Chapter 111: Who Killed Him

In the desolate forest, a hotel that looked entirely out of place stood tall.

The hotel was filled with fairy-tale-like decorations; stepping inside was like accidentally wandering into a theme park.

But, in the corners hidden by patches of grass-shaped boards and pumpkin lanterns, there were occasionally traces of black blood and unidentified filth left behind...

At this moment, an unexpected guest arrived at the hotel entrance.

Ding Mo pushed the door open, and the gloomy daylight behind him cast his shadow into the room first.

He raised his head and surveyed the place for a moment.

It was not much different from when he had left; the high-backed throne in the main hall not far away still stood there.

It was just after dawn, the "Prop Team" had barely left, and the hall was empty.

Ding Mo closed the door, identified his direction, and began to walk.

He did not intend to have any interaction with the "Actors" here; if he ruined the Ritual because of it, the consequences would be dire, which was something Ding Mo did not want to see.

Still not taking the elevator, Ding Mo silently went up to the second floor.

But, when he stepped onto the floor of the second level, his eyelids twitched—directly in front of him, a lonely light was shining in the corridor.

Under the light was a figure with no facial features, wearing a red cape and a blue vest!

It was... a Substitute Actor!

Its body was flickering, appearing and disappearing, like an image reflected on an old television screen with a poor signal!

"So that's how it is, is it already the 'Final Act' now?" Ding Mo drew the Tactical Dagger from his waist and looked at the eerie figure in the distance with a slightly grave expression.

Back then, he had only gained the ability to confront it after obtaining the power of the "Prince Mask" and the support of the "Performance Lighting."

Now, he was not sure if he could withstand its attack.

"How unfortunate..."

"Hm?"

But just as Ding Mo hunched slightly, preparing to face the formidable enemy, the "Substitute Actor" opposite him actually tilted its head, looked at him for a few moments,

and chose to leave?!

"..."

Watching the light and the eerie shadow flicker in the corridor as they moved away and finally vanished at the end, Ding Mo let out a sigh of relief while also feeling puzzled.

What was going on? Why didn't it attack him?

Could it be because it didn't attack people unrelated to the Ritual?

But that didn't make sense; if that were the case, the military wouldn't need to go to such great lengths to monitor the place from so far away from the hotel.

They could have just charged in, pointed guns at the "Actors," and made them finish the Ritual properly to seal the entrance to the Different Space!

Ding Mo stood where he was without moving, and after thinking it over repeatedly, he seemed to remember something.

Reaching into his bosom, a few seconds later, Ding Mo pulled out an ink-colored jade pendant.

"Is it because of this?" He examined the Ink Jade for a moment, feeling his own residual body heat on it.

This was the jade pendant gifted to him when he first met Dong Xiaoyu after her mutation.

Dong Xiaoyu and he had once been to that "Different Space," and the former had even mutated because of it, gaining similar power.

If it was because this Ink Jade emitted the aura of that "Different Space," causing it to be mistaken for "one of its own,"

then that would explain it.

Come to think of it, when Ding Mo was executing his Task and entered the Final Act, he indeed hadn't seen the "Substitute Actor" attack other Guaishou.

"I didn't expect it to actually come in handy at a time like this." Ding Mo gripped the jade pendant in his hand and continued forward.

However, the rest of the people in the hotel were not so lucky.

The "Substitute Actor," or rather the original "Prince," raised its sword and struck; in a flash, it slaughtered all the actors who had come out to move about!

No one could resist at all!

Except for one guy who had already approached a certain room underground...

But these things had little to do with Ding Mo; he had already arrived at a familiar place.

In front of him was a door.

Inside here was the Security Room that Chu Chenfeng had found back then!

It was also the location of Chu Chenfeng's bizarre death, and the memory that Yuan Zi'ang had activated back then also told Ding Mo—his "Memory Origin" was right here!

"..." Taking a deep breath, Ding Mo reached out his hand, wanting to push open the door whose lock had long since been damaged.

But, when his fingers were less than an inch away from the door panel, he suddenly stopped.

When it came down to it, Ding Mo couldn't help but hesitate.

Looking at it now, something must have happened when he was playing the "deduction game" with Chu Chenfeng back then.

Thinking about it now, there were indeed some things he hadn't understood at the time.

Why was it that when he was the one who clearly suffered the eerie attack, it was Chu Chenfeng who died? Even though it was this sinister and cold-hearted guy who set him up, why was it himself who died in the end?

How did he die?

The situation was critical at the time, and after surviving, Ding Mo was swept into a dangerous horror performance, leaving him no time to think about the answer to this question.

Later, because he had survived well, he hadn't paid too much attention to it.

But now, the more he thought about it, the more incredibly strange the situation at the time felt.

One minute, two minutes... the corridor was very quiet, without a single sound.

But hesitation always has an end; having come this far, it was impossible for Ding Mo to give up.

At this moment, he finally made up his mind and pushed the door open to enter.

Creak~

His field of vision suddenly opened up.

Inside the Security Room, there were not many things, only some sundries, a table, and chairs that were almost no different from those in his memory,

as well as the Black Suitcase on the table, and the white "Wax Figure" in front of the table!

As soon as he entered the door, Ding Mo discovered that the "Wax Figure" seemed to be faintly staring at him—if he remembered correctly, this was the eerie thing formed after Chu Chenfeng died.

Thus, while staying alert to the "Wax Figure," Ding Mo walked around the room once,

but he did not gain anything.

If things went on like this, he would not be able to recover his memories!

Having no other choice, Ding Mo finally set his sights on the "Wax Figure" and the Black Suitcase.

The "Wax Figure" stood in place, its body twisted in pain, its head almost entirely covered by solidified white wax, revealing only a pair of eyes.

Ding Mo walked forward and looked at it carefully.

Would there be clues on it?

"... Wait, that's not right!"

After observing it for a good while, Ding Mo suddenly had a strange feeling—it seemed like something was wrong somewhere?

Ding Mo suddenly looked around the room.

He always felt that, compared to his initial impression, there was something different about the room?

A few minutes later, Ding Mo's pupils suddenly constricted!

He walked between the "Wax Figure" and the table and measured the approximate distance between the two.

"Not right... not right!"

He remembered that when he was subjected to the eerie attack, Chu Chenfeng had retreated a good distance, at least several meters away!

He and the table should not have been this close!

But now, the distance between the two seemed to be only a single step back.

Ding Mo frowned deeply; although he did not understand what this meant, the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.

He measured it repeatedly, even using the size of his shoe sole to gauge it, confirming it over and over against his memory.

"Could it be that this part of my memory is fake?"

As Ding Mo stood by the table, lost in thought, the corner of his eye suddenly caught the open Black Suitcase on the desktop.

The lining of the case was dark red velvet, and it was currently facing the eerie "Wax Figure" in the center of the room.

Yet this unremarkable scene caused Ding Mo's breathing to suddenly hitch.

Even after realizing it, he stumbled and almost fell! His gaze was unable to move away, as if attracted by a magnet,

and a pallor crept onto his face, bit by bit.

"This is impossible..."

Ding Mo approached the "Wax Figure" with difficulty.

The Wax Figure maintained a rigid standing posture, its face covered by a layer of solidified white wax, gleaming with a sickly luster under the lights.

Reaching out his hand, he tore away the solidified white wax Covering Face on the latter's face.

Crack!

A familiar face was revealed before his eyes.

No, that was not Chu Chenfeng, but...

Ding Mo!

For a moment, two identical faces appeared in the room!