https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-312-Ascending-Tower-Chronicles-12-/13547740/
Chapter 311: Ascending Tower Chronicles (XI)
Chapter 311: Ascending Tower Chronicles (XI)
The four didn’t rush to plant the Magic Beans immediately after obtaining them. Instead, they began a thorough inspection of the fourth layer.
Clues like the rope’s end—visible only upon close observation—might not be unique to one location. They needed to investigate thoroughly. Additionally, they wanted to know… where the Tin Man had gone.
Logically, given the Tin Man’s weight, the soft mud should have left clear traces of his passage. However, they only found footprints near Don Quixote’s corpse. Beyond those dozen-odd steps, the trail abruptly ended.
If the footprints vanished near a wall, one might assume he’d entered a mural. But here, the imprints disappeared far from any wall—midway across the grassy floor, as though the Tin Man had suddenly vanished mid-stride.
This scenario was a cascade of increasingly bizarre mysteries. The Keter-level anomaly on the first floor now seemed trivial… By the third floor, they hadn’t even unraveled the full truth of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz case before Don Quixote died on the fourth floor. Then came the brat swapping a cow for beans. Even Feng Bu Jue struggled to imagine what awaited them next.
They spent ten minutes exploring without progress. No clear hints indicated where to plant the Magic Beans. Eventually, they chose a random patch of empty ground to begin.
“I get why this floor’s surface is dirt and grass now,” Qiu Feng remarked, using Feng Bu Jue’s folding knife to dig.
“Not too deep,” Ji Chang reminded him. “In the story, the Magic Beans sprouted just from being scattered on soil.”
“Should we plant all the beans, or just one to test it first?” Feng Bu Jue asked, holding the pouch of Magic Beans and inspecting one in his palm.
“Isn’t the item description labeled as a story item?” Hong Hu replied. “Keeping extras is useless.”
“Maybe it has hidden attributes,” Feng Bu Jue joked. “Eat one and revive at full HP!”
"That's Immortal Beans!" Qiu Feng corrected.
“Fine.” Feng Bu Jue walked to Qiu Feng’s side and poured the entire pouch of Magic Beans into the shallow hole Qiu Feng had dug.
Qiu Feng pushed dirt over them lightly, returned the knife to Feng Bu Jue, and dusted off his hands. “Done.”
“It won’t take long for something to happen,” Ji Chang said.
Feng Bu Jue added, “Should I… water them?”
“Why are you asking like that…” Qiu Feng’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “This game doesn’t let you drop your pants, so don’t get any ideas.”
“I said water, not urine,” Feng Bu Jue retorted.
“You’re the most poop-and-pee obsessed person I’ve ever met in gaming,” Hong Hu groaned. “Given your eloquence earlier, I assumed you were cultured, but your language…”
“Eloquence doesn’t equal virtue,” Feng Bu Jue shrugged. “In my field, plenty of eloquent types exist, but their character isn’t necessarily better than someone who curses. As the saying goes—Tang and Song emperors lacked vulgar flair, but today’s lowlifes outshine them all!” With that, he strode toward a wall, squatted, and used his silver magic shoes to scoop water from the mural’s stream.
“Oh, right! That’s how,” Qiu Feng realized as Feng Bu Jue returned with water in his shoes, finally grasping his earlier intent.
The two “shoes” of water soaked into the soil. The small mound trembled slightly.
The four reacted swiftly, instinctively retreating a safe distance. They knew something was coming.
Seconds later—Boom!
A beanstalk as thick as a tower erupted from the earth like a dragon surging skyward. The tip of its stem acted as a drill, while the stalk twisted into a braided, knotted column.
Players expected the stalk to crash through the fourth floor’s ceiling. Instead, it shot straight into the painted “sky” above.
Five full minutes passed before the stalk ceased growing.
Looking up, the four saw neither the stalk’s peak nor what lay above the painted “clouds.”
“I guess we can’t enter the mural scenery,” Ji Chang mused.
“Not necessarily,” Hong Hu countered, adjusting his glasses. “We’ve only tested the walls so far. We haven’t tried the ceiling.”
“If we can climb the stalk into that ‘sky’…” Qiu Feng calculated, “Given this height, even a kilometer or two might not reach the top.”
Feng Bu Jue sighed wistfully. “Ah… Reminds me of climbing a high place years ago to steal Hyper Holy Water from an immortal atop the Karlin Tower…”
“That’s just the Karlin Tower!” Qiu Feng snapped.
“But… Ji Chang holding a hat is manageable,” Hong Hu noted. “How will Qiu Feng climb with a broom?”
“Stick it in your mouth?” Feng Bu Jue suggested.
“You try it!” Qiu Feng shoved the broom at him.
“Sure.” Feng Bu Jue took it, then handed Qiu Feng his shoes. “Hold these.”
Qiu Feng froze, stunned. He stuffed the shoes into his oversized coat pocket (his pockets were roomier than Feng Bu Jue’s long suit jacket), then watched in disbelief as Feng Bu Jue clenched the broom sideways in his teeth and calmly approached the stalk.
“Back when I trained the Three Blade Style’s ultimate technique,” Feng Bu Jue mumbled around the broom, drool dripping, “I spent all day biting a thicker sword handle than this…”
“I’ll bet you five cents he’s mentally unstable…” Qiu Feng muttered, squinting at Feng Bu Jue’s back.
Ji Chang and Hong Hu replied in unison: “That’s painfully obvious—what’s there to bet?”
……
Their in-game stamina far surpassed ordinary humans, making the climb effortless. Soon, they entered the painted “sky” on the ceiling. From their perspective, the world remained 3D.
At this point, “floor” became meaningless. By their estimate, climbing another ten minutes would exceed any real-world building’s height.
After roughly twenty minutes, they spotted a golden cloud. Clearly physical, it hovered beside the stalk. A massive leaf extended from the stalk toward the cloud, resting against its edge.
Seeing this obvious path, the four surged with energy. Two minutes later, they leapt onto the cloud.
Standing on the golden cloud, the view was breathtaking—a continent of clouds bathed in radiant gold.
A hundred meters away stood a fairy-tale castle, its Disney-style design unmistakable. Farther still, they glimpsed a ladder atop the tallest tower, stretching into higher clouds.
“That ladder probably leads to the fifth floor,” Feng Bu Jue said.
“You still think in terms of floors?” Qiu Feng scoffed.
“Less about floors,” Hong Hu mused, “and more… where did the Tin Man go? Will we meet him on the next level?”
“I’d focus on the present,” Ji Chang advised. “If we’re still in Jack and the Beanstalk’s story… could the castle house a Giant?”
“Here—take your broom back,” Feng Bu Jue ignored their chatter, handing Qiu Feng the broom.
“You keep the shoes,” Qiu Feng refused. “I’m not touching that slobber-covered broom.”
“Rea-ally?” Feng Bu Jue drawled.
“Absolutely.”
“Fine!” Feng Bu Jue slung the broom over his shoulders, arms spread wide, hands gripping its ends. Balancing it like a yoke, he strutted toward the castle, humming, “Bitter seas~ stir with love and hate~ in this world~ fate’s inescapable~”
“Heh… hahaha…” Hong Hu snorted. “He really does turn everything into a game.”
“Gotta admire him,” Ji Chang agreed.
The trio followed Feng Bu Jue toward the castle. Minutes later, they reached its grand entrance.
“This makes things clear,” Feng Bu Jue observed. “At least from the door’s size, this castle isn’t built for Giants.” He was right—the doorway’s dimensions, though large, were clearly suited for normal-sized humans.
“Shall we knock or…?” Ji Chang hadn’t finished his sentence before Feng Bu Jue had already retreated ten meters away.
“I’ll support you mentally!” He shouted from the rear, as if it were perfectly natural.
“Then I’ll knock this time,” Ji Chang said. He hadn’t taken the lead yet, and according to their rotation system, it was his turn.
Knock knock knock—
Ji Chang grabbed the door’s ring and rapped it three times. After about twenty seconds with no response, he pounded three more times.
A minute passed. Still nothing.
They split left and right, trying to peer through the windows, but the castle’s windows were high and made of colored glass. Under the golden glow, they couldn’t see a thing inside.
“No choice… we’ll have to force our way in,” Qiu Feng suggested.
Hong Hu nodded. “Mm.”
Ji Chang stepped forward. “Leave it to me. I can handle a door this size.” Facing the entrance, he struck a pose. His skills activated at will as he thrust out a palm strike.
…Nothing happened.
“Hehe… sorry, my martial arts proficiency is only E-rank. The skill failed,” Ji Chang chuckled sheepishly.
Hong Hu and Qiu Feng both smiled. “No worries, happens all the time.”
“I’ll try again,” Ji Chang said, launching into another attempt.
This time, it worked. A palm gust roared forward, striking the lock area. The thick door’s center exploded into a basin-sized hole. The two heavy panels loosened and slowly slid apart.
Among non-combat player classes, E-rank active martial arts skills like this were practically standard issue. Even if scenarios didn’t drop them, players would buy one at the auction house. They weren’t expensive, and the cost-performance ratio was solid.
Only Feng Bu Jue, that oddball, took a puzzle-solving route. He never bought skills specifically, yet somehow his martial arts proficiency had climbed to C-rank…
“Feng Bu Jue, there’s no danger. You can come over now?” Hong Hu called back. “If the door suddenly slams shut, we’ll be in trouble.”
Feng Bu Jue didn’t need reminding. He’d already been squinting from afar for ages. As Hong Hu spoke, he was already walking forward.
The four entered the castle together. Beyond the door was a curved staircase slanting upward, its steps tightly hugging all four walls as it spiraled upward. A giant chandelier hung from an extremely long chain, descending from the high dome ceiling. Strangely, the chandelier hung only two meters above the ground—close enough to touch.
Circling around the staircase led to the castle’s first floor wings and rear. Naturally, the group didn’t head upstairs immediately. They wanted to scout the first floor for equipment or clues first.
In the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, the giant’s castle had “golden egg-laying chickens.” Even if this castle didn’t have golden eggs, a few hints would be nice.
But not scouting was fine. Scouting would drain Sanity…
This castle, far from being luxurious, was outright bizarre. Under the golden, dreamlike glow, it gave no fairy-tale feeling at all. Instead, an indescribable eerie atmosphere hung thick.
The staircase and chandelier at the main entrance were already strange enough, but this was just the beginning. Similar odd designs were everywhere…
Take the first-floor dining hall. A massive table stretched across the center—over ten meters long—covered with a zebra-striped tablecloth. Around it stood dozens of towering high chairs, like seats for tennis referees.
The kitchen’s dish pool and prep counter were equally absurd. The former was bathtub-sized, the latter as small as a cell phone screen. The stove was built as low as a squat toilet, with firewood fed through a sloped chute.
The dance hall’s dance floor wasn’t round or square, but lightning-shaped—perfect for executing a zigzag “lightning dash” like in Speed Racer. The band stage resembled a skateboard ramp, its U-shaped floor making it impossible to place large instruments flat.
“Hmm… this castle’s like a twenty-nine-year-old woman,” Feng Bu Jue mused as the four returned to the main entrance after their tour.
“Hormonal imbalance?” Qiu Feng quipped.
“I was going to say ‘hysterical, irrational,’ but you had to go for something so personally offensive,” Feng Bu Jue replied.
“Who’s being offensive?! You mentioned age, gender, and personality all at once. I just said a physiological phenomenon, and suddenly I’m attacking someone?!” Qiu Feng roared.
“Enough… the decor’s irrelevant to us,” Hong Hu interrupted. “Since the first floor had nothing, let’s check upstairs.”
They followed the main staircase upward. The staircase led them straight to the top floor without a single door or entrance in between.
“It seems we’ll have to circle around from the top to reach the middle floors,” Ji Chang said. “Or… maybe there’s a hidden passage on the first floor we missed?”
“No no… castles are usually like this,” Feng Bu Jue countered. “If you saw a horizontal cross-section, you’d understand. The central area is always the last to reach. You must follow a sequence—enter through the front hall, chapel, back hall, dance pavilion, basement waters, clock tower, and so on—before reaching the center.”
“The central area’s called ‘Castlevania’s Highest Tier,’ right? And you had to assassinate each boss to get a new skill?” Hong Hu couldn’t help but mock.
“Exactly,” Feng Bu Jue nodded, turning to Ji Chang. “See? This is what I call an expert.”
“Expert? Sounds like no one’s played Castlevania before…”
Joking around, they soon reached the staircase’s end. There stood an arched wooden door.
Qiu Feng led the way, spotting the words carved on the door first.
Golden engraved English letters, ornate and fancy: [The unreasonable is not always obvious.]
“Again?!” Qiu Feng groaned. “No need to guess… there’s a corpse waiting inside.” He shoved the door open.
The four entered one by one. Before them lay a bedroom.
The most normal room they’d seen since entering the castle. Pink walls and ceiling, wooden floor. A large bed stood in the center, with a dressing table and wardrobe along the walls. Clearly a woman’s room—or rather, a princess’s boudoir.
“Hey… there’s someone in the bed,” Qiu Feng noticed immediately. The covers were slightly raised, with a figure breathing softly beneath.
“Stand back!” Feng Bu Jue reacted instantly, roaring as he slammed his broom on the ground and charged forward.
The other three grabbed him. Ji Chang asked first, “What are you doing?!”
Before Feng Bu Jue could answer, Qiu Feng cut in, “Isn’t it obvious as lice on a bald head? This is clearly a Sleeping Beauty scenario.” He snorted coldly.
“Hmm… according to our rotation for taking the lead, it’s my turn now…” Hong Hu’s glasses glinted white as he stepped forward.
“Trident Tackle!” Feng Bu Jue lunged from behind, tackling Hong Hu to the ground. “Hmph… Mako, you think pretending to be calm will fool anyone?!”
“Even if you forgot my ID is Hong Hu… calling me ‘Mako’ is going too far—”
Before Hong Hu could finish, Qiu Feng interrupted, “You two look ridiculous! So ungentlemanly (perverted)! The princess will be so disappointed when she wakes up.” He straightened his collar. “In this situation, allow me—”
“Invincible Fire Wheel!” Feng Bu Jue charged at Qiu Feng. “Autumn Thunder, I advise you not to act rashly… combine my Invincible Fire Wheel with the long staircase outside, and I’ll kill even gods for you!”
Though the three wrestled around, it was all in good fun. Teammates couldn’t truly harm each other.
Still, Ji Chang—the most composed of the group—stood aside, facepalming and shaking his head.
“Ahh…” Suddenly, a deep male voice rumbled from under the covers.
This single sound froze all four players in place.
“Too much yapping… it’s so annoying!” The voice barked with overwhelming aura.
The next second…
A towering werewolf with gray fur all over, wearing a pink bathrobe and plastic shower cap, sat up, throwing off the covers.
(End of Chapter)
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