Chapter 280 Baiting at the Door

Words : 1368 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 280: Chapter 280 Baiting at the DoorHe turned to Xu Huo and said, "We’ve discovered quite a few secret passages in the castle that not only lead to adjacent rooms but also to the kitchen and the main hall below." "The game hasn’t started yet, but Jin Zhao thinks it might be related to the layout of the castle, so he wants to get a clear idea of the passages in advance," Peng Ru said. "It’s dangerous to split up, but it takes too long relying on just the two of us. How about we four split up? I’ll go look for Miss Yan, and you partner with Jin Zhao?" "Fine," Xu Huo didn’t refuse and added a warning, "But be careful. The player I killed earlier and the one chasing Yan Jiayu are twins. I don’t know if both can use that strange ability." Peng Ru’s face showed surprise, "I’ve never heard of abilities being duplicated. If it’s the same effect, it’s likely a prop." Xu Huo’s brows twitched slightly, "I didn’t engage with them deeply, so I don’t know much." Peng Ru nodded and entered the secret passage. Afterward, Xu Huo and Jin Zhao also entered the secret passage, though they went in different directions. After groping about in the secret passage for a while, Xu Huo found that most of these passages were not interconnected. Simply put, they were more like an alternative corridor between rooms, where one could enter the secret passage from a decorative painting in a room or the bathroom vanity, and then the passage would connect to another room’s movable wallboard or bathroom, stringing together a whole row of rooms. "It feels a bit like a haunted house," Jin Zhao mused. But just then, the castle began to shake slightly, and the two exchanged a glance before hurriedly exiting the passage. However, the world outside had greatly changed; the fully lit sky was now completely dark, with only moonlight seeping through the windows. The previously empty room had become crowded as missing curtains, beds, sofas, and wardrobes appeared out of nowhere, completely different from before. Once they opened the door, the corridor was flickering with broken lights, walls and floors showed dark marks, and old, broken dolls were either lying on the ground or nailed to the walls—clearly a horror movie scene. "The hide-and-seek game has started," echoed the distinctive shrill voice of the dolls in the castle, "From now until dawn, only the children who aren’t caught by the dolls have a chance to win a prize." "Everyone, hide quickly. I’m going to start counting, 10, 9, 8..." The countdown started from ten, but in reality, from the moment the counting began, the dolls in the corridor came to life. With missing limbs or heads, they crookedly got up, decisively heading towards the living people nearby. Xu Huo took out his sword, while Jin Zhao reminded him, "During game time, killing dolls won’t reset them, but they’ll drop lots of little hats. Be very careful!" Of course, Xu Huo wouldn’t recklessly kill the dolls. He retreated into the room, shut the door, and pushed a wardrobe in front of it to block the entrance. Unexpectedly, a recess appeared in the wall behind the wardrobe, and crouching inside was a sinister-looking bunny doll that lunged at him! After kicking the rabbit aside, he turned to see Jin Zhao surrounded by dolls that had emerged from all the unexpected corners of the room, and said, "We need to find a place to hide." Jin Zhao pulled the doll clinging to his back over his head and threw it away, then turned and ran towards the secret passage, bursting through a wall to enter it. Xu Huo hesitated slightly but ultimately entered the secret passage as well. The secret passage now looked different from before; Jin Zhao was nowhere to be seen, and two bear dolls charged at him. He dodged their embraces, leapt into the air, and used the piano strings to move to the other side. seaʀᴄh thё ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Not just Jin Zhao and his companion discovered the ancient castle’s secret passageways. They weren’t the only ones trying to hide inside, but the passageways were filled with numerous puppets, and there was no telling where they would appear from. Once the high-walled corridors entered game mode, puppets could emerge from the walls above as well. If a player was caught by more than two puppets at the same time, it meant they were eliminated. After the initial hour of chaos, the number of players eliminated surged, and the castle gradually returned to quiet. The puppets seemed to lose their animating force and collapsed haphazardly, replaced by some large creatures rummaging around the rooms. Xu Huo exited through the secret passageway and picked up a puppet rabbit to throw against the cabinet before climbing through the window into the adjacent room, carefully listening to the sounds from next door. As the live bear broke through a door in the corridor, the other puppets regained their vitality as well, and all of them rushed into the room. He peeked out from the slightly ajar door and after a series of crashing sounds, the puppets all remained in the room, with only the live bear walking out, continuing to wander the hallway. When he first grabbed the puppet, the other puppets did not move; all of them entered the room only after the live bear took action. It was like a signal; until it was given, the puppets remained in standby mode. With a slight movement of his eyes, Xu Huo took out the corpse he had hidden earlier and tossed it in front of the door, then hid in the secret passageway. Up the stairs on the second floor, the shorter of the twins and a glamorous woman were ascending. The shorter twin had an injury on his head that, despite applying a Self-Healing Potion, was still bandaged up. He gritted his teeth and said, "I’ll definitely kill her!" "Give it up," said the woman, unabashedly mocking the twins. "The fact that someone could beat you to a pulp and then escape proves they’re not weak. Brother Tu has always said that you two need to use your traits together to avoid being exploited, but you, you separated, and let a little girl make a fool out of you. How embarrassing." Her voice, despite being loud, did not attract the attention of the live bear moving on the other side of the corridor. When the pair reached the second floor, they immediately saw a headless corpse lying in the center of the hallway, and the shorter twin’s expression dramatically changed. "Be careful, it’s a trap!" The woman was warning him, but the shorter twin disregarded her caution and ran straight past the barrier he set up toward the body. The woman had no choice but to follow. When they reached the corpse, the shorter twin knelt down, pulled open the clothing on the ground, and after confirming the identity, said in agony, "It’s my brother!" The woman frowned and took a quick look, "The head’s not here; someone must have taken it. Let’s move the body back and then discuss it with Brother Tu." The shorter twin looked at her angrily, "I have to avenge my brother! He’s only recently been killed; the murderer must be nearby!" "It’s probably the other man out of those two," the woman said, "and the timing fits. The old man warned us that he’s full of deceit. He’s using the head as bait; don’t fall for it." But the shorter twin didn’t care and, after stowing the body away, retorted, "If you’re scared, you can go hide in Brother Tu’s bed and cry." The woman’s expression chilled, but then she said, "You think I only rely on men? Brother Tu said whoever kills those two players gets the windmill. Don’t try to compete with me for it." "Rest assured, I just want them dead!" The shorter twin ripped off the bandage from his head and pushed open the ajar door.

Chapter 280 Baiting at the Door

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