It could be said that having a good filter in the escape world was extremely important.
Inside the dazzling and magnificent castle, everything looked as if it were made of pure gold. Mu Anqi passed by room after room on the second floor, then went down to the first floor to carefully search every corner of the castle.
She thought the "mirrors" in the castle might have some special effects or perhaps hold some hidden clues. However, after searching the entire castle, Mu Anqi didn't find a single mirror.
"Could it be in the rooms?"
But there were also many rooms on the second floor.
The furnishings in the castle were not brand new, but there were no traces of anyone ever living there. Apart from the filter that varied from person to person, it seemed no different from an ordinary castle. No ghosts jumped out at any corner, and there were no sudden bloody handprints in the dark corners. The footsteps… only the sound of Mu Anqi's own steps could be heard, and the sound of her stepping on the floor really did sound like stepping on gold—even though Mu Anqi had never actually stepped on gold.
Having found nothing, Mu Anqi returned to the starting point to wait for the other players to regroup. Bored out of her mind, she sat on the steps, letting her thoughts wander aimlessly.
Nirvana… what a distinctly traditional Chinese name. And all the matched teammates were local too—no foreigners at all. The demons and monsters of the Shattered Mirror Continent also perfectly matched domestic folklore…
Hmm, does that mean… there are other spaces as well? Like a "Jesus Space" or a "Resurrection Space" or something?
Mu Anqi sat on the steps for quite a while, yet the castle remained as silent as ever. She calculated the time, then stood up hesitantly: why hadn't the others come to regroup yet? Even if they split up, how could it be so long without any movement? While she was searching for clues, she hadn't run into any other players either.
Wait a minute—didn't they say… some players disappeared because of the mirrors? Then why couldn't she see those missing players anywhere in the castle? Were they dead? Already cleared the level? Mu Anqi stood up, cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, hesitated briefly, then called out tentatively, "Hey?"
The vast castle answered only with her echo.
If it were a timid player… they'd happily enter the castle with their teammates, only to turn around and find themselves completely alone, as if they had stepped into another world by themselves. That kind of experience, while not as terrifying as facing ghosts head-on, was still a huge blow to one's sanity.
"Anyone there?"
Mu Anqi sighed and closed her eyes. If the castle was an illusion, then maybe she could rely on her perception to find clues. Unfortunately, she had no experience in this area. Feeling her way along the railing with her eyes closed, she slowly made her way to the second floor—then completely gave up on that ridiculous method.
Mu Anqi put away the candy cane and, holding a smoke bomb, approached the first door. The second floor of the castle had a long corridor, with roughly a dozen doors lining it.
Well then, time to open one.
Mu Anqi solemnly placed her hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and twisted hard—
Twisted, and twisted again… Why the hell won't it open?!
Mu Anqi put on an annoyed expression, glanced at the first room's door, then pressed her ear against it to listen for a while. Nothing. She felt utterly speechless, moved to the next door, and once again reached for the handle…
Still wouldn't open.
What was going on here? Was the door lock broken? Could door locks even break in a trial instance?!
Mu Anqi counted along the corridor—there were 16 doors.
"Doors…" Mu Anqi quickly walked back to the third door. Can't open it? Move on to the next.
There were 32 players in this trial. Let's assume 20 made it here alive. If each room contained one pass, then did that mean this trial had a limit on how many could clear it? 16 doors, 16 chances to pass.
The fourth door—it opened.
The first three doors didn't budge. Could it be that Xia Yun and the others had already gone inside them? After all… there were also players who disappeared earlier from touching the mirrors. Mu Anqi didn't dwell on it any further and pushed the door open to enter the room.
Inside was a faint, ethereal figure suspended midair, appearing otherworldly and immortal. The room had no other furnishings, only an offering table placed in the center. Strange symbols that Mu Anqi couldn't decipher were inscribed on the floor. The figure had a human form, but both the face and body were shrouded in a white mist. As for its height… Mu Anqi estimated—it looked quite tall and slender?
Ghost?
"Guest from afar, congratulations on seeing through the mist and entering this room." The figure suspended midair seemed to open its arms, and its voice was at once deep and resonant, delicate and lingering, yet also crisp and melodious… It was an extremely complex sensory experience—one couldn't tell if this "person" was male or female. The meaning of the words entered her mind directly, but it was impossible to grasp the timbre of the voice.
"Place your identity card upon the offering table, and I shall grant you your final reward."
Mu Anqi: "…"
Although—really now, she didn't think she looked that dumb, right? That "little gift" you gave players last time led to them being hunted down at night with extra care, and now at the end you say, hand over the identity card and you'll give me a final reward?
This "final" could mean the end of this instance… or the end of the player's life.
"Goddess of Beauty… Lady?" Mu Anqi thought of the rules and added "Lady" after the Goddess of Beauty title. "Why is there white mist surrounding you? Even your most faithful followers can't see your true form?"
"Mortal eyes must not gaze upon the divine."
The divine is omnipresent and all-knowing. But the problem is—are you really a god? You sure do talk like one. The array beneath the offering table looked strange and eerie, and Mu Anqi could even smell a faint trace of blood in the room. She was already deeply suspicious of the so-called "Goddess of Beauty" because of the incident with the paper residents, and even suspected this was an evil deity in disguise. And now, she encountered this self-proclaimed Goddess of Beauty's phantom in the final room… Yet despite claiming to be the goddess of beauty, it refused to let anyone see its form or appearance—clearly, it had some self-awareness about its "beauty."
"You do not wish to accept my reward?" Perhaps seeing Mu Anqi hesitate for too long, the Goddess of Beauty's once majestic voice gained a hint of pressure. In the silence, rustling noises seemed to stir around her. Mu Anqi quickly took a step forward.
"I'm only sorrowful and in pain because I cannot behold your divine face," Mu Anqi said soothingly. She took out her identity card from her backpack and began walking toward the altar.
One step, two steps…
Mu Anqi suddenly made her move. When she had taken out the identity card earlier, she had secretly hidden the candy cane in her hand. Now, as she approached the altar, the candy cane instantly enlarged, and she swung it hard—smashing the altar in one blow. The candy cane's hardened trait brought the whole thing crashing down.
The altar… was actually made of paper?!
"I wish you eternal glory, everlasting fame, a peaceful afterlife, youth regained, and a long, long life!" Mu Anqi delivered a heartfelt and sincere string of blessings without so much as a blush or breath out of place. She even thought she might have a future in rap.
The deity shrouded in white mist had no visible expression, and the mist obscured any clear view of the figure's movements—but… judging by the way the mist shifted, was the goddess stretching or something?
Whether or not this Goddess of Beauty was a real god, Mu Anqi felt that she'd pulled off something she could brag about for years!
In just a few seconds, she had the candy cane shrink back down and stowed it away along with the identity card. She activated the smoke bomb and threw it, slamming the door behind her as she bolted.
A shrill, piercing screech nearly burst her eardrums. The moment she exited the room, she saw over a dozen Goddess of Beauty followers rushing out from the castle's entrance—charging up to the second floor to catch her.
No time to be stingy—Mu Anqi threw her last smoke bomb straight down to the first floor. She quickly descended the stairs, the candy cane appearing in her hand once more. Without caring about aim or direction, she confirmed the bullets as "bell hard candy"—and fired nonstop!
It didn't matter if she didn't hit any ghosts. Those round, hard candies scattered across the floor would at least slow them down a bit.
"I wish you wealth pouring in, and good luck all day long! I wish you blessings as vast as the Eastern Sea, and longevity like the Southern Mountain!" Mu Anqi didn't even care who she was facing—whether it was a Goddess of Beauty follower or just some stranger, she still offered her blessings with absolute sincerity!
"I wish you good fortune and smooth sailing, may everything go as you wish!"
"I wish you riches and treasures, may wealth flow in from all directions, may all your dreams come true!"
"I wish…"
Mu Anqi had never felt her mouth this sweet—or this fast.
She spat out every blessing phrase she could think of in a frenzy. The faster the Goddess of Beauty followers ran and the closer they got, the faster her brain spun and the faster her mouth fired. As expected, the closer to danger, the more human potential got fully activated.
Surrounded by wave after wave of Goddess of Beauty followers—some doing sit-ups, some doing push-ups—Mu Anqi made sure every one of them in sight got a round of blessings. And at that moment, she pushed open the castle doors.
Stepping onto the red carpet again, her feet felt a texture like paper beneath them. Mu Anqi sprinted forward, glancing back to see that the castle was no longer as mysterious as before. Under the blood-red moonlight, it looked as if it were made of paper.
Wait—a key item… Mu Anqi suddenly remembered something and, while running, pulled out her identity card.
On the back, beneath the first line labeled "Evaluation" and the second line labeled "Score," a red stamp had somehow appeared. The bright red characters "Pass Permit" made Mu Anqi jolt with excitement.
A pass permit—she got the pass permit!
Beneath that red stamp was a small line of text: "The starting point is the end."
The spawn point!
Just then, the patrolling Goddess of Beauty followers of Samsara City began to surround her. Mu Anqi could see at least twenty of them closing in. She yanked open her backpack and, while dashing toward the spawn point with all her strength, she rattled off blessing phrases at lightning speed:
"Wishing you abundance every year, wealth filling your home, prosperity and luxury, step-by-step promotion, good things one after another!"
Amidst the flurry of blessings, and despite the Goddess of Beauty followers' encirclement and relentless pursuit, there were still corners Mu Anqi couldn't cover.
Just as two Goddess of Beauty followers stepped over their companions—who were in the middle of doing squats and radio calisthenics—and were about to catch Mu Anqi, two red envelopes were flung straight into their faces, accompanied by a plea: "Please don't move for one minute."
Accept, or not? What was in the envelopes? Why could they feel an energy fluctuation from them? —But… but they had to carry out Goddess of Beauty's orders.
In that split-second hesitation, Mu Anqi had already slipped away safely—and even threw in a few blessings for them.
Whether they accepted the bribe or not, all Mu Anqi needed was that brief moment of hesitation. She turned and aimed the candy cane behind her—no need to aim carefully—switched ammo to "Spicy Syrup," and fired! Head down, she bolted, not even sparing a glance at the poor followers now drenched in searing hot syrup.
The moment she stepped into the spawn point, the red "Pass Permit" stamp on the back of her identity card lit up with a blinding glow. In the next instant, Mu Anqi felt a sudden, weightless sensation—like she was falling.