Just as Li Teng turned to walk out the main door, a glance behind revealed that more than a dozen wax figures had gathered by the door, densely arranged to block his exit, all turning their gazes towards him.
Some held pastries in their hands, others held wine glasses, their faces still bearing that polite smile typical of banquet attendees, yet tinged with an eerie eeriness.
That smile sent chills down Li Teng's spine.
He felt he shouldn't have recklessly entered this room, let alone casually laid hands on these wax figures.
Everything happening here seemed to have surpassed his understanding of the real world.
It was even more bizarre than suddenly appearing atop a kilometer-tall pillar.
"Excuse me, excuse me."
Li Teng stiffly continued towards the main door.
But the wax figures did not show any intention of making way, standing motionless, closely packed, and blocking Li Teng's path.
"Please make way, sorry for the offense."
Li Teng approached the wax figures, bowed slightly to them, and then embraced the waist of one, attempting to move it aside to create enough space for a person to get through.
However, the wax figure might as well have been fixed to the ground; no matter how hard Li Teng tried, it didn't budge an inch.
The other wax figures were also immovable.
The hall's door swung inwards, with a dozen wax figures crowding by it, effectively sealing it shut; without moving them, the door could not be opened.
Even if Li Teng managed to climb over their heads forcefully, it would be futile; he still couldn't leave this increasingly sinister-looking room.
It appeared impossible to force his way out; he would have to try a more cunning approach.
Li Teng turned back and walked deeper into the hall.
After walking a while, he suddenly looked back.
The wax figures by the door had not moved at all, showing no sign of leaving.
Li Teng tried to calm himself down before scanning his surroundings.
The wax museum... let's call it that for now. Like the restaurant, the clothing store, and the bath center, the walls of the wax museum also had clocks and LCD screens displaying a countdown.
The time was now a quarter past eleven in the morning.
The countdown had less than forty minutes left.
Li Teng felt the situation was becoming quite dire.
What exactly would happen when the countdown ended?
Being trapped here without a way out could mean big trouble when the time came.
This wax museum, was it actually a chamber with some mechanism set?
Had his attack on the wax figures triggered the mechanism?
He felt that being on the streets when the countdown ended would be better than being trapped in this wax museum.
At least there would be space to run.
Trapped here meant waiting for death.
Regardless, he had to find a way out of here as soon as possible.
...
The hall looked like the scene of a cocktail party, with dozens of guests dispersed throughout.
The tables were laid with various beverages, pastries, and utensils, among other things.
But aside from the utensils, the beverages and pastries were like models, very realistic-looking models.
Beyond that, what caught Li Teng's attention were the large paintings hanging on all four walls.
When Li Teng first entered the hall, his focus had been entirely on the wax figures and he had not noticed these paintings.
Now, trapped, he had no choice but to look for the room's unlocking mechanism, which naturally drew his attention to the conspicuous large paintings.
These large paintings... seemed like movie posters.
Or rather, movie promotional posters.
However, the film titles were all unfamiliar to Li Teng.
Take for instance the painting right in front of him.
The title is "Furious Tsunami."
Half of the entire picture is dominated by a massive wave, several meters high.
The other half of the picture shows a beach, where there are a few men and women looking in terror at the approaching wave in front of them: some are petrified, some are putting on life jackets, and others are desperately running to grab a lifebuoy in the corner of the painting.
One of the individuals is facing the camera, providing a full-face close-up.
Li Teng found the face of this person somewhat familiar.
Moments later, it dawned on Li Teng, and he quickly turned to look at the door.
The person given a full-face close-up in the picture was one of the dozen wax figures standing by the door!
The likeness was uncanny, except the clothes they were wearing were different.
"Is there some connection here?" Li Teng frowned.
Looking at the time on the wall clock, Li Teng quickly turned to another painting beside him.
The title of this painting was a bit peculiar.
It was called "Swap Hail."
The content of the painting was somewhat horrifying.
Countless hailstones were falling from the sky, and on the ground were a number of men and women.
Some looked up at the sky in despair, while others were frantically fleeing into the distance.
But one person's head was being struck by a basketball-sized hailstone, completely obliterating it; the hailstone took the place where the person's head had been, and the lower half was completely soaked in red.
"This is clearly a head swap, not swap hail," Li Teng couldn't help but ridicule as he looked at the painting.
In "Swap Hail," there was also one person facing the camera.
Li Teng had no recollection of this individual, and he turned to quickly scan the hall, but couldn't find this person.
With time being limited, Li Teng didn't dare to search carefully, and hastily looked to the next painting.
The name of this painting was "Evil Fire Demon City."
The picture depicted a city street, engulfed in flames everywhere, with men and women frantically fleeing; a few were already on fire.
Even more terrifying, there were scattered petrol barrels alongside the street.
One woman was particularly unlucky; as she fled, she passed right by a petrol barrel that had just caught fire and was about to explode. The flames from the barrel transformed into the shape of a demon, and its sharp claws wrapped around the woman, making it clear that she had no chance of escape.
The other works on the wall were likewise concerned with disasters of various kinds: volcanic eruptions, avalanches, plane crashes, earthquakes, and so on.
It didn't take long for Li Teng to identify a common feature in these paintings.
They depicted people of varying ages and indeterminate genders, but the number was always eight.
In some paintings, one person faced the camera for a close-up; in others, two or three people were featured. Apart from the initial man, Li Teng found in the wax figures several of the individuals that appeared in the other paintings.
Twenty more minutes had ticked away in the countdown, and now it was 11:35 PM.
Only twenty-five minutes remained until the countdown ended.
Apart from each portraying eight people, was there another connection between these paintings?
Why had the wax figures in the wax museum moved on their own and sealed the door?
Earlier, when Li Teng was in the restroom, he had heard footsteps on the streets outside.
Before entering the wax museum, he had also heard footsteps inside.
This meant that besides the motionless wax figures, there were also other living people in the room, just like Li Teng.
If the other living person was a normal human being like Li Teng, they wouldn't have been able to move these wax figures.
Nor could they have moved so many wax figures at the same time without making a sound.
Unless...
Li Teng felt something was off and suddenly turned around.
All the wax figures in the room had turned around and were looking in his direction.
Some held desserts in their hands, others wine glasses.
Their faces all bore that very eerie smile.