Chapter 216: Crazy Manor

"Young Master! Young Master!!"

The old butler yelled, calling out to Yan Xishou beside him, but the latter could no longer hear him. With a distorted expression, Yan Xishou covered his ears, stumbled to his feet, and rushed towards the twisted, deformed door.

Seeing Yan Xishou get up alone, the old butler's face immediately changed dramatically. He tried to grab Yan Xishou's sleeve to stop him from running off, but his hand only clutched at empty air.

"I can't die here... I don't want to die!!" Yan Xishou's mouth opened and closed as he roared amidst the thundering noise. His gaze, fixed on the twisted door, was filled with a desperate will to survive. He had no idea what was happening in this cursed place; he just wanted to leave as soon as possible!

He stumbled across the writhing paper floor and finally reached the door. He tried to pull the doorknob, only to realize it had flattened into a two-dimensional image, painted onto the thin doorway, impossible to grasp.

In a fit of rage, he kicked the door in front of him. The paper-thin doorway was easily torn open, leaving a large hole, and he froze on the spot.

Beyond the doorway was not the familiar hallway and main hall, but a dark red passage leading to an unknown place. The surface of the passage was covered in writhing red paper, eerily resembling the esophagus of some beast in the act of swallowing...

"No... this is impossible! This is impossible!!"Terror welled up in Yan Xishou's eyes. He stared blankly at the esophagus that seemed to be welcoming him, instinctively wanting to back away.

Just then, the writhing paper floor suddenly surged up like a giant, rapidly curling tongue, directly coiling around Yan Xishou's retreating body and forcefully shoving him into the dark red esophagus!

Yan Xishou flailed his limbs in terror, desperately trying to grab onto the inner wall, but he couldn't find any leverage. He could only scream as he plunged wildly down the esophagus...

And then, his screams abruptly ceased.

The kicked-open door gradually repaired itself, concealing the dark red esophagus behind it, as if nothing had just happened... The old butler remained prostrate on the ground, his face deathly pale, having witnessed the entire process.

"It's insane..." he muttered to himself. "Everything in this world... has gone mad..."

Whoosh—!Before he could finish speaking, the writhing floor curled up again, enveloping his body and directly tossing him into the esophagus... It all happened too fast; in the blink of an eye, the entire building fell into a deathly silence.

Beneath the red clouds, the Puppeteer watched everything before him, a deep sense of terror and incomprehension surfacing in his eyes...

He was now airborne, standing on paper figures. As he looked down at the Constellation Merchant Guild below, he saw that all the buildings seemed to have come alive, growing heads, torsos, and fangs, slowly writhing within the ravaged estate.

No, not just the buildings... even the flowers, plants, and trees growing by the roadside began to wildly sway their bodies, like menacing specters flailing in a tempest.

Under the gaze of that eye suspended high above, all non-human objects seemed to have been imbued with life. This estate, once inhabited and dominated by humans, transformed in mere seconds into a mad stage for a non-human carnival!

Large crowds of people, scattering and fleeing, were devoured by these living buildings, trees, stone steps, and even drifting fallen leaves. Blood flowed across the estate ground, and shrill howls echoed endlessly, dyeing the entire Constellation Merchant Guild in a crimson hue!

And that hollow, eerie pupil hung quietly above the red clouds, gazing down at everything below, like a spectator.

"I can't stay here any longer..."

The Puppeteer was terrified. He was a powerful figure who had come from other realms, having seen all sorts of dangers, but the scene before him truly defied his comprehension... That eye, suspended high above the red clouds, was definitely no ordinary disaster!

He was about to turn and continue his escape when, suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his feet!

The Puppeteer cried out, looking down sharply to see that the paper figure he was standing on had split open in the center, revealing a fanged, sharp mouth. It was biting firmly onto his ankle, bone-snapping sounds echoing consecutively, the intense pain nearly making him faint on the spot!

Even his paper figures were affected?!

The Puppeteer didn't have time to think. With a roar, he brought down the paper knife in his hand. The paper figure, cut in two, released his ankle, and he plummeted rapidly, crashing heavily onto the ground of the Guild's estate.

"Damn it!" The Puppeteer's heart lurched. He immediately tried to get up and bolt, but as soon as his feet tried to support him, he toppled over.

His feet had been mangled by the paper figure; walking out on his own was a pipe dream, let alone running... His face was ashen. Without hesitation, he folded a memo pad, instantly transforming it into two crutches, supporting his body as he painstakingly shuffled outward.

Large beads of sweat trickled down his cheeks. His hunched body was now like a reptile struggling to crawl through a pool of blood. Shrill howls continued to echo from all directions, making his heart pound!

Thud—!A dull, heavy thud came from directly in front of him, and a gust of blood-scented wind brushed his cheeks.

The Puppeteer's body jerked. He slowly and stiffly raised his head. Two massive, animated buildings had appeared before him, seemingly out of nowhere, like two ferocious behemoths sprawling within the blood-stained estate, completely blocking all his escape routes.

At this moment, the Puppeteer had lost all his paper figures. His only remaining tool for combat was the memo pad in his hand, which had been transformed into crutches...

As the two ferocious behemoths roared and charged forward, a deep despair surfaced in the Puppeteer's eyes.

The Stage.

Thump—Thump—Thump!!The shadowy figures in the audience continuously stamped their feet on the theater floor, creating a thunderous sound. Their crimson pupils stared at Chen Ling on the stage, their eyes filled with fury and accusation!

More and more seats in the audience were now empty; a large number of spectators had chosen to leave the stands and begin to intervene in the performance in reality...

Chen Ling's expression was incredibly solemn. He looked back to see that beyond the drawn curtain, the scene of reality continued to unfold... He seemed to be standing in a very high place, overlooking everything at the Constellation Merchant Guild. Blood and fire consumed most of the estate, and a frantic performance, exclusive to non-human entities, was in full swing.

"It's much more serious than last time..." Chen Ling walked to the curtain without hesitation, reaching out towards the other side of the scene.

But this time, when his fingertips touched the scene, he encountered an incredibly formidable resistance, as if there was a solid, thick wall in front of him, making it impossible to proceed...

Chen Ling froze on the spot.

He... seemed unable to go back.