Thump! Thump! Thump!

With every thud from his chest, Wu Wang’s face grew a little paler.

That was not the sound of a heartbeat.

It was the sound of his heart shattering.

Within just a few short seconds, Wu Wang had died several times over from heart failure.

Fortunately, it was an internal issue, so the other players in the distance couldn’t see anything abnormal. They could only notice him standing in place, panting heavily without moving.

“So after all that… this power doesn’t come for free, huh…”

Wu Wang complained to himself as he died.

This remnant soul was just like the Red Vertical Pupil when it devoured the other Abyss God’s Marks. Every activation of its ability consumed a massive amount of his life force.

If it were an ordinary player, they would have shriveled into a dried husk the moment the fight with the Prince ended, deader than dead.

Even with a health-locking ability like Zhuge Yue’s 【Soul Burn on a Thread】, they wouldn’t have survived. The power was continuously draining their life force.

Fortunately, thanks to the existence of 【Undying】, Wu Wang’s life force returned the instant it was drained.

The nourishment the remnant soul had just received vanished in a flash. This caused the face-paint mark on his left wrist to grow fainter, its flickering light showing just how much weaker it had become.

In the blink of an eye, the black-and-white patterns and the Big Painted Face on his body vanished completely. He was finally released from that bizarre state.

He reached up and rubbed his ears. It felt like he had just heard a voice speaking. But the intense pain had caused his ears to ring, so he hadn’t been able to hear it clearly.

He only remembered it was the resentful, sighing voice of a man.

“Pending Death… are you okay?”

Xiaoxiao leaned in to ask.

But Wu Wang’s first response wasn’t about his physical condition. Instead, he whispered to her, “Take a curtain call. The opera isn’t over. Be careful of hidden rules.”

With that, he immediately stood up straight and bowed toward the unseen audience to take his curtain call. Xiaoxiao instantly followed suit.

Although the other players in the distance didn’t hear their exchange, they saw their actions and followed their lead.

Sure enough, after they finished bowing, they looked up to find the surrounding battlefield disappearing bit by bit. The once-ravaged ground was gradually returning to an intact opera stage.

The troupe leader sat in the audience with a thoughtful expression. Seeing everyone’s gaze turn to him, he gave a gratified nod.

“Not bad. The Prince was very satisfied with today’s performance. He said it has been a long time since he’s had such a thrilling fight scene.”

He waved his hand.

“Go on, get changed and have a meal.”

With that, he turned and left the stage.

The players quickly retreated backstage. The heavy and complicated opera costumes they wore were incredibly inconvenient to move in.

Watching them quickly take off their costumes and place them back in the costume trunks, Wu Wang suddenly frowned and asked, “You guys don’t have headdresses?”

Perhaps it was because of the skills he had displayed in the battle with the Prince. Even Qiao Biluo and the blue-haired executioner, who had been mocking him before, did not say another taunting word. Their attitudes had clearly improved.

Indeed, while education lets you speak calmly to idiots, a fist makes an idiot speak calmly to you.

Zi Jin immediately stepped forward to clear up his confusion.

“No, our costume trunks never had headdresses from the start.”

“Actually, I was prepared for some kind of penalty for not having one, but it seems there was no effect.”

At this point, Xiaoxiao also chimed in.

“The taboos of opera culture in this Instance are probably different from reality. It is a fictional world, after all.”

If someone else had said this, Wu Wang might have thought they simply hadn’t delved deep enough into the matter. But for Xiaoxiao to say it, it seemed a bit like she was trying to change the subject.

Are the opera culture taboos here really different from reality? Then why did she secretly hide a half-finished headdress? There had to be an explanation for that.

But Wu Wang wasn’t going to expose her little scheme right now. After all, he couldn’t exactly admit that he had secretly searched their rooms for clues while they were away.

Thud.

The blue-haired executioner plopped down onto a costume trunk.

He cursed, “Damn it all! It’s only the first day, and we’ve already had the pants scared off us. If we have to fight the Prince every day from now on, who the fuck can handle that?”

At his words, the others fell silent.

He was right. On the very first day, they had been put in such a wretched state. Qiao Biluo had even lost an arm. If Wu Wang hadn’t single-handedly fought the Prince at the end, it was likely that there would have been deaths among them.

“Sigh… Now that it’s come to this, only by clearing the Instance quickly can we save our lives,” Zi Jin said with a sigh. “Everyone, let’s be a little more honest.”

“I suggest we all lay our characters’ secrets out on the table for discussion. We can advance the Main Quest faster and clear this.”

“Otherwise, with threats from within and without, I’m afraid many of us will truly die in this Instance.”

She took a hairpin from her hair and said with a serious expression, “This is ‘Lou Yu’s’ hairpin. At night, it can guide me to a strange well.”

“Looking down from that well, one can see some special scenes. Of course, I can’t directly reveal what they are right now. If you want to know, you can come with me tonight to see for yourself.”

“I can only say that the well is completely normal during the day. Even if you go, you won’t see anything.”

“And even if you go at night, you probably won’t see anything without this hairpin.”

With that, Zi Jin turned her gaze to the others, hoping to get more information from them.

The Power King also sighed, preparing to take something out to exchange for information. Just then, the book-boy suddenly stood up. He bowed slightly and said with an apologetic smile.

“My apologies, everyone. I don’t plan on participating in this little heart-to-heart. You can think that I want to hoard my secrets. I don’t mind.”

“It wouldn’t be right for me to listen to what comes next, so I’ll take my leave. Goodbye.”

After he spoke, he turned and walked away.

This made Zi Jin’s expression turn quite ugly. She had thought that if any player were to leave, it would be the blue-haired executioner or Wu Wang, people who had been on bad terms with the group. She never expected the first to leave would be the book-boy.

What on earth was that guy thinking?

Seeing someone get up and leave, Wu Wang also shrugged and stood up.

“What a coincidence. I don’t plan on exchanging the information I have either. As for what you just shared, let’s just call it a gift, given your magnanimity. Bye-bye.”

He also turned his head and left.

Inside, he couldn’t help but curse up a storm.

What do you want me to say? I don’t even know what your Main Quest is!

Besides, the first piece of information I got from the troupe leader was “Revive, my love.”

I can’t just open my mouth and say, “I’m going to give you all some spicy red bean paste!”

Some information exchange.

But the well Zi Jin had mentioned piqued Wu Wang’s interest. Although she said its special nature couldn’t be seen without the hairpin, didn’t he still have the remnant soul? What if it could also react to whatever was at the bottom of the well?

I’ll go check it out tonight.

Just as he stepped out of the backstage area, the faint voice he had heard on the battlefield whispered in his ear again.

This time, however, it was perfectly clear.

“Come to the Opera God Tower… see me…”