Chapter 161 What Is This Development?

Before the two could come to a conclusion, Liliya, standing among the crowd, suddenly spoke up: “That statement didn’t deceive us.”

After saying this, without bothering about anyone else’s reaction, she directly walked towards the large door.

Haonan was immediately startled: “Wait! Be careful of the ground!”

The floor in this hall wasn’t entirely solid; whether it would collapse or not depended solely on their luck. Even if they encountered a collapse, they had ways to escape, but this girl didn’t have their strength! If she accidentally fell in and got impaled, they’d all be doomed.

Thinking this, he was just about to go over to keep an eye on Liliya. But just as he took a step forward, the ground in front of him caved in, causing him to quickly retract his foot: “Hey! Can someone keep an eye out for her?!”

The closest person to Liliya was Tang Nian Nian, but she couldn’t act either: “My abilities might hurt her.”

She wasn’t sure how strong this girl was. If she had the physical abilities of an ordinary person, her powers could easily freeze her to death if she wasn’t careful.

Xia Xinyan thought for a second and leaped over the collapsed area to chase after Liliya. She estimated that she was the most agile among everyone present. If the ground beneath Liliya gave way, it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to save her.

Seeing this, Ling Mo hurriedly circumvented the collapse and cautiously followed, albeit at a significantly slower pace.

At this moment, Xia Xinyan’s entire focus was on Liliya.

Besides preventing Liliya from falling, she was also observing Liliya’s movements.

That girl was absurdly calm.

Why was she so certain that this door was the right path? Did she fully understand the consequences of making a wrong turn?

And… why didn’t she come over during the previous incident in the hall?

Did she… know where the traps were in this castle?

This thought suddenly popped into Xia Xinyan’s mind.

And then, it just wouldn’t go away.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain how she could so easily enter the castle’s depths without a scratch, showing no signs of surprise or fear in the face of all the strange occurrences in the castle—while the game system might sometimes create unreasonable plot devices, it wouldn’t go to such lengths to force a storyline. If all of this could be explained by something being off with Liliya herself, it suddenly all made sense.

And there were issues with the castle itself…

Previously, that makeshift ghost face drawn on the wall, and now this statement written on the door—were they all… hints meant for Liliya?

Was this castle helping her?

Then who was the target of the killing intent within this castle? And who was that purple-clad ghost from before?

The pure girl mentioned in the mission, who was she?

This dungeon seemed far from being as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Xia Xinyan’s doubts deepened.

Meanwhile, as she pondered, Liliya brought her to stand in front of the large door.

Surprisingly, for everyone else—including Tang Nian Nian—who had traversed the ground, there were signs of collapse, while only Liliya and Xia Xinyan, who followed her, had a completely smooth journey without encountering any problems. This seemed to further confirm her suspicions.

Then, Liliya pushed open the great door.

Beyond the door was a wide corridor, flanked by torches.

Liliya stepped into it without looking back, casually tossing over a line: “Up ahead is the castle exit.”

Ling Mo and the others then followed, and watching Liliya walk ahead alone, Haonan couldn’t help but mumble: “This girl sure has some good luck…”

After saying that, he chased after her along with Wen, to prevent any unforeseen accidents.

Ling Mo noticed Xia Xinyan’s unusual demeanor and hurriedly leaned closer to her, whispering, “What’s wrong?”

Xia Xinyan was watching Liliya’s back, seeming to think of something, just about to speak when suddenly all the torches around them extinguished, plunging the corridor into darkness.

Then, a beam of light re-illuminated ahead, and within that light was the purple-clad ghost lying on the ground.

She crawled towards them while constantly howling, and with her actions, the entire corridor began to tremble, as if ready to collapse.

The few people in the corridor hurriedly turned on their flashlights; several beams of light illuminated the area, allowing Xia Xinyan to catch a glimpse of Liliya—she remained standing still, her face dazed.

Or perhaps it was eerily calm.

Ling Mo quickly placed himself in front of Xia Xinyan, drawing his Wind-Slicing Sword: “This thing might be the witch!”

“She is the witch,” Liliya suddenly said, “As long as we kill her, we can escape.”

Tang Nian Nian next to her flashed a doubtful look, as if contemplating something, then the temperature around her suddenly dropped sharply, and several ice spears materialized in the air, aiming at the ghost on the ground.

Xia Xinyan’s expression shifted slightly, and she rushed forward—to stand in front of the ghost: “Wait!”

Tang Nian Nian hesitated, seemingly waiting for her explanation.

Ling Mo was alarmed, rushing to Xia Xinyan’s side, closely watching the female ghost not far behind her, seemingly ready to fend off her attack at any moment.

But Xia Xinyan looked at Liliya, her voice serious: “She… really is the witch?”

“Yeah, she wants to kill me,” Liliya finally showed a trace of doubt on her face, which was the first time she had appeared to show any expression, clearly confused by Xia Xinyan’s actions.

Before Xia Xinyan could say anything, she continued, “Do you plan to help her?”

Then her expression returned to that peculiar daze: “But she will kill you.”

Almost as soon as her voice fell, the ground beneath Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo suddenly cracked open, making them, along with the witch, fall down.

Then the ground closed up again, and the torches in the corridor ignited once more, leaving the others looking astonished.

Liliya seemed completely unfazed: “I told you she would kill you.”

Then she looked at the few behind her: “Let’s go, the castle gate is ahead.”

Meanwhile, below the closing floor—

Ling Mo quickly grabbed Xia Xinyan as they fell, pulling her into his arms. He remembered how she had said she hated that falling feeling; he hadn’t managed to protect her during their previous falls, but this time he was determined to safeguard her… even if it was just to give her a bit of peace.

Xia Xinyan didn’t resist his embrace; instead, she quickly turned her head to look around and spotted the witch falling with them.

Then she suddenly grabbed the witch’s arm and turned to stuff the witch into Ling Mo’s arms, wrapping herself around Ling Mo’s waist: “Protect her!”

Ling Mo: “???”

What is this development?