"See that wooden house? Cross the wooden bridge and go inside. You'll find the temperature inside is very high. I'll tell you what to do when you get there."
I felt this was a trap, but I couldn't go back now. Liu Yuning and I exchanged glances. After a moment's hesitation, Du Qitai urged, "Are you going or not? If you don't, I'll poison everyone outside!"
Here we go again. This guy always threatened us with that. There was nothing we could do. We were in the open, and resistance wouldn't benefit us.
Liu Yuning and I could only curse him before heading towards the house. Fortunately, the wooden bridge wasn't too difficult to cross. When we arrived inside, we found that the temperature was indeed increasing, and it was constantly rising. Just as I was about to speak, Du Qitai burst into laughter, "Go to the top floor now! Immediately!"
"If..." Liu Yuning tried to retort, but I pulled her back. "Don't act rashly. Let's listen to him for now!"
"Damn it! Why have we become so passive!"
I wanted to know that too, but what choice did we have right now? We could only hope He Xin would act faster. Thus, we climbed countless stairs together and reached the fourth floor. As soon as we stood firm, I realized something was wrong. It seemed like there was a fire downstairs!
My God, Du Qitai clearly intended to trap us in a sea of fire. But as soon as I realized this, that detestable voice reappeared, "You now have 15 minutes to escape. Hurry up, this challenge is to get you to escape from this environment!"
"You scumbag! Isn't this playing with our lives?" I cursed.
"That's right. I told you, the games in the castle are all very exciting and will leave you with unforgettable memories!" Du Qitai said no more after this, as if he was observing our situation from the shadows.
Liu Yuning and I couldn't afford to be stubborn now. We had to find a way to escape first, or everything would be over.
We looked around and noticed that the fourth floor was filled with many sculptures of human shapes. They seemed to be made of bone. I felt them. If they were made in proportion to an adult, it would probably take dozens of dead people to create so many sculptures!
From this, I knew Du Qitai must have harmed many people under the guise of a tourist attraction.
I took photos at the scene, fearing that the fire would destroy this evidence. After I finished, I felt the fire was already burning on the stairs of the third floor. Liu Yuning grabbed me and said, "It's impossible to go down now. We can only run to the rooftop!"
I nodded. We gave up the fourth floor and ran upstairs through a steel door. Before reaching the rooftop, we encountered a locked door. Liu Yuning and I stepped back a few feet and kicked it hard. With a loud bang, the door didn't open!
Why was this scumbag's door so sturdy!
We backed up again and rammed it several times, but the door didn't break. We both wanted to curse, but we felt the flames approaching from behind. Under the high temperature, Liu Yuning's and my clothes were soaked. Seeing her fair skin and attractive curves, I had no mind to appreciate it.
We backed up again, almost exhausting our strength. With grunts, we rammed the steel door with our entire bodies. After a loud bang, the steel door finally opened!
It was as if we had found our last hope and rushed out. Who knew that upon reaching the outside of the rooftop, our despair would truly begin!
Most of the ground here had cracked. As we walked on it, we could see the flames burning below. I pulled Liu Yuning across a narrow beam. Liu Yuning was terrified, "What do we do? Are we going to be burned to death?"
"How can that be? This is just the first challenge! If we die like this, the team will definitely fall into chaos!"
"Then what do we do?"
"It'll be fine. Run ahead, and we'll jump into the water. You know how to swim, right?"
Liu Yuning nodded vigorously. We carefully sidestepped, relying on some railings behind us, and moved to the edge of the rooftop. I shouted into the sky, "Don't look back, just jump!"
"But it's so high?"
"Haven't you gone diving before?"
"Uh..." Liu Yuning looked embarrassed but jumped down faster than me!
It almost made me wonder if she had tricked me. However, now wasn't the time for arguing or doubting. I saw the flames licking at our backs and had no choice but to close my eyes and jump.
After a loud splash, countless ripples spread. We held onto each other and carefully swam to the shore. After climbing up from the lakeside, we looked back at the house, which was completely engulfed in flames.
Many beams and pillars were shattered by the relentless flames, making crackling sounds. The roof slowly collapsed, falling heavily to the ground. Numerous broken pieces slid down haphazardly, falling into the lake. The entire building was almost gone, with black smoke curling into the air, rising slowly and casting a dark, mysterious hue over the entire sky.
Liu Yuning and I stood there, stunned. We could imagine that if we had been a few seconds slower, we would have become souls lost in the fire.
As we left the lakeside, Du Qitai's voice sounded again, "Well done. It seems you have escaped safely. I remember in the past, countless tourists died in the fire. This wooden house is constantly rebuilt to make the new guests' experience more thrilling!"
"Boss Du, you're quite generous, rebuilding it after burning it down?" I said sarcastically.
"Haha, this is nothing to me. It's all for the tourists!"
"You mean to kill them, don't you? Talking so high and mighty!" Liu Yuning retorted.
Du Qitai's voice became distorted and eerie, "So what? This place is mine, and you must obey my orders, or you die!"
We didn't want to talk and walked straight out of the door of Room 1. We had found it locked earlier, but after passing the challenge, it had reopened.
The next challenge would likely be the same. If we couldn't pass, we wouldn't be able to leave.
After coming out, everyone seemed to sense that something had happened. Seeing us unharmed, they gathered around and asked me what was wrong.
Liu Yuning briefly described what had happened to everyone. He Xin immediately became angry, "Screw you, Du Qitai! If you like to play with lives so much, why don't you die yourself? That would be even more exciting! Damn you, damn your ancestors!"