Upon Han Yun's reminder, Dao Lao and Dream Jia quickly looked down at the stage below. Sure enough, a huge water tank had appeared on the stage, seemingly out of nowhere. At this moment, a group of clowns, holding water pipes seemingly brought from nowhere, was tirelessly pouring some liquid into the tank.

Although Han Yun and his companions were thirty meters away from the stage and the bottom of the glass jar was transparent, the imaging effect wasn't perfect. Nevertheless, this didn't prevent them from seeing clearly that the clowns were pouring a thick, greasy, transparent liquid into the tank.

"Goodness! Could that liquid be sulfuric acid!?" Han Yun exclaimed, watching the unidentified liquid slowly flowing in the pool, stirred by some unseen force.

Dao Lao and Dream Jia couldn't be certain if Han Yun's guess was accurate, but judging from the current situation and the cautious manner in which the clowns were handling the liquid, they both agreed that Han Yun's assumption was likely correct. They believed that the clowns were indeed pouring some harmful substance into the pool.

Realizing the severity of the situation, the three of them paled. If they couldn't untie the ropes binding them quickly, they would soon be immersed in a pool filled with a dangerous liquid. They had every reason to believe that it wouldn't be a pleasant experience. So, they hurriedly tried to untie the ropes, but to their dismay, the knots were tighter than they had imagined. The more they struggled, the tighter the knots became until they were rendered immobile, unable to continue trying to untie the ropes.

Suddenly, amidst the tension, an extremely discordant sound of metal breaking rang out on the stage. Everyone turned to look, only to see the clown responsible for operating the elevator holding a broken lever, frantically jumping around in panic.

Unaware of what was happening with the clown, Han Yun and his companions felt their glass jar suddenly shake violently twice before plummeting into the pool below like a freefall. As the unidentified liquid poured into the jar, they quickly sank into the pool.

As copious amounts of the unknown liquid flooded into the jar, Han Yun and his companions, lying at the bottom, were soon completely submerged. Upon contact with the liquid, Han Yun's body felt as if it were on fire, emitting thick white smoke. He experienced excruciating pain deep into his bones. Now, he was sure that the thick, transparent liquid was not only sulfuric acid but highly concentrated sulfuric acid.

Han Yun could feel his skin, muscles, and bones melting layer by layer under the corrosive effects of the acid. His senses were gone, replaced by the burning sensation and the overwhelming taste of bitterness, sourness, and spiciness. The acid flowed into his stomach, causing unbearable pain as it rapidly corroded his internal organs.

Struggling for breath, Han Yun continued to roll on the ground until the pain gradually subsided, and he regained consciousness. Gasping for air, he quickly checked his condition, relieved to find that the excruciating pain had disappeared.

Looking up at Dao Lao and Dream Jia, locked in the other two iron cages, they were both looking at him with expressions of post-disaster agony, unsure of what to say.

"We underestimated the situation!" Dao Lao broke the silence after a while.

"How did we fail just now?" Han Yun asked. Dream Jia and Dao Lao shook their heads simultaneously, indicating that they were focused on untying the knots and didn't notice any accidents around them. However, judging by the fact that the glass jar was at least twenty meters away from the pool at that time, they both agreed that something unexpected must have happened.

"Damn it! Why do accidents happen every time we perform? Are we that unlucky? Could it be that these are all plots by that Countess? She never intended for us to complete the performance? That despicable person!" Han Yun, feeling agitated, rubbed the horse-face ornament on his head.

"Could it be that various accidents happening is the main point of these performances? Does the Countess want to see us encounter accidents?" After hearing Han Yun's words, Dream Jia suddenly speculated from a different perspective.

"Are you saying that the accidents we encountered, all stem from our three-star bad luck? And under the influence of bad luck, the continuous accidents happening to us are the process through which malignant energy uses us to produce negative energy?" Dao Lao seemed to understand Dream Jia's idea and further analyzed.

"So, the Countess imprisoned us, along with those 'lucky' individuals, not to provide us with sanctuary but to continuously provide her with negative energy to help her maintain the normal operation of this Fragrant Nebula?" Understanding Dream Jia's thoughts as well, Han Yun asked.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Well, there is indeed such a possibility," Dream Jia said affirmatively after some thought.

"Since that's the case, can we use this to our advantage and turn the tables on them?" Han Yun asked again.

"Well, if our speculations are correct, then theoretically it's possible. However, we haven't yet discovered any vulnerabilities in the opponent or useful information associated with it. So... what we can do now is to continue to observe the situation around us and gather valuable information," Dao Lao replied.

Upon hearing Dao Lao's response, Han Yun once again felt mentally and physically exhausted. Because Dao Lao was right. Although they now had a rough understanding of the situation here, in reality, apart from some superficial knowledge, all the remaining information was purely speculative. And this information was simply not enough to support them in launching a counterattack against the enemy. So, sticking to the plan and enduring the torture in the upcoming performances became the only choice for Han Yun and his companions.

Therefore, despite their helplessness, Han Yun and his companions had no choice but to force themselves to calm down and try to recall the appearance of the knots, attempting to find the correct method to untie them before the next performance. This would enable them to escape as quickly as possible before the glass jar fell into the sulfuric acid pool in the next performance.

The clowns soon entered the tent again to take Han Yun and his companions away, unsurprisingly sending them back into the glass jars, tied up once more. Accompanied by the cheerful music of the circus march, the escape performance began again. Then, with the gasps and cheers of the audience, the performance quickly ended once more.

In the second round of failure, Han Yun and his unlucky companions encountered a situation where the ropes pulling the glass jar Han Yun was in suddenly broke midway, causing the jar with Han Yun to plunge directly into the sulfuric acid pool. Han Yun was melted into a pool of blood in a series of agonizing screams. As for Dao Lao and Dream Jia, who were still suspended in mid-air, they were immediately soaked in sulfuric acid that appeared out of nowhere after Han Yun fell into the pool. Eventually, they too burst into pools of blood and flesh under the corrosion of sulfuric acid.

After the second failure, Han Yun and his companions did not have much chance to adjust before being sent back into the glass jars by the clowns once again. The third performance officially began. However, as two clowns attempted to enhance the atmosphere with an aerial performance, one accidentally smashed the glass jar containing Dream Jia with a large hammer, causing Dream Jia to fall into the sulfuric acid pool. This incident led to Han Yun and Dao Lao being implicated once again, melting into pools of blood amidst the excited cheers of the audience, marking the failure of the third escape performance. As for why the two clowns were carrying a large hammer during the aerial performance? Don't ask, it was just part of the performance at the time.

After a series of heartbreaking screams, the consciousness and bodies of Han Yun and his companions gradually became numb under the intense burning of sulfuric acid, then disappeared completely. When they woke up screaming again, they found themselves back in the metal cages suspended in the white space.

"Good morning! Your performance yesterday was really exciting! Come, have some breakfast while it's still hot!" Daddy Cat, who had been waiting under the metal cages at some point, said happily. At the same time, Han Yun and his companions saw a table full of lavish breakfast appear out of thin air on the floor of the cage, consisting of more water jugs and more pieces of white food resembling steamed buns.

Having experienced death three times, Han Yun and his companions were mentally tortured more severely than before. They just sat dumbfounded on the ground, staring blankly at the food on the table, with no response to Daddy Cat. Because at this moment, all they could see in their minds were images of themselves gradually turning into blood emitting a strong acidic odor under the corrosion of sulfuric acid.

"Hey! Come on, don't be like this! Didn't I tell you before? Those are just performances, albeit more realistic ones! Your lives won't be threatened! Just relax!" Daddy Cat hurriedly comforted them upon seeing their reaction.

"In fact, you're just not used to this style of performance at the beginning. After you've performed a few more times, gained more experience, and experienced more content, you'll get used to these more realistic performances! And who knows, you might even start to enjoy the process!" Daddy Cat continued. But no matter how Han Yun listened, he felt that Daddy Cat was not comforting them, but trying to brainwash them into becoming masochists who passively accept abuse.

So, Han Yun said irritably, "So, are you so relaxed because you've been messed around with so many times?"

"Uh... well... actually, I haven't participated in many performances. Because... I don't feel as much pain," Daddy Cat replied, not feeling angry at Han Yun's sarcasm but rather embarrassedly stroking the fake mustache on his mouth with a cat's paw.

"What do you mean by 'not feeling as much pain'?" Dream Jia asked, frowning.

"Well, you see, the Countess initially treated me as a rare species because I am a rare gas person from Argon. Do you know what argon is?" Daddy Cat explained, shrugging his shoulders to indicate that the Countess didn't want him to suffer, but he had no choice.

"Damn, still calling yourself a rare species? Do you dare to let me out and let me punch you a few times to see what kind of rare species you really are?" Han Yun threatened through gritted teeth.

Dao Lao gestured for Han Yun to calm down, so as not to cause trouble. Then he asked in as normal a tone as possible, "So, may I ask, what kind of species are you exactly?"

This time, Daddy Cat didn't deliberately avoid the topic like last time but spoke frankly, "I've told you before! I am an Argon gas person from Argon. Do you know what argon is?"