“Young Master Senel, please, save Zhang Xi!”
“As long as you save him, I am willing to serve you like a horse or an ox to repay you!”
Senel's expression was incredibly grim.
His fingers tightly clutched his cuff, clearly hesitating over whether to use an item.
Cen Yao did not overlook his earlier exclamation of “How is this possible?”
This indicated that Senel knew closing one's eyes was indeed supposed to avert the Little Princess's attack; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so shocked.
Therefore, avoiding the Little Princess's attack by closing one's eyes and not responding was correct, but not entirely.
There was just some extra variable at play.
Cen Yao raised her hand and casually cast a wind blade.
A silvery-white blade of light flashed through the shadows, accurately striking the Little Princess's back.
The Little Princess shrieked as she was sent flying off Zhang Xi, crashing heavily against the wall.
Several tiny cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the wall.
Zhang Xi collapsed to the floor, clutching his neck as he gasped heavily. Blood was still flowing, but at least he wasn't being drained dry anymore.
Everyone in the room was stunned.
Senel snapped his head up, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
“Who's there?!”
No one answered.
Cen Yao had already turned and left.
This strike would serve as payment for the information she had gathered.
As for whether they could survive the Little Princess's pursuit afterward, that would depend on their own luck.
She hadn't forgotten that Senel had been secretly plotting to lure her into the palace earlier today.
Since these people were with him, they were highly likely in league with him.
Even if they weren't birds of a feather, they were certainly not friendly toward her.
She had no interest in looking for trouble.
Behind her, the Little Princess slowly crawled back up from the corner.
Senel lowered his voice, speaking at a rapid-fire pace.
“Run!”
“Everyone, get out of the room!”
In the next second, a chaotic din of footsteps, screams, and overturning furniture erupted in the room.
Cen Yao did not look back.
She slipped silently out of the window, flying back into the palace's night sky.
From the looks of it, her originally assigned room was no longer safe.
Senel knew she lived there.
The Little Princess was also wandering nearby.
There was no need for her to return and bring trouble upon herself.
Cen Yao made a loop around the side palace before finally settling on the top of an abandoned bell tower.
It was highly elevated and offered an excellent vantage point, not too far from both the main palace and the old western garden.
The bell tower had long been out of use.
A thick layer of dust had settled inside, spiderwebs clung to the corners, and a damaged bronze bell hung in the center.
A long crack split the surface of the bronze bell, with faint, dark-red rust visible within the fissure.
Cen Yao first scanned the area with a Detection Spell.
There was no obvious danger.
She cast an Alarm Curse and a Protection Spell around the perimeter before finally deactivating her invisibility.
Moonlight spilled through a broken window opening of the bell tower, perfectly illuminating a small patch of clean floor.
Cen Yao snapped her fingers.
The ground was instantly swept clean by a Cleaning Spell.
Afterward, she used wood magic to weave a rocking chair, placing it in the moonlight.
Then she wove a small table.
On the table appeared fried chicken, french fries, a spicy chicken burger, and a cup of iced cola with a straw.
The moment the food appeared, the steaming aroma almost completely overpowered the damp, musty smell of the bell tower.
Cen Yao sank into the rocking chair, finally relaxing a little.
It had been a busy day.
She had gathered palace materials, terrified the King, entered a bloody secret chamber, rescued the Queen's ghost, and even saved an unfortunate player along the way.
She was truly exhausted.
She opened the livestream chat.
Having not looked at it for so long, she actually missed it a little.
As soon as the bullet screen popped up, it was densely packed.
【Ahhh! Lady Witch, you finally opened the chat!】
【That save just now was so cool! Seriously, so cool!】
【She left right after saving him, without even looking back. I absolutely love this cold, aloof witch vibe.】
【By the way, why did the ghost baby suddenly attack the player? Isn't closing your eyes enough?】
【No idea. It feels like the dungeon rules have changed, or they triggered some other hidden condition.】
【Stop analyzing, let's see what Lady Witch is eating first.】
【Wait, what is that on her table?】
【Fried chicken? French fries? Burger? Cola?】
【????】
【No, why is she eating fast food in the bell tower of a horror dungeon again?】
Cen Yao watched the chat, her mood improving slightly.
She picked up the spicy burger and took a bite.
The bun was soft, the chicken patty was crispy on the outside and piping hot with juices on the inside, and the spiciness exploded perfectly.
There was also the crispness of lettuce and the fragrance of the sauce.
Cen Yao's eyes lit up slightly.
This was the taste.
Authentic.
She had thought that buying it from the System Mall would taste a little different from the real world.
In the next second, the orb loudly protested in her mind.
“How is that possible, Host! I've said it so many times—anything produced by the System is bound to be a masterpiece. Why can't you remember?”
Cen Yao immediately smoothed its ruffled feathers.
“Yes, yes, yes. A masterpiece.”
“It really is a masterpiece, even more delicious than the ones in the real world.”
“Orb, you are simply the greatest system in all the planes.”
The orb fell silent instantly.
A few seconds later, it hummed softly, “Of course.”
That was right.
This meal of fried chicken, french fries, burger, and cola had all been redeemed by Cen Yao from the orb's System Mall just now.
It had cost her fifty thousand shock points!
Super expensive.
Cen Yao's hand had even trembled a bit when she placed the order.
But it was worth the price.
Leaving aside the authentic taste that could make one's soul transcend, just the texture—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and at the perfect temperature—made it well worth it.
More importantly, this set of food had the effect of restoring magic.
It was perfect for her right now, as she was starving, had depleted her magic, and was craving something delicious.
Cen Yao took another bite of the burger, squinting her eyes in satisfaction.
The livestream chat immediately exploded.
【Ahhh! Lady Witch, you're dropping midnight food bombs again!】
【Lady Witch looks like she's enjoying it so much. I want some too. I've lost count of how long it's been since I last had fried chicken and burgers, sob sob.】
【Me too. Ever since the Horror Game arrived, I haven't even been in the mood to eat a good meal.】
【Watching this makes me so restless, I wish I could stick my head into the screen and snatch a piece of fried chicken.】
【I want to snatch a french fry. It looks like my favorite plum powder flavor.】
【Sister upstairs, same here!】
【By the way, aren't you guys curious about where Lady Witch's food came from?】
【Curious, but what's the use? Lady Witch won't tell us anyway.】
【Whatever, I'm going out to buy some fried chicken right now. There's an old brand shop near my house. The owners are a couple in their fifty-fives, so they don't have to worry about being pulled into the Horror Game, and they've kept the shop open.】
【Ahhh, damn it! Why isn't there one near my house?!】
【Even though there isn't one near my house, my family's maid knows how to make it. I'm going to ask her to make me a late-night snack just like Lady Witch's.】
【I'm tired of saying how envious I am. My drool has already turned into a river.】
【Wait, doesn't anyone care that she almost ran into the ghost baby just now?】
【We care, but she's eating so happily right now that it's really hard to stay tense.】
【The most ridiculous scene in the history of the Horror Game: outside, the ghost baby is hunting players, while Lady Witch is eating a burger in the bell tower.】
【Hey, our Lady Witch has been busy all night. What's wrong with having a hot meal?】
Cen Yao watched the chat and took a sip of the iced cola.
The bubbles exploded on the tip of her tongue.
The icy sweetness slid down her throat, and even the depleted magic in her body felt slowly replenished.
She leaned back comfortably in the rocking chair.
Outside the bell tower, the baby's crying still echoed throughout the palace.
In the distance, the chaotic sounds from Senel's side could still be heard.
Meanwhile, inside the bell tower, Cen Yao slowly munched on her fried chicken.
The skin was so crispy that crumbs fell off.
She looked down at the chicken drumstick in her hand, then at the wailing and howling in the chat.
After a moment's thought, she very thoughtfully brought the fried chicken a bit closer to the livestream camera.
The golden, crispy fried chicken enlarged in the frame.
It was still steaming.
The chat fell silent for a brief second.
Then, it went completely wild.
【Ahhhhhhhh!】
【She did it on purpose! She absolutely did it on purpose!】
【Lady Witch, you are heartless!】
【I declare this to be the most terrifying scene in this dungeon.】
【Even the ghost baby isn't as scary as your piece of fried chicken. I'm seriously starving.】
【Lady Witch, please, let me have just one bite! Just one bite!】
Cen Yao finally couldn't help but chuckle.
She took a bite of the fried chicken and chewed it unhurriedly.
As for the incident of the Little Princess biting people, she already had a general idea.
Ah, this was so delicious!
Rate on N.U.
