The staff member trembled dejectedly in Xu Shulou's grasp: "Wahahaha, do you think we can still get out of here?"
"We definitely can."
"Wahahaha, how do you know?"
Xu Shulou didn’t answer, carefully examining his waterlogged legs: "They seem mostly dry now. Try moving them. If they still don’t work, I can start a fire to dry them further."
The man took a few limping steps on the grass and exclaimed in delight, "Wahahaha, it actually works!"
Seeing that the damage was reversible, Xu Shulou let out a small sigh of relief: "Then let’s keep moving."
The staff member gazed worriedly at the river: "Wahahaha, the river’s too wide to jump across, and there’s no boat. How do we get over?"
Bai Roushuang tested her jumping distance on the grass. Ever since they arrived here, their spiritual energy had become unreliable—at least, they couldn’t fly on swords anymore.
Song Ping called out to the group: "I found a glass walkway."
The group gathered around and cautiously climbed down through an opening to inspect the submerged walkway leading to the other side. The staff member, overjoyed, was about to step onto it when Song Ping yanked him back: "Wait."
He took off his coat and tossed it onto the walkway. Instantly, several laser beams shot out, leaving charred holes in the fabric.
The staff member shivered in fear as Bai Roushuang pulled him behind her: "After getting soaked once, haven’t you learned your lesson?"
Song Ping explained, "I just tested it—there’s a red button on the wall here. If you press it, the lasers won’t activate. But I looked around and couldn’t find anything heavy enough to keep it pressed."
"Wahahaha, so someone has to stay behind to hold it down!" The staff member immediately realized that the other three were a team, leaving him the odd one out. He pleaded desperately, "Don’t—don’t leave me here. Please, I’ll die if I stay!"
Bai Roushuang shook her head: "My senior sister has never been one to sacrifice others to save herself."
Sure enough, Xu Shulou had already pressed the red button without hesitation: "You all go first."
Song Ping volunteered: "Let me do it."
Xu Shulou smiled at him: "No need. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a senior sister?"
"Senior sister..."
"It’s fine," Xu Shulou said solemnly. "After we get out, I might have to demolish this place. You can handle the compensation."
"..."
The staff member froze, hardly believing her selflessness: "Wahahaha, y-you’re sacrificing yourself?"
"What are you thinking?" Xu Shulou raised an eyebrow. "I still want to try ice cream cake and ride roller coasters at the amusement park."
"Wahahaha, then what’s your plan?"
"It’s just a laser trap," Xu Shulou mused. "The principle isn’t much different from arrow traps, iron-chain traps, spirit-fire traps, or the Storm of Pear Blossoms trap. The core idea is the same. I survived those—no reason to fail here."
"Wahahaha," the staff member stared at her in awe. "What kind of hellish life have you been living?"
"Go on," Xu Shulou waved him off. "The way you talk makes me feel like I’ve gained a new nickname—‘Wahahaha’."
"..."
Song Ping and Bai Roushuang wasted no time, sprinting across the walkway. Seeing their decisiveness, the staff member quickly followed.
The glass walkway beneath the water was a deep blue, surrounded by drifting fish and aquatic plants. Even in its cartoonish style, it held a dreamlike quality. But the three had no time to admire it. Once safely across, they all turned to watch Xu Shulou.
Xu Shulou released the button, first folding her loose hair into layers—being a paper-cut figure had its conveniences. Then she stretched her limbs and stepped onto the glass walkway. She had memorized the lasers’ firing patterns earlier. With a graceful backbend, one hand on the ground, she rolled past the first beam, then followed up with a series of flips. Leaping off the glass wall, she danced between the lasers, dodging every beam with precision before landing steadily on the other side.
The staff member gaped in astonishment. Once she was safely across, Xu Shulou casually called out, "Let’s go."
"Wahahaha, you’re a master! My deepest respects!"
"...Watch out!"
Too busy admiring Xu Shulou, the staff member wasn’t paying attention to his steps. After a few strides, he accidentally triggered a barely noticeable mechanism under a tree. A transparent dome snapped shut, trapping all four inside.
As they wondered what kind of trial this was, the tree swung a thick branch and smacked the dome. With no room to dodge, they were sent rolling like a hamster ball, straight back into the river they had just crossed.
The water swirled into a whirlpool, flushing them down like a giant toilet.
Fortunately, the dome kept them from getting waterlogged again, so they resigned themselves to floating along.
Until a bizarrely shaped shark swam over and curiously nibbled at the dome. After futile attempts to crack it open and eat the people inside, it angrily flicked its tail, launching them out of the water.
They landed on a spiderweb, sticking fast. After the ordeal, the staff member vomited violently inside the dome, a stark contrast to the other three, who remained perfectly composed.
"Wahahaha, ugh—h-how are you all so steady?" he gasped between heaves. "Did you secretly practice horse stances in here?"
"..."
Luckily, the shark’s tail strike had cracked the dome, allowing them to break free. They carefully climbed along the elastic spider silk into an upside-down, bowl-shaped spider nest.
"Should we search this place?" the staff member suggested. "In games like this, you usually find useful items in spots like these."
Thankfully, the spider wasn’t home, so Xu Shulou—their strongest fighter—wasn’t taken out of commission. The nest was filled with egg-like objects, which they avoided carefully. In a corner, Xu Shulou found a paper-cut figure tightly wrapped in silk—perhaps the spider’s preserved snack for its unborn offspring. She poked at it with a stick, revealing the face.
The staff member gasped in delight: "Yu Xing! It’s Yu Xing!"
Xu Shulou studied the crudely drawn face: "You can recognize him like this?"
The staff member shrugged: "We’ve crossed paths a lot in the film and TV industry."
"He’s alive," Xu Shulou said, crouching to peel the silk off Yu Xing. She frowned at his dizzy, spiraling eyes. "How do we wake him up?"
"Try giving him some potion?"
Xu Shulou uncorked a potion and pinched Yu Xing’s chin, preparing to administer it. But the moment her fingers brushed his skin, a holographic screen popped up: "A zombie has taken his brain. Cognitive functions temporarily disabled. Would you like to help retrieve it? (Yes/No)"
"Zombie?" Song Ping finally couldn’t hold back his sarcasm. "This game sure throws in a wild mix of elements."
Bai Roushuang looked puzzled. "How does someone even lose their brain?"
Xu Shulou found it equally bizarre. "And how exactly do you go about finding a lost one?"
