Why is my anime art style so weird?

Page 82

Relying solely on the Poison Dragon Dagger was undoubtedly a risky choice, especially when he had no idea what special abilities the 'weird' before him possessed.

Just then, Xu Ming suddenly noticed something unusual in the corner of his eye.

He subconsciously turned his head to look, and there was a row of dressing mirrors next to him.

A woman in a black ballet dress suddenly appeared in the hazy mirror!

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Black Swan

The woman had long, gray hair that completely covered her face, and her exposed skin was deathly pale. She wore a tattered black ballet dress, making her look like a tragically deceased black swan.

Upon closer inspection, Xu Ming discovered that the woman's ballet dress, originally white, had been stained red with a large amount of blood, which then dried to form a strange blackish-red color.

He looked in the mirror and then looked behind him.

There was nothing behind her except a pair of ballet shoes, yet she could see that eerie woman in the mirror.

Xu Ming activated his 'Spiritual Vision'.

Soon, a huge, incredibly thick black mist gathered above the dancing shoes, forming a shadow that resembled a human.

Judging solely from the concentration of the black mist, this woman should belong to the top tier of Soul Level 2, and could potentially advance to Level 3 at any time.

Fortunately, he was cautious and did not rush in with the Poison Dragon Dagger.

Just as Xu Ming was hesitating whether to turn around and run away or stall for time and wait for his phone to recharge.

The woman in the mirror suddenly raised her hand slowly and extended a finger to write something on the mirror.

A row of characters made of blood quickly appeared on the mirror.

--Help

Xu Ming hesitated for a moment, deciding to see what she wanted to say first, and then cautiously asked:

How can I help?

I want to dance one last Swan Lake.

As these words were spoken, a large amount of fog suddenly rose from the mirror, and then an image appeared in the mirror.

A beautiful dancer in a white ballet dress is gracefully performing on the stage, just like a real white swan.

Suddenly, the lighting fixtures at the top of the stage collapsed, and the dancers were right underneath them.

Amidst the roar, blood splattered.

An arm struggled to rise from the rubble, trembling as if trying to grasp something, before finally falling limply to its side...

Then the mirror was plunged into boundless darkness.

Xu Ming remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

How can I help you?

Blood-red words reappeared on the mirror.

—The key is at the end, on the door with a swan pattern.

— To divert attention, to open up the opera house

Xu Ming pondered for a while before he understood what she meant.

She instructed Xu Ming to go to the end of the corridor, to a room with a swan pattern painted on the door, find the key, and then find a way to distract the bear doll and open the door to the opera house.

As Xu Ming predicted, the locked door was the key.

The unique patterns and the menacing guards lurking near the gate... all hint at the importance of this gate.

"Okay, I'll help you."

Xu Ming agreed.

He pondered the specific action plan for a moment, then said to the woman in the mirror:

"Can I take you with me?"

The woman remained motionless in the mirror.

"If you don't object, then you agree."

As Xu Ming spoke, he carefully picked up the ballet shoes from the ground while looking in the mirror.

Strangely, I felt a warm, soft sensation on my fingertips.

Without much thought, Xu Ming put the dance shoes into his backpack.

Throughout the entire process, the woman in the mirror remained motionless. She watched silently as Xu Ming stuffed the ballet shoes into his backpack and then slung it back over his shoulder.

Then the woman suddenly disappeared from the mirror.

Xu Ming suddenly felt his backpack get slightly heavier, as if someone had reached out and pulled it, but it quickly returned to normal.

Xu Ming didn't pay any attention. He quietly opened the door and peeked out through the crack.

The corridor was quiet; the scary bear doll seemed to have gone far away.

Xu Ming immediately opened the door, went into the corridor, and began searching for the room with the swan pattern at the end of the corridor.

After nightfall, the castle called 'Fairy Tale' transforms into a labyrinth. It is indeed a 'fairy tale,' but a dark fairy tale.

The map was completely useless, so Xu Ming could only rely on his memory to memorize the castle's path bit by bit.

He was almost discovered by the teddy bear several times.

Fortunately, Xu Ming was quite cautious. Whenever he encountered a corner, he would always extend his phone's camera to confirm that the other side of the corridor was safe before stepping out.

By acting cautiously, he evaded the bear doll's attempts to ambush him several times.

Walking and stopping intermittently, Xu Ming roughly explored the map of the second floor of the castle.

What puzzled him was that he couldn't find the stairs leading to the third floor.

Xu Ming had no choice but to find a way to fulfill the request from the owner of the dance shoes.

Xu Ming went to great lengths to help the owner of the dancing shoes because, based on his past experience, he was certain that this was a hidden event that could increase the completion rate of the event.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, Xu Ming found the door with the black swan pattern in a dark corner.

Xu Ming gently turned the doorknob, quietly opened the door, and then shone his phone light into the room, peering inside.

As soon as the phone's light shone on him, Xu Ming quickly turned it off.

In a fleeting glimpse, Xu Ming saw a terrifying monster!

It was an enormous monster, as tall as a two-story building when it lay on the ground. Its body was like that of a swan, but it was covered with feathers that shone with a metallic sheen, like steel plates.

Even more terrifying, it had nine heads growing from its neck.

No, that can't even be called a head. It's like putting a human beak on a swan's neck and stretching it out.

Apart from its human-shaped mouth, its head had no nose, eyes, ears, or anything else!

Just seeing it made Xu Ming feel nauseous.

Fortunately, the disgusting monster seemed to be fast asleep on the ground.

To avoid waking it, Xu Ming immediately turned off the phone's light and then activated its 'night vision' ability.

However, the light at that moment seemed to have startled the monster.

As Xu Ming watched, one of the monster's heads lifted up, swayed left and right for a moment, and then, seemingly finding nothing, lay back down.

Xu Ming breathed a slight sigh of relief; he didn't dare go in to look for the key while the monster was awake.

Body size and combat power are directly proportional; although not absolutely, this formula is generally true.

If this monster, like the bear doll, is not afraid of the spirit-capturing phone's attacks, or if the spirit-capturing phone cannot kill with one blow, then conversely, he will be smashed into a meat patty by the monster.

Well... judging from the monster's appearance, its fate will likely be divided into nine equal parts.

The best outcome would be to obtain the key to the opera house without alerting the monster.

Moreover, Xu Ming quickly found the key.

There was nothing I could do; the key was just too conspicuous.

There was a gleaming golden key, like a canary kept in a birdcage.

And that birdcage... was in the monster's arms...

This is troublesome.

Chapter 100 Thrilling

Xu Ming thought about it and decided to follow the safest plan.

So he summoned the pig kidney and placed his hand on its shoulder.

"Arita-kun, do you see that monster inside?"

The little piglet stared at the huge monster in the room and couldn't help but swallow hard.