44: Chapter 44: The Mystery of the Old House (Part 18)

Hu Tao coughed twice.

"Sorry, the expectations were set a bit too high this time."

"So, what should we do next?"

Then, Qian Ye took out another key. Hmm, if he wasn't mistaken, this was the key to the main gate.

Then, with a soft "click," the lock opened.

"..." He never expected that this was actually a Master key!

As soon as the door opened, a thick, heavy scent of blood rushed toward them.

It was so pungent that Hu Tao almost wanted to retch. Turning his head to the side, he saw the slightly excited look on Qian Ye's face and silently stepped aside.

Sorry, but seeing her smile made his skin crawl.

There was no movement outside, so the two of them walked slowly inside, only then hearing faint noises.

"Hurry up, get these taken care of."

"Make sure to send them all to the back mountain in time. If we're not quick enough and it comes out, we're all finished."

The voice sounded sharp and effeminate, just like, just like... right, the voices of eunuchs from ancient times.

Hu Tao thought for a long time before deciding that a eunuch's voice was the best match.

"Yes." A chorus of voices replied.

Qian Ye didn't move, and naturally, Hu Tao didn't dare to move either.

They stood there for a while, and when no more voices came from inside, soon after, there was the sound of something being dragged across the floor.

The two started walking inside again. The further they went, the more the smell of blood permeated the air. Hu Tao really didn't want to breathe; the smell was making him want to vomit.

The next second, his hands felt heavy as the familiar flower pot was shoved back to him. He was stunned for a moment; the smell of blood had actually vanished.

Hu Tao looked at the flower pot in his hands with some surprise.

Looking at it, was this a flower planted inside? Or grass?

It was lush and green, looking quite healthy, but was there a breeze here?

Why was this little body shaking non-stop?

The little green sprout didn't know what he was thinking; at that moment, it was shaking left and right in annoyance.

"Master!"

"How could you hand me over to a man?"

"It only likes pretty ladies!"

Qian Ye heard this, and the corners of her mouth twitched. Heh, no wonder it had actually saved Mo Lan in the last dungeon.

"So you're actually practicing gender discrimination."

"You are no longer the little flower you used to be."

"You've turned into a dog."

"By the way, do you even have a gender?"

Qian Ye looked suspiciously at the little green sprout in the pot.

"Hmph, so what? Can't a girl like a girl!"

Qian Ye smiled brightly. "As long as you like it, that's fine. I'm not counting on you to carry on the family line anyway."

Even though the little flower was unwilling, it had no choice but to stay in Hu Tao's arms.

While the human and the plant were chatting, they reached the innermost part, which felt like a cave, surrounded by stone walls.

The stone walls were glowing with a faint red light.

The entire back area was shrouded in red light, and in front of them were two large, bright red pools.

Combined with the thick, heavy scent of blood they had smelled upon entering, they immediately knew what was in there.

The pools were still bubbling away.

Hu Tao's expression turned ugly as he looked at the two pools in front of him. One was higher than the other, and a human head was exposed in the higher pool, eyes wide open.

Hu Tao wanted to turn around, but Qian Ye walked forward instead. He hadn't forgotten his role—a walking light bulb.

He quickly brought the little flame along to illuminate the way for the big boss.

Once they walked up to the pool and shone the light on it, he realized the head looked familiar.

"Zheng Wei!"

"She…"

If the one in the pool was her, then the one outside…

This discovery instantly made his spine turn cold.

Looking at the big boss again, there wasn't a trace of surprise; it seemed she had known all along that the "Zheng Wei" outside was fake.

Now was not the time to dwell on that problem. Qian Ye was observing the two pools. The higher pool was dripping into the lower one, with a process in between; no matter how one looked at it, it seemed like they were filtering the blood.

"So much of this is blood!"

"Then how many people must have been killed for this!"

Hu Tao's eyes were filled with horror. Two large pools of blood—looking at the viscosity, it didn't seem like it had been diluted with water.

"Why collect so much blood?"

"Is this filtering?" Hu Tao had clearly also noticed the difference between the two pools.

What on earth were they doing with so much blood?

Now, there were mysteries upon mysteries.

"This is already the last room. If they left, it must have been from here." Qian Ye rubbed her chin, muttering to herself.

The back mountain?

They had vaguely heard those two words just now, so there must be a passage here that led directly to the back mountain.

Qian Ye kept searching along the stone wall by the pool, while Hu Tao followed closely with the little flame.

Their attention was focused on the stone wall, and they didn't notice that the bubbling sound in the pool behind them was getting louder and louder.

Inside the blood pool, following the bubbling sounds, one blood-colored skull after another emerged, slowly rising up until their entire bodies were revealed.

They were actually red skeletons soaked in blood.

Qian Ye, who was busy searching, suddenly raised her hand and pulled Hu Tao to the side. Before Hu Tao could steady himself, he heard a "bang," the sound of something hitting the ground.

Once he steadied himself, the little flame in his hand grew larger, and only then did he see the situation around them.

They were surrounded by blood-colored skeletons; they were completely encircled.

Looking at the way they moved, Qian Ye frowned. The floor was covered in large patches of blood stains they had left behind, and as they walked, blood was dripping from their bodies as well.

Being closer, the scent of blood was even heavier, extremely pungent.

This was the first time Qian Ye had hated these ghosts and monsters so much; they were just too unhygienic.

The last time she felt such dislike was in the previous dungeon, with those ghosts on the playground covered in slime.

This time, these were even more repulsive to her.

Not wanting to talk nonsense or waste time, Qian Ye swung her roommate's axe directly and charged in, cutting one down with a single stroke, and soon a whole group fell.

It was just that these blood skeletons kept emerging from the blood pool endlessly, without stopping.

"You, hurry and find the mechanism." Qian Ye commanded Hu Tao, while recalling the distance from where they had heard the voices outside until they disappeared.

"Look to the west, eight steps away from the pool."

Hu Tao received the information and hurried to search for the mechanism.

Accidentally, a blood skeleton grabbed her clothes, and Qian Ye instantly went berserk.

"You deserve to die!"

She had finally decided to wear a favorite outfit today, and the night hadn't even ended before it was dirtied.

She was very angry now.

Having activated her berserk mode, Qian Ye beat them until they didn't dare to come close again.

"How dare you touch me!"

"How dare you grab me!"

"How dare you disgust me."

The huge axe was swung with such ferocity, as if it were merely a toy in her hands.

"Found it!"

Outside the stone cave, Hu Tao collapsed on the ground, calming his racing heart.

Every time he followed the big boss, it was a heart-pounding beginning with an unexpected ending.

He felt that his heart had been trained to be stronger.

Qian Ye sat on the ground nearby as well, her body still faintly carrying the scent of blood, the red light in her eyes flickering.

Qian Ye looked up at the pitch-black night, remaining silent.

The axe in her hand was still dripping blood drop by drop. On the ground where she wasn't paying attention, that blood was being absorbed bit by bit, disappearing completely.

Qian Ye still carried an aura of violence, which made Hu Tao a bit afraid; would the big boss suddenly "off" him too?

He was so scared that the little flame grew weaker. By the small light, he saw that this was a narrow stone passage, only wide enough to accommodate two people at once.

Hu Tao led the way with the little flame, and Qian Ye walked along silently, carrying the axe in her hand.