Chapter 118 was originally an insignificant chapter...

The man glanced at Xu Yi and the others, then stood on the stage again, staring at one particular spot.

A gust of wind blew in from somewhere, and the creaking and groaning of the top beam grew louder, as if someone were hanging from it, swinging back and forth.

Xu Yi did see someone hanging there, covered in blood, their face hidden by their disheveled hair, their long flowing sleeves trailing down, swaying in the wind.

"Sister Yi?" Gao Lin called out to Xu Yi. When Xu Yi looked up again, the swinging figure was no longer visible. Only the person from before was cleaning.

But he only wiped one area and didn't bother with the rest.

Gao Lin nudged Xu Yi's shoulder again. What she was holding was the reward from the previous level—a small mirror, also known as the Magic Mirror.

The mirror reflected the back, and the hanging figure reappeared.

"Sister Yi, there's something... strange."

When she said the word "strange," Gao Lin only moved her lips slightly but did not make a sound.

Gao Lin felt as if the eerie head had turned around, and now she didn't even dare to look at it. Lu Ziyang pinched his arm tightly to prevent himself from accidentally screaming.

Yu Jin remained calm and showed no reaction.

Xu Yi reached out to cover her eyes in the mirror and looked away. "Let's go back, it's getting dark."

They turned around and returned to Dongtai.

After circling around the East Stage again, the female lead performing on stage suddenly looked over, turning her head completely while her body remained in front, her dark eyes staring straight at them. The group immediately clapped and praised her.

"You sang well, you sang so well."

They all breathed a sigh of relief when they turned their heads back.

The stands here seem fine, but the people on the stands are the problem.

When they looked up, they could still see Fang Xun and his group staring at them from the private room on the second floor.

After the group returned to their private room, Fang Xun and his companions came looking for them.

"What's your decision? You won't lose out by forming an alliance with us. With us protecting you, you can rest assured."

Are you willing to die?

Xu Yi paused for a moment, not saying it aloud. She had no problem talking when she was alone, and she wasn't afraid of falling out with Fang Xun and the others.

They're a small team now, and if things get out of hand, it'll be a real problem. Who knows if Fang Xun will resort to some underhanded tactics behind the scenes?

Xu Yi looked at Fang Xun and asked, "If we form an alliance, what can we do to help?"

Fang Xun smiled and said, "We can exchange the information we find. You went backstage just now, right? Perfect timing, we also found some things. To show our sincerity, we'll talk about it first."

"Okay," Xu Yi nodded.

Qian Jing walked over and picked up a very old newspaper. "A very famous actor hanged himself in this theater before. Some people say he hanged himself, while others say he was murdered."

“We already know about this. He hanged himself on the beam of the stage over at the West Terrace,” Lu Ziyang said.

Qian Jing paused for a moment, looking somewhat displeased at being interrupted, and glared at Lu Ziyang.

Fang Xun gave him a wink, and Qian Jing withdrew his gaze and continued, "There's a rule in the theater that once the show starts, you have to finish the performance. It's said that this famous actor died a violent death because he left the stage before finishing his performance."

"And then?" Yu Jin asked.

"I heard that the famous actor who hanged himself had gone mad before he died. He tore up his most treasured costume and swallowed it whole. He also used rouge to draw many strange patterns on his face."

Xu Yi and the others exchanged glances, which reminded them of the strange incident when they went backstage before, where someone tore off their water sleeves.

But that ghost shouldn't be the famous actor in the newspaper. The ghost encountered backstage was clearly burned alive before it died.

Qian Jing spread the newspaper out and pointed to the black and white photos, saying, "At the time, newspapers reported that after the famous actor Lu Huixuan died, one accident after another happened in the opera troupe. Some actors fell off the stage and broke their legs. Others were crushed to death by falling plaques, their heads broken off. Some even died with their eyes gouged out."

Xu Yi and the others looked at it and then nodded.

During this time, they also witnessed several strange occurrences, indicating that the manner of these people's deaths was not fabricated by these newspapers.

"Unfortunately, we didn't find out as much as you did. We only have one clue, and it overlaps with yours." Xu Yi shook his head regretfully.

Fang Xun smiled gently and politely, "It's alright, let's all work together to find clues. The rules tell us to find the arsonist, and I think if we all work together, we can definitely find the mastermind behind this."

At this point, Fang Xun naturally asked, "By the way, you all know our names, but we don't know yours."

“Xu Yi, Xu as in expectation, Yi as in cheap,” Xu Yi said without changing her expression.

“Gao Ling, Gao as in tall and great, Ling as in efficacious,” Gao Lin said softly, with a harmless expression on her face.

Lu Ziyang glanced to his left and right before speaking, “Lu Ziyang, Lu as in Flying Lu, Zi as in Self, Yang as in Sun.”

“Yu Jin, Yu as in 'so,' and Jin as in 'near and far,'” Yu Jin said, pushing up his glasses.

These were the fake names they had agreed upon beforehand. Anyway, they wouldn't be checking their ID cards here, and they gave themselves the identities they used when they were out and about.

The dungeon in the bizarre world does have their identity information, since the invitations they received were all issued under their real names. Xu Yi and his group were certain that Fang Xun and his group couldn't find the dungeon manager to verify this.

As long as the rules of copying do not explicitly prohibit lying, they can say whatever they want.

Xu Yi looked at Fang Xun and smiled, "I hope that if we form an alliance, we can escape from here and successfully complete this instance."

Fang Xun looked at Qian Jing and saw him nod almost imperceptibly. He assumed that Xu Yi and the others were telling the truth, so he immediately smiled and reached out his hand to Xu Yi, "It is my honor to be able to help a beautiful lady."

Xu Yi didn't reach out, and Fang Xun wasn't angry either. When he looked at his two companions, his brows furrowed with a determined air.

Xu Yi and the others simply looked away, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

Fang Xun agreed to split up and continue searching for clues, but unexpectedly, in just a moment, the guests downstairs gradually dispersed, and the theater became pitch black again.

Faced with the sudden darkness of the theater, Fang Xun and the others didn't dare to speak, fearing they would break the rules. They nodded to Xu Yi and the others and went back to their private rooms.

Thinking no one was watching, they turned around, exchanged a glance, and no longer concealed their smugness.

The magic mirror in Gao Lin's hand clearly showed their expressions.

Xu Yi and the others closed the door, glanced at each other, and realized that communicating with their eyes was obviously not going to work. It was so dark downstairs that even if they tried to look at each other, they wouldn't be able to understand what the other was trying to say.

It's still more convenient for each other to write on each other's hands.

At midnight, a burst of laughter came from the stage downstairs, sending chills down their spines. The sound of bones breaking followed, and as they looked out the window, they saw blood seeping from the stage again.

Laughter echoed in the empty theater. Xu Yi gestured for the others to cover their ears. Although it didn't help much, it was enough to keep them from being disturbed by the laughter. They mustn't be afraid of accidentally making a sound and being kidnapped by the ghost downstairs.

After a while, a figure dressed in a theatrical robe appeared on the stage, waving his flowing sleeves and singing. His voice was melodious and poignant, and when he cried, it evoked a bittersweet feeling in the audience.

It evokes such strong empathy in listeners that they feel like crying.

Realizing that something was wrong with her emotions, she quickly pinched her arm; crying out loud would be disastrous.

The figures on the stage suddenly looked in Fang Xun's direction.

His mouth stretched almost to his ears as he asked with a smile, "Did I sing well?"

In the blink of an eye, Gui was already at Fang Xun's window. His voice was shrill, sounding both male and female. Gui asked again with a smile, "Did I sing well?"

Fang Xun and the others simply took two steps back warily without saying a word.

Receiving no response, Gui immediately went to another private room, where several mission participants who had come up from the second floor were waiting.

"Do you think I sing well?"

Although the people in the private room seemed to be trying to remain calm, one of the boys couldn't help but cry out.

With a wicked grin spreading across her face, she grabbed the boy and dragged him onto the stage.

The boy felt surrounded by blood, which was almost drowning him. He tried to call for help, but as soon as he opened his mouth, blood poured in, choking him so much that he couldn't speak.

He could only reach out desperately, but he couldn't grab anything.

The thick, pungent smell of blood enveloped him until his death.

Currently, there are ten surviving mission participants.

Xu Yi and the others only glanced at it, but at that moment, the ghost was already at their window. "Tell me, did I sing well or not?"

Blood and tears streamed from Gui Na's empty eye sockets, and his hand, pressed against the window, creaked and groaned as if he were trying to tear a whole piece of wood off the other side.

It stared intently at Yu Jin and asked, "Was it nice?"

Xu Yi and the others retreated to the corner and remained silent.

Receiving no response, the ghost slowly retreated.

Back in the stands, the piercing screams almost shattered their eardrums, but everyone covered their ears. Gao Lin bit her lower lip tightly, not letting herself make a sound.

"Did I sing well or not? Tell me, tell me now!"

"Where exactly am I inferior to Lu Huixuan? Where am I not as good as him?"

"I'm going to kill him! Kill him!"

"Tell me, did I sing well or not? Tell me quickly! Why am I not as good as Lu Huixuan?"

Receiving no answer, Gui began to laugh again, "Lu Huixuan, I know your secret. You can hide it from others, but you can't hide it from me."

Xu Yi and the others heard Gui's words and cautiously approached the window, but Gui did not continue speaking, nor did it mention what secrets it knew about Lu Huixuan.

The ghost disappeared; he was no longer on the stage.

The theater returned to silence. No one made a move or a sound. They all wondered whether the ghost that had just left would return.

Xu Yi looked up at the countdown timer. Before half the time had passed, several mission participants had already died.

Looking up, they saw that Fang Xun's group was also looking over and nodding at them, seemingly congratulating them on surviving.

Xu Yi withdrew his gaze, and the opera house returned to its deathly silence. Even after switching to the perspective of the cheat, apart from a few ghosts hidden in the large lanterns, he could not see the figure of the ghost from before anywhere else.

It's as if they suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Xu Yi plans to go backstage again tomorrow to check on the situation. Perhaps the ghost she encountered earlier can also tell her something.

The only problem is that they can't communicate with ghosts at all.

She wrote down her plans on the arms of the other people, and they nodded in agreement.

Since they are trapped inside the theater and cannot get out, it means that the arsonist is someone inside the theater.

They waited until dawn to search more carefully, determined to find the person before the countdown ended. The group took turns resting until daybreak, when they heard a commotion outside and finally got up, rubbing their necks.

I can't sleep well at all like this, it's so uncomfortable, I feel unwell everywhere.

Gao Lin rubbed her eyes. Perhaps because she couldn't speak at night, everyone was quiet for a while.

First they glanced out the window, then they opened the door and looked inside, and only then did they realize that it was truly daylight and they could speak.

Lu Ziyang yawned. "I'm so tired. During the day I have to look for all sorts of clues, and at night I have to be scared by ghosts. If I'm not in good spirits, I'll break down. If this continues, I feel like I'll be eaten by ghosts sooner or later."

"Pah, if you want to be eaten by a ghost, go ahead and do it yourself, don't drag us into it," Gao Lin said, glaring at Lu Ziyang.

"Let's not talk about that anymore, let's go backstage and take a look."

The secret about Lu Huixuan that the ghost spoke of last night wasn't just heard by them alone.

Xu Yi felt that if they knew Lu Huixuan's secret, they could find the arsonist who burned down the theater.

Since they were people from the opera house, the possibility of them dying under mysterious circumstances is the highest.

Yu Jin looked around and said, "Why must we find the arsonist?"

"Could it be that Lu Huixuan is in charge of this instance? He wants to know who burned him to death," Lu Ziyang said after a moment's thought.

Gao Lin controlled herself and barely managed not to roll her eyes. "Are you stupid? Lu Huixuan was the one who was hanged on the west side. The theater hadn't caught fire yet before he died."

As she spoke, Gao Lin seemed to have thought of something, pulled everyone over, and whispered, "Could it be that Lu Huixuan became a ghost after he died, and then killed all of these people, turning everyone into ghosts?"

"That seems unlikely," Yu Jin said after a moment's hesitation.

Xu Yi recalled the scene she saw when she came in and said, "I also think it's impossible."

As they went downstairs, they saw Fang Xun and his group walking towards them.

They were obviously there to investigate the situation, and another man and two women came down as well.

The boy's name is Zuo Mu, the taller girl's name is Guan Le, and the slightly shorter girl's name is Lin Xiu.

They were only teammates formed temporarily, and one of them died last night, so they are feeling very anxious right now.

There are no clues at all, and they have to find them on their own. If they're not careful, they might get captured and killed by the monster. This dungeon quest is too difficult.

The three of them weren't very familiar with each other before, but after spending these few days together, they had no other choice but to rely on each other.

It's always better to have someone with you than to be alone.

All the mission participants heard what that strange creature said yesterday.

They all agreed that Lu Huixuan was the key to finding the arsonist.

What is his secret?

All the mission members have to find clues; if they don't find the arsonist, they'll all have to stay here.

When Xu Yi and the others went backstage, the girl named Guan Le followed them.

Lu Ziyang asked curiously, "Where are your two companions?"

"They went over there." Guan Le pointed in the direction Fang Xun was heading.

"Why aren't you going?" Gao Lin asked, puzzled.

"I think it's safer over here. I don't like the way those guys are looking at me." Guan Le said, glancing at Xu Yi several times.

That left them speechless.

Xu Yi looked over at Guan Le, the one who had been eyeing Xu Yi since they entered the theater.

"We haven't met before, have we? But you seem to know me?"

Guan Le pursed her lips and looked at Xu Yi. Their eyes met for a moment, and Guan Le sighed and said, "I don't know you. I've only seen your photo. You are very different in person from... "

"Where did you see my photo?" Guan Le's words confirmed Xu Yi's guess.

"You know Zhao Chang, right?" Guan Le asked hesitantly.

The name and appearance matched, but Xu Yi's personality was very different from what Zhao Chang had described.

Guan Le hesitated. According to Zhao Chang, Xu Yi was a woman with no opinions of her own and a crybaby who couldn't live without him.

However, the Xu Yi she had seen in the past few days was very different from Zhao Chang's description.

Xu Yi was clearly the leader of the team, and the other three focused their conversation on her. How could a woman who was prone to crying and lacked assertiveness possibly possess such abilities?

"I know him." When Zhao Chang was mentioned again, Xu Yi's heart was very calm, without even a ripple, as if he were a complete stranger to her.

When I couldn't remember what Zhao Chang looked like last time, I actually still had a vague impression of him in my mind.

Now, when Guan Le mentions it, Xu Yi has no recollection of those memories.

He was originally an insignificant person.

Looking at Xu Yi's calm expression, Guan Le felt uncertain again. She actually wanted to use Zhao Chang's name to seek Xu Yi's protection.

She didn't want to die here.

Now she hesitated; Zhao Chang didn't seem that important to Xu Yi.

If she says she knows Zhao Chang, will Xu Yi still help her?

However, Zhao Chang himself was no good either. He kept saying that his fiancée was still waiting for him, but his actions and words were completely different.

If Xu Yi was truly a woman who was devotedly waiting for him, Guan Le didn't know what to say.

Now that she's saying it, she doesn't feel any pressure. Guan Le looks at Xu Yi and says, "I used to be on their team."