I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 39

Qi Yan stood in place, dazed. This was completely different from what she had imagined. After the last ritual at Mount Zhong ended, she had passed through the “Eye” of the world and returned straight home. But this time, where was she?

The light meeting her eyes was a dim amber. Only a few night lights flickered in the corridor, barely illuminating the path ahead, just enough to keep one from being completely blind in the dark.

Still, this place looked eerie no matter how you sliced it. It gave Qi Yan a very bad feeling, even more terrifying than being inside the Carnival. If the Carnival had a deliberately crafted atmosphere of joy, then this place felt like the absolute pinnacle of oppressive silence.

There wasn’t a single sound around them; it was as quiet as a space abandoned by the entire universe. Qi Yan subconsciously grabbed Bai Qing’s sleeve at her side and hid slightly behind her.

Bai Qing glanced at her and asked, “Are there no hints?”

Hints. Right. Normally, if they were still inside a script and hadn’t left yet, a guide NPC should appear to give instructions. But ever since they arrived here, the world had fallen silent. The white light that had enveloped them cut off the Carnival behind them, acting like a conveyor belt to deliver them here, yet it left no instructions behind.

It seemed there was no administrator here. According to Happy’s words before they left, they had indeed cleared the Carnival, but why? Why hadn’t she gone home? And where exactly was this?

Just as Qi Yan was at her wit’s end, the script introduction appeared again, providing new directions:

[Congratulations to the player for successfully passing the challenge of the Freeman’s Carnival. The player will now enter the second half of the script “Carnival.” There is no guide NPC for this stage; players must explore on their own to find a way to leave. Of course, if the “Heart” of the world is defeated, the player may also successfully clear the stage.]

After providing these hints, the script introduction vanished again, not even giving them a chance to ask questions.

Qi Yan knit her brows in thought, thinking to herself that high-level dungeons were indeed on a different level of difficulty. Thinking back to the Mount Zhong ritual, the three of them, all rookies, had managed to pass by working together. This time, she fully thought they had won and cleared it, only for a bigger “surprise” to be waiting at the end.

“No wonder,” Qi Yan said, tugging at Bai Qing’s sleeve. “No wonder there was only Ling Yi, that one mini-boss, in the haunted house. The other two girls didn’t even show their faces. I guess I was too naive. I had these doubts back in the haunted house, but I didn’t think too much of it. I just thought the content was randomized and maybe we only encountered Ling Yi’s trial.”

Now it seemed that wasn’t the case. Those two girls were likely bosses that would only appear in the second half, and one of them was the “Heart” of this world.

Qi Yan subconsciously weighed the odds of a direct confrontation with the boss. She didn’t even need to consider herself; she was a total weakling. As for Bai Qing, she looked up at the person beside her and asked, “Do you think you can beat the boss right now?”

Bai Qing actually tilted her head and thought about it seriously before asking back, “Who is stronger: the boss here, or that boy?”

This was a tough call.

Qi Yan really couldn’t say. Back in the Carnival, the three children seemed to have a good relationship, but the fact that they played together only meant there was no class distinction between the big boss and the mini-bosses; it didn’t mean their strength was equal.

“I really don’t know. What do you feel?”

Bai Qing couldn’t give an accurate judgment either. She only said, “Although I was trapped within the divination slips for over a hundred years, my understanding of the rules here isn’t vast. I only know one thing clearly: these script worlds are all created with a so-called ‘Heart’ of the world as the core.”

Qi Yan understood. This meant one of those two girls was the “Heart,” and as the big boss who acted as the core power maintaining the entire script world, her abilities would certainly be far superior to Ling Yi’s.

Qi Yan felt a bit of a headache coming on. After some thought, she still didn’t plan on going head-to-head with the boss. In the last world, they successfully found the Eye of the World and defeated the boss by overdrawing her essence to “recharge” Bai Qing, but that was a beginner’s map after all. This world looked several grades higher than the Mount Zhong ritual; brute force was definitely not the way.

Having temporarily made up her mind, Qi Yan let go of Bai Qing’s sleeve and took a step forward. “Let’s head forward first and see what kind of place this is.”

Bai Qing looked down at her sleeve, which had been crumpled by the girl’s grip, and gently brushed it flat.

The human and the demon walked down the dim corridor. Qi Yan took every step with extreme caution, moving very slowly. Bai Qing knew she was still scared to some degree, so she followed her pace without rushing her.

Anyone would be scared in this environment. Qi Yan’s limbs were actually trembling, but she endured it, forcing herself not to think about the fear and instead observe her surroundings.

The corridor seemed very long with extremely high ceilings, yet it wasn’t wide, nor was it straight. It was a curved hallway. The masonry on both sides looked exquisitely crafted, with beautiful murals carved into every brick. On the other side, the windows were large, and the decorations on the frames appeared grand and elegant.

The owner of this house must be extremely wealthy, wealthy to a certain degree. This was Qi Yan’s first impression.

Not just wealthy, but they likely possessed a high degree of classical artistic cultivation; otherwise, they couldn’t have decorated a home with such a blend of romance and solemnity.

Looking at the height of the ceiling and the length of the corridor, the house had to be quite large. Its owner was surely from a prestigious, wealthy family.

Along the way, they passed several rooms. Qi Yan tried to push the doors, but without exception, they were all locked. Some had keyholes, some had code locks, and some were even sealed shut with nothing at all.

It seemed just like an escape room: she needed to find keys or mechanisms and gather more clues to leave.

Further ahead, they finally saw a room with an open door at the end. The door was wide open, clearly with ill intent; it was a blatant invitation into a trap. Qi Yan hesitated at the doorway for a moment, looking back at the long corridor behind her, falling into thought once more.

Going back was definitely not an option. This room was the only place they could pass through along the entire way. It was an obvious snare; danger would surely follow the moment they stepped inside. But Qi Yan couldn’t think of any other way. She could only choose to enter this obvious trap.

She looked up at Bai Qing beside her and suddenly grabbed her arm. “If there’s danger, you have to save my little life.”

Bai Qing looked down at her, her lips slowly curling into a smile. “Naturally.”

After a moment, she added, “Actually, if you’re this scared, it would be better if you were still a ragdoll like before. I could just carry you the whole time; it would be perfectly safe.”

Qi Yan pouted. “I don’t want that! It’s very inconvenient to move like that, okay?”

“Tsk.” Bai Qing wore an expression of great regret. To be honest, she really thought Qi Yan as a ragdoll was incredibly cute. Small, adorable, and most importantly, she felt quite good to the touch, very comfortable to pet while holding her.

Actually, being a real person was fine too. Qi Yan was beautiful; her human form was many times prettier than the doll. Bai Qing sized her up and reached a conclusion in her heart: either way, she wasn’t losing out.

Qi Yan finished her mental preparation and stepped into the room. As soon as the two of them entered, the door behind them shut with a “bang,” and the entire room plunged into darkness.

“Ah!”

Terrified, Qi Yan lunged into Bai Qing’s arms. Immediately after, the lights in the room flickered a few times and, after a burst of static noise, hummed to life.

“It’s alright. The lights are on.” Bai Qing reached out and patted the person clinging to her, her eyes flickering slightly.

Qi Yan poked her head out from Bai Qing’s embrace, cautiously peeking at their surroundings. She gave a sheepish laugh. “Haha, the door closing and lights going out was so sudden, it scared me to death.”

Bai Qing didn’t say anything. She looked down at her hand, which Qi Yan was still holding, and thought back to the doll she had carried throughout the Carnival.

The doll was small and soft, very comfortable to hold. So, what did the real Qi Yan feel like?

Thinking about the way she had lunged forward in the dark just now, Bai Qing felt that, perhaps the real person was even more comfortable?

A 22-year-old woman was beginning to have the charm of maturity, yet she hadn’t completely shed the innocence of youth. She was at a stage of vibrant, rapid growth, like a peach that was ripening but not yet fully soft.

Bai Qing found this “just right” state between ripe and unripe to be a very unique flavor, one she rather liked.

By now, Qi Yan had temporarily moved past her fear and was looking around the small room for a way out.

The door from before was completely shut. No matter what she did, it wouldn’t open. They were currently in what appeared to be a small bathroom.

The bathroom wasn’t large, containing only a toilet and a sink, but it had two doors. One led to the corridor, and the other led who-knows-where.

Qi Yan observed closely. The door they had entered through had no keyhole on the handle. It was likely unopenable now because it was locked from the outside; only the outside could lock it.

The other door, however, had a keyhole. They should be able to exit through that one.

Qi Yan began searching for a key in this tiny bathroom that she could see from one end to the other. This couldn’t be a dead end; there had to be a way out. But where would the key be hidden?

The toilet, the sink, the mirror. There were only a few obvious items in the bathroom. She had already checked the drawers of the vanity but found no key.

Qi Yan rubbed her chin and leaned toward the sink. Could there be a hidden space here? Her gaze traveled up from the sink and finally landed on the mirror.

The mirror was covered in a layer of dust, likely from long-term neglect. Qi Yan reached out and swiped the surface, finding that the dust could be wiped away.

This might be a useful clue! Qi Yan was excited. Forgetting her distaste for the dirt, she reached out to wipe the dust off the mirror.

As the surface dust was cleared away, a complete mirror was revealed. Qi Yan leaned in closer, trying to see if there were any clues on it.

Suddenly, the mirror flickered violently. It was as if the mirror had suddenly turned into glass, projecting a bluish-purple human face from behind it.

“Ah! Holy sh*t!”

Terrified, Qi Yan launched herself backward like a bullet, turning to hug the approaching Bai Qing.

“Ahhh! A ghost! There’s a ghost! Bai Qing, look quickly, there’s a ghost in the mirror!”

Bai Qing had been standing behind her, so she had naturally seen the ghostly face that appeared.

However, as a Demon King who had lived for over a thousand years, what hadn’t she seen? Her courage was exponentially greater than Qi Yan’s. She stared at the ghostly face on the mirror and said, “It’s one of the little girls we saw in the Carnival.”

Qi Yan clung to Bai Qing for dear life but couldn’t help looking back at the mirror; she was both a coward and intensely curious.

Bai Qing found her behavior hilarious. “It’s gone now. You can look safely.”

“Oh, okay.” Qi Yan said the words, but she still didn’t dare get closer to the mirror. “What if she comes out again in a bit?”

“What? Didn’t you want to find the key?”

“You go look for me.” Qi Yan had grown quite accustomed to ordering Bai Qing around; she had formed the habit back when she was small in the Carnival.

Bai Qing eyed her. “You’ve certainly developed a habit of bossing me around.”

“I, I’m just scared! If you don’t believe me, feel this, my heart is beating so fast!” Qi Yan grabbed Bai Qing’s hand and placed it on her own chest without a moment’s hesitation.

As Bai Qing’s hand pressed against her chest, both of them froze simultaneously. Only then did Qi Yan realize what an embarrassing thing she had just done.

She had been so consumed by fear that her brain had practically turned to mush, leading her to grab someone’s hand and press it to her own chest.

Well, this was great. Her heart was already beating fast enough, but now it was even faster; it felt like it might explode if this continued.

To protect her fragile heart, Qi Yan quickly pulled Bai Qing’s hand away and pretended nothing had happened. “See? I wasn’t lying. I’m really scared to death.”

Bai Qing looked down at her palm, then at Qi Yan, who was looking away with a red face. She keenly noticed that the girl’s neck was also flushed a deep crimson.

This little one is quite interesting.

The Demon King prided herself on having lived for over a millennium. What hadn’t she seen? Her life experience was far richer than this “child’s.” So what if she touched a chest? What was there to be embarrassed about? It wasn’t like she didn’t have one herself.

Bai Qing secretly teased the girl in her mind, but on the surface, she remained as calm as an ancient deity. Keeping her hands tucked in her long sleeves, she strolled over to the mirror.

“What do you want me to look at?”

Qi Yan poked her head out cautiously from behind her, not daring to get too close. “Inside the mirror! That ghostly face just popped out from in there!”

Bai Qing leaned toward the mirror, but other than some old water stains from long-term use, there were no other marks.

“Strange, did she show her face just to scare me?” Qi Yan muttered suspiciously.

Bai Qing reached out and felt around the mirror frame, but she felt nothing but a handful of dust.

The Demon King looked at the dirty dust on her hand with a face full of disgust and immediately turned on the faucet.

The suddenly opened faucet made a sputtering sound, clearly indicating it hadn’t been used for a long time. After a moment, water began to flow.

Bai Qing washed her hands. At that moment, the mirror began to flicker again. The mirror faded into glass, once again revealing that bluish-purple ghostly face.

This time, Qi Yan was mentally prepared. She only gave a small shudder and gripped Bai Qing’s clothes tightly. Bai Qing frowned, locking eyes with the ghost in the mirror. Then, she clearly saw the ghostly face squeeze out an eerie smile.

Bai Qing raised her hand and threw a bolt of spiritual energy, shattering the mirror instantly. The mirror had not been reinforced by any magic or spiritual power, so even though Bai Qing hadn’t used much energy, it shattered into several pieces.

Support I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite)