Chapter 73 The Looping Corridor
Li Wen tried to violently open the door to the Lord’s Mansion, but obviously, she failed.
The power of a Level 1 Spell-less Arc Light was still too low. She wondered if a higher level one could break through this gate.
“Wasted effort. This mansion has already become the foundation of some grand ritual. Your individual strength cannot shake it.”
The Ghost Fairy, in its raven form, let out an irritating sound, and Li Wen was waiting for it to say that.
“Then what should I do?”
She thought Grandma Martha would provide some peculiar solution, but instead, it just let out a strange cry and then shouted, “Are you an idiot? Can’t you just knock?”
Knock?
Li Wen frowned, as if she had heard something unclean.
“I’m here to kill people,”
she said.
“You’re here to kill people, what’s the conflict between that and opening the door by knocking?”
Upon hearing the Ghost Fairy say this, Li Wen understood.
She stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a long pause, an old gentleman opened the door.
He was wearing a crisp butler uniform, his hair meticulously combed, his face ashen and stiff, his pupils dull and lifeless, with protruding eyes like those of a dead fish.
Li Wen would rather believe it was a wax statue or a corpse than a living person.
Without any hesitation, Li Wen slit his throat with the Raven Feather Dagger.
Pungent, thick black corrupted blood sprayed out, and Li Wen skillfully dodged it.
“What is this thing?”
she asked Martha.
The Ghost Fairy was displeased at this moment. This little girl kept asking it questions for no reason, what did she take it for?
So it immediately replied, “Who knows? Probably some kind of Walking Corpse Doll.”
Walking Corpse Dolls are creations of the Dead Soul path, their characteristics are similar to the ghouls of the same lineage: born not dead, dead not rotted.
And this thing in front of her, its appearance alone was a dead face, and its insides were already rotten beyond recognition.
Walking Corpse? Dead Corpse would be more fitting.
Not wanting to waste too much time on this corpse, Li Wen sidestepped it and walked into the mansion.
What appeared before her was a corridor, with portraits hanging on both sides.
The gate suddenly closed with a “boom.” Li Wen looked back and found that the corpse was gone, and even the black corrupted blood on the ground had vanished completely.
It had quite a few strange and peculiar methods, but it didn’t dare to face her head-on, did it?
Li Wen gripped the dark Raven Feather Dagger, and two different lights flashed on its blade.
With no material restrictions, the only things hindering her from enchanting the weapon further were her level and mana. However, even so, with the Ghost Fairy’s Treasure Pouch, Li Wen had still managed to complete two different powerful enchantments on the Raven Feather Dagger.
【Scarlet Agony Raven Feather Dagger】
【Weapon – Dagger – Rare (Purple)】
【A weapon not of human creation, born from fairy magic, simultaneously imbued with powerful mana and strength. A mere touch of the blade inflicts terrifying pain and curses upon the target.】
【Enchantments: Scarlet Curse Lv1, Mortal Agony Lv1, Tenacity Lv2, Sharpness Lv2】
【Scarlet Curse: Wounds inflicted by this weapon cannot be healed and cause bleeding to accelerate by 100%. It also grants the injured individual a temporary status “Scarlet Blood.” Repeated injuries will stack this status. When “Scarlet Blood” stacks to ten, it triggers a “Blood Decay” effect.】
【Mortal Agony: Wounds inflicted by this weapon cause unimaginable pain and increase the damage taken by the target from this weapon by an additional 20%.】
The Raven Feather Dagger was thin and sharp, its disadvantage being its short length, not even two-thirds the length of the Bone-Corroding Short Sword.
However, this also made the Raven Feather Dagger lighter and more concealable, and even Li Wen could use it as a throwing knife.
If Li Wen could still use the Bone-Corroding Short Sword as a ritual dagger before, now she could only prepare a separate ritual dagger.
Otherwise, if she were to perform some kind of self-sacrificing ritual, cutting herself with the Raven Feather Dagger, the unimaginable pain described in its properties aside, the wounds and bleeding caused by the Scarlet Curse alone would be unbearable for her.
However, this also indicated the power of this new weapon.
Li Wen shifted her attention back to the corridor in front of her.
Whether it was her imagination or not, she always felt that the eyes of the people in the portraits on both sides were looking at her, unblinking.
Whether it was imagination or not, Li Wen gripped her dagger and destroyed the portraits on both sides as she walked. This way, no matter what conspiracy was hidden within these portraits, it should be revealed.
However, to her disappointment, Li Wen only obtained a pile of waste paper and discarded frames.
Was it really just her imagination?
Li Wen continued forward, but she could never reach the end of the corridor. This corridor seemed to extend infinitely, without an end.
She stopped and looked back, but she could no longer see the door she came in from.
It seemed that the Lord’s Mansion was not that simple. Li Wen’s gaze fell upon the portraits on both sides. She noticed that the people in these paintings were not all nobles dressed in luxurious clothes and looking self-important. More of them were maids, cooks, male servants, stable hands, and guards…
These were all people from the mansion. Li Wen immediately understood.
While memorizing the people in these portraits, she continued forward, counting her steps. After Li Wen took the 134th step, the portraits on both sides finally showed repeating figures.
And starting from this repeating portrait, all subsequent portraits were ones Li Wen recognized, and their order remained unchanged.
The portraits are repeating endlessly?
No, it is Li Wen who is repeating. It is a loop. She must be trapped in this 134-step corridor and unable to leave. Every time she takes the 135th step, she will return to the very first step.
This reminded Li Wen of a powerful spell called the “Mobius Strip.” This spell could trap a person in a temporal loop forever, making them unable to escape, unable to be freed, and unable to die, a truly eternal torment.
It was unlikely that such a high-level spell would be found in such a place. Since it wasn’t the Mobius Strip, there must be a solution.
For spells or rituals of this looping nature, the best method is external breakage.
But Li Wen was alone now. She didn’t even know if Takebitori and the others were alive, and if they were, they were likely struggling to survive. Instead of expecting them to save her, it was better to save herself.
Li Wen rummaged through the Ghost Fairy’s Treasure Pouch, pulling out sulfur, concentrated fire grease, sun pollen, active flint, mixed gunpowder…
Since external breakage was not an option, she would simply attempt an internal breakthrough.
Everything and all spells have a limit to the force they can withstand, and everything is equal before Ash Fire.
If she couldn’t break the spell, she would just blow up the spell and everything within it.
