some reason, the scent of players here was exceptionally strong.

Especially just now...

For a moment, it was incredibly thick, as if the player was right under its nose.

But clearly, there were no players.

Whether invisible or disguised as something else, it had failed to detect anything at all!

The tree spirit retracted its branch.

Perhaps it was because of that stupid cicada.

This cicada had stayed with the players for too long, and its body was covered in their scent!

The tree spirit gave a cold snort, withdrew its branch, and slowly turned its trunk back.

"Close the door!" it commanded again.

Quicker than words could tell.

Zhu Yan sharply darted out from under Auntie Jin and rushed into the darkness the very moment the door closed!

Bang!

The door closed and locked with a click, saving Zhu Yan the trouble of locking it himself.

He did not linger by the door. With a thought, he donned the Demon Cloak and sprinted deep into the room in his human form.

That bizarre tree seemed capable of sensing his presence.

In this situation, naturally, the further away he was, the better!

This place seemed to be an extension of an empty classroom.

Zhu Yan stopped after running a certain distance, turned on his phone's flashlight, and surveyed the area by the dim white light.

The floor was very clean, with desks and chairs crammed together against the wall.

Several dead branches clung to the ceiling like snakes.

This place seemed to be converted from an empty classroom in some school—

Several classrooms had been knocked through and merged together. Zhu Yan could still see the unfinished broken edges of the walls and the dismantled blackboards.

He stopped and listened carefully. The clicking footsteps outside the door gradually faded away until they could no longer be heard.

Auntie Jin had said that the key and the door were both on the ground, right under the tree's butt.

He slowly walked further in and soon spotted his target.

It was a box woven from dead branches, about half a meter tall.

The box had no lock, but the branches interlocked layer upon layer, and the opening looked like two rows of tightly shut, sharp teeth.

The concrete floor around the box had sunk and cracked, with dark red grime lingering in the crevices, emitting a strong foul stench.

Zhu Yan stepped forward on the small crushed stones.

As if sensing something, the branches at the box's opening writhed.

From a distance, it looked like two rows of teeth grinding in warning.

Zhu Yan was not sure if it would work.

He activated Ancestral Glory and said without any psychological burden, "Hello, Dad."

The box fell silent.

Oh... Zhu Yan was unsure whether this was a horror creature or just an item.

He turned his head to check and, confirming there was still no movement outside, simply took another step closer and started teasing the box.

"Dad, you really look unique, Dad!"

"Dad, other trees all have leaves and are basically the same shape. I am sick of looking at them."

"Only you are different, Dad. You are box-shaped!"

He observed the box's reaction and found that all the branches on its body had actually started writhing like snakes.

"What is wrong, Dad?"

"Are you woven from the tree spirit's branches, Dad? Why is your level so adorably low?"

The box could not speak, but the branches at its bottom moved rapidly, propelling the box to slide over to Zhu Yan's legs and rub against him affectionately.

Alright then.

Zhu Yan commanded, "Give me the key inside your body, Dad."