In the human vs. monster battle of eight years ago, the humans used everything they had to fight the monsters, which made the battle the most horrific in the history of Canghun. After the battle, the White Phoenix Snake Empress was lured into the mountains and sealed by Que Hun. With one of the four monster leaders trapped, the other three leaders didn’t want to fight anymore.

    Now, White Phoenix has somehow appeared in the dragon’s spine area in Taohua Village. The battle was apparently just part of the momentum for the blood contract used by the four hidden families. White Phoenix was hiding in the mountains and Que Hun, once a hero, was used as a bargaining chip in the contract. And he has died a month ago from the power of the contract.

    The new development has made everyone rethink what they knew about the battle. Everyone stared at the still unconscious Bird, their eyes filled with venom.

    Cass’s rotund body squeezed into the door thanks to his underlings’ pushing. He wanted to walk onto the cashier’s platform with style, but only looked older with his gait.  

    “If you weren’t all players in this ‘escape from the secret room’ competition, you’d have all died when you learned the truth.”

    He paused and continued, “right, we have rules for this competition. One of which is, you have to find the ancient grave in Taohua Village in three days, and get something from the grave to pass this round. Although, with how things are now, you’re better off leaving the village if you wanted to live.”

    “Why do we have to leave? Is something going to happen here? Is it because of the snake empress?” Everyone talked and guessed.

    “Snake monster? If it wasn’t for her, we’d not have had eight years of peace. She’s the White Phoenix we should all respect.”

    Cass was not pleased, he ordered the people who talked out loud to be led outside; screams sounded. Blood splattered onto the already-stained window sill.

    Only 10 or so people survived the slaughter, with almost half of the group gone.

    Cass seemed satisfied and less angry. He walked out the door, and it didn’t seem like he would return.

    Bird and Quesi opened their eyes, they looked at each other. Quesi’s gaze was mixed with confusion and hate.

    “Bird, you’re finally awake.” Tiger and Dragon reached him.

    “I’m sorry, you’re suffering because of me.” Bird was helped to the corner of the room, he looked around and guessed the missing people were all killed by Cass.

    “What should we do now? We trust your ideas.”

    “See if Mantang Inn is any different since we went into the secret tunnel.”

    The three of them talked amongst themselves. Er Ce walked over, ”when we came back from the secret tunnel, the tables at the inn all showed a nine-by-nine grid.”

    Jiang Ju also spoke up, “every time one grid was solved, the rest of the tables had more grids appear. It wasn’t hard to solve, but with things repeating over and over, it’d be almost impossible to solve them in the time we have.”

    “We have to save the spiritual fire and beat the deadline too, so it’s not easy. Even if Dragon and I knew how to solve these puzzles, we can’t help without the spiritual fire.”

    “Don’t worry about the spiritual fire with us here. You just have to solve the puzzles.”

    “Great, we don’t have much time, let’s start.”

    As soon as one grid was solved, another table would show a new grid; the cycle continued and the questions became harder.

    “The puzzles had all sorts of questions, with fewer numbers, pictures, and symbols showing over time, but since not a single cell in the grid repeated, we just have to find its pattern to solve things fast.”

    The questions went from simple to complex, a few people couldn’t keep going and had others take over.

    Quesi, with Bird’s help, solved the puzzles faster and faster. She also had her own goal, and that was to find out where Que Hun was and take his ashes with her.

    Quesi looked at Bird:

    “Your name is really Bird Three? And you’re really my brother-in-law’s disciple?”

    “Yes.”

    “He really passed away?”

    “Yes.”

    “When did he pass away? Was he peaceful?”

    “About a month ago. He died smiling, with no regrets. He only said, ‘my mission is done, I just want my soul to return home.’”

    “Alright.”

    As the puzzles were solved faster and faster, there was less time to answer. After a few people lost, only Quesi, Jiang Ju, and Er Ce remained.

    Rumble——

    Rumble——

    Loud noises came from outside, the usually busy town was filled with screams.

    “What happened? Why are people screaming?” Tiger ran to the window, but he couldn’t open it and see what was going on.

    “Stay calm!” Bird stared at one table, “eight rows, four columns……”

    As he filled in the last answer, all the nine-by-nine grids disappeared. After a few more rumblings, the criss-crossing beams on the house’s roof moved apart, showing light from the sky.

    “Yay, we can get out of here now!”

    Jin Ming stomped his feet and flew out of the roof, with Jiang Ju and a few others following him.

    “Hey, my brother-in-law is leaving with me!“ Ques stopped Bird, obviously wanting to take her family member’s ashes back to her family.

    Bird nodded, and Quesi let him go. When they stood on the roof and looked out, the once bustling town was devastated, and the monsters were to blame.

    The reason: Que Hun has died, and the blood contract has ended. With the monsters not bound by any contract, the monsters outside Taohua Village ambushed the village to kill the humans in their goal to conquer all of Canghun.

    “I have to find my dad, and my mom and my sister……” Tiger crawled off the roof and ran. Dragon also flipped off the roof to go with him.

    “Tiger, Dragon, don’t be rash!” Bird chased after the two.

    “Hey, don’t go!”

    Quesi tried to stop Bird from leaving, but Jiang Ju stopped her.

    “You’re the Que family’s last lifeline, you can’t risk it, go home to figure out what to do.”

    “But——”

    “You have to keep on living, don’t forget your mission!”

    Quesi, bound by her family’s legacy, solemnly watched the retreating shapes of Bird and his friends. She nodded.

    “Second Brother, let’s get out of here!”

    As they fled as well, the monsters launched another brutal attack on Taohua Village.