Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1232. The Book at Night (20)

"It's a shadow of the door, and the key is responding to that shadow!" Lin Xi said. "Ouyang, aim the lighter at the vines! According to the book, a flame can break through the fog!"

Ouyang Xichen immediately picked up the lighter, turned the flame to its maximum, and the orange-red flame with a faint blue light burned towards the vines on the door shadow.

Strangely, as soon as the flames touched the vines, the vines, which had been writhing wildly, instantly burst into blue flames as if they had been doused with oil, and withered away with a crackling sound.

"it works!"

As Guo Yuelang spoke, he reached out to help Ouyang steady the lighter, but he didn't notice that from the black mist behind him, a black vine thicker than an arm was quietly emerging and wrapping around his back.

"Watch out!" Xiao Qin immediately pointed behind Guo Yuelang.

Huang Jingjing immediately handed the key towards Guo Yuelang. A white light swept across, and the thick vine was instantly cut in half, falling to the ground and turning into black smoke.

"Don't get distracted, there are more and more vines," Lin Xi warned, the compass needle now gleaming brightly. "The gap in the doorway is widening, let's hurry!"

The group quickened their pace and finally rushed to the door.

The vines on the door had been almost burned off by Ouyang Xichen's lighter, revealing the wooden door inside, which was gleaming faintly.

Huang Jingjing brought the silver key in her hand closer to the wooden door. The character "时" on the key suddenly lit up, and a groove that matched the shape of the key immediately appeared on the wooden door.

Huang Jingjing took a deep breath, inserted the key into the groove, and gently turned it.

With a click, the wooden door slowly opened, and the roaring sounds coming from inside were clearer than before, mixed with the rustling of pages turning.

But just then, a huge wave suddenly surged up from the black mist behind them and rushed towards them.

Bai Yueming reacted quickly, pushing Xiao Qin, who was closest to the door, inside, and then jumping in after her.

"Hurry up! The fog is catching up!"

Guo Yuelang and Quan Quan quickly pushed Chang Xiaohe through the door.

Ouyang Xichen held up the rear with a lighter.

Lin Xi pulled Huang Jingjing along and slipped through the wooden door a second before the black mist reached their backs.

The wooden door slammed shut behind them with a bang. The black mist outside crashed against the door with a dull thud, but could no longer get in.

The group leaned against the door, panting heavily, their bodies drenched in cold sweat.

Xiaoqin looked at the black stains remaining on her trouser legs.
"Finally... we're in."

—That scared me to death! That black mist almost swallowed them whole!

—Finally inside! But it looks even scarier inside!

—What was that crawling sound just now? Could it be a monster?
—Damn, it's already this difficult before we even get into the library.

—Did you forget to bring the key to "time" in?

—Yes, Teacher Huang brought it in very quickly.

—That key is probably for opening the library door.

—That's good, otherwise one of the three keys—time, space, and shadow—would be missing.

—Do you need all three to break the spacetime curse array?

Lin Xi glanced at the live stream; the screen displayed the countdown mentioned by the cold, electronic voice earlier.

71 hours and 43 minutes remaining.

The electronic announcement from the convenience store, "The library will be swallowed up in twenty minutes," ended exactly 30 seconds before they entered.

"We are safe for now."

Lin Xi looked at the dark interior of the library in front of her.

The library has no lights.

The light from torches and lighters can only illuminate a radius of a few meters.

In the darkness of the distance, the outline of a tall bookshelf could be vaguely seen. There was also a "drip-drop" sound coming from somewhere, like water droplets falling on the floor, or like... something slowly crawling.

Ouyang Xichen held up the lighter and shone it into the darkness; the flame suddenly flickered violently. He frowned.

"The fog here is thinner than outside, but it feels like something else... is watching us."

Lin Xi patted the dust off his clothes and held the compass in his hand.

At this moment, the compass needle is pointing deep into the library, and the blue light at the edge is flashing steadily, as if guiding the way.

"We need to rest for five minutes, then we have to get going. It's safe here for now, but nobody knows what we'll encounter next."

Huang Jingjing put away the silver key and came to Lin Xi's side.

He asked Guo Yuelang another question.

"Do you still have the mark on your hand?"

"Much better," Guo Yuelang said.

Quan Quan's gaze was fixed on the depths of darkness, his eyes wary.

"When I came in just now, I think I saw something move behind the bookshelf... When you leave later, please stay close and don't go out alone."

Bai Yueming leaned against the door, panting as he complained.

"We just escaped the black fog, and now we have to face some unknown thing? Is this library trying to kill us?"

Even so, he still subconsciously moved closer to Lin Xi.

—Oh dear, wherever the heart of the vegetable is, that's where the person is.

—The person who was just thinking about eating 123 and vegetables has come back to life.

—Vegetables are like central air conditioning; they keep everyone warm.

—Hahahaha, that's really true.

—Isn't that great? We can eat whatever we want now.

—As expected, men all like raising fish.

—I don't like personal attacks; I prefer growing flowers.

—Anyway, whether it's fish or flowers, as long as you keep enough, you don't have to worry about them dying.

—Yes, one died, and you don't even know which one it was.

The same applies to dating; the more people around you, the less afraid you are of losing them.

—I'm still afraid. I hope all my flowers live well.

——Hahahahahahaha.

Everyone has rested enough.

Lin Xi stood up and pointed the compass into the deep darkness.

“Let’s go. Our goal is to find the two keys, ‘Void’ and ‘Shadow,’ to unlock the spacetime curse array. Before that, we need to figure out the terrain here, and… what was that crawling sound we just heard?”

Everyone nodded and followed Lin Xi and Huang Jingjing deeper into the library.

Lin Xi summoned another torch.

The light from torches and lighters traced faint paths in the darkness, illuminating the worn wooden floor beneath our feet and the books on the bookshelves covered in a thick layer of dust.

With each step, the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty library, along with the faint ticking sound from afar.

Like the tolling of a countdown clock, it reminded them that danger was never far away.

The torchlight flickered in the darkness, making the tall bookshelves look like rows of silent shadows.

Lin Xi walked at the front, the pointer of the bronze compass always pointing northeast.

The blue light at the edge was a bit brighter than it had been in the convenience store, but it would flicker suddenly from time to time, as if it were being disturbed by something.

The wooden floorboards underfoot were already damp and warped, creaking and groaning with every step, creating a suffocating mess in the empty library.