A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

At lunchtime, the three of them sat at a table without saying a word, but they exchanged glances.

Everything is ready.

At 1:50 p.m., Zhou Lang squatted in the middle of the garden, pretending to pull weeds, while keeping an eye on the old man with the broken leg out of the corner of his eye.

The old man, leaning on his cane, walked slowly northwards, taking one step at a time. He moved very slowly, but he was heading in the right direction.

At 1:55, the old man reached the northern end and stopped, looking around.

At 1:58, the half-dead female ghost floated over the garden and flew towards the northwest corner.

It's exactly 2 o'clock.

A loud noise came from the main building—it sounded like something had been smashed, followed by Zhao Qiang's loud shouts.

"Ah—ah—there's a ghost—is this vase an antique?—I can't afford to pay for it—"

The butler's figure flashed past the kitchen and strode towards the main building.

Without hesitation, Zhou Lang got up and rushed toward the seventh rose bush.

He pulled out his gardening shovel and started digging into the tree roots. The soil was loose, but it got hotter as he went deeper. On his third scoop, the shovel hit something hard.

Just like the one I touched yesterday—smooth and angular.

He dug through the mud with his bare hands, revealing a black box. The box was small, about the size of a palm, and made of bone, the same material as the bone lock in the basement.

The box has no lock; it can be opened directly.

Zhou Lang lifted the lid.

Inside is a heart.

It was the size of a fist, dark red, and covered with black veins that were slowly pulsating.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

With each jump, Zhou Lang could feel the ground trembling slightly, and the roses in the garden would also tremble once.

He took out the chainsaw.

The moment it was ready to start—

A sharp howl came from overhead.

The half-dead female ghost had turned back at some point and was swooping down from above at a speed that was almost impossible for the naked eye to follow.

No! It shouldn't be this fast!

Before Zhou Lang could start the chainsaw, he raised the oil lamp with his left hand. A burst of green light shot out, shining directly on the female ghost.

The female ghost let out a scream and was forced back more than ten meters by the green light, but it did not dissipate. It hovered in mid-air, its empty eyes fixed on the heart in Zhou Lang's hand.

At the north end of the garden, the old man with the broken leg turned around, leaning on his cane, and hurried toward this place at a speed that was not appropriate for a disabled person.

Zhou Lang couldn't wait any longer.

He held up the lamp with one hand and pressed the chainsaw switch with the other.

The chainsaw roared, and the saw blade spun.

He aimed at the still-beating heart—

"stop!"

A voice came from the garden gate.

It wasn't about killing the butler.

It was a tall man in a black suit, his face shrouded in a dark mist. He stood at the garden gate, one hand on the doorframe, the other pointing at Zhou Lang.

Owner.

The owner of the manor finally appeared.

Zhou Lang did not stop.

The saw blade fell, splitting the heart in two.

Black blood gushed out, splashing onto the soil with a sizzling sound, like a red-hot iron block being plunged into cold water.

The entire manor began to shake.

One by one, the roses in the garden withered, their red petals turning gray and shattering in the wind. The old man with the broken leg turned into a pool of black water halfway there, and the half-body female ghost twisted and deformed in the air before finally exploding with a "bang," turning into countless points of light and dissipating.

The man in the black suit let out a roar that was not human. His body began to disintegrate, his skin peeling away piece by piece from his feet upwards, revealing what lay beneath—

It is neither bone nor flesh.

It was countless distorted human faces.

It's exactly the same as the one painted on the mural in the basement dome.

The faces surged, struggled, and screamed on the man's body, as if the trapped souls had finally found an exit. One by one, they broke free, turning into white specks of light that flew into the sky.

The master's body grew smaller and thinner until finally only an empty black suit lay on the ground.

Zhou Lang was panting heavily.

The curtains in the study were suddenly pulled open—Han Yingying peered out the window, her eyes wide with surprise.

Zhao Qiang rushed out of the main building, carrying a shard of a vase in his hand, and froze when he reached the garden gate.

"You... you got it done?"

Zhou Lang looked at the chainsaw in his hand that had been extinguished, then at the empty suit on the ground, and the two halves of a heart.

"More or less."

As soon as the words were spoken, a system notification sounded in the minds of the three people simultaneously.

[Ding—The core of the dungeon has been destroyed.]

The "Mysterious Manor" instance has entered the settlement phase.

[All surviving players are requested to return to the main lobby within ten minutes. Failure to do so will be considered as forfeiting the settlement.]

"Ten minutes, let's go." Zhou Lang put away the chainsaw and oil lamp.

The three hurried back to the main building lobby.

As I passed the kitchen on the way, I saw Xiong Batian huddled behind the stove, covering his head and trembling all over. He had been terrified when the manor shook.

"Hey, you've settled the bill, head to the lobby." Zhao Qiang patted him on the shoulder.

Xiong Batian looked up, completely bewildered: "Huh?"

"The dungeon is about to end, hurry up."

The four people entered the hall, where the butler was already standing.

But it has changed.

The butler who used to kill was dressed in a tattered tailcoat, had no facial features, and exuded a chilling aura. Now, its body has become translucent, its edges constantly melting, like a piece of ice melting.

Facial features appeared on its face.

The face of a young man, in his early twenties, with delicate features and a calm expression.

"Thanks."

"Kill the butler—no, the former maid," she whispered.

Then its body completely turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.

Something fell where it disappeared.

A copper key.

Zhou Lang walked over and picked it up.

The system notification sounded again—

Settlement begins.

[Instance: Mysterious Manor (Rank A)]

[Number of players: 4]

[Surviving players: 4]

[Passage Rating: S]

[Evaluation Description: Destroy the core within the time limit of the dungeon, with all members surviving, to achieve the hidden condition "Liberate the Soul".]

[Rewards being distributed...]

A semi-transparent panel popped up in front of Zhou Lang.

[Player: Wandering Waves]

[Personal Rating: SSS]

[Reward Received:]

1. 5000 Mysterious Coins

[2. Item "Butler's Key" (Rank A) - Can command any supernatural being below Rank A to perform a simple command once. Single use.]

[3. Skill Upgrade - "Scare Ghosts" upgraded to "Scare Ghosts". Effect: The range of intimidation against ghostly entities is increased to 50 meters, and the duration is extended to 10 minutes.]

[4. Special Reward: Servant's Record (Instance Memory Item) – Records all information about the manor over 2047 days and can be used as an intelligence item.]

Zhou Lang scanned the rewards, focusing on the upgrades to "Butler's Key" and "Ghost Tamer".

With these two items combined, you'll have a lot more room to maneuver when encountering dungeons below A rank.

Zhao Qiang also received the reward—2000 Strange Coins, a B-grade defensive item called "Ghost Face Shield," and an attribute point enhancement.

Han Yingying's reward is 2000 Strange Coins and a B-grade item called "Mirror of Lies"—which makes the target unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood for thirty seconds.