Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 160
The bathtub in the third-floor bathroom was exceptionally large. No one knew how many people had died there, but fresh blood actually filled it to the brim—and, for some unknown reason, the blood was now bubbling.
After the soft, steady “glug-glug, glug-glug” went on for a while, there was a sudden splash: crimson blood poured over the rim, soaking the shower curtain and then flowing across the yellowed ceramic tiles toward the door.
Before the blood reached the doorway, the three of them had already backed into the corridor.
Even the dim light could not hide the pallor of Xu Feiyu’s face.
Hidden Blade glanced sideways at her, scimitar in hand. “This is what you people meant by ‘no danger’?”
“Nothing like this happened when the place was full of people…” Xu Feiyu frowned. Clearly, she also found the scene incredible.
He Xiaowei swallowed hard. “No kidding. When you came in to scout before, you had a whole crowd. So many people means strong yang energy—no ghost would dare show themselves. But now there’re just the three of us, so of course the things in here are coming out to play! Damn it… Why do I keep running into ghosts?”
Xu Feiyu clenched and unclenched her fists, then said doubtfully, “Something’s off. Blue Harbor City is a semi-open instance. It’s a bridge you use to reach other sub-instances. Some sub-instances are supernatural, some are fantasy… but Blue Harbor itself was never a place with paranormal events.
“Take Purple Mist Mountain, for example—you’ve heard of it, right? It’s one of the hardest trial instance linked to Blue Harbor. Players think they’re ascending Purple Mist Mountain, but once they enter the sub-instance they’re already in another space. That space has monsters, but Blue Harbor proper doesn’t.
“After Blue Harbor collapsed, the system severed its portals to every sub-instance… The monsters on Purple Mist Mountain still exist, yet players who go there now won’t meet them. The system also announced that Blue Harbor had become a closed-off instance in its own right and lost its bridging function…”
“Blue Harbor is sealed, yes—but whether it harbors supernatural events is another question.”
Hidden Blade guided her train of thought. “Remember that office building where you found us? Your men told you there were a lot of headless skeletons down below.”
The basement stretched eighteen floors deep, crammed with countless headless skeletons. When Hidden Blade and the others went down, Zhou Qian had already wiped the numbers off several bone piles. With the human traces erased, everything could be neatly written off as feudal superstition.
Xu Feiyu was still wavering when something in the corridor suddenly changed.
A dense rustling—like something scrambling—erupted. She instinctively swung her flashlight toward the wall and saw the brown, aging wallpaper cracking inch by inch like a spreading spiderweb.
The web of fissures quickly turned scarlet, exactly the same hue as the blood in the bathtub. Clearly fluid, the cracks seemed to burst. With a wet rush, some substance broke its shackles and began to pour down the wall—
The wall itself was bleeding!
In the air, the scent of roses abruptly thickened, so rich it almost smothered the iron stench of blood.
Anyone not standing here could never imagine the very walls were bleeding. Eyes closed, you’d think you were in a rose garden.
By earlier conjecture, the killers existed in a previous timeline and most of the murders had happened hundreds of years before Blue Harbor 2301.
In that era Blue Harbor’s forensics were primitive, and many serial killers were only caught after long strings of crimes.
Some power in 2301 had connected timelines to keep them from capture, triggering history’s collapse.
Judging by that—and by the mansion’s décor—this place was a genuine relic three or four centuries old.
With such an ancient house, however much blood a crime left behind, it should have long dried to black stains. So why were the bathtub and walls still bleeding fresh blood?
The flowers in the garden had long since withered, so where was the strong fragrance of roses coming from?
The weirdness peaked when a phonograph somewhere in the mansion started up by itself—
Its hoarse, stuttering tune seemed to herald a dreadful ball. At the same time, amid the rose scent came faint aromas of wine and food, while blood gushed from deep inside the walls and swept across the floor…
As if instinctively knowing they mustn’t touch the blood, Hidden Blade, He Xiaowei, and Xu Feiyu dashed down the creaking wooden stairs to the first floor before a drop reached their toes.
But the ground floor was just as horrifying. The walls and floor were already drenched.
By the time they reached it, blood was unavoidable underfoot, and they left three sets of footprints, each a different size, as they sprinted toward the garden.
Once in the garden, all the sights and sounds abruptly fell away.
They paused to catch their breath and looked back at the building.
Under the eternally gray sky, the castle-like structure resembled a colossal beast lying in wait, ready to swallow passers-by.
Luckily the garden seemed protected by some barrier. The blood stopped dead at the threshold, not a drop flowing outside.
Still staring at the mansion, He Xiaowei thumped his chest and stomped, trying to flick the blood from his shoes.
Then he exhaled long. “At least we’re safe for now.”
He had no idea that, having fled ghosts, he would face a threat from another player—
Catching something in her peripheral vision, he turned—and found Xu Feiyu aiming her gun at him.
He Xiaowei blurted, “What’re you doing?”
Xu Feiyu glanced around. Seeing her three subordinates guarding the gate far off—too far to hear—she told Hidden Blade and He Xiaowei, “You two go back inside and keep investigating. I have wristbands of other colors—if you don’t cooperate, I can kill you at any time.”
“You’re not afraid I’ll run over and tell those three you plan to kill them in the end?!” Even the mild-tempered He Xiaowei clenched his fists in rage. “What the hell!”
Xu Feiyu’s eyes narrowed.
Hidden Blade gave her a glance, then told He Xiaowei, “They came in ready for a massacre. If only five of a hundred players can survive, they’ll slaughter the other ninety-five without blinking. Don’t expect them to be decent.”
He Xiaowei echoed loudly, “Master, you’re right! They’re indecent!”
Xu Feiyu’s face flushed red, then green, but she opened her mouth only to find she couldn’t refute them.
A moment later, as if she’d found her argument, she raised her gun higher. “Both of you—march back in. Figure out everything about this place. If the mansion really is haunted, we’ll have to reassess the entire instance’s risk.”
She drew a breath. “Yes, I’m threatening you, pushing you into danger. In exchange, I’ll keep my word and won’t kill you in the end.
“This mansion holds clues we need. If we can’t crack its secrets and end up unable to clear, you’ll die anyway. Seen that way, I’m saving you.”
Hearin this, He Xiaowei spat. “Murderers always dress up their killing with grand excuses to fool themselves and lighten their guilt. But even so, what you just said is shameless. Never seen anyone like you!”
Hidden Blade patted his arm. “Enough. Go in. Any more talk with her is a waste of breath and time.”
“But, Master—” He Xiaowei was still furious.
Hidden Blade remained calm. “Come. Today I’ll teach you: when you’re under someone’s roof, you must bow your head.”
Grumbling, He Xiaowei followed Hidden Blade back into the house.
His anger was less fear of ghosts than indignation.
He was used to being a coward and was often despised and threated by others, so he didn’t think it was a big deal, but he felt aggrieved for his Master.
How powerful is Hidden Blade? He’s a bona-fide god-level player!
Ever since hearing tales of his exploits from a teammate, He Xiaowei had worshipped him, eventually tracking him down in the system and using every ounce of wit to beg apprenticeship.
Someone that powerful shouldn’t be bossed around at gunpoint.
Cursing inwardly, He Xiaowei glanced aside—only to see Hidden Blade utterly unruffled.
After closing the door, Hidden Blade turned to him and gestured.
He Xiaowei: “Huh?”
Hidden Blade murmured, “From the moment that blood started bubbling in the tub, I felt something off. Since coming in, I haven’t sensed any negative force. So—does any ghost really mean us harm?”
“Uh… the ghosts here don’t hurt people?” He Xiaowei asked.
Hidden Blade smiled. “There are no ghosts.”
“No ghosts? Then what is—”
He Xiaowei never finished, because he suddenly heard three voices call “Master” in unison.
He Xiaowei: What??
He turned and saw two men and a woman step out of the shadows, all wearing blue wristbands.
Hidden Blade waved cheerfully and gave them a thumbs-up. “Hiding the code in the bloody wall cracks—smart.”
He Xiaowei had nearly forgotten—his Master was a consummate “sea king,” collecting countless disciples to cultivate the perfect Shepherd. He’d never expected to be accidentally bound to Hidden Blade himself.
Staring at the three remarkable newcomers, He Xiaowei blinked and blurted, “Master, if they and I fell into water together, who would you save first?”
Hidden Blade shot him a baffled look. “Zhou Qian has some issues—don’t pick up his habits.”
He Xiaowei fell silent, blinking again.
Hidden Blade suddenly thought of something and gripped his shoulder solemnly. “And don’t repeat what I just said to Bai Zhou.”
“…Okay! Then can I tell Qian’er?”
After a pause, Hidden Blade sighed. “So if Zhou Qian and I fall in together, you save him first, right?”
He Xiaowei: “……”
Hidden Blade had proved a point: casting a wide net and taking many disciples really paid off—you never knew when they’d be useful, like now.
After quick introductions, He Xiaowei learned the whole story.
The house had existed before Blue Harbor collapsed. The three disciples had cleared an instance called “Bloody Manor” here.
When they left the instance, they were dropped straight into the collapsing Blue Harbor—still inside the same house.
Because they knew the layout, they quickly discovered the secrets: the mansion was riddled with hidden spaces and passages, including a control hub full of mechanisms that could move furniture—perfect for faking hauntings.
The bathtub blood and bleeding walls were all produced by these disciples via those contraptions.
Of course, in the original run they’d actually entered another space, three hundred years in the past. Now the mansion served only as the instance’s login/logout point. Unsure if the structure matched exactly, they’d begun exploring when they heard a commotion outside.
Through a window they saw a whole troop—members of one legion—heading toward the house.
Knowing the instance allowed player-killing, they instinctively hid, going to the second-floor study. In the Bloody Manor instance, that study linked to the secret hub, and sure enough it worked here.
Inside, they found jars full of fresh blood and preserved rose fragrance, plus familiar mechanisms, confirming the layouts matched. They also found four blue wristbands and took three.
Most wristbands appeared in stacks, but a few were scattered elsewhere. Around Zhou Qian’s camp there were twenty-four yellow bands and one yellow one had been destroyed. In this estate’s area most bands were violet, but a few blue ones were stashed in the secret hub.
The hub’s passages led everywhere, giving them views across the grounds. They watched Feidu don violet wristbands, force others to join and even killing some.
Moments earlier they’d seen Hidden Blade coerced into the mansion, so—knowing the mechanisms—they staged the haunting to scare Xu Feiyu off and, by bleeding walls at set intervals, send Hidden Blade a signal.
After recounting their experience and receiving Hidden Blade’s praise, his lone female disciple—He Xiaowei’s sole senior sister—explained, “The hub is underground. It’s cool down there, full of sealed iron drums, each packed with blood. Open one, and the blood’s still fresh. Pour it into a pipe and it feeds straight to the third-floor tub. Oh, the rose scent is in the drums too—some special aromatic mixture.”
He Xiaowei asked, “What kind of person installs so many secret mechanisms at home, and stores all that blood and rose scent? To scare people? And that blood—is it real or fake?”
“Real, of course. Xu Feiyu’s no fool. Fake blood wouldn’t fool her, and we couldn’t risk exposure,” the senior brother said, then looked at him. “Ever heard the legend of Bloody Mary?”
“Fuck!” He Xiaowei blinked. “Yeah! So the owner was Bloody Mary?”
There are many legends about Bloody Mary.
One version says a woman named Mary slaughtered over two thousand maidens, drinking and bathing in their blood to stay young.
Thinking of the huge bathtub upstairs, He Xiaowei felt goosebumps. “So the manor’s owner was Bloody Mary—the serial killer we’re hunting?”
His second senior brother shook his head mysteriously. “No. Guess again.”
“I—I can’t. You’ve cleared the instance. Just tell me.”
And so he got the answer:
The manor’s lady really was named Mary, a duke’s wife of very high rank.
When the disciples entered as players, regardless of age or gender, they were all “maidens” in Mary’s eyes.
As girls kept dying, everyone naturally suspected Mary would kill them.
But they learned Mary was indeed murderous and cruel—yet the mastermind wasn’t her.
At Mary’s side was a man claiming to be a sorcerer.
It was he who told her that bathing in maidens’ blood would restore youth.
After each bath Mary smelled a strong rose fragrance laced with something that made her euphoric. Gazing in the mirror, she believed the sorcery worked and she truly looked younger.
But it was all a con.
Youthful blood baths, bleeding walls, boiling blood, rose scent without blossoms—every marvel was engineered by that “sorcerer”.
He faked hauntings to make Mary think vengeful spirits were after her, then would “exorcise” them, making her rely on him all the more.
The sorcerer’s true identity was a magician.
His father had been a famed local magician, and this house had belonged to him, its mechanisms built by his hand.
During a public show, the father enlisted an audience member for an underwater escape trick. A device failed and the volunteer drowned.
The family name was ruined and their fortunes declined.
Wracked with guilt, the father swore off magic for life. He sealed every mechanism and sold the mansion.
Many years after that, the now-impoverished young magician found his way back. Masquerading as a “sorcerer”, he duped Mary and wormed his way in.
He fabricated tales of sorcery and used the hidden mechanisms to stage all sorts of eerie tricks—Duchess Mary believed them all.
For the rest of her life, Mary likely never knew her own house was riddled with secret devices and passageways.
“Holy crap—”
The human heart is always scarier than ghosts. He Xiaowei suddenly felt a chill. “But … why? Was the magician just some psycho who wanted to kill young girls? His father at least felt guilty—he was clearly a good man!”
“No,” the senior sister replied. “He grew up wealthy and couldn’t accept poverty afterward. He came back simply to live in luxury again. By fooling the duchess he could rake in lavish rewards and stay here. More importantly, with Mary he could pass as an aristocrat instead of the son of a murderer. He didn’t care how many people got hurt.”
On the side, Hidden Blade, having digested the story, turned to his disciples. “So when we have to deal with these killers later, our real target isn’t Bloody Mary at all, but the magician lurking behind her?”
“Exactly,” the eldest senior brother said. “He’s the one who picks Mary’s victims, carries out the murders, and collects the blood while hiding the evidence. In other words, he’s the real culprit.”
……
On the other side, in Blue Harbor City, Chayun Road, in front of the Ancient Coin Museum
Two groups were locked in a standoff.
On one side stood Yin Jiujiu, wearing an indigo wristband, with three unfamiliar players she’d just met—each also wearing indigo bands.
Opposing them were two members of the Peach Blossom Legion, both sporting green wristbands.
One, a man of about forty, was leveling a pistol at the three players behind Yin Jiujiu.
Beside him stood Yun Xiangrong, her gun trained on Yin Jiujiu’s forehead.
“You and the three behind you—switch to green wristbands and join us. Now.”
Yin Jiujiu blurted out, “Yun Xiangrong, I really don’t get you. You don’t have to do this. Have you really betrayed everyone? How can you just kill people at random?”
“Enough talk.” Yun Xiangrong raised the muzzle a little higher. “You have three minutes.”
At that moment Yun Xiangrong noticed a small blue creature flicker past the museum entrance—something ordinary eyes would never catch, but she recognized it instantly.
A heartbeat later, a translucent soul-form materialized in the same spot, visible only for a few seconds before fading from sight.
She stared for a long moment at the seemingly empty doorway, her eyes faintly reddening.
Then she looked back at Yin Jiujiu. “Do I have to repeat myself?”
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