Card Room

Chapter 389 - Red Clothes

Lu Jiuchuan’s words startled everyone.

The shaking of the sarcophagus became more intense and then the entire room started to shake like there was an earthquake. The blood oozing from the gaps flowed further to the ground. Xiao Lou saw the dazzling blood and quickly stepped back. “Be careful, everyone!”

He had read novels about tomb robbing before where the protagonists would encounter the legendary ‘zongzi’ after entering the tomb. (zongzi=well-preserved corpses named after the sticky triangular rice cakes known as zongzi)

The so-called ‘zongzi’ were actually zombies. The dead buried in ancient tombs would mutate into zombies and attack intruders. They were generally very difficult to deal with. However, he had never heard of a zongzi bleeding?

The zombies had been buried in the ground for hundreds of thousands of years. The corpses should have long been rotten and air-dried. How could it have fresh blood? Could it be an illusion?

Xiao Lou looked around quickly.

In the cold stone room, there were only four corner lights and the sarcophagus in the middle. He couldn’t find any sources of drugs that would make people hallucinate. Moreover, after falling into the hallucination of the spiral staircase, everyone became very cautious. Before entering a new room, they would pay attention to their breathing so as to not inhale toxic gas or incense.

The scene of the sarcophagus shaking wasn’t an illusion so how could they explain the blood oozing from the gaps?

Xiao Lou was puzzled. Just then, the lid of the sarcophagus started to shake wildly as if something was desperately trying to open the lid in order to climb out. Yu Hanjiang immediately protected Xiao Lou behind him. He held the handle of his knife tightly with his left hand and stared at the sarcophagus with sharp eyes.

Gui Yuanzhang’s voice entered Xiao Lou’s ear. “There is something in the sarcophagus. Should we stay or withdraw?”

Obviously, the same thing was happening in Ye Qi’s room.

Ye Qi said, “If it is a big zongzi, we should be able to beat it right? After all, we have cards in our hands.”

Shao Qingge had doubts. “Big zongzi? Is it the type you eat at the Dragon Boat Festival?”

Everyone, “……”

Chief Shao, can’t you be serious?

Chu Huaying explained in an expressionless manner, “The thousand year old zombies in ancient tombs are commonly known as zongzi.”

Shao Qingge, who had never read tomb robbing novels, reacted belatedly. “Oh… in other words, the dead person in the coffin is suddenly moving?” Then he quickly stepped back and hid decisively. In the Diamonds secret room, the Bug King card couldn’t be used. He couldn’t use stocks to deal with zombies so he could only rely on his teammates.

Xiao Lou suddenly said, “We should be careful. It isn’t necessarily a zongzi.”

It was still unknown what was in the coffin. If it was a thousand year old zongzi then it was equivalent to a high level zombie. They had cards and weren’t afraid of zombies and bug groups. Was it necessary to be afraid of a zongzi when it was six against one?

Xiao Lou’s biggest concern was… it might not be a zongzi in the coffin. The blood was telling him that things weren’t that simple.

After a brief exchange on the voice channel, the lid of the sarcophagus was pushed up fiercely and the thing in the coffin finally broke free from its restraints, letting out a sharp, ear-piercing cry. The door of the stone chamber closed behind them and everyone was trapped in this room.

In the enclosed space, the sharp cries started to reverberate. The strange sound was like a mental attack that shook everyone’s brains. This was followed by the sarcophagus lid flying toward the six people!

Yu Hanjiang’s knife slashed sharply, directly smashing the stone into two halves.

In the other room, Gui Yuanzhang moved the writing brush in his hand and the sarcophagus lid was stopped by him. It followed the trajectory of the writing brush and hit the wall with a loud boom!

The group looked back at the sarcophagus in horror.

The moment the lid was destroyed, they finally saw what was crawling out of the sarcophagus. It was a young woman. She wore a gorgeous red wedding dress with gold silk thread embroidery that looked brand new.

The woman’s face was as white as paper and she had a beautiful hairpin in her hair. However, no matter how neatly her hair had been arranged previously, right now this hairpin loosely hung on her head, while most of her waist long, black hair was messily scattered over her back and shoulders. Her slender hands were stained red with blood and her nails seemed broken from when she opened the sarcophagus just now. Her eyes were also red with blood.

The woman’s resentful eyes were directed at the crowd and Xiao Lou felt a chill from her stare. Before he could react, the woman grabbed at Xiao Lou with her bloody hands!

Yu Hanjiang made a decisive action and wielded the knife to cut off her arm. However, the woman was extremely agile and her body very flexible. She retracted her arms and her red embroidered shoes stepped on the stone wall of the enclosed room. She leaped and avoided Yu Hanjiang’s blade sharply before grabbing at Lu Jiuchuan standing next to him.

Yu Hanjiang saw that the woman in red was about to choke Lu Jiuchuan and slashed at her. Lu Jiuchuan also pulled out the ice sword and swept it forward horizontally. The surprising thing was that the freezing effect of the sword seemed to have no effect on the woman.

Lu Jiuchuan retreated quickly and avoided her attack in a thrilling manner.

The woman failed to attack Lu Jiuchuan and aimed for Old Mo next. Mo Xuemin desperately raised a row of marble walls in front of him to stop her but to Old Mo’s shock, the woman’s nails actually dug a hole out of the marble wall!

Liu Qiao saw this and hurriedly summoned the Witch card.

The Witch card in her hand was a must-kill card. In a dark environment, give the designated target a bottle of poison which could immediately kill the opponent. Liu Qiao spilled the poison but the woman in red showed no response!

Xiao Lou took out the Compass card. He drew a few circles quickly and manipulated the metal rings to trap her from all directions!

The woman saw the rings wrapped around her body and seemed to have the ‘flash’ ability. She instantly moved from one corner of the room to another corner, ignoring Xiao Lou’s rings. Then she rushed at Xiao Lou again.

The six people exchanged looks.

At the same time, in the other secret room, the woman in red appeared and Gui Yuanzhang quickly aimed the brush at her.

Gui Yuanzhang’s brush could control a weight up to 100 kg. The object would move in the air and follow the trajectory of Gui Yuanzhang’s brush. He originally wanted to throw the woman against the wall with one stroke but he suddenly realized that the woman wasn’t under his control at all!

Ye Qi took out his flute and started playing music.

The flute could make a single target fall asleep and it was a very strong control skill. He thought that the moment the flute was played, the woman would fall into a sleepy state. Unexpectedly, the woman didn’t respond at all!

Chu Huaying saw this and her slender shadow moved like the wind. This was the first time Ye Qi and the others had seen Chu Huaying acting. She was as fast as lightning and they couldn’t see it clearly. In the blink of an eye, she had come behind the woman in red.

A cold light flashed in Chu Huaying’s hand and the blood-red Spider Dagger accurately hit the red-clothed woman in the back.

Yet Chu Huaying’s dagger didn’t have any sense of touch. It was as if it had stabbed a mass of air. No matter what the other side was, there would definitely be the sensation of the dagger being inserted into flesh. Then why…

Chu Huaying was slightly startled. The next moment, the red-clothed woman turned back, her eyes full of bloody tears. The bright red tears continued to slide down her pale cheeks. Immediately afterwards, she reached out her pale hands and grabbed Chu Huaying’s neck.

Gui Yuanzhang exclaimed, “Huaying!”

Ye Qi also called out in shock. “Sister Ying, be careful!”

They wanted to help but Chu Huaying disappeared from in front of everyone like she had been sucked into another space.

Ye Qi’s face turned pale and he hurriedly took out his musical instruments to take control of the field. Long Sen and Qu Wanyue took action as well, using the Chameleon card to blend into the environment to find a chance to attack the woman in red.

Shao Qingge retreated to the door and quickly reported to Xiao Lou, “Xiao Lou, Chu Huaying is gone!”

Meanwhile, Xiao Lou’s group had encountered an unprecedented crisis. The cards of the six people seemed to have failed. They obviously released their skills but they couldn’t control the woman in red.

Seeing her sharp claws about to hit Xiao Lou, Lu Jiuchuan shouted and the ice sword in his hand stabbed at the woman’s neck. The woman twisted to avoid it. Then she screamed and continued to attack Xiao Lou.

Yu Hanjiang reached out with his left hand and pulled Xiao Lou into his arms. Then he used the light footwork card to step onto the broken stone bricks, avoiding the woman’s attack while slashing at her head with the knife. The woman didn’t evade this time. Her blood-red eyes kept staring straight at Xiao Lou, her eyes constantly shedding bloody tears while her hair moved around her.

Lu Jiuchuan couldn’t help cursing. “Fuck, is this an upgraded version of the zongzi? How the hell can she fly?”

Tang Ci wondered, “Chief Shao said that Huaying is missing. What is going on?”

Xiao Lou’s heart was tense due to being stared at by the woman but he quickly calmed down and thought about countermeasures.

He had read tomb robber novels. Zongzi were generally mutated corpses and most corpses had a common feature—their movements were slow. Zombies also followed this rule. After all, the water and blood inside the corpse had been lost and their muscles were shriveled. It would be too unscientific if their actions were faster than humans.

Meanwhile, the woman in front of them was extremely agile. She could avoid everyone’s attacks and even leap on the walls. She was so flexible and could fly. She naturally wasn’t a zongzi.

Xiao Lou faced the eyes filled with bloody tears and trembled. “She… is probably a resentful spirit or ghost.”

As if to prove his thoughts, Yu Hanjiang slashed at her head with his dagger. Not only did her head not split apart, but it was like she was a mass of nothingness. The sharp knife passed directly through her body but she remained unscathed.

Obviously her body was like air, unable to be injured in any way. It was only a resentful spirit or ghost with no physical body.

Just then, Ye Qi’s nervous voice was heard from the voice channel. “Professor Xiao, my musical instruments and Senior’s brush is useless against her. Our control skills are invalid! Sister Ying’s dagger also couldn’t stab her to death. It shouldn’t be a zongzi. I don’t know where Sister Ying has gone. I can’t communicate with her on the voice channel.”

Xiao Lou wondered, “How did Huaying disappear?”

Ye Qi replied, “She was choked by this woman and disappeared.”

Xiao Lou thought for a moment. Then he freed himself from Yu Hanjiang’s arms, took a deep breath and voluntarily walked in front of the woman.

The woman flew over and grabbed Xiao Lou’s neck! Yu Hanjiang’s heart trembled and he reflexively wanted to protect Xiao Lou, but Xiao Lou stopped him. “It’s fine, don’t resist.” His voice was calm. “She has no physical body and we can’t touch or hurt her. She naturally can’t hurt us either.”

Everyone, “……”

Yu Hanjiang stopped moving. The next moment, Xiao Lou disappeared in front of everyone. Yu Hanjiang was shocked. He was afraid that Xiao Lou had an accident but if Xiao Lou was dead, why didn’t they see his body? So did Xiao Lou and Chu Huaying enter another space?

He thought this and stepped forward without hesitation. He took the initiative to contact the woman in red and was choked by her. Then Yu Hanjiang disappeared as well.

Lu Jiuchuan had to helplessly say, “Let’s go together and see what is going on.”

Everyone collectively came forward. More bloody tears streamed from the woman’s eyes as she constantly choked everyone. It wasn’t until the last person disappeared that everyone was shocked to find—

The six of them had returned to the original stone room. In front of them, the sarcophagus was motionless and it was still covered by the lid. There was no bright blood on it, only the dried up dark blood from thousands of years ago. The horror scene just now seemed to be an illusion.

Xiao Lou was standing in front of the sarcophagus, looking thoughtfully at the spells on the sarcophagus.

Yu Hanjiang nervously walked over, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Xiao Lou pressed down on the voice headset and told his teammates, “The woman in red should be a resentful spirit without a physical body. It can be understood as an illusion created by strong resentment. Just now, we were brought into an illusion by this resentment.”

This is tomorrow’s chapter because I’m getting my wisdom teeth pulled out tomorrow and will be in recovery.

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Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality