118 A Feast of a Hundred Devious Tales (12)
Have the roses been cleared away?
In fact, Qin Fu'an lied to her half-truthfully.
He didn't hold his breath because she said the scent of roses was poisonous.
It was only after Xie Yunhuai stopped and restarted the first round of the game that Qin Fu'an chose to block out his breathing.
Not only that, he also devoted most of his spiritual power to a lot of useless work, including but not limited to using his spiritual power to observe the characteristics of every player and the mask of the monster in the dungeon.
The reason for doing this was to block the bloodline surge caused by the evil aura of countless strange creatures mixed together.
If he doesn't disperse most of the spiritual energy in his body, and if he doesn't restrain his restless bloodline talent, Qin Fu'an will find it hard to guarantee that he won't reveal his true form a second time and mess up this instance again.
Even so, his snake tail would instinctively retaliate and kill when attacked, in order to unleash the uncontrollable nature of the serpent within him.
This is also why he chose to follow Xi Ya. Xi Ya is a person with merit and virtue, and she grew up in a place where yin energy gathers. When Qin Fu'an is by her side, the restless power of his bloodline will be soothed and suppressed by the power of merit and virtue contained in Xi Ya's soul.
Not only did he need it, but Xie Zeyuan also needed this reassurance. Otherwise, if the two non-human beings stayed in the bizarre game for too long, as their abilities grew stronger, their souls would become more and more like non-human monsters.
In the end, who can tell whether they are human, demon, or ghost?
Xi Ya's existence is like a clear warning sign, like a lock, making them wary before taking a certain step.
Xi Ya had no idea how many thoughts Qin Fu'an had on his mind the moment he saw her. She covered her mouth and nose, frowning as she looked at the mess in the garden, wondering how they could find that crow or Lan Bai here.
Qin Fu'an stood behind her, his gaze passing over her head as he surveyed the bustling garden.
Then he patted Xiya on the shoulder and led her in one direction.
The strange, mixed smells in the garden enveloped everyone and everything. Strangely enough, when Qin Fu'an and Xi Ya walked around them, not a single person glanced at them.
It was as if... no one had been found at all.
"They've been poisoned." Qin Fu'an said calmly, dispelling the doubts that had just arisen in Xi Ya's mind, but also startling her.
"The rose scent is definitely suspicious!" She covered her mouth and nose more tightly, and a small handkerchief appeared in her hand at some point. She wet it and covered her face with it.
Ignoring the monsters fighting each other with the rose vines, the two circled the garden, and Qin Fu'an finally stopped at a certain spot.
He found the ordinary lamps he had bought, and the light instantly illuminated the corner.
Both of them were in a sorry state, covered in scratches and bruises from the dense rose thorns, their clothes riddled with holes, but not a single red mark could be found on their exposed skin.
The above specifically refers to Qin Fu'an.
Xi Ya wasn't as lucky as him. She was secretly favored by the rose bushes, and her hair was all pulled and messed up. But she wasn't angry. Instead, she whispered in Qin Fu'an's ear, "So this rose bush really is alive!"
It wasn't the mindless, mechanical flower she had previously thought it was.
Qin Fu'an, with his sharp eyes, noticed that when Xi Ya said those words, several drooping rose branches behind her head straightened slightly, and even the petals trembled in disbelief.
He suppressed a laugh and chimed in, "Maybe they're not just living things, but they can also transform into human form, just like us?"
"...A rose flower transformed into a human form?"
Xi Ya couldn't help but daydream: "It must be incredibly beautiful, right? I wonder if it's a girl or a boy. If it can really transform, wouldn't it be the legendary flower fairy? This lousy dungeon is full of ugly monsters, I really desperately need a pretty little thing to cleanse my eyes."
She started daydreaming a little, her tone innocent yet tinged with a hint of lewdness, much like a female college student walking down the street and seeing a tall, long-legged, slim-waisted beauty.
Qin Fu'an: "..."
There's a sense of offense, like my wife is being coveted.
Helplessly, he gathered his spiritual power, raised his hand, and gently patted Xi Ya's forehead.
A cool sensation spread from between her eyebrows, and Xiya suddenly woke up from her reverie. Covering her bleeding nose, she blushed and stammered an apology: "I'm sorry... I think I've been infected without even realizing it."
Waaaaaah, Duck didn't mean it! Duck didn't fantasize about Rose Beauty to the point of getting a nosebleed!!!
YaYa is just an ordinary corpse-transporter, how could he possibly be the kind of scoundrel who loses his mind at the sight of beautiful women?!
Xi Ya's comment section was already bursting with laughter.
But the comments from Qin Fu'an's viewers were much stranger.
[Host... I feel like there's something off about this duck.]
[Me too! Is she indiscriminate in her tastes? Streamer, are you sure she won't try to steal Little Cloud from you?]
[This is horrible! This duck isn't as innocent and gullible as she seems! Her mind is clearly full of lewd thoughts!!]
[My imagined duck: gullible, naive, insightful, earnest and reliable; The real duck: lewd, lustful, a sucker for good looks, with a sallow complexion.]
[Other ghosts and players who fall into hallucinations fight to the death, but our duck is the only one who falls into a hallucination, his eyes and mind filled with beautiful little roses.]
[Hahaha, I love this duck! As for the streamer... just bear with it, you chose the team leader yourself!]
Qin Fu'an: "..."
Seeing the squad leader's face flushed red, and him wiping his nosebleed haphazardly with his head down in an evasive manner, he laughed in exasperation: "Squad leader, I think I know what your standards are for collecting corpses now?"
No wonder all those corpses standing in a circle earlier weren't ugly; even those with unattractive faces had impressive physiques.
"No, you...you probably don't know enough." Xi Ya blushed and stammered, "I...I've always been a sucker for good looks..."
When she was little, she would cry her heart out whenever her father and other uncles and elders hugged her, vomiting as she cried. The first word she uttered after learning to speak was "ugly" while pressing her face against her father's, which has led her father to apply face masks with her mother every day for beauty and skincare.
What is the talent of a "face-value enthusiast"?
She was the most beautiful one among thousands.
So... she deliberately appeared next to Qin Fu'an.
At this point, she hurriedly raised her hand to explain, "But I didn't have any other bad intentions! Really!!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the tiny, needle-like tendrils on the back of her head softened and silently drooped down.
Qin Fu'an sighed with amusement: "No wonder he kept saying he needed to wash his eyes the whole way."
So, he was so disgusted by those eerie creatures that he was staring at them to calm his nerves.
In retrospect, it was the two of them who were scheming against each other.
"Don't be angry. Even if you don't look good without your mask... I won't leave the team!" Xi Ya said this with exceptional sincerity.
Of course, if you can ignore the somber tone in her voice, it sounds even more convincing.
Seeing that her eyes were starting to glaze over as she spoke, Qin Fu'an shook his head. Using his healing skill for the first time, a pure white light enveloped Xi Ya's body, completely clearing away the hidden rose toxins from her body.
Xi Ya's mind became completely clear.
Xi Ya: "..."
My lifelong reputation has been ruined in an instant!
Under the bright lights, Qin Fu'an crouched among the dense rose branches. The thorns on the vines softened visibly as he approached, and even if Qin Fu'an deliberately touched them with his fingertips, he would not be pricked and bleed.
"These are its roots?" Xi Ya was speechless for three seconds before squatting down to observe as well.
"Yes, this is the place where the roses were first planted in that oil painting."
Qin Fu'an let the light fall on the gnarled and thick roots, which were densely intertwined like a group of snakes. This cluster of rose roots was estimated to have at least several hundred roots of varying thicknesses, and blood could be seen flowing on them.
The life-giving blood that the spreading vines and thorns had drawn from those monsters and players was now being used to nourish the roots of this rose bush.
“…If that’s the case, even if all the roses in the entire castle are cleared away, its root system won’t be damaged at all.” Xi Ya frowned slightly.
She didn't ask the stupid question of why those monsters and players didn't come and clean up the roots directly, but she intuitively felt that the level of danger this rose was showing was probably just the tip of the iceberg.
This dense, gnarled clump of rose roots is like a bomb buried in this ancient castle; if it were disturbed, the consequences would be unbearable.
This includes the suggestion to clear away the rose bushes.
Xi Ya stared at the roots of the rose bushes for a moment, then said softly, "The player who got the chance to make a wish in the last instance didn't notice these roots."
Xi Ya remembered clearly that the rose roots that the player had uprooted were on the other side of the castle. After he pulled out that equally terrifying-looking clump of roots, Lan Bai quickly appeared and announced with a smile that he had become the final winner.
"Was Rose completely eliminated in the last instance?" Qin Fu'an turned to ask her.
The image of him crouching among the rose bushes, holding a lamp, was reflected in Xi Ya's eyes. After thinking for a moment, she shook her head blankly: "I...don't know?"
As soon as she said it, she realized something was wrong and said blankly, "I remember very clearly that he did pull out the rose roots, but... I can't remember what this castle looked like without roses, and I can't remember whether the roses were completely cleared away. I just remember... Lambeth appeared, announced that he could make a wish, and then he disappeared."
What happened after that player disappeared?
Lambeth reappeared and said that the player had made a very easy wish, which he had already granted. However, it was still dark, and he still had enough resources to support the next wish, so…
"So another round of bizarre and fantastical feasts has begun," Qin Fu'an said calmly, picking up where she left off.
Xi Ya's pupils slowly focused, but her expression still held a hint of daze.
She still couldn't remember whether the roses inside and outside the castle had been completely cleared during the last instance.
She couldn't even find any concrete image in her limited memory that could be verified.
It's as if many memories have been erased out of thin air.
Everything related to the castle, everything related to the roses, even the subconscious has become a jumbled mess of fragments that can't be pieced together.
Seeing her unusual change with his own eyes, Qin Fu'an showed no surprise.
He picked up the lamp and held it in front of Xiya, causing her to instinctively close her eyes and then open them again.
"Still haven't realized it? The half-human, half-monster corpse you took in has already shown you the answer."
[Author's Note]
So confusing, so chaotic, the yellow duck's head is already turned into mush.
.
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