Chapter 39.4 ?

She restrained herself from taking a deep breath and picked up her phone again, looking towards the butterfly.

This time, there was no large shadow in the lens, and the rotating chessboard had disappeared. Xu Ming searched for a long time, finally catching a glimpse of a wriggling black shadow at the edge of the lens. She hesitantly moved the screen, trying to zoom in; unexpectedly, as she zoomed in, a pale human face abruptly appeared on the screen.

“!” Xu Ming was startled, instinctively lowering her phone. In her mind, the blubberman’s mocking yet comforting voice sounded: “Look at you, it’s just the one in charge of the Magic Cube Mansion! You were defending her earlier, now you’re scared…”

“Alright, at least the butterfly is gone now. Just make small talk, get someone to help with your wound, and then wait to leave…”

Before it finished, its voice suddenly trailed off.

After a while, the blubberman spoke again, this time filled with apprehension and doubt:

“Hey, did you offend her in any way?”

“She’s staring at you right now… and she looks really angry.”

…In fact, Xu Ming had already felt it.

The rage and pressure from nearby were eerily similar to what the butterfly had released earlier.

However, Xu Ming didn’t find it strange.

“You want this, right?” She held up the insulation bag, trying to remain calm while looking ahead, “If you want it, just take it. I won’t fight you for it.”

As her words fell, the anger before her didn’t diminish at all—instead, it seemed to grow stronger.

Now, Xu Ming was genuinely a bit panicked.

“Are you sure she just wants the root?” The blubberman’s annoying voice sounded again in her mind, “Why do I feel like her anger is directed at you…”

“Impossible.” Xu Ming replied without hesitation, “I didn’t offend her.”

Nor did the Urban Legend Demolition Office—previous collaborations had gone smoothly.

More importantly, Xu Ming was sure the other party wanted the root.

After a brief silence, she looked up at the air again, speaking directly: “This root, it was originally taken out by you, wasn’t it.”

—But there was no response.

Only the blubberman quietly reminded her in her mind: “Um, you looked in the wrong direction. Her head is now on your right.”

Xu Ming: …

Shut up, you’re making me look stupid!

With the thought of “turning back now would be too silly” and “Qiu Yufei said my three-quarter profile is especially cool and imposing,” Xu Ming maintained her posture and calmly said:

“I was wondering why the butterfly suddenly attacked at this time. And why it seemed so unstable… until I found this bag in 8307, then I understood.”

“It got angry and went crazy because someone took its root.”

As furious as some consulting company boss whose root was stolen.

And in the entire hotel, who else could have the ability to take away this root besides the one in charge of the Magic Cube Mansion, who has been entrenched here all along?

“Has it gone mad?” The blubberman was stunned when he heard her words, “How dare it.”

After losing its root, the domain master’s power would indeed be weakened, but this weakening would be gradual and couldn’t possibly be immediate. Under this premise, the opponent taking the risk to steal the root was undoubtedly courting death—so far, this has proven true.

The butterfly, enraged after losing its root, directly attacked the Magic Cube Mansion. If Xu Ming hadn’t been present, everyone in the mansion might have been wiped out regardless of their survival.

“Wow.” The blubberman continued to be shocked, “This woman is quite reckless.”

“No.” Xu Ming shook his head, “It must have made some preparations.”

The most straightforward example was the scene she had just witnessed.

A giant butterfly gradually shrinking back into a worm.

—The rotating checkerboard pattern easily reminded people of the white chess candies they received when entering the hotel. Linking this with the blubberman’s symptoms upon entering this area and its familiarity with the white chess candy’s scent, certain conclusions became apparent.

“Those candies likely have the effect of reversing the consumer’s time.” Xu Ming speculated, “Some reverse the body’s time, some the mind’s…”

The blubberman triggered a similar defense mechanism upon entering the urban legend area, causing his consciousness to rewind to a few days earlier, trapping him in that period. The butterfly, having consumed a large amount of white chess candies, experienced a bodily regression, and regressed all at once to a very weak state…

Xu Ming didn’t believe that the Magic Cube Mansion hadn’t considered this possibility.

“I get it, it’s essentially poisoning.” The blubberman suddenly understood, “Seeing that the poison had accumulated sufficiently, they decided to take the opportunity to steal the butterfly’s root. They didn’t expect the butterfly to invade instead!”

If Xu Ming hadn’t weakened the butterfly several times beforehand, it would have been a matter of time before things went wrong.

“Ha, and you previously guessed that the white chess candies were for charity.” Understanding this, the blubberman couldn’t help but mock, “I said, anyone who has survived in the urban legend area until now can’t be that naive.”

However, in his view, the opponent’s move was not very worthwhile. Not only did they almost mess up, but they also didn’t gain much—Xu Ming couldn’t see it, but he could. When the butterfly started shrinking, the woman from the Magic Cube Mansion visibly weakened. He didn’t understand it then, but now he did after hearing Xu Ming.

Triggering the candy effect within the butterfly likely came at a significant cost.

On the other hand, the butterfly, weakened due to time reversal, might recover quickly with the root still present. At that time, it’s hard to say who would have the advantage.

But thinking it over—Xu Ming really hadn’t done anything to provoke the other side.

Except for taking the root and leaving on her own. But she did say she was willing to hand it over, so why was the other side still angry?

Realizing this, the blubberman also found it strange. On the other side, Xu Ming, not receiving a response, finally couldn’t hold back.