Chapter 38.2 ?

A bad premonition rose, she instinctively took a step back. Just finished stepping back, the blubberman’s sluggish voice came to her mind: “Kid, be honest, before you entered this door, were you thinking about finding the root?”

Xu Ming was stunned, hesitantly said: “I did think about it, but…”

“Then we might be in big trouble,” the blubberman interrupted her. “The room we are in right now might not be 8307.”

“…?” Xu Ming’s heart skipped a beat, and her brow furrowed even tighter. “What do you mean?”

“This is the root,” the blubberman’s hard voice came through. As he spoke, his gaze turned towards her, revealing a look of utter hopelessness. “This is the root of the urban legend.”

“It must be that kid surnamed Fang made a mistake while using the rule, causing the skill to activate prematurely. And just as you were opening the door, you were thinking about stealing the official seal—”

So the moment they opened the door, they ended up directly in the room where the butterfly’s root was stored!

It must be like this, otherwise, all of this couldn’t be explained!

Xu Ming: “…?!”

“No, wait a minute!” She really got entangled by the blubberman, and after a moment of confusion, she quickly waved her hand. “How is that possible? You saw it when we came in, those two door-opening burntmen were right in the room! If we entered the wrong room, why would they be here?”

Blubberman: “…”

That makes sense.

“That makes it even stranger,” he said after a moment of silence, unable to hold back. “Why would the butterfly’s root appear in 8307?”

“Who knows,” Xu Ming carefully examined the egg-shaped object again, then put it back into the insulated bag for takeout. “I’ve eaten from this takeout place before. It’s a new chain store that opened in the past two years.”

It doesn’t feel like the domain master’s taste at all. Not to mention, the history of this urban legend area definitely predates this takeout place.

“Maybe it was stolen by Tang Menglong?” She tried to guess.

“Impossible,” the blubberman responded without thinking. “He doesn’t have that capability.”

The root is usually well hidden by the domain master, surrounded by deadly traps. Not everyone can navigate like Xu Ming.

“That is indeed strange…” Xu Ming murmured. Thinking of something, she suddenly frowned.

On the other end, the blubberman suddenly “hey”-ed again.

“I still think you entered the wrong room,” he said mysteriously, lowering his voice. “Do you remember what the kid surnamed Fang told you? After the skill activates, the sixth door you touch will let you pass through. And when you came over just now, you were knocking on doors all the way!”

From 8012, this was exactly the sixth door!

“As for those two burntmen, they might have just followed the rulebook’s guidance,” the blubberman thought, though it was a bit far-fetched, it wasn’t impossible. “After all, they can’t speak. No matter what you say, they only nod. Maybe when you first told them to climb the window and open the door, they didn’t understand at all and just foolishly followed you.”

“…You make it sound like they’re that stupid…” Xu Ming, hearing his convincing tone, began to doubt herself. But after thinking it over, she still said, “You also said that the root is very hard to obtain. If this really were the butterfly’s territory, why would they store it in a simple safe?”

And with a default password, no less.

“More importantly, if this were really the butterfly’s territory, how could it be locked outside?” Xu Ming’s tone was firm. “It should have found a way to rush in long ago—”

Before she could finish speaking, there was a loud “bang.”

The circuit breaker tripped, and the entire room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

Even Xu Ming, who hadn’t finished her sentence: “…”

After a brief silence, she took out her phone again. For convenience, she used the camera’s flash for lighting this time.

Holding her phone, she scanned the room, unsurprisingly seeing nothing. Xu Ming’s lips twitched, and she decided to stay put. Her gaze inadvertently fell on her phone screen, and she suddenly froze.

Due to the angle, her phone was facing the window. From her perspective, the window outside was empty, but when she looked at the phone screen, she could clearly see something moving outside the window.

A huge, blurry silhouette, almost pressing against the window. Xu Ming guessed it might be the butterfly, but the image was so fragmented and blurry that the silhouette looked more like a person—

A person hanging upside down outside the window, with hair fanned out.

Even so, Xu Ming saw it. Some fine things were seeping in along the edge of the window, like wriggling little legs, quietly probing the crescent lock on the window.

Xu Ming: “…”

Xu Ming fell silent. She calmly put her phone back in her pocket.

The next moment, she nearly jumped in place, grabbing everything and dashing towards the door without thinking!

Almost simultaneously, the blubberman’s nearly frantic voice echoed in her mind: “Damn kid!!”

“I know!” Xu Ming replied without looking back, “Running now!”

Blubberman: “…”

“Who’s talking about that!” His voice sounded even more frantic. “I’m asking why you’re running with the root!”

Are you addicted to stealing seals?!

Xu Ming: “…”

“You don’t understand, meeting by chance is fate—”

She babbled incoherently, and before she finished speaking, she had already dashed out the door.

Almost at the moment she slipped out, she clearly felt something pressing from behind, with a wind pressure so strong it nearly suffocated her—

Xu Ming’s steps involuntarily faltered. Then, she quickly turned around, extending her right hand backward and pulling hard.

With a “bang,” the door to 8307 slammed shut again, followed by a heavy thud.

Yes, 8307—Xu Ming had deliberately checked before leaving. The door number was clearly visible on the slightly shaking door panel.

Her brow furrowed even tighter. Xu Ming stepped back slightly, clutching her right arm with some difficulty, and ran off.

This time, she headed towards the direction of the elevator.

—

Hongqiang: Ah

Hongqiang: I’ve seen this plot before!

Regarding the function of the phone camera, Hongqiang also mentioned it. It can help Xu Ming see a little more, and if she takes a picture, she can see more clearly.

It’s hard to find a good stopping point in the plot, so let’s stop here for today. Tomorrow I’ll write something bigger. If everything goes well, this side quest should end tomorrow, oh yeah!