Chapter 14: Human Skin Manor (Part 13)

The atmosphere began to take a strange turn, but the people involved remained calm and composed.

The thief was unapologetic, while the theft victim remained indifferent. It was the onlookers who started to overthink the situation.

However, they eventually figured it out. If the Chen brothers weren’t newbies, then they must have stolen their amulets, but from whom?

They looked gravely at You Qiaolian, suspecting that the amulets belonged to those who didn’t even get a chance to escape. If they had the amulets, maybe they could have entered the house like Xu Ran and the others.

Chen Dong and Chen Xi noticed that the others were giving them strange looks and grew anxious. “Shen Qingqiu, don’t slander us. Those were our amulets. You and Xiao Muyu are just making up lies. Besides, if you really stole her amulet, why would you save her afterward? And why would you team up with her this entire time? Do you think we’re all idiots?”

“I don’t know about them, but you’re certainly not very smart,” Shen Qingqiu said, then fell silent, looking at the human skin still struggling on the floor. It seemed she had no intention of arguing further with him.

“You—!”

“Alright, let’s not create conflict right now. The most important thing is figuring out how to deal with this human skin, and we haven’t even completed the main task yet,” Liu Wei intervened as the peacemaker, knowing that infighting at this critical moment would be disastrous.

“Can this thing even be killed? And what’s going on with You Qiaolian?” Leopard couldn’t help but ask tensely.

Even Cui Xiaoxuan, who had correctly answered the previous question, wasn’t entirely sure about this one. She had only guessed based on the clues she found, and the hints from Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu.

“Yeah, how did you all figure it out?” Old Liao also seemed puzzled.

Everyone’s attention turned to Xiao Muyu. She hadn’t wanted to explain, but seeing their expectant faces, she glanced at Shen Qingqiu.

All she got was a shrug, indicating that she should do as she wished.

“In a newbie instance, the difficulty shouldn’t be too high. Most of us knew something was off with You Qiaolian,” Xiao Muyu continued.

“But how did that ‘something off’ lead you to suspect she was a human skin?” Leopard asked, still confused.

“Do you all remember where You Qiaolian sat in this room, last night?”

“The fifth seat on the left…” Xu Ran still remembered the empty spot from last night, which was the fifth seat on the left. The old woman had You Qiaolian sit there, so Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu could take her original seat.

“Also, recognize these paintings here?” Xiao Muyu pointed to the paintings hanging on the hall’s walls.

“I recognize a few. They should all be by Da Vinci,” Cui Xiaoxuan replied.

“Correct. All eleven are by Da Vinci, which means most of his famous works are here, but one particularly renowned painting is missing.”

“The Last Supper!” Xu Ran shouted out his sudden realization.

“Exactly. Even people who aren’t familiar with art should know Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’, which depicts Jesus and his twelve disciples having dinner together. In this painting, Jesus announces that one of the twelve disciples will betray him.”

“Twelve disciples? There are exactly twelve of us… Is this referring to us?” Liu Wei felt cold sweat break out on his back. This was too much of a coincidence!

“That’s right, and Judas who betrayed Jesus was seated in the fifth seat on the left. Do you see the connection now?” So that was why the scoring criteria specifically mentioned ‘The Last Supper’.

“This makes a lot of sense. It’s still just a theory, though. Besides, why is this related to You Qiaolian being the human skin?”

“It’s because of the blood that was fed to the human skin in the third-floor room.” Cui Xiaoxuan took a deep breath. “There are no living creatures here, but the blood hadn’t completely coagulated by morning, which means someone fed it last night.

Logically, you’d think it was the old woman, but when I took a close look, she didn’t seem to have any injuries. You can’t fill a bowl of blood with just a shallow cut.

So, the person who provided the blood must be one of us. Miss Xiao’s reminder led me to suspect You Qiaolian. I shared a room with You Qiaolian and noticed wounds on her body. Since she brushed it off, I almost forgot about it.”

Cui Xiaoxuan shuddered as she recalled how she felt upon reaching that conclusion—she had shared a bed with that human skin last night.

“That’s it?” Liu Wei remained puzzled. “So Miss Xiao and Miss Shen also knew she had wounds?”

“We didn’t. That’s not the end of it, though. There was one detail you all missed. When we found that blood-filled bowl, I noted everyone’s expressions in the room. You Qiaolian kept staring at the bowl, and was even licking her lips. Some people might do that when they’re nervous, but the way she looked at it seemed more like hunger than anxiety.”

As she explained this, both Xu Ran and Cui Xiaoxuan recalled seeing You Qiaolian make that gesture, but they hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Could there really be such a significant difference between people?

In fact, Xiao Muyu could pick up on details others might miss due to her personal habit. Her favorite thing to do was analyze other people’s expressions.

“Also, everyone remembered locking their doors last night, right?” Xiao Muyu asked calmly, glancing around the group.

Everyone nodded. When sleeping in a place like this, they were all eager to seal their doors as tightly as possible.

“So, no one would’ve had the courage to go out alone at night, correct?”

She glanced at Shen Qingqiu before continuing, “But that night, out of the seven rooms, five had their doors opened. Shen Qingqiu placed a small, inconspicuous wooden stick in each door crack before we slept, and she checked them in the morning.

The rooms that had their doors opened were Old Liao’s, mine, Chen Dong and Chen Xi’s, and… the old woman’s and Cui Xiaoxuan’s rooms. Naturally, it was the human skin that opened the first three rooms.

As for the old woman’s room, let’s set that aside for now.

But Cui Xiaoxuan, you and You Qiaolian finished your meal before returning to your rooms, which means the human skin wouldn’t have targeted you. Why was your door opened?”

“The only explanation is that someone left the room, not only to feed the human skin, but also to allow it to attach itself to her.”

No one even thought of this, and the way they looked at Shen Qingqiu suddenly changed. The group had been apprehensive that night. No one knew what would happen or had the presence of mind to consider such things, let alone act on them.

“Miss Shen’s cunning is truly impressive,” Chen Xi muttered through gritted teeth.

Shen Qingqiu ignored him.

“As for why it was You Qiaolian, I thought back to what happened before, and noticed something everyone might have overlooked. You Qiaolian had five points deducted, but I didn’t see her struggling with a human skin when we were going in.

In other words, it happened before she got to the house. Considering the distance, however, if she escaped it once, she wouldn’t have been able to escape a second time, and still make it inside. So by the time she entered the house, she was already fated to be a sacrifice,” Shen Qingqiu added, making the group’s faces turn pale.

“This side task has ended and the truth has been revealed. There’s no point in pursuing it further. Let’s get back to the main objective,” Xiao Muyu concluded, looking down at the human skin.

“At this point, Miss Xiao should have accumulated 50 points. She just needs to score a few more times to clear the game.” Chen Xi took a deep breath and glanced around at the others. “How many points are the rest of you missing?”

“The key now is to find the human skins’ hiding place, and deal with them. Once we’ve dealt with the old woman’s predicament, the first task will be considered complete. As for scoring chances, there are likely still some left. Otherwise, very few would be able to survive and clear the game.” Liu Wei remained quite calm.

Xiao Muyu’s current 50 points were already exceptionally high, largely because she and Shen Qingqiu had shared crucial information before the task began. The information they uncovered was very subtle, nearly impossible for ordinary people to notice.

“You all should recall, the old woman claimed that she’s cursed. The curse couldn’t have come from nowhere. So, to lift it, we need to figure out its source. Since we’re only at 40% of the old woman’s task progress, we’re still far from the truth,” Xiao Muyu said, glancing at her task progress and the ever-changing timer: 22 : 28 : 45 remaining.

“We have just over twenty-two hours left.” Shen Qingqiu looked toward the second-floor rooms. The old woman was in her room, completely oblivious to everything happening outside.

“We haven’t been into her room yet,” Xiao Muyu said succinctly, her meaning clear.

Cui Xiaoxuan hesitated. She glanced at Liu Wei and the others, before speaking cautiously: “Last time, going into the third-floor locked room released a human skin. The old woman is a key NPC, and she’s not letting us in. If we do go in, what might happen?”

While they were discussing this, the old woman opened the door. She walked over slowly, an insincere smile on her face. “So, have you found the human skin?”

After Xiao Muyu said that the old woman had left her room last night, no one answered her. As it was clear that they couldn’t trust her, they chose to ignore her.

The old woman didn’t seem to mind. When she saw the human skin on the floor, her smile cracked as if struck by hail. After a moment, she finally spoke, “You… actually captured it?”

Shen Qingqiu quirked her lips slightly, tilted her head, and gave the old woman a subtle nod. She was dressed in a beige windbreaker and casual black pants, a very ordinary outfit. However, her beauty and the elegance with which she performed the gesture made it both provocative and captivating.

Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times before looking away and looking up. Meanwhile, the others couldn’t take their eyes off Shen Qingqiu.

The old woman stared at Shen Qingqiu for a while, then chuckled dryly. “Congratulations, you really are… impressive,” she said, glancing again at the human skin with a somewhat inscrutable expression.

However, she didn’t dwell on the matter and instead slowly spoke: “Dinner is ready. I’m a bit tired today, so I won’t be joining you. Eat well and rest early; you should be able to sleep soundly tonight.” As she said this, she looked at the group with a thin, unsettling smile.

Just as she turned and was about to head back to her room, Xiao Muyu called out to her. “Granny. You mentioned committing sin has cursed your village, can you tell us specifically what that sin is?”

The old woman’s body stiffened for a moment, but she didn’t turn around. “I’ve said I don’t want to talk about it.”

Xiao Muyu didn’t press further. It was clear the old woman wouldn’t voluntarily disclose any details and, although the human skin hadn’t moved after they bound it, no one dared to let their guard down.

“Let’s skip dinner for tonight. We’ll keep watch and make sure this human skin doesn’t escape,” Liu Wei said firmly. If they could, they would have preferred to destroy it outright.

Shen Qingqiu stared at the human skin on the floor. She had already tried using the dagger on it; while it could inflict damage, it wasn’t enough to kill it, but…

She crouched, drew her dagger, and moved closer to the bound human skin.

“Miss Shen, what are you planning to do?” Chen Xi asked. There was a note of caution in his voice.

Shen Qingqiu ignored him. She held the dagger tight, made a decisive strike, and pinned part of the human skin that had escaped the bindings directly to the floorboard.

The human skin let out a shriek and struggled even more fiercely, though it seemed more enraged than in pain. Cui Xiaoxuan and the others watched with a shiver running down their spines.

A milky-white liquid began to ooze from the wound, releasing a foul stench and a hint of musk. The wound didn’t heal immediately; the milky liquid, almost like its blood, continued to seep out.

“Looks like we guessed right. It bleeds this stuff when injured,” Shen Qingqiu said to Xiao Muyu, who nodded in agreement.

The others were at a loss, unsure of what to say. Shen Qingqiu added, “Think carefully about how to deal with this human skin. We can’t leave it like this; the bindings won’t hold it forever. If it escapes, we don’t know what could happen.”

“If the dagger can injure it, maybe we can kill it?”

Shen Qingqiu nodded. “It’s worth a try.”

With that, she decisively pulled out the dagger and stabbed again.

Everyone: ……

“This thing doesn’t fear pain, and immediately peels itself from its wound. I’m worried it will escape before I can kill it.” Shen Qingqiu pulled back after examining the wound.

“What should we do then?” The group stared at the human skin, debating how to kill it.

Although the human skin was an important prop in this instance, it found itself in a position similar to a pig bound for slaughter. Its feelings as it overheard the others discussing its demise, were simply hard to describe.

“Let’s just go with fire. The human skin fears light, but isn’t bothered by blood or the room’s restrictions. Let’s use fire and see if that works.” Xiao Muyu offered a casual suggestion as if the human skin were just a piece of meat to be cooked.

“I agree with that approach,” Cui Xiaoxuan said, her eyes lighting up.

Without wasting any time, she quickly headed downstairs with Xu Ran to find some things to light a fire with.

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Author had something to say:

There are two lines of thought when it came to ‘You Qiaolian is the human skin’ answer:

1. What is her position in The Last Supper?

2. The door was opened, and the human skin was being raised with fresh blood? Or, the door was opened, and someone fed it fresh blood?

Then, Cui Xiaoxuan took advantage of her role as the roommate, discovering the wounds.

And I must say again, the human skin’s fate is truly tragic.