Chapter 63: The villa on fire

Joyce faced his cousin, Wilcox, whose hopeful blue eyes were locked on him. After holding back for a long time, he finally muttered, “I can’t think of anything!”

Wilcox shot a disdainful glance at his cousin, muttering, “What use are you!”

Joyce was resigned, and quipped, “Maybe paying your rescue team buddies for their efforts!”

Wilcox: “…”

Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but chuckle, turning his face slightly to hide it.

Old Xiao’s expression twitched, barely able to keep a straight face.

Joyce’s reasoning was so absurdly strong that it left everyone speechless.

The rectangular table in the villa’s courtyard had only six chairs, most of which were occupied by those like Jing Qizhen who had just awoken. When Professor Jones arrived, he had no choice but to stand to the side.

Adopting a cooperative demeanor, Professor Jones began recounting the events of the past few days, “We’ve been trapped in the villa from the beginning. At first, we thought it was just some kind of prank until we discovered Sophia was poisoned to death. That’s when the real disaster began.”

Joyce nodded in agreement. “Yes, before that, even the vines hadn’t entered the villa. We just couldn’t open the windows or doors. Luckily, the villa had ample food for the party and the water and electricity never went out.”

Wilcox frowned in thought. “So aside from being sealed in and the death, there were no other peculiar signs?”

For the group that had just entered the villa, the exhaustion and immediate collapse had been impossible to miss.

“What they faced was far from normal.” Old Xiao shook his head with a bitter smile.

Jin Guijuan added, “If they were also dealing with a fairy tale, yet four people have already died…”

Just the thought of it sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

Manman interjected, “In Western fairy tales, death is actually quite common…”

Jing Qizhen nodded, elaborating, “Indeed. Elements like vines, castles, sleep, talking animals, and unusual plants are classic motifs in Western fairy tales.”

Yun Shuanghua remained silent, seemingly disconnected from the conversation, his gaze fixed on the table’s surface, lost in thought.

Jing Qizhen glanced at him, noting his aloof profile, and couldn’t shake his own curiosity.

Yun Shuanghua’s method of entering the erosion area was undoubtedly abnormal. However, given his sporadic memory loss, Jing Qizhen suspected his entry method carried significant risks.

Suddenly, the Earth’s voice chimed in, “What are you mumbling about? What’s so problematic and significant?”

Jing Qizhen replied, “The aftereffects on Yun Shuanghua seem quite serious.”

“Right, right!” the Earth wholeheartedly agreed. “I remember last time, he was jumping around in front of the female ghost Miss Li, so lively! But today, he’s just sitting here, not even saying a word. So cold!”

Yun Shuanghua turned his head slightly, his gaze questioning as if to say: Why are you staring at me so much?

Jing Qizhen simply smiled at him, then refocused on the topic. Jokingly, he remarked, “The erosion area keeps expanding. If we’re dealing with a ‘Sleeping Beauty’ scenario, where everyone in the villa is asleep, the next group of missing persons might be seen as the ones destined to awaken the ‘sleeping beauty.’”

Gu Leshan gasped, “Then, once we wake up, to show gratitude, we follow them to save the world?”

Lu Lingxi punched Gu Leshan. “Who told you to combine ‘Sleeping Beauty’ with ‘Hero Slays the Dragon’?”

Gu Leshan: “…”

Joyce gave the bickering duo a sidelong glance and added, “There are plenty of fairy tales with deaths. Burying the bodies is one of the milder outcomes. Many involve dismemberment, boiling in soup, or being sealed in spiked barrels. They are all gruesome stuff!”

The housemaid, recalling the large bloodstain in Angelina’s room, broke into sobs, murmuring, “May God protect us…”

Caroline, who had been scolded by Lu Lingxi and Jin Guijuan earlier, still had a sour expression. Seizing the moment, she taunted, “So, what now? Earlier, you insisted on investigating the villa, but now you just pass out the moment you step inside.”

Jin Guijuan glared at Carolyn in disgust.

She truly couldn’t understand how someone could still find the energy to argue and create conflicts in such a perilous situation.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to vent frustrations after everyone was safe? Fighting here did nothing to help!

Caroline noticed Jin Guijuan’s disdain and snapped, “What are you looking at me for?!”

Jin Guijuan rolled her eyes and looked away, unwilling to engage further.

Exhausted from fighting drowsiness using the extreme support from the Earth earlier, Jing Qizhen’s voice was softer than usual. He remarked after a deep thought, “By the way, the story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ takes place in a royal castle. This villa isn’t shaped like one.”

“So, we’re likely dealing with an inspired work or a variation, not the exact plotline.” Manman immediately understood.

Jing Qizhen nodded. “Exactly.”

Wilcox turned to his cousin again, staring intently.

Under his cousin’s gaze, Joyce despaired. “I haven’t read fairy tales in years! Don’t ask me anymore!”

“Fine, fine, no imagination at all!” Wilcox shrugged.

Feeling drained, Joyce remained silent.

After teasing his cousin, Wilcox turned to Jing Qizhen. “Any other ideas?”

Jing Qizhen pointed at the villa and calmly suggested, “Tear it down.”

Everyone, shocked, shouted in unison, “Tear it down?!”

Jin Guijuan and Old Xiao recalled how haunted houses in their homeland were either abandoned or demolished.

Caroline, however, screamed, “If you tear down the house, where will we stay?”

McCain and Professor Jones frowned, while the housemaid gasped in disbelief, clutching her face.

Joyce remained expressionless, choosing to trust his cousin.

Jing Qizhen calmly reminded them, “You can move out the bedding, clothes, food, kitchenware, and other essentials first. Anyway, you won’t sleep in there.”

“No, I refuse!” Caroline was furious, her expression full of anger and disbelief.

She didn’t expect a soft-spoken, handsome young man would act even more hateful than Jin Guijuan and Lu Lingxi combined!

Jing Qizhen just shrugged. Calmly, he added, “You’re free to do what you like but you have half an hour. Then I’ll burn all the vines. If the villa burns with them, so be it.”

Caroline’s chest heaved as she fumed and she turned to look at Jones, McCain, and Joyce, the people she was hostile with, for help.

Joyce glanced at his cousin and, seeing Wilcox’s excitement, chose to stay silent.

Manman casually agreed with Jing Qizhen. “I think it’s a good idea.”

The couple had played many horror puzzle games and they were extremely familiar with various classic tricks in them.

The haunted house in the puzzled games could not be burned down casually. After all, the clues were hidden inside.

But God knows that normal people’s reaction after seeing a haunted house was either to stay away, burn it or bulldoze it…

Jing Qizhen, who rarely played horror games much, developed the decisive idea after starting his marathon of various horror games following the recommendation from Manman and Si Jiayang. The idea lingered in his mind but due to the game’s setting, he’d never been able to implement it.

No matter what plots or puzzles await, if they were all set on fire, regardless of whether it was a cursed castle, past-memory instances, or evil dolls, they would not become a problem once they turned to ashes.

Jing Qizhen smiled slightly and said, “I know that there are some horror movies with total destruction endings. Anyway, it’s just an idea. If burning the villa doesn’t solve the problem, we’ll try other methods. At least, we’ll feel good about it.”

Manman nodded in agreement.

If they had a choice, why would they stay in a cursed villa?

Just like that, Jing Qizhen and the horror game enthusiasts, Manman and Si Jiayang, reached an agreement.

In a game, players are constrained by the game maker’s setting.

However, in the erosion areas, where the real world had undergone bizarre changes due to special reasons, most solutions available in reality were also applicable there.

Jing Qizhen had initially planned to handle it conventionally. Unfortunately, the unique characteristic of the erosion area was too brutal. He had no desire to be a sleeping beauty, only waiting for others to save him.

Nearly cursing, Jing Qizhen thought he’d be an idiot to let the villa torment him when he knew it was brewing troubles inside.

Professor Jones, Caroline, and McCain wanted to stop them but facing the determination of Jing Qizhen and his team, their resistance was inadequate.

The housemaid could only cry and pray to God and had no persuasive power.

As for Joyce, he was obediently listening to his cousin.

In the first place, Professor Jones, Caroline, and McCain lacked unity. So when Jing Qizhen’s group unanimously approved his suggestion, they were outnumbered and could only watch helplessly as the rescue group took out gas masks from their backpacks.

Joyce poked his cousin and complained, “I don’t have one.”

Wilcox’s response was simple. “You should stand as far away as possible. Cover your mouth and nose with a wet towel and remember to close your eyes.”

Joyce could only agree reluctantly.

After all, they were unsure if those rapidly growing vines would produce toxic smoke when burnt.

Caved under pressure, the five stranded people moved their belongings out of the villa. Then they were mercilessly driven away from the villa’s vicinity.

The originally well-maintained Professor Jones thought the wrinkled suit would be the end of his embarrassment after being trapped in the villa. Unexpectedly, the long-awaited rescuers would chase them away to wait by the roadside with their luggage like the homeless.

Jing Qizhen, still exhausted, stayed in the chair.

Manman with her injured hand thickly wrapped like a bun sat quietly beside him.

Gu Leshan siphoned out all the gasoline from the fuel tank of a nearby car under Jing Qizhen’s suggestion and poured it on the vines.

After fifteen minutes of intensive preparation, a loud ‘Boom!’ echoed and the gasoline-soaked vines burst into flames, engulfing the villa in a towering fire.