Chapter Twenty: The Fear Waltz Takes Effect!

“Go to hell!”
“If you really can become a fiend, then come find me—I’m waiting for you!”

Anshi’s grotesque, gaping mouth exuded a foul stench.
Faintly, countless maggots seemed to writhe inside his mouth.
Disgusting!

Lu Yuan felt that if such a thing bit him down, he would probably die from nausea before anything else.
But Lu Yuan had no means of resistance—he only had a fruit knife, which had now fallen to the ground.

In the darkness, drops of blood from Lu Yuan fell and landed on the blade of the fruit knife.
Neither Lu Yuan nor Anshi noticed that the blood was rapidly being absorbed by the knife. As the fruit knife emitted a faint, eerie glow, the entire villa became even darker and more silent.

Lu Yuan could no longer see Anshi clearly.
He thought it was a sign that he was about to die.

But in truth, Anshi also could not see Lu Yuan clenched in his grasp, and for some reason, a strong sense of unease surged within him.

Anshi’s massive mouth froze midair.
The surrounding darkness deepened.

Lu Yuan finally sensed something was amiss. He struggled to turn his head and look around. Just moments ago, he could barely make out the layout of the villa’s living room, but now, he saw nothing at all.
It wasn’t that his eyes had gone blind; rather, the entire villa had plunged into absolute darkness, so deep that he couldn’t even see his own hand.

Lu Yuan heard faint rustling whispers.
He couldn’t make out the words, but Anshi’s reaction was intense—he even loosened his grip on Lu Yuan.

With a thud, Lu Yuan fell to the floor.
In this pitch-black environment, the fruit knife on the ground became the sole source of light.

Anshi grew agitated.
“Get away!”
“If you come any closer, I’ll kill you again!”
“I’m just killing people—why should I repent? You’re the ones who deserve to die. I’m only doing what’s rightfully mine.”
“Shut up!”
“Shut up!!!”

Lu Yuan couldn’t see Anshi’s figure or his movements, but the floorboards throughout the villa creaked loudly under heavy stomping.
Then came the crashing sounds of many objects being knocked over and shattered.

Lu Yuan’s mind raced.
He hadn’t fully grasped what was happening yet, but the situation suddenly flipped—he had become the one with the advantage.

“Could it be that this fruit knife has some special power?” Lu Yuan picked up the fruit knife from the floor.

In an instant, a line of blood-red characters appeared before his eyes:
【Fear Waltz Activated】

【Target fiend’s inner fear doubled, lasting three minutes. Current time: 00:33.】

Huh?
Activated?

Lu Yuan was stunned.
What was going on?
How could this skill suddenly be usable?

“Three minutes.”

Lu Yuan stared at the number at the end of the blood-red text. The duration was short; he had to seize this chance.

Generally speaking, skills tended to have cooldown periods.
Though Lu Yuan didn’t often play games, this rule was a fundamental in gaming history—after all, the Dreamworld was a kind of game: a real-life survival game.

Soon, a minute and a half passed.

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth, trying to rise and approach Anshi, but every movement sent unbearable pain through his flesh and bones.

No, he couldn’t delay any longer.

If three minutes passed and Lu Yuan still had no ability to fight back, he would be completely at Anshi’s mercy.

Endure the pain now, and there was still a chance to survive.
If he remained seated, death was inevitable.

Just as Lu Yuan prepared to grit his teeth and push through the pain, a faint voice sounded beside his ear.

“Give me the knife.”

Startled, Lu Yuan jumped.
In the absolute darkness, Zhuo Yan’s voice pierced the silence as if she were right beside his shoulder.

“Aren’t you dead?”

Lu Yuan suppressed the unease in his heart. He now felt that the haunted houses outside were nothing but child’s play compared to this.

Zhuo Yan’s voice was heavy with exhaustion and weariness: “The fiends in this world don’t die so easily.”

But Lu Yuan could tell Zhuo Yan was very weak.
Though Anshi hadn’t completely killed her, he had inflicted severe damage.

“Hurry up and give me the knife!”
“If we delay any longer, we’ll both die!”

Zhuo Yan sounded urgent.

Lu Yuan hesitated for a few seconds before passing the fruit knife behind him. Zhuo Yan was right—he had no ability to act now and could only place his hope in her.

A bloodied hand slowly grasped the knife’s handle. Lu Yuan could smell the stench emanating from the bloody hand, but compared to the foul odor on Anshi, this was insignificant.

“Can you see where he is?”

Lu Yuan whispered.

From the perspective of a normal living person, Anshi was invisible—only the sounds of things crashing and breaking could be heard.
But Zhuo Yan was a fiend, and her vision should surpass that of ordinary humans.

Zhuo Yan’s answer stunned Lu Yuan: “No.”
“I don’t know what happened, but this villa has fallen into absolute darkness. I can’t see anything.”
“Anshi is the same—his eyes are also blinded.”

Lu Yuan frowned slightly. “Then how will you strike?”

Zhuo Yan’s condition seemed to improve somewhat, and her tone no longer carried such exhaustion: “I can smell him.”

Lu Yuan glanced at the blood-red text before his eyes.

Zhuo Yan appeared unaware of the existence of the text—she never once asked about it.

Only one minute left!

Lu Yuan grew anxious and urged her: “There’s only one minute left. Hurry up and strike!”

Lu Yuan felt Zhuo Yan shoot him a startled look, seemingly puzzled by his mention of one minute.

Suddenly, a foul wind blew past Lu Yuan, and the faint glow on the fruit knife swiftly stabbed toward a certain direction.

Squelch!

The blade met blood!

Lu Yuan heard a large splash of liquid hitting the floor.

Though he couldn’t see it, a revolting image formed automatically in his mind.

Anshi’s agonized roar echoed throughout the villa.

Using the faint glow of the fruit knife, Lu Yuan roughly judged the positions of Anshi and Zhuo Yan. Even so, Anshi managed to slap Zhuo Yan away.

Boom!

A tremendous crash!

The fruit knife flew far away.

“Hurry.”
“Only twenty seconds left.”

Lu Yuan’s heart raced.

Once the Fear Waltz effect ended, the villa’s environment would return to normal, and Anshi’s inner fear would vanish.

There was little time left for Zhuo Yan.

Under Lu Yuan’s watchful gaze, the fruit knife charged toward Anshi once more. This time, Zhuo Yan chose the most brutal method.

With a loud bang, flesh and blood tangled, struggling fiercely.

Gradually, the surrounding darkness began to fade.

Lu Yuan’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, squinting to see the brutal scene unfolding not far away.

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