https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-307-Ascending-Tower-Chronicles-Vii-/13547708/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-309-Ascending-Tower-Chronicles-IX-/13547710/
Chapter 308: Ascending Tower Chronicles (Part 8)
Chapter 308: Ascending Tower Chronicles (Part 8)
“How did things end up like this…?” Feng Bu Jue muttered to himself in the darkness, his voice echoing faintly. “Right now, I should be loafing around like an outsider, carefree and unbothered…” He sighed. “Ah… It seems a man as exceptional as me can’t help but shine like a firefly in pitch darkness, no matter where I hide. My brooding gaze, rugged stubble, and peerless martial prowess… all betray me so tragically.”
He rambled on in self-entertainment, his voice carrying clearly through the pitch-black void. The enclosed, cavernous environment amplified every syllable, delivering his monologue unfiltered to his three teammates nearby.
“Such shameless self-praise… I’ve never seen anything like it,” Qiu Feng whispered, shaking his head.
“His ability to chatter idly like this in such a situation…” Ji Chang murmured, “speaks to nerves of steel.”
Hong Hu added, “Unfathomable… He’s the kind of opponent I’d dread most.” He shivered involuntarily, adjusting his glasses.
“Agreed,” Qiu Feng said. “Imagine facing him in a kill game mode… Who knows what chaos he’d unleash?”
The three strategists shared the same thought. Ji Chang continued, “Even his actions and tactics—seemingly erratic yet subtly calculated—always serve a purpose. Well… except for his… unique sense of humor.”
“He’s strayed deep into the shadows,” Qiu Feng grimly concluded. “Covert schemers are cunning; those who wield momentum are formidable,” Hong Hu continued. “But if someone could guarantee success in every hidden plot… that would be true divine foresight.” “He’d be the kind of tactician in a Three Kingdoms tale who stuffs strategies into silk pouches for generals to follow step-by-step, playing god from afar,” Qiu Feng added with a scoff.
“He’s strayed deep into the shadows,” Qiu Feng finished grimly.
“Those who plan covert schemes are cunning; those who wield open momentum are formidable,” Hong Hu said. “But if someone could guarantee success in every hidden plot… that would be true divine foresight.”
“He’d be the kind of tactician in a Three Kingdoms tale who stuffs strategies into silk pouches for generals to follow step-by-step, playing god from afar,” Qiu Feng added with a scoff.
The trio debated Feng Bu Jue’s nature in hushed tones, their voices directed downward to avoid echoing. Unaware of their words, Feng Bu Jue returned ten minutes later, his expression uncharacteristically somber.
“Looks like you found nothing,” Qiu Feng observed.
“Not quite,” Ji Chang countered. “His safe return proves this floor’s relatively harmless—for now.”
“Let’s split into pairs and re-explore,” Hong Hu suggested. “We’ll find clues if we—”
Feng Bu Jue cut in, “I found a corpse… over there.” He gestured into the void.
Silence fell like a winter frost. The air turned icy.
“A rather complete crime scene,” he added.
The trio waited, tense.
“Then,” he continued, pointing another direction, “I found the murderers’ corpses.”
“Murderers… plural?” Qiu Feng echoed.
“Four assailants acted together,” Feng Bu Jue declared. “Two died at the scene… but the other two fled to the fourth floor.”
“You found a path upward?” Ji Chang asked sharply.
“A spiral staircase,” Feng Bu Jue confirmed, gesturing a third direction. “Their footprints on the stairs were unmistakable. I returned first to share this.”
The group fell silent, digesting his words.
“Now that you’re briefed,” Feng Bu Jue said, “follow me. I’ll show you the sites in order.”
The phrase “in order” clicked in their minds. They realized he’d discovered the locations non-sequentially but reconstructed the timeline logically: first the murder scene, then the second, and finally the staircase.
Guided by flashlight beams, they reached a corner where a foul stench grew stronger. Soon, the light revealed a corpse sprawled on the floor.
The victim was unmistakably a witch. Her tattered black cloak hung in rags, her face grotesque—a hooked nose crowned with pus-filled boils, sagging eyelids frozen in death, and skin etched with wrinkles like scars. Beside her lay a black pointed hat, a wooden broomstick, and a crimson apple.
“Two fatal wounds,” Feng Bu Jue explained, crouching beside the reeking body. “Both obvious.”
He directed the light to her skull—split open along the hairline, brain matter spilled and missing. “First, a blade cleaved her skull. As for the brain’s disappearance… you’ll see why shortly.”
The trio watched, awed by his clinical composure.
“Second, the chest.” He shifted the beam to her torso—ribs pried open, organs exposed. “Heart and gallbladder removed. Other viscera damaged but intact.”
“How deduce four killers?” Qiu Feng asked.
“Obvious clues,” Feng Bu Jue said, rising. He aimed the flashlight at a nearby wall two meters away. Blood scrawled in English read: 【There's No Place Like Home.】
“The Wizard of Oz’s finale,” Ji Chang realized.
“Precisely,” Feng Bu Jue said, illuminating the witch’s bare feet. “No shoes… another clue.”
"You're kidding, right…?" This time, Qiu Feng and Hong Hu also realized who Feng Bu Jue meant by the "four culprits."
"Yeah, this puzzle's simple enough to be a joke", Feng Bu Jue said casually, shining his flashlight on the corpse. "It's just the four of them teaming up to subdue the witch. The lion tore open her torso and took her 'gall,' the Tin Man dug out her 'heart,' then used an axe to split the witch's skull so the Scarecrow could take her 'brain.' As for Dorothy, she stripped the witch's magical shoes."
He paused, glancing at the blood-written message on the wall. "Nine out of ten people who write messages at crime scenes are just adding unnecessary embellishments—only one in ten might be a genius." He shook his head slightly. "But this message… it's confusing me." He looked at his teammates expectantly. "Any thoughts?"
"My thought is… you're way too calm about this", Qiu Feng replied. "When I said 'you're kidding,' I meant this whole situation is destroying my childhood memories!"
"Oh… that's what you meant." Feng Bu Jue nodded. "Unfortunately, I've always looked down on this kind of children's literature, even though I've read quite a bit of it."
"Artists are definitely a bit abnormal", Hong Hu muttered coldly, then steered the conversation back on track. "Regarding this blood message… I see two possibilities. First, the killer has nothing to do with the four from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—this message was left by the real culprit to mislead us. Second, if Dorothy's group really did kill the witch, this message might be a hint from the system rather than something written by anyone."
"Hmm… similar to my initial assumption", Feng Bu Jue said, nodding. "Alright, let's head to the second location." He shone his flashlight on the corpse again. "Oh, right—we don't need to preserve the scene anymore. Take anything that might be useful."
So, the other three each grabbed an item while Feng Bu Jue stood aside.
Hong Hu was already holding a flashlight, so he took the smallest item—the apple. Qiu Feng, following Feng Bu Jue's suggestion, took the broom ("Why the broom?" "Qiu Feng sweeps fallen leaves", Feng Bu Jue answered). Ji Chang claimed the witch's pointed hat.
[Name: Apple]
[Type: Plot-Related]
[Quality: Common]
[Function: Unknown]
[Can Be Taken Out of Scenario]
[Background: A bright red apple, looking quite tempting.]
[Name: Broom]
[Type: Plot-Related]
[Quality: Common]
[Function: Unknown]
[Can Be Taken Out of Scenario]
[Background: Seems to have other functions besides sweeping floors.]
[Name: Pointed Hat]
[Type: Plot-Related]
[Quality: Common]
[Function: Unknown]
[Can Be Taken Out of Scenario]
[Background: You can wear it if you don't mind the unpleasant smell inside.]
These three items' descriptions perfectly matched the scenario's style—deliberately vague. How to use them was left entirely to the players' imagination. The "cannot be taken out of scenario" note on the second-to-last line practically confirmed their usefulness.
"Look at these bloodstained footprints", Feng Bu Jue led the group toward the second crime scene, his flashlight tracing the marks on the marble floor. "The lion's prints are the most obvious, followed by the Tin Man's." He pointed ahead. "The shallower cloth-shoe prints belong to the Scarecrow, and the two rows of small footprints are naturally Dorothy's."
They followed the corridor, and soon reached the second corpse site—only about a hundred meters from where the witch died.
"What's this now…?" Qiu Feng muttered.
Before them lay two corpses: a young girl in a blue dress and shirt, and a massive lion.
Feng Bu Jue stepped forward like a commentator, his tone lively. "Dorothy must've been killed by the lion." He shone his flashlight on the corpse's head. "Her neck was bitten away in a chunk, flesh and bone torn off. Her face was clawed into something straight out of a horror film."
He turned, pointing at the silver high heels scattered beside Dorothy's body. "These should be the witch's shoes. Looks like she didn't put them on immediately after killing the witch—just carried them away."
"Wait a second…" Ji Chang frowned. "I thought… in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the East wore red shoes?"
"This is a common misconception", Feng Bu Jue replied. "Actually, in L. Frank Baum's original novel, the shoes were silver. But the 1939 film adaptation was so iconic that later adaptations changed them to red."
"Even this kind of trivia…" Even Hong Hu sounded impressed by Feng Bu Jue's breadth of knowledge.
"Basic knowledge", Feng Bu Jue shrugged. "What? You didn't know the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz until I mentioned it just now?" Qiu Feng shot back.
"Then I can't help you. For me, this is basic knowledge." Feng Bu Jue moved to the lion's corpse. "Let's examine this guy next."
"Obviously hacked to death with an axe", Hong Hu observed. "Judging from the angles and depths of the wounds and the bloodstains, it fought its killer before dying."
Ji Chang added, "Judging solely by the injuries… the lion killed Dorothy, then the Tin Man killed the lion."
"The Tin Man and Scarecrow together", Feng Bu Jue corrected, crouching to place his flashlight on the ground. He gripped the lion's head, prying open its jaws. "See this clump of straw in its mouth?"
"Alright, alright—don't get so into it…" Qiu Feng grimaced.
Feng Bu Jue closed the lion's jaws, brushed off mane hairs clinging to his clothes, and stood up, now smearing blood on his hands. Unbothered, he continued, "But I think the Scarecrow's strength couldn't have seriously harmed the lion. Even if he participated, his attacks would've been like scratching through boots—symbolic at best. The real killer was definitely the Tin Man."
"There's another message here…" Hong Hu's flashlight illuminated the wall.
Another blood-written message stained the surface.
"Ah, right", Feng Bu Jue nodded. "Another ten-point obvious hint."
[When You Think You've Gained What You Want, You've Already Lost More]
The other three stared at the message for a long time before Ji Chang finally spoke. "Setting aside its philosophical implications… the metaphor likely means: the lion gained 'courage,' so it wanted to eat Dorothy. The Tin Man, with his 'heart,' and the Scarecrow, with his 'brain,' killed the lion after witnessing this."
"On the surface… that's true", Hong Hu agreed.
"Oh? 'On the surface'?" Ji Chang questioned.
Qiu Feng muttered, "Looking deeper… there are actually many doubts."
"Such as?" Ji Chang prompted.
Hong Hu adjusted his glasses. "If the lion lacked courage to attack people before gaining 'courage,' how did he kill the old witch? Also, since Dorothy had the witch's shoes, why didn't she put them on to escape? Those shoes have teleportation magic, right?"
"Hmm… let's set these questions aside for now", Feng Bu Jue said, picking up the silver shoes. "Follow me to the stairs leading to the fourth floor first."
(End of Chapter)
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